History ComicBook / Brainiac

** In ''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon'', Superman reprograms him to be good but at the end when Superman decides their wrong to try and control humanity, Brainiac turns against him.

* MultipleChoicePast: Past ''and'' ending. In ''Adventure Comics'' vol. 2, #9, Brainiac's 31st century descendant Brainiac 5 comments that at one point the original Brainiac simply disappeared from history (or, at least, stopped blowing up planets), with no one knowing exactly what happened to him. The leading theories are that he either died, traveled to the future to become Pulsar Stargrave, or was destroyed when he was sent back to the birth of creation and "had his miserable life snuffed out by an ancient power greater than his." The events of ''ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar'' heavily implies that the latter is the truth (and, by extension, that Brainiac 13 is the real Brainiac in chronologically his last form), as Brainiac 13 gets sent back in time to be disintegrated in the Big Bang by Superman, Darkseid, and Luthor at the end of it.

* YouKilledMyFather: Did this to Jonathan Kent when beaten in ''Brainiac''. [[BewareTheNiceOnes Superman]] was pissed. The same storyline heavily implies he destroyed Krypton, which if true would make him the killer of ''both'' of Superman's dads.

* YouKilledMyFather: Killed Jonathan Kent in ''Brainiac'', as revenge for Superman's defeat of him.

* TechnoDistopia: In Pre-Crisis days, Brainiac's homeward of Colu started out like this. They'd had a Robot War, and the robots won. The "Computer Tyrants of Colu" built Brainiac as their agent and sent him out into space, but he eventually returned home to find that the organic population had successfully revolted and regained control of their planet, averting this trope. As for Brainiac, this just meant his bosses were dead and he was now free to be a self-directed spacefaring super villain all on his own.

* ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'': A member of the LegionOfDoom.

* AgeLift: In ''Justice League: God's and Monsters'', he's a toddler-sized child.

* EvilSoundsDeep: Will have a deep metallic tinged baritone in most adaptations ([[Series/Smallville unless he's disguising himself as a human]]). Even in works where he doesn't have the [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey HAL-9000]] inspired MachineMonotone popularized by Corey Burton, he's still been voiced by [[WesternAnimation/SuperFriends Ted Cassidy]] and Creator/LanceHenriksen.

-->--ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, ''Comicbook/SupermanBrainiac'' ([[NamesTheSame the story arc]])

* ControlFreak: His FatalFlaw. Brainiac doesn't like any situation where he's not in control, often entering a VillainousBreakdown when things don't go his way. As Superman occasionally points out, this is basically his biggest weakness. Due to his absolute need to be in control of everything, Brainiac pretty much always works alone (and his rare team-ups are guaranteed to end in backstabbing), with his only consistent 'allies' being either his machines or people under mind control. By contrast, [[MagneticHero Superman]] always has friends and allies backing him, often giving him the edge over the alien.

** In the ''Bomb'' short that ties in with ''WesternAnination/JusticeLeagueGodsAndMonsters'', Brainiac is a child who can't control his powers and begs Superman to MercyKill him.

** Multiple adaptations, starting with ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', tie his origin into Krypton. The 2008 ''Brainiac'' story arc also heavily implies that he was responsible for the destruction of Krypton. Several adaptations, most notably ''VideoGame/Injustice2'', ''LiveAction/{{Smallville}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperheroes'' made that explicitly canon in their continuities.

* ControlFreak: Brainiac doesn't like any situation where he's not in control, often entering a VillainousBreakdown when things don't go his way. As Superman occasionally points out, this is basically his biggest weakness. Due to his absolute need to be in control of everything, Brainiac pretty much always works alone (and his rare team-ups are guaranteed to end in backstabbing), with his only consistent 'allies' being either his machines or people under mind control. By contrast, [[MagneticHero Superman]] always has friends and allies backing him, often giving him the edge over the alien.

* DependingOnTheWriter: His appearance, origin, powers, backstory, and motives have all changed drastically over the years, even by comic book standards. [[https://i.imgur.com/14Ce3dL.jpg Here's a brief rundown.]] Adaptations of the character are even more variable. Just about the only things that ''have'' stayed consistent about him are that he's [[SuperIntelligence very smart,]] [[KnightOfCerberus very evil,]] [[EvilerThanThou very dangerous,]] and ''usually'' a bald green extraterrestrial humanoid.

** '''Pulsar Stargrave''' is a supervillain who battles Brainiac 5 and the Legion of Superheroes in the 31st century. He has claimed on separate occasions to be both the real Brainiac 4 and the original Brainiac 1. What he ''actually'' is has never been revealed. It's possible he's a clone of the real Brainiac who survived until the 31st century, but he could just be a crazy Coluan claiming a legacy he has nothing to do with.

** In ''ComicBook/Superman's ''The, Superman reprograms him to be good but at the end when Superman decides their wrong to try and control humanity, Brainiac turns against him.

-> ''"I am Krypton."''
"You're a perversion. Dishonoring the very memory of my father and all my people."
-->--Brainiac and Franchise/{{Superman}} in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''.

-->--Brainiac and Superman, ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''.