Brainiac is a character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Action Comics #242 (July 1958), and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino. In 2009, Brainiac was ranked as IGN's 17th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.
An extraterrestrial android, Brainiac is a principal foe of Superman, responsible for shrinking Kandor, the capital city of Superman's home planet Krypton which the hero has vowed to restore. Due to complex storylines involving time travel, cloning, and revisions of DC's continuity, several variations of Brainiac have appeared. Most incarnations of Brainiac depict him as a bald (save for a set of diodes protruding from his skull) and green-skinned humanoid.
The character is the origin of the informal eponymous word which means "genius".
Powers and Abilities[]
Brainiac has a "12th level intellect", allowing superhuman calculation abilities, enhanced memory, and advanced understanding of mechanical engineering, bio-engineering, physics, and other theoretical and applied sciences, as well as extensive knowledge of various alien technologies. The character has created devices such as a force field belt and a shrinking ray capable of reducing cities. Brainiac's advanced mental powers have shown him capable of possessing others, transferring his consciousness, creating and manipulating computer systems, and exerting some control over time and space. John Byrne's re-imagining of the character possessed telepathy and telekinesis that were further augmented by an implanted electrode head-piece. The most recent version of Brainiac possesses strength and durability to challenge Superman.