Clark Kent

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

In the series, Clark attempts to live the life of a normal human being, and struggles with keeping the secret of his alien heritage from his friends. He has an on-again, off-again relationship with childhood friend Lana Lang through the first seven seasons, the trials of which are based on his lack of honesty about his secret, which eventually gives way to the traditional relationship with Daily Planet co-worker Lois Lane. In contrast to previous incarnations of the character, this Clark starts out best friends with Lex Luthor, whom he meets after saving the latter's life. The pair's friendship eventually deteriorates into hatred for one another. In Smallville, Clark's powers appear over time, as he is not aware of all of them at the start of the show; for instance, his heat vision and super breath do not develop until season two and six, respectively. When developing Smallville's version of Clark, the producers decided to strip him down to the "bare essence" of Superman; he is also fallible, which allows the audience to see his humanity, but that he is also "... good to the core." In the series, he has been seen by critics, and intentionally portrayed by the filmmakers, as a symbolic representation of Jesus Christ. Welling has been nominated for multiple Teen Choice and Saturn Awards for his portrayal of Clark.

In Their Own Story

Clark Kent first appears in the pilot episode of Smallville as a teen with superhuman abilities that he uses to help others. Clark is adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent as a young child, when he crash lands on Earth on the day of the Smallville meteor shower in 1989. Twelve years later, trying to find his place in life after being told he is an alien by his adoptive father, Clark saves the life of Lex Luthor, the son of billionaire Lionel Luthor, and the pair become quick friends. During season one, Clark struggles with the burden of keeping his powers a secret from those close to him. In particular, he is afraid to open up to Lana Lang for fear that she would not accept him if she learned of his extraterrestrial origins. In the season two episode "Rosetta", Clark learns of his Kryptonian heritage, including his native language, his birth name (Kal-El), and his birth father's Jor-El plan for him to rule the world. Fearful that he will not be able to control his own destiny, Clark runs away to Metropolis with a class ring made of red kryptonite that Chloe Sullivan, his best friend, owned. In the season two finale, he leaves Lana behind, with whom he had started to develop a romantic relationship. In the season three premiere, three months later, Clark is living a criminal life in Metropolis, but he's eventually brought home by Jonathan, who has agreed to allow Jor-El to take Clark at an undetermined time in the future. In the season three finale, a girl calling herself Kara arrives at the Kent farm and claims to be from Krypton. After Kara predicts that Clark's friends are destined to leave or betray him, Clark decides to leave Smallville for good. When Jonathan attempts to intervene, Jor-El threatens to kill him. To save his adoptive father's life, Clark agrees to go through with his decision to leave. In the season four premiere, Clark returns to Smallville. He has been "reprogrammed" by Jor-El to seek out the three stones of knowledge so he may fulfill his destiny. He meets Lois Lane, who is investigating the supposed death of her cousin, and Clark's best friend, Chloe. Clark, with help from his mother, regains control over his mind and consciously refuses to look for the stones. In the season four finale, a "great evil" is awakened in space after Clark defies Jor-El's instructions and fails to obtain the three stones of knowledge. With a new meteor shower hitting Smallville, Clark finds the remaining stones and is transported to the Arctic, where the three stones create the Fortress of Solitude. In the season five premiere, Clark interrupts his training to return to Smallville, but when he fails to return to the Fortress before the Sun sets, he is stripped of his powers. In the episode "Hidden", Clark begins an honest relationship with Lana, but is killed trying to save the town from a resident who hopes to kill all of the "... meteor freaks." Jor-El resurrects Clark, but warns him that someone he loves will eventually have to take his place. Clark worries about who will be sacrificed in return for him being saved. In the episode "Reckoning", Lana is killed. Unwilling to accept this, Clark turns back time to save her. As a result, it is Clark's adoptive father that becomes the sacrifice when he suffers a fatal heart attack. In the season five finale, Clark battles Brainiac, a Kryptonian artificial intelligence in the form of a man. Clark fights to stop Brainiac from releasing the Kryptonian criminal Zod from the Phantom Zone. Clark fails, and becomes himself imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, while Zod escapes and sets out to conquer Earth. In the season six premiere, Clark escapes the Phantom Zone — inadvertently releasing several of the prisoners in the process — and returns to Smallville, where he fights and defeats Zod. The other Phantom Zone escapees become Clark's primary focus in season six. He must also deal with Lana's romantic relationship with Lex, which culminates in their engagement in the season six episode "Promise". The season six finale reveals that the last of the Phantom Zone criminals is really a genetic experiment created by Kryptonian scientists. The escapee attacks Clark, cloning his DNA, and becomes Clark's doppelgänger. In the season seven premiere, Clark, together with John Jones, defeats his doppelgänger. As the season continues, Clark discovers that a secret society known as Veritas was aware of his landing in Smallville during the first meteor shower and, moreover, possess a device that supposedly allows them to control him. In the season seven finale, Clark is confronted by Lex at the Fortress of Solitude. Lex has discovered Clark's secret and possesses the Veritas device, which he uses, resulting in the Fortress collapsing on him and Clark. In the season eight premiere, it is revealed that the Veritas device does not allow others to control Clark, but rather strips him of his powers. Wandering the globe with Russian gangsters, Clark is eventually found and rescued by Oliver Queen and John Jones, with the latter restoring Clark's powers. During season eight, Clark uses his new job at the Daily Planet to access advance information, which he uses to stop crime around the city. In subsequent episodes, Clark adopts the name "Red-Blue Blur" as his superhero moniker. Toward the end of the season, Clark wrestles with the idea of having to kill Davis Bloome, a new friend, after discovering that Davis is actually Doomsday, a genetically engineered creature created by General Zod to kill Clark and destroy Earth. In the season eight finale, Clark finds a way to separate Davis' personality from that of Doomsday, and buries Doomsday underground. When Davis subsequently kills Jimmy Olsen, Clark decides that his human-learned emotions have caused him the most trouble, as it was his compassion for Davis that led to Jimmy's death. He vows that "Clark Kent is dead." The start of season nine reveals that Clark has begun training with Jor-El, which is shown by his wearing his family crest on his chest when in his superhero persona. After realizing there are other Kryptonians on Earth, lacking special powers and led by Zod, Clark decides to help them adjust to living as humans. When Zod is shot and killed, Clark uses his own blood to bring him back to life, resulting in Zod regaining his Kryptonian powers. Zod enables the other Kryptonians to regain their powers as well, and unites them to destroy the world in order to turn it into a new Krypton. This season, Lois and Clark begin a romantic relationship, while Lois also assists "The Blur" in his heroic endeavors. Clark kisses Lois while he is "the Blur" in the season nine finale and unknowingly reveals to her the truth. Afterward, he convinces the Kryptonians to leave Earth for a new, uninhabited planet. Clark then sacrifices his own life to send Zod through a portal, far away from Earth. Season ten begins with Clark stuck in the afterlife, where Jor-El informs him that a great darkness is coming to Earth. Clark is unknowingly resurrected by Lois, who is now aware that he is "the Blur". Jor-El also informs Clark that he is not ready to be Earth's true savior, as there are inner demons that Clark must overcome first. In the episode "Homecoming", Clark is visited by Brainiac 5, who shows Clark how his past has shaped his present, and will one day shape his future; including a vision of Clark's future self when he has fully embraced his destiny. In the episode "Isis", Clark reveals his secret to Lois.

Reader's Guide

Clark Kent is the main protagonist of Smallville, appearing in all ten seasons. He is a Kryptonian adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent, raised in Smallville, Kansas. His powers develop gradually: heat vision appears in season two, super breath in season six. He starts as best friends with Lex Luthor but their friendship deteriorates into hatred. His romantic arc moves from Lana Lang (seasons 1-7) to Lois Lane (seasons 9-10). He adopts the moniker "Red-Blue Blur" in season eight. Key relationships include his adoptive parents Jonathan and Martha, his Kryptonian father Jor-El, his cousin Kara, and his best friend Chloe Sullivan. He works at the Daily Planet starting in season eight. His powers include super-strength, speed, flight, heat vision, super breath, and invulnerability. He is portrayed by Tom Welling throughout the series.

Did You Know?

• Clark's heat vision doesn't appear until season two, and his super breath doesn't develop until season six—meaning he had to learn his powers in real time alongside viewers.
• Clark and Lex Luthor start the series as best friends after Clark saves Lex's life in the pilot; their slow-burn fall into bitter enmity is a central tragedy of the show.
• Before adopting the iconic 'Superman' name, Clark operates as the masked vigilante 'Red-Blue Blur' in season eight, a nod to his comic-book origins.
• Tom Welling played Clark Kent for all 218 episodes of *Smallville*, then returned as an older, wiser version of the character in 2019's 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' crossover.