Kryptonian

Kryptonians are an endangered near-Human alien race originating from the now-destroyed planet Krypton.

When Kryptonians became the dominant species on their planet, they were initially a race of fierce and almost savage warriors.^[1] Eventually, through generation and evolution, they became more peaceful as their technology became more advanced, and they became a race of science, having a Science Council to decide matters on a democratic level instead of an army. General Zod still believed in the way of the warrior, which fueled his war with the Council as well as his greed for power. (Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton)

Powers & Abilities

Biologically, in their natural state, and as they're affected by Krypton's stronger gravitational mass pull, Kryptonians possess no superpowers. When exposed a yellow sun and the weak gravity of Earth, Kryptonians gain abilities that greatly surpass those of humans, almost god-like. It is unknown what powers, if any, they have under other colored suns. These abilities appear to be relatively easy to master, seeing as most kryptonians who have made it to Earth were aware of these powers and even for those who aren't aware, like Jor-El, who quickly adapted to his powers when he was forced to use them in order to save Louise McCallum from Lachlan Luthor, and Dax-Ur, who later learned of his abilities saying, "it was the sun's affects on me that really mattered".

Super Strength:Earth-bound Kryptonians are incredibly superhumanly strong, high-tier cosmic-beings and are virtually unstoppable by any means. With their strength, they can easily bend and break through reinforced steel, motar, other metals, stone, wood, and can lift heavy objects like vehicles, as well as overpower, manhandle, and even kill humans and even other metahumans with ease. kryptonians are widely known throughout the Galaxy as being extremely powerful.
Super Speed: Kryptonians can move and or exercise at overwhelming superhuman speeds that greatly exceeds the sound barrier. In their speed, they can perceive the entire world in slow motion through accelerated vision.
Invulnerability: Kryptonians are almost indestructible beings, and as such, are basically resistant to all forms of physical and even mental harm; they can easily withstand bites from animals, knives, swords, bullets, artillery shells, electronic weapons (lasers, missiles, tank heads, nuclear explosions, electricity), extreme temperatures, and can survive in space as they don't need oxygen, and can maintain their physical appearance and weight without eating or drinking.
Flight: Kryptonians, permanently adapted to Krypton's super strong gravity, can easily defy Earth's lesser gravitational pull, allowing them to maneuver precisely in any direction, as well as hover, and reach high velocities. They have to be mentally trained to wield this ability.
Super Stamina: Kryptonians are full of superhuman stamina, allowing them to run, fight, fly, exercise, and fight for long periods of time without tiring.
Accelerated Healing: Kryptonians can heal and regenerate instantly from any wound, as long as they are not exposed to gold, blue, or green kryptonite. They are also immune to all illnesses and viruses.
Heat Vision: They have the power to shoot heat/fire and occasionally force from their eyes. This ability is linked to their sexuality.
X-Ray Vision: Kryptonians` superhuman eye muscles give them the ability to see through solid matter other than lead.
Super Hearing: Kryptonians can hear sounds from distances that humans can not.
Longevity: Kryptonians can be hundreds of years old under both the red and the yellow sun. If a Kryptonian is exposed to blue kryptonite its the only ability they have left.

Vulnerabilities

Kryptonians are often classified as high-tier cosmic beings and are virtually indestructible under a yellow sun. However, superpowered, in other words earth-bound, Kryptonians are greatly vulnerable to kryptonite, highly radioactive pieces of their homeworld, and there are many different types hence different effects.

Green kryptonite weakens them greatly both physically and mentally, to the point where to much exposure can kill them. Blue kryptonite strips them of the abilities although Clark has retained some body resistance in the past while in contact with it. Red kryptonite removes their inhibitions and judgment.

Kryptonians are rendered completely powerless under sunlight given off by a red sun, a prime example being Krypton's red sun, although this star no longer exists.

Artificial entity Jor-El has proven capable of removing and restoring inherent Kryptonian powers and abilities.

Kryptonians can also be harmed by other aliens that are of the same or higher power. Doomsday/Davis Bloome was designed by General Zod and Faora to hate the House of El, making him an almost unstoppable foe amongst them, as his inner rage towards them drives him to want to destroy them like Kal-El/Clark Kent, and as such, Doomsday can easily overpower and kill full fledged Kryptonians. Phantoms inside bodies of living corporeal beings, can bring harm to Kryptonians and Zoners can as well. Bizarro, after replicating Clark's DNA, was given Kryptonian powers and with them he could match Clark. Aldar, an alien of unknown origin, was able to easily overpower Clark and could have killed him. Brainiac can also hurt them but he isn't as strong. John Jones was able to catch a punch from Clark.

Kryptonians can be given permanent wounds or scars by Palak, also called the Starblade, and by a special ground mineral called Gold kryptonite.

Kryptonians are also vulnerable to other alien weapons. The Persuader's atomic axe can bypass their invulnerability, causing a severe wound which also hinders their ability to heal instantly although Clark healed 2 minutes afterwards. The crystals found in the Fortress of Solitude can bypass and peirce through their invulnerability, and can possibly kill them, as seen when Zor-El tries to kill his daughter Kara with them. Fortress daggers can also hurt them, and possibly kill them but they can be broken easily.

Kryptonians can be harmed by the effects of magic energies, a power often used by witches and warlocks.

Some of the more powerful metahumans can harm Kryptonians with their abilities but most other low-tier Krypto-freaks can not.

Human technology embedded with or powered by meteor rocks can affect Kryptonians to a degree.

Kryptonians are vulnerable to some mental and cognitive control. Clark proved vulnerable to test-tube implants (mostly likely laced with Green kryptonite) which sent his brain into a virtual realm where he had no powers. But, with the help of Lois Lane, he managed to fly and was removed from the simulation. Hudson was able to invade Clark's mind. Brainiac turned an ordinary stone into Silver kryptonite which was able to implant fear and paranoia into Clark's mind.

Language

The Kryptonian language is an alien language filled with hieroglyphics and shapes that can be read by its people. The Kryptonian language is referred to as "Kryptonian," not "Kryptonese."^{[citation needed]} Written Kryptonian is made up of two separate writing systems: An alphabet and a logographic writing system.

The Kryptonian alphabet is a transliteration of the Roman alphabet. Like the Roman alphabet, it has 26 letters; it also has 10 numbers, corresponding to the ten Arabic numerals. Each Kryptonian letter corresponds to a Roman letter, and every Kryptonian number corresponds to an Arabic numeral.

Rosetta5 — The Kryptonian symbol for "hope" burned into the Kents' barn.

Kryptonian logograms often combine letters in the Kryptonian alphabet into a single character. For example, Clark burned the Kryptonian logogram for "hope" into the side of his barn. The logogram is made up the four Kryptonian letters corresponding to the English letters H-O-P-E, re-arranged into a single glyph.

The Kryptonian spoken language is rarely spoken on-camera. Even when two Kryptonians speak, they are shown speaking English. For example, in Memoria, when Clark is shown as a baby remembering his birth parents speaking, they are speaking English, and during a flashback in Blue, Lara-El, Kara and Zor-El are also shown speaking English on the Kent Farm. (It is unclear if they are actually speaking English, or if they are speaking Kryptonian but it is rendered as English as a convenience to viewers.) An alternate explanation is that English and Kryptonian are somehow related languages.

Clark learned Kryptonian by having the information downloaded into him, and Kara mentions that she "studied" the English language on Krypton, becoming a fluent speaker with command even over idiomatic expressions. It is possible that Kryptonian technology can download a language into someone's brain, turning all interested Kryptonians into native speakers of the English language.

Spoken Kryptonian has only been heard once on the show, when Casey Brock is babbling incoherently in what Bizarro identifies as Kryptonian hex codes.

Survivors

Virtually all Kryptonians perished when Krypton was destroyed due to the war with General Zod. However, there have been known to be a few survivors who escaped the planet's destruction, by either being in a spaceship or in the Phantom Zone or on Earth.

In a spaceship

Kal-El: Survived because his parents sent him to Earth in a spacecraft. After learning of his true origins, Clark Kent assumed that he was the last son of Krypton.
Nam-Ek and Aethyr, the Disciples of Zod: Survived due to being inside the Black Ship at the time of Krypton's destruction. Nam-Ek was killed by Raya many years later while in the Phantom Zone.
Kara: Survived by being sent to Earth by her father Zor-El in a red spaceship.
Jor-El as an artificial entity: The brainwaves of Kal-El's father traveled to Earth stored in his son's spaceship, allowing the creation of the artificial entity known as Jor-El.
Doomsday as genetic matter: Doomsday was created by General Zod and Faora and attached to Clark's ship as genetic matter which grew on the three-year journey to Earth and formed a camouflage persona named Davis Bloome.
Brainiac - survived when he was put into the blackship, now re-programmed as Brainiac 5.

In the Phantom Zone

General Zod: Survived by being sent to the Phantom Zone, but no longer had a corporeal body. Zod possessed Lex Luthor on Earth, but was stopped by Clark using the Crystal of El.
Raya: Survived by living in the Phantom Zone, but was killed years afterward by Baern after Clark released her.
Faora: Was sent to the Phantom Zone along with her husband General Zod. She escaped, but was stopped by Kara using the red crystal.

On Earth

Dax-Ur: Survived Krypton's destruction due to living on Earth as a human for 100 years until he was presumably killed by Brainiac.

Clone Technology

Lara-El: While Kal-El's mother did not survive Krypton's explosion, Zor-El had taken her DNA and put it in a blue crystal, which he sent with Kara to Earth, indicating that a clone of Lara could be created.
Zor-El: Zor-El's DNA was also inside of the blue crystal. His consciousness and physical form was replicated and took over the Fortress of Solitude, also using blue kryptonite to render his nephew Kal-El powerless.
Major Zod
Alia
Coats
Jor-El (clone)
Faora (clone)
Basqat
Vala
Kandorian army
Conner Kent (kryptonian-human hybrid)

Kryptonian Technology

Kryptonians used technologies and sciences that were far more complex and advanced than that of most other worlds including the planet Earth. Each Kryptonian was known to have carried a certain shield pendant that emits a particular beacon which was attoned in accordinace to that of their family house. Kryptonians also had such technology that they could store vast amounts of data and information in objects. They could somehow strip corporeal beings of their physical bodies, and in that regard, Jor-El, with the help of John Jones, stripped many criminals of their bodies and cast them into the Phantom Zone dimension.

Kryptonian devices, artifacts, and sacred areas

Brainiac: Krypton's primordial supercomputer that was designed by Dax-Ur and later made by Jro-El. It was later corrupted by General Zod. It survived Krypton's destruction by uploading itself into the Black Ship.
Kal-El's ship: The spaceship that brought Kal-El to Earth.
Black Ship: A large, black spacecraft containing the Brain InterActive Construct and General Zod's disciples, Namek and Aethyr.
Kara's ship: The red spaceship that brought Kara to Earth.
The Key: A small, octagonal device that can access Kryptonian devices that are of the House of El, such as Clark's ship and the technology located in the Kawatche Caves.
Kawatche Caves: a series of underground catacombs that have historical connections to Jor-El and the planet Krypton. Also, contains Kryptonian technology.
Memory pendant: Kryptonian device used to record memories that occurred in a given time as interactive experiences.
Starblade: kryptonian dagger that gives it's possessor kryptonian abilities and reveals Naman's true enemy, Sageeth.
Kryptonian dagger: a dagger that is connected to the Fortress of Solitude.
Phantom Zone: A plane of existence created by Jor-El as a prison for extraterrestrial criminals from the 28 known galaxies.
Phantom Zone bracelet: Metallic bracelet that can form into a vortex to the Phantom Zone and suck their victims inside.
The Stones of Power: kryptonian stones that are each encoded with the teachings of the 28 known galaxies. They must be united to form the Crystal of Knowledge.
Crystal of Knowledge: diamond-shaped crystal that is formed when the Stones of Power are united. Holds all the knowledge of the universe and can create the Fortress of Solitude.
Fortress of Solitude: vast Kryptonian crystallized structure that holds the artificial intelligence of Jor-El. A storehouse for all the knowledge of the universe as well, the structure uses native Kryptonian technology to achieve feats of immense power.
Blue crystal: Contains Lara-El and Zor-El's DNA, memories, and clothing. Capable of shutting Jor-El's essence out of the Fortress.
Crystal of El: Kryptonian crystal, in the shape of the Kryptonian pentagon, displaying the insignia of the House of El. This crystal has the ability to wipe out memories, fend off phantoms by emitting a burst of light and remove phantoms that have possessed humans.
Dax-Ur's shield: Kryptonian beacon owned by Dax-Ur.
Orb: A device created by Jor-El designed to control Kal-El and resurrect members of the Kandorian army as clones.
Book of Rao: Created by Jor-El, this octagonal key was designed to send the Kandorians to a New Krypton, by doing so this fulfills Rao's Prophecy. This device looks similar to the other octagonal key that came from Kal-El's ship.
Mirror box: A Kryptonian device that allows Kryptonians, as well as humans, to travel to parallel universes.

In the Comics

Kryptonians as they appear in the comics.

In the comics, Superman/Clark Kent has displayed some other Kryptonian powers that have yet to be displayed on Smallville; super smell, and on one occasion he displayed super scream. Superman, in other versions, has displayed some form of telekinesis. Which Kal-El has shown, but not Clark Kent.

In the comics, the kryptonian language is similar. However, the symbol for hope is Superman's logo rather than the symbol that appeared in Rosetta (Incidentally, the reverse of that logo means 'resurrection'

Notes

The four easiest abilities for Kryptonians to harness and master are super strength, super speed, invulnerability and flight.

References

↑ Quest

[1] Quest

[1]