Phantom Zone
From Smallville Wiki
"Picture an alien Alcatraz." – Chloe Sullivan, to Oliver Queen, Bloodline
The Phantom Zone is an alternate dimension discovered by the Kryptonian scientist Jor-El.
Before Krypton's destruction, many of the worst criminals from the 28 known galaxies were imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. In many cases, these criminals were mass murderers on a grand scale, such as Gloria, with the most horrific offenders stripped of their physical bodies and flung into the Zone as non-corporeal phantoms, such as General Zod. Many of the prisoners exiled to the Zone were captured by the Martian Manhunter when he worked as a bounty hunter for Jor-El.
The Phantom Zone is a desert-like wasteland where the sun never sets, casting an eternal blue-gray light. No indigenous forms of life have been shown, either animal or plant, but the Zone is nonetheless a very dangerous place. Phantoms roam freely, able to attack at will, and the inhabitants are violent and angry. According to Raya, time has no meaning there, and anyone exiled to the Zone does not age.
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[edit] Phantoms
Resembling wraiths, the bodiless phantoms roam the Phantom Zone at will, attacking with little warning. Though primarily insubstantial, they are able to cut, and even grab, their victims. (Zod) Only Raya's Crystal of El was able to drive them away. Not all prisoners of the Phantom Zone are wraiths, but they are the most dangerous.
Outside of the Zone, they have not been shown to have any substance; however, they are able to possess a host at will. Once they do so, the host body gains any abilities the phantom may have had in its original form. However, these powers vanish once a phantom leaves, or is forced out, of the individual they are possessing. (Zod, Fallout, Bloodline)
Phantoms can be forcibly removed from a host using a Crystal of El or a similar device, such as the Martian Crystal.
[edit] Entrances
[edit] The Black Crystal
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When Brainiac arrived on Earth, his mission was to release Zod, using Clark as his vessel. He attempted to do this by using the black crystal in the Fortress to open a Phantom Zone portal. This can be used as an exit and an entrance, as Clark tried to use it to send Davis to the Phantom Zone. (Solitude, Beast)
[edit] Phantom Zone Bracelets
Phantom Zone bracelets originate from Krypton, where Jor-El created the Phantom Zone. The bracelets have been shown to be in the possession of the Disciples of Zod. They open portals which violently suck their victim inside. Once trapped, the portal closes, becoming a thin pane of square crystal which quickly races into space. (Arrival, Vessel).
From the outside, it seems as if person trapped is somehow stuck within the crystal pane; however, from the inside, these constructs are more like a transparent room from which the person sealed inside can observe the outside world.
Once in space, the 'floor' of this construct drops, and the prisoner inside falls through a tunnel, eventually landing in the true Phantom Zone. Once there, any superpowers that the prisoner may have had are nullified, and the being is rendered mortal.
[edit] The Crystal of Knowledge
The Crystal of Knowledge was also somehow reprogrammed to send Clark Kent into the Phantom Zone. Lois was touching Clark at the time, which resulted in both of them being imprisoned. (Bloodline)
[edit] Exits
On two occasions, Brainiac was able to use the Fortress of Solitude to generate a portal to the Phantom Zone. In Brainiac's first attempt, the wraith form of General Zod was almost able to emerge through this, sealed in the crystal square, before Clark Kent prevented it. Brainiac's second attempt was successful, and Zod was able to possess the body of Lex Luthor. It is not known if this portal could also have been used to exile someone to the Zone, or if the Fortress itself has such a capability.
Chloe Sullivan was able to use her Brainiac abilities to re-program the Crystal of Knowledge to open an exit from the Phantom Zone for Kara and Clark while the crystal was powered by a frequency generator that Chloe had Oliver Queen steal from Tess Mercer.
The second way to escape the Zone is from the inside. Jor-El designed a secret 'backdoor' gateway out of the Zone, should he or his family ever be exiled there. Only a member of the House of El can operate it. This gateway transports the person activating it from the Zone to wherever they wish, but will also draw in any nearby people or phantoms. Both Kara and Clark caused phantoms to escape when they opened the portal on seperate occassions. Those transported appear on Earth in a flash of light. When Clark escaped the exit appeared high in the sky so he and the other escaped zoners fell to the ground in a burst of energy that created craters wherever they landed.
[edit] Prisoners
- "Zoners?"
- "'Escaped Super-criminals from the Phantom Zone' is a little bit of a mouthful." – Chloe Sullivan to Clark Kent, Reunion
Zoners, a term coined by Chloe Sullivan, designates the escaped prisoners and phantoms of the Phantom Zone. When Clark Kent used the gateway to escape, it seems that many have followed him back to the planet Earth.
Some Zoners are phantoms that can possess the bodies of humans, like Baern and General Zod did. They can be sent back to the Zone directly with the Crystal of El, as Clark did to with Zod and Baern, without killing the host.
On the other hand, others were never phantoms and retained their original forms, like Aldar, Gloria and Titan. Neither of them could be returned to the Zone with the Crystal of El, and had to be killed because there was no Phantom Zone bracelet around to trap them with. Within a corporeal form, they demonstrate their powers.
At least four of the escaped Zoners, including Zod, have been shown to bypass or negate Kryptonian physical invulnerability to some extent (and it is imaginable that the Zone holds even more powerful entities). This feat may be related to their imprisonment in the Zone, or that since they are not from Earth and are so physically powerful themselves, they can inflict sharp and blunt force trauma on Kryptonian flesh. This has precedent in the comics such as when Doomsday killed Superman in Superman #75 (January 1993).
[edit] General Zod
General Zod attempted to take over the planet Krypton with the help of the Brain InterActive Construct. He was opposed by the scientist Jor-El of the House of El. Ultimately, Zod's quest for dominion led to Krypton's destruction, as well as the deaths of its people, with the exception of a few survivors, including Kal-El, Kara, and Raya.
Before Krypton perished, Zod's physical body was destroyed, while his mind and spirit were placed in the Phantom Zone by Jor-El; the only way Zod could escape his imprisonment was if he found another body to inhabit.
[edit] Gloria
Gloria was an alien being who had control over plant life and super strength. Originating from a plant world, she was imprisoned in the Phantom Zone for overtaking other planets with her vegetation until she was inadvertently released by Clark Kent.
Posing as a beautiful park ranger, Gloria used her powers to store her seeds in human males, luring men into the woods and killing their girlfriends. Gloria used Jimmy Olsen as one of her suitors and attacked Clark with her powers. When she went to find a suitor at the charity ball at the Luthor Mansion, she was stopped by Clark, who electrocuted her with a lamp and vaporized her, ending her threat once and for all.
[edit] Baern
Baern is an escaped alien criminal from the Phantom Zone with the power to project energy that can vaporize a person in an instant. He also possessed super speed and super strength. Baern destroyed his own civilization as well as a few Kryptonians before being turned into a phantom and exiled to the Zone by Jor-El. He tracked Kal-El to Smallville; in the ensuing battle between him and Kal-El in the Fortress of Solitude, Raya was killed.
[edit] Disciples of Zod
The Disciples of Zod were foot soldiers who served General Zod. They were warriors who were well-experienced with their Kryptonian powers on Earth.
The first set of disciples sent to Earth were Aethyr and Nam-Ek, who arrived on Earth during the second meteor shower. They were sent by their master to look for Kal-El, and terrorized Smallville in search of him. After a protracted struggling in which the Disciples tried to imprison Clark Kent in the Zone, Clark managed to turn the tables and imprison them. Later, when Clark was sent into the Zone by Zod, Nam-Ek was killed by Raya.
[edit] Aldar
Aldar was an enormous alien humanoid who fed on human skeletons. Clark Kent tried to capture him with the Crystal of El, but since Aldar was never a phantom, the attempt failed. He possessed vast amounts of super strength, and was stronger than even Clark, easily defeating the Kryptonian in combat, although he was subsequently vanquished by the Martian Manhunter.
[edit] Dr. Hudson
Dr. Hudson is a Zoner who has the power of mind control. He telepathically entered Clark Kent's mind and created an illusion where Clark's powers were simply a figment of his overactive imagination. He was aware of every single memory within Clark's mind and therefore was able to optimize the alternate reality which he had created to try and trick Clark into giving up his powers, with only the intervention of the Martian Manhunter and the sound of Shelby's barking managing to convince Clark that he was in an illusion. The Martian Manhunter used the Martian Crystal, a device very similar to the Crystal of El, to remove Dr. Hudson from Clark's mind and imprison him in the Phantom Zone once again.
[edit] Titan
Titan was a powerful humanoid alien formerly trapped in the Phantom Zone, escaping when Clark Kent left the Zone. Unlike most other Zoners, he still possessed his body. Titan was a fighter and lived to fight; a Kryptonian tattoo on his right arm underlined that his race seemed to embrace the way of the warrior. Titan was fighting meteor freaks at a club until he could fight a Kryptonian: Clark. Titan was killed in combat.
[edit] Bizarro
Bizarro was the last, and probably most dangerous, Zoner released from the Phantom Zone. He was accidentally created in a laboratory on the planet Krypton. The Martian Manhunter helped Jor-El send Bizarro to the Zone as a wraith.
After battling Clark Kent at Reeves Dam, taking a piece of Clark's DNA to create his own body, and being defeated, the Martian Manhunter placed him on the sunny side of Mars, leaving Bizarro trapped because of his weakness to sunlight from the yellow sun. After Zor-El caused an eclipse that covered the galaxy, Bizarro returned; upon learning that Clark was missing, he took over his life. When he realized he had to confront his weakness, Bizarro found Brainiac, who tricked him to find his creator so he could fix himself. Clark eventually confronted Bizarro with blue kryptonite, which Lana Lang used against him.
[edit] Raya
Raya was an assistant of Jor-El, who sent her into the Phantom Zone armed with a Crystal of El to ward off the phantoms shortly before Krypton's destruction. When Clark was banished to the Zone by General Zod, Raya helped him escape, giving him the crystal to help him to stop Zod.
Later, Clark discovered that Raya had come to Earth, at which point they battled Baern; Raya was killed during the final fight with the escaped phantom.
[edit] Kara
Kara was sent to the Phantom Zone by Brainiac after they traveled back in time to Krypton in the year 1986 prior to the planet's destruction so that Brainiac could kill baby Kal-El so he couldn't grow up and become Clark Kent. After Kara tried to stop Brainiac on Krypton, he placed her in the Zone at some point after she returned to the present day. When Clark and Lois Lane were transported to the Phantom Zone, Kara attacked them, believing them to be shapeshifting Zoners, but realized it was them and helped them escape using a second escape route built by Zor-El. She helped Lois escape first and unsuccessfully tried to stop Faora from following, resulting in Zod's wife inhabiting Lois' body.
Kara was only able to escape the Phantom Zone when Chloe Sullivan reversed the programming of the Crystal of Knowledge to bring Clark home. Clark then held on to Kara to drag her through with him.
[edit] Faora
Faora was the wife of General Zod, and was imprisoned with him in the Phantom Zone and stripped of her body. She managed to escape the Zone with Lois Lane despite Kara's efforts to fight her away from it. Upon arriving on Earth, Faora inhabited Lois' body, but was eventually captured by Kara using the Martian Manhunter's Martian crystal.
[edit] Lois Lane
Lois Lane is the first known human prisoner of the Phantom Zone. She was transported there when Clark Kent received the Crystal of Knowledge, which was reprogrammed to send him to the Zone. Lois was knocked out by Kara, but eventually awoke and was freed by Kara using Zor-El's portal. Her time in the Phantom Zone led to her being possessed by Faora, yet Lois has no memory of the incident as she thinks it was all a dream.
[edit] Appearances
[edit] Inside the Phantom Zone
The inside of the Phantom Zone has only been shown twice in the show's history.
[edit] Outside the Phantom Zone
Portals to the Phantom Zone have been seen on numerous occassions in various different forms. (See Entrances and Exits (above))
[edit] In the Comics
In the comics The Phantom Zone is an interdimensional realm outside the normal space/time continuum. It is a barren and insubstantial null area absent of any physical material. There is only one native denizen to the Phantom Zone, the enigmatic and powerful entity known as the Aethyr. All cause and effect that occurs within the zone does so at Aethyr's capricious whim. Persons who travel into the negative zone are no longer corporeal and exist only as psychic phantasms of their true selves. Though their minds and personalities remain intact, they can no longer physically interact with any other being. This include direct physical contact as well as the power of speech. Communication within the phantom zone is done so by telepathy. As the Phantom Zone exists outside of space/time, those within it are no longer subject to the rigors of age, rendering them effectively immortal.
When Jor-El later discovered that Krypton was going to explode due to geological instability, he proposed bringing the entire population of Krypton into the zone. Jor-El never had the opportunity or approval to conduct such a plan, and ultimately everyone living on the planet Krypton died when it exploded.
Those within the Phantom Zone survived however. It was years before they ever learned the truth about their home-world's destruction. Several of the exiled criminals, now led by General Zod, found a means of escaping the zone and eventually came to Earth where they battled the "Last Son" of Krypton, Jor-El's son Kal-El.
[edit] Notes
Phantom Zone bracelets are Kryptonian portals to the Phantom Zone. They are thrown into mid air and then turn into a circular portal that then sucks in their victims. Once the victims are sucked in, the portal closes and turns into a square crystal shard that has the faces of its victims on it. The shard then flies into space. ( Arrival, Vessel)
