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Querl Dox, or Brainiac 5, was a Coluan member of the Legion of Super-Heroes with a supremely advanced intellect. Although his ancestor Brainiac was a super-villain, Querl strove to atone for the misdeeds of his lineage.

Early Life

Querl Dox was born on the planet Colu. His mother was Brainiac 4, one of his home planet's most famous scientists. She was born unable to feel emotion and arranged to give birth to him in hopes that it would stir maternal instincts in her. Upon delivering him, she found that holding him did nothing, so she abandoned him to continue her research.

Brainiac 5's twelfth-level intellect made him incredibly advanced, even for Coluan standards, as he was speaking full sentences by the time he was an infant and preforming science experiments by a toddler. He was demonized from infancy due to his advanced intelligence and family history, which convinced his caretakers to raise him in isolation. When Brainiac 5 was eleven years old, Coluan officials decided his practical experiments were too dangerous following an incident that resulted in the death of one of his caretakers, so he was sent away to work for R.J. Brande. Brainiac 5 destroyed various laboratories in this time. Brande, one of the richest men in the Galaxy could only pay for so much, so he sent him to work at the Time Institute on Talus.[1]

The Legion

Early Career

When Brande formed the Legion of Super-Heroes, he used the headquarters' lab as an incentive to convince Brainiac 5 to accept his draft. He saved the Earth from the xenophobic White Triangle, then healed Triad, cured Andromeda's lead poisoning; a weakness of all Daxamites. One of the most important inventions was the anti-gravity metal used to construct the Legion Flight Rings.

He developed a crush on Andromeda, but she was seemingly killed in action fighting off racist Daxamites. Seemingly due to his grief, he secluded himself in his lab and began researching time travel, eventually inventing the time pad. It was later implied that his research into time travel stemmed from a hope that he could use it to see his mother again.[2] Later he used the time pad to travel back in time to save the hero Valor and also invented his iconic Force Field Belt to defend himself from Superboy.[3] He was arrested by the United Planets immediately after, however, because time travel was illegal. He was pardoned when R.J. Brande became President of the United Planets following President Chu's arrest.

Stuck in the 20th Century

Brainiac 5 and a handful of his fellow Legionnaires were exiled to the 20th Century by the Emerald Eye of Ekron. During this time, the group met heroes like Impulse and Ferro, and Brainiac 5 was given a pet monkey named Koko, the latter of which he wasn't immediately thrilled about.

With his technological sources limited, it took Brainiac 5 many months to get them home. After infiltrating the Metal Men's headquarters, he attempting to steal one of their Responsometers. He was gifted a Responsometer from Veridium, which he combined with a Mother box and Omnicom to create the sentient computer C.O.M.P.U.T.O.[4] Talks of shutting down C.O.M.P.U.T.O. once it was complete with its job put the AI into a rage, and it subsequently possessed Triad and attempted to take over the world. The Legion was forced to shut it down, much to Brainiac 5's disappointment in the failure of his project.[5]

Heroes' Return

After C.O.M.P.U.T.O.'s defeat, the stranded Legionnaires returned home to the 30th century. Andromeda, now a nun, contacted the Legion in a strange fashion and revealed a space anomaly that had formed from a ruptured Stargate. Brainiac 5 was sent with a team of Legionnaires to investigate it. The anomaly had adverse effects on the different Legionnaires. His force field belt technology was fused to his nervous system, accessible through facial implant disks that also served as "personality inhibitors."[6][7] Referred to as his "upgrade" due to his physical and behavioral changes, Gates began to jokingly call him Brainiac 5.1 and the nickname stuck.

Powers

Abilities

Equipment

Transportation


  • Brainiac 5 is famous for blowing up an extraordinary number of labs in the course of his experiments. His fellow Legionnaires have come to believe that rather than being a series of accidents, this is simply his standard methodology.[8]
  • In secret, Brainiac 5 regularly mildly sabotages the Legion's video gaming equipment, to make gameplay just off enough to infuriate people.[9]
  • Brainiac 5 is also known as Brainiac 5.1.
  • In addition to having a crush on Andromeda, Brainiac 5 had a secret stash of lustful holo-collection featuring Andromeda herself, Dreamer, Spark and another fellow legionary whose alias begins with "In-" (obviously Invisible Kid), and probably others.[10] Before that, in a moment of rare emotional outburst, Brainy kisses Lyle's cheek as he finds him again, and right after he feels embarrassed.[11]
  • The implants Brainiac 5 wears on his face have also been described as being "personality inhibitors."[12]

Related

Footnotes


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Legion of Super-Heroes member
This character is or was a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes from the 30th/31st Century, in any one of their various continuities. Including but not limited to, Original Legion, the Reboot Legion, Prime Legion and the Post-Rebirth Legion.
This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Legion of Super-Heroes members" category.

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