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Exodus brand

Clark's chest is branded with the sign of his ancestors.

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.

The Mark of El first appeared on Clark's chest after Jor-El burned it into his body. The symbol appeared 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.

Season Two[]

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Jor-El brands his son.

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."

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.

Season Three[]

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The Mark of El 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. This action from Jor-El, was likely intended to protect Clark, because by making him take off the ring, he was preventing prolonged contact with it and worsening its effects (The more time Clark spends with it, the more "violent" or worse he gets). As soon as he did, the mark stopped burning. Clark eventually shattered his ring, and the mark immediately disappeared.

Season Four[]

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Kal-El vs. Clark.

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The Crystal of Air.

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.

During Clark's quest for the two remaining three Kryptonian crystals he stumbles upon an ancient manuscript purchased by Lex Luthor. On the manuscript is encoded a Kryptonian message directing the viewer to look deeper. Upon using his X-ray vision Clark discovers a hidden map that leads him to China which in points the exact location to The Crystal of Air.

Season Six[]

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The Crystal of El.

While trapped in the Phantom Zone Clark met Raya who was once an assistant of Jor-El on Krypton. Jor-EL placed Raya in the phantom zone in an effort to save her from suffering the same fate the rest of Krypton would due to its destruction. To protect her from the wrath of the other Phantom wraith prisoners, Jor-El gave her a kryptonian crystal that bears the Mark Of El which gives off a light energy beam that frightens the inmates . Raya gives it to Clark as they make their way to a secret passage gateway that would free Clark from the Zone. To activate the portal Clark needed to spill his blood on the alter opening the portal sending him back to Earth.

Once released Clark used the crystal to remove the phantom wraith of General Zod out of the body of Lex Luthor.

Clark soon discovers that he wasn't the only one to escape the phantom zone. One of the wraith possessed a human teenager named Lamar and began looking for "Kal-El", eager for revenge. With help of Raya and the aid of the crystal Clark was able to extract Baern from Lamar's body returning him back to the Phantom Zone .

Clark's next encounter with a Zoner named Aldar was not as easy as he thought since Aldar was never a phantom, the crystal had no effect .

After rounding up the other escapees from the Phantom Zone, Clark was left to deal with one wraith who had taken possession of a small boy as a temporary source of nourishment until he could find a Kryptonian body to inhabit. Clark attempted to recapture the wraith with Crystal of El as the wraith flew towards him only to be in for a surprise himself. As wraith flew straight through the crystal shattering it into pieces and extracting a few cells from Clark's body to create a doppelganger known as Bizarro

Season Seven[]

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Kara's bracelet.

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Zor-El's memory crystal.

Kara Kent wears the symbol on her kryptonian cuff bracelet. It's also appears on a crystal pendant that shows Baby Kal-El that Kara carries around. In a memory flashback Kara remembers her first visit to earth to the Kent farm with her Aunt Lara and Zor-El during the early stages of the war on Krypton who uses a memory pendant crystal bearing the House of El insignia on it which wipes her memory clean of her experience on earth the first time.

Season Eight[]

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Gateway access.

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Kara's necklace.

In the Phantom Zone, Kara uses a secret passage way bearing the House of El insignia on the tablet gateway to transport Lois back to Earth who's followed by the phantom wraith Faora wife of Zod. When Kara and Clark return to earth after defeating Faora who possessed the body of Lois Lane returning her back to the Phantom Zone and Lois back to normal. Kara tells Clark she's not staying on earth and is planing to journey to space in search of the lost city of Kandor based on the rumors she heard of its possible survival while imprisoned in the Phantom Zone with the inmates. She says that the necklace bearing the House of El emblem she's wearing is close to her heart reminding her of him even in the far reaches of outer space.

Season Nine[]

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Clark's black Blur outfit.

Clark starts leaving the Mark of El around the city as he fights crime, as a symbol of hope for the citizens of Metropolis. The costume he wears as the Blur has the House of El symbol on his chest, a nod to the suit he will one day wear as Superman.

Later Clark receives a package from Martha and after he opened it the red, blue and yellow House of El emblem reflects in his eye.

Season Ten[]

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Superman costume.

Clark continues to wear his dark blur attire, and Lois gets a sneak peek at the new costume and loves seeing the House of El emblem colorized .

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New Blur outfit.

Clark dons a new prototype costume in red and blue with the House of El emblem engraved in the front. When he realizes that the world needs a symbol of hope to inspire them and a colorful uniform is much better representation to show that he's a force of light not darkness like his other blur attire symbolized.

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A VRA pin.

When the world begins to turn against its Heroes thanks to the influence of Darkseid and his fellow minions by labeling the heroes as dangerous vigilantes. Gordon Godfrey uses the House of El emblem as an anti-motivational poster to spread fear and mistrust since Clark's identity as the blur isn't publicly visible to discredit him. When the Vigilante Registration Act law is passed the Government used the House of El emblem as well to further their propaganda.

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Conner Kent reveals his new shirt.

Clark uses a new Crystal of El bearing the emblem of the House of El to transport Slade Wilson to the Phantom Zone.

Conner Kent dons a black t-shirt bearing the emblem of the House of El in red showing Clark that when he feels he's ready to join the team, he'll be ready .

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Lois's campaign billboard.

Lois gets inspired by Booster Gold's public marketing advertising strategy. That she creates one of her own in support of the Blur with a billboard featuring the Mark of El emblem and a tagline that reads "The Real Man Of Steel". Clark sees this billboard and questions Lois about the billboard advertising. Lois refuses to let The Blur be forgotten as metropolis' savior.

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Phantom Zone House of El gateway console.

Tess use the Crystal of El to transport Clark and Oliver into the Phantom Zone, Inside the zone Clark and Oliver ventures to the gateway alter portal only to discover the key crystal has been removed and is in the possession of General Zod. Eventually Clark retrieves the key from Zod and uses it transport himself and Oliver back to earth but not before destroying it to prevent Zod or any other of his followers from escaping imprisonment.

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Superman.

In the Finale, the Mark of El is last seen on Clark's supersuit as he wears it in public to save both The World and Lois and in the final scene, he rip's open his shirt to reveal it below his work clothes as he leaves the Daily Planet rooftop to stop a bomb scare.

Season Eleven[]

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Superman's updated suit.

Six months after Clark saves the The World from the planet Apokolips crashing and Lois as well as the Air Force 1 with the President of the United States inside, Clark lives with Lois in their Metropolis apartment. He is no longer known as The Blur to the public, instead he is known by the name of Superman which was dubbed to him by Lois after won the battle with Darkseid by mastering his ability to fly, putting on the suit, pushing Apokolips away from Earth, and finally fulfilling his destiny by becoming the Earth's greatest savior.At some point, after his public debut, Clark updated his Superman costume.Gone are the red trunks, replaced by a red belt trimmed in gold with a gold buckle. Blue-gray bands now run lengthwise along his sides from under the arms to his boots. The Mark of El on the cape is now in dark silhouette with all the yellow removed. Clark explained that he put lead in the shield of his new suit to protect himself from being shot with Kryptonite bullets. Superman's belt buckle can also be used as a communication device for Watchtower, and has a holo-computer.


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Lois and Clark discuss Superman's wardrobe changes.

At home with Lois, Clark expresses his discomfort at the hero worship, but Lois assures him that it is inspiring people, just as he wanted to do with the suit.He notices that the 'S' shield on the Superman t-shirt she slept in doesn't look right and she mentions that it seems no one can draw it the same way twice, also given that he's just altered his suit. Clark states that he'd like to finally tell the world that Superman is an alien. Lois counters that with all of the concern brought on by the pictures of the aliens on Apokolips, it might not be the best time, especially with Lex Luthor making such noise about it in public.

Appearances[]

In the Comics[]

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Superboy-Prime brands himself.

The mark of El brand has made many appearances in the comics. The El emblem is almost always embedded on the back of Superman's cape. Bizarro, as a reverse Kryptonian, wears his suit backwards; the \S/ is pointed left instead of right.

Superboy-Prime was then taken into the custody of the Green Lantern Corps. Because he was too powerful to be placed in a regular Sciencell on Oa, the Guardians of the Universe imprisoned him inside a Sciencell near what is alternately described as a red sun or a Red Sun-Eater, constantly being guarded by fifty Green Lanterns. Members of the Corps were often assigned to "Prime Duty" as punishment. While in prison, Superboy-Prime carved a bloody "S" on his chest using his fingernail, saying that he had always found a way out (referring, presumably, to his escape from the Speed Force and his future prison).

Notes[]

House of El family crest

The House Of El Family Crest.

Kryptonianletter s

The Kryptonian letter "S".

  • The ancestral Kryptonian \8/ of the House Of El is very similar to Superman's insignia, in both look and placement. Later, this symbol is actually replaced with the Superman emblem itself when referring to the House of El.
  • The Superman insignia is present on all the DVD and Blu-ray sets of Smallville.
  • Smallville has showcased both the Classic Superman comic book emblem and the Superman Returns.
  • Three different symbols are used to denote the House of El. The first is the \8/ introduced in Season 1 on the Key and later burned into Clark's chest at the end of Season 2. The second is "S" symbol originating from the film Superman Returns, and introduced in Season 6, emblazoned on the Crystal of El and on Kara's bracelet The third is the classic Superman emblem from the comic book, which is used by the media to symbolize the Blur, despite the fact that it noticeably differs from the symbol the Blur uses.

See also[]

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