Information AboutKryptonite |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT KRYPTONITE | |
| superman | |
| fictional materials | |
| dc comics objects | |
|
in front of a displays of kryptonite and holding Green Kryptonite. From a panel in Action Comics Annual '' #10, 2007.]] Kryptonite is a Fictional Substance from the Superman Radio Show series (and subsequent related media, most notable the Comic Books ). The word kryptonite is used in speech to describe someone's or something's weakness. The material, usually shown as having been created from the remains of Superman's native planet of Krypton , generally has detrimental effects on Superman. The name "kryptonite" covers a variety of forms of the substance, but usually refers to the most common "green" form. HISTORY Original versions Originally, the DC Universe was home to a variety of minerals collectively called kryptonite. The most commonly depicted variety of kryptonite is greenish in coloring, though it was colored red in its first appearance in ''Superman'' (volume 1) #61 (November / December 1949). In ''Adventure Comics'' (volume 1) #171 (December 1950) the kryptonite shown trapping Superboy was colored purple but acted just like regular Green. Other varieties of kryptonite began to show up frequently beginning in the late 1950s comics, reaching a peak in appearances in 1960s Superman series. Superman's first encounter with kryptonite did not take place in his comic. It was actually introduced in 1943 on the ''Superman'' Radio Series , as both a plot device and to allow Superman's actor, Bud Collyer , to occasionally take time off. The episode in which it first briefly appeared now exists only as a script, but the substance played a part in at least one major plot-line during the course of the program. It was not until 1949 that the comic book writers incorporated it into their stories, as both a convenient danger and weakness for Superman and to add an interesting element to his stories. Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel did write a story in 1940 that involved a piece of Krypton, referred to as The K-Metal From Krypton , which robbed Superman of his strength while giving humans superpowers, but the story was never published. The amount of kryptonite shown to fall on the Earth in '' and the 2000s television series '' Smallville ''. It was possible to artificially create green kryptonite, which the rogue genius Lex Luthor performed on various occasions. However, he rarely needed to do so, as kryptonite was so abundant that many ordinary criminals kept a supply as a precaution against Superman's interference. In a 1971 storyline, all known kryptonite on Earth was transmuted into iron (and the existence of kryptonite on the moon was classified for decades), but kryptonite could still be synthetically manufactured by a variety of known and unknown means, and additional material left over from the destruction of Krypton would continue to fall from space. Still, this storyline achieved its intended purpose of greatly reducing the use of kryptonite in Superman storylines. Kryptonite emitted a radiation that had an adverse effect on Kryptonian natives such as Superman, though different varieties of kryptonite had different effects. It was assumed for a long time that kryptonite radiation was harmless to non-Kryptonians, but occasional isolated incidents were reported where it had sporadic effects on humans. The "slow Kryptonite" version (see entry, below) offered as explanation that Kryptonite radiation was especially "fast" and could only be trapped by dense material such as Kryptonian biological tissue (itself sometimes offered as the "scientific" explanation of Superman's strength and/or invulnerability). By "slowing" this radiation, green Kryptonite could be modified to inflict pain on Earthlings. Modern versions After the 1985 Limited Series '' Crisis On Infinite Earths '' and writer John Byrne 's subsequent revision of the series in 1986, the status of kryptonite was vastly changed. In the post-Crisis universe, only one form of kryptonite was naturally occurring: the green variety. As revealed in the World of Krypton mini-series the abortive detonation of a doomsday device by the Black Zero terrorist group set off a slow chain reaction within Krypton's core causing the native elements of Krypton to fuse together into a new radioactive element. As millennia passed, the unique background radiation from this element began to kill increasing numbers of Kryptonians. The authorities suppressed knowledge of the "green death", but the scientist Jor-El was able to trace the source of the radiation. He discovered that the amount of the new element in Krypton's core was reaching critical mass and that it would soon explode, destroying the planet. This was a parallel to the pre-Crisis version of Krypton which was destroyed when its uranium core exploded. Initially kryptonite was much rarer on Earth in the revised stories, the only available sample being a fist-sized chunk which had embedded itself in the tail of Kal-El 's rocketship as it fled from the exploding planet Krypton. It was later secretly removed from the rocketship by a government cabal to become the power source for the cyborg Metallo . That sample was also responsible for triggering the powers of the supervillain Conduit . The sample was in turn stolen by Lex Luthor who had a piece cut from the main stone and mounted in a signet ring to keep Superman at bay. However, continued exposure to the ring proved carcinogenic to Luthor (a significant difference from Silver Age stories, in which kryptonite was completely harmless to humans), necessitating the amputation of his hand and ultimately causing his supposed death. Superman recovered the ring and entrusted it to Batman to be used if he ever became a threat to humanity. During '' Infinite Crisis '' this ring was destroyed by Kal-L of Earth-2. Another part of the stone was cut into a kryptonite bullet. An unknown fraction of the first sample is securely stored in the Fortress of Solitude. As pieces of the Lexcorp sample were distributed, many fell into the possession of other criminal organizations and supervillains. For many years the only way a character could have access to kryptonite in the DC Universe was to have a piece of this original sample, or to somehow fetch it from the remains of Krypton itself. However, this situation recently changed with the appearance of the new Supergirl in the '' Superman/Batman '' series, during which the arrival of Supergirl's spaceship was accompanied by a fall of several tons worth of kryptonite into Gotham Bay. A variety of kryptonite types similar to the pre-Crisis range appeared in the Pocket Universe created by Legion Of Super-Heroes villain the Time Trapper . Superman, while visiting the pocket universe, used this universe's native Gold Kryptonite (Superman found he was immune to the kryptonite that existed in this reality) to remove the powers of General Zod and several other Phantom Zone criminals who had destroyed all life on that world; Superman then executed the criminals by use of green kryptonite, as punishment for the villains' crime. Two post-Crisis stories have featured artificially created red kryptonite. The first kind was a kryptonite-like, but non-radioactive rock that seemingly stripped Superman of his powers (although the source was actually Mr. Mxyzptlk 's magic) in the story "Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite". The second, in the Justice League story "Tower of Babel", was created by Batman as a way of stopping Superman without killing him, should this prove necessary. It was stolen by Ra's Al Ghul , who quickly put it to use. It is a "relatively stable" isotope of kryptonite, which, like its pre-Crisis version, disrupts Kryptonian cells in an unpredictable way. In the story, it turned Superman's skin transparent, resulting in his "solar batteries" overloading. In the 1990s, jewel kryptonite made its reappearance in modern continuity in DC's ''The Silver Age'' limited series. Later, in the comic ''Superman/Batman'', a large cache of kryptonite of various hues, similar to the pre-Crisis varieties, was found on Earth, and most of it was collected and stored by the Justice League and Justice Society ; what effects these varieties of kryptonite will have on future Superman stories remains uncertain. As shown in the '' Action Comics Annual '' #10, Lex Luthor put a piece of red, green, gold, and blue kryptonite into Metallo. THE SCIENCE BEHIND KRYPTONITE exposing Superman to lethal Kryptonite radiation.]] Some issues of ''Superman'' have indicated the mechanism by which green kryptonite may hurt Superman. Like Hanna-Barbera 's Birdman , Superman in some ways is a living solar battery; his Cell s absorb Electromagnetic Radiation from stars (like Earth's Sun ). Kryptonite's radioactivity possibly interferes with this semi- Photosynthetic process, driving the energy out of his cells in a painful fashion. Long term and high-level exposure to green kryptonite can be fatal to Superman. In post-Crisis comics, long-term exposure to kryptonite is known to have the same effects on human beings as exposure to Earth-born radioactive materials; these effects include Cancer . Lex Luthor discovered this inadvertently after acquiring a ring with a green kryptonite fragment set in it to provide protection against Superman—Luthor first lost the hand he wore the ring on to cancer and later had to have his brain transferred into a new, Cloned body after the cancer was found to have spread throughout his original body. It is speculated that kryptonite may be located in a hypothetical " Island Of Stability " high on the Periodic Table , beyond the currently known unstable elements, in the vicinity of Atomic Number 150. The transmutation of Earth's kryptonite could be explained by the acceleration of its natural atomic decay under this theory. The different forms of kryptonite may represent multiple Allotrope s or Isotope s of green kryptonite, or a more exotic variation in composition based on currently unknown particles. Under normal chemical nomenclature the ''-ite'' suffix would denote a Compound (e.g. the compound uranite contains the element Uranium ). Thus the name implies that kryptonite is a compound and not an element (something supported by the "tar" analysis in the third Superman movie). This issue is normally overlooked in the comic books, but a Non-canonical game sourcebook did refer to kryptonite as "the common ore of the super-actinide Kryptonium, an unusually stable transuranic element, whose atomic number is believed to be 126." The half-life of kryptonium is listed as 250,000 years. (Stern, Roger (1992) ''Superman: The Man of Steel Sourcebook'' Mayfair Games) One thought about the source of the ''-ite'' ending is found in astronomy wherein a meteoroid is a rock floating in deep space, a meteor is one streaking through the sky, and a meteor''ite'' is a rock lying around on the ground after falling from the sky. The ''-ite'' ending could have been used to denote chunks of Krypton that had fallen to Earth. The aforementioned atomic number was reinforced by the first season episode of '''' entitled "The Green, Green Glow of Home," where it was stated that kryptonite was "periodic element 126" and that it "emits an extremely high band radiation that does not seem to affect humans". The substance itself had no formal designation until the very end of the episode, where Lois Lane 's suggestion that it be named "kryptonium" was eschewed in favor of Clark Kent's "kryptonite" due to the fact that it initially appeared in the form of a meteorite. The atomic number 126 is the one of the hypothesized Unbihexium/eka-plutonium , the most stable of the elements in the Island Of Stability . In '' Superman Returns '', an additional piece of kryptonite is found in a rock fragment, once more in Addis Ababa. Lex Luthor steals it from a Metropolis museum and uses it in his quest to create a new kryptonite landmass. During the extraction process, the rock appears to hold a significant amount of green kryptonite. The scientific name for the rock was displayed on its case, 'Sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide with fluorine'. As borosilicate glass is commonly crystalline and green-tinted, this could be a plausible human mis-identification of kryptonite; alternately, as no 'unknown' component is listed, one might assume this (sodium/lithium/borosilicate/fluorine) blend to be the actual composition of green kryptonite. Though more likely, the researchers who performed the analysis of the fragment did not perform a core sample test. They may have only chipped off the outer layer in order to test it. Coincidentally, in (after Jadar , the location of the Serbian mine where it was discovered), will go on show at the London Natural History Museum .http://www.physorg.com/news96641377.html FORMS OF KRYPTONITE Variations The various known forms of Kryptonite in the ''Superman'' comics: Simulated kryptonite
Hoaxes In the comics, some varieties of kryptonite that turned out to be hoaxes:
OTHER MEDIA As noted above, kryptonite was originally created for the 1940s Superman radio series. Kryptonite has appeared in various forms in the various Superman media spinoffs, however. Depictions of kryptonite in the various films and TV series of Superman have largely been limited to green kryptonite, with occasional appearances of the red and blue varieties. ''Adventures of Superman'' Kryptonite was used in several episodes of '' Adventures Of Superman '', proceeding from straightforward to increasingly far-fetched plotlines. The specific color is not definite, given that it is never mentioned and that the series was in Black & White , but from its effects, it is presumed to be green kryptonite in all cases:
Movies Kryptonite was featured in ''''. In the film, Lex Luthor ( Gene Hackman ) and his cronies ( Ned Beatty and Valerie Perrine ) track a large chunk to Addis Ababa , Ethiopia , where they steal it from a museum under the cover of night. In this film's usage, the term "kryptonite" seems to mean simply a "Kryptonian meteorite". After co-opting and launching two nuclear missiles for opposite ends of the United States , Luthor places the kryptonite on a chain around Superman's ( Christopher Reeve ) neck and drops him into a swimming pool. When Perrine's character Miss Teschmacher learns that one of the missiles is headed for Hackensack, New Jersey (where her mother lives), she rescues Superman from drowning and removes the kryptonite, after which his strength and powers quickly return. An imperfect synthesis of artificial kryptonite containing ), it was intended to be a copy of Green Kryptonite. After scanning the coordinates of Krypton's former location via satellite, results return a small percentage of an unknown component. The substitution of tar (which Gorman used after glancing at a cigarette carton) for a crucial, but unknown, component resulted in the synthetic kryptonite behaving like Red Kryptonite and Black Kryptonite; in this case, the kryptonite turned Superman evil and eventually split him into two people. The evil Superman and Clark Kent, the embodiment of Superman's remaining good qualities, then engage in an epic battle at a deserted junkyard, where Clark emerges victorious and the evil Superman fades from sight. Later in the film, Gorman's creation, the Ultimate Computer, severely weakens Superman with a kryptonite ray before Gorman has a change of heart and attacks his own machine. In '' Superman Returns '', an additional piece of kryptonite is found in a rock fragment, once more in Addis Ababa. Lex Luthor steals it from a Metropolis museum and uses it in his quest to create a new kryptonite landmass, much like how young Clark created the Fortress Of Solitude . In addition, he uses a shard leftover from processing it to create a kryptonite shiv, which he uses to stab Superman with at one point. Interestingly, Kryptonite is never once referred to as the term "meteor" as it is in the previous movies and Smallville series, only as "distant remains" or "radioactive pieces of {Link without Title} home-world". This may've been an attempt on the writers' part to distinguish the Kryptonite of the movie away from Smallville, which is almost always referred to as "meteors". ''The Adventures of Superboy'' Kryptonite made frequent appearances in the syndicated "Superboy" TV series, most of it green. It first appeared in the first-season episode "Kryptonite Kills" in which Professor Peterson retrieved it from Addis Adaba believing it to be a harmless meteorite and brought it to his gemology class at Shuster University. Superboy, a student in Peterson's class (as Clark Kent), collapsed from the radiation and felt its effects for the first time. He later threw most of the Kryptonite into space, except for one piece which was washed into the sewer. That piece was discovered by a mixed-up scientist who used it as a power source for Metallo (Roger Corben) in the second season episode "Metallo". Green Kryptonite made several more appearances throughout the series, used mostly by Lex Luthor and Metallo. In the third season episode "Bride of Bizarro", Luthor sent Bizarro to a military research base to steal a large amount of Kryptonite, which Luthor was seen using on Superboy in later episodes. In the fourth season episode "Kryptonite Kid", a young man named Mike Walker working at the same military research base was caught in a Kryptonite explosion while working to find a cure which would make Superboy immune to the radiation. The Kryptonite entered his bloodstream and turned his skin green and he became "living, breathing Kryptonite" able to fire Kryptonite radiation from his hands. In "Obituary for a Super-Hero", Luthor used a Kryptonite bomb planted on a yacht to attempt to kill Superboy. Red Kryptonite made an appearance in the second season episode "Super Menace". This version of Red K was created at a military research base where scientists were working to neutralize Kryptonite's effect on Superboy while still retaining its radioactive properties so it could be used as a power source. Their experiments turned the Kryptonite red, making it useless as a power source and altering its effect on Superboy. This Red Kryptonite turned Superboy evil, much like Red K would later do in the "Smallville" TV Series, except only a single exposure to it was required, rather than constant exposure. After Superboy wreaked havoc with Metallo, Lana tricked Superboy into being exposed to another chunk of Red Kryptonite which reversed the effects of the first. This is Red Kryptonite's only appearance in the series, so it is unknown if the substance would have had other effects on Superboy if it had appeared again. The "Superboy" series also introduced a form of White Kryptonite, however this was not the white kryptonite that kills plant life (as seen in the Pre-Crisis comic books). This White K was created by Professor Peterson's duplicating ray in an attempt to create a form of Kryptonite that would kill the molecularly unstable Bizarro. This Kryptonite did not kill Bizarro, however. It instead had an opposite effect on him and actually stabilized and cured him, preventing him from eventually exploding as previous Bizarro duplicates had. White Kryptonite made only one appearance in the series in the episode "The Battle With Bizarro". It is referred to again in "The Bride of Bizarro" but it is not seen. ''Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' Kryptonite was used throughout the 1990s television series ''''.
Animated series The 1970s and 1980s '' Super Friends '' animated series featured kryptonite in various episodes, usually green. In the episode "Rest in Peace", Sinestro refers to a form of kryptonite called "Krypton Steel" as "a harmless form of kryptonite that only Superman can penetrate". In another episode, "Darkseid's Golden Trap", gold kryptonite appears, which is stated to have an effective range of 20 ft (6.1 m). Blue kryptonite also makes an appearance in an episode entitled "Terror From the Phantom Zone"; Superman, aging rapidly from exposure to Red Kryptonite, acquires a sample of Blue Kryptonite (which had been discovered floating in space) and uses it to cure himself (Blue Kryptonite has negative effects on Bizzaro, so it should have positive effects on Superman). In "Uncle Mxyzptlk", the Wonder Twins find a red, glowing stone and take it to the Hall of Justice. They show it to Superman...who immediately reacts to it. Samurai knocks the red kryptonite to the floor but the affects of the red kryptonite cause Superman to decrease in age...becoming a kid of maybe 5 or 6 years old. The rest of the Superfriends refer to the kid as 'Super Brat'. In another episode, red kryptonite is exposed to Superman by Bizarro himself...causing Superman to transform into a gangly, weak klutz. In yet another episode of Superfriends, red kryptonite causes Superman to grow additional arms and legs...most of the action takes place at the '' Fortress Of Solitude '' where Superman finds some blue kryptonite hidden away to fight off Bizarro. In the 1990s series, '''', one explanation offered for the science of kryptonite is that Superman feels the detrimental effects of kryptonite radiation quicker that normal humans because his body absorbs it more readily, as a result of sharing a common point of origin with the element. The effect is so potent that even a tiny shard is enough to painfully affect Superman at a short distance. This makes it impossible for Superman to even touch the substance, as it would be the equivalent of a normal man touching radioactive rods from a Nuclear Reactor with his bare skin. Only the element of lead is able to block the radiation, and is therefore Superman's only protection. Fortunately, Professor Hamilton supplies Superman with a distinctive and durable lead protection suit for such situations. Kryptonite, in the animated series, still has effects on normal humans as well. Two moments are evidence of this. First, the "Jade Dragon" from '''') is a statue of kryptonite carved in the form of a Chinese dragon, said to be cursed because all of its owners all died within a few years of acquiring the piece. Second is Lex Luthor's kryptonite poisoning/cancer as seen in '' Justice League '', attributed to Lex's admitted habit of keeping a fist-sized chunk of kryptonite in his pocket for years. This does bring up the question of Batman's habit of also carrying a piece of kryptonite in his own belt; however, since Batman has seen what the kryptonite did to Luthor, the famed methodicality of Batman may mean that he likely has the pouch lined with lead. In '' Batman Beyond ,'' it was revealed in the two part episode "The Call" that Bruce Wayne kept the kryptonite for the rest of his life, and kept the needle of kryptonite locked up very securely in the Bat Cave. The Justice League series also reveals how Batman obtained the kryptonite. Green kryptonite remains the only variety of the substance ever seen in the DCAU . As mentioned above, the ''Krypto the Superdog'' episode "Streaky's Cat Tail" features "purple-spotted kryptonite", which causes Superdog to compulsively chase his tail. However, this was almost certainly a product of Streaky's imagination. Red Kryptonite has appeared and is stated as having weird effects on Kryptonians for a day; it has swapped the minds of Kevin and Krypto, removed Krypto's powers. and in episode caused Krypto's tail to become sentient and separated from his body. Kryptonite also appears in an episode of the Legion Of Super Heroes cartoon, where it is revealed Brainiac 5 has a piece of it, and that the villain Drax , who, despite being an analogue to Superman, is immune to it. ''Smallville'' See Also: Kryptonite in Smallville In the 2000s television series '' Smallville '', the show expands on the concept of the substance being harmful to humans, as well as making extensive use of the substance. On the show, not only is green kryptonite (referred to in the first two seasons of the series as "meteor rock") harmful to Clark Kent , but it can produce bizarre changes in humans, animals, and plants, typically turning them into powerful Mutant menaces, commonly known by the inhabitants of Smallville as "Meteor Freaks," that Clark must oppose. These changes seem to be linked to the circumstances under which the subject was exposed to kryptonite and the subject's emotional state (similar to how Gamma Radiation affects people in the Marvel Comics Universe ). Groups of people have been shown to acquire the same powers from kryptonite by exposing themselves to it in the same manner. It is interesting to note that exposure to kryptonite among Caucasians causes them to gain superpowers while prolonged exposure to kryptonite among African-Americans causes them to have involuntary spasms and seizures (as evidenced in the episodes "Jitters" and "Duplicity"), though this is never explicitly stated, and thus is probably coincidental. The harm inflicted on Clark by kryptonite on ''Smallville'' is varied. He cannot be near green kryptonite without doubling over in nausea and pain, and if he were to hold a fragment of it in his hand, it would burn to the touch and the veins in his hand would become exposed and green. However, on other separate occasions Clark has held and even ''ingested'' kryptonite (albeit in dilluted form) and been merely weakened. When a vial of Clark's blood was held up to kryptonite to verify its authenticity, the blood began to boil. Red kryptonite has also been shown in ''Smallville''. Its effect on Clark Kent is to rid him of all inhibitions, making him rebellious and potentially dangerous if exposed to it for too long. Also created for the series was black kryptonite (first appearing in the episode "Crusade"), which is capable of separating certain entities within individual organisms, e.g., splitting a person's good and evil sides. Black kryptonite was formed by heating up green kryptonite. In the series, after Clark's "reprogramming" by Jor-El in the caves, Martha Kent used black kryptonite to reveal the two psyches of Clark, the militant Kal-El (not to be confused with the rebellious "Kal" alias caused by red kryptonite), and normal Clark. In a later episode, Lex Luthor was experimenting with a process to heat up green kryptonite and irradiate seeds, in order to separate the "weak" genes from the "strong" genes in the seeds. The result was hardy but rotten-tasting fruit, implying a Yin And Yang balance within fruit, as well as within humans. An accident with this process caused Lex to split into a good Lex and a bad Lex who referred to himself as "Alexander". Silver kryptonite made an appearance in the fifth season episode entitled "Splinter". Like the previous comics incarnation, this silver form was not a true form of the stone. In the episode, Clark pricked his finger on a rock that was black and had silver-metallic clusters, and subsequently became increasingly paranoid, Hallucinating that others were conspiring against him. In the episode's final scenes, it was revealed that a splinter of the element entered Clark's bloodstream. It was also shown that silver kryptonite was created artificially from the liquid metal which forms Brainiac 's body. KRYPTONITE AS A CULTURAL CONCEPT The term "kryptonite" is used to refer to something unwanted, feared, or avoided. In Wonder Showzen the children refer to Pork as Muslim Kryptonite . SEE ALSO
REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|