Zor-El (SV)

**Zor-El** (1940-1986) was a Kryptonian scientist who was directly responsible for the destruction of his own home planet Krypton. He was a member of the House of El: the father of Kara, the younger brother of Jor-El, and the uncle of Kal-El.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Solar Battery**: Zor-El gained Kryptonian powers under a yellow sun. He didn't have such powers under Krypton's red sun.
* **Super Strength**: Zor-El was extremely strong, and could overpower Kara but not Clark, to such a point that, instead of even trying to confront him, he used Lara to depower him.
* **Super Speed**: Zor-El could move at speeds that exceeded the sound barrier.
* **Flight**: Zor-El could defy the laws of gravity, enabling him to hover, levitate, and fly at fast speeds.
* **Invulnerability**: Zor-El is nearly impenetrable, being only vulnerable to kryptonite. He showed invulnerability after Clark punched him.

Zor-El was the mine operator in Kandor on Krypton and a mineral expert, making him extremely intelligent on such matters, as he knew that blue kryptonite, under a yellow sun, would strip Kryptonians of their abilities.

## Vulnerabilities

Being Kryptonian, Zor-El was vulnerable to various forms of kryptonite.

Additionally, Zor-El's clone was destroyed when Clark shattered the blue crystal that resurrected him and Lara as clones.

## Early life

or-El was born on the planet Krypton in 1940, and raised alongside his older brother Jor-El. As an adult, he became a scientist like his brother, and married and had a daughter named Kara.

Zor-El and Jor-El never really talked. Kara once described the House of El as a "dysfunctional family." Years later, Jor-El told Clark that he never trusted Zor-El, and Martian Manhunter later told Clark that Zor-El tried to kill Jor-El and was a traitor. Sometime after that, Jor-El told his son that Zor-El's experiments were motivated by greed and power.

Before the first meteor shower that befell Smallville, Zor-El traveled to Earth on several occasions. He first went to study the effects of kryptonite on Kryptonians and the effects of the yellow sun on Kryptonians, so when he later went to Earth to fulfill Rao's prophecy, he would have advance knowledge of its effects. He later went to retrieve Kara, who had followed Jor-El's wife Lara there. After chastising his daughter for leaving Kandor and ordering her outside the Kents' house, Zor-El professed his love for Lara and suggested that they stay on Earth and rule the planet together, revealing that he tried to assassinate Jor-El so he could have Lara all to himself. Lara rejected Zor-El and his advances, revealing that she was pregnant with Jor-El's son. Zor-El vowed that one day he would have Lara through his science, revealing that he had stored Lara's DNA in a crystal. When he saw that Kara had witnessed the whole thing, Zor-El used a Crystal of El to erase the events of that day in his daughter's mind.

Sometime just before his attempt on Jor-El's life, Zor-El went into the Phantom ZOne and built an escape route out so that he could escape if he was put there for his crime, and also told Kara about it so, if she was ever imprisoned, she would be able to escape.

After his failed attempt to kill Jor-El, Zor-El was disgraced as a scientist and became the mining operator for Kandor's mine. He also became associated with General Zod.

Zod and his army took over all other mines on Krypton, with Kandor's mine the only one supplying defenses against Zod's forces with the mine working at full capacity. When Krypton started suffering from seismic disturbances, Jor-El suspected they were being caused by Kandor's mine and informed the Science Council about it. The Science Council confronted Zor-El, who denied that it was Kandor's mine and told them it was Zod who was causing the tremors. Zor-El then ordered for Kara's school to be attacked, and sent his disciple Augo to make sure Kara wasn't there to stop her from getting hurt. He also planned for several other key buildings to be attacked, the Council's military headquarters and the government building among them.

Kara unknowingly went to see Zor-El about it and went to his office while he was conversing via hologram with Aethyr and Nam-Ek, revealing both his association with Zod's campaign and that he had advance knowledge of the recent attacks to Kara. Nam-Ek and Aethyr planned to begin their final assault on Kandor once the city's defenses had been weakened. When confronted by Kara, who asked him why he would try and kill his own daughter, Zor-El said he made sure that she never got hurt and told her that Augo is his disciple and that she was never in danger. He then explained that he did it all for Rao's prophecy, that the end is near and that she should fulfill her destiny. After Kara ran away and hid in the mine, Zor-El and Augo chased after her and eventually found her.

Zor-El then went back into Kandor's mine control room and began activating the mine to full capacity in order to ignite Krypton's core. The countdown was nearly complete when Jor-El contacted him and told him that the Council had ordered him to stop the mining as Zod had been captured and sentenced to the Phantom Zone. Zor-El agreed to stop the mining, but then learned that Jor-El knew about his trips to Earth to study the effects of the yellow sun on kryptonite and Kryptonians, and also how he tried to seduce Lara. Jor-El also told him that he knew of his ties with Zod, but did not know the extent; until he did, Zor-El was under arrest and the control room locked down.

Zor-El ordered Brainiac to override the lockdown, which it did, then re-activated the mining before leaving. He then went to see Kara and found her talking to Lara. Zor-El grabbed Kara, who pushed him onto the hologram crystals, injuring him. Zor-El pretended to be sincere before revealing a Crystal of El and wiping her memory once again. He then realized he couldn't make the trip to Earth, so instead pulled out the blue crystal.

Before Krypton exploded, Zor-El sent Kara to Earth in a spaceship along with the blue crystal, which he told Kara would lead her back to all she cherished. After Kara departed Krypton, Zor-El died along with the rest of his people.

## Season Seven

Twenty-one years later, Zor-El tricked his nephew Kal-El, now known as Clark Kent, into inserting the blue crystal into the Fortress of Solitude's console, re-creating himself and Lara as clones. After his rebirth, he approached Kara and convinced her to trust him, claiming he had changed his ways.

Zor-El then went to LuthorCorp and threatened Lionel Luthor, Jor-El's Kryptonian vessel, to convince Clark to follow him in dominating Earth. Before Zor-El could kill Lionel, Clark arrived and punched Zor-El, sending him flying out the window of Lionel's office, but Zor-El flew away.

Shortly after Clark had been rendered powerless after putting on Jor-El's victory ring (which contained blue kryptonite), Zor-El confronted his nephew and beseeched him to join him in his quest to conquer Earth. When Clark refused, Zor-El attacked him and then abducted Lara. He took her to the Fortress, which he planned to use to cause an eclipse that would wipe out all of humanity, allowing him to take over Earth. However, Zor-El's plan was thwarted when Clark arrived at the Fortress and subdued his uncle with green kryptonite. Zor-El managed to get the kryptonite away from him and grabbed Kara. He was about to impale her on some crystals when Clark destroyed the blue crystal, eliminating Zor-El, Lara, and the victory ring. Zor-El from that forward on was dead once and for all along with his brother and the rest of Krypton.