Martha Kent

From Smallville Wiki

Senator Martha Clark Kent is the widow of the late Jonathan Kent, adoptive mother of Clark Kent, and US Senator for the state of Kansas.

Martha is the daughter of William Clark, a lawyer. William mistakenly believed she was forced into a rural life by Jonathan, but she proved many times that she found her chosen path extremely fulfilling. Having a family was something she wanted very much, and when she and Jonathan were unable to have children, she took Clark's arrival as a gift or an act of fate. Martha didn't hesitate before deciding to raise him. Together, she and Jonathan raised Clark to be respectful, hard working, and obedient. As Clark grew up, she also ensured that hers and Jonathan's moral standards were passed on to their son.

After Jonathan's death, Martha took his position in the Kansas State Senate and focused her energy on her new job. In addition, her and Lionel Luthor's shared background and ideals formed into a close friendship. She served for over a year until the death of Senator Ed Burke. Martha took Burke's US Senate position and moved to Washington, DC, to fulfill her duties.

Contents 1 Personality 2 Early life 3 Season One 4 Season Two 5 Season Three 6 Season Four 7 Season Five 8 Season Six 9 Season Seven 10 In the Comics 11 Trivia 12 See Also

[edit] Personality

"I'm not the kind of person who turns her back on her friends because of what people think." - Martha Kent

Martha is independent and resourceful. She takes great pleasure in helping others in need. She is also extremely level-headed and reasonable. When Clark or Jonathan acted out of emotion or opinion, Martha was able to view a situation objectively. Although she and Clark are close, Martha is also stern and has high expectations for him.

Despite having no experience of anyone else as gifted as Clark, Martha managed to to stay calm and help Clark to accept his emerging superhuman powers. In his teen years, Clark began to suddenly develop new abilities and Martha and Jonathan always encouraged him to hone his ability and see it as a gift. As a mother, she is aware of Clark's worries that he may never be able to live a normal life or have children, and along with Jonathan, Martha tried to reassure Clark that his future is still undetermined. She wants him to be happy but will not hesitate to tell him when he is making a bad choice. She initially encouraged Clark's relationships with Lex Luthor and Lana Lang but after the dissolution of both relationships, she tried to get Clark to realize that he needed to move on. She also frequently encourages Clark to embrace his humanity as a positive trait, not a weakness.

Martha is an accomplished baker. Although soft-spoken, she is intelligent and quick-thinking.

[edit] Early life

Martha grew up in Metropolis and met Jonathan Kent while they both attended a finance class at Metropolis University. She made up an excuse to talk to him, asking him for some notes, even though she was the note-taker for the class. When she asked how he knew that she would give them back, Jonathan told her that he believed in the goodness of people, and Martha said that this statement made her fall in love with him.

When Jonathan asked William Clark for permission to marry his daughter, William stated that he wanted more for Martha than to marry a poor farmer. Jonathan impulsively and angrily hit William and the two remained estranged until Jonathan's death. After they adopted Clark, Martha and Jonathan decided together not to tell her father Clark's secret. Because of this, Martha's relationship with her parents remains strained and distant. Before she married Jonathan, she had an unspecified career in business, but when she and Jonathan got married against her father's wishes, she moved to Smallville with Jonathan. Jonathan and Martha managed the Kent Farm together growing organic produce.

Jonathan and Martha tried to have children, but were faced with infertility. The day of the meteor shower of 1989, Jonathan and Martha went to Nell's flower shop to buy tulips. During the shower, their truck flipped over, but they were unharmed. They crawled out of the truck and found a naked little boy, appearing to be around age two or three. They also found a small spaceship, which had apparently fallen with the meteors. They took the boy with them, and hid the ship in the back of their truck. On their way home, they came across Lionel Luthor, who asked them for their help, because his son Lex, was unconscious, having been injured in the meteor shower. Jonathan hid the ship in the farm's storm cellar. When Sheriff Ethan visited the Kent Farm, he saw and inquired about the little boy. Put on the spot, Martha lied and claimed that they just adopted him. Martha and Jonathan then needed to quickly make the story true, and enlisted the help of Lionel Luthor, a billionaire with infinite resources, to falsify adoption papers. Lionel drew up the papers but, in exchange, required that Jonathan go to Bill Ross, the father of Pete Ross, and convinced him to sell the Ross Creamed Corn Factory to Lionel. Martha named the boy Clark, Martha's maiden name.

[edit] Season One

"We didn't find him. He found us" -Martha Kent (Pilot)

Like any parent, Martha Kent was shown from the start to have high expectations for her extraordinary son. However she also proved to be Clark's more easy-going parent and often deferred difficult decisions to Jonathan. She let him decide if Clark could join the football team or keep a new truck, an extravagant gift given to Clark by Lex Luthor. She also let Jonathan be the one to tell Clark about his true origins. When Clark joined the football team against Jonathan's wishes, Martha tried to play peacekeeper. When Clark suddenly developed X-ray vision he first saved Martha from being run over by Tina Greer, then he and Martha helped solve a bank robbery Tina committed as well.

Clark often asked his mother for advice when dealing with his long-standing crush on Lana Lang. Initially, Martha knew that Lana was happy in her relationship with Whitney Fordman and advised Clark to proceed cautiously if he did not want his feelings hurt. However, Martha also recognized that Clark really only had two close friends, Pete Ross and Chloe Sullivan, so she often helped him cultivate a friendship with Lana.

As Clark grew closer to Lex Luthor, Jonathan was quick to judge Lex, but Martha was willing to try to see the young man in a different light than his ruthless father Lionel. She trusted Clark to decide for himself if Lex was trustworthy. Martha and Jonathan also sometimes had differing opinions on the best way to successfully run the Kent Farm. Plagued with long-standing financial difficulties, Martha sought innovative ways to raise income. She was willing to hear what Lex Luthor had to say when he proposed to invest in some area farms and modernize them to make them more profitable and invited them to discuss his prospects. She convinced Jonathan to go, but Jonathan chose to take out a bank loan instead.

Martha was the unwitting target of Harry Volk after meteor rocks made him mysteriously age backwards. Because Clark, Chloe, and Pete got too close to catching Volk, he approached Martha on the farm to kill her. She was able to outrun him but he prevented her from leaving by slashing her tires and cutting the phone line. Martha hid in a grain silo and got away by burying herself and Volk in grain. Clark and Jonathan arrived just in time to save her and capture Volk.

On their anniversary that year, Martha admitted to Jonathan that she sometimes misses living in the city, but doesn't regret moving to Smallville. Shortly after, Clark got involved with Sam Phelan who tried to blackmail him into stealing for him. He even got Jonathan arrested by planting a body in their barn. While Clark reacted with anger and frustration, Martha remained calm and level-headed until Jonathan's name was clear. Similarly, when Bob Rickman hypnotized Jonathan into selling the farm, Martha was angry but got things worked out. She was more concerned to learn that Clark was shot multiple times, but relatively bullet-proof. When Clark's powers were transferred to Eric Summers due to lightning, she and Jonathan tried to help him adjust. Clark was concerned that his parents would see him differently but they reassured him. Eric was dangerously violent, but Martha assured Clark that she has never been afraid of him. Martha and Jonathan let Chloe interview them for a school biography project about Clark. They told her that they used the Metropolis United Charity to arrange the adoption. When Jonathan fell ill due to the Nicodemus flower, Lex promised Martha that he would do everything he could to find a cure. Martha accidentally hit Ryan James with her car and took him to the hospital. When the doctor disclosed that Ryan was possibly abused, she agreed that it would be best for him to stay with the Kents until a relative could be found. She was pleased to see Clark and Ryan bond and wondered if they should have adopted a sibling for Clark as well. Martha tried to mediate between Clark and Jonathan when they got into a fight about Clark's friendship with Lex.

Clark often asked Martha for advice on his crush on Lana and his friendship with Chloe. Martha advised him to ask Chloe to the Spring Formal if he was indeed considering being more than friends with her. When tornadoes hit the town that spring, Martha and Jonathan took refuge in their storm cellar where they were shocked to see the ship had been activated. It blasted a beam of light in the cellar, which was videotaped by Roger Nixon. Martha was horrified when Jonathan left the safety of the shelter in the middle of the storm to chase after Nixon.

[edit] Season Two

"Clark, we're not trying to keep you from learning about your past. We just don't want to see you get hurt."' -Martha Kent (Skinwalker)

Unharmed during the disastrous tornado storm, Martha volunteered at the Talon for the storm's victims, even as she worried over Jonathan and Clark's fates. When Clark resurfaced unharmed, she told him Jonathan was missing but tried to reassure him that it was not his fault. While helping out at the disaster relief, Martha remarked to Lana that the storm reminded her of the first meteor shower. At the same time Clark developed heat vision, he was also at odds with Lex over Desirée Atkins and Martha stood up for her son, reminding him that Clark has been a good friend to Lex. Shortly after, Clark asked if he should tell Pete Ross his secret and Martha advised that Pete might not want the burden. When Clark told Pete anyway, Martha and Jonathan welcomed Pete with their family's biggest secret. Clark provided another parenting obstacle when he was exposed to red kryptonite for the first time and inexplicably displayed rebellious and rude behavior. Martha and Jonathan were initially at a loss until they discovered the cause of the change. On a chance visit to the Luthor Mansion, Martha encountered Lionel Luthor, struggling with his new blindness. Lionel was so taken with Martha's personality, he offered her a job as his personal assistant. Martha admitted to Jonathan that she was very interested in the job. Martha asked her father William Clark to help the farm's longstanding financial difficulties, but instead he arrived for an unexpected visit, Martha revealed that after a tumultuous relationship, she cut ties with him after she adopted Clark, believing that their history of disagreement would not stand the burden of Clark's secret. She found the key in Lionel's vault and hides it in the house, not even telling Clark or Jonathan about it. She later quit her job after learning that he had a file on Clark in his office, and her job caused to much conflict with her and Jonathan, another reason why she also quit that job working for Lionel. She and Lionel our kidnapped by a Insurgence team. While finding hiding places for the key, Martha came in contact with spores containing the same materials as meteor rock and it almost killed her. However, the key was found and placed back into the Ship, as its light healed Martha and cured of its illness.

When Clark destroyed the ship, the energy pulse caused Jonathan and Martha's truck to roll, and she subsequently miscarried the baby. She was still in the hospital when, out of guilt, Clark dosed himself with red kryptonite and ran away. She spent the summer answering his silent phone calls, pleading for him to return home.

[edit] Season Three

"You know, you can save the whole world, Clark, but you've got to take care of your heart too." -Martha Kent (Asylum)

Martha was left alone after Clark is taken by Jor-El, who also put Jonathan in a coma. She spent the summer at the hospital visiting Jonathan, reading to him and managing his care. When Clark called her from Metropolis but doesn't say anything Martha knew it was Clark and begs him to come home

Clark met Jordan, who possessed abilities. Martha was the first one he talk to about his destiny, Martha then assures Clark that he has to concentrate on the lives he saves. Martha along with Johnathan both thought that Clark's relationship with Alicia Baker was going to end badly. Later on we find out Martha and Jonathan made a promise to let Clark go when he is ready.

When Chloe got exposed to truth gas and everybody had no choice to tell the truth. Martha truth was about Jonathan that she was so scared that Johnathan was so angry and depressed over his ill health, and she's worried he might not be the same again. Martha is upset that Jonathan made a deal and didn't tell her. Later at the end of season three we see Martha running outside and see's a Kryptonian symbol burned into the fields.

[edit] Season Four

"Destiny? That's Jor-El talking! He did this to you-- I want my son back, give me back my son!" -Martha Kent (Crusade)

Martha saw Clark in the Smallville Hospital while reading to a comatose Jonathan. She took Clark home, and showed him places to bring back his memory. However, he was "reprogrammed" by Jor-El and returned as Kal-El, with no knowledge of Clark's life, and intent on fulfilling his destiny to reunite the Stones of Power. Martha was astonished when, out in the barnyard, Kal-El simply flew away. Martha contacted Virgil Swann, who sent his associate, Bridgette Crosby, along with a fragment of black kryptonite. When Martha exposed Kal-El to the fragment, Clark was able to overpower Kal-El and return to his normal self. Simultaneously, Jonathan awoke from his coma.

When Lionel switched bodies with Clark. Martha was shock to see Clark dress shirt and slacks and that his behavior and the Clark/Lionel gives Martha a hug. Martha visits Lionel/Clark in prison and tells him she already knows that Lionel is in Clark's body. Martha along with Jonathan trick Lionel as Clark to go to the Cave so Clark can go back to his body and Lionel back in his.

Martha decided to run the Talon because by her working at the Talon it keeps her mind off Jonathan health , and later on Martha hired Lois Lane as a waitress to work at the Talon. After Lois got kicked out of school Martha and the other Kents decide to let Lois live with them.

Jonathan and Martha were forced to leave Smallville because of another meteor shower heading for Smallville. Before they could leave, however, they were taken hostage by Jason Teague, who threatened to kill Martha unless Jonathan told him where Clark hid the Crystal of Knowledge However, Jonathan managed to attack him by surprise, but then a meteorite hit the Kents' house.

[edit] Season Five

"A heart beats only so many times in a life. Your father used his more than anyone I know." -Martha Kent (Reckoning)

Martha and Jonathan managed to survive and were reunited with Clark.

Martha was stricken with a Kryptonian disease that was suspected to be the work of Jor-El. She had sores and markings over her body, and only green kryptonite could abate the pain. She was later saved when Clark realized that Professor Fine was responsible for the disease, and with Fine's destruction, the disease was ridden from her body.

When Jonathan won the Kansas State Senate race, he had a confrontation with Lionel Luthor, and died the same night. Clark and Martha were both devastated, but helped each other through their shared grief. Martha was offered Jonathan's Senator position, and accepted it.

After Jonathan's death, Martha began receiving increasingly frequent visits from Lionel Luthor, who appeared to harbor an attraction to her for years. However, Martha never gave any indication that the attraction was mutual. Shortly after taking the Senate seat, she began receiving threats of blackmail, in the form of a DVD containing a video of Clark surviving a powerful explosion unharmed. Lionel, who had contributed to Jonathan's Senate campaign, promised to take care of it. Clark then learned that Lionel had figured out Clark's secret. When Clark confronted him on his knowledge, Lionel admitted that he cares too much for Martha to expose Clark.

Martha and Clark took in a little girl, Maddie, after her foster mother was killed.

Clark told Martha that Lionel knew his secret. She set out to confront him, but inadvertently became a pawn in a tormentor's game and ended up fighting for her life.

On his birthday, Martha, Lois, and Chloe surprised Clark with a party. The next day, he told Martha that he saw Jonathan's spirit in the cemetery, telling him to kill Lionel. Later that day, Martha saw Jonathan's spirit sitting in a chair, telling her that it was him that caused his death. However, it turned out that Jonathan was really a Brainiac duplicate. Lionel had later came to clear the air, to confess what happened on the day of Jonathan's death. He told her that he knew about Clark's secret, but he would not allow him to explain. She stood staring at him in silence and in sorrow as he left.

Martha and Lois were beginning their trip to Washington D.C. for a conference, but their plane ride was canceled. Lionel was able to allow them to use the LuthorCorp jet. On the plane ride, Lois was discussing Martha's possible feelings for Lionel. However, the pilot of the plane turned out to be Brainiac who took them into an area where they were depriving of oxygen.

[edit] Season Six

"You mean the billionaire CEO who stopped by to talk about his financial support of my platform? No, Lois, I don't. I've never even met him, and now I probably never will." -Martha Kent (Wither)

After Martha and Lois' plane crashed near the Fortress of Solitude, Martha drags an unconscious Lois Lane to the Fortress and has her first conversation with Jor-El and that's when Jor-El told Martha how to kill Zod. He then sent her back, with Lois, to Smallville. When Clark got his new power, super breath, Martha took his temperature but then realized that he didn't have a fever. Martha then thinks he must have caught something in the Phantom Zone without his powers.

While attending a fund raiser, the Green Arrow stole a diamond necklace off Martha's neck. She hosted a Thanksgiving dinner at her house. Lionel had accidentally admitted his feelings for Martha and then Lionel said sorry for saying that to Martha but she told him she really values their friendship.

In Clark's dream, Martha is married to Lionel. Martha tells Clark that Lionel really wants to help him through his problems with having super powers.

After Clark, infected with red kryptonite in his system, told off to those he knew at Lex's engagement party, including his mother, Martha had to subdue him with kryptonite.

Martha was asked to look up information about Wes Keenan by Lois. Martha was recommended to be sworn in as Senator at the U.S. Senate, which meant she had to move to Washington, DC. On the day of her departure, she invited Clark to go with her, saying he did not have to stay and manage the farm, but Clark did not want to go and they parted.

[edit] Season Seven

After moving to Washington, DC, Martha kept in contact with Lionel Luthor. She was, however, forbidden to attend his funeral in Descent when Lex ordered it to be a closed ceremony.

It remains to be seen if Martha talks to Clark regularly; he seems to be more concerned with his biological cousin Kara Kent and his girlfriend Lana.

Martha is still living in Smallville in an alternate universe revealed by Jor-El in Apocalypse. Jonathan is still alive and they have a son that they have also called Clark. Neither Jonathan nor Martha are seen on screen; the other Clark says that they are away on a cruise.

[edit] In the Comics

Martha Clark Kent and Jonathan Kent, also known as Ma and Pa Kent, are fictional characters published by DC Comics. The Kents are the adoptive parents of Superman. They live in the small town of Smallville, USA. The couple is usually portrayed age wise as either late middle age or elderly.In most versions of Superman's origin story, Jonathan and Martha Kent were the first to come across the rocket that brought the infant Kal-El to Earth, with their adopting him shortly thereafter, deciding to rename him Clark Kent-- "Clark" having been Martha's maiden name. Martha is also the one who creates Clark's superhero costume.

[edit] Trivia

• Clark's first name is Martha's maiden name.
• Martha enjoys watching the Discovery Channel.
• Martha does not wear an engagement ring, just a simple thin gold band.
• Martha or Jonathan's political affiliation has never been mentioned, but Kansas' representatives in the US Senate have both been Republicans since 1939. [1]
• Martha Kent shares her first name with Bruce Wayne's mother, Martha Wayne.

[edit] See Also

• Martha and Jonathan
• Lionel and Martha