The Brain appears as the main antagonist in the third season of the HBO Max series Doom Patrol, voiced by Riley Shanahan.
Publication history
The Brain first appeared in Doom Patrol #86 (March 1964) and was created by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani.[2] Drake later commented: "I used that same concept in a Jerry Lewis comic book, and in a Bob Hope comic I had a totem pole that talked to him. Often times, I wrote the same storylines for the comedy stuff that I wrote for the serious stuff. I just turned it on its head".[3]
Fictional character biography
As a scientist, the Brain performs experiments on animals to raise their intelligence. One of these is on a gorilla, who he names Monsieur Mallah and educates for almost a decade before making him his assistant. His colleague Niles Caulder grows jealous of his work and arranges for the Brain to get caught in an explosion, which destroys his body. Only the brain survives, which Caulder plans on putting into a robotic body. Mallah rescues the Brain, transferring him to a computer network that keeps him functioning.[4]
The Brain and Mallah form the Brotherhood of Evil in hopes of conquering the world and getting revenge on Caulder where it gains members like Madame Rouge, General Immortus, and Garguax.[5] Caulder, now known as the "Chief", through a series of other accidents that he manipulated, forms the Doom Patrol (Caulder's involvement in the events which transformed the Doom Patrol, and the Brain, was a retcon decades after the creation of the Doom Patrol and the Brain; originally the incidents were genuine accidents). The Brain, Mallah, and their Brotherhood's criminal activities also pit them against the Teen Titans. The Brotherhood go against the newly formed Justice League, with the Brain using a genetic splicer to take the Flash's legs, Green Lantern's ring, Black Canary's vocal chords, and Martian Manhunter's eyes.[6] The Brain is defeated by the League and the Doom Patrol, the League using cybernetic implants created by Niles Caulder to compensate for their lost powers. Aquaman is thrown to the Brain, overpowers his control of the ring, and separates the Brain from his makeshift body.[7]
Art from Doom Patrol (vol. 2) #34, by Richard Case.
During Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol run, Mallah places the Brain in Robotman's body. The two confess their love for each other, but Robotman's body activates a defense mechanism and explodes.[8][1]
The two later resurface (the Brain back to floating in a jar), with no explanation of how they survived the explosion. The Brotherhood begins raiding genetic research facilities to create a new body for the Brain.[9][10][11] After a short while the Brain's new clone body begins to break down, so he has Mallah rip off his head and put his brain in another jar.[12]
Brain is later resurrected in The New 52 continuity reboot. In the DC Rebirth relaunch, he temporarily gains reality-manipulating abilities via the Bliss drug.[14][15]
In the Dawn of DC series Unstoppable Doom Patrol, Mallah betrays and kills Brain while the two are fighting General Immortus.[16]
Powers and abilities
The Brain is highly intelligent and a master of manipulation. Furthermore, he possesses telekinesis and temporarily gained reality-manipulating abilities via the Bliss drug.[17][15]
Other characters named Brain
DC Comics previously had other villains named the Brain:
The first villain was a human criminal who earned his nickname for his cleverness and battled by the Seven Soldiers of Victory.[18]
The second villain to use the name Brain was a crime boss who fought Flash.[19]
The third villain to use the name Brain is a crime boss who fought Wonder Woman and manipulated her into questioning her own existence.[20]
The fourth villain to use the name Brain is a criminal mastermind who fought Superman.[21]
Brain was also the alias used by three identical brothers who commit crimes while the city has been distracted by three giant boxes they have placed in each other after a fog has descended on the city, which the authorities try to open. The Flash jails the first two as they attempt robberies with clever tricks, like a tightrope which the first one cuts and spring-heeled shoes, and jails the last one when he attempts a bank robbery by draining his live wire suit with which he intended to break his brothers out with silver. It is then revealed the last box led into the bank vault.[clarification needed][22]
The Brain appears in Doom Patrol, voiced by Riley Shanahan.[25] This version has had several encounters with the eponymous team, with one seeing him using his Ultimax form before Steve Dayton claimed his robotic body, though the Brain escaped. In the present, the Brain tasks Madame Rouge with attacking the Doom Patrol and stealing Robotman's body for him as her initiation into the Brotherhood of Evil. After taking control of the body however, Monsieur Mallah leaves him before Robotman gains control of Brain's brain jar and discarded giant robot and defeats him. After salvaging Robotman's body, Rita Farr kills Brain.
The Brain appears in My Adventures with Superman, voiced by Jesse Inocalla.[24][26] This version is a kind-hearted but short-tempered German scientist who originally worked for Project Cadmus until Task Force X raided the Brain's base, which resulted in the latter's body being destroyed, though his namesake and heart were saved.
The Young Justice incarnation of the Brain appears in issues #18 and #19 of the Young Justice tie-in comic book series.[32] This version was originally among a group of scientists, led by an old woman who would become the Ultra-Humanite, who settled in Bwunda to conduct experiments on the native gorillas before having his brain transplanted into a robotic container. After building Gorilla City, the scientists enslaved the gorillas, enhanced their intellect with Kobra venom, placed inhibitor collars on them, and took their offspring hostage. Two years later, the scientists are pursued by the Team, who form an alliance with the gorillas. Despite destroying Gorilla City and freeing the offspring, the Brain and Ultra-Humanite escape.
^Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 54. ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
^Browning, Michael (July 2013). "The Doom Patrol Interviews: Arnold Drake". Back Issue! (#65). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 41.
^Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. pp. 38–39. ISBN0-8160-1356-X.
^Wells, John (2015). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-64. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 180. ISBN978-1605490458.
^ abcdefg"Brain Voices (Teen Titans)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved April 9, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
