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Quote1 Cold? You don't know cold. ...cold is what this universe has made me. Quote2
Superman-Prime src

The Superboy (and later Superman) of Earth-Prime is a cynical reflection of Superman, coming from a world where superheroes only existed as fiction - except for him.

Early Life

Kal-El was born to Lara and Jor-El of the planet Krypton. When Kal-El was still a toddler, his scientist father made a grave discovery. Jor-El learned that a massive solar flare from Krypton's red sun threatened to engulf their home world, ultimately destroying it. Jor-El brought his concerns to the Kryptonian Science Council, but rather than offer solutions, they politicized the pending travesty and locked themselves in committee.

In the meantime, Jor-El labored to find a way to save the people of Krypton. Working alongside his scientist wife, Lara, they developed a technology which would enable them to teleport samples of living tissue (weighing less than fifty pounds) across intergalactic distances. He presented his transportation device to the science council, but it was too late. Krypton was already beginning to suffer from the effects of the intense solar radiation. As Krypton shook in its death-throes, Jor-El placed his son inside of the teleportation device and transported him across the universe.

Kal-El rematerialized on the planet Earth. In a New England seacoast town, Jerry and Naomi Kent were hiking through the forests when they discovered the abandoned toddler. They decided to adopt him and raise him as their own. Naomi chose to name him Clark, despite the fact that Clark Kent was the name of a popular comic book hero known as Superman.

Unlike his namesake however, Clark Kent grew up without the benefit of super-powers. His classmates at school would tease him and refer to him as "Superboy". However, Clark took the ribbing in stride and soon cultivated a small circle of friends.

As Clark grew older, he became romantically involved with a fellow student named Laurie Lemmon. One evening, Clark, Laurie and several other friends decided to attend a costumed beach party. Being of good humor, Clark donned a Superboy costume similar to that worn by the fictional comic book hero. They drove down to Hampton Beach and sat by the ocean waiting to catch sight of Halley's Comet.

Suddenly, a tremendous tidal wave rose up on the beachhead threatening to flood the small hamlet. At that same moment, a cosmic vortex opened up above them, discharging a super-hero they recognized as Superman, still reeling from the death of Supergirl.[1] At that critical moment, a bizarre transformation took hold of Clark. The physical characteristics of his Kryptonian heritage manifested for the first time and he discovered that he was gifted with flight and super-strength.

Superman quickly introduced himself to his younger alternate Earth counterpart, but there was little time for pleasantries. Superman gave Superboy a crash course in the use of his powers and together, they were able to divert the course of the deadly tidal wave.

With the immediate disaster abated, the newly crowned Superboy aided Superman in returning him to his proper world. He followed Superman through the cosmic vortex to an alternate reality. Little did Superboy realize that he would never again see his own.

Crisis on Infinite Earths

 Main article: Crisis on Infinite Earths

A deadly wave of anti-matter produced by the Anti-Monitor consumed parallel dimensions causing a multiversal catastrophe. Superboy aided heroes from hundreds of different worlds, but none of them were able to save the Earth of his home dimension from destruction.

Adventures of Superman Vol 1 649 Textless

Superboy, Superman, and Lois Lane-Kent leave with Alexander Luthor, Jr.

When a team of supervillains failed to stop Krona from witnessing the beginning of time where the Anti-Monitor and the Spectre fought, the intense energies from the event led to the destruction of the multiverse.[2] In its place existed a solitary static universe with only one version of the planet Earth, with an amalgam of the histories of five different universes, none of which included Superboy's home. Like many of the survivors, Superboy-Prime found himself the last remnant of his universe stuck in a world which never knew him. He teamed up with an aging version of Superman from the late Earth-Two as well as Alexander Luthor, Jr. of Earth-Three to fight the Anti-Monitor in its own dimension. After an intense battle where the elder Superman landed the final blow to the Anti-Monitor, Luthor offered the heroes an escape to a "Paradise Dimension" safe haven, where Superman's wife, Lois Lane-Kent awaited them. Choosing to escape the Anti-Matter Universe before the last waves of anti-matter wiped them out, Superboy and the rest of the survivors left to live out the rest of their lives in peace, hopeful for the future.[3]

Infinite Crisis

 Main article: Infinite Crisis

Over time, as the four of them watched the history of the new reality unfold, Superboy-Prime became frustrated and angry, homesick and wishing to return to the life he had. He consoled himself by watching images of his ninth birthday and grew horrified every time it would focus back on the Crisis. Alexander noticed his pain and decided to manipulate him for his own purpose. On two separate occasions, Superboy-Prime's anger got the best of him and he shattered the wall with his fists, the punch altering reality as it did.[4] Upon deciding to join Alexander in his quest to bring about the "perfect" Earth, Alex empowered him with his Anti-Matter powers to break free. He was spotted by Blue Beetle, but Prime ignored him. In quick succession, Superboy-Prime obtained the Heart of Darkness diamond for Jean Loring, altered the location of Thanagar which initiated the Rann-Thanagar War, and captured J'onn J'onzz while destroying the Watchtower.

Infinite Crisis Vol 1 4 Kal-El (Earth-Prime) Speed Force

Wally and Bart save the day.

When Alexander convinced Kal-L to leave their paradise reality, Prime was already with them, no one the wiser over what he had done. Soon after being freed, Prime was there to greet Power Girl after she was reunited with her cousin. However, when she discovered Alex's tower, Prime struck her down to be used for it. He then flew to Smallville, Kansas where he encountered the Superboy of that reality. He chastised the clone Superboy and accused him of being unworthy of the title of Superboy. The two fought one another and their epic battle raged across the state, eventually culminating in Keystone City. Members of the Doom Patrol, the Justice Society and the Teen Titans arrived to lend a hand, but the power-mad Superboy-Prime thwarted even their efforts. He brutally attacked the heroes, killing several including Pantha, Bushido and Wildebeest. Jay Garrick, Wally West and Bart Allen grabbed Superboy-Prime and used their combined super-speed to propel him into the kinetic dimension of the Speed Force.[5]

SupPrime

Anti-Monitor armor.

However, Superboy-Prime escaped from his imprisonment and built a battle-suit based on the Anti-Monitor's armor that constantly supplied his body with yellow sunlight. Superboy-Prime arrived at Alexander Luthor's tower to battle with Nightwing, Superboy and Wonder Girl. The heroes succeeded in releasing the metahumans powering the machine. After a brief fight, Conner grabbed Superboy-Prime and flew into the tower destroying it. However, Superboy-Prime was not fazed by the attack, escaping as Conner was killed by the rubble.[6]

Superboy-Prime was present at the Battle of Metropolis, killing both heroes and villains with ease. He continued his killing spree until he met with resistance with Bart Allen in his grandfather's uniform. He was pulverized by Bart, but left Earth to destroy Oa in an attempt to cause another Big Bang and reform the current universe hopefully closer to his original Earth-Prime reality. On the way to ignite this universal rebirth, Superboy-Prime killed thirty-two Green Lanterns. While battling the Corps, Kal-L and Kal-El forced Superboy-Prime through Krypton's red sun to depower the vastly powerful youth to levels where the elder Supermen could handle him directly. The three crash-landed on Mogo, where they continued to fight. Kal-L's power levels were intact, but was still no match for even the power fading levels of Superboy-Prime, who was able to literally beat Kal-L to death with his bare fists before turning to Kal-El, whose own superpower levels had completely faded. But the time and effort Superboy-Prime used to attack Kal-L (whose strength and endurance was still superhuman) was enough to completely drain Superboy-Prime's own to a point where the adult Superman was able to beat the teenage Superboy-Prime.[7]

Superboyprison

Superboy's new "S"

Superboy-Prime was then taken into the custody of the Green Lantern Corps. Too powerful to be placed in a regular Sciencell on Oa, the Guardians of the Universe imprisoned him inside a Sciencell near a Red Sun-Eater, constantly being guarded by fifty Green Lanterns. Members of the Corps were often assigned to "Prime Duty" as punishment. While in prison, Superboy-Prime carved a bloody "S" on his chest using his fingernail, saying that he had always found a way out.

Some time later, it was eventually revealed that his dark descent into madness and villainy was influenced by the slumbering Great Darkness as part of its' plans to destroy the Multiverse and kill The Presence albeit he was completely unaware of the fact that he was being controlled by the Great Darkness' influence.

Sinestro Corps War

 Main article: Sinestro Corps War

Sinestro Corps leadership

Superboy-Prime and the Sinestro Corps

Superboy-Prime was freed, along with the Cyborg Superman, by a strike force of Sinestro Corps members who turned the red sun yellow, restoring his strength. Superboy-Prime was brought to Qward, where he was made into a herald of the Anti-Monitor, along with Cyborg Superman, Sinestro and the Parallax-possessed Kyle Rayner.[8]

Now calling himself Superman-Prime, he joined in the battle to attack most of the major heroes of Earth as part of the strike force of the Sinestro Corps. And again, due to the massive power difference between himself and the others, Prime was able to cut a path of destruction throughout the known universe, once again successfully defeating Kal-El as well as Power Girl and Supergirl at the same time.[9]

However, Prime's main goal was to gain his revenge on the Anti-Monitor and somehow recover his own destroyed universe, or at least gain the recognition that he was the one true Superman.

As the Sinestro Corps War came to a close, Prime was confronted by the Guardians of the Universe, who introduced the new Ion, the Daxamite, Sodam Yat. Prime and Sodam Yat battled each other in a brutal and fierce fight. Though Prime was more powerful than Yat, the Lantern refused to yield in any way. When the battle was taken inside a nuclear power plant lined with lead, Ion was weakened by lead poisoning to the point that he can not even really fight back against Prime. Prime speared Ion with several lead rods, then beat him unconscious, leaving Yat for dead until the Guardians intervened.[10]

During the final battle between the Green Lantern Corps and the Sinestro Corps, the Anti-Monitor was severely injured when the Green Lanterns threw Warworld and the Cyborg Superman at him like a grenade. Prime took this opportunity to turn on the Anti-Monitor and threw him into deep space. Prime was then attacked by both Corps and managed to kill several members from both sides. Before any more lives could be lost, one of the Guardians sacrificed himself as a living bomb to end Prime. The explosion failed to kill Prime, but transported him somewhere within the multiverse. As an unforeseen side effect, Prime's atoms were infused with a large portion of the Guardian's own energies in the blast, restructuring into that of an adult man rather than his teenage youth.[11]

Countdown to Final Crisis

Countdown24 pg04

The death of Zod and his family by Superman-Prime.

Following the aftermath of the Sinestro Corps War, the now adult Superman-Prime started a murderous rampage against all of his other dimensional counterparts and their supporters while searching for Earth-Prime. He traveled to Earth-15, killing the Superman along with his wife and unborn child.[12] After eradicating that world's Justice League, Superman-Prime destroyed the entire planet.[13]

Superman-Prime created a base of operations in the Source Wall, where he captured and tortured Mr. Mxyzptlk and Annataz Arataz to recreate Earth-Prime using their reality altering abilities, or at least show him its location in the multiverse. During his torture, Mxyzptlk revealed to Superman-Prime that his aging to adulthood was from him absorbing the cosmic Oan powers of the Guardian that sacrificed himself. He also told Superman-Prime that the cosmic energies would soon wear off and then he will revert back to his true age. After Mxyzptlk escaped, Prime was angered and gave up on the use of magic to achieve his goals.[14]

After finding out about the so-called "perfect universe" which he believed was his reality of origin, Superman-Prime headed off to the Monitors' satellite headquarters, threatening the brutal Monitor Solomon to help him find this recreated Earth-Prime.[15] Solomon manipulated the immensely powerful Superman-Prime to defeat Monarch for the Monitors, sending him to Earth-51. As Solomon predetermined, Superman-Prime flew to the battlefield and attacked Monarch, wearing down the enemy's cosmic powers. Prime tore off the chest-plate of Monarch's containment armor, resulting in an explosion of quantum energy so massive, it destroyed the entire contents of the Earth-51 universe.

Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds

 Main article: Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds

Prime had been lost in the timestream following his encounter with Monarch. The Time Trapper brought Superboy-Prime to the 31st century in his never ending scheme to destroy the Legion of Super-Heroes. Crashing just outside of Smallville, his stolen Oan energy at this point had faded, reverting him to his actual young age, as well as returning his power to their previous levels, which was what Mr. Mxyzptlk had foretold.

Upon arrival, he was encountered by a old farming couple, who thought he was Superboy, which made him extremely mad. He considered himself a man, not a boy, and murdered the couple. When he flew to Smallville, he came across the Superman Museum, further fomenting his fury at how beloved Superman was in the future. He became even more enraged when he saw the Hall of Villains, only to find out that he was not even considered a villain of Superman's, but no more then a nuisance. His statue was kept in storage. Furthermore, history recounted that he was defeated by Conner Kent and Sodam Yat, totally contrary to what really happened. He proceeded to wreck the entire museum and kill whomever he came across. From a holographic tour guide of Jimmy Olsen, he learned of the Legion of Super-Villains.

When Superboy-Prime learned that the Legion of Super-Villains followed a code of evil, inspired by a dark being whose "name was never spoken," he got the idea to be the greatest villain Superman had ever faced. Superboy-Prime then went to the prison planet Takron-Galtos and freed the imprisoned Lightning Lord, Saturn Queen and Cosmic King. When they saw Superboy-Prime, they immediately hailed him as the inspiration of the LSV's evil code, making him the dark being in question. He then burnt an "S" shield into the planet, that could be seen from space.

When the Legion of Super-Heroes learned of the prison break, they decided they needed to bring Superman from the 21st Century. Superman and Brainiac 5 agreed to bring in two other versions of the Legion to combat the Legion of Super-Villains. Superman believed the only way to stop the carnage was to try to redeem Superboy-Prime.

Superboy-Prime made his way to Sorcerer's World where he recruited Mordru to his Legion before killing the last active Green Lantern, Rond Vidar. Legion members Mon-El and Shadow Lass followed Vidar's ring back to Oa to discover that Sodam Yat was still alive and had been monitoring the last few Green Lanterns. Convincing him to battle Superboy-Prime once again, he joined Superman and the Legions of two other dimensions as reinforcements, enabling them to turn the tide of battle with the combined forces of all their major villains in Metropolis.

Superboy-Prime burned a hole through Superman's hand and broke through Yat's ring construct just in time to be informed that there was something happening at Legion headquarters. At the headquarters, Brainiac 5, Lightning Lad, Lightning Lass (one of whom is actually Light Lass) and XS all gathered in triplicate. Using a combination of living lightning and a Cosmic Treadmill, they brought the young version of Bart Allen out of the Speed Force. Superboy-Prime was shaken at the thought of Bart's return, since he was the only person that was able to defeat him twice.

Not long after fighting Kid Flash, Element Lad turned the surrounding debris into Kryptonite, which actually causes harm to Superboy-Prime, but he murdered Element Lad by throwing a piece of Kryptonite right through him. Cosmic King turned the Kryptonite in Superboy-Prime's body into yellow sunlight. When the LSH headed to the North Pole to regroup, Superboy-Prime and the LSV followed them to the Fortress of Solitude. He attacked the three Brainiac 5's, cutting off Polar Boy's ice hand. Wildfire used his powers to fuel a Kryptonian regeneration chrysalis inside the Fortress from which emerged a resurrected Conner Kent. His corpse had been placed in the chrysalis by the LSH when they time-traveled to the 21st century as part of Brainiac 5's plan to recall Superboy-Prime's greatest enemies to the future to stop him. Superboy and Superboy-Prime clashed with the rest of the Legion joining in.

Superboy-Prime Time Trapper 001

Facing his future

Later, Superman pulled off the Time Trapper's hood to reveal an aged Superboy-Prime as the Time Trapper's true identity.[16] As the Legion continued their battles, the Time Trapper revealed that he had known the outcome all along, claiming that the Legion would lose that day. But, as the battle raged, Conner inflicted a wound on Superboy-Prime's body, burning a scar across his S-Shield chest, causing it to appear on the Time Trapper also. Realizing that time was fluid, Superman, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad defeated the Time Trapper and dragged him to the battlefield where the two Primes met. The Time Trapper attempted to convince Prime into destroying the Legion, but Prime was unable to comprehend that he would become someone like the Time Trapper and attacked his older self, causing a time paradox that seemingly wiped both of them from existence.

The paradox, however, flung Superboy-Prime back to a recreated version of Earth-Prime where he was reunited with his family and girlfriend. Instead of being greeted with open arms, Laurie Lemmon ran away, horrified by Superboy-Prime while his father confronted him about what he did. Prime learned that everyone had read about his ruthless exploits as they appeared in comic books. His adoptive parents allowed Superboy-Prime to remain at their home, though fearful of what he might do. Superboy-Prime spent his time furiously defending himself on various comic message boards, trying to prove his greatness and vowing that he would find a way to return to his former power and become the most powerful villain ever.[17]

Blackest Night

 Main article: Blackest Night

Superboy-Prime continued to obsessively read comics in his basement, trying to keep up with everything in the other worlds. When he learned of his fate at the end of the issue, he panicked, demanding his parents take him to the comic store; the Legion watching as he did so. As they arrived, Naomi confided that she was afraid of him, but he brushed it off and demanded to know where the next issue was, but the cashier told him that it hadn't been released yet. The clerk suggested looking up possible spoilers on the Internet when Luthor suddenly appeared as a Black Lantern, killing the cashier and a customer. He confronted Superboy-Prime, wanting to rip out his heart. Luthor granted Superboy his armor again, taunting Superboy-Prime by calling him a cosmic inside joke. Prime was struck down by more Black Lantern versions of those he had murdered, including Element Lad, Charaxas and Bushido, while Luthor predicted Superboy's imminent death.[18]

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Blackest Night

Superboy-Prime took the battle from his hometown to Manhattan, where he crashed through the offices of DC Comics declaring that, if he's going to die, he intended on taking the writers down with him. Before he could, Luthor pulled Prime away, taking him back to his room. There, Luthor taunted him over losing Laurie as the other Black Lanterns beat him down and tore away his armor. Realizing he couldn't win, he caught a Black Lantern Ring and put it on. The ring commanded him to die, making him a Black Lantern. The ring cycled through the Emotional Spectrum. Willpower, due to his deluded demand for respect. Compassion, for regretting what he did to Laurie. Avarice, for wanting everyone to love him. Fear, of those he once admired. Finally rage, for hating himself for what had become; transforming him into a Red Lantern. He flies into a fury and attacked Luthor until the ring inquired him who he loved. He called out Laurie's name empowering him as a Star Sapphire. Exhausted from the emotional strain, Superboy passed out and the black ring shattered, unleashing a white light which eradicated the Black Lanterns.

Remorsefully, Superboy admitted that he hated what he had become, wanting nothing more than his own happy ending. Unbelievably, Laurie appeared before him with her arm in a sling, telling him that "they" heard his pleas and sent her to tell him that they'll leave him alone. Unbeknownst to him, she was also wearing a black ring, but hers sparkled blue with hope.

Legion of Doom

Legion of Doom 001

Leading the Legion of Doom

During a battle with the Teen Titans, a young villain named Headcase opened up a wormhole that accidentally transported Superboy-Prime back to their dimension. Enraged by his separation from Laurie, Superboy-Prime vowed to destroy the Titans and find a way to return home. He subsequently assembled a cadre of young super-villains consisting of Headcase, Zookeeper, Indigo, Sungirl, Persuader and a new Inertia, each of whom had a personal grudge against the Titans.[19]

He also brought three clones of Superboy which were formed from the remains of Match to assist in the attack on the Titans. Superboy-Prime and his team attempted to destroy Titans Tower, but were met by a large group of former Titans. After his defeat by the combined might of the surviving Titans, Superboy and Supergirl imprison him within the Source Wall.[20]

Whatever fate befell Superboy-Prime afterwards, he wasn't seen again before the timeline was radically changed following the Flashpoint incident. Later, in the events of Convergence, the collapse of the Pre-Crisis Multiverse was retroactively prevented. Presumably, the implication of this is that all of Superboy-Prime's history since the Crisis as a villainous figure was retroactively erased. What ultimately became of him in the new version of events is presently unknown.

Rebirth

Doctor Sivana and Mister Mind find a large box in the Magiclands when on their way to the Monsterlands to establish the Monster Society of Evil from the imprisoned monsters. As King Kid fights the Shazam Family, Doctor Sivana and Mister Mind find that Superboy-Prime is trapped inside a small prison cell as he states to Mister Mind that he can hear what he is saying. He even asks the readers how they can still be reading comic books since the last time they interacted. Superboy-Prime even states that he has plans for Billy Batson when he gets out.[21]

When Mister Mind had Doctor Sivana stab his magic eye with a magic dagger, Superboy-Prime senses that the Monster Society of Evil are being freed and demands that they free him as well. Dummy who found his way near his after being left behind despite swimming all the way to the Dungeon of Eternity, Superboy-Prime told him that he can get him out in exchange for removing the little red sun outside of his prison. Dummy did so but was double-crossed, being incinerated by heat vision of Superboy-Prime who warned he was coming for Billy first.[22] When Mister Mind brought all the Magiclands on Earth, this allowed Prime to be finally free to rain terror once again.[23]

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Superboy-Prime stands over the Shazam Family

Superboy-Prime first murdered Scapegoat, before Billy broke Mister Mind's speaker, sending out a magical shock that knocked out every monster. Prime himself however was imbued with magic that allowed him to decimate any member of the Shazam Family and turn them back to normal, except Billy himself. As the two fought, he realized this Billy was faster, but still struggling to stand up to him. Black Adam soon arrived to even the odds and told Billy to put the Magiclands back in their place before they merged. Billy however stated that they both needed help and Adam agreed to work together. They learnt that Prime was resistant to magic, but could still be hurt by the physical force, leading to them using their magic word to call down a lightning blast, which knocked him out. The Shazam Family later handed him over to the Justice League.[24]

Death Metal

During the multiversal crisis caused by The Batman Who Laughs and Perpetua, Superboy-Prime was recruited by the Batman Who Laughs along with Darkseid and Mobius to change certain moments in history to allow the villains to win, with Prime taking over Infinite Crisis.[25] With Wonder Woman as his captive, he explained that when he was freed from the Source Wall after its shattering, he approached the Batman Who Laughs in order to help make his true Earth a reality. Diana is able to convince Prime to turn against the Batman Who Laughs and trust them to fix the multiverse. However, when he tried to funnel the Crisis Energy to the Mobius Chair, it turned out that the Batman Who Laughs outwitted them, having altered the Mobius Chair to funnel the power to him.[26]

Sometime later, before the final battle between the heroes and villains of the multiverse and the Batman Who Laughs' army of the Last 52 multiverse, Prime begins to think back on how his life started and how it ended up where it was. Both heroes and villains kept him at a far distance with only Krypto showing any concern for him, an idea that Conner Kent absolutely loathed and tried to keep his dog away from him. When an army of Dark Multiverse Supermen attacked, Prime battled a religious zealot Superman when he saw that one of his punches changed his reality for the better. Realizing what he could do, Prime took off into space despite Conner calling Prime that he wasn't a hero.

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Superboy-Prime battles The Darkest Knight

Seeing the Earths before him, Prime ponders if he could change their fates if he killed the Batman Who Laughs. Shattering a silhouette of the Batman Who Laughs, Prime sees visions of another world where he was with Laurie as a father. His attention turned to the Batman himself and begins pummeling the dark creature, though the Batman tells him that they weren't so different and that he should just step aside and he can give him his own world in return. Prime instead knocks down the Batman Who Laughs and prepares to kill him before Krypto returns, causing Prime to break down into tears, showing that someone in this multiverse cared for him.

The Batman Who Laughs tempts him again with his own world and Prime envisions his own world where he was the hero he was meant to be, but realizes that doing so means not having his parents or Laurie. Instead, he sacrifices his dream to protect everyone, delivering a mighty blow that destabilizes the Last 52, the sight being seen by Steel, Supergirl, the Cyborg Superman and Conner. However, they have no idea Prime had done this, seemingly dying save for Krypto, who howls mournfully at his lifeless body.

On Earth-Prime, Superboy-Prime finds himself back in his world, staring at the page of his death, back as normal Clark Kent, confused as to how he returned there. He is confronted by Laurie, who is confused by his own spaciness. She convinces him to join him on a walk with his dog, which he happily accepts. He is caught off-guard by how bright his world is and once again reminds her of the day at the beach. However, a child darts into the middle of the road with a car heading towards them. Clark races out and is surprised as he lifts the car over his head. He realizes that he's alive and well back at home and that his story isn't over, but cheekily suggests to the reader that they should go outside for a walk, too.[27]

Powers

  • Kryptonian Physiology: Superboy's cellular structure was more dense, resilient and biologically more effective than human tissue. Strangely enough, he did not seem to possess superhuman strength levels despite his enhanced cellular ability without constant exposure to yellow solar energy. Without such charging, his strength was on par with humans. As an alien, he possessed several organs whose functions were not understood, but believed to be part of the source of his biomatrix force field and reclamation aura. Superboy's body also stored energy actively within his bio-cellular matrix as an energy pattern that was linked to his body's electromagnetic field. This energy powered most of Prime's electromagnetic capabilities such as flight and heat vision. It also supplemented his physical strength many times over.
    • Energy Absorption: Superboy-Prime could absorb yellow sun energy to give himself superhuman powers. This power differed from that of other Kryptonians. Prime's absorption was far more efficient, giving him much greater power, but he burned through it at a proportionately faster rate. Superboy's body was also not limited to processing only solar energy, as he was able to absorb the green light of willpower with similar effects. Though he may be able to absorb other energy types, only yellow sunlight and willpower energy have been confirmed to boost his power.
    • Superhuman Strength: Superboy's strength is augmented by yellow solar radiation interacting with the greater than human density, resilience and biological efficiency of his musculature. Fully charged, Superboy had repeatedly shown himself to be able to move entire planets out of their orbits at will and had defeated many of the most powerful beings in the Multiverse. He was even strong enough to fight on par with the Darkest Knight, dealing significant damage to him.[27]
    • Superhuman Stamina: Superboy had the ability to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an undefined period. His enhanced nourishment was produced from the solar energy his cells processed, however, his base physical structure still needed to process food stuffs as well as has the psychological need to eat and drink just as Earth humans did, despite the fact that his superhuman powers where mainly solar reliant.
    • Superhuman Speed: Superboy was able to move at incredible speed by sheer force of will. This extended to his perceptions and allowed him to catch bullets and cover vast distances in little time. While not nearly as fast as Impulse, he was able to exceed light speed and break the time barrier.[citation needed] Superboy was also fast enough to easily speed blitz the entire Shazam Family, aside from Billy Batson.[24] His flight speed combined with his strength allowed him to plow through a 300 mile thick wall construct created by the entire Green Lantern corps.[7] Superboy stated that if he flew through Oa at light-speed, he would create a new Big Bang, restarting the universe.[7]
      • Vortex Creations: Superboy can use his speed to manipulate airflow for various purposes. On one occasion he used his flight speed to create a large vortex around Shazam and Black Adam.[24]
    • Superhuman Agility: Superboy's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to superhuman levels. This allows him to easily make sharp turns and easily maneuver while flying and moving at superhuman speed.[24]
    • Superhuman Reflexes: Superboy possesses reflexes far greater than any normal human being. This allows him to easily react to danger and events, and perceive the world in slow motion.[24]
    • Superhuman Senses: All of Superboy's senses are enhanced to immense superhuman levels, allowing him to perceive the world in far greater detail than the senses the average human possesses.
      • Super-Hearing: Superboy's hearing was sensitive enough to hear sounds from almost any distance. He could even hear sound through the vacuum of space.
      • Enhanced Vision: Prime's vision processed the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as allowing vast control over selective perception and focus. Including:
        • Electromagnetic Spectrum Vision: Prime could see and identify radio and television signals as well as all other broadcast or transmitted frequencies, which allowed him to dodge radar signals to avoid detection. This also allowed him to see the auras generated by living things.
        • Telescopic Vision: Superboy could see objects from at least several hundred miles away. This ability operated independently of his normal vision and could be used at will.
        • X-Ray Vision: Prime could see through various objects at will. He could not see through objects like lead that repel X-rays.
        • Microscopic Vision: The ability to see extremely small objects and images down to an atomic level.
        • Infrared Vision: Prime could perceive infrared rays, letting him see in darkness and detect heat signatures as if he had night-vision goggles. He could even use this power in total darkness, but it was less effective.
        • Heat Vision: Prime could generate beams of intensified heat from both of his eyes. His heat vision was strong enough to melt through titanium and even more durable metals. His heat vision also generated a concussive force which was strong enough to kill even a shielded Green Lantern with ease.
    • Accelerated Healing: Like all Kryptonians, Superboy possessed healing powers that enabled him to heal from severe injuries. When he was beaten by a horde of superheroes on Earth, he recovered instantaneously from his wounds upon coming in contact with yellow sunlight.[5]
    • Flight: Superboy was capable of independent flight at speeds faster than light. He traveled light-years in the blink of an eye and flown throughout the universe. He could travel through time by using speed alone.
      • Interstellar Travel: Superboy is immune to the nature of space and is not inhibited by its lack of gravity. He can travel the reaches of space where no human body could possibly survive without the aid of technology or protection.[7]
    • Invulnerability: Superboy was extremely durable under a yellow sun. He had blocked attacks from most heroes, flown through a red star while it was draining his powers without injury, fought two Supermen at once[7], and even survived attacks from the Anti-Monitor with only moderate injuries.
      • Kryptonite Immunity: Earth-Prime's Krypton was swallowed up by its sun so there was no known Kryptonite that could affect Prime. Prime, as well as Superman of Earth-Two, was immune to the Kryptonite of the New Earth. There were no known variants of Kryptonite that could effect Prime. An artificial variant was created by Element Lad which did have an effect on Prime.
      • Magic Resistance: Unlike most Kryptonians, Superboy was mostly unaffected by magic. He claimed a blast from Black Adam only "tickled" him.[6] The same happened when he was attacked by Mordru. However, Despite his resistance to magic, he can still be hurt by more powerful and focused magic attacks.[24]
      • Power Mimicry Immunity: Prime possessed an ability to nullify the effects of others trying to duplicate his powers. This was shown when fighting Amazo replying, "trying to copy my powers.....wrong!!!!"[citation needed]
    • Super-Breath: Superboy could generate a concentrated gust of wind from his mouth capable of freezing matter within a limited range. He froze several Green Lanterns to death in the vacuum of space, and even froze Red Star after he had powered up.[7]
  • Magic Empowerment: When Superboy was accidentally imbued with magical energy by Shazam on Prime Earth, he used this new power through his punches, to negate the magical transformations of the Shazam Family. Each of his punches allowed him to instantly transform the Shazam family back to their regular forms.[24]

Abilities

Weaknesses

  • Solar Energy Dependency: Superboy's powers all result from his ability to store, process and convert compatible energy sources in his body. His primary and most accessible energy source is yellow solar energy. In order to function at peak capacity using solar energy, Superboy must remain within the accessible area of such yellow solar radiation or his powers fade to greatly reduced levels; some disappearing entirely if his solar reserves are empty. Red solar energy also can drains his powers.
  • Lead: Superboy's vision was ineffective against lead or lead-based material.
  • Obsession: Superboy was utterly single-minded in his pursuit of creating what he believed to be the "Perfect Earth". As such, his judgment was severely impaired when it came to dealing with others in achieving this goal. His mania and arrested emotional maturity level led to countless deaths across the Multiverse; both intentional, and from his rampaging carelessness. He had an inability to take responsibility for his actions, although this was also reflected in the ease with which he showed fear when faced with something he could not overcome, such as the consequences of him killing a Guardian, obliterating Earth-51, attacking the Time Trapper and possibly killing the only person he loved from Earth-Prime, Laurie. In addition to his obsession of re-creating Earth-Prime, he had many phobias including; achluophobia (afraid of the dark), athazagoraphobia (fear of being forgotten), cleithrophobia (fear of being trapped), all while displaying a grandiose delusion of success once able to temporarily overcome a specific phobia. In addition he displayed signs of self-inflicted harm to himself by unintentionally scarring his chest with an "S" while in the company of mini red Sun-Eater that had prevented the wound from healing properly which has resulted in the scar permanently remaining on his chest. His stupidity lead to his own defeat when he attempted to kill his future self, the Time Trapper.[17]

Equipment

  • Solar Armor: Super-charging armor that kept his power levels at their maximum even inside of non-yellow sun solar systems. While imprisoned by the Flashes on an alternate Earth, Superboy-Prime built a power suit modeled after the Anti-Monitor's, which collected and fed him yellow solar energy, to maintain his power levels even when exposed to a red sun. Although he claimed to have made it himself, Bart Allen remembered him stealing it following his escape. It was destroyed when the two Supermen flew Superboy-Prime through Krypton's red sun. After his escape from Oa, Superboy-Prime was given a new power suit built by the Sinestro Corps. The suit was destroyed by various heroes during the Sinestro Corps' invasion of Earth.

Weapons


  • Prime was not born with his super-abilities like most pre-Crisis Kryptonians. For the early years of his life, he was as strong and as vulnerable as a normal human being.
  • The reason for Prime's name change from "Superboy" to "Superman" was not just done as part of an in-character motivation, but as a result of the real life lawsuit between the Siegel family and DC/Time-Warner. The Siegel family filed a claim pertaining to the Superboy trademark, causing problems for all versions of characters calling themselves "Superboy". In an effort to avoid benching the character, Prime was renamed to more strongly be associated as an alternate version of Superman.[29] But after certain legal decisions were made concerning the trademark, the character was allowed to be called by his original title as Superboy-Prime when the character was set to return for his role in Legion of 3 Worlds with Kon-El/Conner Kent.[30]
  • Clark considers Laurie Lemmon his best friend.[27]

Related

Footnotes


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