Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…Well,
you know how it ends, don't you? It’s a sentence so iconic; that kids around
the world know it.
Being Superman is the childhood fantasy of every little boy.
He is an enduring emblem of the American dream, the young immigrant who comes
to the United States, embraces the culture and makes something of himself and
enriches his adopted nation. He is a classical hero in the modern age that
fights criminals, rescues the helpless and has a sense of morals and justice as
strong and unshakable as he is.
The most recognized superhero in pop culture, Superman has
been elevated to mythic hero status. Born as Kal-El on the dying planet
Krypton, his parents Jor-El and Lara sent him in a rocket to the planet Earth
where he would be the last surviving member of his race, the Kryptonians. His
rocket was discovered by the kindly Jonathan and Martha Kent, who raised him as
their son Clark Kent in the town of Smallville, Kansas. Young Clark soon found
out that due to the yellow sun, he has astonishing superpowers beyond that of
any human being. Discovering his enormous powers, they instilled in him strong
moral values.
Going through high school and college, Clark decided to use
his powers for good and started working at The Daily Planet as a reporter working
for the Daily Planet in Metropolis. With this job, Clark could be informed of
any perilous event where his superpowers are needed. Thus, the hero Superman
was born.
To preserve the memory of his home planet and provide him
rest from his double-life and adventures, he maintains a Fortress of Solitude
at the North Pole. Superman remains proud of his dual heritage, taking
seriously the lessons of his birth-parents and his adopted parents. Although he
from Krypton to this world, he heavily values his humanity, and fights with
conviction for truth, justice, and the American way.
Abilities:
Abilities:
Superhuman Strength: Enhanced strength much greater than that of a
human and even most superhumans, making him "more powerful than a train,"
is one of Superman's signature powers and has often described as chief among
his other abilities. Whilst in direct yellow sunlight, his strength can augment
to limitless and incalculable levels. He has strength necessary to shatter
entire worlds. Superman's stamina had shown as limitless (whilst he remains in
yellow sunlight).
Invulnerability: He has immunity to almost all forms
of harm and ailments, including extreme force and extremely high temperatures.
Effectiveness has ranged from his skin being piercable by nothing less than a
"bursting shell" to being completely unharmed by a star going supernova.
In some versions, this power greatly retards his aging and increases as he gets
older, sometimes rendering him effectively immortal.
Flight: The ability to naturally defy and operate
independently of gravity and propel him through the air at will.
Superhuman Speed: Another one of Superman's signature abilities
is his superhuman speed, allowing him to move, react, run, and fly
extraordinarily fast. Superman's running speed has often shown to be on same
level with that of The Flash's.
Superhuman Hearing – Can hear far more sounds
with far more detail and at far greater distances than normally humanly
possible, including sounds on frequencies undetectable by humans such as dog
whistles. Superman is able mentally screen out most of these sounds to be able
to function normally, even in a noisy environment, and can focus in on specific
things, like a person's voice or heartbeat, even if they are in another part of
the city. He can even hear sounds on other planets, which makes it likely that
his hearing is fundamentally different from that of a human, as sound cannot
travel through the vacuum of space. Like humans and most animals, he is skilled
at automatically noticing his own name out of the jumble of several overheard
conversations, making him adept at quickly responding to calls of distress all
over the city.
Superhuman Vision – His senses grant him the
ability to see farther and with greater accuracy and detail than humanly
possible. Sometimes includes the ability to see EM frequencies
invisible to humans, such as radio transmissions, infrared light, the
bioelectric aura that surrounds all living things, even in pitch-black
darkness. Offshoots of this power include Telescopic Vision, which
allows him to "zoom in" on far away objects, sometimes hundreds of
miles away, and Microscopic Vision, which allows him to zoom in on
objects that would normally be too small to see, like those on a cellular or
molecular level. X-Ray Vision – The ability to see through solid
objects, usually with the exception of lead
Superman has super-everything—strength, speed, flight,
invulnerability as well as his renowned X-ray and heat vision. The most
powerful being on the planet, his amazing abilities are also a melancholy
reminder of how different he is from the people he’s dedicated to protect.
A universal icon, Superman means different things to the
many diverse people he inspires: He’s an alien; an immigrant from a faraway
land just looking to help; a country boy fighting the never-ending battle for
truth and justice. And recent comics have truly spotlighted his role as the
people’s hero: Following a neophyte Man of Steel still learning his powers’
limits, Superman fights the evil corporate tycoons and corrupt one-percenters
that have overwhelmed the establishment.
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