Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! LEGIONOLOGY #8 - BRAINIAC 5

as the smartest Legionnaire as we are continuing our weekly Legionology (yeah, a day late...sorry) on analyzing either individual or team's characteristic traits and how it poses such uniqueness to the Legion Lore. We are now focusing the spotlighting on our social inept but beloved well-known as - Brainiac 5!

The basic idea is simple: Describe him, what sort of person he is, what he means to the Legion, why he has the friends and relationships that he does. Who is he? Are you the expert on him?

From Shooter's:
"A computer-brained adolescent. A child genius, who always has the rigth answer but most likely hasn't been laid yet. His emotions have reached from soppy-sentimentalism and self-pity to tantrums of rage. He is, however, intellectually aware of his short-comings, giving him a bit of control. He knows his long suit, and he attempts to think his way out of immaturity just as he thinks his way out of everything else. On his side he has confidence, leadership and a healthy ego. His self-approach is confined to his personality, and in any situation against any odds he has faith in his brain. Setbacks merely inspire new intellectual efforts, he treats adversoty as a problem to be solved. This is a strength and a weakness, for should a foe ever shake that self-confidence or somehow negate the value of Brainy's mind, he would fall apart! All his eggs are in one basket, albeit an armor-clad one."

From Bierbaum's:
"Too intelligent for his own good. It seems like he doesn't understand his teammates, but he actually understands them down to their tiniest impulses. He just hasn't quite figured out how to process all that information. He's forced himself to live in such emotional disconnect that he doesn't always respect the emotional needs in his teammates he perceives so easily. His biggest hangup: Colu genetically manufactured him and hammered into his childhood psyche the notion that his happiness didn't matter. His duty is to serve the common good of Colu. "

Let's hear your view on our brainy Querl Dox!

From his raw potential, Brainiac 5 could have been a 12th-level anything. A 12th-level sorcerer. A 12th-level glutton. A 12th-level emotional mess...

It's only his upbringing on Colu that prevented him from following those other paths, and directed him toward intellect. He has maintained his faith in that path despite being occasionally tempted otherwise--mostly due to his interactions with other Legionnaires. His choice was also reinforced when he met his mother and saw what pursuing those other options could lead to.

He is fond of relationships that allow him to observe and partake in those other potential paths vicariously.

He, unlike Lyle, is not fond of inventing, and only does it when called-upon to solve problems or as a means to test his theories. He is much more comfortable gathering data, making connections, and establishing--in his mind--the laws of the universe.


Extrapolating a potential twist...
Unbeknownst to him, Colu's Brainiac program is not truly meant to as a method to fashion a single genius capable of solving the world's problems. Their mind network is already capable of much more than he is. Rather, it is the legacy of a single Coluan's scientific studies. That single Coluan's identity and motivations remain a mystery.

Extracting another potential twist:
Those twelve tracts of thought can be thought of as different personalities which rely on alignment.

I'm certainly no Brainy expert but he's one of the characters I've always loved. The hard, arrogant exterior vs. the vulnerable psyche is a universally appealing dichotomy. He was such a rich addition to the Legion Lost team, particularly when he finally admitted that getting home meant accepting things that were beyond his understanding. I thought his manipulation of Computo more recently was clever and satisfying. Brainy vs. Lyle is a great intellectual partnership but he also shares an affinity with Saturn Girl, whose cold exterior and hubris have caused problems too (though Brainy is fundamentally more honest and self-aware than Imra, imo). I've enjoyed Brainy's moments with Shikari as well because she's his opposite in almost every way.

Mabe more than any character, Brainiac's personality seems to depend on who's writing him. He's been cold and analytical, crazy and violent, distressed and distracted, in love, imbalanced, brilliant, socially inept, old and fat, misanthropic and dependent on his teammates. I'm not sure yo u can pinpoint the character very easily...

Querl is a very interesting character to me. Especially because he reminds me of myself in some ways. As a child I never quite fit in with children my own age. Their conversations often seemed too immature for my tastes and I preferred to participate in discussions with adults instead. Unfortunately because of my age I was not considered an intellectual equal and was often dismissed or ignored.
From what I've gathered about post-boot Querl is that he never got to interact with any children his own age and probably very rarely had interaction with adult Coluans. When he did interact it was simply for necessity to exchange information or communicate needs for equipment. Although he probably ordered whatever he needed via computer. I agree with Bierbaum's statment about him being a bit insensitive to the emotional needs of others because his own happiness never mattered to the Coluans. He seemed to be accustomed to dealing with robot caretakers that had no emotions to be hurt. While he may understand the concept of nurturing someone emotionally, he never experienced such nurturing and therefore either finds it unneccessary or doesn't quite know how to do it.
I think part of the reason he avoided emotional entanglement/interaction was because of that early trauma of being abandoned. He may be afraid that if he allows himself to experience emotions he'll just get hurt.
When he was curing Andromeda, I wasn't sure if his attitude toward her (comparing her to "a dog lacking faith in it's master")was a reflection of his true feelings and an almost immitation of how he was treated by other Coluans, or if he was showing her how it felt to be treated as inferior to make her re-think her racism. (I personally found his demand that she say he was superior akin to saying "Who's your daddy!!"). I wonder if he wanted her to say he was superior so he could feel good about himself and get her to admit she was wrong-- or if he expected her to refuse.
Despite being somewhat of a recluse, he seems to feel a need for external validation. He probably wouldn't want to admit that others opinions really do matter to him, but he wants to be complimented. He seems rather starved for attention but at the same time shuns it because he doesn't quite know how to deal with it, and he wants it to be on his terms (meaning, he doesn't want it to interfere with his work or trains of thought).
I didn't see many issues after he came out of the anomoly, but I think it helped him to understand how to fit in socially. Some of this was obviously undone by the trauma of his mother's attack. I completely missed all of Legion Lost so I will have to pick up those issues to see how he behaved.
I don't know if he still has a crush on Andromeda. I hope he does because I like them as a couple.
That's all I can think of to comment on at this time.
luv,
-Su
ps. Anyone know when (what issue) Querl told Spark (was it even her?) that his mother abandoned him at birth?

I first encountered Brainiac 5 in "The War Between Krypton and Earth" (Adventure # 333, reprinted in LSH v. 1 # 2). I have to say that my first impression of him was being taken aback by his green skin. That issue also introduced me to Chameleon Boy -- it was the first time in all my nine years that I had ever seen super-heroes who looked so alien. Usually aliens were the bad guy.

I further admit to being protective of Cham and Brainy because I knew they were good guys, even if other kids in my neighborhood couldn't get past their appearance. I could imagine being buddies with Cham or Brainy, but I never truly identified with them as I did certain other Legionnaires -- a sort of "ingrained" prejudice ("I like you but I don't want to be you"), maybe? Or perhaps I just found Brainy's "smarts" to be a very unexciting power.

That changed in the mid-70s, when Brainy went mad and we learned the reason for it: His alienation as a child because of his intellect. Hints of this breakdown later seemed evident in earlier stories, such as when Brainy invented Computo (Adventure # 340), and then a Supergirl android (Superboy # 204). It seems that Brainy's hold on reality was always tenuous.

I had the same accusation heaped upon me when I was a teenager. I clung to comic books long after my peers "outgrew" them. I remained a sensitive social misfit who was mocked by the so-called normal kids. I understood just how Brainy felt.

Of course, I never created a giant energy being and tried to destroy all creation with it. But then we all cope with alienation in different ways ...

For that matter, I was jealous of Brainy because I never had the support network that seemed to be at his disposal in the Legion. By the time his insanity was revealed, he'd been a member for years, saving the day routinely and racking up many accolades. Certainly, he must have fit in and made friends among the Legionnaires. But maybe not.

In one Action-era story, the Legionnaires were faced with expelling a member for tax reasons. They decided that a fair way to determine who should go was to tally up all the super-feats they had performed in the previous year and boot whoever had performed the least. They thought it was fair, that is, until the "loser" turned out to be Brainy. For all he had contributed overall to the Legion, he had performed the fewest super-feats (whatever qualifies for that). Although Brainy was allowed to stay, the incident must have preyed on his insecurities.

Another point of consideration: How does someone with a 12th level intellect relate to ordinary, sixth-level intellects? How would a college graduate relate to kindergarteners as teammates? Brainy may have wanted to fit in with the other Legionnaires, but part of him always knew they were not on his level, intellectually speaking. He became easily bored with discussions about ordinary things such as moopsball (as demonstrated in one LSH v.3 issue).

But the notion of Brainy being socially stunted wasn't fully developed until the reboot. And developed it was. Brainy joined the Legion in protest -- and the Legion didn't want him, either. He was rude, arrogant, abusive and prone to do whatever it took to further his research. This included blowing up labs on a routine basis and violating the law by experimenting with time travel. He even tried to steal one of the Metal Men's responsometers to help the Legion find its way home. The ends justify the means when everyone else is inferior.

In hindsight, Brainy was on a path to becoming what his mother became: Cold and logical to the point of using others merely for his own ends. I think being with the Legion has humanized him, instead. The encounter with the anomaly notwithstanding, his true salvation lay in his interactions with the other Legionnaires. Lyle trumping him on the flight ring invention humbled Brainy. His friendship with Gates, another outcast, gave him a common bond with someone else. And his admission to Saturn Girl in Legion Lost that he didn't know the way home showed that he was willing to take an emotional risk and be perceived as less than perfect.

Brainy may have been able to take an objective view toward what the Progenitor did (Legion Lost # 11), but he would never follow suit and do what the Progenitor did -- not now, at least.

Like Umbra, Brainy has found a home in the Legion, though, unlike her, he doesn't seem willing to admit it just yet. He still lapses into his old behavior, such as denigrating Shikari's powers. This is because she doesn't fit so neatly into his equation of life. It takes something from totally out of his experience to get him to realize that intellect alone isn't the answer to everything. He is slow to accept this realization, but, in the end, he will probably thank her for it.

Brainy's "smarts" and the personality conflicts that go with it now make him a very exciting Legionnaire. And besides, being green isn't so bad.

You'd think that a character who is a perennial fan favourite would be easier to comment on. Perhaps because there are so many facets to Brainiac 5, through so many years of the Legion, he becomes as daunting a figure as he is portrayed to be....

He's certainly my favourite of the Legionnaires. That great intellect holds such promise - no doubt a fallacy that I fall into, thinking if only we were smarter (me, or mankind in general), we'd solve all sorts of problems and live in some utopian society.

There was a character in one of the Discworld books, don't remember his name - but he was some scientist, totally out of touch with the everyday world; he could design a weapon to destroy a galaxy, complete with numbered parts and doodle a fragile butterfly on the corner of the diagram. That is somewhat how I would envision Brainiac 5 - a full and deep knowledge of every subject imaginable, but quite out of touch with the implications of it all.

He's usually been more grounded than that, however. The most variable part of his character is is social adaptation; in some versions, he's just one of the gang, in others, he's incredibly alienated. Not to be wishy-washy, but I prefer something in between: works well with the team, but socially clumsy, not hopeless.

He's also had the obvious role of Mr. Fix-it, the technical solution to every problem, the brainstorm to many. One aspect of his role that is not really developed is that of father confessor, I'd call it for lack of a better term. He's the one you run to when you've got the big problem - Tasmia took Lar to him when Lar came "back from the dead" (TMK); Brainy was called in to cure Andromeda and to heal Triad (post-boot). I could see him being called upon to deal with embarrassing STDs, financial problems, whatever - just because he knows so much, or is believed to - and is dependably discreet.

Since DnA took over, Brainy seems a lot younger to me than he has in prior versions, just a kid really. Consequently, it's not my favourite version.

I know people would put him in a romantic relationship with Lyle (poor Lyle! He gets fixed up with everybody!) or, perhaps more would like to see a return of the Supergirl/Andromeda romance. It does strike me that somebody that smart would likely be intensely curious about everything, including varieties of sexual experience. But it is an all-ages book so I guess that chapter will stay in the realm of fan-fic.

I liked the play between B5 and Spark in the earlier post-boot; it was a nice relationship. I would like to see a genuine, simple friendship pursued between the farm girl and the boy genius, to the bafflement of other team members.

He should also have some quirky hobby, inconsistent with his "character". I envision him down in his lab, everybody thinks he's working on some super project and he's reading Racing Form and playing the ponies. Something else else like that.

As others have said, this is a character with great potential who could be developed along multiple lines.

I suppose my favourite depiction of Brainy is by Lee Moder; don't know why exactly, just liked the angular lines, the thinness and the long hair. Dump Koko and it's perfect. Least favourite was Coipel's "Calvin" or "Dennis the Menace" look. Or was it ALfred E. Neuman? Too goofy, too young. Batista's okay.

(He Who Wanders) I believe the moopsball thing was in "Brainy's Lucky Day". They asked him to settle a bet about some rule in moopsball and he told them that all he knew about it was how to spell it. Then he went out and got laid by some alien doctor chick.

(Fat Cramer) ROTFL. I just got a mental image of that.. I could just see someone coming to Brainy with a burning sensation and wanting him to fix it. Of course he'd gripe about it and probably lecture them on using some form of protection. But they'd know he wouldn't mention it to anyone else. Hell, he might be embarassed that he'd been reduced to treating STDs.

There have been a couple fanfics. One of them was extremely disturbing... It's funny to think of the kinds of interesting things could probably come up with. I think they could probably get away with alluding to some sort of kinky play between Brainy and Andromeda if they did it right. Maybe through the looks they give each other and vague comments made by other Legionnaires.. I always thought it would've been funny if the scene right before Lyle gave out the flight rings had Brainy commenting on Laurel's figure instead of just staring when Lyle was trying to convince him to come to the lounge. I think that if Brainy did decide to explore he'd have it all planned out but that things wouldn't go exactly as he'd planned and he'd be surprised or something.

Well, in an issue of Impulse, Bart said that he had a friend in VR named "Dox". So I was thinking that Querl might play VR games when nobody is looking. Maybe he listens to heavy metal music when nobody is around. Or does gymnastics or martial arts or something. He certainly seems flexible and in pretty good shape for someone he stays in a lab all the time. I wonder what he eats. I noticed that the Carebots had to tell him to put down his toys to eat but he ignored them. I often wondered if he forgets to eat or just goes without food because he's so busy. Or if he makes sure to eat on a regular basis. Maybe he has a favorite candy or something he likes to eat. Or maybe he reads porn stories online. ;-P
I could see him tampering with computer systems and doing the equivalent of making someone's CD drive pop open from afar. Just because he can and he is amused by annoying people like that-- but it would only be people who had annoyed him. He would intellectually know it was immature but get some sort of thrill out of it. Or maybe he could do artwork or something like that. He could have many hobbies. I know Vril Dox II's hobby was gardening...
Now I'm going to be trying to think of a strange hobby for Querl...
luv,
-Su

I've got nothing new to add: as Fat Cramer said it really is hard to discuss Brainy. He is by far my favourite legionnaire since the reboot and in my opinion the most important and complex legionnaire ever (Mon-El and Saturn Girl taking equal second place).

Just a quick Brainy anecdote: I actually discovered the legion through black and white reprints of 60's and 70's stories so it wasn't until about five years after discovering the legion that I found out that Brainy was actually green

That's funny, Shadow Kid.

Another Brainy misconception: My first Legion issue was v.1 # 1, which contained a text feature describing each Legionnaire. There was no photo of Brainy. However, there was a pic of a giant Legionnaire standing over a tube of some kind with a train running through it (IIRC). From the Superman cartoons, I knew that the original Brainiac had a gun that could shrink things and people. It seemed reasonable that he would pass this invention on to his descendents.

So, for the first couple of months of my Legion fandom, I thought Colossal Boy was Brainiac 5.

"He was such a rich addition to the Legion Lost team, particularly when he finally admitted that getting home meant accepting things that were beyond his understanding."

This scene took me from liking Brainiac 5 to loving Brainiac 5. It's very rare that he admits he doesn't know the answer. His willingness to share this with Imra showed me one important point: He's not as insensitive as everyone believes. Yes, he's pure intellect and yes, he is focused on a number of goals, but the fact that he was willing to appear and/or continue to work on a project just to give others hope clearly showed that he's not as totally disconnected from the world as he appears to be.

The best thing about B5 is that we could easily classify him as a geek, but he makes being intelligent a class act.

Yes, there have been numerous interpretations of the character, but he has always had a strong fan base even when he makes mistakes. Others have analyzed this character much better than I can, so all I can say is that I can't see a Legion without Brainiac 5.

Question: which one do you prefer - preboot Querl Dox or postboot Querl Dox or more specifically DnA's Querl Dox?

Definitely DNA's Querl. Brainy was never one of my favorites before, but he kind of snuck up on me during Legion Lost. I like the fact that he has matured somewhat, which he should definitely be capable of with his high intelligence. I think his put-downs and insults stemmed from his irritation of the low intelligence of the others, by his standards, and also a bit from his inner insecurities, in that he needed to remind himself of his intelligence. Thanks grife he's matured beyond that now! But he does need to be appreciated for his intelligence, because he knows that that is what sets him apart. In times of crisis, he knows that he's probably the Legion's best hope, and he'll never toss in the towel, but instead go down fighting, such as in Legion Lost and Legion #8. And he values his friends deeply, but he would be the last person to send you a Christmas card! He's just not comfortable with letting his true feelings show, but we've seen that he has those feelings, such as when Monstress died, or when Koko left, or just recently with Lyle. He needs his friends; he just won't admit it. The Legion has shown him that. The Legion owes a lot to Querl, and Querl owes a lot to the Legion.

Ditto, IB!

I really liked the postboot Brainy. He just came of as so smug and cocky, but would be so single minded on things that he didn't really care what was going on. Like when he got drafted into the Legion and couldn't be bothered to even read the notice. Or when he created the metal for the flight rings but was so into what he was doing he never saw the appication of it. The best way to describe him was the smartess guy around, but not alot of common sence.
Another thing about Brainy is that he always seems like someone who is just one set back away form a breakdown. He seems to put so much pressure on himself to be the smartess guy around that he wears himself a little thin. Maybe it is just in the Brainiac family nature to be prone to breakdowns or crazy behavour. Lets face it when you look at his family tree all of them have lost it at one time or another, and the fact that he still has at least a trace of Stealths genes in him probably doesn't help much. With her wild alien nature and the Coluans cold methodic style there must be quite a tug of war inside the heads all the Dox family. We saw what it did to Lryl Dox when he wa just a baby, and what Brainys mom turned out like. I think it is safe to say that sooner or latter Brainy is going to snap.
And as a final thought I really wish they would get him with Andromada. The whole goofy Lyle thing just seems really forced. They work better as rivals not as a couple.