Superman (Legion of Superheroes)

## History

### Origin

In the 20th century, Kal-El was born on Krypton, a planet that was doomed to explode shortly. His father, Jor-El, placed him in a rocket with a few choice items, including the symbol of his family. Kal-El landed on Earth in Smallville, Kansas. He was discovered and raised by Jonathan Kent and Martha Kent. They named him Clark from Martha's maiden name. Clark was raised with a strong sense of ethics and morals and when he came of age, he discovered Earth's Sun radiated him and gave him a range of super powers. Undaunted, Kent was about to move to Metropolis to take a job as a copy boy at the Daily Planet.

### Man of Tomorrow

While at the annual Smallville Fair, he was approached by Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, and Saturn Girl to help fight the Fatal Five in the 30th century. Although skeptical, Kent went to the future with them after Brainiac 5 promised him he would return to the exact second he left. At Legion Headquarters, he didn't make a very good first impression despite lifting 3000 tons. Kent stumbled upon the Superman Museum and got a glimpse into the legacy he would one day begin. Kent returned to help the Legion defeat the Fatal Five with a stolen costume. He elected to stay in the future and learn to master his powers. The Legion made him a member, as Superman.Superman learned a great deal about his powers, weaknesses, past, and enemies. He was also able to conquer his lingering fear that despite all his power and determination, he couldn't save everyone.

### Child's Play

After an encounter with Zyx, he discovered his weakness to magic and later to Kryptonite and the red sun spectrum.

### Sundown

After the destruction of the Sun Eater and the sacrifice of Ferro Lad, Superman returned back to the moment he left in Smallville and took up his job in Metropolis.

### The Man from the Edge of Tomorrow

Years later, Brainiac 5 summoned Superman for help against Imperiex. He obliged and met his future clone, Kell-El.

### The Karate Kid

His outlook in life was renewed when he met a kindred spirit in Karate Kid, an example of hard work, patience, and dedication in a still alien world to him.

### Message in a Bottle

Superman learned a great deal about his past when a mission involved the Fortress of Solitude and Kandor. Superman got more than he bargained for and discovered Brainiac 5 was a direct descendant of his worst enemy, Brainiac. To prevent Superman from altering his destined future, Brainiac 5 erased several parts of the mission.

### Dark Victory

However, the threat of Brainiac would resurface. In a moment of sympathy for Brainiac 5, Brainiac impaled a Kryptonite crown onto Superman's skull and left him for dead. The Legion retrieved him too late and he died. The truth of the matter was that his body went into a state of suspended animation to slow the Kryptonite poisoning. After the Legion launched him into a yellow sun as a funeral pyre, his mind reached out to Saturn Girl.

A transfusion of Kell-El's Kryptonite immune blood helped heal Superman. Still not ready to give up on Brainiac 5, he implored Saturn Girl to project he and Kell-El into Brainiac 5's mind. There they fought against Brainiac. On the brink of digitization, Saturn Girl merged them into one being. Meanwhile, Brainiac 5 was inspired to take back control and defeated Brainiac.

## Personality

Superman is an extremely moral person, believing it immoral to kill anyone under any circumstances, and will do whatever he can to avoid it. Clark's upbringing in the Midwest largely contributes to this, as his adoptive parents raised him to do the right thing. Superman is also a bit of a loner, in that, for much of his life, he doesn't reveal his true identity and powers to anyone, not even his closest friends. Many times they come close to figuring it out on their own, but often he will arrange an elaborate deception to trick them into believing Clark Kent and Superman are entirely separate. He's known to collect mementos of his adventures and his life in the Fortress of Solitude, and has even been known to have wax statues of all his friends there.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Kryptonian Physiology:** Superman has the standard Kryptonian power exposed to yellow sun radiation. He possesses the ability to fly under his own power, incredible strength and near invulnerability. His eyes can emit bursts of heat, while vision ranges from the microscopic to the telescopic. His vision is also capable of a broader spectrum than human eyes, able to see x-rays and radio waves. He can hear faint sounds amongst a bustle of noises by concentrating. His lungs are capable of holding air for long periods of time in environments without oxygen, and the ability to compress this air and exhale it in a freezing capacity.

## Weakness

* **Kryptonite:** Superman is virtually invulnerable as he can only be harmed by the element Kryptonite and it's radiation. This is used by Brainiac 5 to defeat Superman by blasting him with Kryptonite radiation and then placing a crown made of it on his head. It took a blood transfusion from Superman X who had an in built immunity to cure him.
* **Red Sun Radiation:** As red stars put out different wavelengths of light than Yellow Stars (Red is a lower-energy wavelength than yellow), Kryptonians will rapidly lose their powers under red stellar radiation. This effect was shown on the planet Zuun and his native Krypton.
* **Magic:** Magic can have powerful and unpredictable effects on Superman and his magical enemies such as Zyx have often proven to be the most dangerous. He can be hurt like any other person.

## Equipment

* **Legion Flight Ring:** Like all Legionaries Superman wears a flight ring. It allows him self propelled flight and protection in the vacuum of space. Superman never used the ring until he landed on the planet Zuun due to the world having a red sun. The same thing happened in Kandor.
* **Power Suit:** When ever Superman has to travel to a world with a Red Sun he wears his power suit which provides him yellow solar radiation allowing him to use his powers.

## Trivia

* Although this version of the character is patterned after his younger alter ego Superboy, he has never been referred to by that code name in the animated series or comic book title. He has only been referred to as Superman. This is due in large measure to a law suit between Time Warner owner of DC Comics and the estate of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel over rights to the name Superboy.