House of El
From Smallville Wiki
"The House of El. You always were survivors." – Dax-Ur, to Clark Kent, Persona
The House of El was a significant family on the planet Krypton before its destruction. Known members were Jor-El, Lara-El, Kal-El, Zor-El, and Kara.
The House of El originally took as its symbol the Kryptonian symbol for "air" (an infinity symbol rotated 90 degrees, resembling a figure 8, inside a Kryptonian pentagon) which also represents the letter "S" in the English alphabet. This symbol was burned into Clark's chest as part of a test by Jor-El. The House of El's symbol eventually evolved, with the insignia inside the Kryptonian pentagon resembling the Earth-English alphabet's "S."
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[edit] Known Members
- Kal-El
- Jor-El
- Zor-El
- Kara Zor-El
- Lara-El
- Jor-El's unnamed father (In the comics his name was also Jor-El)
- Kara's unnamed mother (In the comics her name was Alura)
Many members of the House of El were able to somehow survive the destruction of Krypton. Kal-El and Kara were sent to the planet Earth in different spaceships before Krypton's destruction; Kal-El was raised there by Jonathan and Martha Kent as Clark Kent while Kara was trapped in suspended animation in her spaceship for 18 years.
Jor-El's consciousness continued to exist as an artificial entity, first communicating with Clark through his spaceship, then through the Kawatche Caves and finally the Fortress of Solitude.
Zor-El put his DNA in a blue crystal, along with that of Lara-El; the blue crystal was able to use the power of the Fortress to create replicants of both Zor-El and Lara. However, both replicants were destroyed after Clark destroyed the blue crystal.
Jor-El implanted his DNA within the orb, along with the rest of the Kandorian Army.
[edit] History
All of the known members of the House of El visited Earth before the destruction of their homeworld. In 1961, before meeting and marrying Lara, Jor-El was sent by his father as a rite of passage. During his visit, he recorded his memories on a pendant belonging to the House of El. The pendant's design was based on the original symbol of the House of El, suggesting that it may have been passed down through many generations of the family.
In 1986, Lara traveled to Earth while pregnant with her son Kal-El, to see firsthand the family who would be raising her son should Krypton not survive the war with General Zod. She was followed on this visit by her niece Kara, and Kara's father Zor-El.
Zor-El himself made trips to Earth to study the effects the planet's yellow sun had on Kryptonians and Kryptonite so that when he came to Earth to fulfill Rao's prophecy, he would know what could harm him and what abilities he would possess.
Jor-El created the Phantom Zone, a place to imprison Kryptonian criminals and other extraterrestrial creatures either in their physical form or in a phantom-like form (in which their physical body was destroyed). Before Krypton's end, Jor-El, knowing that he had enemies, built a gateway in the Phantom Zone in the event that a member of the House of El became trapped in the Phantom Zone; their blood could open the gateway. Clark Kent was forced to use this gateway when he became trapped there, and the opening of this gate brought him and several prisoners of the Phantom Zone to Earth.
Zor-El also created a gateway for Kara to use should she become trapped in the Phantom Zone. After she was placed in the Phantom Zone by Brainiac, Kara chose not to use the gateway, as she did not want to release more Phantom Zone prisoners on Earth.
[edit] Mark of El
Shortly after Clark Kent turned 16, he was contacted by Jor-El, who informed him that it was time for him to leave Smallville and fulfill his Kryptonian destiny. When Clark refused, Jor-El burned the mark of the El family on Clark's chest.
Clark told Pete Ross that after he initially received it, it stopped hurting. However, when Clark ran away under the influence of red kryptonite, the mark burned intensely, causing him great pain until he took the ring off; as soon as he did, the mark stopped burning. Clark eventually shattered his ring, and the mark immediately disappeared.
Later, when Clark was 'reborn' as Kal-El, Martha Kent was forced to use black kryptonite against him. This resulted in him being split into two beings: Kal-El and Clark. The mark of El appeared on Kal-El's chest before the two were re-combined. It has not appeared since.
The mark is very similar to Superman's shield, in both look and placement. Later, this symbol is actually replaced with the familiar Superman shield when referring to the House of El. This occurs on the Crystal of El, Kara's bracelet, the two escape portals from the Phantom Zone and later Clark put it on his shirt accepting his Kryptonian destiny as well as leaving the House of El symbol around the places he saves as a calling card to give people hope.
[edit] In the Comics
[edit] Quotes
- Baern: (in the Fortress of Solitude) This is the perfect place for the fall of the House of El.
- Season 6, Fallout
- Kara: The House of El has a lot of family secrets that nobody ever discussed. As humans would say, we were... dysfunctional.
- Season 7, Kara
- Clark: I'm looking for someone.
- Dax-Ur: Well... If they live all the way out here, I probably know him.
- Clark: Dax-Ur?
- Dax-Ur: Dexter? No... no... nobody around here on that name. (he walks the other way)
- Clark: Actually he's not from around here. He is from Krypton. So am I. (he tosses the beacon to Dax-Ur) I'm Kal-El.
- Dax-Ur: The House of El. You always were survivors.
- Season 7, Persona
- Brainiac: (to Jor-El) Your son is destined to fail. Soon a new age will dawn on Earth. An age of power and strength, and the fall of the House of El... Doomsday is coming.
- Season 8, Abyss
[edit] Notes
- The phrase "House of El" has been used five times on the show: in Season 6's Fallout, Season 7's Kara and Persona, and Season 8's Abyss, Season 9's Kandor. Each time, it was used by a being (a Kryptonian or a Kryptonian computer) who grew up on Krypton.
