Entertainment
 

Clark Kent's secret

From Smallville Wiki

Clark Kent's secret has shaped his personality over the years, forcing him to hide the truth about himself to almost everyone close to him.

His secret is made up of five truths:

Contents

[edit] Learning Clark's secret

It often takes time for someone in Clark's life to learn his full secret, if they ever do. Clark himself learned his own secret over time:

  • He displayed superpowers as a kid, although his parents taught him that he shouldn't tell anyone else about them. Finally, at age 14, Clark discovered his invulnerability when he was hit by Lex Luthor's car. (Pilot)
  • When Clark asked his father about his strange powers, Jonathan told him that Clark had landed in a spaceship on the day of the meteor shower. (Pilot)
  • Clark learned he was an alien from Krypton in Rosetta.
  • Clark encountered kryptonite and felt sick while playing near Creekside Foundry with Pete Ross and Greg Arkin as a kid. (Metamorphosis) He was also weakened by Lana's necklace, but didn't know why until Coach Walt Arnold trapped him in a sauna with kryptonite rocks and he figured out that meteor rocks made him sick. (Pilot, Hothead)

Other people in Clark's life also tended to learn his secret over time; some of them have yet to even learn his full secret:

  • Clark showed his powers to Pete Ross, and told him about his alien origins in Duplicity. At that point in Season 2, Clark himself doesn't know where he came from, telling Pete that "I don't know where that ship brought me from." Pete discovered Clark's weakness later in that same episode, when Clark told him that he's "allergic to the meteor rocks."
  • Lana Lang tricked Clark into displaying his powers just before she got married to Lex Luthor (Promise), found out about Kryptonians' weakness to kryptonite from Lionel Luthor (Arrival), and Clark told her he was an alien just before she faked her death. (Phantom) Before Clark told her he was an alien, she had thought he was infected by kryptonite; in Freak, she was worried that Tobias Rice would identify Clark as a meteor freak.
  • Clark used his powers in front of Alicia Baker. (Obsession) She overheard him talking with his parents about his vulnerability to kryptonite, and later used both green and red kryptonite against him. It is unlikely that she ever learned about his alien origins, as she repeatedly told Clark how similar they were, since they both had secret powers that other people didn't understand.
  • Chloe Sullivan discovered Clark's powers when Alicia tricked Clark into stopping a moving car while Chloe was watching. (Pariah) She learned about Clark's vulnerability to kryptonite when Jonathan used kryptonite to subdue a possessed Clark (Jonathan thought that Chloe was unconscious at the time). (Spirit) Clark then told her about his alien origins when she was in a Yukon hospital. (Arrival) She presumably deduced that Clark came down during the first meteor shower shortly after; when Brainiac went back in time to kill baby Kal-El, Chloe knew right away that Brainiac was trying to prevent Kal-El from getting into his spaceship. (Apocalypse)
  • In an alternate universe, Clark used his powers in front of Lois Lane. Her immediate reaction was to assume that he was a meteor freak, but Clark corrected her misunderstanding, saying, "I'm not a meteor freak." This was after Lois said: "Pretty handy having a meteor freak on my side." (Apocalypse)
  • Lois learned his secret again in an alternate timeline in which he revealed his powers to her so she could write an article about him. He even told her about being an alien. When Clark reversed time, this never occurred. (Infamous)
  • In the episode Blank, both Lois Lane and Sherriff Nancy Adams learned Clark's secret after watching him save Chloe by catching two falling columns. However, all three women had their minds wiped by Kevin Grady. Since it only took away a few minutes of time, Chloe still remember what she learned months ago and earlier that day.
  • In the episode Doomsday, Jimmy Olsen found out Clark's secret when he saw Clark's cut heal instantaneously before his eyes, after which Clark told Jimmy he was the Red-Blue Blur, referring to the episode Identity when Jimmy connected the Blur with Clark based on photos. Clark threw off this suspicion by getting Oliver Queen to dress up in a red-and-blue costume and save Jimmy from a mugging.

[edit] Known Secret-Keepers

People have discovered Clark's superpowers several times, but Clark rarely trusts people with the full secret of his alien origins, his indirect role in causing the meteor showers, and his vulnerability to kryptonite.

The only people who know Clark's full secret are:

[edit] Friends and Family on Earth

[edit] Kryptonians

[edit] Aliens

  • The Kryptonian computer Brainiac somehow knew Clark's identity as Kal-El immediately.
  • The Martian Manhunter, who was friends with Jor-El on Krypton.
  • Bizarro, who received all of Clark's memories after cloning a host body from Clark's DNA.
  • The Kryptonian monster Doomsday knew Clark's secret as he was programmed with sensing Kal-El. (Bride)

[edit] Veritas Members and Associates

[edit] Quotes

Pete: Hamilton tried to kill me and he could've told the whole world about you, but you still tried to save him.
Clark: Well, Pete, I couldn't let you die to protect my secret, and I can't let anyone else die either. No matter who they are.
Season Two, Duplicity
Clark: I convinced Foster to cancel the procedure. She's on her way right now to sign the cancellation papers.
Pete: And you think this is a good thing? Clark, he knows your secret.
Clark: I can't let him turn Lex into a vegetable just for that.
Pete: You can't trust him.
Clark: And you've never given him a chance.
Pete: And you give him too many. You think it's easy keeping a lid on your secret? I've got to think about it every time we're around other people to make sure I don't slip. I got to remember to say "meteor rock" instead of "kryptonite." And I always got to cover your unexplained exits.
Clark: Pete, I'm sorry. You've never said anything.
Pete: Clark, that's not the point. The point is that I got your back. But Lex won't.
Season Three, Asylum
Clark: Do you ever wish I never told you about me?
Pete: It's rough at times, covering with Chloe and everybody, but the truth is, no one's ever put that much trust in me before.
Season Three, Forsaken
Martha: Clark. Asking someone to keep your secret is a big responsibility. You know, look at Pete. It hasn't been easy for him.
Clark: I know. Pete has had some close calls. But I'm still glad I told him, and so is he. It's made us better friends.
Season Three, Forsaken
Pete: I know that I told you keeping your secret wasn't hard. But I lied. I walk around every day afraid that I'm gonna slip up.
Clark: Well, why didn't you tell me sooner?
Pete: Because you needed a friend. And so did I.
Season Three, Forsaken
Alicia Baker: Chloe Sullivan, ace reporter. You write all these articles about the people you call freaks and you don't even realize that someone close to you is one of them. Why are you ignoring what's right in front of your face, Chloe? Don't you want to know the truth about Clark Kent?
Season Four, Pariah
Martha: (talking about Clark) It's just that... Jonathan was always there. He always knew what to say. (sighs)
Chloe: Mrs. Kent, I don't think that he was the only one.
Martha: When he died... I really didn't know if I could keep the secret by myself. It's good to know you're here. Thank you.
Chloe: He's gonna be okay. We won't let anything happen to him.
Season Five, Vengeance
Clark: Wait, Lana. I can't lose you again...not without telling you the truth about me.
Lana: Clark, I already know about your powers.
Clark: There's more. I'm from another planet. It's called Krypton. It's light-years away, and my parents sent me here to save me. They sent me to Earth just before Krypton was destroyed. (waits for reaction) Please say something. (they kiss)
Lana: You're still the same Clark Kent to me.
Season Six, Phantom
Clark: Chloe never would have gotten hurt if she wasn't trying to protect me.
Jor-El: I tried to warn you the danger in sharing your true identity.
Clark: Now that I'm taking more risks, it's even more dangerous for her. Chloe deserves a life free from the burden of my secret. When you restore her memory, I don't want her to remember anything about Krypton. Or my abilities.
Jor-El: I know this choice is not easy for you, my son. But it will be done.
Season Eight, Abyss

[edit] Appearances

Several episodes have focused almost entirely on Clark's secret, and whether or not he reveals it to the people in his life:

  • Season Two, Duplicity - Pete finds a spaceship and is going to use it to get famous, when Clark tells him that it's actually his ship and that he has powers.
  • Season Three, Truth - Chloe gets truth coercion powers, and tries to use them to find out Clark's secret. Her power doesn't work on him, and she gets in a car crash before she can ask Clark's parents.
  • Season Three, Forsaken - Clark decides to tell Lana his secret. Just then, Pete gets tortured for Clark's secret, and decides that keeping Clark's secret is too hard. Clark changes his mind, and decides not to tell Lana his secret.
  • Season Four, Blank - Kevin, a boy who can cause people to temporarily lose their memory, turns his powers on Clark and causes him to have total amnesia - to the point where Clark forgets he has superpowers. Chloe has figured out that Clark has powers, and so she looks after him and teaches him about his superpowers while simultaneously trying to keep them secret. Later, Clark recovers his memories but forgets about his day.
  • Season Five, Reckoning - Clark reveals his secret to Lana and proposes to her. She accepts, but dies shortly after. He resets time, and decides not to tell her his secret.
  • Season Eight, Identity - Jimmy deduces that the "Good Samaritan" saving citizens of Metropolis is Clark. He confronts Chloe and Clark, who both deny it. Clark is adamant that Jimmy not confirm his secret, since he firmly believes that anyone that knows his secret is in danger. Clark enlists Oliver Queen's help in staging a rescue of Jimmy by the Good Samaritan, so that Clark has an alibi. Also, Sebastian Kane uses his memory-reading powers to learn Clark's secret; Chloe then kills Sebastian by overloading him with information, presumably downloaded from Brainiac.
  • Season Eight, Abyss - Chloe's memories are being deleted by Brainiac, including her knowledge of Clark's secret. Clark brings her to the Fortress of Solitude to have Jor-El restore her memories; her memories are restored but at Clark's request, she has no recollection of Clark's powers or of Krypton. Though she gets the memories back when Clark and the Legion of Super-Heroes extract Brainiac out of Chloe in Legion.
  • Season Eight, Infamous - Clark tells the whole world about his secret, but Linda Lake makes the world think he is an alien who has come to destroy the earth. Clark uses the Legion ring to go back to before Lake wrote her story, and defeat her.

[edit] Notes

  • Clark's guilt over indirectly causing the 1989 meteor showers was behind his greatest fear: he feared that Lana would reject him once she realized "his" meteors had killed her parents. (Season Four's Scare) This part of Clark's secret has not been fully explored in Clark and Lana's relationship; by the time she discovered the rest of his secret at the end of Season 6, Lana had presumably already dealt with the death of her parents and was ready to move on.
  • Jor-El showed Clark what would have happened if his ship had not made it to Earth: the 1989 meteor shower still would've happened, but Lex Luthor would become President of the United States and cause a nuclear apocalypse on Earth. This may have helped Clark overcome his guilt over his role in the first meteor shower.
  • Clark's secret is sometimes perceived of as a burden by those who bear it. Pete told Clark that, "I walk around every day afraid that I'm gonna slip up." Pete moved away to Wichita, as he couldn't live with the risk that he might slip up and reveal Clark's secret. After Jonathan passed away, Martha was glad to learn that Chloe shared Clark's secret. (Vengeance)
  • Both Chloe and Lionel found a sense of purpose after finding out Clark's secret, and were willing to do anything to protect him, including sacrificing their lives. Chloe refused to give up Clark's secret even while she was tortured and almost killed by Agent Vanessa Webber in Sleeper; Lionel refused to reveal the identity of the Traveler to Lex, who killed him in anger in Descent.
  • Clark is not willing to sacrifice people's lives to protect his secret. He tried to save Dr. Steven Hamilton even though Dr. Hamilton had learned his secret. Clark was even unwilling to sacrifice someone's memories: Clark tried to prevent Lex from undergoing electroshock therapy to give him amnesia, even though Lex had witnessed him using his powers.
  • Federal government agents have twice tortured Clark's friends, seeking to discover his secret. Chloe was tortured by Agent Vanessa Webber of the Department of Domestic Security, while Pete was tortured by FBI Agent Frank Loder.
  • In Infamous, federal agents interrogated and shot at Clark in his house; they later started a manhunt for not only Clark but also Chloe, his best friend.
  • Clark has revealed his secret and then "taken it back" three times. The first two times were with Jor-El's help twice. In Season Five's Reckoning, he told Lana his secret; after she died, he used Jor-El's time crystal to reset time. In Season Eight's Abyss, Chloe's memories are removed by Brainiac; Clark asks Jor-El not to restore her memories of Clark's powers or of Krypton. The last time, he revealed his powers to the world, but then later went back in time using the Legion ring.
  • After Clark's secret was revealed to the world, Martha was forced to temporarily step down as Senator for the state of Kansas. (Infamous)
  • It's interesting to note that by the end of Season 8, every character in the opening credits, except for Lois, learns Clark's secret.

[edit] References

  1. ↑ As revealed in Apocalypse, the meteor shower would still have happened even if Clark's ship hadn't made it to Earth.

[edit] See Also

  • Secret Keepers - A list of people who have learned about Clark's powers (but don't necessarily know his full secret).
Retrieved from "http://smallville.wikia.com/wiki/Clark_Kent%27s_secret"