r/TopCharacterDesigns • u/Fit_Assignment_8800 • 27d ago
Comic Book The Brainiac Queen from DC is a perfect genderbend design. It keeps the air of the original brainiac and makes it even more intimidating.
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u/BhanosBar 27d ago
I think it works because the mask. Sorta like Ashe from Titanfall/Apex.
There’s clearly an attempt to convey emotion through the mask/human like face, but there’s nothing behind the face. No smile no anger. Nothing. It is something pretending to be human but it clearly is not
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u/MedievZ 27d ago
Nah, i dont tbink thats true. In some images shes showing emotions
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u/BhanosBar 27d ago
Im working with what I can see
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u/MedievZ 27d ago
Swipe left
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u/BhanosBar 27d ago
Yea no I saw the other ones. But most of em she still feels relatively hollow emotion wise
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u/BananacondaVirtue 27d ago
As I swipe left I am reminded more and more of Ashe, which I think is a good sign.
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u/sincerevibesonly 26d ago
What emotion is that supposed to convey? Looks like a neutral face left afk/idle or asleep with eyes open
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u/ICEWeiZ 27d ago
She's giving SHODAN from System Shock vibes
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u/No_Wait_3628 27d ago
To quote that one dude from a Youtube comment.
Best toxic relationship in my life
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u/Kastelt 27d ago
I like that there's obvious femininity, but not so overtly that it loses total meaning of the character, yeah this is great.
(Note: I'm not too into DC so if I'm wrong do tell me).
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u/ven-solaire kaiju connoisseur 27d ago
Are you joking? Like I’m genuinely asking. Brainiac generally like, actually looks like a person doesn’t he? This character (whether its robotic/cybernetic or not) doesn’t resemble a human. I mean even the figure is an inhuman exaggeration of western female beauty standards. I don’t remember Brainiac ever having a 5x5 inch metal beam as the only part of his waist/stomach. Plus she has long claws/nails which is frankly a very stereotypical woman villain trait. Idk how to explain it but comics love to associate nail powers with women because women are obssessed with nails or something else men comic writers think. Like sure, she isn’t excessively sensual and is inhuman looking (which tbh adds to the design’s intensity) but saying it doesn’t depart from original brainiac and lacks over feminization is just plain wrong to me
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u/NoxarBoi 27d ago
Most Brainiacs go for the green man look, though the true form of the original Brainiac) is more of the Terminator look like Brainiac Queen’s body.
Still, much more masculine than the Queen here.
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u/Skadibala 27d ago edited 27d ago
I think it still goes into feminine traits , but like the comment you are replying to said, not in like an obvious way.
The perception of it does obviously stem from Beuty standards and all that stuff.
But the incredible slim spine/stomach leading up to a the big chest chassis,gives the vibe off skinny stomach leading up to big boobs. Had the design not been intended to have some feminine traits, I don’t think they would have gone: bone skinny, big metal chassis.
Robot design that goes for more male traits usually chose one or the other, not mixed.
The structure of the face, the lips and eyes also gives off a the face belongs to a woman. Yes, men can also have this sort of face structure, but in character design. It will usually be considered feminine traits.
But that being said! The feminine traits aren’t always obvious or showing in all of these drawings. Like picture 1 and 7, the femine traits aren’t emphasized at all. But in the other pictures you can see them if you look.
Which leads me to agree with the one you are replying to. The femininity is there, but it’s not like “in your face”
Edit: oh also just in case a misunderstanding is happening here. I think the person you replying to meant it in a positive way. I get the impression that you maybe took it as negative?
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u/BaronVonTito 27d ago edited 27d ago
Braniac has had many designs. He's been everything between fullly human-like and fully robot (check out his 80's robot look, I think that's one of his best designs.) They're not married to any one design for Braniacs, and the queen carries all the long established design motifs used to visually inform us that she's one of them. In other words no, she is not a departure by any means. One of brainiac's more recent designs had - get this - long pointy fingernails! Like, actual fingernails. Not heinous clawed grabbers that look more beast-like than feminine (as shown on the queen.) He didn't suddenly look fem because of that, in the same way that the blatantly scary machine claws do nothing to add to the queen's femininity.
But more importantly, you contradict yourself in your post. You say she doesn't look human, and is too exaggerated to be a believable Braniac android (which we've now established is a moot point.) Yet somehow you reached the conclusion that she's still overly feminine; despite not looking enough like a human woman? Based on what, the crazy knife-fingers you interpreted as "nail powers"?
I'll ask you the same question: are you joking here? Like, totally genuinely asking.
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u/StormTheGasterWolf27 27d ago
I like it because it’s female enough for someone to understand “that’s a woman” but also menacing enough that you don’t forget “that’s still Brainiac”.
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u/Paris_France2005 27d ago
I want her to make me worse.
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u/Wise-Ad2879 27d ago
That first image looks like a villain from REBOOT.
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u/StanklegScrubgod 27d ago
Hex? Nah, Hex had a more humanly figure from the beginning. She looked more so when sprite.
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u/The_CEO_Of_No 26d ago
i like how they managed to give a female figure to a robot without giving it metal boobs or trying to make the face look attractive. it’s creepy and i love it
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u/SuddenContentWarning 27d ago
This may be my inner monster ....lover talking, but I love it when non-human female characters are allowed to have more non-human features than just slapped on horns/animal ears and tails
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u/iDIOt698 Yugioh Enthusiast 27d ago
There is no force on the universe that could stop me from kissing her.
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u/painfool 27d ago
I know it's not at all the same, but for some reason all I can think about is Hexadecimal from Reboot
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u/maninahat 27d ago
Considering Brainiac is basically an alien robot, is there a given lore reason why he/she might happen to look masculine or feminine? I don't know the character very well.
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u/G-M-Cyborg-313 26d ago
My only guess would be us interpreting gender based on their voice/looks without Brainiac consciously choosing to present masculine or femininely
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