History ComicBook / Brainiac

[[redirect:Characters/SupermanBrainiac]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Brainiac-Post_Retcon_279.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Brainiac circa 2005, ''Superman Vol 2, #219''. One of his [[DependingOnTheWriter dozens]] of different versions.]]

->''"You've told me that ComicBook/LexLuthor is everything bad about humanity. Well, Brainiac is everything bad about aliens."''
-->-- '''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}''', ''Comicbook/SupermanBrainiac'' ([[NamesTheSame the story arc]])

[[TheCollector Collector of Worlds]]. GalacticConqueror. [[PlanetLooters Terror of Kandor]]. RoboticPsychopath.

Brainiac is a prominent member of Franchise/{{Superman}}'s RoguesGallery and one of the most iconic villains in comic book history.

Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, Brainiac debuted in July 1958 as a green-skinned alien with advanced technology who attacked an Earth spaceship and possessed a private collection of shrunken, stolen cities, including the Kryptonian city of Kandor, which Superman stole back and took back to his Fortress of Solitude. Notably, in that story, Superman never actually managed to defeat the alien and was completely outmatched by his DeflectorShields and [[YouFightLikeACow tirade of insults]], and this was the ''[[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]]'' Superman, the same one who casually tugged chains of planets through space.

He returned to menace the superhero over the years, often in a VillainTeamUp with ComicBook/LexLuthor. Due to legal issues, he was reimagined as a living supercomputer in humanoid form, the renegade agent of the Coluan race.

He received a major overhaul in 1983, turning him into a SkeleBot with vastly greater abilities [[note]](in a story oddly reminiscent of the origin of [[Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture V'Ger)]] [[/note]], but this version was wiped out by the ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths only a few years later. Later versions do usually retain a version of his skull-shaped spaceship introduced in this period, however. Skeletal Brainiac appears in the later seasons of ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' and was immortalized as an action figure for the popular Super Powers toyline.

ComicBook/PostCrisis, he was reimagined again as an insane circus psychic named Milton Fine who believed he was possessed by an alien intelligence, though as that drew a fan backlash it was gradually implied that he might actually be ProperlyParanoid and he began taking on genuinely alien characteristics, such as green skin and more audacious plans. Eventually this was all [[RetCon retconned]] and he was reimagined ''again'' as an evil alien robot, then as time went on his exact origins and nature as either a robot, a pure alien or an [[NinjaZombiePirateRobot alien cyborg robot]] was DependingOnTheWriter. Once again, Superman receives (in different circumstances) a Kandor shrunk by Brainiac, this time apparently [[FantasticRacism a holding city for non-Kryptonian residents of Krypton,]] in the interest of keeping Superman the LastOfHisKind.

In adaptations such as ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' and its sequel ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', and later ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', he was made into a living supercomputer with Kryptonian origins to create greater enmity with the Man of Steel. In the animated versions, Brainiac was given FightingAShadow qualities, the green-skinned humanoid being just one of many bodies used by the villain whose nature as a ''program'' means all of his technology is 'him' and he need only upload himself elsewhere upon physical "death." The cartoons also made it his standard modus operandi to destroy planets after absorbing their information (and, in the ''Legion'' cartoon, shrinking and bottling their greatest cities), so no one else could have access to the power and knowledge he gained from them. In the 2008 story arc ''[[NamesTheSame Brainiac]]'', these aspects of Brainiac became a CanonImmigrant and the various different versions Superman faced were [[TakeAThirdOption retconned]] into probes themselves, and the ''true'' Brainiac was once again made into a Coluan cyborg who shrunk and bottled cities before destroying their planets, in hopes of eventually assimilating the entire universe, becoming "everything", and leaving the only sapient life in the universe those inside his ship. Once ''again'' he possessed Kandor (the one Superman had was "revealed" to be a fake), which again was a city full of Kryptonians. Upon finding out Superman was a Kryptonian, Brainiac set out to kill him and Supergirl, as the existence of Kryptonians outside of his bioshell threatened his control over their technology.

Brainiac is a LegacyCharacter and there have been (or will be) at least 13 different incarnations of the character in the future, Brainiac 2 originally being a clone-son, though some of them are actually future, stronger versions of Brainiac himself. The most famous is the heroic Brainiac 5, TheSmartGuy of the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperheroes'' from the 31st century. In one StoryArc, the Brainiac 13 version from a BadFuture even fought Brainic 2.5, despite both being the same character. On most occasions, the ones who aren't actually Brainiac end up becoming the victim of his schemes.

Fun fact: Brainiac is not, as you might think, named after a popular slang word for "intellectual." It's the other way around: that particular piece of slang actually started with ''him'', and the writers of ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' are credited with coining it. So, yes, every time a bookish comic book fan gets mockingly called a "brainiac," his tormenters unknowingly pay tribute to DC Comics.

For tropes relating to Brainiac 2 (Virl Dox II) and Brainiac 3 (Lyrl Dox) see ''ComicBook/LEGIONDCComics''. For tropes relating to Brainiac 5 (Querl Dox) see Characters/LegionOfSuperHeroesSilverAge.

!Comic Appearances:
[[AC:Notable Pre-Crisis comics]]
* "The Super-Duel in Space" (''Action Comics'' #242): Debut of Brainiac as a character
* "The Team of Luthor and Brainiac!" (''Superman'' #167): First team-up with Luthor
* "Let My People Grow!" (''Superman'' #338): Kandor finally enlarged
* Planet-Eater Trilogy (''Action Comics'' #528-530): A reprogrammed Brainiac teams with Superman to stop a planet-destroying weapon Brainiac has lost control of
* "Rebirth" (''Action Comics'' #544): Upgraded to cosmic-powered skeletal form
* ''Comicbook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow''
* ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''

[[AC:Notable ComicBook/PostCrisis comics]]
* ''Panic in the Sky''
* ''[[ComicBook/SupermanTheDoomsdayWars The Doomsday Wars]]''
* ''Comicbook/{{Justice}}''
* ''[=Superman: Y2K=]''
* ''Comicbook/OurWorldsAtWar''
* ''Comicbook/SupermanBrainiac''
* ''Comicbook/NewKrypton''
* ''Comicbook/SupermanDoomed''
* ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}''
* ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueNoJustice''

!Appearances in other media
* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman'': Brainiac's first animated appearance. Here, he's an android built by Prof. Hecla of the planet Mega (a world devastated by atomic wars), sent to Earth to collect various species (including humans) to repopulate the planet.
* ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'': A charter member of the LegionOfDoom.
* ''Film/SupermanIII'' (the supercomputer's name is Brainiac, via FreezeFrameBonus; an earlier script also included a more comics-accurate version of the character)
* ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse''
** ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries''
** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''
** ''VideoGame/Superman64''
* ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes''
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', played by Creator/JamesMarsters.
* ''VideoGame/DCUniverseOnline''
* ''VideoGame/{{Scribblenauts}} Unmasked: DC Comics Adventure''
* ''WebAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls''
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueAction''
* ''VideoGame/LEGOBatman 3: Beyond Gotham'', voiced by Creator/DeeBradleyBaker.
** ''VideoGame/LEGODimensions''
* ''VideoGame/Injustice2'' as the BigBad, voiced by Jeffery Combs.
* ''Series/{{Krypton}}'', played by Creator/BlakeRitson.
* ''VideoGame/SuicideSquadKillTheJusticeLeague''

----
!The character provides examples of:

* AccentUponTheWrongSyllable: In the Comicbook/{{New 52}}, he calls his bottled cities "Kan-Dor" and "Met-Trop-Ol-Is".
* ActuallyADoombot: Geoff Johns invoked this in an issue of ''Action Comics'' where every single appearance by Brainiac in the Post-Crisis DCU, prior to Johns' [[Comicbook/SupermanBrainiac Superman: Brainiac]] storyline was actually a "Brainiac probe" (or a clone).
* AdaptationalHeroism: In the ''Bomb'' short that ties in with ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueGodsAndMonsters'', Brainiac is a child who can't control his powers and begs Superman to MercyKill him.
* AdaptationOriginConnection:
** 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'', ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperheroes'' made that explicitly canon in their continuities.
** In the New 52, he created Cyborg-Superman.
* AdaptationSpeciesChange: It varies per continuity whether he's a biological alien or a robot and as mentioned above, in some continuities, he comes from Krypton.
** In ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman'' cartoon, he comes from the planet ''Mega''.
** According to Indigo in ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'', Brainiac is Coluan while it's implied that Krypton had a part in his creation.
* AgeLift: In ''Justice League: Gods and Monsters'', he's a toddler-sized child.
* AIIsACrapshoot: In some versions, he's this. In others, he was [[RoboticPsychopath meant to turn out this way]].
* AliensAreBastards: Just read the page quote. It makes for a nice contrast with Superman's [[InnocentAliens innocent alien]]; as one internet fan once said, the reason Brainiac is such an enduring villain is that he's the alien Superman isn't.
* AlienInvasion: A ([[HiveMind sometimes literal]]) OneManArmy type.
* ArchEnemy: One of Superman's three chief foes, along with Lex Luthor and General Zod (Darkseid would qualify but he's more of a general DCU threat). After Luthor, he's probably the most iconic, the oldest, and easily one of the ones that Superman hates the most.
* ArchnemesisDad: To his clone son, Brainiac 2 (Vril Dox II), his grandson, Lyrl Dox (Brainiac 3), and his great-great grandson, Brainiac 5 (Querl Dox). He's manipulated, fought against, and outright tried to murder all three at one point or another, and in turn, all of them have thwarted various schemes of his.
* AmbiguousRobots: The various continuities and adaptations can never agree on what exactly he is. He's been an alien, a robot, an android, a robotic intelligence, a swarm of nanobots, [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot an alien who transferred his mind into a swarm of nanobots that then became an android]], a cyborg... the list goes on.
* TheArtifact: In the Bronze Age, Brainiac's skull shaped CoolStarship was modeled after Brainiac's head in his SkeleBot phase. While Brainiac would go back to older his green skinned appearance, the design of his ship stuck.
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: The Brainiac 13 incarnation.
* AssimilationPlot: Again, Brainiac 13, who tried this twice, first on Metropolis (probably as a prelude to Earth), and then, later, on [[ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar the entire universe]].
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: To the point where he once downloaded all of Superman's memories and used them to create a program that would anticipate his every move. Generally speaking, Brainiac is a master at gathering information on his foes and then using it against them.
* BaldOfEvil: One of the only things about his appearance to remain consistent, whether alien, human, robot, or some mix of all of the above.
* BarrierWarrior: Brainiac always uses his DeflectorShields to maximum effect.
* BasedOnADream: In-Universe. In the Post-Crisis Superman story "Panic in the Sky", Brainiac built his skull-ship, resembling the one from Pre-Crisis minus the tentacles. He claims the design came to him "in a dream". At the time, it was believed that it was from a subconscious memory of his pre-Crisis incarnation. Post-Birthright/Pre-New 52 stories reveal that that Brainiac was just one of his probes who recalls the original Brainiac's actual skull-ship.
* BeardOfEvil: Sported one as Milton Fine.
* BewareTheSkullBase: Evoked with Braniacs's preferred method of traveling the cosmos in a massive, skull-shaped starship that doubles as his base of operations. It's [[{{Faceship}} modeled after his face]] from his [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] Skelebot9000 phase.
* BigBad: Jockeys with Luthor, Darkseid and Zod for the title of Superman's [[ArchEnemy Biggest Bad]], and has been the mastermind behind countless story arcs in both Superman's own book and the DCU at large (where, alongside the likes of Luthor and Darkseid he's one of the biggest bads around). His antimatter counterpart served as the BigBad of ''JLA: Earth-2'', establishing that no matter which universe you are in, Brainiac is at the top of the evil food chain. Outside of comics, he is the primary villain in ''VideoGame/Injustice2'', the MMO ''VideoGame/DCUniverseOnline'', ''VideoGame/LEGOBatman 3,'' ''VideoGame/JusticeLeagueHeroes'', a season of ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', a season of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', two and a half seasons of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', and the live-action series ''Series/{{Krypton}}''.
* BigBadEnsemble: He competed with General Lane and General Zod for ''New Krypton'' but was the first one to be taken out by Superman during the story.
* BrainComputerInterface: Brainiac is frequently portrayed as being wired into his ship via ports in his skull.
* BrainInAJar: Post-Crisis Antimatter Brainiac was little more than a genetically-engineered, super-intelligent brain with a face grafted on. He was kept in storage in Ultraman's Flying Fortress, and used to run most of the Crime Syndicate's computers.
* CategoryTraitor: Brainiac, when he was originally an organic Coluan named Vril Dox. He loyally serves the Computer Tyrants, thus being hated by his own people as a result.
* TheChessmaster: Always. Brainiac plans well in advance, and is an expert at manipulating others into playing the roles he wants them to do.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: With Creator/DCComics' retconitis, who Brainy is never seems to remain constant for more than a few years at a time. Today's galaxy-destroying Brainiac is definitely a ''far'' cry from the day-one incarnation, who was basically "Alien!Lex Luthor"--though his technological brilliance and obsession with collecting things has never gone away.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: He thinks nothing of disposing of his partners, subordinates, and cat's paws as soon as it's convenient to do so.
* ClassicVillain: Resprents Pride, Greed and Wrath. His massive pride leads him to blind himself to weakness, greed leads him take more than he can hold, and wrath ruins his long term plans.
* TheCollector: A shtick of his. He collects cities and knowledge.
* ConquerorFromTheFuture: Brainiacs 8 and 13.
* ControlFreak: His FatalFlaw. Brainiac doesn't like any situation where he's not in control, often [[VillainousBreakdown flipping out]] 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.
* CreepyMonotone: Especially when he's voiced by Creator/CoreyBurton.
* CurbStompBattle: Thanks to his potent technology and often exceptional physical ability, he's of the few beings in the DCU capable of dishing these out to Superman on a regular basis- when Superman does finally manage to defeat him, it's always after a very hard fight and usually (ironically enough) via exploiting a specific KryptoniteFactor. Notable examples include:
** ''Superman #338:'' Brainiac's forcefield belt let's him ignore Superman's attacks, while his [[EyeBeams energy blasts]] hurt Superman quite a bit and force him to retreat. Superman comes back and wins their second bout by [[HoistByHisOwnPetard tricking Brainiac into hitting himself with his own shrink ray.]]
** ''Action Comics #339:'' Supergirl attempts to attack Brainiac's ship but is incapacitated and nearly killed when she strikes its force field and it responds by repulsing her attack and blasting her. Brainiac then comments that he's looking for Superman, not Supergirl, and departs without bothering to confirm her death. She was basically a bug on his windshield. Later she attempts to capture him again, but is unable to breach his personal belt-generated force field, and he contemptuously shoots her with a kryptonite ray gun before leaving her for dead and walking away to find her cousin.
** ''Adventures of Superman #576:'' Brainiac 13 dismantles Blue Superman. He simply ignores Superman for most of the bout, not even bothering to taunt him while tanking his blows, before knocking him down with one punch and then sticking his CombatTentacles through Supes' body.
** ''ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar'': In Action Comics #763, Brainiac 13 is able to NoSell all of Superman's attacks while literally beating him into the ground in turn, with Kelex stating that Brainiac's tentacles would have throttled Superman to death if help had been a second or two too late. Along with Red Tornado, Kelex, and Lex Luthor, he defeats Brainiac by trapping his mind in a Kryptonian warsuit.
** ''Superman/Batman #36:'' Brainiac, in his [[OneWingedAngel nanoswarm]] form, creates a body that beats Batman to near death (Batman at this time had PoweredArmor that made him as strong as Superman) and then proceeds to throttle the hell out of Superman (with the latter commenting with surprise that his grip is as hard as Doomsday's). Superman gets out of it when he destroys the ship they're on and introduces the nanobots to explosive decompression.
** ''ComicBook/SupermanBrainiac'': The titular villain handles Superman roughly in their first encounter, where he smacks Superman around with his ship's tentacles after Superman bloodies his fists in a vain attempt to punch through the ship's shields (the fights ends with him knocking him out with a supernova to the face). Their second encounter, and first one in the flesh, is just as one-sided, as Brainiac pulls a NoSell on Superman's blows, sends him reeling and bleeding with his own, and incapacitates him a second time. Their later encounters are more even, but Brainiac still possesses a noticeable physical edge throughout- Superman eventually wins by knocking Brainiac into a swamp, where he's disabled by SensoryOverload.
** To say nothing of everyone who's ''not'' Superman. He took out an entire assembly of New Gods (including Orion) with one blast while possessing Milton Fine, destroyed the entire Justice League while possessing Doomsday's body, later casually mind controlled nearly every hero on Earth in ''ComicBook/SupermanDoomed'', beat Cyborg Superman to near-death in the New 52, overpowered Krypto and Superboy with contemptuous ease in ''Adventure Comics #6'', and even Zod seemed to be losing handily against him in the New Krypton arc before [[SpannerInTheWorks Luthor]] depowered him by destroying his ship.
** Taken to new levels in ComicBook/JusticeLeagueNoJustice when he (aided by his ships and robots) casually (and non-lethally) defeats ''every super-team on Earth'' within minutes of showing up. Even Superman gets shut down pretty easily when he tries to attack Brainiac, who pulls off first a NoSell and then a PunchCatch.
* {{Cyborg}}: His final Post-Crisis and New 52 versions are Coluan aliens enhanced by advanced cybernetics.
* DeflectorShields: Perhaps ''the'' IconicItem associated with the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Brainiac was his force field belt, which even Superman couldn't break through. Most later versions of him have also possessed these in one form or another.
* 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,]] [[KnightOfCerebus very evil,]] [[EvilerThanThou very dangerous,]] and ''usually'' a bald green extraterrestrial humanoid.
* DemonicPossession: Of Lex Luthor, Milton Fine, Lena Luthor, Doomsday, and various others across his lengthy career.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: In ''ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow'' where he appeared to be the BigBad, but was actually a front for [[spoiler:Mxyptlk of all people]].
* TheDreaded: To ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, who was on Krypton when Brainiac attacked and stole Kandor. The rest of the Kandorians are terrified of him as well, and General Zod views his failure to defeat the alien as his worst ever loss. The whole universe sees Brainiac as this due to him destroying thousands of planets and killing trillions of people, but even among other GalacticConqueror types Brainiac stands out. It gets to the point that even other Superman-level foes like Zod and Mongul are terrified of him. A memorable reminder of this comes in the "Doomed" arc, where Mongul escapes the Phantom Zone and prepares to attack Earth... until he hears Brainiac is coming. He promptly flees back into the Phantom Zone.
+ EldritchAbomination: ''ComicBook/TheNew52FuturesEnd'' claims that Brainiac is actually a lovecraftian entity beyond time and space who routinely sends probes to collect knowledge ([[ActuallyADoomBot incidentally explaining all of its various forms as just probes]]. Across all continuities). The status of this reveal within canon is debatable, however, [[OldShame since its not been used for any comic ever since]] but it still hasn't been explicitly retconned.
** His mid-80's upgrade into SkeleBot form arguably turned him into this for the few years leading up to the Crisis, or at least into more of a "cosmic being" than he's usually portrayed (note, this version was partly based on [[Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture V'Ger).]]
** His ''[[Comicbook/{{Convergence}} Convergence]]'' incarnation sees him turned into something like this... and he realizes he ''[[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor doesn't like it.]]''
* EncyclopaedicKnowledge: Considering how many civilizations he's stolen knowledge from, it is not surprising that he possesses this.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Brainiac can't understand what Superman sees in Earth, as its scientific and technological advances are nothing compared to Krypton's. He never considers less quantifiable qualities, like love or family. Epitomized near the climax of the ''Brainiac'' arc, when Brainiac has beaten and imprisoned Superman. He derides Earth for its perceived flaws, concluding that its technology is primitive and its culture useless, and asks Superman what it could possibly offer him. The whole time he's talking, Lois Lane, thinking the end is nigh, is desperately crying out to Superman from the shrunken Metropolis, trying to tell him she loves him before it's too late. The implication is that if Brainiac had listened to her, he would have the answer to his question.
* EvilGenius: Well, duh. Brainiac describes himself as a "twelfth-level intellect".
* EvilIsBigger: Initially averted, but played straight later after Brainiac became a more physical villain. Post-Crisis Brainiac towers over Superman and is much more muscular.
* EvilIsPetty: He is incredibly petty. In "Superman: Brainiac", right after Superman defeats him, he commands his ship to fire a missile at the Kent Farm. Superman ruined his home so he wants to destroy his. In other words, Brainiac attempts to murder an elderly couple who never did anything to him and he has never met because their foster son defeated and humiliated him.
* 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.
* EvilerThanThou: Has come into conflict with Luthor, the Anti-Monitor, Zod, Imperiex, and numerous others over the course of his decades long career, and usually comes out on top. In some cases, such as "Our Worlds at War," he even eclipses ''Darkseid''. It's also notable that in ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', he assembles and leads an entire army of supervillains from various universes, none of whom question his authority.
* {{Expy}}: In his first appearance, and for much of UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} he was just Lex Luthor (back when Lex was a standard MadScientist) but with green skin. This changed in UsefulNotes/{{the Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}}, when he became a skeletal robot (resembling the Franchise/{{Terminator}}) who aimed to end the universe.
* {{Faceship}}: Usually Brainiac's ship looks right like his skull.
* FightingAShadow: In the DCAU (and regular DCU continuity, post-''Superman: Brainiac''), he acts exclusively through probes and drones.
* FlyingBrick: Post-2008, his probes. They're strong enough to make Superman bleed and give Supergirl trouble in numbers, tough enough to survive some of Superman's weaker blows (at full strength he can tear through them though) and NoSell small arms, can shoot energy beams and harpoons, can generate force fields that can block Superman's heat vision, and of course can fly. His Bronze Age SkeleBot incarnation had pretty much the same power set.
* FlyingSaucer: He used a distinctive purple one for most of his Pre-Crisis career. When he was revamped as a cosmic level threat in 1983, he started using a much creepier-looking skull-shaped ship.
* {{Foil}}: A cold, distant, remote alien with evil designs on earth? He's everything that people like Luthor think Superman is like.
** This is more apparent with stories playing up Superman's own SuperIntelligence, collection of sci-fi technology in the Fortress of Solitude, image as the "Man of Tomorrow", and connection to his alien heritage. Brainiac, especially when he's played up as emotionless, often represents the temptation Superman might have to view himself as superior based on his gifts and non-human heritage. Brainiac thinks of Earth as being weak, worthless, and primitive, especially in contrast to himself. As a Kryptonian Superman has access to the Fortress which is light years ahead of Earth science, and could allow him to live there by himself just soaking up the knowledge of Krypton, just like Brainiac and his ship. However, [[EvilCannotComprehendGood unlike Brainiac]], Superman understands that there's more to life than just raw knowledge, and that Earth has more to offer than purely material and intellectual goods.
** Brainiac's ControlFreak nature, view of himself as the supreme being, and habit of shrinking and bottling cities and aiming to control all knowledge (partly so none can oppose him) is also in direct contrast with [[AGodIAmNot Superman's]] stance that he's merely a normal guy who happens to have extraordinary powers which he's obligated to use to help people, and that those with power should use it to uplift those weaker than them, rather than use it to rule over them. This comes up in the infamous ArmorPiercingQuestion at the climax of ComicBook/SupermanRedSon. With full context, Luthor is causing Soviet Superman to go through a VillainousBreakdown / HeroicBSOD by comparing him to Brainiac- insinuating that he's a monster shrinking humanity, just as Brainiac shrunk Kandor.
* FusionDance: With Luthor in ''ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow''. This was given a ShoutOut in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague: Unlimited'', though it was far more willing in that version.
* FutureBadass: Brainiac 13, an upgraded version of Brainiac from the future, is powerful and cunning enough to defeat Imperiex and become a universal-level threat after absorbing his power.
* FutureMeScaresMe: In ''Superman: Y2K'', Brainiac 13 comes from the future and hijacks Brainiac 2.5.
* GalacticConqueror: His goals and methods have varied a lot over the years, but he still usually fits this trope.
* GeniusBruiser: Even in his true form, he's roughly the equal of Superman and backs it up with far superior intelligence. When he possessed Doomsday, this became literally true as he was a genius in the hulking form of one of the physically strongest beings in the universe.
* GoMadFromTheRevelation: During the 80's, he believed there was a being called the "Master Programmer" conspiring to destroy Brainiac by sending his "angel of death", which is Superman.
* AGodAmI: In UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks and in ''JLA: Earth-2'' where his Antimatter Universe counterpart tried to become an "Nth Level Intellect". Defied in ''New Krypton'' when he states "Gods do not exist, Lex Luthor".
* GreaterScopeVillain: The real Brainiac retroactively became this when it was revealed that the incarnations of Brainiac who had served the BigBad role in many stories were just his drones/probes. In some continuities, he is also responsible for destroying Krypton. This would then make him the indirect cause of Superman's story by causing Jor-El to send his son to Earth to protect him and by killing Superman's biological parents. This would also by extension make them a greater scope villain for Supergirl too.
** Pre-Crisis, this was [[OlderThanTheyThink first suggested]] in Brainiac's second ever appearance, Superman #141 (November 1960). There he abducts the city of Kandor, the only one whose population actually believed Jor-El's warnings about Krypton's destruction, thus ensuring the planet would not be saved (he also took the ark they were building to evacuate as the back-up plan, ensuring the near-extinction of the Kryptonian species).
** Post-Crisis, the ''ComicBook/SupermanBrainiac'' rather heavily implies that Brainiac directly destroyed Krypton by sabotaging its sun, with the Superman Secret Files (2009) even stating that Superman believes this to be the case.
** Several adaptations make his part in Krypton's destruction more direct and explicit, including Injustice 2, the DCAU, Smallville, and the Legion of Superheroes cartoon.
* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: Brainiacs 4 and 8. And the ''Toys/AmeComiGirls'' version. Also his clone/son, Brainiac 2/Vril Dox II, is usually drawn as a handsome guy.
* GodzillaThreshold: His existence is one, Post-Crisis. Along with Cyborg-Superman, Darkseid, Imperiex, the Anti-Monitor, Zod, and a handful of others Brainiac is one of the very few beings who Superman is willing to kill. He's also a big enough threat that bitter enemies will often unite to take him down. Who else could make [[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Superman and Darkseid fight]] [[ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar on the same side?]] Or [[ComicBook/NewKrypton Superman, Zod, and Luthor?]]
* HiveMind: Brainiac 13 forced this on the citizens of Metropolis. Also, the RetCon that Superman has been FightingAShadow invokes this to an extent.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
** [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Brainiac finally met defeat when Superman disregarded his own ThouShaltNotKill rule, and hurled his ship into the path of the villain's own shrink ray.
** In ''Superman'' Volume 1 #338, Brainiac shoots his shrinking ray at Supergirl, but she deflects it back at him. Struck by his own ray, Brainiac begins to rapidly shrink, and he pleads with Kara to save him, but [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pScx8BN4h3s/SQcs5LyKRiI/AAAAAAAABds/PkQTfwvrabE/s1600-h/superman+338+-08.jpg she coolly states that the enlarging ray has not enough energy left to save Superman, Kandor and him, so Brainiac is out of luck]] (note that Brainiac had previously shrunk both Superman and the city of Kandor). Even Superman begs her use the ray to save Brainiac, [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pScx8BN4h3s/SQcsz6v8owI/AAAAAAAABdk/GD76xYl-w1g/s1600-h/superman+338+-09.jpg and she replies: "Cousin... NO!"]]
* HumanoidAliens: Sometimes, DependingOnTheWriter.
* IHaveManyNames: In the Comicbook/{{New 52}}, each civilization that adopted him assigned him a different name.
* IngestingKnowledge: Nearly every version of Brainiac has had this ability, usually by interfacing with computers.
* JokerImmunity: Even before the FightingAShadow retcon, he always came back, no matter how thoroughly his previous incarnation was destroyed. ''ComicBook/DCOneMillion'' revealed that a version of him had survived into the 853rd century.
* TheJuggernaut: Post-Crisis, he's stronger and tougher than Superman, though lacks [[EyeBeams certain]] [[{{Flight}} abilities.]]
* KillerRobot: In UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} and [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] when he was a murderous android. UsefulNotes/{{The Modern Age|of Comic Books}} saw him possess numerous robotic bodies before it they were retconned into being probes under the control of the actual alien.
* KnightOfCerebus: As an OmnicidalManiac who's already destroyed many worlds and someone [[TheDreaded who's feared by many of Superman's friends and foes alike]], Brainiac is generally considered one of Superman's most dangerous foes who's rarely if ever played for laughs.
* LackOfEmpathy: More like lack of any general emotion, making him all the more creepier.
* LegacyCharacter: There have been ''at least'' 13 Brainiacs, roughly speaking each more powerful and advanced than the last, with 13 being so powerful he can conquer the Earth just by showing up and later very nearly [[ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar destroyed and remade the entire universe.]] However, while the likes of 5 and 8 are distinct characters, quite often the different Braniacs' are just upgraded versions of the villain himself.
* {{Lust}}: For knowledge. Brainiac wants to control all the information in the universe, and is prepared to slaughter billions to keep that information secret.
* MadScientist: Particularly during UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}, when he was essentially an alien Luthor. To this day he retains many elements of this as a builder of robots, spaceships, and his own cyborg body parts. He's also fond of vivisecting prisoners ForScience.
* TheManBehindTheMonsters: The most recent version of Brainiac has been revealed to a biological Coluan scientist and conqueror who has been fighting Superman for years using his robotic probes and psychic powers.
* ManipulativeBastard: Oddly, some of his most successful manipulations are [[TimeyWimeyBall against]] [[LegacyCharacter himself]], but he has still played several characters like pianos over his career, including highly intelligent ones like Superman and Lex Luthor.
* MechanicalAbomination: His late UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks SkeleBot form was created to invoke this trope, granting him power levels (and a general creepiness factor) far beyond what he'd ever had before.
* MinoredInAsskicking: Post-Crisis, he's more than capable of trading blows with Superman, but generally only fights personally as a last resort, seeing physical confrontation as beneath him.
* MusclesAreMeaningful: Post-2008 Brainiac is 6'6, 300 pounds, and heavily muscled, dwarfing [[GentleGiant Superman.]] He's also stronger than him. The ''Superman Secret Files'' (2009) note that Brainiac is "as strong and invulnerable as a Kryptonian", which implies he's about as strong ''per muscle unit area'' as Kryptonians (Kryptonian strength is proportional to their "normal" strength; that's why ComicBook/{{Powergirl}} works out), justifying why he'd want to be so buff. When kept away from his spaceship for prolonged period, he's explicitly said to get far weaker, which is accompanied by him losing muscle mass.
* 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.
* MyBrainIsBig: Bronze Age Brainiac had a huge brain case (despite [[SkeleBot9000 obviously being a robot]]). DependingOnTheArtist, the Milton Fine version of Brainiac also had a distended brain.
* MythologyGag: His robotic probes post-2008 resemble his Bronze Age SkeleBot incarnation, likely because that incarnation actually was [[ActuallyADoombot supposed to be one of those probes.]]
* {{My Species Doth Protest Too Much}}: His people do have the same qualities as him but he is the only one who is willing to destroy planets and take people from there as collection which his people condemn him because of it casting him out and causing his family to hate him also because that his actions have caused their family’s name to have a bad reception on their home planet and the universe at large.
* {{Nanomachines}}: One of the weapons in his arsenal.
* NeckSnap: Brainiac does this to an android replica of Luthor during ''ComicBook/NewKrypton'', and the real Luthor returns the favor during the finale of ''ComicBook/TheBlackRing''.
* NinjaZombiePirateRobot: DependingOnTheWriter and the adaptation, Brainiac is either a regular MadScientist who happens to be an alien; a living alien computer; an evil psychic circus performer who's either AxCrazy or [[DemonicPossession possessed by an alien intelligence]]; a MadScientist alien ''cyborg''; an evil alien ''robot''; an originally organic alien mind digitized and inhabiting a colony of nanomachines; and quite often and recently [[NinjaPirateRobotZombie all of the above]]. Also, in the mainstream comics, he's always a Coluan, but in the Franchise/{{DCAU}} and ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', Brainiac is a Kryptonian artificial intelligence; meanwhile, the 60s Filmation series declared he was from the planet Mega.
* NotSoDifferent: From ComicBook/LexLuthor, something which neither of them would care to admit in the Post-Crisis world.
** While it's not a comparison Brainiac himself would ever make, one of Superman's greatest fears is becoming NotSoDifferent from Brainiac (see {{Foil}}), the thought of which famously caused a HeroicBSOD for Red Son!Superman. A BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind between Post-Crisis Superman and his hallucination of Brainiac in ''Superman Vol. 2 #219'' sums it up.
-->'''Brainiac:''' You're Kal-El, son of Jor-El and Lara. ''(punches Superman, drawing blood)'' You're an ''alien.'' Pretending to owe allegiance to a world that will never be your own.
-->'''Superman:''' N-no... not... pretending...
-->''(Superman tries to fight back, but Brainiac blocks and punches him again, flooring him)''
-->'''Brainiac:''' You're hiding from the truth, as if calling yourself Clark Kent changes what you are. You and I are alike in many ways. You hate me because I've found the one thing that you will never know.
-->'''Superman:''' ''(coughing up blood)'' Wh... what?
-->'''Brainiac:''' I am at peace with [[AliensAreBastards what]] [[TheSociopath I am.]] I don't pretend to some false humanity, hoping weaker beings will "accept" me.
-->'''Superman:''' They do accept me... Lois... loves me...
-->'''Brainiac:''' [[PsychicPowers I looked into her mind, Kal-El.]] I saw the truth. She is afraid of you. They ''all'' are.
** Red Son Brainiac, meanwhile, is willing to embrace the comparison.
-->'''Brainiac:''' Don't die calling me a monster, Superman. It is important that you realize you and I are exactly the same kind of creatures.
* OmnicidalManiac: Post-Crisis his Antimatter counterpart took this UpToEleven, attempting to annihilate both the matter and antimatter universes. Since they were, at the time, the only two universes in existence, this would have resulted in the destruction of all creation everywhere.
* OrganicTechnology: Prior to 2008's ''Brainiac'' storyline and the retcon within, the Post-Crisis Brainiac was normally portrayed as a classic robot. Accordingly, his Antimatter Universe counterpart was a genetically engineered organic "syntellect", essentially a supremely-intelligent, vat-grown mind/computer.
* OutGambitted: For all his brilliance, this has happened a few times to him, usually at the hands of Lex Luthor. Most notably in ComicBook/TheBlackRing.
* PlanetDestroyer: In addition to his [[PlanetLooters main motif of bottling up cities and shrinking them]], Brainiac will also destroy planets once he's gotten what he's wanted from them. And at one point in the 2008 ''Brainiac'' story, he blew up a star, causing a supernova strong enough to knock Superman out.
* PlanetLooters: His main gig is bottling up cities and shrinking them. His reasons have varied and normally, the planets he loots aren't so lucky.
* PlutoIsExpendable: In ''Our Worlds at War'', he converts Pluto into a PlanetSpaceship. It's later destroyed when he gets defeated.
* PsychoElectro: Sometimes. As Brainiac 13, he jacked the entire Metropolis powergrid and attempted to electrocute Superman to death with it.
* RasputinianDeath: A necessity to finish him off. The best example is Brainiac 13 in ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar, who was killed by being taken back in time and dropped off at the beginning of the universe, right as the Big Bang occurred, which in the words of Superman "scattered [his] mind across sixty trillion light years." Notably, 13 is Brainiac in his chronologically last known form, so it's perfectly possible that this is what finally kills him for good in the Post-Crisis continuity.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: He was around when Krypton was still in one piece; this makes him several thousand years old at least.
* RetCanon: These days, as of the Comicbook/{{New 52}}, he's much like the ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' version, which is also what most other adaptations' Brainiacs are based on. Apparently he still got started on Colu, but he ''also'' was the Kryptonian AI, and exists in many places under many names (including Earth, as [[spoiler: the Internet]]).
* RobotMaster: The Modern Age version of Brainiac was retconned into being an organic alien behind a horde of robotic probes.
* RoboticPsychopath: In UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks and UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks, though it was more emphasized in some stories than in others. He was also one for much of the Modern Age, before being retconned into being the alien behind the robots. Several adaptations, including ''Superman The Animated Series'' and ''Smallville'' would adapt the original, Post-Crisis version, making him fully robotic.
* RoguesGalleryTransplant: Less prone to this than other villains, and has fairly consistently remained a Superman/Justice League foe, but his various incarnations have clashed with other heroes before. A future version of him ([[TheUnreveal possibly]]) becomes one of the main foes of the Legion of Superheroes is the form of Pulsar Stargrave, Brainiac 6 and Brainiac 8 feuded with The Outsiders, and one his drones managed to capture and bottle the entire Green Lantern Corps early in the ''Rebirth'' continuity, to name a few.
* RubberForeheadAliens: In the stories where he's an actual Coluan, he basically looks human, just with green skin and no hair.
* {{Sadist}}: While largely emotionless, Brainiac does occasionally let it slip that he enjoys causing others pain, being especially prone to a PsychoticSmirk while abducting planets. The ''Smallville'' version was a RoboticPsychopath who was described (with good reason) by the Legion of Superheroes as being infamous for his sadism. Brainiac 13 is particularly sadistic; he could have killed Superman instantly, but took the time to torture him to death, because in his own words: "I have run simulations of your death 1,098,288,546 times; this one is a particular favorite." [[VillainBall His dillydallying directly leads to his defeat.]]
* SecondaryColorNemesis: ''Is'' green, wears purple.
* ShrinkRay: Owner and creator of one of the earliest in sci-fi literature.
* ShootingSuperman: ''Inverted''- the TropeNamer is constantly doing this to ''him'', forgetting that Brainiac's ship-mounted shields are not only basically invulnerable, but often hit back with more energy than they're struck with, damaging or killing the attacker. Superman eventually learns and tries different tactics. PlayedForDrama in ''New Krypton'', where Zod (ignoring Superman's warnings) wastes hundreds of Kryptonian lives in a vain attempt to break through Brainiac's force fields.
* SigilSpam: In some adaptations he puts his symbol on everything of his.
* SkeleBot9000: Brainiac became skeletal in UsefulNotes/{{the Bronze Age|of Comic Books}}, and in some Elseworlds stories, after experiencing a rebirth and absorbing all the knowledge the universe had to offer. His probes in ''Brainiac'' and ''New Krypton'' reference this.
* SmugSnake: Sometimes. Brainiac is an incredibly competent [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] (at times even better than Luthor), but is arrogant, and has great difficulty innovating or dealing with the unexpected. How well he handles this depends on the the writer.
* SoreLoser: Brainiac would sooner blow up the planet than admit defeat.
* StoryBreakerPower: On top of SuperIntelligence eclipsing even Luthor's, Brainiac has SuperStrength and SuperToughness matching or surpassing Superman's, technopathy, an entire army of FlyingBrick robots that can fight Kryptonians, a ship equipped with Kryptonian-killing weapons and shields so powerful that said weapons have no effect on it, a shrink ray that can reduce entire planets and also depower whoever it hits, enormous PsychicPowers, a cloning machine he uses to duplicate or heal himself, the ability to take control of other beings, the ability to heal even after taking grievous wounds, and a ton of other abilities and gadgets. At least one of these will need to be nerfed for the story to work, unless it's a CrisisCrossover event.
** Post-2008, Superman only personally defeats him once without help from the rest of the League. Even then, he had help from Supergirl and Brainiac was given a WeaksauceWeakness he didn't possess before and which hasn't returned since.
** A more specific example is Silver Age Brainiac's force field belt, which made Superman unable to harm him. It was dropped from all subsequent incarnations.
* SquishyWizard: In the Silver Age. His technology was as potent as always, but Brainiac himself had no powers. He made up for this via weaponry- most notably his shrink ray, force-field belt, and headpiece that could do just about anything from [[{{Technopathy}} interface with technology]] to shooting EyeBeams. His later incarnations almost always avert this, being both physically and mentally formidable.
* SuperpowerLottery: As one of the most dangerous villains in the DCU and the ArchEnemy of Superman, he has an impressive repertoire of abilities.
** SuperIntelligence: One of his few consistent powers, whether he's a machine, an alien, or something else completely. A "12th level intellect", Brainiac may well be the most intelligent being in the DC Universe. He's certainly capable of storing and processing trillions of minds worth of information in his data banks and Coluan brain.
** BarrierWarrior: In his early days, his most iconic ability after super-intelligence was his force field generator powerful enough to resist Superman's strength. It's an indication of how much he was identified with it that when his heroic descendant Brainiac 5 debuted in ''Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes,'' he was A) green, B) smart, and C) had an unbeatable force field belt.
** SuperStrength: Probably his most consistent ability after SuperIntelligence. His robotic bodies have inevitably possessed this to one degree or another. The current version is an organic Coluan cyborg who can nevertheless mimic the powers of Kryptonians and other races, most notably, their strength. His Post-Crisis incarnation can overpower Superman, making him one of the physically strongest beings in the DC Universe.
** SuperReflexes: A necessity for going toe to toe with Superman.
** NighInvulnerability: His robotic bodies in UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}, [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]], and [[UsefulNotes/TheModernAgeOfComicBooks Modern Age]] typically possessed some version of this, as does his Coluan self following the events of ''Brainiac''. The latter even refers to Superman's punches as "nothing" while [[SuperStrength his]] punches can easily floor Superman and make him bleed.
** {{Technopath}}: One of his few consistent powers. Brainiac can inhabit and control most forms of technology, enabling him to assemble new bodies for himself with ease, and allowing him to arm himself more and more effectively. It also makes using any sort of technology against him an iffy proposition at best.
** PsychicPowers: When possessing Milton Fine, and to a degree even now.
** {{Telepathy}}: Post-Crisis, he can read minds by touch. The New 52 version takes this up a notch and can only really be defeated by a mental battle with Superman.
** HealingFactor: He heals from injuries remarkably quickly.
** RealityWarper: Both his New 52 self (circa the Doomed arc) and true form in ''Convergence'' are enormously powerful versions of this, seeking to remake the entire universe in their image.
** MindManipulation: He can do this via his technology. Post-Crisis but pre-2008, this one of his main abilities, as he constantly pulled GrandTheftMe to get new hosts.
** EyeBeams: Well ''head'' beams- Silver Age Brainiac could shoot "sizzling shockwaves" from his head piece (e.g. ''Superman #338''), which are so powerful that even [[ShowyInvincibleHero Silver Age Superman]] is in danger of dying from them, describing them as "unbearably painful" and being forced to block them with his cape.
** HandBlast: One of his more rarely shown powers is the ability to discharge energy blasts that can wound even Superman. He abused this ability constantly when possessing Milton Fine, an extension of his PsychicPowers. His DCAU incarnation also used energy blasts a lot.
** ImmuneToMindControl: His twelfth-level intellect is far too powerful for any other psychic to control, hence why none of the League's psychic members are able to immediately defeat him.
** FromASingleCell: If a single line of Brainiac's code survives (whether he's a robot or an organic being who downloaded his mind onto a digital format), he can usually come back. Now that he's been retconned into being an organic being, we'll have to see if this is still the case.
** CombatTentacles / ShockAndAwe: His New 52 and DCAU incarnations could extend mechanical tendrils from their bodies capable of restraining Superman, and channel electricity through them to wound him. As could Brainiac 13. Bronze Age Brainiac and Post-Crisis Brainiac didn't have CombatTentacles themselves, but with their technopathy could manipulate the tendrils on their ship to attack opponents, which they often utilized in battles against Superman.
* SuperiorSpecies: Sees Coluans as superior to all other beings, and himself as superior to his fellow Coluans.
* TangledFamilyTree: Especially in early days, where retcons made it unclear if the future Brainiacs were actually his descendants or not (and in cases where "Brainac is a robot" and "they are his descendants" are both true, how that even worked). Things have gotten better since the Post-Crisis canon solidly confirmed him as an organic Coluan, but it's still complicated.
** '''Brainiac 1''' AKA Vril Dox is the main version of the character, a Coluan scientist and the smartest being in the universe who went rogue and started destroying planets and collecting cities. Originally, Post-Crisis, he was executed by Colu's rulers but managed to transfer his mind to a swarm of nanites that then possessed various bodies. The 2008 retcon implies that version was either a clone, a probe, or just the real Brainiac mentally controlling the bodies the whole time.
** '''Brainiac 2''', AKA Vril Dox II, is a clone of the above (Pre-Crisis, he was an adopted child meant to make the android Brainiac believe he was Coluan- long story), his GoodCounterpart (though still a NominalHero) and founder of L.E.G.I.O.N., predecessor of the Legion of Superheroes.
** '''Brainiac 2.5''' is the name of a body that Brainiac 1 utilized for a few years in real time, later retconned (like all the other previous Brainiacs) as a drone controlled by the real guy.
** '''Brainiac 3''' AKA Lyrl Dox is the son of Vril Dox II (in fact one of only three people of the Brainiac line who is not a robot, a clone, or just Brainiac 1 in another body) and a member of the SpacePolice.
** '''Brainiac 4''' AKA Kajz Dox is the father of Brainiac 5 and a brilliant scientist.
** '''Brainiac 5''', AKA Querl Dox: Great-great grandson of Brainiac, member of the Legion of Superheroes in the 31st century. See [[Characters/LegionOfSuperHeroesSilverAge here.]]
** '''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. Though one Post-Crisis story implied he's the Computer Tyrants who downloaded their consciousnesses into a single organic being.
** '''Brainiac 6''' is the "grandfather" (possibly builder) of Indigo/Brainiac 8, and is a cybernetic being similar to the original Brainiac. Not much is known about him.
** '''Brainiac 8''' AKA Indigo is a gynoid who traveled back to the past and joined the Outsiders as TheMole as part of Brainiac 6's scheme.
** '''Brainiac 13''' is a robot from the 64th century, explicitly stated in both his initial appearance and in the later DC Comics Encyclopedia to be the original Brainiac, upgraded in a new body. Given the 2008 retcon, he's most likely the mind of the original Brainiac (who was actually a clone of the ''real'' original Brainiac), copied and stored on digital format, hidden for thousands of years until it managed to break out and become the BigBad of the 64th century, where Brainiac still fights Superman. Confused yet?
* TechnoDystopia: 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.
* TerrifiedOfGerms: The true Post-Crisis Brainiac was seriously mysophobic, at least in his first appearance; Superman was able to beat him by knocking him into a swamp, which caused full-on SensoryOverload from the sounds and microscopic organisms that severely debilitated and stunned him. This weakness hasn't reappeared since and he's been seen walking around on Earth's surface without trouble, implying he fixed it, but he still dislikes being outside of his ship for longer than strictly necessary.
* TimeTravel: Brainiacs' 5, 8 and 13 have all traveled to the present from their respective futures for varying reasons, invariably involving the original.
* TragicVillain: His interpretation in the ''New 52''. [[spoiler:According to ''ComicBook/SupermanDoomed'', his homeworld and family were destroyed in an invasion from another dimension and Brainiac has been kidnapping species from across the universe to harvest their PsychicPowers in order to recreate his lost home and see his family again.]]
* [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters Turned Against His Masters]]: Brainiac initially desired to destroy his masters, the Computer Tyrants of Colu after they executed him out of fear that Dox was smarter than them and might eventually overthrow them. Though they disintegrated him, his mind survived and reborn as Brainiac.
* UnskilledButStrong: Post-2008. Brainiac is pound-for-pound as strong as Superman and [[EvilIsBigger much bigger,]] meaning he can overpower the Man of Steel and is among the physically strongest beings in the DC Universe. ''However'', despite his vast intellect, he's generally not a skilled fighter (likely due to so few beings in the universe being able to challenge him to begin with), with the 2009 ''Superman Secret Files'' even noting that his style "appears sluggish and lumbering." This is shown quite clearly at the end of the ''Last Stand of New Krypton'' story line; when they're both powered, Brainiac easily trumps Zod, but when they're both depowered, Zod manages to beat down Brainiac despite being a good fifty pounds lighter, boasting that he has a warrior's instincts and skill which Brainiac lacks. Brainiac's not ''completely'' inept however; one of the reasons he was able to [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomp]] the Justice League so easily when possessing Doomsday was that (in Wonder Woman's words) they were expecting to fight a wild animal, while Brainiac actually fought tactically.
* VilerNewVillain: Usually written as the more ''evil'' EvilGenius in Superman's RoguesGallery, regardless of whether he or Luthor is EvilerThanThou. While Luthor is [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]] and motivated by an IrrationalHatred, he's a humanist who often AffablyEvil and has PetTheDog moments. Brainiac, however, is almost always written as a [[AliensAreBastards literally]] and figuratively inhuman foe with zero care for anyone or anything, and who destroys civilizations just to [[ControlFreak keep their information to himself]].
* VillainsNeverLie: In something of an OutOfCharacter moment, he follows this in the Silver Age story "Lana Lang, Superwoman." In this he finds out Superman escaped his clutches and stole and restored his collection of bottled cities while he was in cryosleep. An angry Brainiac comes back to Earth and threatens to destroy it with a planet-busting bomb. Superman still can't do anything against him due to his forcefield belt, so Brainiac, feeling playful, says that if Superman tells Lana and Lois to go to a building where he had a bomb set up and they somehow survived, he would spare the Earth. Thanks to Superman giving them part of his blood, temporarily endowing them with superpowers, they survive it no problem. Brainiac is angry that Superman 'cheated', but Superman responds [[ExactWords Brainiac only said]] he couldn't use his robots or technology to save them, not his blood. Brainiac reluctantly concedes and agrees not to harm the Earth, as he gave his word.
* VillainTeamUp: All the time with Luthor in the Silver and Bronze Ages, to the point where Luthor genuinely seemed to consider the robot a friend. This was entirely one-sided, as Brainiac's possession of Luthor in ''ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow'' would go on to demonstrate.
* VillainousBreakdown: He's prone to doing this when he loses control of a situation, experiencing a spectacular one at the conclusion of ''Brainiac''.
* VillainousFriendship: A Type III with Luthor during UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} and [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]]. Luthor seemed to respect and like Brainiac, but Brainiac was only too willing to betray Luthor, stealing his body in ''ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow''.
* VillainRespect: Brainiac respects knowledge above all. He's disdainful of Superman because "Earth made [him] into a simple brute", but is complimentary of Luthor's SuperIntelligence, considering him the closest thing in the universe to a peer intellect.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: The ''New 52'' has tried to recreate Brainiac as one of these, out to save the universe from destruction by invaders from the 5th dimension. Whether this will stick, no one knows.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Even before he found out he was FightingAShadow, Superman had generally shown a willingness to destroy/kill Brainiac in spite of his ThouShaltNotKill rule.
* WritingAroundTrademarks: A truly bizarre example - Edmund Berkely started selling a primitive rotary switch-based computer called the Brainiac a year before the character debuted in the comics, and when he expressed concern that the character would create confusion over the brand identity, DC actually retconned him into a computer rather than changing his name.
** His name was inspired by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC a different computer]] anyway, so it's a bit less bizarre (or possibly more).
* YouKilledMyFather: Killed Jonathan Kent in ''Brainiac'', as revenge for Superman's defeating him'. [[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.
* YouMonster: Has been on the receiving end of this from Supergirl, Superman, and even Luthor.
* YoureInsane: Numerous characters have called him out on his madness.
----

* BewareTheSkullBase: Evoked with Braniacs's preferred method of traveling the cosmos in a massive, skull-shaped starship that doubles as his base of operations]]. It's [[{{Faceship}} modeled after his face]] from his [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] Skelebot9000 phase.

* BigBadEnsemble: He competed with Lex Luthor, General Lane and General Zod for ''New Krypton''.

* BigBadEnsemble: He competed with Generals Lane and General Zod for ''New Krypton''. While Zod and Lane mainly appose each other Brainiac adds into the mix with his own plans.

* BigBadEnsemble: competed with Luthor and Zod for ''New Krypton''. But unfortunately for him and Zod, Luthor becomes the biggest bad of the story.

[[TheCollector The Collector of Worlds]]. GalacticConqueror. [[PlanetLooters The Terror of Kandor]]. RoboticPsychopath.

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}''

* ''VideoGame/LEGOBatman 3: Beyond Gotham'', voiced by Creator/DeeBradleyBaker

* ''Series/{{Krypton}}'', played by Creator/BlakeRitson