Kryptonians

Kryptonians are an alien race who hail from the planet Krypton. The most well known kryptonian is Superman. Kryptonians appear to resemble humans but their biology is much more complex. Much is still unknown about it, but the celluar function of kryptonians allows for certain solar energy to be absorbed at extremely high levels when exposed to a yellow star like the Earth's Sun. This gives kryptonians vast superhuman powers when on planets such as Earth. Super speed, heat vision, x-ray vision, and super breath are among many kryptonian superpowers. On Krypton, kryptonians were not known to possess any super powers as the planet revolved around a red star. Kryptonians possess super strength on relatively small planets such as Earth as Krypton's mass was far greater than Earth's. The term Kryptonian can also refer to anything created by or associated with Krypton. For example, in the CW TV Series Smallville, Professor Milton Fine (aka Brainiac) is not really a kryptonian but an advanced artificial intelligence created by Kryptonians. Kryptonians are vulnerable to kryptonite.

Culture
Kryptonians are a highly technological advanced people. Their technology seems to be based on self-grown crystals which made up the vast majority of Krypton's surface. The Fortress of Solitude is a recreation of Krypton’s surface. There are at least 28 known galaxies known to Krypton as revealed by Jor-El in the movie Superman.

Survivors
When Krypton was destroyed, it was thought that the entire kryptonian race was destroyed. This was untrue as Jor-El managed to send his newborn son Kal-El off planet to Earth right before it was destroyed. Kal-El grew up on Earth as Clark Kent and eventually discovered his kryptonian origins. In the film Superman, young Clark discovers who he is in the Fortress of Solitude, where a crystal hologram of Jor-El tells him "You are the only survivor of the planet Krypton." The last remark also appeared to prove untrue as prisoners of the Phantom Zone such as General Zod also survived the destruction of Krypton. Supergirl, cousin of Superman, also survived Krypton's destruction and made home on Earth. The capital of Krypton, Kandor, was also spared from destruction as it was shrunken by Brainiac.

See Krypton