Zod

**Zod** is a ruthless and powerful Kryptonian military leader. **General Zod** led an army of dedicated soldiers in an attempt to overthrow the Ruling Council of his homeworld Krypton and claim it for himself. After being promoted within the military following a falling-out with his former friend Jor-El, Zod became corrupted by his own political ideas, thriving on power and conquest and using his soldiers - who greatly respected him because of the measures he was willing to take to save them - as mere pawns. After being partially responsible for Krypton's destruction, the general and his second wife Faora were imprisoned in the Phantom Zone for destroying Krypton but not before they placed their "son" on Kal-El's spaceship. Years later, Zod escaped after Brainiac kidnapped and prepared Lex Luthor as a vessel for Zod's Phantom wraith.

After possessing Lex, Zod placed Kal-El in the Phantom Zone. However, Kal-El escaped the Zone and used the Crystal of El to force Zod's spirit out of Lex's body and back to the Phantom Zone. **Major Zod** is a considerably younger clone that's the end result of an experiment to preserve the Kryptonian race in the event of the planet's destruction. He refers to himself as a Major due to being created at a time when Zod held that rank. After released when Tess Mercer opened the Orb, Zod and his Kandorian soldiers discovered that none of them were given the powers that Kryptonians typically gained under the yellow sun due to their DNA being irradiated with blue kryptonite by Jor-El.

When they attempted to restore their natural Kryptonian abilities, Kal-El (Clark Kent) tried to help Zod and his people live normal lives on Earth, which didn't sound appealing to Zod. When Zod started the R.A.O. Incorporated to create solar towers to turn Earth's yellow sun into a red one so that he and the Kandorians could gain their powers, Kal-El destroyed the solar towers.

A short while later, Zod was shot but was healed thanks to a drop of Kal-El's blood, which also restored Zod's natural powers. Zod killed Faora and their unborn child after suspecting her of betraying him, then manipulated his soldiers into believing that the humans had killed her and would destroy and hunt them down as well. He gave them their powers the same way he received his and, ready to start a war with the humans, declared that Krypton will rise again with him as leader. After being defeated by Kal-El, Zod was transported to a new world where the Kandorians said they would punish him for killing Faora.

After the Kandorians send him to the Phantom Zone, Zod's clone came face-to-face with his original self's phantom and the two merged into one entity. Zod then made a deal with Darkseid so he could have dominion over the Zone and have his revenge. Almost a year later, Kal-El discovered that someone had been releasing people from the Zone, so he and Oliver Queen voluntarily went there to find out who and why and met Zod. After Kal-El destroyed the Phantom Zone crystal, Zod was trapped there forever but vowed he would one day return and defeat Kal-El.

### Powers and Abilities

When Zod was "recreated" by the Orb, he lacked all the abilities that a Kryptonian would normally receive under a yellow sun due to Jor-El irradiating the DNA of all the clones in the orb with blue Kryptonite. Because of the radiation, his powers worked under a red sun but still worked in the same way physically, storing up solar energy like a battery for future use.[7]

Zod regained his natural powers when Kal-El healed his bullet wound using a drop of his blood which purified Zod's body of the blue Kryptonite radiation and allowed him to access his superpowers. Afterwards, Zod asked Kal-El how he knew that his blood would cure him (Zod didn't mention he got his powers back); Kal-El replied he didn't know but assumed that it was because both of them were Kryptonians. Once his powers were restored Zod displayed unusually adept control over his abilities including an instant mastery of flight and super hearing.

Since clone and original are now merged, it is unknown how powerful Zod will be under a yellow sun. Unlike Clark, Zod does not hold back any of his abilities.

* **Solar Battery:** Zod became affected by the sun in that he was able to absorb, store and metabolize solar energy, after he was healed by Kal-El's blood.[8]
* **Telekinesis:** Zod was able to influence the movement of Kryptonian objects with his mind. His telekinesis only works with Kryptonian computer programs.[9]
* **Flight:** Zod could easily defy the laws of gravity, enabling him to move, levitate, or even hover, through the air without assistance.[10]
* **Healing Factor:** Zod's body could heal from any injury almost instantly and was immune to all human diseases, unless he is exposed to blue, gold or green Kryptonite.[11]

* **Super Hearing:** Zod's heightened sense of hearing allowed him to hear indirect whispers, pitches, frequencies and other volumes of sound from vast distances away.[12]
* **Super Strength:** Zod was extremely strong, as he could easily overpower metahumans and even other Kryptonians, making him one of the strongest beings ever shown. Zod's original self easily pummeled a 19 years old Kal-El with his bare hands to the point of causing him to bleed, splitting a boulder in two in the process in *Zod*. Zod's clone was able to toss Amanda Waller into a car windshield with immense force and accuracy in *Sacrifice* and demonstrated this same ability when he threw Lois Lane into a phone booth in *Salvation*.

* **Super Speed:** Zod could move and or exercise at incredible speeds that exceeded the sound barrier and made him appear invisible to the human eye. His reflexes and perceptions were also accelerated, allowing him to perceive speeding bullets in slow motion.
* **Invulnerability:** Zod's superpowered body was almost indestructible.[15] He was impervious to gunfire and could swat away the bullets with his hand as if they were a mere annoyance.

* **Heat vision:** Zod could emit extreme pulses and waves of heat along with beams from his eyes.
* **Arctic Breath:** Zod could freeze objects or people with simply his breath.

* **Expert Swordsman:** Zod proved to be an expert swordsman even before he got Kryptonian powers and is extremely dangerous with or without powers.
* **Master Strategist and Tactician:** As a major and later, as a general, Zod is an experienced soldier who is dedicated to his cause. When Jor-El refused to resurrect his son and sometime after he was elevated to the rank of General, Zod became a ruthless, cold, manipulative leader of a large battalion of Kryptonian soldiers on planet Krypton, and his authoritative hand was well regarded by his army, as he had such an influence on his own people.

* **Master Hand-to-hand Combatant:** As a trained soldier, Zod has proven to be highly accomplished in hand-to-hand combat, one of the deadliest foes ever encountered by Clark. Jor-El even said that even without his powers or a weapon, Zod's clone is still not to be underestimated due to his great skill in fighting in hand-to-hand combat. [20] Since the original and his clone were merged, is unknown how skilled Zod is now.

### Origins

Zod was born in 1935 and raised on the planet Krypton.

As an adult, Zod joined the Kryptonian military, where he rose to the rank of Major. He was best friends with Jor-El, and was married, with a young son. On the border of Kandor, Major Zod and his soldiers (which included Faora, Basqat and Alia) were having their blood taken by a medic as they waged a war against Black Zero. Just as Zod was about to have his blood drawn, Jor-El stopped the medic and informed them that this project was stopped. Zod and Jor-El then witnessed the destruction of Kandor, and Jor-El had to hold Zod back from the blast as his wife and child were still inside the city.

When Jor-El was put on trial by the Ruling Council and sentenced to death for his obstruction of the blood intake, Zod intervened and pleaded to the Council that Jor-El be spared, which they agreed to provided that both Jor-El and Zod donate their blood to the Orb. Zod later asked Jor-El to use cells from his dead son to re-create him, but Jor-El declined (reasoning that the clone could possibly develop horrible mutations) before taking blood from himself and Zod. Angered, Zod declared that Jor-El was as dead to him as his son.

Years later, Zod rose to the rank of General, and built up an army with the aim of using it to take over Krypton. He married again, this time to a soldier named Faora, and the two saw it as their destiny to take over Krypton. They began their campaign and tried conceiving an heir, but discovered that Faora was unable to bear children. As a result, Zod and Faora took their DNA and fused it together with other violent Kryptonian life-forms, creating their son, "the ultimate destroyer". They also realized that they instead could rule Earth with the powers gained under a yellow sun.

When Jor-El created his own version of Dax-Ur's Brain InterActive Construct, Zod was able to corrupt its system, gaining an advantage in his war with the Council.

Because his forces became so large, Zod gave massive roles in the war to his closest disciples (Nam-Ek and Aethyr). Learning of the attempt on Jor-El's life by his own brother Zor-El, Zod contacted Zor-El and asked him to be his ally, using Zor-El's hatred of his brother to an advantage. Aethyr and Nam-Ek would often plan various attacks on major Kryptonian cities after communicating with Zor-El, who would give them inside knowledge of the Council's plans and weak points in their defenses.

Zod and Faora attached their "son", which was mere genetic matter at that point, to Kal-El's ship which was set on a course for Earth. Before Krypton exploded, Zod and Faora were captured by Jor-El and the Ruling Council, who destroyed their physical bodies and placed their essences in the Phantom Zone; the only way either of them could escape was if they found other bodies to inhabit. However, the Council apparently made this especially difficult for Zod, as they removed his intrinsic Kryptonian abilities which would presumably have been passed to such a host when he possessed it, leaving him an incredibly weakened phantom needing the host to possess abilities before he could possess it.

### General Zod, Season 5-8

Like Zod himself, his disciples were defeated and imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. However, Nam-Ek and Aethyr escaped Krypton inside the Black Ship (that also contained Brainiac) just before the planet exploded. Afterward, their mission became clear in freeing Zod on Earth; however, this mission would take them years to accomplish, needing to find the Stones of Power to do so. Aethyr and Nam-Ek were alerted to the location of the stones when Genevieve Teague's blood stained one of the stones. Once Nam-Ek and Aethyr arrived on Earth during the second meteor shower, they immediately set out to conquer the planet in Zod's name and remake it as a new Krypton, but were thwarted by Clark Kent (Kal-El of the House of El).

When Zod's disciples failed to complete their mission, Brainiac created an extension of himself that took on the human identity Milton Fine and set out to release Zod. Due to Brainiac's machinations, Clark nearly released Zod from the Phantom Zone, but he closed the portal just before Zod arrived. According to Brainiac, Clark was originally intended to be Zod's Kryptonian vessel, but Jor-El's spirit proved to be too strong in Clark so Brainiac was forced to turn elsewhere.

Brainiac eventually chose Lex Luthor to be Zod's vessel, and altered Lex's body so that he possessed Kryptonian powers. To prevent Zod's return, Jor-El gave Clark a Kryptonian dagger and told him to kill Lex. However, Clark could not bring himself to do this, and instead hurled the dagger at Brainiac, stabbing him in the chest. However, with Brainiac accessing the Fortress of Solitude through the dagger, Zod's spirit was released into Lex's body. When Clark demanded to know where Lex was, Zod replied that Lex was dead, and gave Clark an opportunity to join him in conquering Earth. When Clark refused him, Zod imprisoned him in the Phantom Zone.
In Lex's body, Zod absorbed his human intelligence, feelings and memories. Zod kidnapped Lana Lang and held her captive with an order that she sire him an heir as he set out to transform Earth into a new Krypton. When Lana tried to stop Zod, he impaled her hand to a wall with a fire poker. Later, Lana obtained the Kryptonian dagger and tried to stab Zod, but Zod was too quick and too powerful; he threw Lana to the floor and broke the dagger in half. Clark, managing to escape from the Phantom Zone with Raya's help, confronted Zod after destroying the Kryptonian black box that Zod was using to transform Earth in the process. Unfortunately, Zod, a trained soldier, easily outmatched Clark and pummeled him into submission. At the end, Zod struck a deal: If Clark swore his allegiance to him, then Zod would allow those close to him to live. Clark appeared to agree, but after taking Zod's hand, pressed the Crystal of El into it, separating Zod's spirit from Lex's body.
When Faora escaped the Phantom Zone to Earth, she revealed to Davis Bloome he was her and Zod's son as well as 'Earth's ultimate destroyer' much to Davis's shock.

### Major Zod, Season 8-9

After Doomsday was defeated, Zod's clone was released from the Orb. As a result of this he and the other Kandorian clones would be formed; Zod was seen holding the Orb in the back garden of the Luthor Mansion.

It was soon revealed that the clones only had memories of their original selves up to the point their DNA was harvested. As a result of this, Zod's younger clone lacked the original's memories of trying to take over Krypton and invariably leading to its destruction; however, he did have his memories of Jor-El denying his attempts to resurrect his son. Zod, along with his soldiers, took over the Luthor Mansion, where he imprisoned and interrogated Tess Mercer. Confused by their sudden appearance on Earth without having any of the powers they were supposed to have under the yellow sun, Zod's troops soon began to question his leadership, knocked him unconscious and imprisoned him along with Tess. Later, when he was brought before his soldiers, Zod assured them that he would find the answers that they were looking for or die trying. Trusting his word, all the troops knelt before him. When they left the mansion, they erased all the footage of the past three weeks.

When an airborne virus turned the citizens of Metropolis into zombies, Zod discovered that the virus had been released by Coats, one of his Kandorian soldiers. He demanded an explanation, figuring that his recklessness could reveal their existence to the humans, even Tess. Coats came back with information that a super-powered Kryptonian hero was on Earth and was responsible for saving the humans using his blood. Coats gave Zod a piece of paper with the House of El symbol, believing it to have been made by Jor-El. Coats also gave a sample of the blood to Zod so he could track the Kryptonian down, whoever and wherever he may be. Though he was impressed with the results, Zod felt that Coats' reckless actions almost put the welfare of the Kandorians in jeopardy, so he beheaded Coats with a sword.

Zod created the R.A.O. Incorporated to make solar tower technology; Tess acquired the company without knowing of his involvement. She announced the acquisition at the Luthor Mansion, where Zod appeared to congratulate her on the accomplishment. Zod then found Tess to ask her to find the Blur; Tess asked to be equal partners in his endeavors, but he denied her request. As he left the mansion, Zod told his Kandorian spy (posing as Tess's security guard) to force her to tell him about the Blur or to kill her. Tess, however, overpowered the guard and gave Zod the guard's bloody dog tags.

Zod made a promise to his fellow Kandorians to find the traitor Jor-El so they could force him to return their powers and they could become the gods that they were meant to be. He met with Tess, hoping she would lead him to Jor-El which she said she was already working on. Tess later found Jor-El at the Kent Farm and kidnapped him, hoping to protect Kal-El; in the end, Zod betrayed her by taking him from her. Zod then brutally beat Jor-El in an attempt to force him to reveal how he had taken their powers and kept them for himself. Jor-El revealed that he used blue kryptonite on the Orb so that the clones would not have powers, before revealing to Zod that they are in fact clones of their former selves, who had gone on to live full lives, and that Zod had destroyed Krypton years later. Zod dismissed Jor-El's claims and realized that Jor-El had a son in his later years and sent him to Earth, where he had become the Blur. Zod then released Jor-El to find his son which he later tracked to a lake where the son buried Jor-El and engraved the Mark of El on a nearby stone as Zod watched from a distance.

As Zod was giving each soldier a task as part of his plot to infiltrate human society in order to have the solar towers built, Kal-El appeared in his Blur costume, and Zod ordered all the Kandorians to "Kneel before Kal-El".

Zod waited for Kal-El to return to the Kent Farm to discuss how the Kandorians could receive their powers, but Kal-El didn't have the answers he was looking for. Zod sensed that Kal-El distrusted him, for he was believed to have killed Jor-El, but assured him that he had nothing to do with Jor-El's death. Zod went to see Lois Lane (Clark's girlfriend) at Metropolis General Hospital and gave her a Kryptonian charm. Later, after being warned by Kal-El to stay away from Lois, Zod and Faora discussed their search for the Book of Rao, which they believed Jor-El had hidden on Earth.

As the solar towers neared completion, Zod felt that he was losing control of his fellow Kandorians as they were integrating into human society due to Kal-El's influence. When Kal-El was exposed to gemstone kryptonite, he forced Zod to tell the truth about Jor-El's death. Zod admitted that he had nothing to do with Jor-El's death and still regarded him as his friend, and believed that Tess was responsible for Jor-El's murder. Later, Zod was told by Alia that she was responsible for Jor-El's murder; Alia gave him a gun to do what he thought was justice, so Zod took the gun and shot Alia. Nonetheless, Zod prepared a funeral pyre in her memory and was confronted by Kal-El for lying to him about the identity of Jor-El's murderer. He later watched as his solar towers were destroyed by an outside force, which he knew was caused by Kal-El.

When Vala and two other Kandorians went missing, Zod told Kal-El about the disappearances and that he knew it was Kal-El who destroyed the towers. He decided to go undercover as a reporter at the *Daily Planet* and discovered Dr. Bernard Chisholm's location. Trying to save the captured Vala and Lois, Zod was shot by Chisholm. As Zod lay dying, Kal-El confessed that Jor-El's last wish was for him to save Zod. Using a kryptonite needle, Kal-El dripped his blood into Zod's bullet wound. Though Kal-El's blood saved Zod, it also managed to restore Zod's natural Kryptonian abilities. After talking with Kal-El and then he left to deal with a crime, Zod took in the yellow light of the sun and flew off the roof of the *Daily Planet*.

As Zod tested all the Kryptonian abilities, he received a text message from Tess to meet her at the Kent Farm. Zod met with Tess in the barn, only to find out that she wanted to see if he truly received his powers after he was killed by Dr. Chisholm. As he tried to persuade her to give up her obsession, Tess fired a gun at him, but he was able to catch the bullet. Zod couldn't allow her to reveal to anyone, especially Kal-El, that he had his abilities, but Tess managed to overpower him with kryptonite. Zod and Tess then spent a passionate night together at the Luthor Mansion; afterwards, he admitted how beautiful and strong she was. Zod later used Kal-El's voice scrambler to pose as the Blur while contacting Lois and convincing her to get information on Tess.

As Lois was able to discover more information on Tess and her science facilities, Zod still posed as the Blur to question her investigations. Zod then saved Kal, infected with red kryptonite, from John Corben by attempting to blow him up using his heat vision. Kal followed Zod and forced him to tell him how he had received Kryptonian abilities, and Zod allied with Kal to become an unstoppable team. Zod and Kal went to Seattle, where he watched Kal create snow using his super breath. Kal decided to take Zod to the Fortress of Solitude and meet Jor-El's entity. At the Fortress, Zod told Kal of the Book of Rao that Jor-El hid on Earth. As Corben infiltrated the Fortress under Chloe Sullivan's orders, Zod and Kal used their combined abilities to subdue him. However, Corben broke free. Once Kal-El was freed from red kryptonite's influence, Zod disappeared. Later, Tess met with Zod, showing him some photos of Kal-El and the other Kandorians. After finding out that a few Kandorians had betrayed him and looked to Kal-El as their new leader, Zod took his few remaining faithful Kandorians to the Fortress, where he used a kryptonite dagger to slit his hand so he could bleed his Kryptonian blood out for them to take.

Zod discovered that Checkmate was aware of the Kandorians existing on Earth. Seeing them as a threat to him and his people, he believed that it was time to destroy his enemies. Zod was intercepted at the Luthor Mansion by Green Arrow, whom Zod knew was also an enemy of Checkmate. He offered Green Arrow the chance to join him against a common enemy, but Green Arrow refused. The discussion turned into a confrontation, with Zod knocking Green Arrow back against a wall but managed to shoot Zod with a kryptonite dart. Zod lay in defeat until he managed to take the dart out of him; he ambushed the archer and scorched his family crest onto his enemy's chest. The Kandorians whom Zod did not trust and hadn't given powers to were threatened by Checkmate. When Amanda Waller took Faora hostage, Zod arrived and threw Waller against a windshield. He intended to kill her until Kal-El showed up and threw him against a wall. Zod was unharmed and took Faora away with him. He brought Faora back to the Kandorian base where he explained that, ever since the day his original self had rescued her original self during a battle on Krypton, he had respected her, even allowing her to share his bed at one point. Faora argued that he was going about Earth the wrong way and that peace was the best solution. Zod ordered her to kneel but, when she refused to, he strangled her, killing her quickly. However, Zod learned that Faora had become pregnant with his child, and was shaken to the core. Zod went to Checkmate's headquarters, where he murdered many agents before seeing Waller again; it was then that he destroyed the castle and most of Checkmate along with it. He brought all of the Kandorians to the Fortress, explaining that it had been the humans that had murdered Faora. Kal-El arrived and told them that Zod was lying and that he (Zod) was the one who killed Faora. The Kandorians, however, believed Zod and proclaimed him General and their absolute leader. Zod relished at Kal-El's defeat and flew off with the other Kandorians, ready to turn Earth into a new Krypton.

Disguising himself as the Blur, Zod went to Lois to reveal himself to her, requesting her help since Kal-El was hiding secrets that could hurt him. Retreating to the Fortress, Zod attempted to destroy the console to prevent Jor-El from communicating with Kal-El but found Tess there. After Tess tried to kill him using kryptonite knuckles, Zod used his heat vision to burn portions of Tess's body, leaving her clinging to life. Kal-El arrived and still tried to reach out to Zod; however, Zod felt he was beyond saving after killing Faora. Zod had his soldiers attack places on Earth, including the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Greek Temples and the Washington Monument.

When Lois learned that Zod was not the Blur, she tried to keep the Book of Rao from him; Zod tried to kill her but was stopped by Kal-El. Zod and the Kandorians confronted Kal-El as he was about to use the Book of Rao; after a brief but tense stand-off, Zod slammed Kal-El against a wall and inadvertently revealed the truth about Faora's death to his soldiers. The Kandorians sided with Clark activating the Book of Rao. As his soldiers were being transported to New Krypton, Zod used a blue kryptonite dagger to keep himself on Earth and used it to fight Kal-El to the death.

However, Kal-El decided to keep himself on Earth by stabbing himself with the dagger and falling off the building. With Zod no longer within the blue kryptonite's affects, his powers returned, thus making him Kryptonian again and activating the Book of Rao's function to teleport all Kryptonians. Zod was teleported to a new world to be dealt with by the other Kandorians.

### Merged Entity, Season 10

After being imprisoned in the Phantom Zone by the Kandorians for the murders and deception he committed once on their new planet, Zod's clone met with his original self's phantom wraith and the two soldiers merged into one entity with the full memories of both. Darkseid came to Zod's fusion with a proposition: Darkseid would give him dominion over the Phantom Zone in exchange for killing Kal-El to which Zod agreed.

Because Zod's clone possessed Kal-El's blood, he had the ability to activate the Phantom Zone gateway and sent Slade Wilson back to Earth, knowing Kal-El would come to the Phantom Zone where he could kill him.

When Kal-El and Oliver Queen went into the Phantom Zone to investigate Slade's release, they were captured by zoners and taken to their leader and Zod forced the two to kneel.

Zod blamed Kal-El for his imprisonment. He also informed Kal-El of his merger with his original self's phantom wraith. Zod once again tried to persuade Kal-El to join him but he refused. Zod then had the two heroes become combatants in his gladiator arena.

Zod later had a private meeting with Oliver, acknowledging that he knew the archer was tainted by Darkseid. Zod proposed to Oliver that he should give into his dark side (as eventually Kal-El will find out and betray him) and they could rule the Phantom Zone together. Oliver apparently agreed and fought Kal-El. When Oliver managed to fatally wound Kal-El, Zod stopped Oliver from killing him as he wanted to finishing him off. Before Zod could do that, Oliver managed to steal the Phantom Zone gateway crystal from Zod and give it to Kal-El so they could escape.

Kal-El told Zod that he would give him no more second chances and destroyed the crystal and the entrance to the Zone, leaving Zod and the other Phantom Zone prisoners stranded in the shard crystal of the Phantom Zone floating aimlessly through space. Oliver's apparent betrayal of Kal-El was later revealed to be a ruse the two planned to get the crystal from Zod.