Clark Kent


 * For other uses of Superman, see Superman (disambiguation).
 * For the episode, see ​​​​​.

"He's everything you want him to be and more."

- James Olsen speaking to Kara Danvers about Superman

Clark Kent (born 1979 as Kal-El) is the son of the late Jor-El and the late Lara Van-El, the paternal cousin of Kara Zor-El, the best friend of James Olsen, the husband of Lois Lane, and father of Jonathan Kent. After being rocketed to Earth as a baby from the dying planet of Krypton alongside his older cousin, Kara, who remained stuck in the Phantom Zone - thus arriving un-aged 24 years later - he was discovered by "Pa" and "Ma" Kent, a couple of kindly humans who raised him as their son in the little town of Smallville, Kansas, imbuing him with strong moral values and leading for him to decide to fight for truth, justice, and the American way. In his secret identity, he works as a reporter at the Daily Planet in the city of Metropolis, while secretly operating as one of the planet's greatest protectors; the world-famous superhero known as Superman, stylized as the "Man of Steel", the "Man of Tomorrow" and the "Last Son of Krypton".

Arrival to Earth
Kal-El was born in 1979 on the planet Krypton into the prestigious House of El to his parents; well-known and renowned scientists Jor-El and Lara Van-El. Shortly after his birth, Kal-El was rocketed to Earth alongside his older cousin, Kara Zor-El, as Krypton was on the brink of destruction. Making it to Earth safely, he was discovered by "Pa" and "Ma" Kent, a kindly human couple of farmers who raised him in Smallville, Kansas as their son, "Clark Kent." Clark's upbringing and the lessons of his adopted parents imbued him with strong moral values, so he decided to use the extraordinary powers he gained on Earth from its yellow sun to do good, fighting evil and protecting the innocent. Clark began his crime-fighting activities in early youth, solving various mysteries with the help of his life-long friend Chloe.

Although at times he felt like a "strange visitor from another planet", Clark remained proud of his dual heritage, taking both his humanity and Kryptonian legacy seriously. Over the years, he maintained a secret sanctuary known as the Fortress of Solitude at the North Pole, in order to preserve the memory of his home planet and provide himself some rest from his adventurous life.

At some point in his life, Clark met Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, a couple of married scientists who helped him understand his own powers.

Early years as Superman
"You know, I once told you, there are people out there that fear your cousin. It's not because he has god-like powers. It's because of what he might do to them if he ever lost his temper."

- J'onn J'onzz to Kara Danvers As an adult, Clark moved to Metropolis and, after saving a plane from crashing, he became a superhero publicly known worldwide as Superman. In his secret identity, Clark began working as a reporter for the Daily Planet, where he met Lois Lane, with whom he was paired and fell in love at first sight, Cat Grant, who developed romantic feelings for him, Perry White, his irascible but fair-minded boss, and Jimmy Olsen, a young photographer he had previously saved under the guise of Superman and with whom he became best friends. Clark eventually entrusted Jimmy with his super-heroic secret and gave him a special signal watch so that Jimmy could to contact him in case of emergencies. Clark also allowed Jimmy to take the first photo of Superman, which went on to win a Pulitzer Prize.

During his career, Clark came head-to-head with numerous supervillains such as General Zod, a Kryptonian criminal whom he considered his most feared nemesis, a being known as Doomsday and Ben Krull/Reactron, one of his most persistent enemies as neither one was able to defeat the other, resulting in several encounters over the years. Despite the stalemate, Clark was nearly killed by Reactron at one time. Superman also went on intergalactic adventures, including a journey to Warworld, and also encountered a baby Sun-Eater, a race of powerful creatures which feed of the energy of small stars. Clark eventually chose to keep the Sun-Eater as a pet in the Fortress. In his early days as Superman, Clark made some mistakes that annoyed the citizens of Metropolis. With time however, he became a beloved hero by both the citizens and the world. Despite his heroic acts, many of the public are, openly or secretly, terrified of Superman, not because of his God-like powers, but due to their fear of what he might do if he ever lost control of his temper.

Under undisclosed circumstances, Superman has worked with Bruce Wayne, a masked vigilante with "tons of gadgets [and] lots of demons" who has a habit of frightening the very people he's trying to protect and is considered a "nut" by many. Eventually though, Bruce became one of Clark's closest friends, or "frenemy", to the point that they revealed their secret identities to each other and were known as the "World's Finest".

Superman also befriended the brilliant billionaire industrialist Lex Luthor, the CEO of Luthor Corp. Initially the two decided to work together to end the threat of alien invasions, but Lex's methods were far crueler than Superman's. Although Superman tried hard to trust his friend, defending him against accusations of others and continuing to give him several chances to atoning his wrong deeds, he was eventually forced to realize Lex's true nature - this ultimately resulted in a falling out between the pair. Shortly after this, Lex came to believe that Superman himself was the cause of alien terrorism, as his presence attracted them and declared war on his former friend becoming his greatest enemy. One of these duels involved Superman thwarting an attempt on Lex's part to trigger a fault line in California with an "earthquake machine", while another incident involved Lex creating and selling a series of battle armors he called Lexosuits, which he used in order to even the playing field when facing the Kryptonian.

At some point, Superman had at least one encounter with J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter - whether or not this encounter ended up in a fight is unknown, but it was enough for him to call J'onn "the most powerful being on Earth". He also became aware of his deception, posing as Hank Henshaw. Later on, Clark helped the D.E.O. uncover an alien asteroid, composed of an emerald-green Kryptonian xeno-mineral. J'onn nicknamed it "Kryptonite" and resolved to store it in the D.E.O. as a contingency against other Kryptonians, which enraged Clark, thus leading to the pair falling out. Despite this, Clark still kept J'onn's secret identity posing as Henshaw a secret for his sake. According to J'onn, Clark was the only other person on Earth besides himself who knew of his identity for many years.

Over the years, Clark began a steady romantic relationship with Lois Lane.

Discovering Kara
24 years after Krypton's destruction, and thus his arrival on Earth, a Kryptonian pod crash-landed on Earth. Superman eventually tracked down the ship and discovered his older cousin, Kara Zor-El, scared and alone inside it. As Kara was trapped in stasis inside the Phantom Zone for 24 years, she did not age, resulting in her still being physically 13 years old. Feeling that Kara should learn how to be a human and needed people who could be with her at all times, like the adoptive family that took him in, Clark left his cousin in the care of the Danvers, knowing that they would help Kara to understand her powers just as they had done with him.

Over the ensuing years, Clark kept in touch with his cousin and invited her to see the Fortress of Solitude several times, though Kara rejected the offers as she thought it would remind her of Krypton.

Sending James to National City
Twelve years later, Superman asked James Olsen, who he knew wanted to broaden his own horizons, to go to National City to keep an eye on Kara, and to deliver her the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby, so she could use it as a cape. After Supergirl appeared in National City, Clark, along with Lois, was said to be furiously working on getting an exclusive with her. After coming to National City to save his cousin from Reactron when James called him with his signal watch, Superman had to quickly leave just few minutes later in order to deal with a natural disaster. The following day, however, he apologized via chat with Kara for having interfered and told her that he was proud of what she was doing.

Meanwhile, Maxima, queen of the planet Almerac, visited Earth to pursue Superman, believing him to be the only man worthy to be her mate. However, Superman rejected her, causing Maxima to go on a rampage, forcing him to take her down and lock her at the D.E.O. headquarters.

Myriad
After Non and Indigo activated Myriad, Superman headed to National City to help Kara deal with them but, upon his arrival, he was also affected to the amazement of both Cat Grant and Kara. Maxwell Lord theorized that since Superman had grown up on Earth from early childhood, gaining powers from the yellow sun longer than Kara, it made him more susceptible to Myriad than she was. After Supergirl freed National City from Myriad, Superman remained inactive and was taken into the D.E.O. headquarters during his recovery, later heading back to Metropolis after briefly chatting with Kara to thank her.

Arresting Lex Luthor
After several years and various brutal encounters resulting in numerous fatalities, in early 2015, Superman was able to defeat Lex when he successfully exposed the latter's crimes to the public for which, after he turned Earth's sunlight red in a bid to de-power Superman as a last attempt to kill him, Lex was incarcerated for 32 consecutive life sentences in Stryker's Island Penitentiary. As a result, Superman came to distrust the Luthor family, including Lex's mother, Lillian, and adopted sister, Lena.

Visiting National City
When the suborbital spacecraft Venture mysteriously begins to fall due to engine failure shortly after its launch, Superman went to the rescue. At the accident site he met Supergirl, and together they prevented catastrophe by cushioning the fall of the shuttle. Then Kara said she has long waited for the occasion to work alongside him and led him to the D.E.O. headquarters to meet her co-workers and friends, as well as to show him the comatose alien they had found into the pod the previous night and ask his opinion about him. Despite his strained relationship with J'onn, Clark decides to stay in National City and join the investigations on the fall of the shuttle and offers to go to CatCo with Kara. There, Clark met James and Cat Grant, who were both glad to see him again.

Afterwards, Kara and Clark went to Luthor Corp, to talk with Lena Luthor, who explained that she decided at the last moment not to fly on the Venture due to an emergency meeting on the renaming of the company. and was not related to the accident. To prove it, she gave Clark a flash drive with information on the Venture's destroyed oscillator that a subsidiary of her company had manufactured. Later that day, Lena's helicopter was attacked by drones, but Supergirl and Superman saved her, destroying the drones and realizing someone wanted to kill Lena. Afterward, J'onn tried to talk with Superman who, refused, claiming they have nothing to say to each other as he feels he can't trust the martian since, although he knew J'onn would not allow the Kryptonite in his possession to be used to kill him or Kara, Clark also knew that an order may come from above.

During Lena Luthor's speech at the businesswoman's ceremony to rename her company, the international assassin-for-hire John Corben (hired by Lex Luthor to kill his adoptive sister) attacked her by detonating explosives he had planted beneath a plaque in the Luthor Corp building. Supergirl saved Lena while Superman supported the building and preventing it from collapsing on a square full of people. The following day, Clark and Kara came back to the renamed "L-Corp", where Lena thanked Clark for his kind words about her in his article for the Daily Planet. Shortly after, at the D.E.O., Clark told Kara that he decided to stay in National City a little longer to spend time with her.

Over the next few days, Superman and Supergirl prevented various accidents and crimes together in National City but one night at her apartment, Clark told Kara that it was time for him to return to Metropolis, leaving her visibly upset. At this point, the news reported about a man who was about to jump off a bridge. Superman and Supergirl arrived at the site only to discover the man to be John Corben, who was now a kryptonite-powered cyborg called Metallo. He struck Kara with a kryptonite beam knocking her unconscious, but before he could kill her, Superman threw him off the bridge and brought Kara to the D.E.O. where he blamed J'onn for what happened with Metallo. The Martian said that only D.E.O. have access to the kryptonite, but a sample of their stock was stolen four months ago and they could not find it. After they listened to Cadmus' declaration of war on all aliens, Superman and J'onn went together to the Fortress of Solitude to find information about the metal that composes the cyborg's body so that Winn could make an anti-kryptonite device of the same metal for Clark and Kara. Meanwhile, the D.E.O. managed to locate Metallo but as Superman and Supergirl approached him, he told them there was another cyborg in Metropolis. They flew to the city and found Krypton Park completely destroyed.

A mournful Superman said he should have supposed to be there. After that, as the anti-kryptonite devices to counteract Metallos' kryptonite beams were completed, Superman returned to Metropolis to draw out the second Metallo and, while Supergirl and Alex fought with Corben in National City, he and the Martian Manhunter dealt with Dr. Gilcrist, the other cyborg, in Metropolis, successfully managing to overcome him together. This partnership restored the relationship between Clark and J'onn who, in the evening of the same day, at the D.E.O., gave him the entire stock of kryptonite in his possession sealed in lead. Superman said goodbye to everyone and flew back to Metropolis, taking the kryptonite with him. After he arrived, Clark briefly chatted with Kara to tell her he already missed her before receiving a call from Perry White, who scolded him for being absent from work for so long.

Daxamite invasion
During the Daxamite invasion, when they started to attack National City, Kara tried to call Clark for his help but she couldn't reach him at the Daily Planet or at the Fortress. She hoped he was making his way to the city or was already fighting the Daxamites on the streets. Clark had actually gone to confront Rhea personally, but she had been prepared for him and poisoned him with silver kryptonite. This caused him to hallucinate that it wasn't the Daxamites invading but General Zod. When Alex and Maggie Sawyer were about to fire the Positron Cannon at Rhea's spaceship, they were shocked when it was knocked out, unknowingly by heat vision. When Kara went to confront Rhea to convince her to stop as she had now lost, she was surprised by a new attacker. She looked up right to Clark who was staring down at her with a blank look on his face.

Clark, under the influence of the silver kryptonite, believed that Kara was actually Zod and started to attack him with the intention to stop him once and for all. He was blind and deaf to all of Kara's words as they began to fight and took it to the streets of National City. Eventually, Kara was able to knock Clark out, however, the strain of the fight made her collapse in exhaustion. They were found by Alex who took them to the fortress to heal and recuperate. When Clark was freed from the silver kryptonite, he apologized to Kara and explained what happened. They decided to look into the fortress's records in order to find a weakness of the Daxamites and found an old custom that mirrored Trial by Combat.

Clark and Kara returned to the D.E.O. where they found that Winn and the rest of the agents had cleared out the Daxamites. Clark met Mon-El, who tried to assure him that he wasn't like the rest of the Daxamites attacking the city. Clark told Mon-El that if Kara was dating him, then he must be a nice guy. The cousins told everyone that they found a way to stop Rhea and went to immediately make contact with her. Clark then watched as Kara immediately challenged her to trial by combat. Mon-El was against it and asked why it had to be her and not Clark. Clark told him that Kara beat him which made her the official champion of Earth.

Clark and Kara then saw that the challenge was being publicized and went to Cat Grant to try and tone it down to avoid innocent people moving to watch it and get caught in the crossfire. They were then contacted by Lena and Lillian Luthor about a new weapon and went to L-Corp to meet with them. They found that the weapon was a device Lex had been building to infuse the atmosphere with kryptonite to make the planet uninhabitable for Kryptonians. Lena was able to modify it to release lead instead to make the Earth toxic to the Daxamites. However, Clark and Kara knew that meant that Mon-El would be forced to leave Earth or he would die.

With the stress of the challenge and the possibility of losing Mon-El, Kara asked Clark to train with her in order to help her prepare. He thought Kara was doing well though he could sense that something was still bothering her. She told him that she was starting to have everything she could want with her job, friends, being a superhero, and Mon-El and if she beat Rhea then she would keep all of that but she wasn't sure she could. Clark told her that it was possible because she had earned all of that. He told Kara that every time he fought, he was fighting for Lois, and she should fight to keep what she held precious with her. He then told her it was time.

When Rhea was fighting Kara, she called for her troops to attack the city, violating the rules, and Clark moved to stop as many of the Daxamites as he could. J'onn joined him in the streets, along with Mon-El and later M'gann M'orzz and her White Martian allies. Kara was then forced to activate the device to release the lead which caused the Daxamites to flee and killed Rhea. Mon-El was then forced to leave Earth through the use of his old spaceship. Before Clark left to go back to Metropolis, he went to Kara and told her that if he was in her position and had to choose between the Earth and Lois, he didn't think he could make that decision. He told her that she was stronger than he could ever be.

Killing Zod
At some point in 2018, Superman had encountered General Zod again, however, this time, he didn't spare the rogue Kryptonian's life, likely finding himself in the position of being forced to kill his enemy.

Saving Madagascar
During the terraformation of the Earth at the hands of the Kryptonian witches known as the Children of Juru, Superman saved the epicenter of it, Madagascar, from the cataclysmic events which it provoked. His heroic deeds were followed with a live report.

Visiting Argo City
After the battle against the Worldkillers, Clark decided to take a sabbatical from Earth to visit Argo City, leaving Kara in charge of the planet full-time. He took Lois with him in order to share with the woman he loved the experience of "connecting with Kryptonian culture". They went together to the Jewel Mountains and attended several deliberations of the High Council. Around this time, Lois became pregnant.

Back to Earth and visiting Earth-1
In his first free day after returning to Earth, Clark went to the Kent Farm where he was raised, taking Lois and Kara with him in order to do some repairs to the van and the barn as well as enjoy an afternoon together. There, Lois tried once more to convince him to let her write an article about their time on Argo City. Clark was skeptical because the public would then demand to know why Lois Lane was off-world with Superman, to which Lois replied that she would invent something because being the first woman who ever visited Krypton's remains is just something she "needed to write." She finally managed to convince him before going to the barn in order to pound some nails with a hammer. After they remained alone, Clark and Kara shared beers and talked about how President Baker had fired her from the D.E.O. because she refused to reveal her identity after the situation with the Children of Liberty. He pointed out that he felt like he was being selfish for letting her protect Earth alone. Kara told him not to be, as she knew how having the experience to visit Argo with Lois was important to him. Hearing that, Clark tried to tell her about Lois's pregnancy but was interrupted by the arrival of Barry Allen and Oliver Queen, who explained to the three of them their situations of having switched powers and lives due to an unknown reason.

Clark offered the two some time on his farm in order to reflect about what to do. However, a few hours later, Vibe came to the farm to tell them about Amazo's rampage on Earth-1's Central City and took them back with him along with Superman and Supergirl to join the fight. The team consecutively attacked and distracted Amazo to keep it off-balance and prevent it from scanning their DNA to duplicate their powers. Superman then punched the robot deep into the ground, but it fought its way up to the surface, finally copying the four heroes' abilities and fleeing the scene.

Barry then had a plan, which involved Amazo chasing Oliver back to where they were. The robot, which now had a connection to the Speed Force, chased Oliver and was eventually intercepted by Kara's punch. The three superheroes then held and constrained Amazo so that Barry could shoot it with a kryptonite arrow containing a virus created by Cisco and Caitlin which wiped its CPU and caused it to implode and break into pieces. After Amazo was dismantled and locked up piece by piece in a S.T.A.R. Labs vault, Clark told the others that he had come back to Metropolis in order to not leave their Earth (and Lois) defenseless in their absence. Then he took his leave from the heroes of Earth-1 and departed, but not before Sherloque asked him to bring an alimony check to one of his ex-wives, who is a resident of Earth-38.

Fixing Earth-1's reality
A few hours later, while in the Fortress of Solitude with Lois intent on preparing a barbecue, Clark was visited once more by Oliver, Barry and Cisco. Oliver and Barry explained to him that they were rendered powerless and were now a couple of criminals nicknamed the Trigger Twins, while Cisco was a mob boss, and Kara was held prisoner at S.T.A.R. Labs after their Earth's reality was reshaped for the second time by Doctor John Deegan who, using the Book of Destiny, has given to himself Superman's destiny, looks and powers, taking over the whole world and becoming a sort of dictator. Clark explained he had saw similar artifacts in the past and know how to deal with them, as they're activated with the power of the mind and everything they had to do is to find that book. Hearing that, Cisco revealed to them that if is something important to him, probably "Superman" kept it in his vault inside the S.T.A.R. Labs, to which Clark and Lois exchanged a look of complicity saying he needed to go back to Earth-1. Superman, Barry, Oliver and Cisco breached inside the S.T.A.R. Labs just in time to preventing Deegan to kill Kara and Alex Danvers, who had helped the Kryptonian to escape her cell. Superman brutally fought his emulator for all Central City but, due to Deegan not caring about the civilians' safety, he managed to trick his opponent into saving a TV troup on an helicopter, tacking him by surprise, overpowering him and making him realize that on this Earth he is the villain, as other people saw Clark as "Bizarro". When Deegan was about to finish him, Supergirl use her heat vision, throwing the Doctor away and giving Superman the book in order to let him the time to fix reality, restoring Barry, Oliver and Kara to their former selves, however, before he finished to change back the city and his inhabitants, Deegan came back to his senses treating to snap the Flash's neck if Kara didn't stop what her cousin was doing. The Green arrow appears with a Kryptonite arrow but Barry told him not to do it as this is one of the Monitor's test. Pissed that Oliver didn't shot, Deegan threw Barry and clapped his hands strong enough for Superman to lose the book, allowing his impostor to take it and fly away.

As Deegan began trying to change reality for the third time, Supergirl and the Flash decided to run around the Earth in order to slow it down and get extra time to find him and stop them, however Clark revealed that he read in the Book of Destiny that if they'll try something similar they would have died; unwavering in their decision, the two chose to try it anyway, while Oliver goes to the Monitor in order to prevent their deaths. Superman searched for Deegan, finally finding him in the middle of a crowded street. The Doctor then spawned a new A.M.A.Z.O. out of the Book to fight him, however Lois arrived from Earth-38 armed with the Solar Hammer and leading a supporting team composed of Brainiac 5 and the Martian Manhunter. While Brainy handled A.M.A.Z.O. and J'onn protected the civilians, Superman and Lois attacked Deegan using the hammer, leading the Doctor to reach for the Book of Destiny sending a powerful shockwave that sended Lois several feets in the air in freefall just in the exact moment Flash and Supergirl managed to slow down the Earth's time. Green Arrow took the opportunity to throw an arrow at the Book of Destiny and destroying it turning the reality back to normal, as well as Deegan's body, although with a scarred face who look more like a skeleton. As soon as time began to flow again normally Superman reached for Lois, catching her just in time, while Brainy shut down A.M.A.Z.O. removing the robot's hard drive and completing the heroes victory.

Proposal
Back to Earth-38's Smallville, Kara complimented Clark for the amount of work he does on the Kent Farm in her absence, and he stated he simply wanted to make sure it was alright for "Ma". Clark then told Kara that she doesn't needed D.E.O. to be a heroine and that her bond with Alex will always allow her to watch her back and vice versa, he once more reminded her that he believed she's stronger that he could ever be and that's the reason why he's sure he was making the right thing. As a flabbergasted Kara asked him what does it mean, Lois reached them and told Clark to simply be direct, indirectly leading Kara to realize they're having a baby. After she happily congratulated with them, Clark revealed to her their intention to move to Argo City until the child is born and maybe a little longer. Although she knew she will miss them, Kara was overjoyed to hear her cousin tell her that "the world doesn't need Superman if it has Supergirl" and that he felt it's safe to let it's protection in her hands for a little while. Back to the Fortress, while spending the evening with Lois, Clark absentmindedly burns the barbecue and, after Lois made him notice it he apologized telling her that he wanted that night to be perfect; after the woman asked why Clark fumbled awkwardly about wishing all of their nights together to be perfect forever, to wich Lois smiled and reminded him once more to be direct. Then, with a single clench of his fist, Clark put a chunk of coal under enough pressure to turn it into a diamond, placed it on a ring, kneel and started to propose to Lois, who accept to marry and passionately kissed him even before he managed to finish his sentence.

About nine months after he and Lois returned to Argo City, she gave birth to their son, Jonathan Kent.

Possible future
In a possible future, Clark had a confrontation with Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash, but wasn't fast enough to stop him. However, the exact details of the encounter are unknown.

Personality
In his civilian persona, Clark portrays a very meek and clumsy demeanor with an old-fashioned and mild-mannered attitude, because he has to constantly pretend to be a klutz, he has noted sometimes those klutzy moments were real. Clark's timid demeanor was developed as a means of ensuring that no one would suspect any connection between him and his alter-ego, Superman and is helped by the fact that nobody thinks there's a hero among them.
 * -|As a civilian=

Clark sees his job as a journalist as an extension of his Superman responsibilities - bringing truth to the forefront and fighting for the little guy. He believes that everybody has the right to know what is going on in the world, regardless of who is involved. Other motivations for Clark's professional writing were his love for both the art and mysteries.

There have been times where traces of Clark's real personality are displayed; one example was when Lena accused him of suspecting her of being behind an explosion because she was a Luthor, which Clark confirms without the slightest hesitation.

Clark is described by James to Kara as "everything you want him to be, and more"; he is kind, caring, brave, charismatic, selfless, has a sense of justice, honor and good morals, he is known by even beyond the planet Earth as the world's greatest superhero, with over a decade of experience battling human and extraterrestrial threats, he has a strong moral code and tries not to kill his enemies, although he is an alien to the planet Earth, he heavily values his humanity and fights with conviction for truth, justice and the American way, while still prizing his Kryptonian heritage, learning all he can regarding the culture via archives in his Fortress of Solitude, and becoming fluid in the common Kryptonian tongue. He is protective of his cousin Kara Danvers, as he asked James to keep an eye on her while he is off saving the world. When donning his "Clark Kent" persona, he appears very meek, old-fashioned and clumsy, although at least some of this is not an act on his part - as he does occasionally bump into others (genuinely) by accident, and as a matter of principle does not drink alcohol shortly before flying despite being immune to intoxication, showing a strong dislike for alcohol.
 * -|As Superman=

According to James Olsen, Clark is very stubborn, while Kara notes he can be independent to the point of refusing help, he can also be cold to those he dislikes or distrusts, breaking through his mild-mannered reporter persona when interviewing Lena Luthor; due to his bad experiences with Lex Luthor, he can even be short-tempered to the point of being hostile when sufficiently provoked - when he and Kara were almost killed by the green Kryptonite-powered cyborg John Corben and learned that the D.E.O. had a spy from Project Cadmus who stole the Kryptonite from their organization, Clark yelled at J'onn for putting Kara's life in danger. According to James, Clark doesn't work with the government because of their secret experiments on alien life, which has also caused him to distrust the government itself; this also extended to J'onn J'onzz, whom he originally had a good relationship with until the latter resolved to store Kryptonite in the D.E.O. as a contingency, which enraged Clark, thus, leading to the pair falling out, as Clark believed that the Kryptonite the D.E.O. had could fall into the wrong hands and would eventually be used against him or his cousin Kara; this fear of his proved to be correct, although the situation was resolved when all the D.E.O.'s Kryptonite was entrusted to him to destroy it, and J'onn and Clark's friendship was repaired.

Kara has jokingly described Clark as a "big nerd" because of his habit to give a name to all of their Kryptonian abilities and related phenomena, despite his success as a superhero, unlike most Kryptonians, Clark is polite, humble, modest and respectful, evidenced by the fact that he keeps his civilian identity a secret from the public and does not abuse his powers; as he lacks the arrogant and self-righteous traits that many of his people possessed, which ultimately led to their near-extinction, he also does not have a dislike for Daxamites, despite the fact they were invading National City, evidenced by the fact how he treated Mon-El warmly, who was dating his cousin, Kara.

Although Clark values his humanity, he also accepts the fact that he is a Kryptonian and never will be human, something that his cousin, Kara was (initially) unable to accept.

Clark (under the persona of Superman) was once best friends with Lex Luthor, as the two initially tried to work together to repel the threat of alien invasions, but Lex's methods were far crueler than Clark's, although the latter tried hard to trust his friend, defending him against accusations of others and continuing to give him several chances to atone for his wrong deeds; however, once Clark realized Lex's true nature - this ultimately resulted in a falling out between the two, while Clark at first only put an end to their partnership and did not attempt to put down or expose Lex and seemed to be reluctant to combat Lex, even after Lex himself declared war on him; due to believing that Superman's presence attracted the aliens, as Lex committed unspeakable crimes and even went as far as to cause an earthquake in California, any feelings of companionship that Clark had for Lex has vanished, due to Clark being furious that Lex would put innocent lives in danger for the explicit purpose of taking him down.

In fact, their enmity eventually escalated to the point that both Clark and Lex considered the other to be their greatest enemy, although unlike Lex, Clark prioritised saving innocent lives instead of taking Lex down, despite this, he was determined to stop Lex, although Clark did not kill Lex after he eventually defeated him, he still did not hesitate to expose his crimes to the public to incarcerate Lex so he can do no more harm. As a result of Lex's actions, Clark has difficulty trusting most members of the Luthor family; however, his distrust is based out of logic, not prejudice.

Despite Clark's pride, he is not above apologizing or admitting when he is wrong, like when he apologized to Lena for his initial distrust towards her, when he believed she was behind sabotaging the Venture; due to his bad experience with Lex, as Clark realized that he should have given Lena the benefit of the doubt, not just the because of her last name.

Powers

 * Kryptonian physiology: Normally, like all Kryptonians, Clark's capabilities are no greater than a normal human of his physical conditioning. However, once charged by the energy spectrum of a yellow sun, he becomes able to perform various inhuman feats. While generic for his race, having grown up essentially his entire life with these powers have allowed him to store up energy in greater quantities and metabolize it into his body with greater efficiency; this combined with a lifetime of experience and practice with these abilities allows him to use them with far greater control and an equally greater levels of raw power compared to other Kryptonians. Overall, Clark is an incredibly powerful being, with his cousin, Kara Danvers even referring to him as "the most powerful man in the universe"; making Clark one of the most, if not the most powerful being in the entire multiverse.
 * Solar energy absorption: While Clark's powers are dependent on the energy spectrum from a yellow sun, the stored up energy allows him to use his powers without constant exposure to the solar radiation until finally depleted. Yet, as his body is near-constantly exposed to such energy and able to passively absorb it, this essentially keeps his reserves fully charged near-constantly. Direct exposure to sunlight will also accelerate his recovery from any injuries he does manage to sustain.
 * Accelerated healing factor: Clark's solar charged metabolism accelerates his healing and allows him to burn calories at a fast rate, making him resilient to weight gain. Upon being struck by a Green Kryptonite beam and a series of punches by a cyborg, after few minutes he healed instantly.
 * Self-sustenance: Due to the effects of a yellow sun, Clark's physical needs are greatly reduced or completely removed, as he does not need to eat or sleep unless he has to. This extends to him being able to survive in harsher environments such as outer space and underwater; able to withstand the conditions.
 * Atmospheric adaption: While Clark does (usually) require oxygen, his physicality allows him to survive while inhaling more harsh forms of it.
 * Contaminant immunity: Clark has an immunity to all forms of disease and contaminants on Earth. However, despite being unable to be inebriated or intoxicated by drugs or alcohol from Earth, he does not drink and has a strong dislike for alcohol.
 * Flight: Clark is able to manipulate his own gravitational field to generate thrust and propel himself through the air at tremendous hyper-sonic speeds, much faster than he can travel by foot. As such, he is able to levitate and fly past Earth's atmosphere and near the planet's orbit.
 * Levitation: Clark can levitate using his flight abilities.
 * Heat vision: By concentrating every solar energy reserve he has in his body, Clark can emit blue energy beams of variable intensity from his eyes. Due to his control over the beams, he has demonstrated being capable of burning through stone and welding metal, causing small explosions and fires and physically repelling or potentially damaging enemies with similar durability, making it useful in combat. However, he has personally utilized it for more mundane uses; such as heating up beverages and cooking food. When John Deegan copied this ability from Clark, he was able to overpower Supergirl's heat vision in seconds.
 * Superhuman durability: With his cells supercharged with solar energy, Clark's bodily durability is considerably stronger than even the densest of Earth's metals such as steel. This has earned him the moniker of "Man of Steel" as he is both seemingly invincible to injury as well as courageous in battle. Due to his lifelong time in the young sun, Clark's durability is noticeably stronger than his cousin, Kara, as well as other Kryptonians who've appeared on Earth. Despite this, their similar momentum of strength and durability allow them to potentially injure Clark in combat.
 * Extreme heat resistance: Clark feels no pain when exposed to extreme heat.
 * Elemental resistance: Clark feels no pain when exposed to harmful elements like rocks, fire, electricity and ice.
 * Extended longevity: As a Kryptonian, Clark's lifespan is considerably longer than a normal human and likewise ages much slower. Despite being physically older than Kara by over 10 years, Clark still maintains the physical appearance of a man in his prime.
 * Super breath: Clark is able to exhale powerful gusts of air from his mouth. He can also cause the temperature of his breath to drop to sub-zero levels, therefore able to freeze nearly anything instantly.
 * Superhuman hearing: Clark has super-sensitive ears that can perfectly pick up sounds from miles away and even through structures.
 * Superhuman speed: Similar to Clark's super strength, the solar energy within his cells enable him to propel himself at super-sonic speeds as well as accelerate his movements and reactions to velocities sufficient to catch a speeding bullet in his bare hands and perceive the world in slowed motion. However, despite Clark's incredible feats of speed, he is not as fast as speedsters; such as the Flash and Reverse-Flash respectively at their top speeds. This was explained when Eobard Thawne mentioned that he raced Clark at some point in the future; stating, "He is fast... I'm faster".
 * Accelerated perception: While using his super speed, Clark sees everything much slower; allowing him to move with precision and accuracy within very fast moments.
 * Superhuman strength: The greatest display of Clark's abilities lies in his super strength - his chief superpower, with his muscles empowered by Earth's yellow sun coupled with the raw energy this conditioning causes to surge throughout his physiology, Clark's full strength is virtually incalculable. Clark was first seen to balance the Venture space-shuttle, albeit with the help of Supergirl. Later, he supported the weight of a falling building while Kara stabilized the foundation. Clark's muscle is such that he can challenge and overpower even seasoned Kryptonian soldiers such as Zod, who he was able to kill off in their last fight. With a single clench of his fist, he was able to put a chunk of coal under enough pressure to turn it into a diamond immediately before proposing to his girlfriend, Lois Lane.
 * Superhuman jumping/Leaping: Clark is able to jump several feet off the ground and leap several stories in a single bound without having to fly. He is known to be able to "leap tall buildings in a single bound", and usually, when he has to fly, he jump upwards before shooting skyward.
 * Thunderclap: When Clark uses his super strength to clap his hands together, it creates a powerful shockwave that throws enemies back. It also destroy's glass, pushes objects away from him and disorients anyone nearby.
 * Superhuman stamina: Clark can run, fight or fly for long periods of time, without getting tired.
 * Superhuman reflexes: Clark's reflexes are so fast that he can respond to attacks within seconds and can be compared to those of a Speedster.
 * Telepathy immunity: Clark is immune to immune to most forms of telepathic powers, even from someone as powerful as J'onn J'onzz.
 * X-ray vision: Clark is able to see through solid objects; except for lead.

Abilities

 * Genius-level intellect/Skilled tactician/Leader: Clark holds exceptional levels of intellectual genius, even to the point of being at computational levels; his mind works sharply and with extreme speed far surpassing most, if not all exceptionally intelligent humans of Earth-38, Clark is (possibly) the most intelligent individual on Earth-38 and one of the most intelligent individuals in the entire multiverse, the most prominent display of his intelligence was in his years long war with the notoriously intelligent Lex Luthor, whose intelligence was nearly unrivaled even among the highly prolific Luthor family, in which he was able to not only successfully go head-on against his ex-best friend, thwarting many of Lex's unspeakable crimes and sophisticated attacks, but he was even able to ultimately prevail over Lex, exposing his crimes to the public, proving Clark holds sufficient intelligence and strategical ability to be able to not only contend with Lex, an infamous master tactician in his own right with many resources to use against him, but also outsmart him even if it was not without extreme effort. He is extremely sharp and intuitive, able to quickly analyze the situation before him to understand the true nature before him, and had enough intuition that he was eventually able to figure out Lex's true nature, which had eluded the whole world, although it took him several years before he finally saw through it, he is also able to accurately calculate the level of power needed to defeat his enemies without kill anyone or destroying anything. Clark can inspire the people to be the best that they can be and sometimes inspire criminals to do the right thing without resorting to violence.
 * Expert investigator: As one of the best, if not the best reporter in Daily Planet, Clark is an exceptional investigator, as he follows every lead and rumor to discover the truth behind any story. He also uses his talents as an investigator to a great effect as a superhero, having solved many mysteries alongside Chloe and he was even skilled enough to be capable of exposing Lex Luthor's crimes to the public, which were so carefully coordinated and hidden that the whole world never even suspected Lex was a criminal.
 * Skilled engineer: Clark has displayed familiarity with Kryptonian technology.
 * Bilingual: Clark is capable of fluently speaking English and Kryptonese.
 * Master hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: Clark has proven himself to be a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist, as his combat skills are great enough to be able not only to fight on par against other very physically powerful experts of hand-to-hand combat and martial arts, but also to defeat them single-handedly, as he was able to take down and imprison Maxima, a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant in her own right, who was able to restrain and beat Supergirl even after she had become more proficient in hand-to-hand combat, stalemate Lex Luthor wearing his Lexosuit repeatedly and eventually defeat him, and even ultimately best Zod, a highly skilled Kryptonian general in both of their altercations, killing him in their final fight. He is able to effectively use his opponent's own momentum against them and can easily keep up with the highly proficient Martian Manhunter. His combat skills can even be still effectively used while he was in a weakened state or having deep hallucinations that made him not focused and much more brutal, as while weakened by Green Kryptonite, Clark was still capable of fighting off a superpowered cyborg and defeating him, allowing him to escape along with Kara; even while suffering visions from being affected with Silver Kryptonite and not focused due to his rage of general Zod, he managed to match Kara for a prolonged period of time, only being barely bested (as he was not at the peak of his combat skills) and managing to exhaust her as well. Clark is also one of the most, if not the most deadliest combatant in the entire multiverse.
 * Indomitable will/High tolerance for pain: Clark has a powerful spirit, free of corruption and temptation, having been raised by a kindly Kansas farmer and his wife, he was taught to protect life and help others. He is very optimistic and never gives up, even when things look bad. He has proven to possess an incredible tolerance for pain, even when weakened by Green Kryptonite, he was able to resist and keep fighting Metallo.
 * Intimidation: Throughout his career as Superman, Clark commands an intimidating presence to the point where most humans fear him, he is also feared by most aliens, even by someone as powerful as J'onn J'onzz and many fugitives from Fort Rozz.

Weaknesses

 * Kryptonite: Like all Kryptonians, even while empowered, Clark is vulnerable to the exposure of Kryptonite, a radioactive mineral from his home planet Krypton. Depending on the nature of the said Kryptonite, it will cause a different adverse effect on him;
 * Green Kryptonite: Green Kryptonite not only physically hurts Clark, but also it weakens his physical attributes; making him equivalent to that of a normal human. If he is exposed to enough green kryptonite for too long, it will eventually kill him. However, possibly due to a long lifetime of constant exposure to yellow solar radiation, Clark has demonstrated a certain level of resilience to green kryptonite. When directly exposed to it by John Corben, despite being physically weakened, he was still retained noticeable superhuman might and sent the cyborg flying several feet away; unlike his cousin Kara, who is always powerless when she is exposed to green kryptonite.
 * Red Kryptonite: If exposed to Red Kryptonite, it gradually destroys Clark's inhibitions and turns him into a corrupt version of himself. Left without morality, compassion, rationality or any cares whatsoever, Clark will become malevolent and prone to hostility and aggression, making him a danger to everyone around him.
 * Silver Kryptonite: If exposed to Silver Kryptonite, it will cause Clark to go in a deep and frightful hallucination where nothing from the outside world can stir him out of it until it leaves his system. When Rhea poisoned Clark with Silver Kryptonite, Clark was convinced that Supergirl was actually his greatest enemy, General Zod, who constantly taunted him and made him enraged, thus allowing Kara to use his rage against him and defeat Clark, even though he is more powerful and experienced than her.
 * Extreme energy: Extreme amounts of energy, such as the energy from the Reactron suit, can be enough to kill Clark.
 * Red sun energy: Clark is powerless when exposed to the energy of a red sun.
 * Blue sun energy: Clark is powerless when exposed to the energy of a blue sun, it's radiation is also fatal to him and anyone else with a Y chromosome.
 * Solar energy depletion: Using his powers to its maximum for an extended period can significantly drain his solar energy to the point where Clark loses all of his powers and is rendered more human-like for at least a day. This renders him as weak as a human, allowing Clark to get injured and killed as easy as killing a human.
 * Solar energy overload: If Clark absorbs too much solar energy, it will act as a poison and kill him.
 * Lead: Even with his X-ray vision; Clark cannot see through lead.
 * High-frequencies: Although considered a strength, Clark's hearing does have its disadvantages. Since his hearing is more sensitive than a normal human's, higher pitch noises (sonic screams, etc.) can disorient him and cause pain in his ears, leaving him vulnerable in a fight. Therefore, enemies with sound-based powers, like Silver Banshee can potentially be powerful enough to cause Clark's ears to bleed.
 * Sound-dampening tech: The D.E.O. designed frequencies to block super-hearing and cause Clark slight pain when trying to use it in areas protected by the technology.
 * Myriad: Clark's brain is more human than other Kryptonians who spent much of their lives on Krypton. This means he is vulnerable to Myriad's mind control function, unlike his cousin and Non.

Equipment

 * Superman suit: Clark wears a protective suit as his super-hero alter-ego, Superman, to hide his identity from his enemies, when he goes out fighting crime. The suit is mostly blue, with a red belt, along with a red cape and boots, featuring a red and yellow House of El emblem on the chest; though the original version also included a pair of leggings that resembled pants with underwear worn over them. It's unknown what materials the suit is comprised of, however, it is just as durable as a Kryptonian. Clark notably is able to change into his suit in seconds with his speed, usually keeping it underneath his civilian clothing.
 * Items in the Fortress of Solitude: Over the course of his many adventures, Clark has recovered various artifacts mainly, but not exclusively, from Krypton, which he kept stored into his Fortress of Solitude. Many of them are dangerous and he maintain them locked up inside it, while other he used for his heroic deeds to provide help to him or his allies. So far, those items consists of;
 * Phantom Zone projector: A device that was originally used by Kryptonians to instantaneously beam prisoners into the Phantom Zone prison known as Fort Rozz, but could also be used as a teleportation device.
 * Robots: Superman has many service robots, known as Kelex, who take care of the Fortress while he's not present and provide the visitors with information if they're not considered intruders, otherwise defending the sanctuary.
 * Solar Hammer: A mysterious warhammer that, whenever is activated, touched or comes in contact with a surface, generate a burst of light energy.
 * Cosmic Anvil: Querl Dox mentioned this item as one of those stored into the Fortress.

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Trivia

 * According to Kara, Clark loves mysteries, with his favorite mystery authors being Agatha Christie, Jim Thompson, and Dashiell Hammett. He states that growing up reading their books is half the reason he became a reporter.
 * Kara was trapped in the Phantom Zone for 24 years after Krypton's destruction before arriving on Earth, where she had been living for 12 years by the start of the series. That Clark 36 years old at the start of the series and means he had been acting as Superman publicly for at least 12 years as of 2015.
 * His seniority makes him the most experienced superhero in the known multiverse (aside from J'onn J'onzz, perhaps), eclipsing heroes that are known for their level of experience, such as Sara Lance and Oliver Queen.
 * However, in, this record is challenged by Bruce Wayne, who has acted as Batman publicly for over 12 years, at least on Earth 1, much like Superman, although it is implied that he has acted for much longer.
 * During the song "Super Friend", Barry Allen did "a really good impression" of Superman according to Kara, despite the fact that the two had never met at the time. Clark and Barry would eventually meet in ​​.
 * According to James and Kara, Clark has previously worked with a vigilante with "tons of gadgets [and] lots of demons", hinting at Batman, a vigilante superhero known to often work with Superman.
 * Winn later went to clarify that he thinks the two of them more as "frenemies", further hinting at the likelihood that this is not only the Dark Knight, but that the pair also share a rivalry known throughout the comics, which peaked in the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
 * In ​​, it was confirmed that said vigilante is indeed Bruce Wayne.
 * As mentioned in ​, Superman wore red underwear over his clothes at least until 2007. This is a reference to his classic suit.
 * This also references the TV series Smallville, which shows Clark having red underwear on his Superman outfit in the series finale when he became Superman, but he had it removed during the comic book series, which took place after the series ended.
 * It is hinted that at some point in the future, Clark fought Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash. In the episode ​​​, Eobard referred to Tony Woodward as a "Man of Steel", a term associated with Superman, stating he had encountered a similar enemy some time in his past. In ​​, Eobard explicitly mentioned to Kara that he has fought Clark.
 * It is also possible that Superman has met Rip Hunter; in the episode ​​​​​​, Rip remarked that he has seen "Men of Steel die", which is a reference to the classic Death Of Superman story.
 * The third season of is the only season in which Superman didn't appear, though he was mentioned several times and a picture of him was shown on a news program.
 * In addition, he did not make his formal debut until Season 2 because he was only shown as a silhouette in Season 1.
 * Despite being known by most people as Clark, the only two people known to call him by his Krypton name, Kal is his cousin Kara and his aunt, Alura.

Behind the scenes

 * Kal-El debuted in Action Comics #1 (June, 1938) by creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster; his native universe of Earth-38 is named in honor of the year of this first appearance.
 * marks Kal-El's eighth live-action television appearance; previously appearing in Adventures of Superman, I Love Lucy, The Adventures of Superboy, It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's Superman, Superboy, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Smallville.
 * According to James Olsen, Superman refers to the event of a Kryptonian being depleted of his powers as "Solar Flare". In Superman #38, part of The New 52, it is revealed that Superman's heat vision is a precursor to a power also called a "Super Flare", in which Superman release a large explosive force of his solar energy from his entire body, which leaves him depleted and the equivalent of a human for 24 hours.
 * Up until his first physical appearance in the second season, despite being physically seen only 5 times in the first season, Clark was mentioned in just about every episode so far. Additionally, Kara had online chats with him four times, suggesting that, even though Kara hid her powers for twelve years prior to the series, they still kept in touch with each other.
 * In the first season of, most of Superman's appearances were rendered in CG animation and body doubles along with camera tricks to hide his face.