So, Brainiacs powers number so many I could fill a Grocery list.
Seriously I’ve never seen a character with this much variety in his powers.
I suppose we’ll chalk that up to the character having so many different iterations and evolutions
over the years.
Point is, there’s definitely going to be some you’ve never heard of, so here’s
our top ten.
10.
12th Level Intellect
Brainiacs alien race, The Coluans utilize a numerical level intellect system to rank
intelligence.
The average Coluan ranks at an Eighth level intellect, but Brainiac's family line has
always been above average even among Coluans, holding claim to a twelfth level intellect.
In the Justice League Unlimited Episode “Destroyer”, Metron claimed that “only a 12th level intellect
could have the slightest hope of solving the Anti-Life Equation and survive.”
So, in theory, this is the guy for that!
9.
He Was Stargrave
So Brainiac briefly appeared as the character Pulsar Stargrave.
According to him, he had once been just a scientist studying a star when his life support
failed.
Forced into drug-induced suspended animation as a result, he was found by aliens who teleported
him into a nearby star at the moment of a super-nova.
His mind fused with the exploding plasma and the supernova collapsed into a pulsar with
a living heart.
All of that sounds really great in theory, and in his first appearance, he was actually
invulnerable.
However, that is no longer the case, and one punch from Superboy is capable of doing him
in.
Cool power.
Not so cool execution.
8.
Self Sustenance
As if being a genius God who can’t be hurt by Superman wasn’t enough, as a machine,
Brainiac never needs to eat or drink.
His body is entirely self-sustaining, and really, if it’s a lengthy battle, that’s
where he has the edge, if he didn’t already.
Man it would be really great if he could share some of these powers with the rest of us.
7.
Regeneration
So long as one line of code of Brainiac remains, he is able to completely regenerate himself.
So not unlike Cell from Dragon Ball Z, if you ever want to destroy Brainiac, you have
to destroy every last piece of him, lest you risk his return.
And knowing Brainiac, he has made contingency plans for his failure.
I mean he’s a genius, would you expect anything else?
6.
Superstrength Capable of Surpassing Super Man
So, Brainiacs strength has actually varied significantly depending on the incarnation.
Initially, he had no superpowers to speak of, and fought with gadgets and technology.
But during the Post-Crisis events, Brainiac 5 warns Superman that he would most likely
die against Brainiac in a simple battle.
It turned out that Brainiac was actually a Coluan who had been using mentally controlled
probes to fight, and that the real brainiac was actually physically more powerful than
even Superman.
Which, is pretty much the only kind of villain who COULD go up against Superman and make
the fight interesting.
Still, to be so much more powerful than the man of steel, that’s a feat if ever there
was one.
5.
He Briefly Was The Most Powerful Being In The Universe
So, at one point, the forces of entropy nearly destroyed Doomsday, but he was taken to safety
by Vnok and returned to Colu.
Brainiac then transferred his consciousness into Doomsday's body, making him the most
powerful being in the universe.
However, because of Doomsday's chaotic mind, Brainiac's Will would eventually lose control,
and Brainiac was forced to find another body to inhabit.
Brainiac DID try to inhabit the body of Lana Langs newborn child so he could use Doomsdays
DNA to create another Doomsday body for himself, but Brainiac was forced out of Doomsdays body
by Superman and made to occupy the robotic body of Brainiac 2.5.
Probably for the best given how Brainiac with a Doomsday body would have been near unstoppable.
4.
Possession
So, not only has Brainiac possessed the body of Doomsday, he’s also at times possessed
the body of Lex Luthor, and Chloe from Smallville.
And really, if you didn’t need more reasons to be afraid of Brainiac, the sudden crazed
intellect of an alien being possessing your body and using you as he sees fit, is more
than enough to make you lose sleep at night.
Ugh, no thank you.
3.
Smallville Powers
The Smallville iteration of Brainiac has some interesting uses for these powers, particularly
he can manipulate minerals, which enables him to change their size, shape, density and
mass.
He was able to turn an ordinary rock into silver kryptonite, which induced paranoia
in Clark Kent.
He could also drain trace metals out of humans, which would end with the humans death.
Brainiac was also able to use his tendrils to paralyze and control humans, so that they’d
be in a state of pain but completely aware of what they were doing.
Geez, this version of Brainiac is just creepy.
2.
He’s Nearly A God Now As if being the most powerful being in the
universe wasn’t enough.
Despite the fact that the universe was rebooted during the Crisis On Infinite Earths, Pre-Crisis
Brainiac managed to escape it, and had mutated from the subsequent crises, becoming a being
with godlike powers.
Now possessing the ability to warp universes and time travel, he somehow came into contact
with all the different iterations of himself throughout the multiverse, and at the end
of the Convergence story arc, he recreates the DC Multiverse.
Yeah, this is no ordinary Brainiac anymore.
1.
Intimidation
Perhaps not a super power, but a power nonetheless, Brainiac is able to use his incredible power
and unwavering ruthlessness to intimidate those across the many galaxies.
Brainiac is feared by many powerful foes, including General Zod and MOngul, who refuse
to face him or oppose him in any capacity.
And if Zod is unwilling to fight you, that really says it all doesn’t it?
And that concludes our list on Brainiac.
I bet you think there’s some more obscure powers given how long this guys list is.
So let me know which ones you know that I clearly don’t know!
Have a good one!