Brainiac 5: Needless Character Analysis
Lately, the urge to share some Legion of Super-Heroes love has been overwhelming. So far, the only Legionnaires to get Needless Character Analysis have been ladies, so it’s time for one of the guys to get a chance. Whenever the Legion is described, one of the members that is instantly attached to it, probably more than the founders, is Brainiac 5.
For the purposes of this character analysis, we are referring to the original, Pre-Crisis Brainiac 5.
Brainiac 5
Querl Dox is the 30th century descendant of the adopted son of the original Brainiac. He inherited his ancetor’s twelfth level intelligence. This intelligence drew him to Earth’s time institute where he was a primary inventor of the time bubble that eventually let the Legion travel back to the 20th century to recruit Superboy. His involvement with the Legion inspired him to join the team in its early years, at the same time another 20th century hero joined, Superboy’s cousin Supergirl. In reference to his ancestor, he named himself Brainiac 5.
Among his inventions are his force field belt, the Legion flight ring (with fellow legionnaire Invisible Kid), and the serum that protects fellow Legionnaire Mon-El from lead poisoning common to Daxamites. He also invented the computer tyrant known as Computo which nearly enslaved the Earth and is responsible for killing one of Triplicate Girl’s bodies. Brainiac 5 eventually reprogrammed Computo as a majordomo for a redesigned Legion Headquarters.
The strain of his intelligence and overwork once drove Brainiac 5 to insanity, during which he created a creature called Omega that sought to destroy the universe. Brainiac 5 recovered from this with the help of the Legionnaires. Prior to this , he had brief bout with a subconscious form of insanity that drove him to create a robotic duplicate of Supergirl due to a strong romantic attachment he had developed with the 20th century heroine. This relationship often frustrated him and showed a much more human side to his character.
Brainiac 5 served a term as Legion leader, and later a term as Element Lad’s Deputy Leader. Often leading Legion missions, Brainiac 5 has demonstrated himself to be an excellent leader, mostly due to his brilliant deductive reasoning, although he has demonstrated an arrogance at times to his fellow Legionnaires.