Dru-Zod II (New Earth)




 * "You will kneel before me. Both you and one day... your son!"
 * --General Zod

Real Name: Zod Nicknames: No known nicknames Former Aliases: No known former aliases Other Current Aliases: Admiral Zod

Status
Occupation: Former military commander; Intergalactic terrorist Legal Status: General Zod was a citizen of the late planet Krypton with a criminal record. Identity: Secret; the general populace of Earth is unaware of Zod's Kryptonian heritage (subject to change pending current storyline). Marital Status: Marital status unknown Group Affiliation: Former member of the Kryptonian Defense Council Base of Operations: Formerly Krypton; formerly the Phantom Zone; currently Earth

Origin
Origin of character unknown.

Place of Birth: Krypton Known Relatives: Ursa (mate/wife); Christopher Kent (son) First Appearance: Action Comics #845

History
History of character unknown.

Alternate Media
The character of General Zod has appeared in both film and television.

Movies
General Zod is most widely recognized as the primary antagonist from the 1981 film, Superman II. Played by actor Terrence Stamp, Zod actually made his on-screen debut in the first Superman film. Appearing with his Kryptonian confederates Ursa and Non, they made a brief appearance in the opening scenes of the movie, where the Kryptonian Science Council sentences all three of them to banishment in the Phantom Zone. This scene foreshadowed the major plot of the sequel.

In Superman II, an explosion in space shatters the portal to the Phantom Zone setting the Kryptonians free. Immediately gifted with superhuman abilities from Earth's yellow sun, they set down on the moon where they encounter an International team of astronauts. From listening to the Astronauts' broadcast, Zod mistakenly believes that the name of their home planet was Houston. From there, Zod, Ursa and Non fly to "Planet Houston" where they learn that the son of Jor-El (the man responsible for imprisoning them) is living under the pseudonym, Superman. Hungry for new worlds to conquer, Zod quickly takes control of the United States, and sets up a base of operations at the White House. With the aid of criminal mastermind Lex Luthor, he learns of Superman's attachment to Lois Lane and the location of his Fortress of Solitude.

Superman squares off with Zod and the others in a massive brawl that nearly destroys Metropolis. Their fight eventually brings all of the combatants, as well as Lois and Lex Luthor, to the Fortress of Solitude for their final confrontation. There, Superman tricks the three Kryptonians into entering a special Red-Sun chamber that robs them of their powers. Superman finishes Zod off by throwing him against a wall adjacent to a deep catacomb. No longer gifted with the ability to fly, General Zod falls to his doom. This behavior on the part of Superman, is extremely uncharacteristic, as he would not needlessly take the life of an enemy who was no longer a threat to him.

Television
The character of General Zod has made frequent (albeit non-corporeal) appearances in the WB/CW television series, Smallville. Like his movie and comic book counterparts, General Zod was a prisoner of the Phantom Zone. However, those trapped within the Phantom Zone no longer possess physical bodies, so Zod existed as a disembodied consciousness. The character was first referenced in the Season Five premier episode, "Arrival". In the episode, two Kryptonian criminals named Nam-Ek and Aethyr broke free of the Phantom Zone and arrived on Earth. They functioned as heralds of General Zod and proclaimed that Zod would soon arrive to take control of this world. Young Clark Kent succeeded in returning the two criminals back to the Phantom Zone, but at the (temporary) cost of his own powers.

Zod's true agent on Earth was actually an artificial intelligence in human form named Milton Fine. Fine managed to infiltrate the Fortress of Solitude, and set Zod's essence free. A vortex was opened paving the way for Zod's arrival on Earth, but Clark managed to close the portal before Zod could emerge. Regardless, he was still free of the Phantom Zone.

The true threat of Zod didn't emerge until the end of Season five. Due to the machinations of Milton Fine, Zod was able to enter Earth's reality and take possession of Lex Luthor. Clark meanwhile, had found himself trapped in the Phantom Zone. He eventually freed himself with the aid of a sympathetic prisoner named Raya and returned to Earth to battle Zod/Luthor. In the Season Six premier episode titled (appropriately enough) "Zod", Clark had his final confrontation with General Zod. After a protracted physical struggle, Zod managed to defeat Clark. However, what he didn't realize was that Clark was armed with a special S-shaped stone that he acquired from Raya in the Phantom Zone. This stone was the only thing capable of defeating Zod. Activating the device, Clark succeeded in exorcising Zod's essence from Lex Luthor's body. Lex fell unconscious with no memory of his time under Zod's control, and Zod's essence was forever trapped inside the Kryptonian stone.

Characteristics
Height: x'xx" Weight: xxx lbs (xxx kg) Eyes: Eye colour unknown Hair: Black (Graying on sides) Unusual Features: Zod bears his family crest as a brand across his throat.

Powers
Known Powers: All powers and weaknesses are approximated based upon the characteristics of a standard Kryptonian existing in an environment under a yellow sun.


 * Kryptonian Physiology: Zod's cellular structure is more dense, resilient and biologically more effective than human tissue. Strangely enough, he does not seem to possess superhuman strength levels despite his enhanced cellular ability without constant exposure to yellow solar energy. Without such charging, his strength seems on par for a human of his height and weight who engages in regular physical activity.


 * Solar Energy Absorption: Technically, this is the main source of Zod's powers. Because his powers are largely due to exposure to Earth's yellow sun, his abilities have been affected by extreme absorptions of solar power, whether voluntary or involuntary.


 * Superhuman Strength: While the exact magnitude of Zod's strength is unknown, it is generally accepted that his strength easily surpasses the capacity to lift 100 tons, but how much more is not known exactly.


 * Invulnerability: Zod's body is invulernable to most forms of physical attack. With the exception of certain extenuating circumstances, Zod can theoretically withstand the concussive force of a low-yield nuclear warhead without any undue stress.


 * Superhuman Stamina: Zod has the ability to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an undetermined period of time. However, Zod's base physical structure still requires norishment and he needs to process food stuffs on a regular basis to maintain his stamina.


 * Flight: Zod possesses the ability to defy the forces of gravity and fly at speeds in excess to the speed of sound. The mechanism by which he flies is unknown, but some suggestions include the use of a field of energy which allows unconscious manipulation of gravity or diffraction/reflection of gravity due to unidentified Kryptonian organs affected by a yellow sun. Alternately, this power could be explained as a psionic manipulation of a personal anti-gravitational aura, which is also caused by his Kryptonian cells and exposure to a yellow sun.


 * Superhuman Speed: Zod possesses the ability to move at an accelerated rate of speed. This includes running at speeds that are beyond supersonic, but he prefers flying as that is usually less strenuous and more versatile.


 * Enhanced Senses: The acuity of Zod's five senses are many times greater than that of the standard Earth human.


 * Telescopic Vision: Zod possesses the ability to see things at a great distance and alter his perception so that he can perceive selected areas within his field of vision at a closer distance.


 * X-Ray Vision: Zod possesses the ability to see through any material substance except for lead. He can see things behind a wall as if the wall were not there, or can "peel back" layer after layer of matter in his mind.


 * Microscopic Vision: The ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the atomic level (normal optical microscopes can only see objects down to the size of chromosomes).


 * Electro-magnetic Spectrum Vision: Zod can perceive patterns within the electromagnetic spectrum. He can see and identify radio/television and any and all broadcast/transmitted frequencies, allowing him to avoid detection through radar or satellite monitoring methods.


 * Infrared Vision: In combination with his other extraordinary vision-based powers, Zod can also see into the infrared spectrum.


 * Heat Vision: Through a conscious act of will, Zod has the ability to fire beams of intense thermal energy at a target simply by looking at it. Visually, the power is typically depicted as two beams of red light firing from his eyes.


 * Superhuman Hearing: The ability to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. The only Earth creature who can detect sounds at the frequency he can is a blue whale (0.01-200,000 Hz). He has shown enough control to block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source/frequency. He can identify a person by their heartbeat, or pick out a single voice in an entire city.


 * Super-Breath: Zod possesses the ability to create hurricane force winds by blowing, and to chill his breath in order to freeze a target (this latter ability has also been called "freeze breath" and "arctic breath"). Non can also breathe in large amounts of air, an ability used when dealing with and disposing things like clouds of poison gas.

Weaknesses:
 * Magic: Zod is vulnerable to magical and psionic effects. Although he is no more detrimentally affected by such effects than a normal human would be, this is a significantly exploitable weakness in comparison to his incredible physical resilience.


 * Kryptonite: Since the destruction of Krypton, its remains (rendered radioactive by the explosion) have been spreading throughout the universe as kryptonite, a crystalline substance whose specific radiation is lethal to Kryptonians native to this reality. Historically, Kryptonite exists in variant forms which can affect Non in a number of different ways (See main article for more details concerning the different varieties of Kryptonite).


 * Lead: Zod cannot see through lead with any of his vision powers.


 * Solar Energy: Zod will eventually weaken without replenishing his energy reserves with normal (yellow) sun radiation. He is not replenished by red sunlight, and its radiation can be used to weaken him.

Known Abilities: No known abilities. Strength Level: Strength level unknown

Miscellaneous
Equipment: No known equipment. Transportation: As a leader in the Kryptonian military, Admiral Zod piloted a warship comprised of the material known as Sunstone. Through circumstances that have yet to be explained, Zod's warship crash-landed on Earth several decades ago, only to be recently unearthed by Lex Luthor. Weapons: No known weapons.

Trivia

 * Coming soon

Recommended Readings

 * Action Comics #845

Related Articles

 * General Zod image gallery
 * General Zod appearances list
 * General Zod quotes page
 * Lor-Zod
 * Nob
 * Phantom Zone
 * Superman
 * Ursa