Karsta Wor-Ul

> Betraying my people was never my intention. Revolting against them was also never my intention. Everything I did was... because of a promise... that I made... to a man... I respected... far too much."
>
> Karsta to Kal-El after Black Zero

## Karsta Wor-Ul

### Aliases

Warsword
 Kristin Wells

### Relatives

Wor-Ul
 Vyl-Ul
 Faora Hu-Ul

### Affiliation

Kryptonian Warrior Guild (formerly)
 Sword of Rao (formerly)

## Appearances

### Portrayed by

Michelle Williams

**Karsta Wor-Ul** more commonly known as Kristin Wells as a civilian, is a female soldier of the Warrior Guild from Krypton. Born through the Kryptonian genetic engineering process and programmed with knowledge of combat, Karsta would find herself in many wars and battles from the years of her 'birth.' Along with one particular event, Karsta's actions weigh in heavily on her mind making her wonder if there were ways to subdue the rest of the opponents that she had met in combat without killing them.

## Biography

### Early Life

Karsta was bred like most Kryptonians, through the genetic engineering with a military codex on July 19, 1950. Bearing the codex of the Warrior Guild, Karsta would start her military training at a young age and conditioned to be a military soldier proficient in ranged and melee combat. Because of this, Karsta would see combat a bit earlier than most US residents at the age of 15 years. This started out with simple battles as she aided in Kryptonians continuing to spread and colonize a little more of the vast expanse of space.

#### Joining Admiral Dru-Zod's Ranks

Karsta would show great promise in the what she did garnering her the notable attention of the highly esteemed warrior known as Admiral Dru-Zod I. With this attention, Karsta would be personally acquired and transfered into the Admiral's personal squadron of warriors. Throughout the following years, Karsta would see many battles and wars under the Admiral's command. Karsta would keenly relate fighting alongside the Admiral to fighting alongside an Avatar of Righteousness.

#### A Regretted Oath

During her times serving under Admiral Zod, Karsta would also find herself coming to know him and the rest of her squad a little more personally. Because of this, Karsta would know much of Dru-Zod's joys... and his regrets which ultimately brought her to swearing an Oath of Loyalty to the Admiral and his kin. An Oath that she would come to fully regret later on in life.

#### Mercenary Work

After some time, Krypton would occasionally send its warriors out as mercenaries for a time to which Karsta would see more action and continue to rise in the ranks of Admiral Dru-Zod's command of the Warrior Guild. Some of the jobs that she would be hired out for would sometimes be protection details on Daxam. For some of the other jobs, she was aiding other alien lifeforms in the universe for various reasons from fighting in particular battles to occasionally running an investigation operation for another species.

#### Death of Admiral Zod

During one of the jobs that she had been in under the command of Admiral Dru-Zod, Karsta and Admiral Zod's strike force would find Karsta's own predictions coming to fruition as they had a very difficult time handling the mission. This resulted in Admiral Zod sacrificing his own life to in order to save the remainder of his crew, Karsta included. Karsta wouldn't quite forget this and would have ended up having the Admiral's son thank her for serving alonside his father for so long and commend her loyalty.

#### Mutiny at Krypton

Sometime during the destructive demise of Krypton in 1980, Karsta and other Kryptonian soldiers would be recalled by General Zod to Krypton for an unknown mission. Upon arrival, Zod would explain what was going on and what he was planning calling his loyal warriors the 'Sword of Rao.' Seeing that he was calling for a mutiny, Karsta wanted to speak out about this act, but was afraid that he would kill her. Staying silent, Karsta uneasily participated in Zod's attempt of a coup wondering if this was the right thing to do and if she had been better off dying from speaking out against General Zod. After bearing witness to the slaughter of some of the members of Krypton's law council and the Sapphire Guard, Karsta would also be one of the soldiers to accompany Zod to Lara and Jor-El's home to acquire the growth codex. Having known Dru-Zod and Jor-El to be very close friends, Karsta didn't expect to see Zod actually kill Jor-El. By this time, what confusion Karsta had about Dru-Zod's coup would only bring Karsta deeper into confusion about whether or not General Zod's plans would be the choice of actions. After a while, Karsta, General Zod, and the other members of the Sword of Rao would be subdued and detained by loyalists of Jor-El and brought before what was left of the law council where they were sentenced to be in the Phantom Zone while their planet was exploding. However, as fate would have it, there would be a riot on Fort Rozz at this time that would cause the temporary prison's larger Phantom Zone Projector to explode sending Fort Rozz into the Phantom Zone.

#### Traveling the Universe

Once Karsta and all of the members of the Sword of Rao were freed from the Phantom Zone, Karsta would follow General Zod thinking that as of that moment they had no choice. They didn't have a home, the colonies that they should have had were dead, and all they could do was scavenge what valuables they could salvage, like a World Engine that they managed to find on one of the planets. The longer that the General Zod and the Sword of Rao travelled, the more it seemed like hope was lost. That was until they received a homing signal on Earth. A Kryptonian vessel had been active on that planet. Many speculated and wondered... could it have been Kal-El's doing? Maybe they could convince him to join them? Karsta, however, wasn't sure of whether or not she should continue fighting for Zod or not. While she knew that the law council's edicts were dogmatic most of the time, she was beginning to see General Zod's ideas to be just as dogmatic, an honest hypocrit that couldn't recognize that he himself was a hypocrit. Then again, she was one to think that as she too was born from the same system that Dru-Zod and a great many others of the Kryptonians had been born from.

#### Kal-El defends the Earth

When Karsta watched Kal-El use the powers that he had gotten from the Earth's atmosphere and it's yellow sun to protect Lois Lane and his adoptive mother Martha Kent, Karsta knew right then and there that she couldn't stand with General Zod any longer. This Kal-El had made his choice and was Jor-El's and the council's living legacy. Karsta wouldn't let herself betray her own people once again and would start to fire upon the other members of the Sword of Rao who were fighting not only Kal-El, but also the US military, giving the US military an additional advantage.

#### The Sword of Rao's Defeat

Upon the death of Nam-Ek, Jax-Ur, and General Dru-Zod, and with Faora having been shunted who knows where after her fight with Colonel Hardy if the human did manage to survive, Karsta would surrender to Kal-El first, and then to the US military requesting assylum if it were possible. As they naturally wondered why, they would inquire about Karsta's reasonings to which she would explain her life and the events that lead up to her betraying General Zod in response. Though not trusting her as she had shown her loyalties could change, many of the military leaders that were around would certainly concider the idea of granting her assylum. After a few weeks, Karsta would reluctantly be granted her assylum under close watch by the military for a probationary period. Finding this fairly reasonable, Karsta agreed to the terms and would spend an allotted time under the watch of a military base where they would make use of her military expertise for the time being. On that military base, Karsta would be given a military contact and handler that is a Gunnery Seargant in the United States Marine Corp. Karsta would certainly get along with the young man and respected his sense of loyalty. Because of this, Karsta would be actually bond with the Marine a bit as his actual assignment had been to assess whether or not she would betray the people granting her assylum.

#### Civilian Life

For much of Karsta's life following transition out of the watchful gaze of a military base, she would look around and try to pick up what work she could from office work, which she found completely boring, to construction and factory work. She didn't mind the work that construction and factory work gave her, but she did have a difficult time adjusting to the environment and would feel like a complete outcast. After a while though, she did find that writing in her free time helped ease her mind. As time moved on, she would go on to publish some novels about a female soldier out in space. Of course, these were fiction novels with many elements of her life prior to Krypton's destruction, but they were just something she made to pass the time and hopefully try to help her mind transition even a little bit from the warrior that she was genetically engineered to be.

## Personality

Most of the time, Karsta has an almost masculine personality with enough submissiveness that makes her one of the most perfect soldiers. She can and will take on any order without question, unless she thinks there is a better solution to which she isn't afraid to suggest strategies with her commanding officers to see if they think her ideas might work. Having seen combat multiple times and even gotten to an officers rank herself, she isn't shy to command other soldiers. However, during brief moments, she can break free from her genetically-programmed soldier persona and be the woman that she is. To those that have gotten to know her personally, Karsta has a strong sense of loyalty that drives her. This sense of loyalty also binds her to aiding the House of El when they, Kara or Kal-El, ask of her.

## Relationships

### Admiral Dru-Zod

> Karsta?"
> "Kal-El?"
> "What do you remember of our homeworld?"
> "What do I remember?... I remember a lot of things. Kandor City. Argo City. The Gorvan Shore. My home in the Ansomlands. Dru-Zod. A man of strength and a warrioristic avatar of virtue if I do say so myself."
> "Zod. Is that General Zod?"
> "Glasslords, no. Dru-Zod was an Admiral, a stellar navyman of the Capricor sect all the way... That must've been generations ago."
>
> Karsta and Kal-El talking about Krypton

Admiral Dru-Zod is one of the most highly regarded members of the Kryptonian Warrior Guild. Over the years of service, especially under the man among his squadron, he came to be highly acclaimed by Karsta, even after his death, and remains to this day Karsta's highest example of what a virtuous Kryptonian could be even as a member of the warrior guild, the closest second example she can name for others being Kal-El.

### Wor-Ul

> Well... you have to understand Kal. The Warrior Guild at the time was still expanding. At the time, there were two notable sects of it. The Capricor and the Sagitari. Of course, the both of them had their own divisions, but the most notable division of the Sagitari was the Sapphire Guard, an elite group of Sagitari hand selected by the second most revered member of the warrior guild: A man that adorned loyalty and honor as much as he respected it, my father Wor-Ul."
>
> Karsta to Kal-El about the Warrior Guild and their two sects.

Wor-Ul is Karsta's father whom was deeply cherished by his wife Vyl. He was not only one of the 2 finest and highly regarded members of the warrior guild, but also the head and founder of the Sapphire Guard, a subsect of the Sagitari in charge of protecting the Law Council.

### Vyl Wor-Ul

> Once I had thought you betrayed us so callously like Faora and General Zod, but now... now I see that the truth wasn't entirely all that. You always were a proud and loyal warrior, especially to your closest friend and commanding officer. My own prided loyalty was simply too blind to see the truth as it was, and I even let it ruin something dear to me. I'm so sorry... my daughter."
>
> Vyl to Karsta when they finally reconciled.

Vyl is Karsta's very proud mother that loves her daughter as dearly as she cherished her husband Wor. When she heard about Faora's, Karsta's, and Zod's mutiny, she had at first been in denial and then when it started to ruin her family's reputation, she started to become more disappointed and angry with Karsta. This would show when Karsta would take Shane to Argo City as Vyl would slap Karsta across the face which she took knowing that there was a lot more punishment that she deserved to take before she could ever be redeemed in the eyes of her former friends and family.

After finding out about Karsta's deeds for Kal-El, aka Clark Kent or Superman, and now the deed of taking Shane of the House of El under her care, Vyl at least accepted her daughter's actions thinking that maybe what happened was entirely a misunderstanding. She would contemplate on this newfound knowledge for a long time even to when Vyl would meet her granddaughter for the first time and for once would realize that while there was a reason to be disappointed in her daughter, her daughter wasn't someone that was deserving of the wrath that Zod and Faora should ultimately have. This becomes apparent when Vyl and Karsta would meet up again in 2033 and reconciled with each other.

### Clark Kent

> Karsta is a dear friend of mine and someone important to me. No, not like a girlfriend and lover. I am already taken. Aside from my cousin, she is the last living connection that I have to my homeworld."
>
> Clark about Karsta.

Clark was a mentor and fellow mentee of Karsta who later became a friend. It isn't completely certain how each other's teachings had influenced the other. However, it is fairly certain that with Jor-El's A.I. and potentially Clark getting to know Karsta's own history as well as what she was able to teach to him, he was able to come to accept his heritage with high regard in addition to figure out that he should hold himself to a high standard of moral living.

### Faora Hu-Ul

> Faora and Karsta.

Faora Hu-Ul is the treaturous cousin of Karsta's and the lover of the equally treaturous General Dru-Zod. In the past, Karsta and Faora had a bit of a rivalry as soldiers among the Warrior Guild on Krypton, but Karsta had long since abandoned the competition thinking it was childish and immature of family to be competing against each other for any reason. Due to this, Faora and Karsta's relationship became even more distant as Faora had gotten closer to Dru-Zod while Karsta had just went about her life trying to improve the lives and reputation of her friends and family around her.

## Powers and Traits

* **Kryptonian Physiology -** Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Karsta possesses the same potential traits and powers as an average Kryptonian. These include:
	+ **Solar Energy Absorption -** Under optimal conditions, this is the main source of Karsta's super powers as they are contingent upon exposure to solar radiation from a yellow sun star system. Her biological make up includes a number of organs which lack analogues in humans and whose functions are unknown. It is believed that between one or more of these and her bio-cellular matrix, "yellow" solar energy is stored for later use. This allows for the use of these powers to fade when yellow solar radiation is not available instead of immediate failure.
	+ **Heat Vision -** Karsta can, as a conscious act, fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it. She can vary the heat and area affected.
	+ **Super-Hearing -** Karsta's hearing is sensitive enough to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. With skill and concentration, she can block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source or frequency.
	+ **Enhanced Vision -** Karsta's vision processes the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as allowing vast control over selective perception and focus. This umbrella ability includes the following:
		- **Electromagnetic Spectrum Vision -** Karsta can see well into most of the electromagnetic spectrum. She can see and identify radio and television signals as well as all other broadcast or transmitted frequencies. Using this ability, she can avoid detection by radar or satellite monitoring methods. This also allows her to see the aura generated by any living thing.
		- **Telescopic Vision -** This is the ability to see something at a great distance, without violating the laws of physics. Though limited, the exact extent of the ability is undetermined. In function, it is similar to the zoom lens on a camera.
		- **X-Ray Vision -** This is the ability to see through any volume of matter except lead. Karstas can see things behind a solid, opaque object as if it were not there. She can focus this ability to "peel back" layers of an object, allowing hidden images or inner workings to be observed. The exact type of energy perceived—such as x-rays, cosmic rays, or some other energy invisible to normal humans—is unclear. This ability perceives an ambient energy source though, it does not involve the eye projecting a concentrated, possibly toxic, beam to be reflected back from objects.
		- **Microscopic Vision -** This is the ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the atomic level.
		- **Infrared Vision -** Karsta can see with better acuity in darkness, and to a degree in total darkness.
	+ **Flight -** Karsta is able to manipulate graviton particles to defy the forces of gravity and achieve flight. This ranges from hovering to moving in any posture, in any direction.
	+ **Invulnerability -** Due to the interaction of her dense molecular structure and supercharged bio-electric aura, Karsta is nigh-invulnerable to extreme energy forces. In addition, this protection applies to toxins and diseases as well.
	+ **Super-Breath -** Karsta is able to create hurricane force winds by exhaling air from her lungs. She can chill the air as it leaves her lungs to freeze targets. She can also reverse the process to pull large volumes of air or vapor into her lungs.
	+ **Longevity -** Karsta can live longer than regular humans, remaining at her prime as long as she was under the exposure of the "yellow" sun.
	+ **Vulnerability to Green Kryptonite -** When exposed to Green Kryptonite or even, Karsta can lose her powers and become more like a human.
	+ **Vulnerability to Magic -** Like Kara Zor-El and Kal-El, Karsta can be affected by magic as well.

## Allies

* Admiral Dru-Zod (formerly; Admiral Dru-Zod is deceased)
* General Zod (formerly)
* Kal-El
* Kara Zor-El
* Sword of Rao (formerly)

## Enemies

* General Zod
* Sword of Rao

## Gallery

A younger Karsta in her warrior guild armor.Karsta sitting as a novelist for a picture before an interview.