Superman

Superhero Origins- Superman (REDUX)

Superman
Biographical Information
Real Name	Kal-El (Kryptonian) Clark Joseph Kent (Earth name)
Nationality	American
Residence	Smallville, Kansas (home town) Metropolis, Delaware
Affiliation	Justice League (co-founder)
Date of Birth	1980
Age	40
Species	Kryptonian
Gender	Male
Status	Active
Appearances
Movie	Superman (film) Justice League (film) Supergirl (film) Justice League: World's Finest – Part 1 Justice League: World's Finest – Part 2 Clark (film)
TV series	League of Tomorrow (TV series)
Actor/Actress
Portrayed by	Matt Bomer

Clark Joseph Kent, also known by his birth name, Kal-El is one of the most powerful beings on Earth. He is one of the last surviving inhabitants of the planet Krypton, and is often referred to (mistakenly) as the last Kryptonian. Sent away from his home planet Krypton as a newborn by his parents Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van before Krypton's destruction, he was eventually found in a field in Smallville, Kansas by farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent, who adopted and raised him as an American citizen, naming him Clark.

Under his human identity,  Clark Kent, he works and lives in the city of Metropolis as a mild-mannered award-winning journalist and reporter for the Daily Planet.

As a hero in Metropolis, Superman kept the city safe for a number of years before a childhood friend named Kenny Braverman became the super-powered villain Conduit. Severely weakened in their battle, Superman had no choice but to kill Braverman, putting him straight onto Batman's radar, and secretly, Lex Luthor's.

Around the world, he is known as and has been called "The Man of Steel", The Last Son", "God", "The Kryptonian" and "Smallville".

Biography

Birth

Kal-El was born in the city of Kandor on the planet Krypton, the son of Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van, and the final Kryptonian to be born. Knowing that the sun of Krypton, Rao, was close to going supernova, Jor-El worked quickly to find a suitable world for Kal-El to live on and quickly discovered the planet Earth. Saying goodbye, Jor-El and Lara placed Kal-El in a pod.

Arrival to Earth

Using teleporting technology, Kal-El's

Learning the truth

One night while in bed, Clark dreamt of a planet exploding. He immediately woke up from his dream, only for Pa Kent to enter his room and ask him what was wrong. Knowing that Clark had been having the same dream a number of times over the past few weeks, Pa Kent decides to take Clark out to the barn where he and Martha had been hiding the small spacecraft Clark had arrived in.

Conduit Attack

"I'm sorry"

―Superman's last words to Kenny before he dies

Life with Lois Lane

Clark and Lois lived in Smallville for over a decade following the Injustice War, happily married and raising their three children Jonathan II, Diana, and Sam on the Clark farm. Lois would often leave to visit her friends in Metropolis, and still worked for the Daily Planet.

Personality

Superman has shown exceptionally kind-hearted, possessing a strong sense of justice, honor, and selfless benevolence. Growing up thinking he was the last of his kind, thus being very different and alienating a number of his peers, Clark was often at odds with being lost as well as aspiring to the values the Kent's taught him. Instilled by his adoptive parents, he grew up to selflessly care for other people and to do the right thing, no matter how big or small the problem. Before reuniting with Kenny Braverman, Clark had a more naive view of heroism. However, these ideals were challenged after Braverman's attack, challenging Clark's thought process and making him reflect on his actions more.

Powers and Abilities

• Kryptonian Physiology: As a Kryptonian living on Earth, Superman possesses abilities are deemed god-like to humans. On a planet near a red star, Superman would have physical attributes nearly identical to those of humans, though he was still stronger than an average human during his fight against Conduit. However, while on a planet near a yellow star, he quickly develops abilities that surpass the capabilities of humans and metahumans alike, making him the Justice League's most powerful member, and among the most powerful beings on the planet. His cells also store solar energy as well, allowing him to retain his powers under roofed structures or even at night, although he eventually needs a yellow sun to recharge his powers. However, due to being on Earth for years and having adapted to Earth's environment, Superman is more powerful than any Kryptonian that has immediate exposure. In fact, direct exposure to sunlight can allow Superman to recover and heal almost instantly from most of his weaknesses, notably Kryptonite-inflicted damage, giving him powerful regenerative healing capabilities. Hence, Superman often withholds his god-like power unless absolutely necessary, due to the incredible destruction it can cause. The only known beings to at least rival Superman's might were Darkseid, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman.
  • Super Strength: Superman possesses virtually incalculable strength, as he is able to carry and exert over millions of tons of force.
  • Super Speed: Along with possessing untold physical strength, Superman can also run and fly at tremendous hypersonic speeds. At full speed, he was able to fly around the entire Earth within around an hour.
    • Super Reflexes: Superman's speed extends to his reflexes as well. Like the Flash's reflexes, Superman sees other people and objects frozen in place, with only Flash and other speedsters appearing to be moving at normal speed. While fighting Zoom, Superman was shown to move faster than an object can be affected by gravity, with him notably turning and reacting to Zoom's incoming attack.
  • Invulnerability: Superman's body is virtually invulnerable and indestructible, with him being nicknamed the "Man of Steel" as a result. Hence, Superman could withstand the extreme heat of being near the sun, the extreme cold of the Arctic, exposure to the vacuum of outer space, falls from great heights, high caliber bullets and artillery, exploding bombs, and withstood tremendous physical blows from beings as strong or stronger such as Darkseid. While he can be affected by the force of powerful impacts, they only hold him back for a moment, leaving him otherwise unscathed. The only thing capable of breaking through Superman's invulnerability and leaving him vulnerable is Kryptonite.
    • Healing Factor: Superman is shown to heal at incredible rates when exposed to the solar radiation of a yellow sun. He almost instantly recovered from his fight with Conduit once exposed to sunlight.
  • Flight: Superman can fly via the manipulation of his own gravity field, taking advantage of Earth's weaker gravity. Combined with his speed, Superman can fly at hypersonic speeds, allowing him to take off into the atmosphere and even into outer space and land safely back onto the planet's surface within moments.
  • Super Senses Like his physical strength, Superman possesses senses far superior to a human. His sense of sight allows him to see the smallest detail, allowing him to see ants walking across the floor several miles away. His sense of hearing allowed him to hear Conduit's attack several miles away. Superman is able to hear at extreme variances of sound and pitch frequency, allowing him to pick up numerous sounds (including both infra- and ultra-sound) from immense distances. His senses of smell, taste, and touch are just as refined as the latter two. Over the years, through intense training, he eventually honed all of these senses and continues to enhance them.
    • Lie Detection Superman can tell whether people are lying or not, based on the rate of their heartbeats, which he can hear using his super-enhanced hearing.
  • Freezing Breath: Superman is capable of intensifying his breath, capable of freezing objects just by breathing at them. This ability was so powerful that he was able to freeze an entire squadron of Parademons.
    • X-ray Vision: Superman can focus his vision past layers of matter to see through them. He was able to see through Conduit's armor and discover his true identity.
    • Heat Vision: Superman possesses the ability to emit thick beams of intense heat from his eyes. Visually, the power manifests as two thick laser-like beams of red energy firing from his pupils. At full power, he can utilize his heat vision to instantly disintegrate objects or even beings. He was able to easily destroy several Parademons using these beams.

• • Super Longevity: Superman, as a Kryptonian under a yellow sun, has a lifespan far greater than that of a human and most living beings. As such, he doesn't show signs of age as long as the yellow sun is there to empower him and also due to his cells being devoid of decay. As Superman is unaffected by earthly diseases and draws energy from the sun to live, he has the potential to live forever, much like an actual God.

Abilities

• Genius-level Intellect: Superman is shown to be extremely intelligent, and displays this greatly as Clark Kent. At an early age, Clark excelled in his classes and graduated with the highest honors, eventually leading to his job at the Daily Planet, where he quickly rose up the ranks. With enhanced senses, reflexes, and speed, Superman was able to go toe to toe intellectually with both Batman, Braniac, and even Lex Luthor. Over the years, Superman developed a photographic memory., an ability he used to receive the Elliot Prize for Investigative Journalism after only a year at the Daily Planet
  • Expert Reporter: Clark Kent, as a reporter for the Daily Planet, is an exceptionally skilled investigative reporter, displaying remarkable insight and investigative skills right away after getting hired as a junior reporter and quickly climbing through the ranks. After only a year, Clark had twice earned the Elliot Prize for Investigative Journalism (the first of any of the Planet's reporters to do so), and interviewed Lex Luthor himself. Clark claims to Batman that he was able to deduce that he was Bruce Wayne through his reporting, though the latter points out to him that his x-ray vision was responsible.
  • Skilled Tactician: Clark has proven himself a very capable tactician in combat.
  • Expert Leader: Superman is a skilled leader, as he was able to Bring Wonder Woman, Batman, and all of their recruits together to face Darkseid. Following their victory over the latter, Superman became the driving force behind the newer recruits including Shazam, Booster Gold, and Supergirl.
• Combatant: Despite not having any formal combat training, Clark is a formidable fighter when facing most opponents due to his tremendous strength, powers, and training, both from his time in the Fortress of Solitude, and his later training from both Batman and Wonder Woman. When weakened from Conduit's Kryptonite beams, Clark was still able to hold his own against the latter's attacks for a short time. Later, Superman fared better in his duel with General Zod, despite the latter maintaining the upper hand throughout most of it, Superman persisted and was ultimately able to defeat.
• Intimidation: While not as intimidating as Batman and Wonder Woman, several villains have admitted Superman's intimidation factor.
• Bilingualism: Superman is fluent in a number of languages, including English, Spanish, and French.

Weaknesses

Despite his incredible, near-limitless powers, Superman is not without his own disadvantages. When fighting beings of comparable might, such as other Kryptonians, Olympian Gods, the magically enhanced Black Adam, or the New Gods, Clark is forced to rely on his other abilities as they can generate enough force to easily negate his seemingly incalculable strength, being able to knock out or even kill Superman. His most notable weakness, Kryptonite, should it ever fall into the wrong hands, is capable of robbing him of his incredible power and reverting him to a normal Kryptonian, similar to humans, until rejuvenated by the light of the sun.

• Kryptonite: As A Kryptonian, Kal-El is seemingly depowered by the radiation of a red star, as Krypton was a planet exposed to the red star Rao, Kal-El is robbed on anything bearing similar radiation. Because of this, any environment filled with the atmospheric composition of Krypton, along with its red-sun radiation, will render him powerless. Superman's greatest weakness is the irradiated xenomineral of Krypton's remains, as it robs his cells of their energy from yellow suns.

Exposure to Kryptonite makes Superman gradually, and quickly (depending on its proximity) lose all of his enhanced powers, inducing a somewhat fever-like sickness reaction (including nausea, weakness, dizziness, vertigo, fatigue, immense amounts of pain, and near loss of consciousness), which collectively weakens Superman to human levels, to the point that Superman was quickly defeated and almost killed by Conduit, through the use of his suit.

In addition, wounds inflicted by Kryptonite will not vanish until after the xenomineral is removed from proximity to him and he is directly exposed to the solar radiation of the sun. However, even when affected by Kryptonite, Superman is still superhumanly endurant, as Conduit had difficulty wearing Superman down, even with his suit.

• Nuclear Energy: Superman is vulnerable to nuclear weapons, as seen from his short defeat by a nuclear bomb sent by Deathstroke and Lex Luthor. While not enough to kill him, the combination of both the powerful explosion and radiation of the nuke flooded Superman's cells with the solar radiation that fueled him, with his skin slowly beginning to desiccate as he was left floating in a corpse-like state. However, direct exposure to sunlight allowed Superman to completely heal and recover from this, regaining consciousness and full power, all in mere moments.
• Lead: Superman's X-ray vision, as it is essentially raw radiation, cannot bypass lead, a disadvantage that Ma Kent found at when he was young, even lining his birthday and Christmas presents with lead. While Batman was incapacitated following his duel with Deathstroke, Luthor stole his files, along with the discovery of Superman's inability to see through lead.

• Sensory Overload: Due to the enhanced raw input of information Clark's brain encounters, he can be momentarily overwhelmed by the information he takes in. Though he can hone his senses, a sudden, unexpected sensory attack can briefly stun him. However, as a child, Clark learned to focus his senses, with guidance from his adopted mother Martha Kent, by forming a focal point to concentrate his senses on.

Equipment

• Glasses: Kal-El possesses a pair of glasses he dons whenever he poses as the mild-mannered Clark Kent
• Supersuit: Kal-El wears a Kryptonian skinsuit as the superhero Superman. While virtually indestructible, it was ultimately damaged in his mortal duel with Doomsday when the monster pierced Superman's chest.
• House of El Command Key: Clark once possessed a piece of Kryptonian technology made of liquid geo that allowed him to operate and use the abandoned Kryptonian ship found in the Arctic. A gift from his father, the key held within it the artificial intelligence program of Jor-El's conscious self. He wore it around his neck as a pendant during his years searching for his origin. The key was sucked into the Phantom Zone along with his infant pod and the Black Zero.
• Infant Starship (Formerly): Superman's former starship (equipped with a Phantom Drive), which Jor-El and Lara had used to send him to Earth as an infant. It was, however, ultimately sucked into the Phantom Zone.

Relationships

Family

• Jor-El:
• Lara Lor-Van -
• Jonathan Kent - Jonathan was Clark's adoptive father, having taken him in and raised him after finding his crashed ship in his own field. While his Kryptonian abilities were manifesting, both he and his wife Martha
• Martha Kent

Allies

• Justice League:
  • Bruce Wayne/Batman - Former Rival, teammate and friend
  • Diana Prince/Wonder Woman:
  • Barry Allen/Flash:
  • Victor Stone/Cyborg:
  • Arthur Curry/Aquaman:
  • Billy Batson/Shazam:

Enemies

• Kenny Braverman/Conduit:
• Lex Luthor: