World of Legends The New DC RPG: Character Application:
Character Name: Brainiac
Alignment (Hero, Villain, Walking the Line): Villain
Character Speech Color and Font (actually say what it is, like Blue Comic Sans): Font "Arial Black," color Dark Green
Powers and Abilities:
Brainiac is the most intelligent being in the known universe, in possession of the only known "12th-Level Intellect" in existence. This grants him unparalleled knowledge of all sciences, from biology to quantum physics, which allows him to create technology far beyond even the most advanced competitors. In addition, over the course of eons, Brainiac has absorbed the accumulated knowledge of thousands of inhabited worlds, their entire histories and cultures known only to him. The AI's intelligence is so vast that he can accurately predict interactions with future incarnations of himself, and has repeatedly allied or combated against multiple Brainiac duplicates from either the present day or the far future. It has been also been theorized, though not confirmed, that Brainiac may be able to directly interact with iterations of himself from parallel universes.
Brainiac's intelligence can transfer itself into myriad physical frames, often with wildly varying physical abilities and technological enhancements. He can appear as a cyborg with a nigh-impenetrable force field, a self-replicating swarm of nanomachines, a 'possessed' human with telekinetic powers, and countless other forms in between. Most commonly, his 'Coluan' form has been augmented beyond superhuman, allowing him physical strength, speed, and durability that can overcome even a fully-powered Kryptonian, so long as he is still inside his ship-- if severed from the ship, this form's power drains quickly.
Brainiac's ship, also under constant reinvention but typically in the shape of a humanoid skull with squid-like tentacles, is equipped with a terrifying arsenal of energy weapons, protected by layers of force fields, and storing an army of powerful cybernetic drones, capable of holding off all but the most powerful of attackers. Worse still are its primary weapons: a trans-dimensional 'shrink ray' that can encase entire cities inside a miniaturized pocket universe in a 'bottle,' and an array of missiles that can cause entire stars to go supernova. These two weapons are what allow Brainiac to slaughter his way across the cosmos, capturing swaths of civilization before exterminating the worlds he finds.
The vastness of his intelligence, along with the incredible range of his adaptability and sheer power of his weaponry, make Brainiac one of the deadliest threats to life in the entire universe.
Character Origin/Backstory:
(Pieced together from often-retconned Post-Crisis continuity)
Eons ago, the people of the planet Colu were besieged by a cabal of powerful and hostile artificial intelligences, known as the Computer Tyrants. In a desperate attempt to overthrow the oppressive AIs, a scientist named Vril Dox began to augment himself, enhancing his body and brain into something powerful enough to depose the Tyrants. The result, however, was something far worse than his enemies could have ever been....the malevolent cyborg Brainiac.
While the exact history of events is known only to Brainiac himself, at some point Vril Dox destroyed the Computer Tyrants and imposed rule over Colu, before turning his attention to the stars. Over the course of millions of years, Brainiac ventured into the depths of space, seeking knowledge and information about life on other worlds. Upon finding an inhabited planet, the cyborg AI would gather all possible data on the world and its people, forcefully capturing a population sample for later experimentation, then bring about the planet's destruction.
One such world in Brainiac's path of destruction was the hyper-advanced planet of Krypton, as the AI added the legendary city of Kandor to his monstrous collection of 'bottle cities,' before igniting the red star of Rao to destroy the world. This was one of the precious few worlds where Brainiac's global annihilation was incomplete, as a handful of Kryptonians managed to survive the cataclysm in some form or fashion.
Brainiac's efforts were truly frustrated for the first time on a relatively unimportant world inhabited by Third-level primates who called their planet 'Earth.' First appearing on this world as a projected intelligence into the mind of a psychic named Milton Fine, Brainiac's efforts to capture and destroy this otherwise unremarkable world were repeatedly stopped by an unforeseen remnant of an earlier conquest: the Kryptonian Kal-El.
Time and time again, through various forms and incarnations, alone or acting with allies (most notably the second-most intelligent mind Brainiac has encountered, the human Lex Luthor), Brainiac's efforts to absorb Earth's data before destroying it have resulted in apparent failure. However, Brainiac is relentless, and will stop at nothing to achieve his final goal. Not even being imprisoned and nearly destroyed by a tribunal of future Brainiacs has stayed the AI's unyielding, unmerciful hand.
The sum knowledge and power of Earth and all of its people will inevitably belong to Brainiac. Once this data is collected, the planet's destruction will commence, as it has with every world he has visited. Brainiac will accept nothing less.
Why this character?
A: We need a villain, and Brainiac's one of the best.
B: It'll give me a look at the Superman mythos from a different perspective.
C: Sabe beat me to Supes himself.
What can you bring to the RPG?
A terrifying villain with end-of-the-universe plans.
Provide a short sample post as your desired character, in three paragraphs or more and featuring at least one line of dialogue:[/QUOTE]
"Kao Regna, denizen of planet 442-66-818. Designated by its dominant species as--"
"Arulo, you filth!" the creature on the operating table spits, its bright orange saliva splattering against my face. Within an instant, a microscopic swarm of nanites, imperceptible to the Arulan's crude optic sensors, collect each molecule of the saliva as bio-matter for study, as I continue.
"Arulo, yes. Fourth-level technology, though still reliant on scarcity based economics. A caste-based society, which placed the highest social status among warriors. Warriors who, I may add, failed to adapt their tactics or their technology in response to a single probe. Such cultural conservatism allowed your species to be annihilated with little effort."
"Monster!" the creature rages.
"My people, my world, all dead, and for what?!"
"For knowledge," I answer, carefully surveying the surgical tools laid out by the table.
"If it is any consolation, your people's history, as flawed and inferior as it may have been, is now preserved in my memory banks, as well as the brainwave patterns of every inhabitant in that world."
I pick up the scalpel, inspecting the atom-thin blade for imperfections and finding none.
"In preserving the brainwaves of your people, you may believe I have granted them a form of immortality," I say-- I have learned that with the chemically volatile brains of lesser beings, it often helps to offer some form of comforting to ease their emotional state.
"Would you like to know the thoughts of your family, Kao Regna?"
The creature looks at me with a mix of horror, confusion, and longing. As offended and enraged as he is, he also wishes dearly to know.
"Your mate. Your offspring. In their final moments...." I say as I make the first incision,
"....they were screaming."
