Clark Kent (Earth-38)

"The fact that I'm Superman means that I've been gone a lot in your lives. Now I always told myself that you'd both be fine and that it wouldn't affect you, but I was wrong. I know it has. Now, I can't just abandon the world, but I can't abandon you two, either. It's gonna take me some time to figure out how to be better at both, but I will, okay?"

- Clark Kent to his sons

Clark Kent, born as Kal-El, is the superhero known as Superman, stylised as the Man of Steel. He is a member of an unnamed team and an assistant coach for the Smallville Crows. He was previously a reporter for the Daily Planet, but was fired due to budget cuts made by Morgan Edge.

Evacuation from Krypton
Kal-El was born between 1982 and 1987 as a member of the House of El in Kryptonopolis on the planet Krypton to the well respected scientist, Jor-El and an unnamed woman.

Not long after, the planet's resources began to reach exhaustion and as people learned of its impending destruction, it fell into a state of war which only accelerated the planet's destruction. Jor-El, learning of Krypton's fate, placed his son in a pod on a course for Earth. He was accompanied by his older cousin, Kara Zor-El, who was sent by Zor-El to protect him, but her pod was knocked off course which led to her being trapped in the Phantom Zone for years until eventually finding her way out.

Life in Smallville
The pod crashed on the Kent Farm in Smallville, Kansas as Martha and Jonathan Kent Sr. were heading to church. They approached the apparent meteor at which point the pod opened and revealed there to be a baby inside. They then decided to adopt him under the name, Clark Kent.

When he was four years old, Clark was playing with a toy rocket ship when he threw it too hard and it went through the Kent family home which shocked him. When he was six years old, his adoptive parents finally told him about his alien heritage.

When Clark was in ninth grade, he asked his father if he could join the school baseball team, but he said no due to his superhuman powers. He showed up to the field regardless but at the last minute realised that he only wanted to join for a girl and so he went home, a decision which he has regretted for over twenty years.

At some point when Clark was a teenager, he started to attend Smallville High School and became the team manager for the Smallville Crows. He would also meet Kyle Cushing, become friends with Pete Ross and begin dating Lana Lang.

Clark, Pete and Lana later attended a Soul Asylum concert. As Pete was driving back, he fell asleep at the wheel which caused the car to go off the side of the road. Lana passed out during this incident, but Clark managed to save the three, though the car was destroyed. He and Lana eventually broke up.

In his teenage life, Clark was trained by his father on his superhuman strength in the Storm Cellar. His effort was then kept on the log, which he used to train his son's powers over 20 years later.

He was later hanging banners for the Smallville Harvest Festival with his adoptive parents when Jonathan died of a heart attack in the middle of the street. He and Martha Kent later attended a funeral service for Jonathan at Smallville Cemetery.

A year later, Clark was struggling with discovering his purpose on Earth and so he began using his powers to fight crime as "Ski Mask Guy". In one encounter, he confronted several men who were robbing a store, making them put the items back after showing off his super strength and invulnerability. This led to a conversation with his mother which ended with her giving him the Sunstone Crystal that was in his pod. He soon left for Metropolis after saying goodbye to Martha, a decision he would come to regret years later after her death.

Becoming Superman
After leaving home, Clark discovered the Fortress of Solitude where he would meet the AI of his Kryptonian father, Jor-El. Jor-El then taught Clark about how his physiology is different on Earth due to a younger and brighter Sun charging his cells, giving him extraordinary powers. Clark returned home and informed Martha about his journey searching for his heritage.

In 2004, he began operating as the superhero known as Superman. When Clark was searching for Milledge Avenue, he witnessed an uncontrolled vehicle speeding in the city. He quickly suited as Superman and saved a young boy from being hit by a green car after it had fallen from a bridge above him by grabbing it mid-air, safely putting it on the ground below, before handing the child his baseball cap back. The boy then complimented Superman on his costume to which he responded that his mother made it for him. Clark returned to the alley and changed back to his civilian outfits, before being approached by a bystander asking him if he saw the person who flew. Clark claimed he did not see, with the bystander telling him she was going to let the Daily Planet know about the new vigilante.

During his superhero career, he would fight and defeat Thaddeus Killgrave and work alongside Batman, coming to trust him so much that he gave him a shard of green kryptonite for safekeeping in case he ever turned evil.

Relationship with Lois Lane
Later, Clark was hired as a reporter for the Daily Planet by Perry White who accepted his interview as he volunteered to work with no overtime and no health insurance, as well as picking up his dry cleaning. Perry then introduced him to his co-worker, Lois Lane.

Clark and Lois would work together on exposing an individual who targeted small businesses and left "SS" logos at the crime scenes. Throughout the year, they fell in love with each other as they worked side-by-side. Lois soon confronted Henry Miller and was attacked. Clark quickly arrived and rescued her from the flamethrower, with him saving the civilians as Lois defeated Miller. Days later, Clark volunteered for his first television interview with Lois Lane. He also listened to her conversation with the producer about how he has feelings towards Lois. However, Lois fell in love with Clark and not Superman, surprising Clark while Lois later telling him the truth.

Clark eventually told her about his Kryptonian heritage while visiting Martha Kent, who liked Lois and asked Clark about why he took a long time before bringing Lois to Smallville. During their relationship, Clark listened in on a conversation Lois was having using his super hearing, and she caught him. This led to her almost leaving him, with Clark spending two weeks' salary on flowers just to get her to talk to him again while also making her a promise to never do it again.

Clark later proposed to Lois outside the Fortress of Solitude, with her nodding her head in approval and the pair then flew into the sky while kissing. They soon after got married in a ceremony, that was attended by Martha Kent and Sam Lane, before making out in Jonathan's old truck with a "Just Married" sign attached to the bumper.

They then moved into their own apartment and soon after discovered that Lois was pregnant with two twin boys, before travelling to the Kent Farm to show the ultrasound picture to Martha Kent.

The twins were born in 2007 after 27 hours of labour, and they decided to call them Jonathan and Jordan Kent after Clark's biological and adoptive father respectively. According to Clark, Jonathan was easy to raise as he was always happy and smiling, although he did once shock them when playing outside after he threw a baseball at a tire on a rope which caused the rope to snap, suggesting he has inherited his father's superhuman strength. Jordan on the other hand, was more complicated as he was prone to throwing tantrums and having night terrors which was diagnosed as social anxiety disorder years later.

Clark would later take Jonathan to the Fortress of Solitude to test him for superhuman abilities, but they came back saying it was unlikely.

In 2009, Superman fought against Naxim Tork who came to Metropolis to capture him and put him in his menagerie but he was able to escape, eventually changing Tork's target to Kara.

The Crisis
A day after the creation of Earth-Prime, J'onn J'onzz visited Clark to restore his memories from the original multiverse, and he immediately rushed to help the other heroes in the Battle of Earth-Prime.

He alongside Alex Danvers, Batwoman, Dreamer, Martian Manhunter, Spartan, Supergirl, The Flash, White Canary and Wild Dog went to fight the hoards of Shadow Demons that were descending on the city when suddenly the Anti-Monitor materialised.

Superman flew overhead with the sky team blasting the Anti-Monitor's dome with his heat vision, but it was unable to break through and the heroes were all knocked back by a burst of antimatter.

The Anti-Monitor then enlarged himself, towering above the heroes while Superman and the sky team flew up and continued to blast him with heat vision but to no avail. He was then grabbed and crushed in his hand before being shrunk by The Atom which allowed him to escape.

Atom then handed a bomb made by him, The Flash, Nash Wells and Ryan Choi to Supergirl who threw it at the Anti-Monitor which trapped the villain in a perpetual state of shrinking. After the battle, Ray returned him to normal size.

A few hours later, Superman was on patrol when Lois called him and said that he was needed in Metropolis to deal with an issue regarding his sons, which surprised him as he was not aware that the crisis had changed his past so that he has two children instead of one.

Superman was later present at a memorial for Oliver Queen alongside Batwoman, Black Lightning, Martian Manhunter, Supergirl, The Flash and White Canary at the Hall of Justice where Barry proposed the formation of a team to prevent future threats to the planet.

He reassured Barry that it was a good idea at which point he said that the team wasn't even the best part and then revealed a table with chairs that had each heroes logo on them with an eighth chair that had the Green Arrow logo on it in memory of Oliver Queen. They then sat down before being interrupted by the sounds of some sort of wild animal.

Going Home
At some point, Clark was mentioned to have recommended funnel cake from the Kansas State Fair by "Barry Allen" during a dinner with Iris West, although this was likely made up due to them being in the Mirrorverse at the time.

In Autumn 2020, Superman raced towards an explosion at Ace Chemical to put out a fire, assisted a space shuttle in launching and saved the residents of a town by prevent the collapse of a smoke stack after an earthquake, all of which was reported by the Daily Planet Network.

He also dealt with a nuclear meltdown at Oyster Creek, which unbeknownst to him was caused by the Captain Luthor who was watching him through the lead walls.

He was later summoned by General Lane using an ELT device to prevent another nuclear meltdown caused by Captain Luthor at the Elison Nuclear Power Plant. He rushed to the sight so fast that he broke the sound barrier before landing inside. Using his x-ray vision, he discovered a crack in the reactor and used his heat vision to seal it, but this was not enough to stop the meltdown, and so he flew outside and used his freeze breath in the ocean to create a giant iceberg which he then lowered into the reactor which stopped the meltdown.

Powers

 * Kryptonian Physiology: Clark's Kryptonian physiology grants him a variety of superpowers when exposed to a yellow sun.
 * Solar Energy Absorption: Kryptonians are able to absorb solar energy and use it to fuel their powers.
 * Accelerated Healing Factor: Clark is able to heal at a superhuman speed as shown when he quickly recovered from being stabbed with a kryptonite blade by Captain Luthor.
 * Atmospheric Adaption: Clark is able to breathe in space as shown during his battle with Captain Luthor.
 * Flight: Clark has the ability to fly at supersonic speeds as shown when he broke the sound barrier on his way to the Elison Nuclear Power Plant.
 * Levitation: Clark has the ability to levitate while flying.
 * Heat Vision: Clark can fire red or blue energy beams from his eyes that will burn almost anything it touches.
 * Invulnerability: Clark is invulnerable to most forms of physical damage except for green kryptonite.
 * Cold Resistance: Clark is able to endure extremely cold temperatures as shown when he flew into the ocean after using his freeze breath to create an iceberg.
 * Heat Resistance: Clark is able to endure extremely hot temperatures as show when he was inside a 2000 degree nuclear power plant during a meltdown. He is also able to withstand his son's sudden heat vision.
 * Longevity: Clark ages at a much slower rate than Humans with Lana Lang commenting that he looks the same in 2020 as he did in high school.
 * Superhuman Breath: Clark is able to freeze objects using his breath as shown when he created a massive iceberg to prevent a nuclear meltdown.
 * Superhuman Leaping: Clark is able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
 * Superhuman Reflexes: Clark is able to perceive and respond to attacks much faster than the average person.
 * Superhuman Smell: Clark is able to smell things at a superhuman level, although he does not regularly use this power as shown when he smelled the scent of alcohol on Jonathan Kent.
 * Superhuman Speed: Clark is able to fly so fast that he can break the sound barrier and can run at mach 10. Clark is also able to run at a superhuman speed and stop, sending a wave of wind towards his enemies and knock them unconscious.
 * Superhuman Stamina: Clark is able to fly for long periods of time without being tired.
 * Superhuman Strength: Clark is incredibly strong and can lift extremely heaving objects such as a space shuttle.
 * Thunderclap: Clark can clap his hands to create a strong shockwave in all directions that can knock humans unconscious.
 * Superhuman Vision: Clark has enhanced eyesight and is able to see both thermal and x-ray radiation.
 * Telescopic Vision: Clark is able to see things at an incredible distance such as when he saw General Lane driving to the Kent Farm from miles away.
 * Thermal Vision: Clark is able to see the heat signatures that people give off such as when he saw Jonathan and Jordan Kent when they were buried under metal beams in the Kent barn.
 * X-Ray Vision: Clark is able to see through almost any material except for lead.
 * Superhuman Hearing: Clark is able to perceive sounds from miles away, requiring him to focus one sound at a time to truly comprehend the sound.

Abilities

 * Multilingualism: Clark is able to fluently speak English, Spanish, Cantonese and Kryptonese. He later revealed that he is able to speak all the languages on Earth as a method to understand the world.
 * Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Clark is an expert in hand-to-hand combat and was even able to fight Captain Luthor while wearing his warsuit that was specifically designed to counteract his abilities.
 * Expert Reporter: Clark is an expert reporter due to working for the Daily Planet for many years.
 * Genius-Level Intellect: Clark is an incredibly intelligent individual as he was able to outsmart and take down the evil genius, Thaddeus Killgrave, twice over.
 * Indomitable Will: Clark almost never gives up as shown when he pulled a kryptonite dagger out of his chest as he was falling to the earth.
 * High Pain Tolerance: Clark can tolerate extreme levels of pain without giving up on his goal.

Weaknesses

 * High Frequencies: Clark is susceptible to high frequencies as shown when Thaddeus Killgrave fired a sonic blaster at him.
 * Kryptonite: Like all Kryptonians, Clark is susceptible to most forms of Kryptonite with it being one of the few things that can kill him.
 * Green Kryptonite: Green Kryptonite is a form of Kryptonite that will make Clark, and all other Kryptonians, sick and eventually kill him when exposed to for a long enough amount of time.
 * Synthetic Kryptonite Gas: After inhaling the Kryptonite gas created by Project 7734 of the D.O.D., Clark's respiratory system was not working effectively. After several days, Clark's regenerative healing factors also failed to protect him bullets. Fortunately, his durability was able to keep him alive with bruises.
 * Lead: Clark is unable to see through lead.
 * Solar Energy Depletion: Clark doesn't have his powers when his body is depleted of yellow sun energy.

Current Equipment

 * Superman Suits: Clark wears a series of protective suits whilst operating as Superman, the first of which was designed by Martha Kent.
 * Glasses: Clark wears a pair of glasses to conceal his identity.
 * Items in the Fortress of Solitude: Clark and his cousin, Kara, have recovered various items over the course of their superhero careers which are kept in the Fortress of Solitude.
 * Bottled Earth: An undesignated earth that survived the crisis by being bottled by Brainiac 5 is stored in the Fortress of Solitude
 * Myriad: Myriad is a program that can change peoples memories that's stored in the Fortress of Solitude.
 * Phantom Zone Projector: A projector that can send people to the Phantom Zone is stored in the Fortress of Solitude.
 * Solar Hammer: A weapon called the Solar Hammer is stored in the Fortress of Solitude.

Former Equipment

 * Rama Khan's Rings: Rama Khan's rings were stored in the Fortress of Solitude before being stolen by Lex Luthor.
 * Vigilante Suit: Clark wore a black suit with a ski mask while operating as "Ski Mask Guy".

Trivia

 * According to Lois Lane, Kal-El is one of the first heroes on Earth.