| “ | Two decades of leading by example has failed to change their nature, despite my best hopes. | ” |
— Kal-El[src]
| ||
Kal-El is a Kryptonian refugee sent to Earth moments before Krypton's destruction and a vigilante known as Superman.
Biography[edit source]
Early Life[edit source]
Kal-El was born on the planet Krypton and was sent to Earth just before the former's destruction.[2]
El later landed in Smallville, where he was adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent on the Kent Farm.[1]
Fourth of July[edit source]
During a Fourth of July ceremony, a car crash killed El's adoptive parents, though El's Kryptonian abilities protected him from any injuries. He then fell into the care of a foster family nearby and lived for a short period of time.[1]
Defender of Earth[edit source]
Eventually, El discovered his foster father was beating his wife. Enraged and blinded by anger, El used his heat vision on his foster father and murdered him, with the police arresting him and sending him to a government facility.[1]
Unfortunately for the government, none of their weapons were able to harm El, and he was able to easily escape. He then found a Sunstone Crystal from the pod he landed on Earth in. Soon, El fled to the Amazon rainforest and set up a refuge. With the crystal and a refuge, El discovered the crystal hid the replicated consciousness of his father and began his training, ultimately becoming Superman, the defender of Earth.[1]
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During his crusade to help the people of Earth, El prevented a school bus from falling off Pingtang Bridge.[3]
Controlled Burn[edit source]
Twenty years later, El was approached by his half-brother, Tal-Rho. Rho successfully convinced El to join his resurrection of their home planet. El, who was disappointed by his inability to improve humanity, decided to join his brother and followed his orders.[1]
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Leading an army of Kryptonians, El destroyed Metropolis in just 7 minutes. Later, El flew behind Lois Lane as she exposed his weaknesses, burning her to ashes on television.[4]
The U.S. Army then engaged in battle with El at some point. He used his heat vision to kill a squadron of soldiers led by General Sam Lane, but John Henry Irons managed to survive this encounter[5] and eventually learned his Kryptonian name, his inability to see through lead, and his weakness to Green Kryptonite.[2]
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Throughout the years, the Resistance fought against El's forces and faced Irons, who wore a war suit to counteract their superior physiology. In one of their encounters, the forces called for El's assistance and El was able to shatter Irons' war suit visor, scarring his right eye.[1]
In 2019, Irons lured El to outer space in his ship in hopes of killing him with a Red Solar Rocket. El attacked Irons' ship and damaged its ballistic shields, making him vulnerable. Moments before the universe's complete destruction by Antimatter, Irons fired the rocket at Superman and was teleported to another universe, where his hatred for Superman remained.[6]
Magog[edit source]
Unbeknownst to Irons, El was later teleported away by to Earth-Prime by Magog.[1]
Powers and Abilities[edit source]
Powers[edit source]
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- Kryptonian Physiology: Kal-El had various superpowers due to his Kryptonian physiology when exposed to the energy of a yellow sun.[2]
- Solar Energy Absorption: When exposed to yellow sun radiation, El, like other Kryptonians, absorbs the energy and supercharges his body cells, giving himself exceptional abilities.[4]
- Atmospheric Adaption: El was able to survive in the vacuum of space without suffering from suffocation.[4]
- Flight: Like other Kryptonians, El can fly at an exceptional speed and levitate in the air.[4]
- Levitation: El had the ability to levitate even in outside of Earth's atmosphere.[4]
- Heat Vision: El was able to fire red energy beams from his eyes that were able to burn through almost anything.[4]
- Invulnerability: El was invulnerable to almost all forms of damage and was able to withstand close range gunfire from the army.[5]
- Superhuman Breath: El was able to freeze things with his breath.[2]
- Superhuman Hearing: El could hear his foster father beating his wife at night despite his foster brothers not being able to hear it.[1]
- Superhuman Speed: When El discovered his father's replicated consciousness, he was trained for a year such that he could run at an exceptional speed.[1]
- Superhuman Strength: El could exert great strength from his bare hands, denting steel objects and damaging ballistic shields.[4]
- X-Ray Vision: El was able to see through almost any material except for lead.[2]
- Solar Energy Absorption: When exposed to yellow sun radiation, El, like other Kryptonians, absorbs the energy and supercharges his body cells, giving himself exceptional abilities.[4]
Abilities[edit source]
- Hand-to-Hand Combat: El was trained by his father to become a fighter, which made him one of the strongest individuals on Earth.[1]
Weaknesses[edit source]
- Kryptonite: El is vulnerable to all forms of kryptonite with different types producing varying results.[2]
- Green Kryptonite: El was susceptible to green kryptonite due to it being a radioactive element from his home planet, Krypton.[2]
- Lead: El was unable to see through lead.[2]
Equipment[edit source]
Former Equipment[edit source]
- Superman Suit: El wore a black and silver protective suit when operating as Superman.[5]
- Sunstone Crystal: El discovered the Sunstone Crystal from his pod.[1]
Appearances[edit source]
| Appearances | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
Pilot | Mentioned |
|
Heritage | Flashback |
|
Man of Steel | Flashback |
|
Holding the Wrench | Pictured |
|
O Mother, Where Art Thou? | Mentioned |
|
Through the Valley of Death | Flashback |
|
What Lies Beneath | Mentioned |
|
The Thing in the Mines | Mentioned |
|
Into Oblivion | Flashback |
 |
Controlled Burn | Flashback |
|
Savior Complex | Appears |
|
Waiting for Superman | Flashback |
Gallery[edit source]
Kal-El/Superman
Young Kal-El
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References[edit source]
| Other versions of Kal-El | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Multiverse
Earth: 167 • 1 • 96 • 9 • Prime • UE-32 • Bizarro World | |||||||||||||||||||