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/Clark Kent/Superman
Biological family:
(father) (mother)(paternal cousin) (paternal uncle) (incomplete clone) ("brother"/partial genetic clone)
Adoptive family:
(mother)Marital family: (Wife) ( sister-in-law) ( mother-in-law) (father-in-law)
( cousin-in-law)
( cousin-in-law by marriage)
(cousin-in-law once removed/godson)
Occupation
Writer/Reporter (), L former member of the , former farmer ()
Powers andAbilities
Played By
"So what are you, man or superman?"
—Lana Lang to Clark Kent in to
Clark Kent, aka Superman, is 's greatest hero and the main protagonist of . Hailing from the planet , Clark is
who was raised in , Kansas. He resided there until his early adult years, when he moved to .
and , Clark was sent to Earth by his parents to fulfill
in which he would become the savior of : he was rocketed off of the planet just minutes before its destruction. Accompanied by a ,
crash-landed in
in Smallville: there, he was found by farmers
to which they raised him as , instilling in him strong moral principles and teaching him to use his abilities for good. Thanks to the , Clark developed many
that grew stronger as he got older. He learned much about his origins from Dr. ,
and . Clark secretly fought crime around his hometown during his
years and moonlit as a
throughout Metropolis initially known as the Good Samaritan, then as the Red-Blue Blur, and then simply as the Blur. By day, he works as a reporter at the
and manages .
For many years, Clark maintained
that started as a friendship before evolving into mutual enmity,
with his first love , and finally met , with whom he began
after they were assigned as co-workers at the Daily Planet. He also developed
with his childhood friend ,
with whom he works to fight for good, and
After Jonathan's death, Clark started to mature more and began to worry more about the consequences of his actions. After several incidents involving his Kryptonian heritage (i.e. Kal-El's
with his cousin ), Lana's departure and Lex's constant attempts to discover , Clark began to embrace , culminating in 's
of the super-powered "Red-Blue Blur" on the Planet front page and the citizens adopting that name for their own vigilante. Following Jimmy's death as consequence of Clark's
while trying to stop , Clark dropped the red-and-blue look and embraced his Kryptonian side, starting to leave
as a symbol of hope at the sites of his heroic feats. When
returned to Earth as a younger clone of himself with
and declared war on Earth, Kal-El had
with Zod. After he used the
to send all the army to , Kal-El won over Zod in a deadly battle.
When he was warned about
coming to Earth, Clark's future as a hero fell into question due to the doubts and fears in his heart. But after going with
to the future, he came back with a new purpose for his crusade and recently took the next step toward the future he saw by revealing his secret to Lois, who surprised him by telling him she already knew. With his secret out of the way, and seeing how well his relationship with Lois strengthened him, Clark decided to take the next step by proposing to Lois, who accepted with great delight. He also
his "brother" .
began making preparations to defend Earth from the coming of Darkseid. In the midst of his and Lois'
with Lex, Clark won the battle with Darkseid by mastering his ability to , putting on , pushing
away from Earth, and finally fulfilling his destiny by becoming the Earth's greatest savior known as Superman.
Contents[]
Main article:
"You do know, of course, you look absolutely ridiculous in that, right? And I got a great tailor, hook you up with a little color, maybe." — Oliver Queen, to Clark,
"You talk like a cop, you walk like a fireman. Heck, you beat us to most of our own crime scenes. You might as well put an "S" on your chest." — Bert Camp, to Clark,
Physically, Clark stands around 6 feet 4 inches tall in height, and weights around 235 lbs, being broad-shouldered and muscular in build, towering even over other tall and muscular men, such as Oliver Queen. This build, alongside his wavy dark brown hair, perfectly puts him into the description of "tall, dark and handsome." He has the traditional House of El's blue navy eyes, with many other fellow
telling him he has "his father's eyes". In fact, Clark
during his youth.
A result of his good looks (and sometimes solely because of them), Clark is often the object of sexual desire for most of the women he comes in contact with. Even women who have been admittedly in love with Clark have been known to physically objectify him. In spite of this attention, Clark is generally oblivious to his attractiveness, and has never seemed to have much vanity or concern with his appearance at all (save for occasions where he was afraid of standing out or looking foolish).
In Seasons 1-8, Clark often wore a red jacket and blue t-shirt or the other way around. In 's , he stopped wearing red and blue while working at the Daily Planet so that he could start to create a dual identity. As a reporter, Clark wore dress shirts, ties and dark suits. Clark
Lois a pair of thick-lenses black-rimmed . Once he began to
more into the public eye as a superhero, Clark decided to wear the glasses more regularly in order to mask his true identity.
As the Red-Blue Blur, Clark wore a bright blue short-sleeved t-shirt, a dark red jacket, a black belt, light blue jeans and brown work boots.
In , Clark
to wear attire consisting of a black low-collar long-sleeved double-breasted twin-tailed trench coat, black pocketed denim pants, black belt, black riding boots, and a high-collar short-sleeved black shirt that bears a gray . Since , he started to wear a white version of the Mark of El which shined brightly enough to be seen clearly if he was standing in the shadows.
In , Clark started to wear a black carhartt jacket with a black t-shirt underneath, black jeans and black boots to reflect his Kandorian Blur costume. This clothing is reminiscent to the red jacket and blue t-shirt.
After his near-death experience in , Clark returned to his "Red-Blue Blur" look. He wore a bright blue low-collar short-sleeved t-shirt, a dark red leather low-collar long-sleeved, a dark red leather zip-up jacket with the Mark of El on the front, a black belt, black pants, and brown work boots.
Martha made Clark a
that consisted of a blue low-collar long-sleeved shirt with a diamond-shaped, red-lined and yellow shield emblem with a red Mark of El in the middle on the chest, with blue pants with red trunks, a yellow belt, a pair of red boots and a flowing low-collar long . Due to Clark's inner doubts and fears, Jor-El kept the costume in the
for the time being. Once Clark fully embraced his powers, Jor-El unveiled the costume, which was then presented to Clark by the spirit of Jonathan.
Clark has been seen wearing his glasses as his mild-mannered disguise in the following episodes:
: , , , , ,
The Red-Blue Blur/The Blur
Chloe: "You know, Clark, maybe you can have your cape and wear it, too. Say that Clark Kent, the unassuming journalist, buttoned up in a starched shirt and tie, but then, when he's playing the hero, he—"
Clark: "Steps out of the shadow into his red and blue, creating two completely separate identities?"
Main article:
When Clark began anonymously saving strangers in Metropolis, he became known as the Good Samaritan. Jimmy Olsen began tracking his saves, determined to get to the bottom of it. Finally, Jimmy was able to
a picture of Clark super-speeding. His red jacket and blue shirt appeared on the image, causing Jimmy to name him the Red-Blue Blur.
With the start of , Clark went by the Blur. As the Blur, Clark wore dark clothing with
on his chest, alluding to the
and also to the fact that Clark was still in mourning over . He also left the Mark of El burned onto an object wherever he saved lives or stopped a crime. For a short while, Clark left his human life behind, but returned to his life as Clark Kent to keep an eye on Lois, though he still mainly focused on his Kryptonian training with Jor-El.
that the world needs an all-American hero who doesn't hide in the shadows, Clark was inspired to make a change and started with his costume, donning a new attire consisting of a red leather jacket with the Mark of El engraved on it and a blue shirt underneath.
Blur 1: Due to Clark's constant red-jacket/blue-shirt look (at times blue-jacket/red-shirt) at the start of his super-saves in Metropolis, Jimmy's first photo of him gave the general public the perception of a super-speeding man in red and blue. Unwilling to don a 'suit' just yet, though also seeing the notion on how a costumed hero watching over the people of the city can give them some hope, Clark sought Oliver to give the city a single clear view of his seeding alias. As confirmed by later notions, like kids' views of "the Red-Blue Blur" resembling what'll be Superman, as well as Martha adapting a yellow belt and Clark's red cape
by , the general public perceives this first guise of the proto-Superman "Blur" to be mostly donning blue, a yellow belt, and heavy red cape.
Blur 2: Though still giving off a mostly blur-like perception to the public, Clark decided to notch up his proto-Superman alias, with the events of
persuading him to drop the red/blue colors in favor of a pure black look. This actual 'suit' includes a cape-like trench coat, in a way continuing on from the perception Oliver gave Metropolis back in , and the actual Mark of El proudly on his chest. Because he isn't letting the citizens still fully see him yet, though there are exceptions from time to time with allowing Lois and a few citizens to glimpse him, Clark emphasizes the use of his family's crest by burning it at areas of his saves. Though it was at a great distance, thus mostly obscuring his face from the general public, he did let them
for the first time during his
as he caught the Daily Planet globe. This costume is very similar to the one Zod adopted when he
Blur 3: Clark's truly final transition from the seeding alias that has been building for two years. In response to Cat Grant's emphasis on the continuing paranoia from certain sections of the general public and even the US military toward costumed heroes, Clark forever dropped the black in favor of returning to the more American-friendly red and blue. Though unable to keep a cape-look due to Jor-El confining the full-fledged Superman suit that Martha made for him, Clark opted to don a 'suit' more familiar with Oliver and the 's: A red leather jacket with the iconic 'S' embedded (two halves of it on the left and right sides) of the front chest section, as well as a blue shirt from his first Blur look under the jacket. Clark used this last contribution to his proto-Superman "Blur" far less than the prior two so far, taking what could be considered a five-episode sabbatical before he finally started performing public super-saves in it.
He has been seen wearing his costume in the following episodes:
: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
: , , , , , , , , ,
Oliver once wore a mock-up version of Clark's costume on one occasion to act as cover for Clark in .
: Made by Martha Kent, this costume consists of a blue low-collar long-sleeved shirt with a diamond-shaped, red-lined and yellow shield emblem with a red Mark of El in the middle on the chest with blue pants with red trunks, a yellow belt with a Mark of El buckle, a pair of red boots and a red flowing low-collar long cape with a yellow diamond-shaped, black-lined emblem with a black-lined Mark of El in the middle on the back. Due to Clark's conquering his inner doubts and fears and fully mastering his powers, he was bequeathed the suit by both Jor-El and Jonathan Kent.
Superman Suit II: Clark changed his costume six months later. Gone are the red trunks, replaced by a red belt trimmed in gold with a gold buckle. Blue-gray bands now run lengthwise along his sides from under the arms to his boots. The Mark of El on the cape is now in dark silhouette with all the yellow removed. Clark explained that he put lead in the shield of his new suit to protect himself from being shot with
bullets. Superman's belt buckle can also be used as a communication device for , and has a holo-computer.
He has been seen wearing the Superman suit in the following episodes:
First costume
Second costume
: , , , , , , ,
Superman Speed Force Suit: While battling , Clark wore a new Superman suit, created by Emil Hamilton. Emil took the concept of sending Clark into the sun to remove his irradiation to fashion a containment suit. He then modified the suit to collect speed energy so Clark could be able to use it to constantly move fast enough to confront the demon. This costume is half black half electric-blue, covering all of his body and with a bright House of El emblem on the chest.
He has been seen wearing the speed force suit in the following episodes:
Green Lantern
As a Green Lantern, Clark wears a sleek energy constructed uniform, created by his , which is a necessary accessory. Like all ' costumes, its colors are green and black. He wears a black tight suit, which covers all of his body except from his hands and face, underneath the energy contracted green details of his costume, which includes bracelets, boots and the emblem of House of El, instead of that of the Green Lanterns, on his chest, which expands into a big armor covering his chest, neck, belly and shoulders. While in costume his eyes also glow green.
He has been seen wearing the Green Lantern uniform in the following episodes:
"What's real is your strength and integrity and compassion. As long as you remain honest to those things, it doesn't matter what you wear or what name you go by, because...you'll always be my son." — Martha Kent, to Clark,
Two traits of Clark Kent that have been prominent for most of the series have been his positive and optimistic view on humanity as well as his self-loathing and self-pity of not being human. Clark strongly believes that feelings such as compassion are synonymous to the human race, and thinks humans are, on the whole, noble beings. He has often expressed a desire to be human and a disdain towards his alien heritage, probably because he feels his biology hinders his humanity despite several people telling him that humanity is more than biology. Clark also has been told many times to have a hero complex and that he often does good, selfless acts without any thought for himself. Clark is childish and sometimes sarcastic.
This self-loathing is probably why Clark internalizes situations and believes everything is his fault or revolves around him in some fashion. It deeply affects him when his loved ones suffer because of , as he fails to consider that people who love him would willingly suffer for him and instead blames himself for any trouble that befalls them, regardless as to whether he's responsible or not. He considers knowing his secret a burden to bear that puts the secret-keeper in danger. He often feels guilt about things over which he had no control and, because of this, does not consider himself a hero. It may also explain part of his constant fear of sharing his secret, assuming that he won't be accepted for what he is because he is not comfortable with himself. Clark also struggles with the fact that he cannot save every endangered person and, as such, feels that his heroic deeds are inadequate.
This inferiority complex also extends to how Clark feels about his own race, since he was quick to judge that Kryptonians were evil until discovering that they, like humans, were capable of love and compassion as well as hate and evil, his own father having been a respected Kryptonian scientist who had his world's best interests at heart. Clark has made some improvements toward accepting who he is, expressing gratefulness for his abilities and taking pride in his compassion for the human race, which he views as a strength. However, recent events and revelations have caused Clark to abruptly change his mind about his compassionate side, and he now feels like caring too much for humans limits his ability to save them. As he has grown older, Clark has begun to realize that the circumstances surrounding his destiny affect a greater circle than his small hometown and has clearly decided to embark on his Kryptonian training in the near future. However, after reuniting with Lana in the fall of 2007, he abandoned these plans and declared his intent to attempt to make a "normal" life with her on the farm. After Lana
from Smallville, accompanied by a
when he was temporarily rendered powerless, Clark resolved to take a more active role in his destiny and took a job at the Daily Planet to be certain of being in "the thick of the action." In conjunction with this decision, he begun to use his powers in a more active manner.
Despite Clark's reverence for the human race and their capacity for love and bravery, he doesn't think much of them physically. He has several times assumed that because someone is human and does not have his powers, they are completely incapable of taking care of themselves. In this way, he believes that all humans depend on him to protect him. He fails to take into account that some humans are capable of caring for themselves.
Clark has two notable characteristics that he takes directly after his biological parents Jor-El and Lara: His father's independent spirit and his mother's never-ending bravery and compassionate heart. ()
Clark is idealistic and has the ability to always find the good in people, which manifests itself into a willingness to trust others to a fault.
He trusted Lex Luthor for several seasons, despite indications that Lex was engaged in unethical projects.
He was willing to give
, even though he knew that
had contributed to the destruction of Krypton.
He was willing to trust
from Season 5 on despite the many previous indications of Lionel's villainy.
He continued to consider
a friend even after Pete proved a poor custodian of his secret and began to engage in unethical behavior, often blaming Clark for his problems due to knowing the secret causing him too much stress.
He continued to love and trust Lana even though she had married his former best friend and current enemy Lex Luthor.
He was willing to trust
when he said he had been re-programmed, even though previous versions of the Kryptonian supercomputer had tried to resurrect Zod, kill him, his loved ones, unleash the Doomsday beast, and destroy the entire planet of Earth.
He was willing to put
in charge of , despite knowing that she, like Lex, was involved in unethical activities and had previously sided with
against Earth.
a second chance and sent him back to , despite knowing that he was a sociopathic mass murderer who had ruined life for the citizens of
on his adopted home planet.
He had faith in
after he had been controlled by
using the , even though Oliver had just tried to take away all of his powers using .
His ability to find the good in others has led to the redemption of several villains, including two :
and . He wasn't able to "save" Lex Luthor, and apologized to him for failing to do so in 's , he also failed to redeem , despite reaching out to him in friendship midway through .
Clark also completely rejects the idea that the
can ever justify killing someone, even if it means that many others may die:
Clark refused to kill the impending
of , even though it was likely that Zod would destroy Earth like he had attempted to destroy Krypton. Instead, he killed
and in doing so, unwittingly open a portal to the
and freed Zod.
were willing to kill
in order to destroy
and save the lives of billions on Earth. Clark stopped them and insisted they find a better way: eventually they discovered they could combine their powers to generate an
and them remove Brainiac's nanites from Chloe, saving her life. ()
Clark was not willing to kill
even though he might destroy Metropolis and much of Earth. As a result,
incapacitated Clark with
in order to attempt to kill Davis, as they knew that Clark wouldn't be willing to consider murder. ()
However, on very few occasions, Clark was willing to hurt or even kill an alien in order to save others and/or himself. This was shown in particular when he faced the alien
in a brutal fight and revealed a sinister smile towards his opponent before punching him upwards. () He recapitulated this behavior in a fight with his doppelganger , superimposed by a feeling of superiority in each case. () Several month later, he was even willing to destroy Bizarro with blue Kryptonite, although this plan was eventually adopted by Lana. ()
Clark's optimistic opinions and outlook on life may also be somewhat inherent: while , he retained a positive attitude of the people around him. Clark can be impulsive and often acts before thinking things through, doing things without considering the real-universe repercussions or adverse outcomes, despite his good intentions. Unsurprisingly, Clark has a hero complex, often trying to save lives at any and all costs. He has willingly risked his own life to save his loved ones and has, on many occasions, offered the Kents' home to individuals seeking refuge. Clark has a temper which can come out when the people he loves are put into danger. Clark is also very comfortable around children and enjoys situations in which he gets to be a "big brother" figure.
Additionally, because he closely guards his secret, Clark can sometimes be dishonest. He often makes up lies to explain his sudden presence or absence as well as his knowledge of mysterious things. He seems slightly less mature than his friends, although this could be the result of his sheltered upbringing. Clark has also been known to complain, especially about his roller-coaster relationship with Lana. His family and friends have repeatedly told him that he shouldn't bottle up his emotions until they get the best of him. Clark has also shown to be somewhat of a workaholic, using work to cope or avoid his problems, or working unreasonably long hours.
Clark has a few ironic traits to his personality: He is afraid of heights despite the fact that he can survive almost any fall, and is also habitually late despite being able to run at -like speeds. Finally, and perhaps most ironically, Clark highly values trust in a relationship, despite his constant lies to protect his secret. When it comes to secrets and lies, Clark is an enormous hypocrite. He lies and keep secrets constantly from other people, but is outraged when secrets are kept from him. This increasingly evident when Chloe keeps someone else's secret from him, such as Davis or Lana, and he feels betrayed, despite her keeping his secret even from those closest to her. He is good at math, and his interests include playing football and basketball, astronomy and journalism.
Most of Clark's personality traits and moral character are the direct result of his modest farm upbringing. Being very close to both of his parents, Clark was respectful, obedient and highly valued their approval. Raised with a strong moral background, he does not like invasions of privacy, thinks the bad guys should be punished and wants things to be fair. Clark is also hard-working and usually does not place much value in material possessions.
Clark's relationship with Lois consists of playful bantering, a unique partnership and the ability to understand each other's personalities. (, , ) Clark's relationship with Lois began with him being very irritated by her impulsive behavior to rush into situations and her rude, bossy attitude towards him. () Like with most people that Clark meets, he tries to find the good in people. He eventually discovered that under Lois's mask of sarcasm and witty banter lie a heart full of compassion, love, and dedication much like himself. () It's interesting to note that while Clark denied countless times that he doesn't have feelings for Lois, everyone else around him (from his parents, Lana, Chloe, Lucy, Jimmy, Oliver and Kara) could see that he did have feelings that were brewing beneath the surface.
It's not until he's infected by
() that the feelings he has developed towards Lois over the course of their relationship were revealed to him by his passion and willingness to reveal his powers to her. Since joining the Planet staff as a reporter and being partnered up with Lois, Clark has grown to admire and respect her as well as come to the realization that he is deeply in love with her. The special bond they developed is clearly evident by Clark's ability to break free from 's seductive entrancement which she reveals to Lois, as well as her ability to calm him down following Alicia's death. () Lois caught Clark using his powers four times (, , , ).
Clark confessed to Lois that he feels emotionally stronger with her in his life. () This is made clearly when Clark resumed his Kryptonian training and believed that, if he cut ties with his humanity, he would be completely focused to protect humanity without any distractions. However, Clark discovered that he could not protect humanity fully by standing apart. He needed something to keep him connected so he turned to Lois with whom he found inner strength and a strong connection to as the Blur that just deepened his relationship with her as Clark even more.
When Clark finally did tell Lois his secret, he found that she was not just a typical damsel-in-distress that needed his protection. Instead she was a major force to be reckoned with that could hold her own in any situation she came up against and expected Clark to treat her as his equal. (, ) Clark admits to Lois that he always felt like an outsider, a freak, until he met her who made him feel human. ()
Recently, Clark has fully begun his Kryptonian training, and is much less emotional and more violent than before (although he still retains his humor while around Lois). He has also seems to have become much more calm during battles, and resorts to more brutally offensive methods than he would have in the past. His willingness to use violence is further expressed when he put a witness in the hospital (), lifted Tess off the ground by the throat and manhandled her while under no threat. () Clark once told
to stay away from Lois, for she was off limits, and threatened to destroy him and the Kandorians if Zod didn't leave Lois alone. ()
Clark's personality has also changed drastically enough since he first began his training that he no longer deals with the same inhibitions he did before. Red kryptonite no longer effects him in the same way because of this: while under its effects, Clark does not display the greedy and lustful tendencies he has in the past, because he no longer has to deal with those desires. Instead, he becomes simply more ruthless and violent. ()
Main article:
"That's why I'm lucky to have parents like you. Every time I woke up and had a new ability, you were always there to help me adjust and this time is no different." – Clark Kent,
Clark is the most powerful superhero on Earth, as well as one of the most powerful beings in the entire universe. Clark's superhuman abilities are the result of his cells' absorbing solar energy from Earth' having spent a lifetime under it have made his abilities virtually limitless, even surpassing other Kryptonians in power due to this tremendous advantage. As a Kryptonian, his cells are veritable organic solar batteries that absorb and metabolize solar energy. He converts this energy into his abilities. His abilities usually appear suddenly and he must learn to control them. They have evolved and grown stronger to a degree as Clark has gotten older.
In episodes like , , , and , it is apparent that Clark's powers are tied to certain neuron pathways in his brain which activates his abilities. While Clark was
by Sarah Conroy, he didn't have his superpowers at first but, when the sun hit him during the end of his dream, he was able to use his heat vision ability to destroy the Traveler. After phantom Hudson entered his mind, Clark was
to activate his powers but the Martian Manhunter, John Jones, was able to exorcise the phantom using his red crystal, allowing Clark to wake up. After Clark entered Lex Luthor's mind in order to obtain certain memories that would help him find Lois and Kara, he was seen powerless towards Lex, who easily picked him up with one hand, but Clark eventually found his way out of Lex's mind and managed to get back to reality.
- This ability is the primal core from which all of Clark's superhuman powers and abilities manifest from. The interior of his body stores sunlight emitted from the Earth's yellow sun, and seems to operate like a battery. In outer space this ability is amplified. Emil theorized that if Clark enters into the Sun, his powers would become uncontrollable. [citation needed]
- Clark's chief physical ability is his superior superhuman strength. Direct exposure or contact with the rays given off by Earth's yellow sun, makes him much more powerful and his strength capacity gets magnified to a degree. Clark, as a growing adolescent, was extremely strong, and as such, he would often be seen using his strength to help out around the Kent farm, by plunging fence posts into the ground, driving in nails with his thumb, lifting up tractors and other heavy machinery for his father Jonathan. Also, during this time, he would use this ability to stop rogue metahumans and save people all around Smallville, Kansas. He apparently, was aware of this power since the Kents found him in the field, and would on occasions, break tables and walls with his fists when he was little, until his parents taught him to never to use his powers in such a violent fashion.
- Clark can move and or react at superhuman speeds that far exceed the speed of sound barrier whether it is on land or underwater. Clark through accelerated vision perceives the entire Earth in slow motion. Clark, as a growing adolescent, could run or move extremely fast, and would often be seen using this ability to rescue people in very tight situations. Even as a child, Clark could, as iterated in , move fast, even more so than kids his own age, and even full adults, although he displayed signs of enhanced speed as a toddler. At first, Clark could travel around to places in Smallville in minutes, and as such, his movements could be perceived by his family and friends but not by those who were ignorant to his abilities. Later on, as he harnessed this ability and through years of practice, became too fast for anyone to follow and or detect, and even machines couldn't record his movement. In season 5, Clark can run from Metropolis to Honduras in seconds. () By season 10, Clark can run on water (in season 4 Clark could not when chasing Bart) and was able to run back to Metropolis from London England in just 2 seconds. ()
Clark Time / Accelerated Perception - In super speed mode, everything around him stops. Being coupled with his super speed, he gained accelerated vision when he learned super speed, at age six. This ability grew significantly more powerful in eighth grade, where he was able to run from the Kent barn to the Smallville library and back before Chloe could turn around.
- Under a yellow sun, Clark has an invisible forcefield aura that renders him invulnerable to virtually any forms of physical harm. Clarks skin is also much denser than a normal humans. Much like his speed and strength, Clark's durability capacity increased gradually as he gets older. When he was younger, he was immune to bullets, flames, cold temperatures, and all earthly diseases and sicknesses, and was able to collide with cars head on and come out completely unfazed. Also, due to the aura that surrounds Clark, even his hair is somewhat invulnerable to damage, as seen when Lana while possessed by Margaret Isobel Thoreaux, tried to cut his hair with a pair of scissors, and they snapped in half on contact. Now as an adult, along with still being immune to diseases, bullets, and
rockets/silos, bombs and lasers can't harm him in any way. He is now basically indestructible: even something devastating like an atom or nuclear bomb would have no effect on him. However, despite his high resistance, forms of Kryptonite, can greatly damage him.
- Clark is superhumanly regenerative and can heal or recover from wounds instantly when he is not exposed to green Kryptonite. Direct sunlight greatly amplifies this capacity of this ability. ()
- Clark can run, exercise, or take part in strenuous action for days on end without getting tired: he never sweats unless he is exposed to Green kryptonite.(except season 2 episode 2 he sweat from temperature or because he sees Desirée Atkins)
- Clark can see through any type of matter, except for , just by concentrating. It may appear as a skeletal image similar to the ones seen on hospital x-rays, or it may be a full color image. Originally, he appeared to have mastered the skeletal images over full color. Just recently, however, he has mastered both aspects of this ability.
- Clark can emit extreme pulses of heat and fire beams from his eyes, which was first triggered by his level of sexual stimulation. Over time and training, he has learned to develop and control his sexual urges and therefore his heat vision. He has fully mastered this ability.
- Clark can hear indirect whispers, frequencies, pitches, and other volumes of sound from vast distances. As an adult, Clark can multitask and use super-hearing and can also super-speed and hear conversations while he's moving. Clarks super hearing may pick up things randomly (such as someone in trouble) or Clark can focus listen to as specific sound.
/ - Clark can release strong pulses, currents, or waves of air by exhaling. He can also freeze people and objects the same way. At age 19, Clark was vulnerable in the
and returned to Earth with . When he got better, he honed the sneezes as super breath. He later learned how to use an arctic version of his super breath.
- Clark is able to throw a basketball into a hoop yards away easily and he never trips. () When he failed to throw a football in a hoop, Martha was shocked and stated that she had never seen him miss before. ()
- Clark can combine his super strength and dexterity to perform highly accurate super leaps. The first time Clark jumped a vast distance, he displayed great hesitancy. Since then, he's shown increasing amounts of confidence and control over his super leaps. His "super leaps," as of before, were a substitute for flying, as Clark had yet to fully learn how to fly. Clark was able to jump higher the older he became.
- After he fully embraced his destiny, he gained the ability to fly, enabling him to hover, levitate, or transverse through the air at fast velocities. Clark has the ability to defy gravity by the means of gravitational manipulation or the ability to generate an anti-gravity field aound himself. He has perfect control over this, he can move perfectly in any direction and also can levitate. Clark also has the ability to fly in outer space. Under his own power he can fly through space at planetary distances and to other galaxies. In a rather short amount of time, Clark has proven to have completely mastered this ability. ().
- According to , Clark will live for an extremely long period of time, explaining it as if he can "go on forever." While under the light of a yellow sun Clark would age without appearing to do so. This power retards his aging process making him effectively immortal. Also,
have stated that he may be immortal or at least very long-lived.
- Clark has the ability to see things too small for the human eye to normally see.
- Clark has the ability to see things miles away.
Infrared Vision - Clark is able to see heat signatures.
Clark can hear , and is able to mentally interface with Kryptonian artifacts to order them to fly into his hand as Kal-El. He has also had a possibly
relating to the arrival of the , though this is not clear. Although he has not been heard speaking it, Clark has been fluent in written Kryptonian language since about age 15 (it is unknown if he can understand or speak spoken Kryptonian).
Jor-El gave Clark temporary
as part of a lesson in his Kryptonian training. He used this to get closer to Lois by reading her thoughts and asking her on a date to where he now knew she really wanted to go, a monster truck rally.
Advanced Hand-to-hand Combatant - After fully emerging himself in his Kryptonian training, Clark became very proficient in hand-to-hand combat, which allowed him to go toe-to-toe with, if not defeat, an adversary who would have previously easily outclassed him. This is later emphasized when he is able to defeat , a highly trained Kryptonian soldier, relatively easily. This is emphasized even more when Clark is able to fight on par against Major Zod for an extended period of time despite Zod wielding a Kryptonian Knife, whereas the original Zod completely outclassed Clark before. He is also able to take out several of Zod's Gladitors as well as fight on par with Oliver Queen, a master hand-to-hand combatant, and almost defeat him while powerless in the Phantom Zone.
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Clark believes strongly in non-lethal combat, and has never directly killed anyone using his powers. As a result, he has adopted a fighting style that depends largely on knocking opponents unconscious using his superhuman strength. He will sometimes combine these attacks with super speed, in order to remain anonymous or to sneak up on his opponents. He does use more force when battling more powerful metahumans, extraterrestrials and even supernatural beings.
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"We all have our weaknesses, I guess. Except for you, of course." –
Despite the fact that he is nearly impenetrable by almost any means, Clark can be injured.
He is vulnerable to , radioactive remnants of his home planet Krypton. The known variations of kryptonite affect him in different ways. Like Kryptonians, kryptonite is affected by Earth's yellow sun which gives these rocks abilities that greatly influence them. Clark can protect himself from kryptonite radiation using lead. Removal of the substance reverses the effects.
renders Clark mortal because its radiation removes all of his of powers and abilities.
Kryptonite
, along with magic, is one of his greatest weaknesses. It renders Clark physically weak and mentally ill: the effects will make Clark weaker the longer he's exposed to its radiation. Sometimes and depending on the circumstance, he can use his powers while in its presence. (, , , , , , and ) He once stated that green kryptonite exposure hurts more than cracked ribs. While powerless, after getting thrown into a car windshield, his ribs were fractured, and he stated, "I'd take this over meteor rocks any day of the week", conforming to the statement made above. As Clark has gotten older and stronger, he seems to have developed some resistance or tolerance to green kryptonite, though he is still vulnerable to its affects.
does't weaken him or physically affect him in any way, so he can use his powers and abilities. Its affects are psychological, making him : the effects strengthen over long periods of exposure. Under the influence of red kryptonite, Clark usually refers to himself as "", short for his birth name, Kal-El.
robs Clark of his powers and abilities but does not cause him any physical or mental ailment.
can give Clark permanent wounds or scars that can't ever be healed and it can also cause him to lose his powers and abilities forever.
from his Kryptonian persona, Kal-El.
is a synthetic kryptonite that doesn't weaken Clark's abilities, though too much of exposure can make him sweat, his eyes will start to dilate, his skin becomes pale. and his breatheing becomes heavy. It makes Clark dangerously , inducing hallucinations in the process. This rock is essentially made up of organic matter that Brainiac is made up of.
Aliens and Weapons
Cosmic organisms can wound and even kill Clark Kent depending on the type of alien. Doomsday can easily overpower and kill Clark. At first, due to his internal darkness and doubts, Darkseid was capable of using him as a vessel, However, later on, Clark, with the help of Brainiac 5, harnessed and gained control of himself.
Cosmic weapons, such as the , can give Clark permanent wounds. He would've bled to death if Jor-El hadn't healed him through Jonathan. A
could kill Clark if he was stabbed with it, as he's Kryptonian. The 's atomic axe can cause a lot of damage to a Kryptonian due to the atom-splitting properties of the metal. It appears that lesser extraterrestrial devices have no effect on him, as Clark took a huge beam released from the Blue Beetle suit and it did absolutely nothing.
High-pitched noises: Because of his super hearing, Clark's ears are extra-sensitive to extreme noises such as 's sonic scream or 's banshee scream.
Zoners : Zoners, being aliens, can hurt him to varying extents depending on the alien. Aldar could easily overpower and potentially kill Clark. Titan was able to briefly overpower Clark and easily hurt and bleed him.
: Clark can't see through lead with his .
Limiters: Over the course of his life and acquisition of power under a yellow sun, Clark was taught how to place mental limiters on his own power. These "limiters" are used to keep his power in check so that he doesn't accidentally hurt innocent people. [citation needed] Though for him it is unknown that he has placed several of these limiters within his own mind, it is unknown how many and just how powerful he would be if he decided to release them all. They are the barriers that allow him to be human enough to live a normal life, and he only ever releases one of them when fighting a particularly powerful opponent or performing a predominately difficult task.
"You are my home, you're my family. You make me feel like I actually belong." – Clark, to , .
Clark was born as Kal-El, the only son of Jor-El and Lara, on the planet Krypton. Kal-El was a few weeks old when Krypton was about to be destroyed after his uncle Zor-El ignited Krypton's core and also due to 's attempt to conquer its people, Jor-El placed Kal-El in a , to send him to a good family on the planet
where he visited years ago. Though Lara wondered if the people of Earth would accept and love him, Jor-El reassured her that the family he chose would be good to him.
Kal-El came to Earth during the
which struck the community of , Kansas, on October 16, 1989. He was sent from Krypton as an infant, but because of the distance from Earth, Kal-El appeared to be between the ages of two and three when his ship crash-landed. Jonathan and Martha Kent found him in : unable to have children themselves, the Kents
and raised him as their son. Because he owed a favor from , Jonathan allowed him to produce forged paperwork that made it official. They arbitrarily picked a May 13, 1987 birth date for their new son and named him Clark, Martha's maiden name.
Clark formed a friendship with another farmer's son,
in early childhood. He also was grade school friends with
and . Clark has been in love with
for most of his life. Lana lived a mile away and while growing up, Clark used his
to spy on her. However, Lana almost always wore a
with a meteor rock charm on it. As a result, Clark could not even come into close physical proximity without being physically affected but never understood why. Clark met
in eighth grade and along with Pete Ross, the three formed an inseparable trio.
Clark was considerably stronger than other children at an early age. Martha noticed his strength the day she brought him home. He even cracked the kitchen table in half and occasionally put holes in the walls during tantrums. He once lifted a 500-pound bed frame as a toddler.
When Clark had to read an essay at school in front of the entire class, parents and teachers, he was very scared but Jonathan convinced him to believe in himself and in what he had written, and gave three key phrases to get it right : "Find your centre, stand your ground and speak your piece."
Because Jonathan and Martha did not want him to inadvertently injure other children, Clark was not allowed in playgroups or to play on sports teams as a child. His father also once mentioned that he was never allowed to play baseball with other kids. Indeed, in an attempt to protect Pete from a bully, he once threw the other child through a door. Clark developed super-speed around age six. Jonathan and Martha taught Clark that his abilities were "gifts", but also that he should never tell anyone else about them. By the time he was 14, he knew that he was adopted, but he seriously began to question his strange powers and confronted his parents, demanding answers.
, Clark lives with Lois in their Metropolis apartment. He is no longer known as The Blur to the public, instead he is known by the
of Superman which was dubbed to him by Lois after he had saved humanity from Darkseid's Apokolips. At some point, after his public debut, Clark updated his Superman costume. At home with , Clark showers and brushes his teeth, talking with her about the energy ribbon - or "aurora" - that attacked the space station. As he then makes breakfast, he asks if they should return the wedding presents they received. Lois states that the wedding was postponed not cancelled, so they shouldn't have to.
As they lament their independently busy lives - he with saving the Earth, she with becoming a pre-eminent reporter - Lois mentions that the Russians have already announced they will be commissioning a statue of Superman to commemorate his saving of the space station. Clark expresses his discomfort at the hero worship, but Lois assures him that it is inspiring people, just as he wanted to do with the suit. Clark states that he'd like to finally tell the Earth that Superman is an alien. Lois counters that with all of the concern brought on by the pictures of the aliens on Apokolips, it might not be the best time, especially with Lex Luthor making such noise about it in public.
Recently, he saved a Russian space station from a mysterious explosion. Later, in his mild-mannered disguise, Clark met Lex Luthor on the street. Lex introduced himself to Clark, because he doesn't remember Clark. Luthor only knows from the video clips that they were friends when they were young. He hardly recognized Kent. Clark is surprised that Lex knew that they were friends years ago. Lex doesn't understand how they could ever have been friends. Clark responded with: "As you said, we were younger."
Meanwhile Green Arrow patrols the city and arrives to the Port of Metropolis, in order to apprehend a crew of thieves who attempts to raid a shipping container.He's surprised by one of the goons who has climbed on top of a stack of containers and trains an RPG launcher on the Emerald Archer. Before Ollie can react, the goon fires. Just before the RPG strikes him, Superman zips into the area and stands in front of it, shielding Ollie from the hit and the explosion.
Superman knocks the crew out and ties the bunch together around a pole. A short time after, Ollie and Clark, now in street clothes, watch as Metropolis PD comes by to apprehend the thieves. Ollie's a bit surprised Clark didn't stay in costume to greet the police, joking that Superman is "all about b standing around, shaking hands, kissing babies..." As they walk off, Clark retorts that Superman has never kissed a baby. When Ollie asks if Clark Kent has, Clark mentions an
from his past. When Ollie exults about not having to experience such things when the Queens move to , Clark expresses surprise that they haven't left yet. They were supposed to have left but Ollie says the hold-up is on his wife.
In space, Superman talks to
over their communication network, as he accesses the holo-computer in his belt. He is scanning for hints at the cause of the storm and finds none, noting he used his whole spectrum of Super-Vision. In S.T.A.R. Labs, Chloe and
discuss the development of Clark's powers. Emil states
founded the facility as a way to help The Traveler develop his abilities. Clark ask if they could have sent one of their Environmental Hazard Drones instead, and Emil apologizes for having to send Clark instead. Clark checks his belt buckle communicator and finds a message from , telling him he is late for the conference, much to Clark's dismay. Clark then uses his superspeed and arrives to the conference and saw Lois asking Lex where he disappeared to after
and before Tess's death which leads Lex to defend himself. Clark shows up and whispers to Lois that they both know Lex killed Tess, but can't do anything without proof. Lex then begins criticizing Superman and the , claiming they have failed to protect humanity and now the Earth is in more danger than ever. He announces the Guardian orbital defense platforms as a means of protection and the public is impressed, save for Lois and Clark. She ask who will pilot the Shuttle to bring the satellites into orbit on such short notice, and Lex introduces the pilot, Commander .
Clark interviews Hank Henshaw one last time before the LuthorCorp shuttle takes flight, as Hank eats a large meal, claiming it's apart of a superstition pilots like him share. Hank then makes a passionate quote about piloting, and how it helps him appreciate what he has on Earth, and says that Lex has given him a greater purpose, allowing him to pilot The Guardian Platforms into space. Clark claims that the world isn't as dark as Lex claims, and Hank mockingly ask if Clark is a Superman fan. Hank then claims that Superman is doing a good job, but should do more. Clark says that it's best Superman not impose his ideas on all. Hank says it's a good idea, but sometimes people need to be forced. Clark thanks him for the interview as Hank goes off to get ready.
During takeoff, Lois tells Clark she has a bad feeling about the Guardian platforms, but Clark claims it might be a good thing, as Superman can't be everywhere at once, but Lois isn't convinced. Clark claims that Hank is trustworthy, but Lois claims Lex is still dangerous. Aboard the Shuttle, Hank begins leaving Orbit, when the ship begins experiencing problems. In mid-air, it explodes. Clark runs off and changes into his Superman suit, with Chloe guiding him from Watchtower. Superman catches up to the shuttle and sets out the fire caused by the explosion, and removes the last fuel tank before it explodes. Using his gamma vision, he's able to see that there is a radiation leak.
Superman has Chloe contact Commander Henshaw through LexCorp mission control, where he informs them that he can save them, but needs to pry open the shuttle as it will depressurize, but Henshaw insist that Superman save his crew members first, in order to pilot the shuttle into orbit as the shuttle is leaking radiation. But before Superman leaves to save the crew, Henshaw reveals a secret. Superman saves the crew and returns to the shuttle as the oxygen levels reach zero and Henshaw passes out.
Henshaw wakes up on a stretcher, with burns from the radiation exposure. As the paramedics begin to transport him, Superman instructs them to send him to Emil at S.T.A.R. Labs. Lois comes up to Superman, hoping for a quote, but he instead tells her that Clark will not be home for breakfast, because the explosion was not a misfire.
At , Lex arrives in his penthouse office, as Superman angrily breaks his glass window by clapping. Superman accuses Lex of activating the Guardian Platform mid-flight, but Lex dismisses the claim, saying the accident could have been avoided had the military not forced the private sectors hand. Superman accuses him again, nearly attacking him, until three military helicopters show up, demanding that Superman step away from Lex. Lex claims that Superman's appearance at the Korolyov and Guardian incidents, as well as his apparent attack of LexCorp Plaza, Superman had given
a reason to intervene. The military tell him he is under arrest, but Superman refuses as the military ready their guns.
Superman is fired upon by the military helicopter under the orders of General Lane. During the confrontation Clark receives a call from Lois, whom he asked if her father knows
his secret identity, saying that he had implied it . Lois reassures him that if General Lane knew that he was firing upon his own son-in-law he'd probably wouldn't have fired at him. As they surround Superman they begin firing, Lois seeks cover under her convertible.
The bullets deflect off of Superman and hit the tail rotor of one of the helicopters,which begins to fall to the street below. Superman flies down and saves Lois before the helicopter crashes onto of her car, and explodes. High above in the clouds Lois is wrapped in a romantic embrace with Clark followed by a passionate kiss.
Superman then returns to downtown Metropolis where he proceeds to clean up the mess made by the military during their field test of his abilities before the arrival of the fire department where he leaves a calling card apologizing. Superman then meets with General Lane at Liberty park where they have a discussion about his recent heroics but also the fear members of Washington DC have against him as he has no real accountability to the government only to his moral code. Superman suggest to General Lane that he'd be up to going to Washington DC to meet with the President, just when he's suddenly summoned by Emil's signal watch to S.T.A.R. Labs. Emil informs Clark via his Bluetooth earpiece that Lex had transferred Hank Henshaw's mind into one of his EH drones however the process made his mind unstable.
Superman arrives at S.T.A.R. Labs. confronting cybernetic Henshaw who engages him in an intense battle of sheer super strength as Henshaw's cyborg body is able to adapt and counter any of Superman's abilities as he demonstrated by throwing Superman through ten buildings. Superman tries to reason with Henshaw after punches some sense into him.
Superman manages to disconnect Henshaw long enough to calm him down and returns him to S.T.A.R. Labs to an isolation unit where he is connected to a computer interface. Superman meets with
informing her that he's made special arrangements for her to see her husband whenever she wanted too. Before he leaves Superman sees Henshaw who apologizes to him and asked Superman how he manages to do the right thing.
The next Morning in Metropolis, Superman pays a visit to Lex Luthor at LexCorp where he attempts to apologizes for misjudging him before on their last encounter . Only to discover that the Guardian shuttle incident was a no accident it was a means for Lex to coat Superman with an isotope radiation that he could track Superman's whereabouts anywhere on Earth with his satellites. Superman realizes what this means and angrily threaten Lex this isn't over as he leaves.
Floating above the Daily Planet rooftop, Clark awaits for Lois who arrives hoping to find "Clark Kent" only to see Superman instead. Superman tells her that "Clark Kent" will be taking an extended leave of absence. He wouldn't risk leading Lex Luthor into their lives because he could track his whereabouts with the radiation. Lois is angry with this startling revelations and wants to hurt Lex. But Clark forbids it. Lois then suggest that Clark uses his Heat vision to destroy Lex's satellites but Clark says that isn't the answer either. Clark tries to comfort Lois but she is still uneasy about the whole situation, Clark reassures her that he'll find away to come back home to her. He kisses her tenderly then flies away.
Later that night as the rest of Metropolis sleeps peacefully, Clark is floating above in space overlooking Earth and hears Lois's voice who reaffirms her love for him.
, Clark and Lois are finally able to spend some time together, but they are still dealing with Lex tracking Clark. They are at the , and Oliver made sure one of his satellites blocked Lex's for one second so Clark and Lois could teleport to the Fortress without Lex knowing. Clark also revealed to Lois that after he completed his trials and made peace with Jor-El, his computer program ended. The fortress as well as the knowledge of the galaxies are now Clark's to use as he sees fit. So far Clark has used it to shield his radiographic signature from Lex's keyhole satellite and to find a way to remove the isotope from his system.
The Following Morning, Clark returns Lois to Metropolis and takes her directly to Daily Planet basement. He then files towards a hostage situation across town in which an unknown gunman has a group of children held hostage above within a bus. While the police attempt to handle the situation with diplomacy. Superman uses his
to disarm the gun from the assailant and quickly grabs him and pulls him out from the roof of the bus with his
and holds unto him with a firm grip. Superman then turns his attention to the children and address a boy who previous attempted to be a hero by standing up to the gunman who pointed a gun at his face. Superman tells the boy not to be reckless especially around gun as they are not toys. Superman returns his attention to the assailant only to discover that he's got the ability of
and uses that ability to free himself and to fire at the police unit below using his
Superman intercepted every bullet in his hand and converted it into a ball then handing it to
before pursuing the teleporter who stood on a nearby roof, Superman arrives and confronts him only to discover that he was using the hostage crisis to distract Superman from a robbery that was in progress and that he had placed a bomb on the crane holding the bus with children as an insurance to prevent Superman from touching him with a remote detonator. Superman uses his
to freeze the teleporter in place then uses his heat vision to thaw his head while he interrogates him on who sold him the tech suit equipped with teleportation, The teleporter refusing to corporate, Superman uses his X-ray vision to see that the tech is from
After he take care of the bomb, Superman round up the teleportation thieves who apologize to the children for kidnapping them, hitching their school bus up on a crane, and then trying to blow them up with a bomb. As Superman politely soars off with one of the teleportation vests, Dan Turpin meets
visiting Metropolis who got to see Superman in action first hand.Barbara is more impressed than Bruce is, or more impressed than Bruce is letting on. Bruce however reveals that it looks like Superman is taken.
Later, at the , Lex and Bruce have their lunch meeting on the patio while Barbara Gordon is having lunch with Otis. Lex and Bruce's lunch however is prematurely ended by Superman.
Later, at Lexcorp R&D, Superman and Lex are all forced friendly-like as Lex analyzes the teleportation vest and admits the technology is his, but it was stolen. Stolen, in fact, during a series of robberies made on Lexcorp and other companies, one of which was
way back by the
and Superman. Lex surmises that whomever created these teleportation vests using all that stolen technology would have to be very familiar with Lexcorp's patents and proprietary coding. Which leads Superman to Stryker's Island prison and . Safely incarcerated and seemingly not a suspect, according to Warden Draper, since he's been under constant supervision in "hyper-solitary". Superman is stymied. Meanwhile, imprisoned elsewhere at Stryker's is , the head of , who's acting like a raving lunatic while palming the Crime Bible, which he says was given to him by . Next thing we know, Mannheim has escaped his cell! Well, not so much escaped as being interrogated by . The Batman has Mannheim and he only wants to know where
is. Mannheim claims he's gone straight, that the Crime Bible changed his life, and a lot of nonsense, but the Batman's having none of that. Next thing we know, Superman arrives on the scene.
Superman meets Batman and he wants to have a word with him. Instead, he gets Batman manifesting some sort of energy and then punched Superman. Batman and Superman do battle on Stryker's island. Batman with the advantage using red sun radiation generated from his suit. Superman discovers Bruce Wayne is Batman and manages to beat Batman and interrogates him on why he tried to free Bruno Mannheim, he said that he needed to find the man who murdered his parents. Superman is shocked and puts Batman down.
Meanwhile,
and Nightwing haven't gotten the memo from their respective bosses that they've reached a détente and it's time to stop fighting. Evenly matched, Arrow and Nightwing have spilled arrows and Batarangs all over the place trying to smack each other down. Superman arrives to break up the fracas when Bruno Mannheim pleads for sanctuary from the Man of Steel. Superman then snatches Mannheim and takes him up, up, and away for questioning.
In the sky, Superman says he's sorry to be using extreme measures on Mannheim. Mannheim doesn't know anything, but Superman points out he's lying, and knows his better half will have a talk to him over this. Just then, in front of the Batwing, Mannheim falls from above before Superman catches him below. Mannheim spills the beans: Intergang wanted to protect themselves from the , Mannheim decided against it but offered Joe Chill to help them. But now, Chill is off the grid, rumored to be in FBI custody. Superman grabs the tracking device and asks Batman if he catches that. The Batwing storms off, Superman takes that as a yes.
Meanwhile at the Daily Planet, Superman helps Lois find him in the sky by sparking his heat vision. After the talk over what he did to Mannheim, Lois confirms Chill is in FBI custody. As for Toyman being a suspect, the answer is no, but Lois learns that an
did try to visit Toyman dozens of times before turning away. Superman wants to talk with Batman again, and has a way into contacting him.At a supply ship called Leviathan docked in Metropolis is an HQ for Batman and Nightwing, where inside they are getting medical treatment. The cameras pick up something and Bruce decides to head out alone, while Barb is in the Hub, when he looks outside to see what it is: the Bat-Signal.
Batman arrives on the rooftop source of the signal to find Superman waiting for him. Superman knows enough about the Batman that this is the specific way to call a meeting with him. Superman also knows Batman and Nightwing located Joe Chill's safe house in Suicide Slum.Superman doesn't want Batman tearing through Suicide Slum hell bent on revenge for Joe Chill so he proposes "a joint investigation mutually beneficial to both of us." They make sure Joe Chill is safe from Intergang and then find out who's manufacturing the weapons he's peddling and Batman agrees.
At Suicide Slum, Superman and Batman are on a stakeout. Batman is irritated by Superman's penchant for conversation but Superman seems to really be enjoying having a partner in crime fighting. Superman revealed that, he didn't want to draw attention to it and compromise Batman's security because he knows Lex Luthor is watching all his movements. Superman and Batman then scans the building and Batman's night vision goggles spot some extra snipers Superman missed when he bathed the building with X-rays. Batman then easily and stealthily penetrates the safe house and finds Joe Chill's room, though Superman beats him there with Super speed.At the safe house, Chill, a lifelong criminal, isn't exactly repentant about killing Batman's parents, whoever they were. Batman can't be specific and Chill has killed a lot of people for lots of reasons. This isn't good enough for Batman, who loses it, until Superman literally slaps him down. Superman calmly explains to Joe Chill that they're really here to find out where they can find a man named , who they believe is manufacturing the weapons Chill fenced for Intergang. But hey, they don't have to look very far because Loomis is already there! Batman and Superman spring into action with Heat Vision and Batarangs, but a burst of cold takes out both. Loomis isn't alone. He has help from .Superman and Batman are fighting Prankster and Mr. Freeze. Batman reveals that Mr. Freeze is Victor Fries. Prankster reveals that he wants to prove himself to Intergang. While Superman tries to distract the villains, Batman and Joe Chill try to escape. Superman gets shot by
while Mr. Freeze kills Joe Chill and frames Batman for the crime.
Batman frees himself, and sees that Chill is dead, and Superman is critically wounded. Batman contacts Nightwing to inform her about Superman's condition. The FBI comes in to arrest Batman. Batman escapes with Superman within the Batmobile. Then
joins the police and the FBI in the pursuit chase.Upon dropping off his last passenger, a bus driver doses off in the middle of the street, only to be waken up by the Batmobile going through his bus. News stations cover the pursuit of the "murderer Batman kidnapping a wounded Superman" just as Lois and Ollie meet up (wondering where Batman is taking Superman) and Chloe is hacking into the traffic system so no one is hurt during the chase.
Inside the Batmobile: Nightwing comments on the stress she's feeling over Superman being hurt and Batman being chased, just as Superman tells Batman to call him Clark and Batman, relieved that Clark is still alive, asks him who to call to save him. Nightwing calls Chloe,