It looks like the best villain for Supergirl is also the one that makes her tragic origin far worse. The intergalactic terror known as Brainiac didn’t only destroy Kara Zor-El’s home, he haunted her dreams well into adulthood.
Cousin to the Man of Steel, Supergirl also came from the planet Krypton and was a resident of the metropolitan Argo City. Like Clark, Kara’s father Zor-El was also a scientist and often worked together with his brother Jor-El. Unfortunately, Krypton’s days were numbered and the brothers both prepared ways for their children to live on after the calamity. Supergirl and her cousin, Superman, were both rocketed to Earth, but because of some difficulties on her journey, Kara wound up in suspended animation and later arrived on Earth after Clark had already become a full grown man.
But Clark and Kara would both wind up getting a blast from their shared past in Action Comics #867 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. Superman has just been in an altercation with Brainiac and is investigating his body along with Supergirl at the Fortress of Solitude. Kara reveals to her cousin that the body is actually just a probe and the Brainiac Supergirl and Superman have fought has never actually been seen before. Kara becomes noticeably shaken describing the horrible acts of Brainiac and the day he stole the city of Kandor from Krypton. Supergirl even lost her best friend among the victims of the villain’s invasion. She tells Superman that Brainiac was practically a boogeyman for Krypton’s remaining days. Supergirl is so perturbed by the menace she likens him to Lex Luthor, saying that Brainiac is bad for aliens in the same way that Luthor gives humanity a bad name.
With Brainiac’s cold nature and destructive streak, Kara is right to be scared. Brainiac is one of Superman’s most evil villains, and the only thing worse than hearing about his universal terrorism is witnessing it up close. Like Superman, Supergirl already has a tragic origin. But the addition of Brainiac gives it a shade of horror that gives Kara’s story a much more unique identity. It’s no shock to any fan how heavily Superman and Supergirl resemble one another, right down to their beginnings escaping the dying world of Krypton. But unlike Clark who, at best, was a few months old at the time of the calamity, Kara was a teenager and lost everything she knew and loved. The destruction of Krypton left Supergirl with trauma that hasn’t been easy for Kara to get over. Throwing Brainiac into the mix doesn’t just make Supergirl’s origin more tragic, it makes it downright terrifying. The survivor’s guilt Kara has from escaping Krypton isn’t brought up often, but it’s there.
The idea that Supergirl so strongly relates those final days to Brainiac only makes it worse that he’s still around to torment the Super Family. Brainiac made Supergirl’s most pivotal moment a thing of nightmares, and hopefully one day she’ll get the opportunity to put it behind her for good.
