Clark Kent (Earth-38)

"What you asked for was my allegiance to America. And you refused me. Because I gave it to the world a long time ago!"

- Superman to Mitch Anderson

Clark Kent, born as Kal-El, is a Kryptonian refugee sent to Earth moments before Krypton's destruction.

Landed in Smallville, Kal-El was raised as Clark Kent and became the adoptive son of Jonathan and Martha Kent. After Jonathan's death, Clark moved to Metropolis and became the vigilante Superman, stylized as the Man of Steel.

As a superhero, Clark met renowned reporter Lois Lane and soon fell in love. The couple later gave birth to a pair of twins and raised them without telling the secret of Clark's alter ego. The secret was soon revealed when the family moved back to Smallville, where they discovered and thwarted Morgan Edge's hidden intentions.

Evacuation from Krypton
Kal-El was born naturally around the 1980s in Kryptonopolis on the planet Krypton as a member of the House of El to well respected scientists, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van.

Not long after he was born, Krypton'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 fate. Upon learning this, Jor-El and Lara put Kal in a pod on a course for Earth. They both intended to place Sunstone Crystals containing holograms of themselves in the pod, but Lara's was stolen by her ex-husband, Zeta-Rho, as revenge for leaving her.

Kal 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
Kal's pod crash-landed on the Kent Farm in Smallville, Kansas as Martha and Jonathan Kent Sr. were heading to church. They approached the unknown object only for it to open and reveal a baby inside whom they decided to adopt under the name, Clark Kent.

When Clark was four years old, he was playing outside with a toy rocket ship when he threw it too hard, which resulted in it going through the Kent House. When he was six years old, his adoptive parents told him what they knew about his alien heritage.

As a teenager, Clark began to attend Smallville High School, where he would meet Kyle Cushing, become friends with Pete Ross, begin dating Lana Lang, become a team manager for the Smallville Crows. and become a reporter for the school paper.

Clark was also trained by his father on how to control his superhuman strength using a log in the Kent Farm storm cellar at some point as a teenager.

In the ninth grade, Clark asked his father if he could join the school baseball team, but he said no due to the possibility of him injuring someone due to his superhuman powers. He showed up to the field regardless, but at the last minute realized that he only wanted to join for a girl, and so he went home.

At some point, Clark, Pete and Lana attended a Soul Asylum concert. While driving back, Pete fell asleep at the wheel, which caused the car to go off-road and Lana to pass out. Clark saved the two, but the car was destroyed.

Martha Kent used to spend weeks planning what the Kent family would donate to the Smallville Harvest Festival through making lists and spreadsheets, which taught Clark the value in giving and helping others in need. One year, Clark was hanging banners for the harvest festival with his adoptive parents when Jonathan went into cardiac arrest and died in the street. He and Martha Kent later attended his funeral service 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. Soon after, Clark said goodbye to Martha and left Smallville.

Training
The crystal eventually lead Clark to the Arctic, where it stopped glowing. He threw the crystal to the ground in frustration and began to walk away, at which point it began to glow again and form an ice structure which would later be named the Fortress of Solitude. Clark tried to run away from the structure but was buried in ice, only to use his heat vision to melt the snow above. He then noticed a large entrance, which he soon went into and saw the sunstone crystal floating atop a pedestal. He picked it up and inserted it into a crevice in the pedestal, at which point it showed an A.I. version of Jor-El who soon introduced himself to Clark as his father. Jor-El then taught Clark about his Kryptonian heritage and that his cells absorb the Sun's energy differently from humans, which is where he gets his powers from. Clark spent years training at the fortress through running at superhuman speeds through the snow before he finally began to fly for the first time, at which point he felt that he was ready to return home. Jor-El agreed with this, stating that he needed to return to discover why he wished to help humanity as their champion.

Returning Home
Clark then returned home to the Kent Farm, where he was greeted by Martha, who he told about his Kryptonian heritage and decision to become Earth's champion before returning the sunstone crystal to his pod and going to Sequoia to look for Lana Lang. However, he soon realized that she had moved on after seeing her kiss Kyle Cushing with a wedding ring on. He returned home and spoke to Martha about this, who attempted to cheer him up by telling him to follow her as she had something to show him. She then unlocked a box which contained a costume that she had created after having a dream about an adult Clark flying. He apologized for leaving so soon after Jonathan's death, but Martha told him that it was fine, as it was something he had to do. She then suggested that something was missing from the chest area, which was later solved by Clark adding the symbol of the House of El.

Debut
In around 2004, Clark moved to Metropolis and began searching for an apartment to rent but was interrupted when he spotted an out of control green car using his superhuman vision. He made his way to an alleyway where he took off his glasses and ripped open his suit to reveal his superhero costume before flying away to save the car which had flown off a nearby bridge. It almost hit a young boy below before being grabbed in mid-air and put down safely by Clark, who then gave the boy his cap back. The boy complimented him on his costume, with Clark responding with a thank you and that his mom made it for him. He then discretely changed back into civilian clothing in a phone booth before being approached by a bystander, who asked him if he saw the person who was flying. Clark feigned ignorance, asking questions about the man before the woman walked off, saying that someone at the Daily Planet has to hear about it.

Clark then looked up at the Daily Planet office and decided to get an interview for a job there with the editor-in-chief, Perry White. Perry initially rejected Clark's résumé due to a lack of experience, with Clark insisting that he had experience writing for his school paper, which only made Perry mock him. Despite this, Clark persisted and was eventually hired on the conditions of having no health insurance or overtime and picking up Perry's dry cleaning every Thursday. Perry then introduced Clark to his new co-worker, Lois Lane, who he followed until they encountered Ron Troupe, who was excited about Jimmy Olsen capturing the first photograph of Metropolis' new hero saving a boat from sinking at Hob's River.

Atom-Man
Clark noticed that Lois wasn't as excited as everyone else and asked her why, to which she responded that Metropolis has many systemic issues outside of rescue operations which are being ignored in favor of the new hero. She then showed him a case she was working on where an arsonist was attacking minority owned businesses and defacing them with SS symbols, which shocked Clark, who asked if he could help. They spent days calling and questioning victims, all while their investigation was being overshadowed by the hero saving around 60 fishermen from a sinking ship, until one of the suspects, Henry Miller, was arrested. They went to an office room where Clark complimented Lois on her journalism before telling her he had to go, but was interrupted by Lois asking him if he had a hot date, an idea which was soon dismissed by Clark. She then said that she could convince Perry to give him his own beat in something like local politics, but Clark declined, stating that he would rather be here. Lois then asked if it was for the story or the company, to which Clark responded by saying that he thinks that was a trick question before saying goodnight.

The next day, Clark asked Ron where Lois was and was told that she left to confront a suspect. He then used his x-ray vision to determine that it was Henry Miller, and so put on his costume and raced to the scene where he blocked an incoming flamethrower attack from Atom-Man which was directed towards Lois. He then used his frost breath to disable the flamethrower, at which point Miller threw two grenades in either direction, one towards a Caucasian family and another towards an Arab family. Clark soon realized his plan and so destroyed the inert grenade heading towards the Caucasian family with his heat vision before holding back the blast from the grenade directed towards the Arab family, which caused him to be knocked backwards through a store window. Lois then tazed Atom-Man into submission before asking the hero how he knew what was happening, with him responding that he has been reading her reports in the Daily Planet and that he has superhuman hearing. She then formally introduces herself before asking what his name is, suggesting "Mister Metropolis" and "Red and Blue Man". Clark then responds that he is sure she will come up with something before flying away. Lois is then asked who that was by a store owner, and she replies that it was "Superman".

Relationship with Lois Lane
Clark and Lois began dating for a couple of months before she eventually obtained an interview with Superman in which she asked him how long he had lived on Earth and where his pod crash-landed, but he avoided the later question by saying that he speaks all languages and so people shouldn't assume that it was in the United States. The interview was then cut monetarily as Lois' mic malfunctioned and during the break Lois talked with one of the producers who was convinced that Superman was into her. Superman used his superhuman hearing to eavesdrop on this conversation and found out that she was in love with his civilian persona and just hadn't told him yet. Lois then returned to the set after realizing Superman was listening and apologized for being unprofessional before reminding him that she still won't go easy on him.

Some time later, Clark took Lois to Smallville to meet Martha Kent and to tell her about his secret identity. Clark and Martha talked briefly about this before Clark led Lois to a field outside, where he took off his glasses and began to fly. They went back to Metropolis and continued their relationship until Clark took Lois to the Fortress of Solitude and proposed before flying up into the air while kissing. The pair got married in Smallville and later went on honeymoon where they discussed why he had kept his secret for so long, as he was saving it for her, and how he couldn't wait to tell A.I. Jor-El about his wedding, which he later did.

Soon after, they discovered that Lois was pregnant after three pregnancy tests to confirm and later that they were having twins. They then travelled to the Kent Farm to show the ultrasound picture to Martha Kent.

The twins were born after twenty-seven hours of labor and would be named Jonathan and Jordan Kent after Clark's adoptive and biological fathers 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.

Superman's Adventures
During his superhero career, Superman 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.

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 Zor-El.

Crisis on Infinite Earths
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 materialized.

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.

Return to Normal
"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 to Jonathan and Jordan Kent

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 fall 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 "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 Hearing: Clark is able to perceive sounds from miles away, requiring him to focus one sound at a time to truly comprehend the sound.
 * 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. and smelling Jordan's cologne from a great distance.
 * 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.

Abilities

 * Multilingualism: Clark is able to fluently speak English, Spanish, Cantonese and Kryptonese. He later revealed that he is able to speak all human languages while trying 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 genius criminal, 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

 * 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 does not possess his powers when his body is depleted of yellow sun energy.
 * Sonic Blaster: Created by Thaddeus Killgrave, the blaster is one of the few weapons that are capable of injuring Kryptonians, sending them flying midair and limit their movement.
 * Inter-Dimensional Kinesthesis: Three months after defeating Tal-Rho, Clark began having visions on destructions, affecting his focus while working as Superman.

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, Clark is one of the first heroes on Earth.
 * Clark is presumed to be born between 1982 and 1987.
 * In, Kara Zor-El claims to be 17 years old in 2009. In , she was said to be stuck in the Phantom Zone for nearly a decade. This places the escape from Krypton in 1982. As Kal left moments prior to Kara as an infant, Kal's is presumed to be born during or prior to 1982.
 * In, Clark also said in fall 2020 that he attempted to join the baseball team in the ninth grade which was over 20 years ago. Since ninth graders are 13–14 years old, this means that he is around 34 years old and was born in 1987.
 * In his first encounter with Lois Lane, Lois proposed the name "Mr. Metropolis" and "Red and Blue Man" before naming Clark as "Superman". Additionally, Clark was nicknamed as the "Miracle Man" in his early days and stylized as the "Man of Steel" years later.