General Zod
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| General Zod | |
|---|---|
 General Zod Art by Adam Kubert |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Adventure Comics #283 (April 1961) |
| Created by | Robert Bernstein George Papp |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Dru-Zod |
| Place of origin | Krypton |
| Team affiliations | Non, Ursa, Faora, Quex-Ul, Nam-Ek, Aethyr-Ka |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, senses, intelligence, regeneration, and longevity; super breath, heat vision, invulnerability, and flight |
General Dru-Zod is a fictional character who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, a supervillain who is one of Superman's more prominent enemies. The character first appeared in Adventure Comics #283 (April 1961), and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] Silver Age
Dru-Zod is a megalomaniacal Kryptonian, in charge of the military forces on Krypton. He had known Jor-El, Superman's father, when he was an aspiring scientist. When the space program was abolished after the destruction of the inhabited moon Wegthor, which had been caused by renegade scientist Jax-Ur, he attempted to take over Krypton. Zod created an army of robotic duplicates of himself, all bearing a resemblance to Bizarro. He was sentenced to exile in the Phantom Zone for his crimes. Zod was eventually released by Superboy when his term of imprisonment was up. However, he attempted to conquer Earth with the super powers gained under the yellow sun. Zod was sent back into the Phantom Zone, from which he occasionally escapes to target Superman.
[edit] Modern Age
[edit] Pocket Universe Zod
This Zod came from a Krypton in a pocket universe created by the Time Trapper. He, along with companions Quex-Ul and Faora, devastated the Earth of that universe following the death of its Superboy, despite the best efforts of a Supergirl created by this world's heroic Lex Luthor. Eventually, the survivors of this world managed to contact the Superman of the main universe to help them, and he was able to take away the powers of the three super-criminals with gold kryptonite (As he was not from that universe, the Kryptonite of that reality would have no effect on him). However, as the three vowed to some day regain their powers and return to Superman's world to kill him, Superman was forced to execute them with Kryptonite, and it was this action that caused him to question his powers and how to deal with evil doers.[1] This version of Zod is based closely on the Pre-Crisis version, the significant difference is he has killed everyone on the pocket Earth rather than conquering them with ease since there's no Superboy/Superman to stop him.
[edit] "Return to Krypton" Zod
This incarnation of General Zod was introduced in the 2001 storyline "Return to Krypton." He was the head of the Kryptonian military in an alternate reality created by Brainiac 13. Like the Pre-Crisis version, Zod held the Kryptonian equivalent of fascist beliefs. He sent aliens to the bottle city of Kandor and planned a military coup. Zod was defeated by Superman and the Jor-El of that Krypton.
[edit] Russian Zod
This General Zod is a Russian who was affected prior to his birth by Kryptonite radiation because he was the son of two cosmonauts whose ship was too close to Kal-El's rocketship. This Zod is unnaturally weak under a yellow sun, but superpowered under a red sun (the opposite of Superman). After his parents died of the radiation, he grew up from birth in a KGB laboratory under the name "Zed."[1]
Apparently spoken to by the spirit of the Pocket Universe Zod, Zod created a suit of red armor that filtered the sunlight and declared himself ruler of the fictional former Soviet state of Pokolistan. After several inconclusive encounters with Superman, he revealed his long-range plan to turn the sun red and take Superman's place. This was temporarily successful until Lex Luthor rescued Superman, gave him a blast of yellow solar radiation to regain his powers, and worked to restore the sun. Superman returned to battle Zod, but refused to kill him. When the sun turned yellow again, the now vulnerable Zod still struck Superman with all his power, but was killed.[1]
[edit] Phantom Zod
Introduced in the twelve-issue For Tomorrow (Superman #204-#215) storyline, written by Brian Azzarello and penciled by Jim Lee, this Zod resides in an alternate Phantom Zone alone and resents Superman for tampering with it. According to him, he comes from the same Krypton as Superman, and was exiled to the Phantom Zone by Superman's father Jor-El. This Zod wears spiked black armor, and when unmasked, is a bald, white-bearded old man who arguably resembles an aged version of the film Zod (Terence Stamp). This interpretation also uses a variation of 'Kneel before Zod'. It is possible that this Zod is not a real Kryptonian, however. He appeared in Metropia, a version of the Phantom Zone created by Superman to resemble a living world, including seemingly living beings. Since Superman created the world of Metropia to bear similarities with Krypton, it has been revealed[citation needed] that this, yet again, is not the real Zod. However, regardless of whether this was the real Zod of the pre-Infinite Crisis DC universe, he has now been superseded by the current continuity, which features a new Zod, freed from the Phantom Zone.
[edit] Krypton Zod
General Zod appeared as a primary antagonist in the Superman: Last Son storyline written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner, director of Superman: The Movie and most of Superman II. In a story partially similar to that of Superman II, Zod, Ursa, and Non escape from the Phantom Zone and come to Earth to take control and try to turn it into a "New Krypton." This incarnation is the first Post-Crisis Zod that clearly came from Superman's Krypton and not from an alternate reality.
The back-story for the three Kryptonians was revealed in Action Comics Annual #10; Non had once been a brilliant scientist on par with Jor-El. Both were researching the event that would ultimately destroy Krypton. Zod entered their lab with troops (at this point Zod was still working for Krypton's Council). Both Jor-El and Non were arrested by Zod and given a warning by the High Council to halt their research, then released. Jor-El set to work creating the rocket that would send his son Kal-El to Earth, while Non began to spread the word of the planet's impending doom. Non's message swayed both Zod and Ursa that Krypton was soon to be destroyed. Non then disappeared from public life, only to return with a mutilated brain. The council had transformed him into a mindless brute and this act inspired Zod and Ursa to rebel against the Kryptonian government. Without any sense of right and wrong, Non now fought alongside Zod and Ursa. Zod attempted to recruit Jor-El to their cause; however Jor-El saw the plans were fueled by greed, a lust for power and violence.
This rebellion was short-lived and the rebels were again arrested and set to be executed. Not wishing to resort to execution, Jor-El appealed on their behalf, to exile them instead. The council accepted this on the condition that Jor-El would be the jailer. Thus Zod, Ursa, and Non were imprisoned, and embittered against Jor-El for years to come.
The story also features the debut of Christopher Kent, a young Kryptonian boy discovered and briefly raised by Superman and Lois Lane. It is revealed that Christopher (whose birth name is Lor-Zod) is the son of Zod and Ursa, birthed in the Phantom Zone and used as a conduit to their escape. After jumping Superman, Zod managed to trap him in the Zone. At the same time, about twenty-five other Kryptonian criminals also escape the Zone and defeat a number of Earth's heroes and begin their quest of conquering the planet; starting with Metropolis. Superman escapes the Zone with the aid of Mon-El and ultimately defeats Zod with the unlikely aid of Lex Luthor, Metallo, Parasite, and Bizarro. Out of the nearly thirty Kryptonians; Metallo, Parasite and Lex Luthor manage to kill five or six of them using Kryptonite and red solar radiation. Zod and his compatriots are sent back into the Phantom Zone, but unfortunately, so is Chris Kent.
In the conclusion of the recent "New Krypton" arc, it is revealed that Alura has brought Zod, Ursa, and Non back from the Phantom Zone, making Zod the army's new leader.
[edit] World of New Krypton
When Superman decides to see what life is like on New Krypton he is drafted into the Military Guild under General Zod. Zod and Superman maintain a mistrustful professional relationship, which despite their past, neither seems preparing to behave openly aggressive towards one another. When Zod orders that Superman and his people kill a Kryptonian criminal, Superman circumvents the order, feeling that killing the criminal would be not only unnecessary but wrong. Although the criminal is arrested without further fatalities, Zod accuses Superman of treason, of which he is found guilty. However, before being executed Superman gives a heartfelt speech about morality. Much to the surprise of everyone, Zod is seemingly moved by the speech, and requests that the Religious Guild give Superman absolution, and thus overturn the guilty charge. As a result, Superman is cleared of all charges. When asked why he did not go through with the execution of the son of someone who he hated, Zod explains that despite everything that had happened before, Zod realized that his military would be stronger and better for having Superman in it. As a result it appears that there is a level of mutual respect, if not peace, between Zod and Superman. However during a Krytonian ceremony, Zod is shot by the Kryptonian Ral-Dar, who is working with Sam Lane. In issue seven of this story arc he names Kal-El temporary General until he has fully recovered.
[edit] Other versions
- General Zod appears in Superman Adventures # 21, portrayed as an Argosian. This General Zod also appears in Justice League Unlimited #34.
- The General Zod of Earth-15 became Superman instead of Kal-El. This version is later killed by Superman Prime.
- The Zod of JSA: The Liberty Files was not a general of any kind. He was recast as a sociopathic eleven year-old who created a deadly synthetic virus on Krypton for no actual reason other than fun. Zod was banished to the Phantom Zone because of his actions, the very first child ever sent to the Zone, until American scientists breached the Zone and discovered him. Taken in by the government and named "Clark Kent", Zod would fool most of his adult superiors by playing the role of a scared child until he grew up and became the adult "Super-Man".
[edit] In other media
[edit] Film
General Zod appears in Superman and Superman II, portrayed by actor Terence Stamp as a pathologically arrogant and pompous aristocrat, almost bored with his incredible powers and disappointed with the ease of overtaking Earth. Zod's line "Come to me, son of Jor-El! Kneel before Zod!" has become part of pop culture.[2] So much so that IN 2009 issue 7 of the 15 story Superman: World of New Krypton title copied this with the phrase "Kneel Before Kal-El" on the cover. Terence Stamp's portrayal has led to Zod becoming one of Superman's best-known villains, and fans have come to view his portrayal as the definitive version of the character. Motion picture director Richard Lester inspired much of Zod (and company)'s destruction of downtown Metropolis. One scene involved his heat vision being reflected by Superman. Standing in front of a tan salon billboard, he comedically imprinted his silhouette over the bikini-wearing figure; the rest of the poster charred. The movie version of General Zod is rated #58 on Wizard magazine's "100 Greatest Villains of All Time" list.[3]
[edit] Novels
In the novel The Last Days of Krypton (by Kevin J. Anderson) General Zod (also known as Commissioner Dru-Zod) is the son of Cor-Zod, formerly the head of the Kryptonian Council and legendary politician leader. ISBN 006134074X
[edit] Television
[edit] Super Friends
A Phantom Zone villain named Zy-Kree, resembling the movie-version of Zod, appears in the Super Friends episode, "The Evil From Krypton" in 1981.
[edit] Superman 1988 TV series
Rene Auberjonois voices General Zod in the Joseph Ruby-Kenneth Spears animated Superman series episode titled "The Hunter".
[edit] Legion of Super Heroes
The Silver Age version of Zod is one of the many Phantom Zone prisoners attacking the Legion of Superheroes. Also, the villain Drax is speculated to be Zod's son, "created" in the Phantom Zone.
[edit] Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Although Zod himself does not appear in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, a similar character loosely based on Zod named Lord Nor (played by Simon Templeman) does battle with Superman in a story arc spread over the end of the third season and the beginning of the fourth, to determine the fate of a group of surviving Kryptonians on 'New Krypton'. He was killed at the end of the arc, by exposure to Kryptonite gas.
[edit] DC Animated Universe
[edit] Superman: The Animated Series
Zod also doesn't appear in the DC Animated Universe, but a character that appears on Superman: The Animated Series, called Jax-Ur, resembles the Zod character. Along with his companion Mala, who resembles and acts similar to Faora, try to take over the world, like Zod. This characters were restructured versions of established characters. General Zod, however, did appear in the comic book based on the series, stating that he was native to the planet Argo, the homeworld of Supergirl, and that unlike Jax-Ur, he did succeed at overthrowing the Argoan government and creating a junta which subjugated the people of Argo. Zod was creating a navy with the intent of invading Krypton, but was foiled by his own colonels, who believed Zod had become too power mad, and banished him to the Phantom Zone. The colonels then reinstated the Argoan republic, serving as its leaders until the people could assume power once again, and Zod's name was used in Argoan folk legend to inspire fear in the children of Argo, saying he would come for children who did not obey their parents.
[edit] Justice League
Though neither Zod nor Jax-Ur appear in Justice League or Justice League Unlimited, on the episode of Justice League Unlimited entitled "For The Man Who Has Everything", within Superman's dream world, Superman's Kryptonian wife Loana mentions another Kryptonian named Little Zod.
[edit] Smallville
General Zod appears as a recurring villain in Smallville, although generally off-screen at first. References to Zod began with season five's season premiere "Arrival" which featured two Kryptonian disciples of Zod (who arrived on Earth in the meteor shower of the season four finale) searching for Clark.
In the episode "Solitude", Milton Fine, the human identity of the Kryptonian artificial intelligence known as Brainiac, persuades Clark to take him to the Fortress of Solitude. After arriving at the Fortress, Fine tricks Clark into freeing Zod from the Phantom Zone, temporarily opening a vortex in which the image of a figure similar to Terence Stamp's Zod can be glimpsed. It is also insinuated that Zod was a fascistic leader on Krypton and ruled with an iron fist, and apparently considered Jor-El as his primary nemesis. Zod's title of general is barely mentioned, referred to most (even by Faora and Milton Fine/BrainIAC) as Zod.
At the end of the episode "Oracle", Chloe deciphers a Kryptonian message which Clark reads as, "Zod is coming." In the following episode, "Vessel", Jor-El reveals that Zod was imprisoned in the Phantom Zone for crimes that resulted in Krypton's destruction. Zod's physical body was destroyed to prevent him from escaping from captivity, and therefore, he now required a vessel to inhabit on Earth. Brainiac had earlier injected Lex Luthor with a vaccine that granted him Kryptonian superpowers, and therefore, Lex was to be the vessel for Zod's consciousness. Through the actions of Clark and Brainiac, Zod is freed. After inhabiting Lex's body, Zod imprisons Clark inside the Phantom Zone, leaving no one to stop him, and begins his plans to conquer Earth as the trapped Clark is sent flying into space.
In the sixth season premiere, "Zod", after a brief sojourn in the Phantom Zone, Clark escapes with the help of a Kryptonian woman who claims to have been Jor-El's aide. She gives Clark a crystal bearing the sign of the House of El (Superman's characteristic stylized "S"). Back on Earth, Clark confronts Zod/Lex, but Zod, a trained soldier, easily pummels Clark into submission. In homage to the climactic scene in Superman II, Zod issues his infamous command, "kneel before Zod" although in a much more serious tone, and then wordlessly commands Clark to take his hand. But instead of crushing Zod's hand as in the movie, Clark takes the opportunity to press the crystal into it, evicting Zod from Lex's body and sending him back into the Phantom Zone (in another allusion to the movie, the face and scream of Zod's spirit as it is forced out of Lex strongly resembles that of Terence Stamp as Zod). Lex returns to normal with no memory of these events. However, he later discovers a shard of a Kryptonian device that Zod left on his laptop; Brainiac's hard drive.
In season eight's "Bloodline", Zod's wife Faora escapes the Phantom Zone and inhabits the body of Lois Lane. She reveals that she and Zod genetically engineered a son, Doomsday, after they discovered they could not have children, and sent him to Earth to destroy the planet and Jor-El's son, Clark Kent. Faora remarks that Doomsday's human form, Davis (played by Samuel Witwer), strongly resembles Zod. In the season eight finale "Doomsday," Zod's symbol was burned into the grass by Tess Mercer's Orb with General Zod in the flesh standing on it, following Doomsday's defeat.
In season 9, Zod is a regularly occurring character played by British actor Callum Blue[4] but, as Brian Peterson stated in an interview, he is introduced as Major Zod—-"This is before he became General Zod." Kelly Sounders added that "over the course of the season, the venomous side of Zod rises because he experiences a few key betrayals with our beloved characters."[5] In Season 9: Zod first appears in the premiere episode "Savior". After being transported here by the Orb, he took over the mansion along with his troops and gathered all his soldiers that arrived here as well from the orb. He also imprisoned Tess Mercer within the mansion. None of the Kryptonian troops had powers they were supposed to have under the yellow sun.[6]
Three weeks later, his troops are beginning to question his leadership skills and when he tried to take control, they imprisoned him along with Tess Mercer. When Tess awoke, he was doing push ups and Tess questioned why they abused her for information. She notes that the orb told her that people with abilities will appear and will help save the world. She realizes that Major Zod is as clueless as his troops and they will soon turn on him. Tess suggests that they work together and then she tries to strangle him. Major Zod easily disarms her and then chokes her, then slams her to the floor.
They are taken into questioning by his troops and Tess tells them that she never met Zod until today and they should discuss with him. Major Zod steps up and tells them that they chose him as their leader, and he saved their lives in the war. He vows to find the answers they seek or die trying. Trusting his word, the troops, including Alia, kneel before him. All of them left the mansion and erased all the footage of the past three weeks.
In "Metallo", Zod is not seen, but plays a significant role. Zod and his soldiers later found a nearly dead John Corben and began experimenting on him with LuthorCorp equipment. They took out Corben's organs and inserted a machine powered by Kryptonite granting Corben super strength and turning him into the villainous "Metallo" before leaving him.[7]
In "Rabid", an airborn virus turns the human citizens of Metropolis into mutant zombies. Zod discovers that the virus was the work of Coats, one of the Kandorian soldiers. He corners Coats when he returned, demanding an explanation, figuring that his recklessness could lead the humans to their existence, even Tess Mercer. Coats came back with information that a Kryptonian hero was on Earth, with powers, and is responsible for saving the humans using his Kryptonian blood. Coats gave Zod a piece of paper with the House of El brand, believing it to be Jor-El who survived like the rest. Coats also gave a sample of blood to his leader, so he can track the Kryptonian down wherever or whoever he may be. Though he was impressed with his results, still his reckless actions almost put the welfare of the Kandorians in jeopardy, which caused Zod to do away with his soldier.[8]
"Crossfire" reveals that Zod creates the company R.A.O.. During a meeting at the Luthor Mansion with Tess demonstrating a holographic simulation of a solar tower, Zod appeared to congratulate her on the accomplishment. Zod went to Tess to ask her to find “the Blur”, but she asked him to be equal partners in his endeavors; he denied her request. He told his Kandorian spy, who acted as Tess’s security guard, to force her to tell about the Blur or kill her. She ended up overpowering the guard, and gave Zod the guard's bloody dog tags.[9]
In "Kandor", it is revealed that Jor-El, Zod, and his disciples who are on Earth are clones of the originals made from the donors' blood that was stored in the artifact few years before Krypton exploded. This explains their existence on Earth even though most, like Jor-El, had died when Krypton exploded. On Krypton, Jor-El had used Blue Kryptonite to modify the blood samples so the clones would not gain super-powers under Earth's yellow sun. Because the clones bear the memories of the originals up to the time the blood was donated, only Zod and Jor-El remembered Kandor being destroyed as they donated their blood samples after the city was destroyed.[10]
In "Pandora", In the future, Zod declared himself as "General Zod", and took over the Earth with his Kryptonian abilities. Living in the Luthor Mansion with Tess Mercer at his side, he had Lois Lane brought to the Mansion for questioning as he took the Legion Ring. Since Lois was not being cooperative as was Clark, he didn’t see fit to have them both alive. Zod captured Clark, dragging him on the ground. Once the Solar Tower was shut down due to a computer virus, Clark regained his powers as Zod killed him using a Kryptonite dagger. He realized that if Clark went back in time, he would “destroy” the world he created.However, despite his killing of Clark, using his remaining strength, Clark killed Zod. In the present, As Zod was giving each soldier a task, it was part of his plot to infiltrate the human society in order to have the Solar Tower built. However, Clark appeared in his Kryptonian/Blur costume, and Zod had all the Kandorians "kneel before Kal-El".
[edit] Video games
General Zod is set to appear in the upcoming video game DC Universe Online.
[edit] Web series
Parodies of the character have been seen in some episodes of web series Galacticast played by actor Rudy Jahchan.
[edit] In popular culture
- Zod is perhaps most popularly quoted as a Superman villain with the phrase, "Come to me, son of Jor-El! Kneel before Zod!" For example, Jay does so in the Kevin Smith film Mallrats after knocking out the head of mall security. Also Kansas City based rapper Tech n9ne mentions the phrase in his song Sinister Tech from his album Anghellic. In the Supernatural episode "Wishful Thinking", a little boy gains superhuman strength and terrorizes bullies, telling them to "Kneel before Todd!"
- Zod appeared in the Robot Chicken episode "The Munnery," voiced by Seth Green. He is seen in closeup commanding all to "kneel before Zod." After the camera zooms out to reveal he is in fact doing a workout video, Bod by Zod, he begins to command the viewer to do various aerobic exercises "before Zod."
- There is a fictional election campaign featuring Zod as a potential independent candidate for President.[11]
- During the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, Jon Stewart of The Daily Show referenced this line in reaction to the keynote address given by Senator Zell Miller at the Republican National Convention with, "Kneel before Zell."
- In the news satire television series, Newstopia, a fake advertisement for "Zod Kitchens" appears. Zod, Ursa and Non from Superman II, show off the quality of their kitchen design, and boast they can create your dream kitchen. A mother pulling dinner out of the oven, and her two children are commanded to "Kneel before Zod!" [12]
- MTV comedy show Human Giant features a parody of Zod and his henchmen in their sketch "Space Lords".
- Stephen Fry, host of the BBC panel game QI, once instructed series regular Alan Davies to "Kneel before Zod!" during an episode.
- During the Ahn'Qiraj War Effort in the MMORPG World of Warcraft there was an orc ambassador in the city of Ironforge by the name of General Zog. If you targeted him and used the /kneel command, he would acknowledge your obedience.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d Wallace, Dan (2008), "General Zod", in Dougall, Alastair, The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 136, ISBN 0-7566-4119-5, OCLC 213309017
- ^ "KNEEL BEFORE ZOD stickers". http://www.i-mockery.com/generalzod/zod-stickers.php. Retrieved November 7 2006.
- ^ Wizard #177.
- ^ http://www.superherohype.com/news/topnews.php?id=8454
- ^ http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/smallville/smallvilles-zod-complex-1766.html
- ^ "Savior". Brian Peterson, Kelly Souders (writers) & Kevin Fair (director). Smallville. The CW. September 25, 2009.
- ^ "Metallo". Don Whitehead, Holly Henderson (writers) & Mairzee Almas (director). Smallville. The CW. October 2, 2009.
- ^ "Rabid". Jordan Hawley (writer) & Michael Rohl (director). Smallville. The CW. October 9, 2009.
- ^ "Crossfire". Don Whitehead, Holly Henderson (writers) & Michael Rohl (director). Smallville. The CW. October 30, 2009.
- ^ "Kandor". Al Septien, Turi Meyer (writers) & Jeannot Szwarc (director). Smallville. The CW. November 6, 2009.
- ^ http://zod2008.com/
- ^ http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=JjcRhivEnLc
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- General Zod at the Grand Comic-Book Database
- General Zod at the Comic Book DB
[edit] External links
- General Zod at the Internet Movie Database
- GeneralZod.net - a humor website featuring General Zod
- Alan Kistler's Profile On: ZOD! - Comic book historian Alan Kistler does an in-depth article reviewing the long history of Zod from 1961 all the way to 2005, going into detail on the various incarnations and changes in the character. Includes several artwork scans of the different versions of Zod and a discussion of the show Smallville.
- Zod running for President - General Zod running for President
- General Zog - The Wowwiki entry for General Zog
