fivepointno: (emotional as a robot)
fivepointno ([personal profile] fivepointno) wrote2013-07-14 01:21 pm
Entry tags:

Zodion App


✖ PLAYER:
Name & DW Journal: Kai ([Bad username or unknown identity: ”kaiyamazaki”]
Birthdate & Age: 30th September, 31
Characters played in Zodion: Tim Drake-Wayne

✖ CHARACTER:
Name: Brainiac 5 (real name Querl Dox, but he literally never uses it and neither does anyone else)
Canon: Legion of Superheroes the animated series
PB/Image: http://i.imgur.com/NiY8MDN.png
Info links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainiac_5#Legion_of_Super-Heroes_animated_series
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_of_Super_Heroes_%28TV_series%29

Canon Point: Post season 2
Gender & Sex: Male and male.
Age: There aren't any specific ages given for characters during the series, but they start off season one as teenagers around Clark's age, and he's setting off for his job as a copy boy at the Daily Planet when they come to ask him for help, so he's probably around 18. Brainy is the youngest member of the Legion, and looks it, but then he's also an alien robot so it's hard to judge his age accurately, especially since he's still kind of short in season 2, which takes place 2 years later, and during which he has obviously grown up, with a more physically mature appearance. Assuming that Brainy is meant to be a year or two younger than Clark, with the time skip and some time given for the events of season 1 and 2 to actually happen in, I'd put him at 18.

Birthdate/Sign: Non-canon – Aquarius, February 16th. I picked Aquarius for Brainy as he is, well, brainy – he's highly intelligent, and always experimenting and inventing things, such as the Legion flight rings, and the AI that runs the Legion computer systems, Computo. He has separated himself from the Coluan hivemind in order to seek independence and become truly individual, more like a human. He can be sarcastic to the point of rudeness when dealing with people, and his logical approach and lack of understanding when it comes to human emotions and behaviour can make him seem cold and detached. He deeply values his friends, however, and he's willing to sacrifice himself to protect them, especially Superman. This protectiveness has lead to him watching Clark over security cameras, and continually checking up on him via communicator, which displays his slight voyeuristic tendencies and need for control.

As much as he admires Superman and is his friend, and would do anything for him, he also keeps secrets from him, ostensibly to protect the integrity of the timeline by preventing Superman from returning to his own time with knowledge that he shouldn't have. But it's also partly because he doesn't want Superman to know that he's descended from a major villain, the one responsible for destroying Krypton in this continuity – it gets revealed during season 2, and he admits that he was scared that Superman would be angry with him over it. He also lashes out at Superman during that revelation, and it's really their first major fight, with some major consequences. It reveals a lack of confidence that Brainy has in himself, which isn't always obvious since he can come off as arrogant about his 12th level intelligence, but it's his humanity and heroism that he lacks confidence in.

Tattoo: About an inch in diameter, on the inside of his right wrist.

Suitability: Although he's constantly referred to as a robot or android in the series, and seems to have a predominantly robotic body, Brainy is definitely alive, and the tie-in comic confirms that Coluans are partly biological. It's never really made clear exactly how that works, but they're descended from Brainiac 1.0 through an organic ancestor somewhere along the line, and it's probably similar to the main comics continuity. So despite the fact that he's only just become a fully organic real boy, it's likely that Brainy did have the ability to have sex before. He may well have had a robo-dick under his armor, is what I'm saying, but all his robo-boners were reserved for Kryptonians, particularly Supermans. While he doesn't have a romantic relationship in the show per say, he does make holographic simulations where he gets to heroically sacrifice himself and die in Superman's arms, and that's just the one we get to see. He may not have had sex, but he's mature enough to think about it, and approach it responsibly. The major issue he's going to have is coping with his new human body and all that that involves.

Power: Originally, Brainy could create forcefields, interact with machines, regenerate and transform himself to a limited degree; however, these were all linked to his robotic body, and now that he's a human, his only remaining power would be his intelligence. It's kind of debatable whether that's actually a power as such, but he has used it to invent various things, come up with plans, gain insight into situations, and approach things logically. Sometimes too logically. It's not an excessively destructive power, and it isn't faultless at saving the day, but if it needs to be locked down to a lower level, it's fairly easy to do so, ad Brainy will just realise that he feels dumber.

Personality: Brainiac 5 has a fairly complex personality. He has a 12th level intelligence, which is unusual even for Coluans, who have an average of a 9th level intelligence – and the entirety of 31st century Earth is the equivalent to a 9th level intelligence. While he is proud of this intelligence, having used it to invent the flight rings that all the Legion use, along with their computer system Computo and various other things, the fact is that it made him stand apart from others even on his home world. While all Coluans begin their education in utero and advance through high school and university very quickly, Brainy skipped straight to university at age five and completed his education at an extremely early age. There is also an implication that, like his comics canon counterpart, he was abandoned at birth by his mother; though this isn't explicitly stated, he simply doesn't talk about his family when visiting Colu with his friends, and goes straight to see his mentor instead. This isolation and feeling of being apart from everyone wasn't helped when he left Colu to join the Legion - something the Coluan Hive Mind was against - since he was still far more intelligent than his team mates, and also the youngest and the least emotionally open. He is, though, the most emotional Coluan we see, and he greatly values his individuality. One of his greatest fears, as shown in the episode Fear Factory, is to be forced to reintegrate with the Hive Mind and lose his individuality. He was able to face this fear and overcome it, though he was destroyed in the process and had to be restored from a back up disc. This showed his great determination and willpower, both things he has developed in part because of his hero-worship of Superman, though he has moved beyond being simply a fanboy and into a friend, and his own, strong hero.

It is never really said how or why Brainy developed such a strong admiration for Superman, but it could be connected back to his feelings about his ancestor, the original Brainiac. Superman is the one, legendary hero who continually defeated the original Brainiac in his attempts to erase humanity. Brainiac 5 doesn't want to be anything like his ancestor, and is afraid of becoming like him and continuing the destructive legacy of the Brainiac name - and so he rebels and tries to be as much like Superman as he can, following his ideals and morals instead, which influenced his decision to join the Legion and become a hero. He initially has a deep hero worship complex about Superman, which is shown in the early episodes as he is very clearly happy to meet Clark, and more emotionally open, expressive and trusting of him than any of his team mates. The first time he is as sarcastic and distant with Clark as he is with anyone else is during episode three of season one, after Clark acts irresponsibly by turning off his communicator and Brainy is injured as a result. This is the first real evidence Brainy has that Clark is not an absolutely perfect, flawless, legend made flesh, but can be as selfish and careless as any other human being – and it's something he has to accept, because he's still Superman, and it's how he acts despite the potential for selfishness that makes him a true hero.

Over the course of the series, their friendship develops into something more balanced and mutual, more honest, though Brainy chooses to keep a lot of secrets from Clark, for the sake of both the timeline and himself. He doesn't tell Clark about his weakness to magic, or red sunlight, or the existence of kryptonite - or the truth about his ancestor. All of these come as surprises to Clark over the course of the series, to reactions of varying severity. He therefore knows that Brainy is keeping things from him, but still trusts him. This causes Brainy internal conflict and guilt, but he is not only acting on the logic of preserving the timeline, but in some cases on the fear of how Superman will treat him if he finds out about the original Brainiac's actions. He values Clark's friendship deeply, to the point where it's hard not to read it as more than platonic. J. Torres, the writer for the Legion of Superheroes and the 31st Century spin-off comic, had this to say in an interview on World's Finest:

"WF: Fans sometime turn to the comic book spin-offs to see some of their favorite characters pair up in a romantic context. Legion of Super Heroes had a unique relationship that many fans were hoping to see expanded upon - Brainiac 5 and Superman. Any thoughts on why fans took to that pairing, could have it been explored in any further context, or could it have been done realistically at all? Do you have any thoughts on that relationship, or one you were looking to explore?
JT: I definitely wanted to explore Brainy's "man crush" on Superman more. I also wanted to add Supergirl into the mix at one point and do some fun stuff with that "love triangle." I don't know if Brainy's love for Superman was of the romantic type, but then again, he has a 12th level intellect and his concept of platonic love versus romantic love is probably more complex than we could understand. I don't think we could accurately define it with our 21st century labels, nor would I necessarily want to in the context of this comic book."

Brainy, of course, is still very emotionally introverted and socially inept, although he slowly learns how to open up more and makes friends with his team mates, learning from them how to improvise, and how to trust others and work together. Plus, he knows that Clark is destined to end up with Lois, so logically speaking, pursuing anything romantic would be inadvisable. It's just lucky that Clark is terminally oblivious to crushes people have on him, even when he goes inside their minds and inspires them into a crowning moment of triumph by never giving up on them and saying they have the biggest heart he's ever seen. Seriously, Clark.

After this mental battle caused Brainy to reject his ancestor's programming, and his robotic parts... somehow, he says that he “was emotional as a robot... imagine me as a human.” He decides to leave the Legion until he can sort out all of his new feelings, and until he can bring himself to face the other Legionnaires after everything he did under Brainiac 1.0's influence. He's overcome his demons, faced the potential for evil within himself, and come out a hero – but he had to go through almost losing himself, feeling that he was going insane, and hurting the very people he cares most about before he got there. Even though he won in the end, becoming more confident in himself, and everything was restored, he's understandably subdued, and still feels conflicted and guilty.

Brainy values logic and science, and is continually inventing things and upgrading the Legion HQ systems. He tried to explain magic scientifically until presented with irrefutable proof, and was still unhappy to admit it could exist. He is a little more attracted to people of a scientific mindset; his attitude to Shrinking Violet changed to a far more positive one once he learned that she had studied some obscure scientific fields that her ability to shrink could be used to aid.

✖ SAMPLES:
"Zodion" First-Person Network Entry: [The video feed clicks on to show someone who appears to be in his late teens, with short blond hair spiked upwards, green eyes... and green skin. He has three white circular markings on his forehead, and regards the camera on his communicator sceptically, arching an eyebrow. Such primitive technology, really.]

This device resembles those in use on Twenty-first Century Earth, but I take it that that's not where - or when - I am, despite the similarly old-fashioned architecture.

[Besides, if he was on Earth back in the Twenty-first Century, he could just call Clark for help instead of talking to... whoever he's talking to on this thing.]

I understand that my twelfth level intelligence will undoubtedly be of great assistance in combating the threat to this world, but it would help if you could be a little more specific about what this threat actually is, and I would have appreciated being asked to help before getting transported between universes. Which, by the way, should not be undertaken casually, as there are many dangers and potential consequences to consider.

Also – [he holds his wrist up to the camera, revealing an Aquarius tattoo, and frowns in annoyance] marking me without my consent or knowledge is unacceptably rude. I don't believe in the fortune telling connotations of the zodiac, and I certainly don't believe in any gods, so asking me to worship any one of you is a request I cannot comply with.

[Oh right, ahem. His tone gets less caustic.] I realise that I am communicating with a network of similarly displaced beings, but since this also seems like the most easily available, if not reliable form of communicating with those calling themselves the Twelve, that is who the majority of my remarks have been directed towards. Allow me to introduce myself to the rest of you – I am Brainiac 5.

"Zodionlogs" Third-Person Prose Entry: Even when he was mostly robotic, Brainiac 5 had been able to feel things, sensations such as pain, but he's still getting used to how much more he can feel as a human. Waking up with a cold stone surface underneath his back is a strange way to add to this learning process, and not an especially pleasant one, since his right wrist is also stinging painfully. And... glowing, which is unusual, since his human form has never displayed any bioluminescent tendencies before. Then again, it is very new, and a Coluan has never transformed into a human being before, as far as he knows – but both the pain and the glow subside as he sits up and looks at his wrist. They leave in their wake a pale blue marking, and it takes him a moment to place it, but – he's ninety-nine percent certain that it's the symbol associated with the Earth zodiac sign called Aquarius. What it's doing on him, he has no idea, but it seems highly likely that it's due to an outside force.

That likelihood increases as he takes in his surroundings, the old Earth style temple, and the zodiac themed paintings on the domed ceiling. He's not in New Metropolis any more, that's for sure. His bags are nowhere to be seen, but at least he still has his clothes, and he gets up and moves over to the nearby podium. The device that's been left for him seems... interesting, but first he decides to read the note, scanning over the words quickly. So, apparently he's been brought here by the Twelve – twelve zodiac signs, twelve entities, that's obvious. That they can pull him out of his world and into this one through the multiverse without any obvious equipment being around when he arrived is... interesting, and worrying, but it's not like they're wrong about his intelligence. And he's used to fighting seemingly overpowering enemies to save the universe, so he's prepared to fight them to protect another universe as well – he would just have preferred it if they'd actually asked him first.

As for worshipping, well, that seems irrelevant, but he supposes that so-called gods would say that they rely on such a frivolous thing for strength. They'll just have to make do with his help, but without the worship being involved.

“Now, then... let's take a look at you.” He picks up the device and looks at it carefully, tapping the screen and working out all the functions. It seems simple enough besides the mysteriously locked Dollars application, basic even, but perhaps a little too basic – too old-fashioned. If all the technology here is so primitive, it's going to take some getting used to, even after all his research on the Twenty-first Century. And he doesn't even have his lab equipment here to help.