Brains is a fictional character in the 1960s British Supermarionation

Supermarionation

Supermarionation is a puppetry technique devised in the 1960s by British production company AP Films. It was used extensively in the company's numerous Gerry and Sylvia Anderson-produced action-adventure series, the most famous of which was Thunderbirds...

 television series Thunderbirds

Thunderbirds (TV series)

Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...

, its sequel films Thunderbirds Are Go

Thunderbirds Are GO

Thunderbirds Are Go is a 1966 British science-fiction film based on Thunderbirds, a 1960s television series starring marionette puppets and featuring scale model effects in a filming process dubbed "Supermarionation"...

(1966) and Thunderbird 6

Thunderbird 6

Thunderbird 6 is a 1968 British science-fiction and adventure film written by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, directed by David Lane and produced by Century 21 Cinema...

(1968), and the 2004 live-action remake film Thunderbirds

Thunderbirds (film)

Thunderbirds is a 2004 science-fiction adventure film loosely based upon the television series of the same name of the 1960s, directed by Jonathan Frakes....

. Brains was born 14 November 2040 and was orphaned when a hurricane struck his family's home in Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, United States. He was later adopted by a professor at the University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

. Jeff Tracy

Jeff Tracy

Jeff Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6. The voice for the character in these shows was supplied by Peter Dyneley. The character also appeared in the live...

 discovered Brains while he was giving a lecture in Paris. The puppet was voiced by David Graham

David Graham (actor)

David Graham is a British character actor and voice artist. Born in London, after a period in the R.A.F as a Radar Mechanic he trained as an actor in New York but has worked mainly on British television series....

 in the television series and the first two films, while Anthony Edwards

Anthony Edwards

Anthony Charles Edwards is an American actor and director. He has appeared in various movies and television shows, including Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Top Gun, Zodiac, Revenge of the Nerds, Northern Exposure and ER.-Early life:Edwards was born in Santa Barbara, California, the son of Erika...

 assumed the role for the live-action film.

Brains is a scientific genius, employed by International Rescue as their engineer. Characterised as a classic nerd

Nerd

Nerd is a derogatory slang term for an intelligent but socially awkward and obsessive person who spends time on unpopular or obscure pursuits, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Nerds are considered to be awkward, shy, and unattractive...

, he speaks formally (albeit with a stutter), wears oversized, horn-rimmed, blue spectacles, and has the intense focus of someone with Asperger syndrome

Asperger syndrome

Asperger's syndrome that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development...

. A highly-valued if somewhat socially maladroit member of the team, he designed the Thunderbird machines

Thunderbirds machines

The Gerry Anderson Supermarionation television series Thunderbirds and the subsequent feature films Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6 featured a large variety of futuristic air, land and sea vehicles and machines, the majority of which were designed by special effects director Derek...

 and other vehicles and facilities used by International Rescue and its agents – indeed, much of its hardware and infrastructure. He also constructs a chess-playing robot called Braman (which fortuitously served as a spare computer in the episode "Sun Probe"). Brains's technical expertise is occasionally required in the field, in which case he usually accompanies the more glamorous Tracy brothers on their missions in Thunderbird 2.

Brains has occasionally designed vehicles for organisations other than International Rescue. These include Skythrust (in the episode "Alias Mr. Hackenbacker") and Skyship One (in the film Thunderbird 6

Thunderbird 6

Thunderbird 6 is a 1968 British science-fiction and adventure film written by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, directed by David Lane and produced by Century 21 Cinema...

). These commissions are built under strict security to maintain the secrecy of International Rescue.

Aptly nicknamed "Brains" by the other members of International Rescue, his real name is never revealed in the series. While working on external projects, Brains adopts an alias

Pseudonym

A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 to protect his identity. For example, he uses the alias "Hiram K. Hackenbacker" while working on the Skythrust project, and the board that commissions Skyship One knows him only as "Mr X". In the 2004 film, his real name is Ray Hackenbacker.

Thunderbirds episodes

• "Trapped in the Sky
  Trapped in the Sky
  "Trapped in the Sky" is the first episode of Thunderbirds, a British 1960s Supermarionation television series co-created by Gerry Anderson, which originally aired on ATV Midlands on 30 September 1965. The plot revolves around master criminal the Hood, who sabotages the brand-new Fireflash prior to...
  
  "
• "Pit of Peril"
• "Terror in New York City"
• "Edge of Impact"
• "Day of Disaster"
• "30 Minutes After Noon"
• "Desperate Intruder"
• "End of the Road"
• "The Uninvited"
• "Sun Probe"
• "Operation Crash-Dive"
• "Vault of Death"
• "The Mighty Atom"
• "City of Fire"
• "The Man From MI.5"
• "Cry Wolf"
• "Danger at Ocean Deep"
• "Move - and You're Dead"
• "Brink of Disaster"
• "Attack of the Alligators!
  Attack of the Alligators!
  "Attack of the Alligators!" is the 23rd episode of the British Supermarionation television series Thunderbirds. One of the last episodes of the first season, it was first broadcast on ATV Midlands on 10 March 1966, was written by Alan Pattillo and directed by David Lane. In this episode, alligators...
  
  "
• "The Cham-Cham
  The Cham-Cham
  "The Cham-Cham" is the 25th episode of the 1960s Supermarionation television series Thunderbirds. One of the final instalments of Series One, it first aired in the United Kingdom on ATV Midlands on 24 March 1966...
  
  "
• "Security Hazard"
• "Atlantic Inferno"
• "Path of Destruction"
• "Alias Mr. Hackenbacker"
• "Lord Parker's 'Oliday"
• "Ricochet"
• "Give or Take a Million"

Thunderbirds films

• Thunderbirds Are GO
  Thunderbirds Are GO
  Thunderbirds Are Go is a 1966 British science-fiction film based on Thunderbirds, a 1960s television series starring marionette puppets and featuring scale model effects in a filming process dubbed "Supermarionation"...
  
  
• Thunderbird 6
  Thunderbird 6
  Thunderbird 6 is a 1968 British science-fiction and adventure film written by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, directed by David Lane and produced by Century 21 Cinema...
  
  
• Thunderbirds
  Thunderbirds (film)
  Thunderbirds is a 2004 science-fiction adventure film loosely based upon the television series of the same name of the 1960s, directed by Jonathan Frakes....
  
  

Popular culture

Alastair Campbell

Alastair Campbell

Alastair John Campbell is a British journalist, broadcaster, political aide and author, best known for his work as Director of Communications and Strategy for Prime Minister Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003, having first started working for Blair in 1994...

, press secretary to former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair

Tony Blair

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...

, nicknamed Labour politician David Miliband

David Miliband

David Wright Miliband is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for South Shields since 2001, and was the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2007 to 2010. He is the elder son of the late Marxist theorist Ralph Miliband...

 "Brains" after the Thunderbirds character.

In May 2008 a new television advertisement

Television advertisement

A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...

 for Drench

Drench

Drench is a brand of bottled spring water owned by Britvic. Drench is one of a range of water brands from Britvic, which includes Pennine Spring and Fruit Shoot H20.-The Water:...

 spring water was launched featuring a puppet Brains dancing to the song "Rhythm is a Dancer

Rhythm Is a Dancer

"Rhythm Is a Dancer" is a song recorded by the act Snap!, released as a single in the second quarter of 1992, from the album The Madman's Return...

" by the band Snap

Snap!

Snap! is a German Eurodance project formed in 1989 by Frankfurt-based producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti. The act has been through a number of line-up changes over the years, but was most successful when fronted by rapper Turbo B, who performed on the UK number 1 singles "The Power" and...

, with a slogan proclaiming "Brains work best when hydrated". Gerry Anderson

Gerry Anderson

Gerry Anderson MBE is a British publisher, producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called "Supermarionation"....

 deemed the advert "brilliant" and said that the writer should have been awarded for the pun "Good for Brains".

British news magazine The Economist

The Economist

The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...

used an image of Brains for a poster advertising campaign.