Kyle Tippet

From Smallville Wiki

Kyle Tippet
Occupation	Sculptor, former salesman
Powers and Abilities	Persuasion (via handshake)
Played By	Gregory Sporleder
Status	Alive (using his gift to do great things)
Appeared In	Hug

"Some people aren't meant to have a normal life." - Kyle Tippet, Hug

Kyle Tippet was a farm equipment salesman when he was trapped in his car for two days during the 1989 meteor shower with his partner Bob Rickman.

[edit] Early Life

Before the meteor shower, he and Bob were terrible salesmen, but afterward, they had the power of persuasion through the touch of a hand. Their meteor rock handshakes could convince anyone to do anything. While Bob embraced his power to get whatever he wanted, Kyle was afraid of his power and didn't want to abuse it. He went into exile in the forest as a hermit where he created sculptures from discarded items.

[edit] Season 1

When Bob decided to build a plant in Smallville, Kyle threatened to expose him. Bob made several attempts on his life, 'influencing' Whitney Fordman and Lex Luthor to go after Kyle to stop him, but he was thwarted by Clark Kent, who learned about Kyle's abilities after he and Chloe Sullivan confronted Kyle at his trailer; to demonstrate his abilities, Kyle had Chloe kiss Clark. When Bob finally came after Kyle himself, they ended up in a hand-to-hand struggle. Ultimately, Kyle was the more 'persuasive', and Bob shot himself.

Kyle learned Clark's secret, and his example inspired Kyle to stop hiding in the woods. He left Smallville, promising to use his gifts for good and never to be ashamed of them.

[edit] Note

Discounting Chloe, due to her being unaware of her mutation at the time, Kyle is one of the first Benevolent metahumans that Clark encontered.