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Krypton

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The planet Krypton orbiting its red sun.

"A shining jewel in a vast, dark universe." – General Zod, to Lana Lang, Zod

Krypton was a planet in a distant galaxy, and the homeworld of Clark Kent and his cousin, Kara. It had a stark white terrain of jagged frozen plateaus stretching broadly under heavy, dark red skies from its red sun.

Krypton was considered by the universe as a peaceful and advanced planet until its destruction in 1986 by the scientist Zor-El after he used Brainiac to ignite Krypton's already unstable core.

Contents

[edit] History

Kryptonians were initially a race of warriors before evolving into a race devoted to science and peace.[1] Since then, the Ruling Council took a democratic leadership over Krypton as a government; it was this that eventually led to a war between both sides that ultimately led to Krypton's destruction.[2]

[edit] Early history

Kryptonians began life initially as brutal warriors; in the distant past, they had waged war on other civilizations. Over time and through numerous generations, Kryptonians evolved into a more peaceful and intellectual people, eventually becoming devoted to science. They scrapped their society of dictatorship, instead having a government run and headed by the Ruling Council, who ran the planet peacefully. Kryptonians gained in technology greatly for the next few generations, and soon became the most distinguished race in the 28 known galaxies; they were looked upon as gods by some other races.

The Stones of Power.

When the Scrolls of Rao were written, the Ruling Council decided that should Krypton be destroyed, a chosen Kryptonian could rise on another planet and make a utopia. They hid all of their knowledge in the form of a crystal and broke it into three parts, creating the Stones of Power, then sent a Kryptonian to the planet Earth where he hid the stones at three different locations. This Kryptonian also came across the Kawatche, a tribe of Indians, and started a new prophecy on Earth about how he would return from the stars to save their world or send another chosen Kryptonian.

Dax-Ur was one of the greatest scientists to live on Krypton. He designed the Brain InterActive Construct, a self-aware, conscious supercomputer that could permanently run Krypton on a day-to-day basis without the need for manual labor. Dax-Ur then realized the destruction that his creation could cause if it fell into the wrong hands, and abandoned his designs without completing their construction. He fled Krypton, seeking solace on Earth, where he planned to study the effects that various Kryptonian minerals had by the yellow sun.

Jor-El, Zod, Lara and Faora were all born on Krypton around the Earth year 1935. Jor-El's brother Zor-El was born around 1940.

In the year 1961, Jor-El traveled to Earth as a rite of passage by his father, and unwittingly fell in love with Louise McCallum and met Hiram and Jessica Kent. He left his memories, stored in a memory pendant, behind on Earth and returned to Krypton.

Jor-El and Lara met sometime after his adventures on Earth; the two were married some time before he became a member of the Ruling Council.

In 1966, a terrible war was fought against the forces of Black Zero, who succeeded in destroying the Kryptonian city of Kandor; among those killed were the wife and young son of Zod, a leader in the Kryptonian military. During this time, the Ruling Council commissioned Jor-El to construct an Orb containing the DNA of Krypton's strongest (including Zod and Jor-El himself) with the intent of sending it to Earth so they would be resurrected if Krypton was ever destroyed. Kandor was re-built sometime after its destruction by Black Zero.

Zor-El's daughter Kara was born around 1968.

Years after the death of his wife and son, Zod became a General, met and married Faora, and began his plans to take over Krypton.

[edit] The War

[edit] Early War

Zod was the leader of all military forces on Krypton; he was a strong believer in the old barbaric ways of Kryptonian society, and believed that his people had become weak and therefore needed to be dictated. So over the years as he grew in power, Zod gathered loyal disciples and forces that he would use in an attempt to overthrow the Ruling Council and conquer Krypton. When he believed that he had enough forces, he mounted an attack on Krypton, beginning a war with the Council.

The city of Kandor during the war.

After the war had been going on for some time, Zod had caused damage to the Ruling Council, so they asked Jor-El to build Dax-Ur's Brain InterActive Construct to aid in the war against Zod, using its extensive knowledge to help the Council defeat Zod. However, Zod learned of the creation of Brainiac and was able to corrupt it, making it an ally to him and his disciples.

During this time, Zor-El attempted to kill Jor-El, believing that his brother had stolen Lara from him. After his assassination attempt on Jor-El, he was disgraced as a scientist and became the operator for Kandor's mine. Zod used Zor-El's hatred of Jor-El against Krypton, and Zor-El joined Zod's efforts to take over Krypton.

Since Zod and Faora were unable to conceive children after trying for so long, they decided that, by using genetic engineering, they would create their own ultimate son. Zod and Faora gathered the DNA of the most violent Kryptonian species and fused them all together with their own DNA. They planned to send their "son" to Earth, where he would destroy the population, leaving the planet deserted so that in case Zod could not rule Krypton, they would rule Earth as a family instead.

Zod gave major roles in the war to his two closest disciples, Aethyr and Nam-Ek, whom he would let make decisions on where their forces should attack. Nam-Ek and Aethyr often conversed with Zor-El, who would tell them of the Council's plans and where would be best to attack and weaken the Council.[3]

[edit] Leading to Krypton's Destruction

Krypton began experiencing massive tremors during the time of the war, and the Council asked Jor-El to investigate. Jor-El suspected that the tremors where caused because Zor-El was operating Kandor's mine (the last remaining mine not on Zod's hands) at full capacity, mining too deep. When the Council questioned Zor-El, he claimed that, without the mine working at full power, the Council would not have enough resources for the war, and that the tremors were temporary and caused by of the attacks suffered during the war. Convinced, the Council allowed Zor-El to continue operating the mine at the same capacity.[4]

Zor-El, however, had a different agenda. He was a strong believer in Rao's prophecy and believed himself to be the chosen Kryptonian who would rise on Earth and create a paradise. Because of this, when he realized that Zod was starting to fulfill the prophecy by ravaging Krypton, Zor-El decided that he would complete the prophecy by igniting the planet's core and destroying Krypton.[3][5][6]

Jor-El and the Council eventually managed to apprehend Zod and most of his followers.[6] Jor-El convinced the Council to destroy all portals leading to Earth in order to prevent the rest of Zod's followers from escaping through them.[6] The Council and Jor-El destroyed Zod's physical body and placed his essence in the Phantom Zone, along with his wife, Faora, leaving them with no escape unless they inhabited a Kryptonian vessel.

After Zod was captured, Jor-El learned about his association with Zor-El. Jor-El forced his brother to stop the dangerous mining operations, and placed him under arrest by locking him inside the powered-off mine control room.[6] Zor-El was almost finished with the ignition of the planet's core, so he commanded Brainiac to override the lockdown, allowing him to complete the ignition and escape.

[edit] Destruction

Kara and Zor-El say goodbye on Krypton.

Zor-El made plans for him and his daughter Kara to flee Krypton before its destruction, but she found out about his association with Zod and tried to expose him. Zor-El, with the help of his disciple Augo, tried to stop Kara, but she was able to notify Lara. When Zor-El tried to stop Kara, she pushed him into a cluster of hologram crystals, injuring him. Zor-El then erased Kara's memory and sent her away to Earth in a spaceship along with a blue crystal that contained his DNA, which could create a clone of him. He also put Lara's DNA in the crystal for two reasons: because of his feelings towards her, and to lure Kal-El to the crystal should Kara fail to complete her task.[6][7]

After Kara contacted Lara, she warned Jor-El about Zor-El's plan to ignite Krypton's core, and so they sent their only son, Kal-El, in a spaceship to Earth away from Krypton's doom.[7] Sometime before Kal-El left Krypton, Zod and Faora had given the genetic matter that was their "son", Doomsday, to Brainiac, who placed him on Kal-El's ship. Jor-El placed his assistant Raya in the Phantom Zone to escape while he and Lara went to try and stop Krypton's destruction.

Krypton explodes while Kal-El's spaceship flies off.

In 2008, Brainiac traveled with Kara back through time to Krypton just before its destruction, in an attempt to kill Kal-El before he grew up to save Earth. He tracked down Kal-El and his ship, presumably killing Jor-El and Lara, before Kara attempted to stop him. Brainiac easily overpowered Kara (who was powerless due to Krypton's red sun) when Clark arrived; Brainiac overpowered him as well. That distracted him enough for Kara to find a sharp crystal and stab it through Brainiac, weakening him as Clark grabbed baby Kal-El and placed him in his ship, sending him to Earth as planned.

After Brainiac began igniting the planet's core, he contacted Nam-Ek and Aethyr, and told them that Zod had indeed been placed in the Phantom Zone and that the only way they could release him was to locate the Stones of Power before Kal-El; otherwise, they would have to force Kal-El. The three of them were able to escape from Krypton in another spaceship, known as the Black Ship.[3]

Shortly after they all escaped, Krypton's core eventually ignited, leading to the total destruction of the planet, killing billions of people, including Jor-El, Lara, Zor-El, and the Ruling Council.

[edit] Relationships with other planets

Krypton had a noticeable relationship with other planets and galaxies as it was one of the most powerful and advanced civilizations in the universe.[8] Many other planets would look up to Kryptonians as god-like creatures whereas others would despise their power and greatly hate Kryptonians.[9]

Some planets, such as Earth and Mars, had good relationships with Krypton, with Kryptonians traveling to Earth frequently via portals. However, renegade Kryptonians saw Earth as a paradise due to the abilities they gained under the planet's yellow sun. Martians also had a good relationship with Krypton, as the Martian Manhunter would often go to Krypton to aid his friend Jor-El, but some Kryptonians would look down on Martians as a lower species. The planet Almerac was a distant planet to Krypton, and their young would often be told stories about Krypton and Kryptonian men in particular about how brave and gallant they were. The destruction of Krypton is well-known throughout the universe, with many species having knowledge of its destruction.

[edit] Notable Citizens

  • Kal-El - Was born on Krypton prior to its destruction and sent to Earth by his parents believing he would be safe there and destined to save Earth from destruction.
  • Jor-El's Father - Jor-El's father was a citizen of Krypton; he sent his son Jor-El to Earth as a rite of passage.
  • Jor-El - Father of Kal-El, Jor-El was a highly respected scientist on Krypton and an influential member of the Ruling Council.
  • Kara - Daughter of Zor-El, she too was sent to Earth with Kal-El along with a blue crystal so she could unknowingly resurrect her father and create a Kryptonian utopia on Earth.
  • General Zod - A renegade army general, he started a civil war with the Ruling Council in an attempt to control the planet with the aid of Brainiac and Zor-El as well as his army of followers.
  • Zor-El - Father of Kara and brother to Jor-El, he caused Krypton's destruction by igniting its core, believing in Rao's prophecy that he would be resurrected on Earth and create utopia.
  • Lara-El - Mother of Kal-El and loyal wife to Jor-El, was a loving mother and also aunt to Kara, and notified Jor-El about Zor-El's plan to destroy Krypton, giving their son a chance to get off the planet alive.
  • Dax-Ur - A respected scientist, he was the creator of the Brain InterActive Construct but discovered the destruction his creation could cause and fled to Earth for redemption.
  • Ruling Council - The democratic leaders of Krypton who acted as a government and opposed Zod and his conquest for power.
  • Faora - The second wife of Zod as well as a scientist and former soldier in his army. Before marrying Zod, her DNA was taken and placed in the Orb.
  • Disciples of Zod - Loyal servants to Zod, they were given major roles in the civil war and, after Zod's capture, fled with Brainiac to Earth to locate Kal-El to release Zod and start a new Krypton on Earth.
  • Raya - Was an assistant to Jor-El and loyal to the House of El, tried to help Jor-El and Lara save Krypton, but was put in the Phantom Zone to be safe along with a Crystal of El to protect her from the phantoms by Jor-El.
  • Augo - A student at Kara's school in Kandor, was also Zor-El's disciple who strongly believed in Rao's prophecy and aided in any way he could to fulfill the prophecy.
  • Bizarro - Created by accident in a laboratory experiment on Krypton, he was a backwards Kryptonian and was placed in the Phantom Zone for his cruel attitude and dislike for life.
  • Doomsday - Was created by Zod and Faora after they were unable to have children, made up of a mixture of violent Kryptonian species and their own DNA and attached to Kal-El's spaceship.
  • Brainiac - Krypton's supercomputer that ran every system on the planet, designed by Dax-Ur. Jor-El created a version of Brainiac that took a humanoid form to help win the war with Zod, but was corrupted so that it aided in the destruction of the planet, fleeing before its impending doom.
  • Basquat – Member of Major Zod's army. His DNA was taken and placed in the Orb that was sent to Earth. Years later, he was resurrected as a clone.
  • Alia – Female member of Major Zod's army. Her DNA was taken and placed in the Orb, which later resurrected her after Krypton was destroyed.

[edit] Geography

"Where I'm from, we have colors that you've never seen. Our moons are so close, they fill up half the sky. We have sunsets that last for hours." – Jor-El, to Louise McCallum, Relic

Depictions of the planet Krypton.

Krypton was once described by the Zoner Baern as an "ice cube" of a planet, referring to the planet's ground of frozen plateaus and the crystalline structure of its buildings.

Krypton orbited a red sun. The planet's terrain was slightly similar to Earth's except for the crystalline architecture of its buildings and icy ground of frozen plateaus; therefore, the Fortress of Solitude, with its crystalline appearance, resembles Kryptonian landscape, with its crisscrossing crystal towers. It is implied in Season 7 that Krypton had oceans that ran between the massive continents of frozen plateaus, much like Earth's geography with its land sea.

Brainiac described the climate on Krypton as cold and still. It is unknown how far Krypton was from its red sun, but had to be close enough to sustain life.

[edit] Education

In Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton, Kara attended an educational facility with other young Kryptonians. It was a crystalline structure similar in design to the Fortress of Solitude. The building was destroyed during the war with Zod, after Zor-El planned for it to be attacked by Zod's army in Kandor. Both Kara and Augo narrowly escaped damage from the blast.

[edit] Location

Clark tells Chloe Sullivan that he's "not from anywhere near this galaxy." Later, Kara asks Clark how pieces of their home planet traveled through 23 galaxies.

The closest galaxy of comparable scope to the Milky Way Galaxy is the Andromeda Galaxy, which is approximately 2,560,000 light-years away. The closest body capable of being called a galaxy is the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, approximately 25,000 light years away. Even if Krypton was in this mini-galaxy, it would still take at least 25,000 years before Earth would notice its disappearance. However, since kryptonite traveled across 23 galaxies, Krypton must be much further away than this.

We know that Jor-El came to Earth in the early 1960s, therefore meaning that Krypton may have existed at least until 40 years earlier. However, since Kryptonian technology has demonstrated the capacity to manipulate time, it is possible the teleportation portals connected different points in time as well as space. This would be consistent with our present understanding of the consequences of a fold in space-time, or wormhole.

Also, Dr. Virgil Swann states that he traced the signal from Krypton "billions of miles" to where the star should have been. While this is not technically wrong, a more logical and comfortable measure of the distance to the stars would be given in trillions of miles, not billions.

[edit] In the Comics

In the comics, Krypton was the home of Kryptonians: Kal-El (Clark Kent/Superman), Kara-Zor-El (Kara Kent/Supergirl), Lara-El, Jor-El, Krypto (Superdog), Zor-El, General Zod, Brainiac, and the Kryptonian monster Doomsday.

Krypton exploded and only a few Kryptonians survived (Kal-El, Kara, Zod, Brainiac, and Krypto) while the spirits of Jor-El and Lara-El lived on in the Fortress of Solitude.

There are two versions in the comics of how Krypton was destroyed, the first being the radioactive kryptonite core blew up the planet, and the second being the planet's unbalanced structure caused it to explode, destroying every part of the planet. But in earlier incarnations of the Superman origin story, the city of Kandor survived Krypton's explosion, but was shrunk by Brainiac.

In the current comics, Kandor survived the destruction of Krypton, but was shrunk and held captive by Brainiac. Superman and Supergirl managed to free Kandor, and its people, as resurrect the world on Earth. But after dealing with Human prejudice and the assassination of Krypton's leader and Supergirl's father Zor-El, the City of Kandor left Earth and, through Krypton technology, rebuilt itself as an entire new planet, orbiting opposite of Earth. The planet is named New Krypton.

[edit] Mentions

[edit] Season One

  • Pilot – Clark Kent learns that he is from another planet.

[edit] Season Two

  • Skinwalker – Kyla Willowbrook tells Clark that Naman's homeworld is described as a missing "eye" in a cluster of stars forming a wolf's head.
  • Rosetta – Clark learns that his home planet is called Krypton, and that it was destroyed.
  • Exodus – Jor-El tells Clark that he is the last son of Krypton and must fulfill his destiny on Earth.

[edit] Season Three

  • Relic – Clark learns that Jor-El was sent to Earth as a young man from Krypton.
  • Legacy – Dr. Virgil Swann tells Clark that he received another Kryptonian message and also obtains the Key after Jor-El communicates to Jonathan Kent about their deal.
  • Memoria – Clark partially regains the memory of his last moment on Krypton.
  • Covenant – Kara tells Clark that Lara and Jor-El are waiting for him in the cave wall.

[edit] Season Four

  • Crusade – Kal-El begins to search for the Stones of Power so that he can fulfill his destiny, and locates the Crystal of Fire.
  • Run – Lex Luthor gets hold of a Manuscript that shows the way to the Crystal of Air that holds some of Krypton's knowledge.
  • Sacred – Clark learns that all of Krypton's knowledge is encoded in the Stones of Power.
  • Commencement and Arrival – Clark unites the Stones of Power, and they transform into the Crystal of Knowledge, which Clark uses to create the Fortress of Solitude.

[edit] Season Five

  • Arrival – Clark learns what Krypton resembled after creating the Fortress of Solitude, and tells Chloe Sullivan that he is from Krypton.
  • Splinter – Brainiac tells Clark that he is from Krypton like him.
  • Solitude – Clark learns that Zod was one of the main factors in Krypton's destruction, and that Brainiac helped him and aimed to release him on Earth.
  • Reckoning – Clark tells Lana Lang that he is from a planet called Krypton.
  • Vessel – Clark learns that Zod is responsible for the destruction of Krypton.

[edit] Season Six

  • Zod – Clark, in the Phantom Zone, meets Raya, who is one of the few surviving Kryptonians.
  • Fallout – Raya tells Clark that Zod and Brainiac were the cause of the destruction of Krypton. Baern tells Clark that Krypton resembles an ice cube of a planet.
  • Labyrinth – Dr. Hudson attempts to convince Clark that he is not from Krypton and imagined it.
  • Phantom – The Martian Manhunter explains to Clark that the last remaining Zoner on Earth is the result of an abortive experiment on Krypton.

[edit] Season Seven

  • Kara – Clark learns that Zod started a global civil war on Krypton that probably led to its destruction.
  • Lara – Kara remembers leaving Krypton during the war with Zod.
  • Traveler – Clark learns that Dr. Swann kept a diary of messages from Krypton.
  • Veritas – Brainiac manages to get Kara to travel back to Krypton with him after putting Lana in a coma.
  • Sleeper – Clark learns that Kara has traveled back in time to the year 1986, where Brainiac is trying to kill Kal-El as a baby on Krypton.
  • Apocalypse – Clark travels back through time to Krypton moments prior to its destruction, and puts his baby self into his spaceship and rockets him off while Kara fights and defeats Brainiac. After Kara and Clark leave, Krypton explodes.
  • Quest – Clark learns from Edward Teague that Kryptonians were a race of warriors before they were a race of science.
  • Arctic – Lex Luthor says that Clark is the first in many of Kryptonians coming to Earth to destroy it, and that he must kill Clark to save Earth from destruction.
  • Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton – Details on how Krypton came to its impending doom and the build-up to how Kara and Kal-El left Krypton.

[edit] Season Eight

  • Instinct – Maxima tells Clark of how, as a little girl, she was told stories about gallant Kryptonian men.
  • Bloodline – Davis Bloome is told that he is the "son" of Zod and Faora, and that he is from Krypton. Kara heard rumors in the Phantom Zone that Kandor may have survived Krypton's destruction.
  • Abyss – Jor-El tells Clark about the "Ultimate Destroyer" from Krypton.
  • Legion – Brainiac tells Davis that he is the result of a Kryptonian experiment.
  • Infamous - Clark informs Lois Lane that he is an alien from Krypton and tells her to publish his story. She does, and the world accepts Clark until Linda Lake twists the story, leading Clark to reverse time so he doesn't tell Lois his secret.
  • Eternal – Tess Mercer informs Davis that she knows his history by telling him the story of how he came to Earth from Krypton along with Kal-El.
  • Injustice - The Orb tells Tess that she will be the savior of Kandor.

[edit] Season Nine

  • Savior - Major Zod tells his troops that he presumes that Krypton is destroyed and that is the reason they are now on Earth.
  • Kandor - We see a series of flashbacks of events that took place on Krypton 20 years before its destruction through the eyes of a clone of Jor-El.

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Notes

[edit] See Also

[edit] External Links

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Quest
  2. ↑ Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton - Episode 2
  4. ↑ Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton - Episode 1
  5. ↑ Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton - Episode 3
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton - Episode 4
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton - Episode 5
  8. ↑ Kara Kara tells Clark that Krypton was supposed to be the most advanced civilization in the universe
  9. ↑ Maxima greatly admired Kryptonians whereas as many Zoners would despise and hate Kryptonians.
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