Brainiac 5

Brainiac 5
Cover to Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 5) #1 (2005). Art by Barry Kitson
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Action Comics #276 (May 1961)
Created by	Jerry Siegel Jim Mooney (based upon Brainiac by Otto Binder & Al Plastino)
In-story information
Alter ego	Querl Dox
Species	Coluan
Place of origin	Colu
Team affiliations	Legion of Super-Heroes
Notable aliases	Brainiac 5.1, B-5, Brainy
Abilities	Twelfth-level Intelligence

Brainiac 5 (Querl Dox) is a fictional character who exists in the 30th and 31st centuries of the DC Universe. He is a long-standing member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Brainiac 5 is from the planet Colu. He first appeared in name in Action Comics #276 (May 1961).

Brainiac 5 is a green-skinned, blond-haired teenager, dressed in a purple jumpsuit, who claimed to be descended from the original Brainiac, one of Superman's deadliest enemies. He wished to join the Legion as atonement for his great-great-grandfather's misdeeds. When Brainiac 1 was revealed to be an android created by the Computer Tyrants, Brainiac 5 "discovered" he was actually descended from Brainiac 2, the leader of the rebellion against the tyrants, as well as being the clone of the original Brainiac. Brainiac 5's ingenuity led to the invention of, amongst other things, the Legion flight ring (perfecting an invention of the original Invisible Kid based on a metal discovered by Mon-El), the anti-lead serum that allowed Mon-El to leave the Phantom Zone and the force field belt which became the signature device of the character. Another of Brainiac 5's creations would have less beneficial effects. The super computer Computo, which he created, attempted to take over the world, killing one of Triplicate Girl's three selves. He successfully destroyed his creation with "an anti-matter force", but this highlighted one of his major flaws: a habit of initiating projects without considering the dangers. A much later example was his transformation of fellow scientist Professor Jaxon Rugarth into the psychotic, all-powerful Infinite Man in conjunction with honorary Legionnaire Rond Vidar.

In fact, as time went on, Brainiac 5 began to be portrayed as unstable. Long attracted to Supergirl, Brainiac 5 created a robot duplicate of her in his sleep, convincing himself this was the real Supergirl. He seemed to recover from this, but a few years later would become even more unbalanced. The Legion later encountered Pulsar Stargrave, a villain who convinced Brainiac 5 that he was the Coluan's long-lost father. Brainiac 5 joined Stargrave to battle the sorcerer Mordru, but the android's influence would haunt him long after that. It was claimed in Superboy #225 that Stargrave was actually the original Brainiac android, but the truth of this is uncertain.