Lara Van-El

Lara Van-El (died 1979) was the mother of Kal-El and the wife of the late Jor-El.

Biography

Early life

Lara was born on the planet Krypton and became a scientist after reaching adulthood. She fell in love with a fellow scientist named Jor-El, whom she later married. Lara gave birth to a son, Kal-El, in 1979.^[1]

Sending Kal-El to Earth

Not long after their son's birth, Lara and Jor-El sent Kal-El to Earth to save him from Krypton's impending destruction.^[1]

An ice sculpture in the Fortress of Solitude was crafted in Lara's image.^[2]

Powers and abilities

Powers

• Kryptonian physiology: Like all Kryptonians, Lara's capabilities while exposed to the natural red sun of Krypton were no greater than a normal human of her physical conditioning. However, had she been charged by the energy of a yellow sun metabolizing into her body, Lara would have been able to perform the same superhuman feats as other off-world Kryptonians.

Abilities

• Genius-level intellect/Master scientist: Lara was highly intelligent, being one of the most renowned scientists on Krypton.
  • Bilingual: Lara was capable of fluently speaking English and Kryptonese.

Appearances

Supergirl

Season 1

• "Pilot"
• "Solitude" (sculpture)

Season 2

• "The Last Children of Krypton" (mentioned)
• "Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk" (sculpture)

Comics

Adventures of Supergirl

• "This Is My Life" (mentioned)

Behind the scenes

• Lara Van-El debuted in the Superman comic strip (1939), where she was first named Lora. Her first comic book appearance, after being mentioned in the text novel The Adventures of Superman (1942), where she was named Lara for the first time, was in More Fun Comics #101 (1945).
  • In the comics, her full maiden name is Lara Lor-Van, as most depictions of Kryptonian culture show that females use their father's full name as their last names before marriage.

References