Horatio Hackenbacker

Horatio Hackenbacker, better known by the nickname "Brains", was a scientist and member of International Rescue.

Brains invented the invisible ray torch for Jeff Tracy in order to determine whether Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward could hang onto it despite the efforts of both the Hood and the British Secret Service. After she succeeded, he accompanied Jeff to London to inform Lady Penelope that her services were wanted to run the British end of International Rescue. Brains also brought a table to Creighton-Ward Manor to replace the one which had half-disappeared as a result of the torch's effects. (COMIC: The Vanishing Ray)

In an account dated to January 1965, Brains was conducting an experiment with a model submarine on Tracy Island when Alan jumped in the swimming pool, consequently disrupting the sonic beam and ruining the test. Despite Alan's apology, Tin-Tin observed that the incident had upset him. Later, when Jeff vocalised his hope that Lady Penelope's compact transmitter could withstand the pounding it was getting as she attempted to reach it whilst tied up, Brains explained that because the transistors were very small it was very robust but that this also accounted for the faint reception. (TV: The Man from MI.5)

In June 2066, he was awarded the four million dollar Unity City Prize. His Presidential Citation mentioned some of his work with Robot CCD, the World Senate computer control decider, which was used to check senate decisions. (PROSE: Space Hi-Jack)

During the heat crisis, Brains went up with Alan to Thunderbird 5 in order to investigate the phenomenon in greater detail. He found solidified space debris travelling at tremendous speeds on a collision course with the Moon. He inspected the meteorites upon landing on the Moon and determined them to have escaped from the Sun, recommending a close observation of its surface to Jeff as well as liasing with the World Government to find a solution. After Jeff persuaded World President Nikita Bandranaik to agree to the plan, Brains and Alan set off in Thunderbird 3 to photograph the Sun from within gravity limits to gauge its future activity. Upon reaching their destination, one of the booster rockets failed as they fell into the Sun's gravity field but Alan was able to get it working before the temperature rose too much and, after taking their pictures, they returned to Earth.

Carrying a planetomic missile to destroy the new satellite the Sun was about to produce, as well as extra isotope circuits to ensure their escape speed from the Sun's gravity, Brains and Alan boarded TB 3 bound for the Sun yet again. However, Brains had miscalculated how much time they had left and Alan was forced to use the isotopes before even reaching the Sun, with Brains proclaiming "It's us or the world!". Although his prediction did not come true after the missile was successfully deployed, a shockwave flung the duo offcourse and knocked them unconscious. (COMIC: Solar Danger) Brains and Alan were honoured and presumed deceased, in a report dated 1 October, for their supreme sacrifice and the millions of lives they had saved. (PROSE: Suicide!) They woke up two days later to the sound of a warning from Jeff and just in time to witness their crash into a Venusian river. (COMIC: Solar Danger) Brains was also pictured in a report dated 8 October, which detailed their survival and emergency landing on the Magnax continent. (PROSE: Monster Attacks Thunderbird 3) They were briefly pursued by a hostile "monster" but Alan ejected the ship's radioactive isotopes to kill it. Forced out of the ship by damage caused by the monster, Brains and Alan donned suits to protect against the corrosive sulphur lake with Brains quickly fixing the damage — a hair crack — with a sealing compound. (COMIC: Solar Danger) The danger they were in from other creatures whilst carrying out this task was mentioned alongside their pictures in a report dated 29 October. (PROSE: Death-Lake Terror) Fearing their suits would not protect them forever, Brains and Alan swam to the surface and built a bonfire to act as a beacon. After Scott, Virgil, and Gordon arrived on Venus in Thunderbird 1, Thunderbird 2, and Thunderbird 4, Brains helped to coordinate the recovery of TB 3. Swarmed by tiny lake-monsters, Brains correctly advised Gordon to raise the hull temperature of TB 4 and discard its atomic waste as the creatures liked neither heat nor radiation. He made sure TB 2 was safe with Virgil before, two days later, all four Thunderbirds on Venus set course for the base on Tracy Island. (COMIC: Solar Danger)

Behind the scenes
Brains originates from the television series Thunderbirds where he was played by David Graham in twenty-seven episodes of the thirty-two episode run, as well as both films. This included The Man from MI.5 which was a crossover with the Doctor Who universe. Additionally, he was voiced by Kayvan Novak in the remake series.