Green Kryptonite Radiation (Donnerverse)

**Kryptonite** is a radioactive minieral from the planet Krypton. It is the ultimate natural weakness of Superman and other Kryptonians.

## Biographical Known Information

### Owner(s)

Lex L Luthor (formerly)Ross Webster (synthetic; formerly)

## Substance Physical Characteristics

### The Inner Zone

**The Regular White:** .

**Green Kryptonite** is the most common form of Kryptonite known to exist. It generates radiations which have profound effects on Kryptonians and others.

Its radiation can be shielded by Lead.

Its actually blue on the outside but there is a yellow light on the inside when light hits it it glows there for it makes green.

## Effect on Kryptonians

When in proximity to Green Kryptonite, Kryptonians have displayed loss of their superpowers; weakness; nausea; pain; their veins pop out and look dark, and their skin also begins to turn slightly green after long exposure. Prolongued exposure to Green Kryptonite is fatal to Kryptonians. With long term exposure can lead to death of any Kryptonian.

However, kryptonite radiation poisoning for Kryptonians is not cumulative; if a Kryptonian can be removed from such a radiation source, they will completely recover without lasting effect. That means they can survive multiple exposures without developing serious medical problems as a result of the accumulative effect of those exposures.

## Films

Kryptonite was featured in *Superman: The Movie*. In the film, Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) and his cronies (Ned Beatty and Valerie Perrine) track a large chunk to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where they steal it from a museum under the cover of night. In this film's usage, the term "kryptonite" seems to mean simply a "Kryptonian meteorite". After co-opting and launching two nuclear missiles for opposite ends of the United States, Luthor places the kryptonite on a chain around Superman's (Christopher Reeve) neck and drops him into a swimming pool. When Perrine's character Miss Teschmacher learns that one of the missiles is headed for Hackensack, New Jersey (where her mother lives), she rescues Superman from drowning and removes the kryptonite, after which his strength and powers quickly return.

An imperfect synthesis of artificial kryptonite containing tar appeared in *Superman III*. Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn) orders the creation of synthetic kryptonite after remembering a *Daily Planet* story about the last original chunk disappearing years earlier after falling to Earth (whether Webster references the kryptonite robbery in *Superman: The Movie* is unclear.) Developed by Gus Gorman (played by Richard Pryor), it was intended to be a copy of Green Kryptonite. After scanning the coordinates of Krypton's former location via satellite, results return a small percentage of an unknown component. The substitution of tar (which Gorman used after glancing at a cigarette carton) for a crucial, but unknown, component resulted in the synthetic kryptonite behaving like Red Kryptonite and Black Kryptonite; in this case, the kryptonite turned Superman evil and eventually split him into two people. The evil Superman and Clark Kent, the embodiment of Superman's remaining good qualities, then engage in an epic battle at a deserted junkyard, where Clark emerges victorious and the evil Superman fades from sight. Later in the film, Gorman's creation, the Ultimate Computer, severely weakens Superman with a kryptonite ray before Gorman has a change of heart and attacks his own machine.

## Movies

* In *Superman* (1978) Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) deduces that a meteorite found in Addis Ababa is actually a radioactive piece of the exploded planet Krypton. Luthor uses the mineral to weaken Superman (Christopher Reeve), who is saved by Luthor's lover Eve Teschmacher (Valerie Perrine).
* In *Superman III* (1983) billionaire Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn) orders the creation of synthetic green kryptonite. Computer programmer Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) uses tar to compensate for an unknown component of kryptonite, causing the newly created mineral to eventually turn Superman evil and split the hero into two beings (making its effects more in line with red and black kryptonite). Gorman's "supercomputer" later fights Superman and uses a kryptonite ray.

## The science behind kryptonite

Some issues of *Superman* have indicated the mechanism by which green kryptonite may hurt Superman. Like Hanna-Barbera's Birdman, Superman in some ways is a living solar battery; his cells absorb electromagnetic radiation from stars (like Earth's sun). Kryptonite's radioactivity possibly interferes with this process, driving the energy out of his cells in a painful fashion. Long term and high-level exposure to green kryptonite can be fatal to Superman. In post-Crisis comics, long-term exposure to kryptonite is known to have the same effects on human beings as exposure to Earth-born radioactive materials; these effects include cancer. Lex Luthor discovered this inadvertently after acquiring a ring with a green kryptonite fragment set in it to provide protection against Superman—Luthor first lost the hand he wore the ring on to cancer and later had to have his brain transferred into a new, cloned body after the cancer was found to have spread throughout his original body.
In *Superman Returns*, an additional piece of kryptonite is found in a rock fragment, once more in Addis Ababa. Lex Luthor steals it from a Metropolis museum and uses it in his quest to create a new kryptonite landmass. During the extraction process, the rock appears to hold a significant amount of green kryptonite. The scientific name for the rock was displayed on its case, 'Sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide with fluorine'. As borosilicate glass is commonly crystalline and green-tinted, this could be a plausible human mis-identification of kryptonite; alternately, as no 'unknown' component is listed, one might assume this (sodium/lithium/borosilicate/fluorine) blend to be the actual composition of green kryptonite. Though more likely, the researchers who performed the analysis of the fragment did not perform a core sample test. They may have only chipped off the outer layer in order to test it.

## Variations

The most common form of Kryptonite. In superpowered Kryptonians, causes immediate physical pain and debilitation, reduces their powers, and kills within hours.(Except Superman's body according to Smallville can reject it before death as seen in the episode Void when Clark is injected by Kryptonite.)
In its indirect predecessor, *Superman: The Movie*, Green Kryptonite is shown as effectively removing Superman's powers during the time he is exposed; in the first movie, Superman is nearly drowned while exposed to Green Kryptonite. In most versions of the comics continuity, Superman retains his powers (and invulnerability to conventional weapons) while exposed to Green Kryptonite, although dramatically weakened and in severe pain.

## History

Initially, it was Lex Luthor who conducted research about planet Krypton and deduces that a meteorite found in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is actually a radioactive piece of the perished planet. Figuring out that Superman would be vulnerable to its radioactivity, Luthor and his cronies, Eve Teschmacher and Otis, murder a guard and steal it from a museum under the cover of night. After co-opting and launching two missiles for opposite ends of the United States, Luthor places the Kryptonite on a chain around Superman's neck and drops him into a swimming pool. When Teschmacher learns that one of the missiles is headed for Hackensack, New Jersey (where her mother lives), she rescues Superman from drowning, kisses him and removes the Kryptonite, after which his strength and powers quickly return. **Years later, billionaire Ross Webster orders the creation of synthetic Kryptonite after remembering a *Daily Planet* story about the last original chunk disappearing years earlier after falling to Earth. After scanning the coordinates of Krypton's former location via satellite, computer programmer Gus Gorman discovered Kryptonite's composition. The substitution of tar (which Gorman used after glancing at a pack of cigarettes) for the crucial, but unknown, component resulted in the synthetic Kryptonite—like black Kryptonite in the comics—turning Superman evil and eventually splitting him into two beings. Retaining Superman's remaining good qualities, Clark Kent fights and defeats his doppelgänger, who vanishes. Later in the film, Gorman's creation, the Ultimate Computer, severely weakens Superman with a Kryptonite ray before Gorman has a change of heart and attacks his own machine.**

## Composition

Gus Gorman determined that Kryptonite was "an intense heat fusion" of: 15.08% plutonium, 18.06% tantalum, 27.71% xenon, 24.02% promethium, 10.62% dialium (which is a plant genus, not an element), 3.94% mercury, with the last 0.57% being an unknown element not found on the known periodic table.

Kryptonite was featured in *Superman: The Movie*. In the film, Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) and his cronies (Ned Beatty and Valerie Perrine) track a large chunk to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where they steal it from a museum under the cover of night. In this film's usage, the term "kryptonite" seems to mean simply a "Kryptonian meteorite". After co-opting and launching two nuclear missiles for opposite ends of the United States, Luthor places the kryptonite on a chain around Superman's (Christopher Reeve) neck and drops him into a swimming pool. When Perrine's character Miss Teschmacher learns that one of the missiles is headed for Hackensack, New Jersey (where her mother lives), she rescues Superman from drowning and removes the kryptonite, after which his strength and powers quickly return. **An imperfect synthesis of artificial kryptonite containing tar appeared in *Superman III*. Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn) orders the creation of synthetic kryptonite after remembering a *Daily Planet* story about the last original chunk disappearing years earlier after falling to Earth (whether Webster references the kryptonite robbery in *Superman: The Movie* is unclear.) Developed by Gus Gorman (played by Richard Pryor), it was intended to be a copy of Green Kryptonite. After scanning the coordinates of Krypton's former location via satellite, results return a small percentage of an unknown component. The substitution of tar (which Gorman used after glancing at a cigarette carton) for a crucial, but unknown, component resulted in the synthetic kryptonite behaving like Red Kryptonite and Black Kryptonite; in this case, the kryptonite turned Superman evil and eventually split him into two people. The evil Superman and Clark Kent, the embodiment of Superman's remaining good qualities, then engage in an epic battle at a deserted junkyard, where Clark emerges victorious and the evil Superman fades from sight. Later in the film, Gorman's creation, the Ultimate Computer, severely weakens Superman with a kryptonite ray before Gorman has a change of heart and attacks his own machine.**