Brainiac's History
On the distant planet of Colu, a race of green-skinned humanoids with an average 6th-level intelligence manufactured a supercomputer built to simulate a 10th-level intelligence. Unfortunately, the Coluans realized too late that their creation was made too well. Along with artificial intelligence, they had given the supercomputer the gift of sentience, and the ability to simulate all the malice and vice of sentient biological creatures. Replicating itself multiple times over after enslaving the Coluan race, this supercomputer and its identical copies became the feared and merciless Computer Tyrants.
Seeking to expand their dominion over other worlds inhabited by sentient carbon-based lifeforms, the Computer Tyrants decided to manufacture their own creation, as the Coluans had manufactured them. The Computer Tyrants' "son," in a manner of speaking, would be a "living computer," built of synthetic parts and mechanical systems yet possessing the mind and physical appearance of a Coluan scientist. It was not simply enough for their construct to appear humanoid though; he would also have to be capable of thinking and acting like one of the biologics. As such, the Computer Tyrants uploaded the brain-engrams of a dying Coluan scientist to accomplish the feat of granting their android a human personality. They also tentatively considered altering the configuration of their creation's functional components to grant him 12th-level intelligence, but reconsidered and dialed it back to 10th-level in order so that he would not be able to outwit and overthrow them as they had done to their creators. To complete their project, the Computer Tyrants gave their creation a name: Brainiac; and a prime directive: to scout out inhabited worlds from around the universe and gather knowledge and cultural artifacts from each visit. In the service of this mission, Brainiac used the Hyper-Ray, a beam which could reduce matter in size, to minimize and encapsulate the bustling urban centers of the planets he happened upon. In addition, to complete Brainiac's "human" persona, the Computer Tyrants forced a Coluan boy named Vril Dox into Brainiac's cold guardianship, rechristening the lad as Brainiac 2.
After using Brainiac's technology to boost his own mental ability to 12th-level intelligence, Brainiac 2 escaped his artificial adoptive father and returned to his homeworld, leading a rebellion which destroyed the Computer Tyrants and returned Colu's destiny to the Coluans. This act would positively distinguish the Brainiac lineage among the people of Colu, and Brainiac 2's descendants would inherit this legacy of prestige and honor, in addition to the Brainiac title and the trait of 12th-level intelligence. Nonetheless, the original Brainiac's mission continued. Before the destruction of Krypton, Brainiac reduced and absconded with the great Kryptonian city of Kandor,which was once the planet's capital. This had the effect of sealing Krypton's doom, as Jor-El had begun construction on a space-ark in the city to potentially evacuate a section of the Kryptonian race before the cataclysm struck. Brainiac would amass quite a collection of bottle cities, as well as a veritable arsenal of hi-tech weaponry. On one unknown planet, Brainiac found a primitive monkey-like alien animal, which became his pet Koko. Brainiac also terrorized other worlds for little reason other than to prove his superiority. He had subjugated the barbaric planet Kordos with an army of android duplicates, placed a satellite in the orbit of Altair-3 to permanently eclipse its sun, enslaved the population of a third world, and unleashed a horde of monsters upon the natives of a fourth. At one point, Brainiac attempted to invade the Vega system, but he was driven off by the Citadel.
Brainiac returned to Krypton a second time after shrinking Kandor. Brainiac abducted Superbaby and took him to his alleged home planet of Bryak, which orbited a yellow sun. Young Kal gained superpowers and caused wanton destruction on Bryak, and Brainiac was forced to agree to let him fly his spacecraft back to Krypton. Superbaby was dropped off back at home, with Jor-El being none the wiser. Brainiac vowed revenge on Krypton but never returned.
Brainiac elaborately lied to young Kal about his origins, claiming to be the former ruler of a dead planet named Bryak. The purpose for stealing and bottling cities was ostensibly to repopulate his home, and rule them
