Bizarro (real name Kal-El) was Superman's "shadow self" from the Inverse World. Like Superman, Bizarro was originally a hero in his world, but the fame and his addiction to Kryptonite made him distance himself from his family. When his son Jon joined Ally Allston's cult, Bizarro stole her pendant and went to Superman's Earth to destroy it and stop Ally, but he was trapped by Superman and eventually killed by General Mitch Anderson.
His body was later guarded by the Department of Defense, until it was stolen by Intergang to use his blood and resurrect him without them knowing. Bizarro was then found in an underground lab of Metropolis by Lex Luthor, who transformed him into a Doomsday-like creature and gave him the chance to exact revenge on Superman.
On his world, Kal-El was a beloved superhero and he and his brother Tal-Rho were wealthy celebrities. At some point he met and married Lois Lane. When they learned that Lois was pregnant the couple relocated from Metropolis to Smallville, where Tal-Rho fell in love with and married local bartender Lana Lang. Lois gave birth to twin boys Jonathan-El and Jordan-El.
Kal-El was largely absent from his sons' lives due to his work, which Jonathan especially resented. Shortly after the boys turned fifteen Jonathan revealed that he had inherited Kal-El's powers and became his sidekick. However, Jon felt unfulfilled in his life and fell in with Ally Allston and her cult. Kal-El became obsessed with stopping Ally and began using Kryptonite to enhance his powers. The prolonged use had severe psychological and physical side-effects, and drove Lois to leave him, taking Jordan with her. Tal-Rho attempted to reach out to Kal-El, but when he revealed that he and Lana had spoken to Ally and felt that her message made sense, Kal-El considered this a betrayal and ordered him to leave.
Kal-El goes to Superman's world.
Ally and her followers; which included Jon, Tal-Rho and Lana, eventually seized control of the government. They revealed that there was a parallel world opposite to their own, and that Ally intended to merge the worlds together using a pendant dating back to when the worlds split. Kal-El tracked Lois, Jordan and Lois' father Sam to a hidden bunker where they had taken refuge. By this point the effects of the Kyrptonite had ravaged his body so much that his skin was grey and cracked, and his eyes constantly glowed blue with Arctic Vision, transforming him into Bizarro. He apologised to his family for never being there for them, and told them that he planned to steal Ally's pendant and take it to the other Earth, where he believed he could destroy it and prevent her from merging the worlds.[2]
He broke into the Department of Defense and fought his way past a squad of superpowered soldiers led by Lana to steal Ally's pendant, then donned a containment suit and travelled to Superman's world by burrowing underground.[3]
Season Two
Kal-El escapes the Shuster Mines.
Bizarro emerged in the Shuster mines below Smallville, Kansas. He was weakened by the X-Kryptonite in the mines[4] and had to slowly dig his way out, causing Superman to suffer seizures with painful headaches, intense visions and fits of rage.[5]
Dr. Faulkner accidentally freed Bizarro from the mines while trying to collapse them on John Henry Irons. Superman and Irons engaged him but he easily overpowered them both. During the fight Superman managed to split open Bizarro's helmet and saw his own face underneath. Superman and Bizarro both suffered a seizure at the same time and Bizarro took the opportunity to escape. He flew to the ruined Fortress of Solitude, stripped off his containment suit and said "Emoh".[6]
Kal-El meets the Supermen of America in Bolivia.
Bizarro attempted to destroy the pendant but was unable to. He had a seizure and saw Superman's home and family through his eyes. He flew to the Kent Farm and attacked Superman, and during their fight waves of energy radiated out of the pendant, pulling them together. Irons hit Bizarro with his Kinetic Hammer to break them apart and Bizarro flew away. For unclear reasons, he flew to Bolivia and stood alone in a salt flat. The military tracked his pendant and General Anderson dispatched the Supermen of America to capture him. Bizarro killed two of them and then had another seizure, allowing Superman to discover what was happening.
Superman and John Henry Irons flew to his location and attacked him. During the fight the pendant fell off and Tag Harris, the surviving member of the Supermen, took the pendant and escaped. Superman and Irons eventually fought him off, but Irons was left severely injured and comatose.[7]
Kal-El vs Superman.
Bizarro later returned to the mines where he murdered Dr. Faulkner, who he learned was one of the other world's Ally's followers. The other world's Lois came into Faulkner's office as he was searching it, and he fled rather than hurt her. He tracked Ally down and attempted to kill her, but Superman stopped him and beat him unconscious with a fragment of X-Kryptonite, deducing that it was Bizarro's weakness.
Superman took Bizarro to another Fortress in the Badlands, where a hologram of his world's Lara Lor-Van was able to give Bizarro the ability to speak coherently. When he woke up, he told Superman that he needed to kill Ally before she destroyed everything he loved.[1]
Kal-El in Tal-Rho's Fortress.
Superman refused to tell the United States Army where Bizarro was, as he believed that Ally Allston was the real threat and any attempt by the military to capture Bizarro would just result in him killing the soldiers sent after him, so the military arrested him for treason and imprisoned him.[3] Superman managed to escape from prison with the help of his world's version of Tal-Rho, and they retreated to the Fortress. However, they were tracked down by General Anderson, who had used X-Kryptonite to give himself superpowers. Anderson used Kryptonite gas to weaken the Kryptonians, allowing him to overpower them and shoot Tal-Rho with Kryptonite bullets. The Lara hologram freed Bizarro so he could save her sons, and he and Anderson fought through the Fortress. When Kryptonite only made Bizarro stronger, Anderson deduced that X-Kryptonite was his weakness and repeatedly hit Bizarro with X-Kryptonite gas, weakening him to the point that he could snap Bizarro's neck and kill him.[8]
Season Three
Bizarro's body was kept in a secret Department of Defence facility. It was eventually stolen by Intergang.[9] Scientists working for Bruno Mannheim experimented on his body, hoping to find a cure for his wife Peia's cancer and potentially a way to reverse death.[10] They were eventually able to bring him back to life[11] but kept him sedated and under yellow sunlight lamps.
Intergang's scientists synthesised a drug from his blood.[12] They administered it to Peia and she appeared to be cured, but it in fact aggravated her cancer and augmented her sonic powers beyond her ability to control.
Bizarro meets Lex Luthor.
Peia's uncontrollable sonic blasts destroyed the lab and Mannheim and his people fled. Bizarro later awoke and emerged from the rubble, reduced to a feral state. He saw his reflection in a broken pane of glass and roared in rage and confusion.[13]
Bizarro stayed in the lab for weeks, surviving on rats, until Lex Luthor and his henchman Otis came for him. Bizarro attacked Otis in a frenzy of rage and attempted to eat him.[14] Luthor shot and killed Bizarro with an X-Kryptonite laser, but Intergang's experiments had given him the ability to resurrect from death and he came back to life. Intrigued, Luthor killed him again and saw Bizarro's flesh ripple and change when he resurrected a second time. Luthor chained Bizarro up in the lab and told him that he became stronger every time he died and that this was a "gift". He told Bizarro that he could kill him over and over until he became so strong that nothing could stop him and asked Bizarro if he wanted that. Seemingly on the brink of an emotional breakdown Bizarro nodded although, given the nature of his reality, he may have been trying to say no.
Bizarro's mutated form.
Over the next thirty-three days, Luthor and his henchmen repeatedly killed Bizarro in as many ways as possible. As a result, Bizarro gradually mutated into a hulking monster who could resist their most powerful X-Kryptonite weapons, but the torment of being constantly killed caused him to mentally regress even further, reducing him to a rage-fueled psychotic state. Luthor took him to Smallville and set him to attack Superman. The two battled from Smallville to Metropolis and, with his greatly increased strength, Bizarro dominated the fight against his largely helpless counterpart. Superman was able to temporarily get the upper hand by freezing Bizarro in a huge block of ice and seemingly killed him by impaling him on skyscraper's spire; but Bizarro returned to life again and attacked Superman with even greater ferocity, eventually beating him into unconsciousness. Bizarro carried the unconscious Superman into space, but Superman woke up when he heard Lois whisper his name back on Earth. He broke free of Bizarro's grip and repeatedly punched him at full strength, sending him to crash into the moon. Superman flew down to face him and the two charged at each other across the lunar surface.[15]
Season Four
The two titans battled for a full day through Solar System, first to Mars and then the asteroid belt. Although Superman put up a good fight, Bizarro eventually gained the upper hand and killed him, ripping his heart out. He carried Superman's body back to Earth and dumped it in the middle of Smallville's main street, then delivered the heart to Luthor.[16]
Luthor later sent Bizarro to attack the Department of Defence to try and force Sam Lane to reveal where his daughter was. John Henry and Natalie Irons tried to stop him but he easily blew past them. Lane refused to tell Luthor what he wanted to know and Bizarro killed him.[17]
In an act of desperation, Lois used an ELT to summon Bizarro. She begged him not to hurt her family and reminded him of his own wife and children- their counterparts on his world. She said she was sorry he had lost his family, but destroying hers would not bring them back. Despite his mental degradation Bizarro recognised her as his wife's counterpart and remembered his life before his first death. He abandoned Luthor, unwilling to destroy his family's doppelgangers.[18]
Bizarro returned to the Shuster mines and attempted to tunnel his way back to his own universe. Luthor tracked him down and followed him in. He told Bizarro that Lois had confused him, but he was there to put him back on his path. Luthor shot Bizarro with Kryptonite missiles that exploded and killed him one last time, fully transforming him into a mindless, hulking monster. He flew into town and landed right in front of Lois and the twins. Lois attempted to talk him down again, but Bizarro was unreachable and tried to kill her, although Jon and Jordan pulled her out in time. Superman flew in and attacked him, and the two battled through the town.[19]
Bizarro once again overpowered Superman, but Jon and Jordan Kent swooped in and punched him away before he could deliver the killing blow, allowing Clark a brief respite. Superman chased after Bizarro and they fought in the air until Bizarro again brought Clark down in main street and began beating him to death. The twins each blasted Bizarro with heat vision to draw his attention and flew away to lure him away from Clark.
Bizarro chased the twins through a forest until they flew back to Smallville and lead Bizarro to Superman. At the last second, Clark stepped aside and Bizarro flew at full speed directly into the path of the Kinetic Hammer. This cracked Bizarro's skull and momentarily killed him. Superman carried him into space to destroy his body in the sun, but he returned to life before they reached it. Superman squared off for a fight but Bizarro silently surrendered, remembering the family he had lost and deciding that he did not want to live as a monster. He allowed Superman to gently push him into the sun, where he was consumed by the fire and died for the final time.[20]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
Unique Physiology: Bizarro is a Kryptonian from the Inverse World whose physiology has been modified by the criminal scientist Dr. Hook, and mutated by dying and returning to life dozens of times.
Kryptonian Physiology: Bizarro initially possessed the standard suite of powers for a Kryptonian from his reality. After being killed and resurrected multiple times his powers have been enhanced far beyond their original levels.[15]
Kryptonite Radiation Absorption: Bizarro can metabolize Green Kryptonite to enhance his powers,[2] either by inhaling it as a gas[3] or absorbing Kryptonite directly into his body.[8] The Kryptonite enhancement appears to make him more powerful than Superman.[6][7]
Red Solar Energy Absorption: As Superman's opposite, Bizarro's cellular structure allows him to absorb, store and metabolize the wavelength of red sun radiation to fuel all of his abilities.[2]
Crystal Generation: (Formerly) Shards of X-Kryptonite which Bizarro was able to break off and use as weapons grew from his body.[15] Following his most recent death they calcified into bony spikes.[19]
Resurrection: As a result of the experiments Dr. Hook performed on him, Bizarro has the ability to resurrect from death. Every time he returns to life, his body mutates and changes to become stronger.[15]
Psychic Link: As Superman's inverse, Bizarro has a psychic link with him, causing them both to experience painful visions randomly and affecting their ability to fight.[7]
Vulnerability to Sunlight: Yellow sunlight weakens Bizarro in a similar way to how red solar radiation weakens Superman.[3] He became more resistant to it after being mutated,[17] but was ultimately destroyed by the Sun.[20]
Diminished Intellect: After returning to life, Bizarro has been reduced to an animalistic state.[14] He has lost the ability to speak, blindly attacks perceived threats and obeys Lex Luthor without question.[15]
Bizarro wore a glowing diamond-shaped pendant which he stole from his world's version of Ally Allston.[6] It is an artefact dating back to when his world split from Superman's and can be used to fuse a person with their shadow self to achieve godlike power.[3] Therefore it produces waves of energy when he wears it in the presence of Superman, which make them each temporarily stronger. It was retrieved by the United States Army during his fight in Bolivia with Superman and John Henry Irons.[7]
Containment suit(Formerly)
Notes
This version of the character is exclusive to the continuity of the television series Superman & Lois and is an adaptation of Bizarro. The original character was created by Otto Binder and George Papp and first appeared in Superboy #68.
Bizarro is portrayed by Tyler Hoechlin. His armored appearance was portrayed by Daniel Cudmore and his Doomsday form is portrayed by Paul Lazenby. Cudmore previously portrayed David Fuglestad/Subjekt-11, and Lazenby previously portrayed Henry Miller/Atom-Man in the series.
Trivia
Bizarro's speech is naturally reversed.
Bizarro's first scene in What Lies Beneath is meant to be an homage to Doomsday.[21]
Unlike typical depictions of Bizarro World, the people of his world have normal skin tones. His grey, cracked skin is a result of Kryptonite addiction rather than his natural complexion.
Jordan-El suggested that Jon-El should be known as "Superboy" when his powers developed. This suggests that Bizarro was known as Superman in his reality, although he is never referred to as such on screen.
His ability to return from death and appearance after being mutated are a clear reference to Doomsday.[15]
His mutation into a Doomsday-like creature may also be a reference to Bizarro-Superman being infected by the Doomsday Virus and transforming into "Doomzarro".
Superman Family member This character is or was an incarnation of or an ally of Superman, and a member of the Superman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Superman Family members" category.
This character has been 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."
This character, team or organization, is or was primarily an enemy of Steel. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Steel Villains category."
