Kara Kent
From Smallville Wiki
| |
| Kara Kent | |
|---|---|
| Family | Zor-El (father, deceased), Jor-El (uncle, deceased), Lara-El (aunt, deceased), Kal-El (cousin) |
| Occupation | (Former Coffee shop waitress) |
| Powers and Abilities | All Kryptonian Powers under a Yellow sun (Demonstrated: Super strength, super speed, super hearing, Invulnerability, x-ray vision, Heat vision, Flight, super breath) |
| Played By | Laura Vandervoort |
| Status | Alive |
"It sounds like we got ourselves a true-blue Supergirl." – Chloe Sullivan, to Clark Kent, Kara
Kara Kent is Clark Kent's Kryptonian cousin, the daughter of Zor-El and member of the House of El.
Chloe Sullivan created a false backstory for the authorities to cover Kara's sudden appearance in Smallville, explaining that she was Clark's cousin on his adoptive father's side, raised in Minnesota for the past 19 years until she was able to track down her one remaining blood relative.
Kara became a target for Brainiac, who forced her to follow him into space. Brainiac trapped her on Krypton in 1986 after traveling through time. Kara appeared to return to Earth with Clark but shortly after, it was revealed to be Brainiac posing as her; in reality, Brainiac had put Kara in the Phantom Zone. Chloe rescued both Clark and Kara from the Phantom Zone.
Currently, Kara is searching for the lost city of Kandor in space.
Contents |
[edit] Personality
Kara was born and raised on the planet Krypton. She was very close to her Aunt Lara and fiercely loyal to her father, but admitted to sneaking away from Zor-El's watchful eye to have fun; on one particular occasion, this involved a journey to Earth.
Kara is open-minded, assertive, outspoken, stubborn, has a strong sense of responsibility and duty, and is interested in understanding and helping people. She is eager to learn, although often she would rather do things her own way than follow the directions of others, including her cousin Clark. Kara has quickly embraced American popular culture, but still sometimes finds human customs strange.
[edit] Powers and Abilities
"I guess the humans are right, Kal-El. Girls do mature faster than boys." - Kara Kent, to Clark Kent, Kara
- Flight: Kara has already mastered the power of flight, even though she has fewer years of experience than Clark. She can even fly into space in a matter of seconds. (Veritas)
- Super strength: Kara is strong enough to break an impenetrable wall. (Lara)
- Telescopic vision: Kara can focus on particular earthly objects from space. (Kara)
- Super hearing: Kara was able to recognize the sound of her distant ships beacon. (Kara)
- Super speed: Kara's speed is comparable to that of Clark.
- Invulnerability: Kara absorbed the entire blast of her exploding spaceship and showed no signs of pain afterward . (Kara)
- X-ray vision: Kara first used her x-ray vision to analyze the inside of a mysterious time capsule. (Fierce)
- Heat vision: Kara has shown more significant mastery and skill with Heat Vision over some of her other powers. She demonstrated this by saving Clark twice, by destroying a kryptonite fragment (Fierce) and destroying the control panel to Clark's kryptonite cage. (Traveler).
- Longevity: In an alternate reality Jor-El transported Clark to, Kara hadn't been kept in suspended animation for 18 years, and she still looked much younger than a woman in her mid-thirties. (Apocalypse)
- Super breath - In a deleted scene, Kara and Chloe are in the maternity ward when Kara uses super breath to blow Chloe into the wall. (Kara)
Kara has yet to demonstrate usage of microscopic vision. She has also yet to demonstrate full mastery of her ability to telescope her vision into deep interstellar space.
[edit] Early Life
Later, back on Krypton, Kara was on her way to school when Augo stopped her from going and told her that he has a bad feeling about going. She rejected his idea and turned to go into school as it blew up, trapping her under a crystal column. After Augo lifted up the column, Kara ran to find her father, only to walk in on him having a conversation with Aethyr and Nam-Ek; she was shocked at his association with Zod and his advanced knowledge of the attacks on Kandor. Zor-El then told Kara that he was doing it all for Rao's prophecy that had predicted the creation of Brainiac, Zod's war, and Krypton's end. Augo then appeared and told Kara he was Zor-El's disciple, and that she was never in danger. Kara ran away and hid, but was soon found by Zor-El and Augo, who took her away.
Augo stayed with Kara while she was locked away by her father, and he tried to make her realize that Rao's prophecy was meant to be and that Zor-El would rule Earth and she would become a god. Kara pretended to believe in the prophecy, then pushed Augo into a chamber, locking him inside and sending the chamber down towards Krypton's core. She then went to the holographic communicator and contacted Lara, telling her about Zor-El's plans. Zor-El came in and tried to stop Kara, who pushed him onto the crystals, stabbing his back. Zor-El then pretended to be sincere, but pulled out a Crystal of El and wiped Kara's memory once again.
Later, Kara awoke as Zor-El was escorting her to the ship that would take her to Earth. Before she left the dying Krypton, she was given the blue crystal, which Zor-El told her contained instructions as to what to do when she finds and rescues Kal-El. After bidding her father farewell, Kara entered the Red Ship and went into suspended animation.
Kara crash-landed in Smallville in 1989 during the first meteor shower. Her ship fell into the Smallville Reservoir adjacent to Reeves Dam, where she remained in suspended animation for 18 years.
[edit] Season Seven
"I might have not been here long, but I learned one thing: Everything you told me about humans is wrong. They're good people and they are worth defending." - Kara Kent, to Zor-El, Blue
When Reeves Dam was destroyed during Clark's battle with Bizarro, Kara's ship was released. Kara awoke from her 18-year slumber, and she saved Lex Luthor from drowning. Later, she changed into Earth clothing and flew away from the Smallville Water Tower into the sky.
When Kara discovered that Clark and Lois Lane had found her ship, she knocked Lois out and she beat Clark in a brief battle, warning them to stay away. Kara then flew into space, with a crystal showing a hologram of baby Kal-El, and started searching for young boys, hoping to find Kal-El. Eventually, Clark found her himself. After another brief fight, but this time, after Clark beat Kara, he saw the House of El symbol on her wristband, and asked her what she was doing on Earth, to which Kara replied she was looking for Kal-El. Kara was then taken to the Kent Farm, where she was brought up to speed. Kara was shocked and surprised to discover that her infant cousin was now physically older than she was, and devastated to discover that their home planet exploded shortly after they were sent to Earth. Together, Kara and Clark went in search of the Red Ship, and Clark had to teach Kara how to tune out other sounds around the city to hone in on the ship's signal. Once they found the ship, it exploded and disappeared; the blue crystal was also feared lost. Kara was allowed to stay with Clark on the Kent Farm.
Clark took Kara to the Harvest Festival. While there, Kara took an interest in Jimmy Olsen, and entered the Miss Sweet Corn beauty pageant to get Jimmy's attention. Knowing how much Kara wanted to blend in, Clark tried to first teach her how to control her powers. The clash between a reckless Kara and an overly cautious Clark led to Kara competing in the Pageant. At first shunned by the Weather Girls, Kara was recruited into their group after they noticed her abilities when she saved Jimmy from freezing to death. Later, Kara was coerced into joining the Weather Girls in their plot to find the Smallville Treasure (which happened to contain a Kryptonian object), and was arrested for breaking into the treasure. She saved Clark from the girls, proving she has learned to control her abilities. Kara was hired at the Talon and met her boss Lex, who discovered that she was the one responsible for saving his life. She seemed to have listened to Clark's lectures about fitting in after all, because she denied ever having been near Reeves Dam.
Kara flew to Washington, D.C., where she used her feminine wiles to coerce a nerdy scientist to talk about the blue crystal. Once she got enough information, she went to retrieve it, only to discover that it was missing. Clark tracked her down, and they fought. Kara went back to Smallville and asked Jimmy to help her again; they found out that Lex may have some connection to the whereabouts of the crystal. She went to the Luthor Mansion to find the crystal, only to be subdued by Agent Carter with kryptonite handcuffs. Kara was later taken to a lab where she was experimented on and forced to relive a memory that her father Zor-El had erased, learning that Zor-El did try to assassinate Jor-El and wanted Lara for his own.
Kara returned to the Kent Farm after a surfing trip with Jimmy. After Clark told Kara he didn't really know much about his mother, Kara promised to tell him more in the morning and went to bed. The next morning, Kara saw Lara again for the first time in years; she was happy to see her, but was upset to learn that Clark had hidden her crystal. Later, Kara saw her father Zor-El again, and he told her to wait for him at the Fortress of Solitude. At the Fortress, Kara was present when Zor-El arrived with Lara. When Lara found a Kryptonian dagger, Kara insisted on killing her father with it. Her attempt failed and Zor-El started to choke her. Clark arrived and saved Kara from Zor-El. After Clark destroyed the crystal, Kara disappeared. She woke up in Detroit, with total amnesia and no powers.
Kara wandered into a local diner, and was given a job (as well as a place to sleep) by the kindly owner. Adopting the name "Linda," she worked as a waitress and became close to a busboy named Finley. However, when Lex tracked her down and offered her treatment to restore her memory, Finley became obsessive. Not wanting Kara to be taken away, he abducted her. Lex and Lois tracked him down to a junkyard, where he gunned down Lex and locked Lois away with Kara.
Lois told Kara about her name and some of her past, and they managed to break free of the cage they had been imprisoned in. As they were fleeing, they were tracked down by Finley. When he targeted Lois, Kara told him that he would have to kill her first. Fortunately, Clark intervened and rendered Finley unconscious, though neither Kara nor Lois were aware of his involvement. Kara returned to Smallville, but was disconcerted by Clark, believing that he was hiding something from her. Kara arranged a meeting with Lex at the Talon, and the pair grew closer. Lex promised her that the treatment would restore her memories completely, leading both of them to the truth.
Kara went to a OneRepublic concert with Jimmy, when she was later saved by Pete Ross with his super-stretching ability. Kara went to the Kent Farm to find out what Clark has been hiding from her. She demanded the truth from Lana Lang, but Lana refused to admit anything. Kara declared that she would uncover the truth, and realized that she could not trust Clark or Lana anymore. She turned to Lex and he allowed her to stay at the manor with him.
Kara looked through her "alleged biography" (the papers of her fake background) and could not find any clue to her past. Chloe Sullivan and Lana kidnapped her from the mansion and took her to the Fortress of Solitude, where Chloe pleaded with Jor-El to restore Kara's memory and powers. Though silent, Jor-El did as she asked. Kara was bathed in Kryptonian energy that returned her memory and her abilities; she then attacked Lionel Luthor's secret facility and rescued Clark. Returning to the farm, she expressed her confusion over the Luthors to Clark, who warned her not to trust them after returning her Kryptonian bracelet.
Kara had started teaching Clark how to fly so he could better fight Brainiac. She later returned to the farm, and saw a message from a controlled Lana that Kara should be delivered to Brainiac. At the Daily Planet, to save Lana, Kara went with Brainiac out into the darkness of space.
While Clark was trying to find a way to locate Brainiac and Kara, he looked through Dr. Virgil Swann's journal, only to find a new message had appeared from Kara on how to save Lana through the Fortress of Solitude. Clark went to the Fortress, only to hear transmissions of Kara from Krypton which suggested that she went back in time with Brainiac through the vortex, and that Brainiac was planning to kill baby Kal-El so he wouldn't grow up on Earth.
Back in 1986, Kara was on Krypton fighting Brainiac to save infant Kal-El. Clark was able to come and assist her in defeating Brainiac and they went back to their own time, and returned to the Kent Farm. Brainiac however, had anticipated such an outcome, and was able to subdue Kara back on Earth, and imprisoned her in the Phantom Zone, and then posed as her.
She was last seen floating in the Phantom Zone.
[edit] Season Eight
"Your path is on Earth, living amongst the humans and inspiring mankind." - Kara Kent to Clark Kent, Bloodline
Kara was trapped in the Phantom Zone by Brainiac and was fighting off Zoners until Clark and Lois came due to the Crystal of Knowledge activating on its own. She attacked them at first believing them to be shape shifting Zoners. After discovering who they were and how they got there, she refused to open the portal because she didn't want to make the same mistake Clark made when he was in the Phantom Zone and let prisoners out like before. Eventually Clark convinced her to open the portal for Lois since this isn't her world. Then, Kara pushed her into the portal when she refused to leave without Clark. But then a phantom wraith, Faora, attacked Kara, injuring her. Faora escaped through the portal before it closed, possessing Lois in the process.
[edit] In the Comics
Kara has been a regular character in the source material as far back as 1959. There have been many versions of Supergirl throughout the years, many appeared due to a rule made in the 1980's that only Clark was to be the only surviving Kryptonian. As a result, Kara was killed in the 1980s, but in recent years was reintroduced.
In the most recent origin for Kara, she was already a teenager at the time of Krypton's twilight and Kal-El's birth. Kara was the daughter of the scientist Zor-El, Jor-El's brother. Zor-El agreed with his brother's prediction that Krypton was doomed and, anticipating this, asked Kara to be placed in suspended animation and sent to Earth ahead of her infant cousin so that he could have a guardian on their new world. Unfortunately, her rocket was just behind Kal-El's and was caught in the explosion of Krypton. The rocket was then encased in a kryptonite asteroid and, unable to activate its faster-than-light drive, arrived on Earth years late.
Upon her arrival, and still with the mind and body of a 16-year old due to her suspended animation, Kara proceeded to act violently. She was highly confused after being awakened long after she was scheduled to. Fortunately, almost instantly from the time she crash-landed, Kara was tracked by Batman. After anesthetizing her with green kryptonite and examining her in the Batcave, Kara awoke in a rage. Luckily, Batman brought along Superman as "an insurance policy," and he calmed her down. Kara then explained her origins to the Man of Steel, who was overcome with joy.
Superman turned to Batman with a smile and said, "This is Kara Zor-El... my cousin from Krypton."
After learning English and spending time with her cousin, as well as training under the tutelage of Wonder Woman and the Amazons, Kara was captured by Darkseid. After overcoming the temptations he had placed upon her, Kara showed new resolve that made her cousin proud. Not long afterward, she introduced herself to the heroes of the DCU as Supergirl.
Unlike previous incarnations, Kara is directly tied to the three members of the DC Universe Trinity (Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman). Viewing each of them as parents almost, Kara has been trained and educated and supported by all three. Kara has also had a great deal of interactions in the DC Universe as a member of teams, most notably with Nightwing's Outsiders and the Teen Titans. Currently, she is affiliated with a splinter group of the Justice League led by Green Lantern to avenge the deaths of Martian Manhunter and apparently Batman. Due to this being a temporary team however, it is uncertain which if any team she will join after.
After conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities, Supergirl realizes how badly she needs to get a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as Linda Lang, her teenaged niece. Recently however, Kara discovered that both her parents were alive, as Kandor was ripped from Krypton and held captive by Brainiac. Superman and Supergirl managed to free Kandor. Unfortunately due to human predjudice against Kryptonians and the death of Zor-El, Kandor left Earth and was transformed into a full-sized planet, named New Krypton. With Kara's mother now the leader of New Krypton, Kara and Clark are both torn between their resurrected home world and their adopted world.
Smallville's interpretation of Kara features aspects of all the Supergirl incarnations, from yesteryear to present. Her origin in the series, however, is influenced by the most recent revision to it outlined above.
[edit] Trivia
- In the episode Fracture, Kara named "Say It Again" by Marié Digby as her favorite song.
- Kara suggested her cousin's name: "Kal-El." (Lara)
- Kara almost always referred to Jimmy as "James", his middle name and the source of his nickname Jimmy.
- Kara has only been seen wearing red, white or blue, and always wears a silver cuff bracelet.
- When Kara lost her memory, she wore mostly white, symbolic of her blank memory. (Fracture, Hero, Traveler)
- Kara's past is featured in "Smallville Legends: Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton."
- Kara is the second Smallville female main character to have blonde hair behind Chloe.
- Even though she looks and acts like someone in her late teens, Kara is technically in her mid-thirties because she was in suspended animation for at least eighteen years. Since Brainiac placed her in the Phantom Zone on Krypton in 1986 when they traveled through time, she technically gained an extra 22 years and so is at least 50 (though it should be noted that, as was shown by Raya, time does not pass in the Phantom Zone and therefore she has not physically aged at all, assuming Kryptonians age at a rate similar to humans).
- In the comics, Kara's mother's name is Allura.
- In Season 7's Apocalypse, Kara can be seen as Secretary of Domestic Security Linda Danvers.
- Kara's origin contains an homage to the DCU Super-heroine Power Girl's Symbioship in the form of her diamond-shaped vessel being distinctively colored red and keeping her in suspended animation while training her to assimilate into Earth culture en-route via a form of mental interface. Power Girl also came from Kandor.
[edit] Notes
- Kara's appearances in chronological order can be seen here. Additionally, her voice is heard in Sleeper. Her appearance in Bizarro is a non-speaking role. Laura Vandervoort appears in Arctic as Brainiac disguised as Kara, and the real Kara is briefly shown trapped in the Phantom Zone.
- Kara was also prominently featured in six animated episodes broadcast during Season 7 as part of Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton.
- At the age of 19, Kara would have had to have been fluent in both Kryptonian and English to have immediately been able to communicate on Earth.
- Kara can escape from the Phantom Zone easily by using the gateway that Clark used to escape in Zod as she is a member of the House of El, but Jor-El made it a secret and only he, Lara, Raya, and now Clark know about it.
- Chloe and Kara never got along, partly because of her attraction to Jimmy and Kara's rudeness when the two first met in the episode Kara.
- Her full Kryptonian name is never mentioned in the series. It is most likely Kara Zor-El or Kara-El. In the comics it is Kara Zor-El but her aunt is refered to as Lara-El instead of Lara Jor-El. This could be because Kara is Zor-El's daughter, while Lara married into the House of El.
- Kara's alternate name of Linda (used during her bout of amnesia and in the alternate universe that Jor-El takes Clark to) is from her Supergirl incarnation. The name she chooses to cover her Kara identity is Linda Lee Danvers.
- A kara is a bangle, usually made of steel, signifying the unity of God, traditionally worn by Sikhs (in some ways similar to Kara's own silver cuff bracelet).
[edit] Relationships
- Clark and Kara - Details on the cousins' sibling-like relationship.
- Jimmy and Kara - Her first romance with a human.
[edit] See Also
- Kara Kent's near-death experiences - A list of Kara's near-death experiences.
- Kara's ship
- Blue crystal
- Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton
- For the character who posed as "Kara from Krypton," see Lindsey Harrison.
[edit] External Links
- Supergirl on Wikipedia
- Laura Vandervoort as Kara on Wikipedia
- Supergirl on Wikia DC Animated Universe
- Supergirl on DC datebase
