John Byrne's re-imagining of the character possessed telepathy and telekinesis, as well as the ability to discharge energy blasts. He was an alien consciousness who had possessed the body of a powerful human psychic and awakened his powers, further augmenting them with an implanted electrode head-piece. His vast psychic powers allowed him to seriously challenge Superman, and defeat multiple members of the New Gods (including Orion) with a single psionic energy blast, but the body's lack of Superman-level durability was a major liability and eventually led to it being rendered useless in a gasoline explosion. After this organic body was destroyed, Brainiac's consciousness built and possessed various robotic bodies and occasionally hijacked other organic bodies (such as Doomsday's). His abilities were dependent on the body he was inhabiting at the time, which could vary from as weak as a normal human to far stronger than Superman. His nanoswarm incarnation, for instance, could shapeshift, regenerate, project energy blasts and force fields, and match Superman blow for blow; Superman stated Brainiac to have physical strength on par with Doomsday's in this form. His strongest incarnation was Brainiac 13, who, even prior to absorbing Imperiex, was so physically formidable that Superman could not remotely affect, much less damage, him. By contrast, Brainiac was easily able to kill Superman, and would have done so in a short time had he not been devoted to torturing the Man of Steel.