This article is about Zod's second wife Faora. For Faora's younger clone, see Faora (clone).
- "Faora, wife of Zod." – Faora to Chloe Sullivan, Bloodline
Faora was a Kryptonian soldier, the second wife of General Zod and the "mother" of Doomsday.
Physical Appearance
During her youth, Faora was a strong, athletic, dark-haired woman who cared less about looking good and was more concerned with her job as a soldier, with her hair normally slicked back in a tail.
As a wraith, Faora's body had been stripped from her, leaving her a cloaked, corpse-like wraith. As a wraith, Faora wore a tattered black cloak. Her body was grey and corpse-like with sharp teeth and dark, possibly hollowed eyes. Once she inhabited the body of Lois Lane, she immediately changed her clothes and hairstyle to darker color tones and also added more makeup.
Powers and Abilities
Faora as a wraith.
Under a yellow sun, Faora can obtain all Kryptonian powers and abilities by taking on physical form by possessing humans.
- Super strength: Inside a corporeal body, Faora was extremely strong, she nearly immobilized Clark with one punch.
- Super speed: Inside a corporeal body, Faora could move and react at extreme speeds that exceeded the sound barrier.
- Invulnerability: By claiming a living being's body, Faora became nigh industructible. (Bloodline)
- Flight: Faora could defy Earth's gravity as a wraith and while she was in Lois's body. (Bloodline)
- Technopathy: Faora could read at high speeds when she tried to find Davis. (Bloodline)
Vulnerabilities
Faora is vulnerable to various types of kryptonite, the same as any other Kryptonian, but she was ultimately defeated by the Martian Manhunter's red crystal, which exorcised Faora's wraith from Lois' body and sent her back to the Phantom Zone.
Early life
Faora having her blood taken
Faora was born and raised on Krypton, and had a younger sister named Vala. She was born into military service and never had a chance for a civilian life, she became a soldier in Krypton's army; however, it was not her choice to do so. When she was a young cadet, Faora was caught on enemy lines in the Argo Valley and saved by Zod.
During her time as a soldier, Faora served under Major Zod during the war against Black Zero. She was in the line of the soldiers having a sample of her blood taken by a medic, along with other soldiers under Zod's command, on the border outside of Kandor. She was present shortly after when Kandor was destroyed by Black Zero.
Sometime after Zod's first wife and his child were killed in Kandor's destruction, Faora and Zod became a romantic item and later married. Faora was unable to produce an heir to continue Zod's legacy, so instead she and Zod took DNA from powerful Kryptonian life-forms, which they combined with their own DNA to create their ultimate "son". They then attached their son, who was merely genetic matter, to Kal-El's spaceship which was set on a course for Earth after Jor-El and Lara-El learned of Krypton's impending doom at the hands of Zod and Brainiac.
Before Zod and Brainiac ignited Krypton's core, Faora and Zod were captured and sentenced by the Council to life imprisonment in the Phantom Zone, their only way of escaping being to possess Kryptonian vessels.
Season Eight
- "You don't recognize me... but you are the spitting image of your father." – Faora to Davis Bloome, Bloodline
Faora's phantom fights Kara.
More than twenty years later, Faora's phantom managed to escape from the Phantom Zone when Kara Kent opened Zor-El's escape portal to allow Lois Lane, who had accidentally been sent to the Phantom Zone along with Clark Kent, to escape. She attacked Kara, injuring her, and possessed Lois' body shortly after escaping, using her as a Kryptonian vessel.
After possessing Lois' body, Faora went to the Daily Planet and checked the newspaper's archives to find any mention of an article relevant to her son. She disabled the male archivist at the time when he got in her way. Afterward, Tess Mercer encountered her and they each tried to pump each other for information. Seeing that Tess had no information on her son, Faora super-sped away, leaving Tess astonished.
Faora reunites with her son.
Faora tracked down Chloe Sullivan at the Isis Foundation, telling her who she was, and began to choke her until she saw a file on Davis Bloome that Chloe dropped on the floor. She allowed Chloe to live and then super-sped away to find Davis, knowing that he was her son. She went to Metropolis General Hospital, where she found Davis caring for a small boy. Faora pulled Davis to the side and told him his true origins, explaining that he was destined to be Earth's ultimate destroyer. When Davis dismissed Lois, believing she took something, Faora stated that he was not strong enough yet to fulfill his destiny, broke off a bed railing and stabbed him with it, leaving him to bleed to death, knowing that he would resurrect because of his ability to adapt to attacks.
Faora strangles Clark.
Faora left the room with Davis still lying there and was confronted by Clark, who had managed to escape from the Phantom Zone. Clark tried to get through to Lois, but Faora told him that he was similar to his father for falling for a human (Lois). She told Clark that he didn't stand a chance against the ultimate destroyer, whom she refused to tell the identity of, and that he, along with all of mankind, would be destroyed. Faora then shoved Clark through a wall with one hand and out of the building, causing Clark to fall several stories and onto the roof of a fire emergency SUV. Soon after, Faora flew down on top of him and started to strangle Clark with one hand, nearly killing him until Kara arrived with the red crystal and used it to separate Faora's spirit from Lois' body, trapping her in the crystal.
Season Nine
After Doomsday's defeat, a younger clone of Faora was released on Earth from the Orb along with the other clones of Major Zod's Kandorian army.
In the Comics
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Faora as she appears in the comics.
Faora (full name Faora Hu-Ul) was introduced in Action Comics #471. She was a beautiful Kryptonian woman whose unexplained hatred for men led her to torture and kill 23 men at a secret concentration camp in her home. For this, she was imprisoned in the Phantom Zone to complete a sentence of 300 Kryptonian years, the second longest term after Jax-Ur.
While imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, she was often depicted plotting against Superman with General Zod and Jax-Ur. Her hatred of men was not limited to Kryptonians, as demonstrated by her pointless murder of a young Frenchman who was attracted by her beauty.
Faora was an expert at the Kryptonian martial art of Horo-Kanu, which utilized the pressure points on the Kryptonian body. This made her an extremely dangerous foe for Superman to face in hand-to-hand combat; he was forced to flee from their first encounter.
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Faora (renamed Zaora) appeared in the Pocket Universe created by the Time Trapper, along with General Zod and Quex-Ul. The three tricked the Pocket Universe's Lex Luthor into releasing them from thePhantom Zone. After the Pocket Earth's population continued to resist their conquest of it, the three villains destroyed the atmosphere, killing almost all life. Superman defeated them by permanently stripping the three of their super powers with gold kryptonite. He then killed them with green kryptonite in punishment for their crimes.
Another Faora was introduced as one of the aides of General Zod of the fictional nation of Pokolistan. This character was an orphan metahuman. Faora has the ability to disrupt molecular bonds. She was the creator of the mutagenic virus which was the linchpin of Zod's plan. Her whereabouts following the General's defeat are unknown.
In Return to Krypton storyline Superman and Lois Lane visited a version of Krypton which is later revealed to have been created by the villainous Brainiac 13 and based on Jor-El's favorite period in Kryptonian history. In this Krypton, Lois and Clark become fugitives and are pursued by Faora and Kru-El, romantically linked manhunters known as "the Hounds of Zod." This version of Faora, calling herself "the Tigress of Zod", later returns as an ally of Jor-El. She and Kru-El are both killed in a struggle against Kryptonian religious.
Faora in DCnU.
In the New 52, Faora appears in the Villain's Month issue of Action Comics, which reveals the origin of General Zod. It is also stated that Faora is the most feared and hated woman on Krypton. Faora is a lieutenant, a minion and the love interest of Zod. She follows General Zod in his war against an old Kryptonian planetary enemy called the Char, a race of lizard beings who bear a bit of a resemblance to the animals who killed Zod's parents years ago. After the Char attack Krypton, Zod and his minions succeed to repel the attack and they later send Kryptonian drones to the Char home world where they raze the planet, killing soldiers and civilians alike. It is later revealed by Jor-El that the 'Char' troops who invaded Krypton were mutated clones grown from specimens in Zor-El's lab and that Zod had orchestrated the attack that led to hundreds of thousands of Char dead because of Zod's hatred to the species. As their punishment Zod and his lieutenants, Faora and Non, are sent to the Phantom Zone forever.
Faora again appears in a modern day Krypton reality, corrupted by H'El. Faora, along with Superman, Supergirl and Superoy, wants H’El’s actions to be reversed because this surviving Krypton, while not exploded, is enslaved and its people are demoralized. As Superman and his two proteges are transported to other timelines through portals, Faora stays behind but He'El appears. Not wanting to betray Superman, who has sensed H'El's presence, she shouts to him to go inside the portal, so H'El won't be able to stop him. H'El then uses his telekinesis to grab Faora and says to her that it was a pure choice of using "Go" as her last word before she dies, having not understand that she was not referring to him. He then kills Faora crushing her heart with the power of his mind. Fortunately this event and timeline were erased when Superman stopped H'El from changing the past.
When Zod was somehow freed from the Phantom Zone, he confronted Superman and Wonder Woman. After Zod was defeated, Superman decided to keep him in the Fortress of Solitude's alien zoo. While there, Zod was able to get out of his cell and found a way to bring Faora to Earth too. When Superman returned he found Zod with Faora, telling him that his plan was all along to free her from the Phantom Zone. Superman had to fought both Zod and his lover, Faora but when Wonder Woman also showed up, they started having the upper hand over the two Kryptonian criminals. Faora was then injured in the face by Wonder Woman, while fighting with her but when Zod threatened to kill Superman if she does not let him and Faora go, Wonder Woman had to let them retreat in order to save her boyfriend's life. Zod and Faora set their sights on Warworld and bringing its power to bear on Earth. That leaves Superman and Wonder Woman deposited in a nuclear reactor drained of power. After the two heroes cause a nuclear explosion Zod and Faora are trapped again back to the Phantom Zone.
Notes
- Faora possessed Lois, just like her husband Zod possessed Lex Luthor in Season Five's Vessel and Season Six's Zod.
- Faora was also seen in the flashbacks in Kandor.
- Faora seemed to possess knowledge of Jor-El's prior relationship with Louise McCallum, as she makes reference to Clark's love for Lois being "like father, like son", something that is unlikely that Jor-El would go around telling people.
- Since Faora's clone was able to have a child, it suggests that Faora's infertility was the result of unspecified damage to her uterus, which her clone, created from her healthy, undamaged DNA, did not 'inherit'.
- Faora was an inspiration for two characters:
- Ursa, who first appeared on the Richard Donner films and later made her debut in the DC comics where she married General Zod and they had a child together, Lor-Zod. She often appears along with another follower of Zod, Non. She was used as a replacement for Faora for years until the New 52.
- Mala, Jax-Ur's partner, who appears to be a Zod type of figure in the series, is a character who appeared on Superman: The Animated Series.
Other faces of Faora
References
External links
- Faora at Wikipedia
- Faora at DC Database
- Faora at Superman Wiki
Zod in Smallville
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Kryptonians in Smallville
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