Post by superman on Oct 3, 2008 12:34:15 GMT -5
Basic Information:
Real name: Kal-El (Kryptonian Name), Clark Joseph Kent (Earth Name)
Current Alias: Superman
Gender: Male
Age: 41
Alignment: Law Abiding Citizen
Marital Status: Married
Occupation: Investigative Journalist, Reporter, Novelist
Affiliation(s): Justice League of America
Characteristics
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 225lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
Character Type: DC Canon
Description: By the time Kal-El was conceived on Krypton it had long become practice to use genetic engineering to grant ideal traits. Those, coupled with a youth working on the farm and an adulthood of fighting evil has kept Clark is very good shape. When he's not disguising himself by walking slouched over slightly and wearing glasses, he has piercing blue eyes and a strong bearing that makes more than a few hearts flutter from time to time. Although he's married and dedicated wholly to Lois and would never think of straying, it doesn't hurt his chances of being trusted and liked by looking particularly good.
Personality
Superman is first among heroes for a good reason. With his great abilities he has always used them responsibly to save lives and prevent injustice. He truly believes in the rights of the common man, and that there can be freedom and justice for all. In many ways, he is the ideal American, but he also stands for all people everywhere which is how he came to be galactically renowned. He is a compassionate person with great confidence. He is often seen as being larger than life, or all too human, but without his characteristic inability to give up he would not be Superman.
Clark Kent is in many ways a mirror of Superman in beliefs, but he acts much more 'restrained and responsible'. Clark is also considered to be a big wimp, mainly because he won't get into situations where he might be forced to reveal his powers. If a gun gets pointed at him, he'll act deathly afraid of it, as if it could hurt him. There are innumerable times when these situations arise. Clark will often secretly use his powers, using well-timed and well-aimed blasts of super breath or heat vision as well as his incredible superspeed.
History
This section could obviously be extremely long, however Superman has undergone multiple revisions, upgrades, downgrades, and rewrites, and retellings of his origin. This history is only going to take the current origin of Superman and note some key points in his long and fabled history.
The Early Years
Kal-El was born on the doomed planet Krypton to Jor-El and Lara. Although Jor-El had hoped to send his pregnant wife away from the planet in a test rocket and avoids its destruction, Kal-El was born earlier than expected, and the life support systems could only support one. Therefore, the baby was sent alone to Earth, the last son of Krypton.
The babe's spaceship landed near Smallville, Kansas, where he was found by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who raised him as their son, Clark Kent. As he grew older, he began exhibiting extraordinary powers, including super-strength and flight. His friends in Smallville included Pete Ross and Lana Lang who continued to remain friends with Kent into their adult lives.
Krypto
During the preparations of Krypton’s destruction, Jor-El had created a small prototype rocket. The Kryptonian canine of the House of El, Krypto, was sent in this small prototype rocket and programmed to head to earth. Jor-El used the data to help create the rocket that would later house Kal-El. However during the flight towards earth, Krypto’s rocket had a malfunction, and took an extra long path to earth, not arriving until 9 years after Kal-El had arrived. Krypto was eventually found and rescued by Clark when he was a boy. Initially just a normal dog (like the young Kal-El when he arrived), Krypto had no powers until later. Once he started to develop powers, Clark moved him to the Fortress where he began training him.
The first sighting of Superman
After graduating from high school, Clark traveled the world. He spent some time in Australia, where he met and had a brief romance with Callie Llewellyn. When Clark returned home to Smallville, he began openly using his emerging talents and powers in the costumed super-hero identity of Superman. He would formally enter into college and shuttle between Metropolis University and his parents' home in Smallville.
The Legion of Super-Heroes
During his earliest time as a public superhero, Clark was visited by a team of other super-powered youths from a thousand years in the future, the Legion of Super-Heroes, brought Clark to their time and inducted him into their membership, and sharing many adventures with Clark during his youth. Clark occasionally traveled between this future and his own native time, before permanently returning to his own native time.
A New Job at the Daily Planet
After graduating college, Clark later moved to Metropolis full time, where he began working as a journalist for the world-renowned newspaper, the Daily Planet. There he used his job as a journalist to enhance his heroism, always hearing about ongoing emergencies around the world.
Doomsday
A few years into his career, a monstrous alien beast called Doomsday emerged in eastern Ohio and began to march towards Metropolis. The beast single handedly defeated the Justice League when the team rallied to stop it (the lineup consisted of Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Bloodwynd, Maxima, Fire, Ice, and Guy Gardner). Superman battled the creature across several states, eventually drawing the line in Metropolis itself. After a desperate battle, Superman managed to put down the monster--but collapsed as he did so, dying in Lois's arms.
Sometime later, Superman is revived in the Fortress of Solitude. After reclaiming the title of Superman, he eventually gets a rematch with Doomsday after the monster turned up alive and well on Apokolips. Not even Darkseid could stop the monster's rampage. After working with Darkseid to defeat the Cyborg, Superman pursued Doomsday to the planet Calaton and fought the beast to a standstill. Luckily, with some help from Waverider, Superman was able to teleport Doomsday into the distant future--just before the universe came to an end. This allowed him to find a little piece of mind, although he regretted the creature's apparent death.
Marriage
Many adventures later, Clark’s rivalry with his coworker Lois Lane blossoms into a romance and ends (or begins) in marriage. As Superman, Clark inspired an entire generation of heroes, many of whom we worked alongside as a member of the Justice League of America based on the then-disbanded Justice Society of America.
President Luthor
Lex Luthor, regarded as a national hero for his perceived role in the Final Night, Y2K and No Man's Land is elected President of the United States. With all of his vast resources, President Luthor deduces that Clark Kent is Superman.
Manchester Black appears, orchestrating an event known as Ending Battle. Using his vast mind powers, Black manages to control and convince an entire legion of super-villains to attack Superman--starting with everyone he cares about. Before it's over, Superman has to engage virtually every enemy he has, all while desperately trying to save all his friends and family. Superman has Lois rally most of his friends and family at Steelworks, but she herself slips out and is cornered by Black at their apartment. Superman also learns that Lex Luthor knows his secret identity.
In the end, Black makes Superman think that Lois has been murdered in an attempt to force Superman to kill Black (and thereby prove Superman is no better than he is). Black fails, however, for even in his grief Superman refuses to kill him (although he is seriously tempted). Black's ruse is then up, revealing Lois is alive. Before Black kills himself, he removes the knowledge that Clark Kent is Superman from Luthor's mind and files.
Superman befriends a priest named Daniel and explains a story of his own pride. One day, after being called out into space to help Green Lantern, Superman returns to find one million people missing from Earth--including Lois. Superman refers to this event as the "Vanishing" and says that it originated in the Middle East. Flying there, Superman found a city in the midst of a civil war. A man named General Nox and his henchman, Equus, are responsible for the civil war. Superman battles Equus and discovers the machine responsible for the Vanishing. Equus activates the machine, and along with himself, General Nox and another three thousand people disappear.
The Vanishing
A man claiming to work for the government, Mr. Orr, demands that Superman turn over the device, but refuses. After a short chat with the Justice League, Superman heads back to Metropolis to fight off a giant water based monster. The water monster is soon joined by three others (each based upon an element) and attempt to get Superman to leave the planet. After bluffing that he will destroy the planet if they carry through their threat to wipe out all human life, the elementals disband. Superman takes Fr. Daniel to the Fortress of Solitude, even as Wonder Woman heads there to stop Superman. Wonder Woman seeks to prevent Superman from activating the Vanishing machine, thinking it will be the equivalent of suicide.
As Fr. Daniel is taken back by Orr and treated for cancer, Superman activates the machine and disappears. Superman realizes that the Vanishing was caused by a device he originally created should anything ever happen to earth--it created a "perfect" city inside a pocket of the Phantom Zone and would teleport some people there (including Lois). Superman finds Lois and the others living in a city there--but the city is under siege by Equus and his new master, an all new General Zod. Zod had managed to activate the device to draw Superman there. After a battle with Zod involving Fr. Daniel (who has been turned into a Borg thanks to Orr), Superman manages to return everyone lost in the Vanishing back to Earth. Superman builds a new Fortress of Solitude in the Amazon Jungle.
The Coming Crisis
Superman discovers Brainiac manipulating Lois--or so he thinks. After a battle with Brainiac in the Fortress of Solitude, Superman discovers blood on his hands: then the JLA and the JSA turn up, ordering him to surrender himself for what he has done. Superman tries to remember what happened, but instead of a battle with Brainiac, this time he recalls a fight with Darkseid. The JLA concede that it seems like Superman is being manipulated. When he asks whose blood is on his hands, the team takes him to the Watchtower and show him the badly beaten body of the Batman.
The League determines that Maxwell Lord is responsible for manipulating Superman with the false memories, but before they can put Superman in a transporter tube, Max begins his manipulations anew and compels Superman to flee the Watchtower, with Wonder Woman hot on his heels. Superman, believing that he has just seen Doomsday murder his wife, attacks Diana with all his might. Diana puts up a desperate defense, but is clearly outmatched by Superman pulling out all the stops. She manages to stun him, however, and wrapping Lord up in her Lasso of Truth, demands to know how to free the Man of Steel from his control. Max replies the only way to do so is to kill him (Lord). Diana snaps Max's neck--an event recorded by the Brother Eye satellite and broadcast around the world. Superman is freed--but at a terrible price.
Superman is called away from the scene to deal with a nuclear missile. After pitching it into space, he has to fight off two OMACs and discovers that they are really people inside the metal suits. He flies to the Batcave to talk to Batman about what has happened, but Batman is not interested. Superman returns to Metropolis, where even Lois agrees with what Diana did. Superman can't help but think of everything that's happened, particularly the events of "Crisis of Conscience" in JLA, so he goes to see Zatanna. She tells him that she altered the Toyman, and together they find him, locked in his own fantasy world. Zatanna clears his delusion just before he apparently dies in a collapsing building.
In Metropolis, the world is unsure of how to react to the tape of Wonder Woman killing Lord. Lois goes to Umec to figure out who was behind the hit on her and deduces that it must have been Lord himself. Lex Luthor shows up at the Daily Planet, trying to get information on Ruin. Ruin himself then shows up for a fight, teleporting all throughout the battle. Superman realizes he is using the Phantom Zone to teleport. Before he can unmask Ruin again, the villain flees. Superman responds to his JLA alert, flying to the Watchtower--only to find it in ruins.
Infinite Crisis
Shifting through the ruins of the Watchtower, Superman can find no trace of J'onn J'onzz. Wonder Woman and Batman both turn up. Batman coldly tells Diana to leave, that she has no business there after killing Lord. They are interrupted by Mongul, and they are so fractured that they barely are able to take him down. Afterwards, Batman tells Superman how the whole world is afraid of them because of Wonder Woman, and that the last time he truly inspired anyone is when he died. All three go their separate ways.
Alexander Luthor continues with his machinations to find "the perfect Earth." In order to keep most of the world distracted, he orders the Secret Society of Super-Villains to drop Chemo over Blüdhaven. Chemo detonates, killing over 100,000 people instantly, and leaving the city irradiated with poisonous clouds. Superman arrives, leading a cadre of heroes who can withstand the toxicity to try and rescue who they could. Chemo began to reform, and Superman engaged, knowing that he would reform quicker, sucking the poison back into himself. Once it was all gone, Superman hurled Chemo into space.
As the Crisis continued, Earth-Two was brought back into existence. Superman heard a scream from that world, and flying there found Kal-L from Earth-Two, standing over the body of Earth-Two Lois Lane, who had just died. Kal-L blamed Kal-El for her death and attacked her, leading to a brutal fight across the Earth-Two Metropolis. As they battled, their lives flashed before each other's eyes in an instant. The fight was finally stopped when Wonder Woman arrived, grabbing Kal-L in her Lasso. She and Kal-El helped him see the truth--that Alexander Luthor was really manipulating the strings.
Alexander Luthor is stopped from creating his "perfect universe" when his tower is destroyed by Kon-El during a battle with Superboy-Prime. Unfortunately, Kon-El dies of his injuries just before Superman, Kal-L, Wonder Woman, and Batman arrive. Superman is deeply affected by the loss, but is determined to put an end to the madness that Luthor has created. Alexander's machinations have disrupted history, causing some changes to Superman's history.
The Battle of Metropolis
Nearly every super-villain on the planet converges on Metropolis, desiring to conquer Superman's home city. Kal-El and Kal-L lead the charge with the other heroes in their wake. The first villain they take down is Doomsday himself. Kal-L confronts Alexander, but he is unrepentant. Superboy Prime, driven totally insane by this point, decides the only solution is to destroy this universe completely by flying straight through Oa at lightspeed. J'onn J'onzz, aware of his plan, alerts everyone who can fly to try to stop the insane Prime, but he is too fast. In deep space, Guy Gardner and a coalition of Green Lanterns manage to stop him long enough for Kal-El and Kal-L to grab him. Not fast enough to take him back to the speedforce, the two Supermen fly him to Krypton's solar system--and straight through its red son. After they fly through it, they crash on Mogo. Prime's suit was destroyed and his powers were failing, but he still managed to beat Kal-L, fatally injuring him. Kal-El tore the S-shield off Prime's chest, and managed to knock him out before collapsing (there was Kryptonite all around them). The Green Lanterns swoop down, obliterating the kryptonite and incarcerating Prime. Kal-L dies in Power Girl's arms, and a powerless Superman is taken back to Earth. Batman and Wonder Woman decide to take some time off. Superman is not discouraged, however, knowing that his powers will return in time, and in the meanwhile the Earth is in good hands.
One Year Later
Clark Kent (powerless after his fight with Superboy Prime a year ago) has enjoyed his life as a civilian. After watching a presentation on Superman in Metropolis Park, his wife Lois Lane goes to report on the trial on Lex Luthor, who is now a free man after 120 counts against him are dropped. Praised by Perry White for his work in the The Daily Planet, Clark goes to cover the return of Intergang while, at the same time, Lois is interviewing scientist K. Russell Abernathy when an accident turns him into a new Kryptonite Man. Clark calls Supergirl through his signal watch, and she defeats Kryptonite Man. Clark later runs into Luthor who assaults Clark because of articles that ruined Lex's career and cost him his company.
In an underground laboratory, Toyman works with Luthor on a Sunstone crystal while Clark nurses his injuries. Later, he heads to Metro Square and sees several men from Intergang wearing old Lexcorp battle suits. They notice Clark and open fire, until Green Lantern and Hawkgirl save him and take care of Intergang. Once that is done, Hal and Kendra talk privately to Clark, insisting that it is time for him to get back into the game - whereupon Hal presents him with an S-shaped Green Lantern ring.
In Lois & Clark's apartment building, Lois sees Green Lantern, Hawkgirl with Clark playing around with the ring's power. Afterwards, he gives it back to Hal, stating he is fine now and doesn't know if he wants to resume his career as a superhero. While Lex Luthor meets and kidnaps Metallo, to steal the kryptonite inside him, robot insects break into Stryker's Island Penitentiary. Green Lantern and Hawkgirl arrive and find the Prankster behind it all and defeat him, while the new Kryptonite Man breaks out of prison.
The next day, with Jimmy Olsen by his side, Clark is checking around in hopes of exposing Intergang's illegal activity. Luthor wants to awaken an ancient Kryptonian warship that crashed in 1938, and he and Toyman harness the Kryptonite Man to use his energy to the Sunstone crystal to do so. Neutron and Radion attack Clark because he exposed Intergang. The blasts don't seem to hurt him, and racing down a subway tunnel, Clark is hit by a subway car that tosses him several yards. Thinking he's dead, the villains leave. But Clark is alive, and sees his handprint on the hull of the subway car.
Later, with his powers returning only by one third, Clark needs to master them again. Lois notices his powers have returned when she sees his hand on the hot burner. She goes to the closet and pulls out a Superman costume and says, "Go get 'em". Puzzler attacks the Daily Planet looking for Clark Kent when Superman appears. The fight is carried down into the street where, after Puzzler is defeated, Bloodsport, Livewire, Riot, Silver Banshee and the Hellgrammite attack. When Jimmy Olsen is about to be shot, Superman goes as fast as he can and stops the bullet. He is now, again, faster than a speeding bullet.
In the heated battle, Superman defeats all of the villains, then switches back to Clark Kent as he heads to the Daily Planet. Later, above Metropolis, Superman picks up something and tries to listen in. Then, dozens of Sunstone crystals grow out from the ground, damaging surrounding buildings. As Superman saves the city, he finds Luthor inside and controlling the ancient Kryptonian warship. With Metropolis having turned its back on him, Luthor declares his intent to destroy the city.
The Sunstone crystals then form tanks and hover-craft. Captain Marvel, Green Lantern, the Justice Society of America and the Teen Titans arrive to intervene but are prevented from entering the city by an energy shield generated by Luthor's stolen ship, which he declares to be the Kryptonian flagship once commanded by Admiral Dru-Zod. Superman goes on to damage the section of the warship that controls the remote craft with his heat, causing Luthor to release kryptonite into the ship's matrix and also to change the warship into a robot. Having enough, Superman takes all of his energy and flies at speed through the cockpit of the warship, destroying it and removing Luthor from the controls. Weakened by the kryptonite, Superman's momentum carries both himself and Luthor through the ship and high above the West River as his powers fade, causing the two to crash into the water below.
On an island in the river Luthor and the now-unpowered Superman fight each other hand-to-hand. Once Luthor is unconscious, Superman passes out only to awaken with his powers returned and Luthor taken into custody again. Flying above Metropolis, the crowd cheers and thanks him for saving their lives. After returning to the Planet as Clark Kent, he changes back to Superman to do some heroic deeds and to give Jimmy Olsen a new signal watch. After signing autographs from fans, Superman takes the Sunstone crystal Luthor used and flies to the Arctic. Knowing that it in fact contains blueprints and designs from his Kryptonian parents, he throws it into the landscape and watches it construct a massive citadel. Superman decides to use this as his new Fortress of Solitude.
A New Kryptonian
When a spacecraft is headed towards Metropolis, it is diverted to a relatively safe landing by Superman. After its crash, Superman is very surprised to discover a young boy inside. Echoing his own arrival in his youth years before, Superman sees that the boy is completely unharmed. The Kryptonese writings on his ship states that his Kryptonian name is "Lor-Zod". Superman takes him to the east coast lab of the Department of Metahuman Affairs for observation.
The boy exhibits super-human strength and can only speak Kryptonese. He does not know his name or where he is from. As with Supergirl, Superman instinctively knows the boy is Kryptonian before the tests are complete. After he is confirmed as a Kryptonian, he is immediately taken to the Department of Metahuman Affairs headquarters in Washington, D.C. without informing Superman. He removes the boy from their custody, and he decides, with Lois Lane, to raise the boy. Clark then contacts Batman, who uses his resources to create the identity Christopher Kent.
The Department of Metahuman Affairs was not the only source of interest in regards to "Christopher Kent". Lex Luthor, secretly monitoring Sarge Steel's broadcasts learned of the child's Kryptonian origin and set about claiming the boy for himself. Having somewhat trained the creature known as Bizarro to do his bidding, Luthor sent Bizarro into the city to capture Lor-Zod. A fight broke out between Bizarro and Superman, and Lor-Zod demonstrated his Kryptonian invulnerability by surviving the impact of a school bus falling directly on top of him.
Shortly after the battle took place, Lor-Zod's birth parents, General Zod and Ursa, broke free of their Phantom Zone prison and arrived on Earth to find him. Collecting Lor-Zod, the criminals freed the rest of their Kryptonian brethren from the Zone and mounted a massive invasion of Earth. During the siege of Metropolis, Lor-Zod turned against his father, burning his hand with twin blasts of heat vision. After the defeat of his biological parents, Lor is adopted by Kal-El and his wife Lois who have decided to raise the boy on Earth as their foster son in the name of Christopher Kent. Chris has accepted the younger Kents as his parents, and Clark's foster parents as his own grandparents, even calling Lois "Mama Lois" as he adapts to life on Earth.
When Zod and Ursa and their associates broke free of the Phantom Zone a second time, they attacked Kal-El and his family. Zod and Ursa recaptured Christopher as a bargaining tool to intimidate Superman into surrendering. However Superman was able to hold off Zod and his criminal allies until Luthor's technical assistance was able to exploit the connection that all the Kryptonians who had been in contact with the Phantom Zone and force them to be drawn back into it. Unfortunately, this link was also inclusive of Christopher who was born in the Zone and even Superman who had some interaction with the Zone. Seeing that the Zone portal would not close after all the criminals had been sucked back in, Christopher chose to sacrifice himself to close the breach rather than let it continue possibly causing more damage to the city and before his foster father could be swallowed up by the Zone as well.
When Superman contacted his "cousin" Mon-El (Lar-Gand) who remains in the Zone due to his own radiation poisoning to find out about Christopher's fate, Mon-El informs Kal-El that Christopher is either not in the Zone or was transferred to some very remote locale within the Zone that no one knows of.
Currently, Christopher remains missing.
Prophecy
The sorceror Arion came to Metropolis to implore Superman to stop fighting for the benefit of mankind, saying that he was disrupting the proper course of human history by pushing back an inevitable devastating event, and in the process, causing that event to be much worse, resulting in the end of civilization. This revelation troubled the Man of Steel, and caused him to consider his place in the world.
Current Events
Superman encounters a being named Atlas, a creation of the Science Police. After an intense battle, he is broken, crushed...he's taken a public beating the city of Metropolis hasn't seen since Doomsday. Kara tries to intervene, but it shot by a strange ray that drains her of her powers. Clark is a bleeding pulp and aching to draw solar energy and his savior turns out to be someone whose arrival was unexpected... Krypto!
Atlas is taken aback as the Hound of Steel goes direct for the jugular. No matter what, no matter the pain, Krypto throws his life on the line for Clark. Much to the distress of Atlas, the dog just won't stop coming and from the crowd of civilians Lois realizes just how much of a b*^ch she's been not just to Clark but to Krypto as well.
Above the crowd, a shady floating soldier appears and is relaying Krypto's fight to his superiors. Naturally they are not pleased with Krypto altering the tide of battle and, as with Kara, decide to bathe him in a ray from their satellite 'room'.
The ray bursts into smoke and for a brief second his combatant mourns his loss - for a second, as the hound emerges unharmed!
Purple, red, green, gold, blue, aqua none of the rays seem to have the expected effect that Kryptonians would have succumbed to and Atlas is as taken aback as his employers. He howls about Krypto being a magic being and Clark stirs with inspiration.
Racing away while Krypto has the upper hand in battle, Clark arrives at a magic show where he seeks Zatanna's help... she's not there, but her arrogant cousin Zach Zatara is, seeing a little of Kara's past behavior no doubt, Clark tolerates the boy's arrogance and asks him for a spell to counteract Atlas.
Zach's magic can't affect animate objects, so with some quick thinking Superman asks Zach to recreate the power of the sun long enough to give him full power again. It's a risk as they are still using Zach's inanimate powering to power an animate object but time is short - Atlas is close to success.
The world meanwhile watches as Krypto fights with his last ebb of life to prevent them harm and as his life starts slipping away even Lois' feels for him. As the killing blow is about to be struck Clark arrives and, with only sixty seconds of power behind him, makes his power count.
The city watches as Superman slams Atlas into the sidewalk, then deeper, deeper and deeper until silence reigns...
Superman rises triumphant but sees the citizens of Metropolis cheering him and decides to correct them. He publicly tells them Krypto is a hero now and not only is he a dog belonging to him but now he belongs to them too.
Thus begins Krypto's new life as a defender of Metropolis.
Real name: Kal-El (Kryptonian Name), Clark Joseph Kent (Earth Name)
Current Alias: Superman
Gender: Male
Age: 41
Alignment: Law Abiding Citizen
Marital Status: Married
Occupation: Investigative Journalist, Reporter, Novelist
Affiliation(s): Justice League of America
Characteristics
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 225lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
Character Type: DC Canon
Description: By the time Kal-El was conceived on Krypton it had long become practice to use genetic engineering to grant ideal traits. Those, coupled with a youth working on the farm and an adulthood of fighting evil has kept Clark is very good shape. When he's not disguising himself by walking slouched over slightly and wearing glasses, he has piercing blue eyes and a strong bearing that makes more than a few hearts flutter from time to time. Although he's married and dedicated wholly to Lois and would never think of straying, it doesn't hurt his chances of being trusted and liked by looking particularly good.
Personality
Superman is first among heroes for a good reason. With his great abilities he has always used them responsibly to save lives and prevent injustice. He truly believes in the rights of the common man, and that there can be freedom and justice for all. In many ways, he is the ideal American, but he also stands for all people everywhere which is how he came to be galactically renowned. He is a compassionate person with great confidence. He is often seen as being larger than life, or all too human, but without his characteristic inability to give up he would not be Superman.
Clark Kent is in many ways a mirror of Superman in beliefs, but he acts much more 'restrained and responsible'. Clark is also considered to be a big wimp, mainly because he won't get into situations where he might be forced to reveal his powers. If a gun gets pointed at him, he'll act deathly afraid of it, as if it could hurt him. There are innumerable times when these situations arise. Clark will often secretly use his powers, using well-timed and well-aimed blasts of super breath or heat vision as well as his incredible superspeed.
- Honest: It is a common trait of wholesome Midwestern folk to be honest and Clark is pretty much as honest as they come. He doesn't lie, which isn't to say he's unfamiliar with the concept and wouldn't be able to if lives depended on it but he does generally either tell the truth or withhold it rather than make up fabrications. People can almost always take what Clark says as the truth. From the outset his ideal was to have the people he was helping trust him, and therefore he decided that Superman would always be honest and not cover his face. He embodies this honesty, never willingly seeking to mislead or fool - unless it involves his secret identity, of course.
- Human: Even though Superman may be able to soar above Earth, fly through the heart of the sun and rend steel with his bare hands he was raised on a farm in Smallville. Because of this, despite his Kryptonian heritage, he will always think of himself as a human and not as the god many have come to view him as. His thoughts are always those of a Midwestern farmboy, perhaps colored a little more by his experiences traveling the world and living in the Big City. All the same, he thinks entirely like a human being in terms of what is right and what is wrong.
- Moralistic: Clark has a set of morals that he adheres to, taught to him by his adoptive parents and drummed into him over the entire course of his formative years. He refuses to kill, and although he has broken this rule in the past it has only been when his opponent has been truly irredeemable and caused destruction on an unforgivable scale - and even then he regretted the decision. He has sworn himself to uphold not only the basic codes of human behavior but also the law when doing so does not directly threaten or otherwise endanger innocent people. He works in concert with the police, taking over where their own abilities let them go no further. All in all, while his personal moral code may be broken in extreme circumstances he his loathed to do so, fearing that abandoning his own code of behavior may lead to a slippery slope there is no return from.
- Optimistic: In the face of even the direst circumstances, Superman cannot help but be optimistic about the outcome. Of course, he isn't a fool and doesn't expect things to turn out for the best without his intervention it takes a true catastrophe on a celestial scale to make him worry that things mightn't work out in the end. He does not walk around grinning and telling everyone to relax, but he is one of those people who honestly prefer to look at the glass as half full rather than half empty. It may cause him to clash with his darker companions from time to time, but in the end he thinks they'll come around - he's an optimist, after all.
- Protective: The vast majority of Earth's population consists of regular people with no super powers, and while in a perfect world that wouldn't be an issue the fact is that THIS world is also home to numerous, powerful individuals with villainous intent. With the power to defend the Earth against such enemies, Superman has become very protective of his adopted home. He will put himself in harm's way even if the individual he is protecting is capable of looking after himself. He is not of the mindset that he must always be the only one to confront a crises but he won't call in the reinforcements until he's sure that he can't do it alone. Superman would go to any lengths to keep Earth safe, having lost one home world already.
- Rigid: While Clark understands that people operate differently, for example he understands that Batman works through fear rather than awe and approachableness, when it comes to the basic codes of human behavior he can painfully rigid. Clark does not suffer people to kill. He knows he has done it himself but he maintains that even though he has made the decision in the past, he is wracked with guilt by it and it does not make killing a solution to any problem. In short, he has his beliefs and when they clash too vividly with another's he is liable to cease operating working with them altogether. He is not a 'my way or the highway' type but he projects his own morals onto others and when they fail to live up to the standards he sets there can be friction.
- Role Model: As Superman, Clark is well aware that he is a role model whom many people across the world look up to and he does his best to be worthy of such a position. He does his best to make time for signing autographs, brief conversations with the public and even accepting pictures drawn by children and presented as gifts. Of course, sometimes he needs to make a quick getaway to avoid being mobbed or if there is a crisis he needs to avert but in general he does his best to make time for the people. When he's in his costume he knows the eyes of the world are on him and that there are children out there who emulate him, so he makes certain to set a shining example.
- Straightforward: There is no point in mincing words, as far as the wholesome folk of the Midwest are concerned. When Clark has something to say he will come out and say it. He'll be as polite as he can, of course, never wanting to offend people but he doesn't include a lot of flourish in the way he speaks and generally likes to get to the heart of the matter.
- Leader: Clark is a born leader, having led the Justice League in numerous incarnations and even whole armies (super or not) at various times. He has what it takes to make people stand up, listen and then do what he says. There are times that he doesn't always want to be the person everyone turns to for answers, but chances are he will be the one who takes the lead when it comes right down to it. And like it or not, he's very good at it. He knows how to relate to people so that they want to do as he asks, he knows when to be stern and when to be more considerate and most importantly he goes out of his way to understand the different personalities, needs and beliefs of those he is leading.
History
This section could obviously be extremely long, however Superman has undergone multiple revisions, upgrades, downgrades, and rewrites, and retellings of his origin. This history is only going to take the current origin of Superman and note some key points in his long and fabled history.
The Early Years
Kal-El was born on the doomed planet Krypton to Jor-El and Lara. Although Jor-El had hoped to send his pregnant wife away from the planet in a test rocket and avoids its destruction, Kal-El was born earlier than expected, and the life support systems could only support one. Therefore, the baby was sent alone to Earth, the last son of Krypton.
The babe's spaceship landed near Smallville, Kansas, where he was found by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who raised him as their son, Clark Kent. As he grew older, he began exhibiting extraordinary powers, including super-strength and flight. His friends in Smallville included Pete Ross and Lana Lang who continued to remain friends with Kent into their adult lives.
Krypto
During the preparations of Krypton’s destruction, Jor-El had created a small prototype rocket. The Kryptonian canine of the House of El, Krypto, was sent in this small prototype rocket and programmed to head to earth. Jor-El used the data to help create the rocket that would later house Kal-El. However during the flight towards earth, Krypto’s rocket had a malfunction, and took an extra long path to earth, not arriving until 9 years after Kal-El had arrived. Krypto was eventually found and rescued by Clark when he was a boy. Initially just a normal dog (like the young Kal-El when he arrived), Krypto had no powers until later. Once he started to develop powers, Clark moved him to the Fortress where he began training him.
The first sighting of Superman
After graduating from high school, Clark traveled the world. He spent some time in Australia, where he met and had a brief romance with Callie Llewellyn. When Clark returned home to Smallville, he began openly using his emerging talents and powers in the costumed super-hero identity of Superman. He would formally enter into college and shuttle between Metropolis University and his parents' home in Smallville.
The Legion of Super-Heroes
During his earliest time as a public superhero, Clark was visited by a team of other super-powered youths from a thousand years in the future, the Legion of Super-Heroes, brought Clark to their time and inducted him into their membership, and sharing many adventures with Clark during his youth. Clark occasionally traveled between this future and his own native time, before permanently returning to his own native time.
A New Job at the Daily Planet
After graduating college, Clark later moved to Metropolis full time, where he began working as a journalist for the world-renowned newspaper, the Daily Planet. There he used his job as a journalist to enhance his heroism, always hearing about ongoing emergencies around the world.
Doomsday
A few years into his career, a monstrous alien beast called Doomsday emerged in eastern Ohio and began to march towards Metropolis. The beast single handedly defeated the Justice League when the team rallied to stop it (the lineup consisted of Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Bloodwynd, Maxima, Fire, Ice, and Guy Gardner). Superman battled the creature across several states, eventually drawing the line in Metropolis itself. After a desperate battle, Superman managed to put down the monster--but collapsed as he did so, dying in Lois's arms.
Sometime later, Superman is revived in the Fortress of Solitude. After reclaiming the title of Superman, he eventually gets a rematch with Doomsday after the monster turned up alive and well on Apokolips. Not even Darkseid could stop the monster's rampage. After working with Darkseid to defeat the Cyborg, Superman pursued Doomsday to the planet Calaton and fought the beast to a standstill. Luckily, with some help from Waverider, Superman was able to teleport Doomsday into the distant future--just before the universe came to an end. This allowed him to find a little piece of mind, although he regretted the creature's apparent death.
Marriage
Many adventures later, Clark’s rivalry with his coworker Lois Lane blossoms into a romance and ends (or begins) in marriage. As Superman, Clark inspired an entire generation of heroes, many of whom we worked alongside as a member of the Justice League of America based on the then-disbanded Justice Society of America.
President Luthor
Lex Luthor, regarded as a national hero for his perceived role in the Final Night, Y2K and No Man's Land is elected President of the United States. With all of his vast resources, President Luthor deduces that Clark Kent is Superman.
Manchester Black appears, orchestrating an event known as Ending Battle. Using his vast mind powers, Black manages to control and convince an entire legion of super-villains to attack Superman--starting with everyone he cares about. Before it's over, Superman has to engage virtually every enemy he has, all while desperately trying to save all his friends and family. Superman has Lois rally most of his friends and family at Steelworks, but she herself slips out and is cornered by Black at their apartment. Superman also learns that Lex Luthor knows his secret identity.
In the end, Black makes Superman think that Lois has been murdered in an attempt to force Superman to kill Black (and thereby prove Superman is no better than he is). Black fails, however, for even in his grief Superman refuses to kill him (although he is seriously tempted). Black's ruse is then up, revealing Lois is alive. Before Black kills himself, he removes the knowledge that Clark Kent is Superman from Luthor's mind and files.
Superman befriends a priest named Daniel and explains a story of his own pride. One day, after being called out into space to help Green Lantern, Superman returns to find one million people missing from Earth--including Lois. Superman refers to this event as the "Vanishing" and says that it originated in the Middle East. Flying there, Superman found a city in the midst of a civil war. A man named General Nox and his henchman, Equus, are responsible for the civil war. Superman battles Equus and discovers the machine responsible for the Vanishing. Equus activates the machine, and along with himself, General Nox and another three thousand people disappear.
The Vanishing
A man claiming to work for the government, Mr. Orr, demands that Superman turn over the device, but refuses. After a short chat with the Justice League, Superman heads back to Metropolis to fight off a giant water based monster. The water monster is soon joined by three others (each based upon an element) and attempt to get Superman to leave the planet. After bluffing that he will destroy the planet if they carry through their threat to wipe out all human life, the elementals disband. Superman takes Fr. Daniel to the Fortress of Solitude, even as Wonder Woman heads there to stop Superman. Wonder Woman seeks to prevent Superman from activating the Vanishing machine, thinking it will be the equivalent of suicide.
As Fr. Daniel is taken back by Orr and treated for cancer, Superman activates the machine and disappears. Superman realizes that the Vanishing was caused by a device he originally created should anything ever happen to earth--it created a "perfect" city inside a pocket of the Phantom Zone and would teleport some people there (including Lois). Superman finds Lois and the others living in a city there--but the city is under siege by Equus and his new master, an all new General Zod. Zod had managed to activate the device to draw Superman there. After a battle with Zod involving Fr. Daniel (who has been turned into a Borg thanks to Orr), Superman manages to return everyone lost in the Vanishing back to Earth. Superman builds a new Fortress of Solitude in the Amazon Jungle.
The Coming Crisis
Superman discovers Brainiac manipulating Lois--or so he thinks. After a battle with Brainiac in the Fortress of Solitude, Superman discovers blood on his hands: then the JLA and the JSA turn up, ordering him to surrender himself for what he has done. Superman tries to remember what happened, but instead of a battle with Brainiac, this time he recalls a fight with Darkseid. The JLA concede that it seems like Superman is being manipulated. When he asks whose blood is on his hands, the team takes him to the Watchtower and show him the badly beaten body of the Batman.
The League determines that Maxwell Lord is responsible for manipulating Superman with the false memories, but before they can put Superman in a transporter tube, Max begins his manipulations anew and compels Superman to flee the Watchtower, with Wonder Woman hot on his heels. Superman, believing that he has just seen Doomsday murder his wife, attacks Diana with all his might. Diana puts up a desperate defense, but is clearly outmatched by Superman pulling out all the stops. She manages to stun him, however, and wrapping Lord up in her Lasso of Truth, demands to know how to free the Man of Steel from his control. Max replies the only way to do so is to kill him (Lord). Diana snaps Max's neck--an event recorded by the Brother Eye satellite and broadcast around the world. Superman is freed--but at a terrible price.
Superman is called away from the scene to deal with a nuclear missile. After pitching it into space, he has to fight off two OMACs and discovers that they are really people inside the metal suits. He flies to the Batcave to talk to Batman about what has happened, but Batman is not interested. Superman returns to Metropolis, where even Lois agrees with what Diana did. Superman can't help but think of everything that's happened, particularly the events of "Crisis of Conscience" in JLA, so he goes to see Zatanna. She tells him that she altered the Toyman, and together they find him, locked in his own fantasy world. Zatanna clears his delusion just before he apparently dies in a collapsing building.
In Metropolis, the world is unsure of how to react to the tape of Wonder Woman killing Lord. Lois goes to Umec to figure out who was behind the hit on her and deduces that it must have been Lord himself. Lex Luthor shows up at the Daily Planet, trying to get information on Ruin. Ruin himself then shows up for a fight, teleporting all throughout the battle. Superman realizes he is using the Phantom Zone to teleport. Before he can unmask Ruin again, the villain flees. Superman responds to his JLA alert, flying to the Watchtower--only to find it in ruins.
Infinite Crisis
Shifting through the ruins of the Watchtower, Superman can find no trace of J'onn J'onzz. Wonder Woman and Batman both turn up. Batman coldly tells Diana to leave, that she has no business there after killing Lord. They are interrupted by Mongul, and they are so fractured that they barely are able to take him down. Afterwards, Batman tells Superman how the whole world is afraid of them because of Wonder Woman, and that the last time he truly inspired anyone is when he died. All three go their separate ways.
Alexander Luthor continues with his machinations to find "the perfect Earth." In order to keep most of the world distracted, he orders the Secret Society of Super-Villains to drop Chemo over Blüdhaven. Chemo detonates, killing over 100,000 people instantly, and leaving the city irradiated with poisonous clouds. Superman arrives, leading a cadre of heroes who can withstand the toxicity to try and rescue who they could. Chemo began to reform, and Superman engaged, knowing that he would reform quicker, sucking the poison back into himself. Once it was all gone, Superman hurled Chemo into space.
As the Crisis continued, Earth-Two was brought back into existence. Superman heard a scream from that world, and flying there found Kal-L from Earth-Two, standing over the body of Earth-Two Lois Lane, who had just died. Kal-L blamed Kal-El for her death and attacked her, leading to a brutal fight across the Earth-Two Metropolis. As they battled, their lives flashed before each other's eyes in an instant. The fight was finally stopped when Wonder Woman arrived, grabbing Kal-L in her Lasso. She and Kal-El helped him see the truth--that Alexander Luthor was really manipulating the strings.
Alexander Luthor is stopped from creating his "perfect universe" when his tower is destroyed by Kon-El during a battle with Superboy-Prime. Unfortunately, Kon-El dies of his injuries just before Superman, Kal-L, Wonder Woman, and Batman arrive. Superman is deeply affected by the loss, but is determined to put an end to the madness that Luthor has created. Alexander's machinations have disrupted history, causing some changes to Superman's history.
The Battle of Metropolis
Nearly every super-villain on the planet converges on Metropolis, desiring to conquer Superman's home city. Kal-El and Kal-L lead the charge with the other heroes in their wake. The first villain they take down is Doomsday himself. Kal-L confronts Alexander, but he is unrepentant. Superboy Prime, driven totally insane by this point, decides the only solution is to destroy this universe completely by flying straight through Oa at lightspeed. J'onn J'onzz, aware of his plan, alerts everyone who can fly to try to stop the insane Prime, but he is too fast. In deep space, Guy Gardner and a coalition of Green Lanterns manage to stop him long enough for Kal-El and Kal-L to grab him. Not fast enough to take him back to the speedforce, the two Supermen fly him to Krypton's solar system--and straight through its red son. After they fly through it, they crash on Mogo. Prime's suit was destroyed and his powers were failing, but he still managed to beat Kal-L, fatally injuring him. Kal-El tore the S-shield off Prime's chest, and managed to knock him out before collapsing (there was Kryptonite all around them). The Green Lanterns swoop down, obliterating the kryptonite and incarcerating Prime. Kal-L dies in Power Girl's arms, and a powerless Superman is taken back to Earth. Batman and Wonder Woman decide to take some time off. Superman is not discouraged, however, knowing that his powers will return in time, and in the meanwhile the Earth is in good hands.
One Year Later
Clark Kent (powerless after his fight with Superboy Prime a year ago) has enjoyed his life as a civilian. After watching a presentation on Superman in Metropolis Park, his wife Lois Lane goes to report on the trial on Lex Luthor, who is now a free man after 120 counts against him are dropped. Praised by Perry White for his work in the The Daily Planet, Clark goes to cover the return of Intergang while, at the same time, Lois is interviewing scientist K. Russell Abernathy when an accident turns him into a new Kryptonite Man. Clark calls Supergirl through his signal watch, and she defeats Kryptonite Man. Clark later runs into Luthor who assaults Clark because of articles that ruined Lex's career and cost him his company.
In an underground laboratory, Toyman works with Luthor on a Sunstone crystal while Clark nurses his injuries. Later, he heads to Metro Square and sees several men from Intergang wearing old Lexcorp battle suits. They notice Clark and open fire, until Green Lantern and Hawkgirl save him and take care of Intergang. Once that is done, Hal and Kendra talk privately to Clark, insisting that it is time for him to get back into the game - whereupon Hal presents him with an S-shaped Green Lantern ring.
In Lois & Clark's apartment building, Lois sees Green Lantern, Hawkgirl with Clark playing around with the ring's power. Afterwards, he gives it back to Hal, stating he is fine now and doesn't know if he wants to resume his career as a superhero. While Lex Luthor meets and kidnaps Metallo, to steal the kryptonite inside him, robot insects break into Stryker's Island Penitentiary. Green Lantern and Hawkgirl arrive and find the Prankster behind it all and defeat him, while the new Kryptonite Man breaks out of prison.
The next day, with Jimmy Olsen by his side, Clark is checking around in hopes of exposing Intergang's illegal activity. Luthor wants to awaken an ancient Kryptonian warship that crashed in 1938, and he and Toyman harness the Kryptonite Man to use his energy to the Sunstone crystal to do so. Neutron and Radion attack Clark because he exposed Intergang. The blasts don't seem to hurt him, and racing down a subway tunnel, Clark is hit by a subway car that tosses him several yards. Thinking he's dead, the villains leave. But Clark is alive, and sees his handprint on the hull of the subway car.
Later, with his powers returning only by one third, Clark needs to master them again. Lois notices his powers have returned when she sees his hand on the hot burner. She goes to the closet and pulls out a Superman costume and says, "Go get 'em". Puzzler attacks the Daily Planet looking for Clark Kent when Superman appears. The fight is carried down into the street where, after Puzzler is defeated, Bloodsport, Livewire, Riot, Silver Banshee and the Hellgrammite attack. When Jimmy Olsen is about to be shot, Superman goes as fast as he can and stops the bullet. He is now, again, faster than a speeding bullet.
In the heated battle, Superman defeats all of the villains, then switches back to Clark Kent as he heads to the Daily Planet. Later, above Metropolis, Superman picks up something and tries to listen in. Then, dozens of Sunstone crystals grow out from the ground, damaging surrounding buildings. As Superman saves the city, he finds Luthor inside and controlling the ancient Kryptonian warship. With Metropolis having turned its back on him, Luthor declares his intent to destroy the city.
The Sunstone crystals then form tanks and hover-craft. Captain Marvel, Green Lantern, the Justice Society of America and the Teen Titans arrive to intervene but are prevented from entering the city by an energy shield generated by Luthor's stolen ship, which he declares to be the Kryptonian flagship once commanded by Admiral Dru-Zod. Superman goes on to damage the section of the warship that controls the remote craft with his heat, causing Luthor to release kryptonite into the ship's matrix and also to change the warship into a robot. Having enough, Superman takes all of his energy and flies at speed through the cockpit of the warship, destroying it and removing Luthor from the controls. Weakened by the kryptonite, Superman's momentum carries both himself and Luthor through the ship and high above the West River as his powers fade, causing the two to crash into the water below.
On an island in the river Luthor and the now-unpowered Superman fight each other hand-to-hand. Once Luthor is unconscious, Superman passes out only to awaken with his powers returned and Luthor taken into custody again. Flying above Metropolis, the crowd cheers and thanks him for saving their lives. After returning to the Planet as Clark Kent, he changes back to Superman to do some heroic deeds and to give Jimmy Olsen a new signal watch. After signing autographs from fans, Superman takes the Sunstone crystal Luthor used and flies to the Arctic. Knowing that it in fact contains blueprints and designs from his Kryptonian parents, he throws it into the landscape and watches it construct a massive citadel. Superman decides to use this as his new Fortress of Solitude.
A New Kryptonian
When a spacecraft is headed towards Metropolis, it is diverted to a relatively safe landing by Superman. After its crash, Superman is very surprised to discover a young boy inside. Echoing his own arrival in his youth years before, Superman sees that the boy is completely unharmed. The Kryptonese writings on his ship states that his Kryptonian name is "Lor-Zod". Superman takes him to the east coast lab of the Department of Metahuman Affairs for observation.
The boy exhibits super-human strength and can only speak Kryptonese. He does not know his name or where he is from. As with Supergirl, Superman instinctively knows the boy is Kryptonian before the tests are complete. After he is confirmed as a Kryptonian, he is immediately taken to the Department of Metahuman Affairs headquarters in Washington, D.C. without informing Superman. He removes the boy from their custody, and he decides, with Lois Lane, to raise the boy. Clark then contacts Batman, who uses his resources to create the identity Christopher Kent.
The Department of Metahuman Affairs was not the only source of interest in regards to "Christopher Kent". Lex Luthor, secretly monitoring Sarge Steel's broadcasts learned of the child's Kryptonian origin and set about claiming the boy for himself. Having somewhat trained the creature known as Bizarro to do his bidding, Luthor sent Bizarro into the city to capture Lor-Zod. A fight broke out between Bizarro and Superman, and Lor-Zod demonstrated his Kryptonian invulnerability by surviving the impact of a school bus falling directly on top of him.
Shortly after the battle took place, Lor-Zod's birth parents, General Zod and Ursa, broke free of their Phantom Zone prison and arrived on Earth to find him. Collecting Lor-Zod, the criminals freed the rest of their Kryptonian brethren from the Zone and mounted a massive invasion of Earth. During the siege of Metropolis, Lor-Zod turned against his father, burning his hand with twin blasts of heat vision. After the defeat of his biological parents, Lor is adopted by Kal-El and his wife Lois who have decided to raise the boy on Earth as their foster son in the name of Christopher Kent. Chris has accepted the younger Kents as his parents, and Clark's foster parents as his own grandparents, even calling Lois "Mama Lois" as he adapts to life on Earth.
When Zod and Ursa and their associates broke free of the Phantom Zone a second time, they attacked Kal-El and his family. Zod and Ursa recaptured Christopher as a bargaining tool to intimidate Superman into surrendering. However Superman was able to hold off Zod and his criminal allies until Luthor's technical assistance was able to exploit the connection that all the Kryptonians who had been in contact with the Phantom Zone and force them to be drawn back into it. Unfortunately, this link was also inclusive of Christopher who was born in the Zone and even Superman who had some interaction with the Zone. Seeing that the Zone portal would not close after all the criminals had been sucked back in, Christopher chose to sacrifice himself to close the breach rather than let it continue possibly causing more damage to the city and before his foster father could be swallowed up by the Zone as well.
When Superman contacted his "cousin" Mon-El (Lar-Gand) who remains in the Zone due to his own radiation poisoning to find out about Christopher's fate, Mon-El informs Kal-El that Christopher is either not in the Zone or was transferred to some very remote locale within the Zone that no one knows of.
Currently, Christopher remains missing.
Prophecy
The sorceror Arion came to Metropolis to implore Superman to stop fighting for the benefit of mankind, saying that he was disrupting the proper course of human history by pushing back an inevitable devastating event, and in the process, causing that event to be much worse, resulting in the end of civilization. This revelation troubled the Man of Steel, and caused him to consider his place in the world.
Current Events
Superman encounters a being named Atlas, a creation of the Science Police. After an intense battle, he is broken, crushed...he's taken a public beating the city of Metropolis hasn't seen since Doomsday. Kara tries to intervene, but it shot by a strange ray that drains her of her powers. Clark is a bleeding pulp and aching to draw solar energy and his savior turns out to be someone whose arrival was unexpected... Krypto!
Atlas is taken aback as the Hound of Steel goes direct for the jugular. No matter what, no matter the pain, Krypto throws his life on the line for Clark. Much to the distress of Atlas, the dog just won't stop coming and from the crowd of civilians Lois realizes just how much of a b*^ch she's been not just to Clark but to Krypto as well.
Above the crowd, a shady floating soldier appears and is relaying Krypto's fight to his superiors. Naturally they are not pleased with Krypto altering the tide of battle and, as with Kara, decide to bathe him in a ray from their satellite 'room'.
The ray bursts into smoke and for a brief second his combatant mourns his loss - for a second, as the hound emerges unharmed!
Purple, red, green, gold, blue, aqua none of the rays seem to have the expected effect that Kryptonians would have succumbed to and Atlas is as taken aback as his employers. He howls about Krypto being a magic being and Clark stirs with inspiration.
Racing away while Krypto has the upper hand in battle, Clark arrives at a magic show where he seeks Zatanna's help... she's not there, but her arrogant cousin Zach Zatara is, seeing a little of Kara's past behavior no doubt, Clark tolerates the boy's arrogance and asks him for a spell to counteract Atlas.
Zach's magic can't affect animate objects, so with some quick thinking Superman asks Zach to recreate the power of the sun long enough to give him full power again. It's a risk as they are still using Zach's inanimate powering to power an animate object but time is short - Atlas is close to success.
The world meanwhile watches as Krypto fights with his last ebb of life to prevent them harm and as his life starts slipping away even Lois' feels for him. As the killing blow is about to be struck Clark arrives and, with only sixty seconds of power behind him, makes his power count.
The city watches as Superman slams Atlas into the sidewalk, then deeper, deeper and deeper until silence reigns...
Superman rises triumphant but sees the citizens of Metropolis cheering him and decides to correct them. He publicly tells them Krypto is a hero now and not only is he a dog belonging to him but now he belongs to them too.
Thus begins Krypto's new life as a defender of Metropolis.