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| As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page. |
Jor-El was a Kryptonian scientist and the father of Superman.
History
Early Life
Assassination Attempt
Some time before the destruction of Krypton, Jor-El attended the naming ceremony of his niece, Kara Zor-El alongside his wife, Lara Lor-Van. Though Jor-El was typically ill at ease in formal settings, he was required to attend the event and was excited to meet his niece. Also in attendance was a longtime friend of Jor's, General Dru-Zod, who had just returned from a battle with the Dominators and retired from military service. During the festivities, he was contacted by a colleague, Nira-Ur, who informed him of a recent mass die-off of Thought Beasts in the Jewel Mountains, expressing the concern that it may be an indicator of a greater catastrophe to come.
The ceremonies would soon be interrupted by an assassination attempt; mercenaries clandestinely hired by Kru-El, Jor's cousin, attempted to assassinate Jor-El and Zor-El. The attempt was disrupted by Dru-Zod, however, and despite the chaos, the House of El emerged relatively unscathed, and subsequently Zod apprehended the fleeing Kru-El.
The Survival Zone
Over the next two years, concerned by the potential catastrophe indicated by the Thought Beast die-off, Jor-El and Zor-El constructed an interdimensional projector in an attempt to reach a theoretical 'surivival zone', an extradimensional refuge where the Kryptonian population could be moved in the event of a possible catacylsm. Unfortunately, the experiment failed; they encountered a a maddening void and very little else. Intrigued, Zod, who arrived for the end of the experiment noted that their invention could have other applications.
Two months later, the pair were present for the sentencing of their cousin, Kru-El. They watched in horror as Zod, newly promoted to Chief of Planetary Security, used their interdimensional projector technology to banish Kru-El to the Phantom Zone, the void they had discovered. This action created a rift between Jor-El and Zod that would never heal, though in his role as patriach of the house of El, Jor released a public statement afterwards supporting Kru-El's banishment.
In New 52 and Rebirth continuity, the first prisoner of the Phantom Zone was Xa-Du, with Jor-El being an active participant in his exile. However, World of Krypton establishes Kru-El as the zone's first prisoner, and Jor-El horrified by his sentence. As Xa-Du still exists in current continuity, how these two facts reconcile has yet to be established.
The Science Council
Some time later, Jor undertook extensive planetary surveys and came to a grim conclusion. According to Jor-El's research, Krypton would be destroyed in a great catastrophe as a result of progressive deterioriation of its core. Fixing the damage would be impossible, but Jor-El determined that a sort of pocket reality could be created around the core that would prevent it from further deterioriation. However, this would require an immense amount of power, an amount of power Krypton's civilization could only provide if subject to immediate and immense cutbacks and austerity. The current head of the Science Council stepped down, turning his role over to Jor-El in order to allow him to advocate for his plan more effectively.
On his way home from that meeting, Jor came across a shelter giving away dogs in need of good home. He adopted one that the shelter had been calling Krypto, and donated an immense sum of money to the shelter.
Zod, who had become very powerful over the years, reviewed his findings and approached Jor-El, presenting him with a plan that he believed could save Krypton.[1] Zod intended to use Krypton's planetary security forces to implement direct and immediate action. However, Jor-El thought that this option was unthinkable, and their dispute escalated into a fistfight before being interrupted by Lara.
Dru-Zod moved forward with his plan anyway; later, when Jor-El presented his findings to the Kryptonian public, Zod immediately put forward an order to relocate the entire population of Krypton's prisons to the Phantom Zone.[2] Over the next few months, he would drastically expand the remit of the Kryptonian planetary security forces, continuing to violently crack down on various protest movements. Still, it was never enough to achieve his aims, a fact that ate away at him. As he drowned his frustrations, he was confronted by Jor-El, who intended to stop him. Their fight eventually resulted in Zod's imprisonment in the Phantom Zone.[3]
Afterwards, he returned home to his wife, who had spent the time he was gone cataloguing inhabitable worlds to which they might send their son. He noted that Krypton had months left- a year, at most.[4]
The Abduction of Kandor
Shortly before Krypton's destruction, the Collector of Worlds, Brainiac, arrived. Knowing of Krypton's impending doom, the collector seized control of Kandor's data networks after being let into the system by Professor Van-Da, a fact Jor-El discovered as he was about to present Van-Da with a cosmology award. He hurriedly contacted his wife, who was visiting Brainiac's target, Kandor, at the time. Thanks to Jor-El's warning, Lara was able to escape Kandor before Brainiac's terminauts shrunk the city.[5]
The Doom of Krypton
Almost immediately prior to the destruction of Krypton, Jor-El was to give one final presentation to the Science Council. However, they postponed the meeting. Increasingly desperate, he contacted The Circle, a clandestine cabal of major galactic leaders that he belonged to, bringing his concerns to them. However, they brushed off his worries, stating that they'd looked into his concerns and found nothing. He attempted to blackmail them into aiding his world, to no avail.
Shortly after, on an excursion to the city, Jor-El was attacked by a squad of Thanagarian soldiers, presumably sent by a member of the Circle to silence him and prevent him for making good on his threats of blackmail. He barely escaped, making his way back to his home. As he did so, Krypton's final collapse began. He made one last desperate plea to the Circle, with the Oan and Thanagarian representatives refusing to attend the call, trying to convince the Tamaranean and Trillian representatives to take in Kryptonian refugees. They responded that they could not, between security concerns and a belief that his prediction could still be incorrect.[6]
Last, he and his wife Lara Lor-Van shot their son Kal-El into space using their last remaining prototype spaceship. Afterwards, Kal-El landed on Earth, and grew up as Clark Kent.[7]
Survival on Earth
As Krypton was crumbling, Jor-El was whisked away by an unseen force, and taken to Earth where he crashed in a war-torn nation. After being nursed back to health by locals, Jor-El saw first hand the atrocities of man, as a dictator usurped all of what the people owned, causing them to starve. After witnessing these atrocities, Jor-El was forced to watch the horrors of mankind over the centuries by the unseen being that saved him.
Rebirth
Shortly after witnessing man's evils, Jor-El adopted the moniker of Mister Oz and began manipulating certain events from behind the scenes. He imprisoned Doomsday, Prophecy, Red Robin, and Batman of a possible future as they were causing timelines to unfold that weren't meant to. In Doomsday's case, it was also to keep him from killing Superman again. He also frequently either helped or hindered Superman and his family, executing his brother Zor-El, deeming it a mercy killing.
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Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Kryptonian Physiology: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Jor-El possesses the same potential powers as an average Kryptonian. These include:
- Solar Energy Absorption: Under optimal conditions, this is the main source of Jor-El's super powers as they are contingent upon exposure to solar radiation from a yellow sun star system. His biological make up includes a number of organs which lack analogues in humans and whose functions are unknown. It is believed that between one or more of these and his bio-cellular matrix, "yellow" solar energy is stored for later use. This allows for the use of these powers to fade when yellow solar radiation is not available instead of immediate failure.
- Heat Vision: Jor-El can, as a conscious act, fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it. He can vary the heat and area affected.
- Super-Hearing: Jor-El's hearing is sensitive enough to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. With skill and concentration, he can block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source or frequency.
- Enhanced Vision: Jor-El's vision processes the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as allowing vast control over selective perception and focus.
This umbrella ability includes the following:- Electromagnetic Spectrum Vision: Jor-El can see well into most of the electromagnetic spectrum. He can see and identify radio and television signals as well as all other broadcast or transmitted frequencies. Using this ability, he can avoid detection by radar or satellite monitoring methods. This also allows him to see the aura generated by living thing.
- Telescopic Vision: This is the ability to see something at a great distance, without violating the laws of physics. Though limited, the exact extent of the ability is undetermined. In function, it is similar to the zoom lens on a camera.
- X-Ray Vision: This is the ability to see through any volume of matter except lead. Jor-Els can see things behind a solid, opaque object as if it were not there. He can focus this ability to "peel back" layers of an object, allowing hidden image or inner workings to be observed. The exact type of energy perceived—such as x-rays, cosmic rays, or some other energy invisible to normal humans—is unclear. This ability perceives an ambient energy source though, it does not involve the eye projecting a concentrated, possibly toxic, beam to be reflected back from objects.
- Microscopic Vision: This is the ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the atomic level.
- Infrared Vision: Jor-El can see with better acuity in darkness, and to a degree in total darkness.
- Flight: Jor-El is able to manipulate graviton particles to defy the forces of gravity and achieve flight. This ranges from hovering to moving in any posture, in any direction.
- Invulnerability: Due to the interaction of his dense molecular structure and supercharged bio-electric aura, Jor-El is nigh-invulnerable to extreme energy forces. In addition, his extends this protection against toxins and diseases.
- Superhuman Stamina: Jor-El is able to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an indefinite period of time. This based on his body converting yellow solar radiation directly to energy, but is limited by physiological and psychological needs to eat, drink, and sleep.
- Superhuman Strength: Jor-El's strength is augmented by yellow solar radiation interacting with the greater than human density, resilience and biological efficiency of his musculature. His strength is more an act of conscious will on energy fields than actual physical strength. It is this act of conscious will that enables him to perform physical feats that are beyond the mere application force, such as moving a mountain top without said rock crumbling under its own mass.
- Superhuman Speed: Jor-El is able to move at incredible speed by sheer force of will. This extends to his perceptions and allows for feats such as catching bullets in mid flight as well as covering vast distances in little or no time.
This also confers: - Super-Breath: Jor-El is able to create hurricane force winds by exhaling air from his lungs. He can chill the air as it leaves his lungs to freeze targets. He can also reverse the process to pull large volumes of air or vapor into his lungs.
- Longevity: Jor-El can live longer than regular humans, remaining at his prime as long as he was under the exposure of the "yellow" sun.
- Cosmic Awareness: Oz is aware of any alterations to the timeline.
- Kryptonite Vision: Due to a radioactive slug of his destroyed homeworld lodged into his brain, Jor-El/Oz could emit and project kryptonite radiation-based optic blasts from his damaged left eye at will.[8]
- Reality Alteration: Jor-El had the power to bend the fabric of reality to his beck & call using a special staff given to him by his captor.(Formerly)
Abilities
Weaknesses
- Vulnerability to Kryptonite
- Vulnerability to Red Solar Rays
- Vulnerability to Magic
- Vulnerability to Psionics
Notes
- Jor-El was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, first appearing in Superman #53. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Jor-El first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Action Comics (Volume 2) #3 by Grant Morrison, Rags Morales, and Gene Ha.
- Jor-El made his first appearance as Mr. Oz in Superman (Volume 3) #32 and wouldn't have his true identity revealed until Action Comics #987, almost three and a half years later.
Related
- 117 Appearances of Jor-El (Prime Earth)
- 24 Images featuring Jor-El (Prime Earth)
- 6 Quotations by or about Jor-El (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Jor-El (Prime Earth)
Footnotes
  Superman Family member |
 This character is or was primarily an enemy of Superman in any of his various incarnations, or members of the Superman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Superman Villains category." |
