Jor-El
Jor-El is a male extraterrestrial comic character who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Pre-Crisis
Jor-El was a male scientist from the planet Krypton who was a member of the House of El.
One of his other brothers was Nim-El that shared the same features as Jor-El. (Adventure Comics v1 #304) An old friend of both Jor-El and Lara was Nor-Kann who was visiting Kandor when it was abducted by Brainiac. (Superman v1 #158) At one point, a Daxamite named Lar Grand landed on Krypton and befriended Jor-El before departing the planet. (Superboy v1 #89) At another point, he built a robotic teacher for his son Kal-El. (Adventure Comics v1 #240) He also created a humanoid robot called the Metalman that was launched into space on a test flight but got stranded on another world. (Adventure Comics v1 #276) During college, Jor-El had a roommate named Kimda who by adulthood had become a Professor at Kandor that was later shrunk and taken by Brainiac. (Action Comics v1 #242)
Deeply in love with Lara, the couple decided to check with the artificial intelligence known as Matricomp to discern whether they were compatible couple as this had become the law on Krypton. Though confident at the outcome, the machine denied their union and instead paired Lara with a male named Anr-Mu with no option of rejecting the outcome as defying the Matricomp was grounds for treason. Lara seemingly complied with Jor-El discovering that Anr-Mu was actually a physical shell for the Matricomp itself which had fallen in love with Lara and intended to marry her. It attempted to kill Jor-El but failed whereupon the machine decided to kill itself rather than be denied its chance at being with Lara. This signalled the end of the Matricomp project and the use of computerised arranged marriages on Krypton as Jor-El and Lara were reunited as a couple. (Superman v1 #246)
The criminal Roz-Em intended to steal from Krypton's armory that was under the charge of Nim-El. To break into it, Roz-Em transformed his appearance to match that of Nim-El and broke into the armory only to arrive when he was present at the site. Jor-El arrived at the same time where the two brothers captured the criminal. Roz-Em was then placed in a capsule that left him suspended animation and launched into the orbit of Krypton. (Adventure Comics v1 #304) Another villain that opposed Jor-El was the criminal scientist Klax-Ar who was exiled from Krypton. (Superboy v1 #67) One of his creations was a multi-purpose transportation device who patented the machine that was similar to one designed by the Kandorian inventor Zell-Ex. Zell-Ex came to believe that his designs were stolen by Jor-El and vowed revenge against him. (Superman v1 #134) For a time, he operated as the world's masked executioner seeking to stop the various criminals on the planet. He learnt of a powerful gang-boss that operated in the shadows and captured one of his agents named Ha-Kor. Jor-El attempted to get him to reveal his boss but the criminal refused and was exiled into orbit on a suspended animation chamber. Around this time, Gra-Mo was competing with Jor-El for membership on the Science Council. He ultimately won over Gra-Mo for his invention of the Phantom Zone Projector. Gra-Mo in his anger reacted and revealed his true identity whereupon he along with his underlings tried to take over Krypton's robot police. They were ultimately defeated but the Phantom Zone Projector was not operational at the time forcing the three criminals to be exiled in suspended animation in orbit. (Superboy v1 #104) He once worked alongside Lon-Es with the pair having a lab assistant named Ral-En who used mass hypnosis to make others believe he had superpowers that he used to set himself as a tyrant. This was until Jor-El revealed the deception and he had him banished into the Phantom Zone for his crimes with the man's father Mag-En vowing revenge. (Superman v1 #154)
On the super-scientific civilization 10,000 day anniversary, Jor-El discovered evidence from a drilling mechanical mole of a possible chain reaction that would destroy Krypton. He took his findings to the Council of Science but they rejected his data and instead devoted their time to the 10th millennium celebrations. After the birth of his son, he began to find a possible home for his newly born son Kal-El who he intended to escape Krypton's face. He learnt of the planet Earth and that world provided Kryptonians with superhuman abilities. Jor-El brought his findings to the Council who refused him again as they did not believe his predictions of their worlds demise though Val Arn and Khai Zor feigned interest. He showed the two his findings but the pair instead intended to use it to become superhuman tyrants on Earth. Jor-El was later able to trick the pair where he depowered them and had them arrested by the authorities. After confirming his suspicions of Krypton's imminent destruction, Jor-El once more attempted to warn the populace on the 10,000 day celebration but was deemed a crackpot by the people. (Action Comics v1 #223) One day, he and Lara were out when an experimental rocket malfunctioned that nearly collided with them but they were saved by the intervention of Rol-Nac who was a space wanderer that had fled the tyranny of his world. He used his vessels weapons to deflect the rocket thus saving the pairs life where they befriended their saviour. For his actions, Rol-Nac was made he god-father of the pairs new born child and attended the boy's christening at the Sun Temple in Kryptonopolis. (Action Comics v1 #378)
One solution Jor-El devised to save his people was the creation of a matter transmitter/receiver device. He then made contact with an Earth inhabitant named Professor Amos Dunn where he instructed him to build a similar device on hi world. The intention was to create a teleportation link between Earth and Krypton that could allow mass transit of people. During this time, Dunn tested the machine and emerged in Krypton when Jor-El's son Kal-El was bitten by a fish snake in his aquarium. Professor Dunn was instrumental in saving Kal-El's life whereupon he returned back to his home. Though a means to save his race, the teleportation machine malfunctioned on the eve of Krypton's destructin preventing it from being used to send Jor-El, Lara or Kal-El to Earth. (Action Comics v1 #281)
It was shown that he had conducted six separate computer simulations on possible worlds to send his son. On each of these planets, he grew to become a superhero where he became similar to the Atom, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Batman and the Flash. However, these simulations concluded that he would not be happy on any of these worlds but Earth which was why he was dispatched to that planet. This was a reason why in time he formed a kinship with a number of Earth's native heroes as he would have become similar to them had he landed on another world. (Action Comics v1 #314)
Ken-Dal came to develop a new fuel that may have helped in the evacuation plan set up by Jor-El but before he could provide it he and the city of Kandor were abducted by the alien Brainiac. (Superman v1 #141)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Jor-El was a male member of the House of El where he had been the son of Seyg-El. His family decided to bond him with Lara Lor-Van as the two were genetically compatible. (World of Krypton v2 #3)
However, Jor-El would break with tradition by asking to see the woman he was going to marry and have his child. After seeing her, he would fall in love with Lara and she with him with the marrying. The pair would love together and conceive a son from the sell cells that were implanted in the artificial womb of the Matrix Chamber. Around this time, Krypton was suffering from a devastating plague known as the Green Death that was killing millions with the cause of the infection being unknown. Jor-El would work tirelessly to find the cause and uncover the shocking discovery that the Green Death was not a plague but rather deadly radiation caused by the fusing of the native elements into a new dangerous substance called Kryptonite. A result of this fusing process was the creation of intense pressure in the planet's core that was weakened already by a doomsday weapon unleashed centuries ago by the Black Zero organization.
Modern
At some point, he came to become the student of the scientist Non with the pair working together. (Action Comics Annual v1 #10) He was responsible for discovering the existence of a timeless dimension known as the Phantom Zone. During this time, a scientist he admired known as Jax-Ur was conducting experiments in interstellar travel. (Action Comics v1 #846) Jor-El and Non had given warnings about Jax-Ur's interstellar experiments but were ignored. (Action Comics Annual v1 #10) This resulted in a cataclysmic reaction that damaged Krypton's moon and seemingly destroyed Kandor. As a result, planetary council judged Jax-Ur guilty and banished him as the first prisoner to the Phantom Zone. Afterwards, the council used that dimension as a prison for other criminals that were found guilty. (Action Comics v1 #846) Afterwards, they were appointed to study the effects on Krypton with Jor-El determining that their homeworld was facing impending doom. He brought his findings to Non who confirmed them with the two pursuing forbidden research on the nature of the cataclysm. This attracted the ire of the Science Council who dispatched General Zod and his aid Ursa with arresting the pair. They were banned from further work on the nature of the disaster with Jor-El secretly looking to gather more information to convince the Council whilst Non appealed to the masses. Zod was convinced by Non's words but in response the Council abducted Non where the lobotomised him thus robbing him of his once great intellect. This drew an angry Zod who sought a coup against the Council and asked for Jor-El's aid but he refused. Zod's rebellion claimed five members of the Science Council before the were stopped with Jor-El making an argument for the criminals to be banished into the Phantom Zone with him being their jailer. (Action Comics Annual v1 #10) In exchange for this lenience, the Council had Jor-El keep the impending destruction of Krypton a secret and not reveal it to the civilian population. (Action Comics v1 #846)
Faced with the destruction of Krypton, he decided to find a world that would serve as a new home for his son Kal-El. He launched probes to these worlds whereby contact with a native would transport their mind to Krypton where they would reside in a tactile holographic representation of their form. On Earth, the probe took the mind of Thomas Wayne bringing him to the city but a miscalculation took outside the intended laboratory. Jor-El went to retrieve him and brought him to his lab where he revealed the reason why he had sent the probes. Thomas confessed about the destructive nature of humanity but stated that deep down mankind had a good nature where he promised to help protect Jor-El's son. This convinced Jor-El that Earth would be a safe haven for his son Kal-El and teach him values where shortly afterwards the effects of the probe returned Thomas's mind to his body. (Superman/Batman v1 #50)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Jor-El
He came to be a member of private group of galactic leaders that sought to resolve disasters across the universe with Jor-El helping end numerous catastrophes that affected his fellow members. (Superman v5 #13)
After the Science Council banned his work, Jor-El continued to receive funding from his father-in-law Lor-Van who served as a benefactor. Jor-El ultimately decided that the only way to save their race was through his Project Stardrive that sought to create arks to escape Krypton. However, Lor-Van opposed this view as he wanted Jor-El to save Krypton and had all the research data erased. (Action Comics v1 #988)
Overview
Personality and attributes
A version of him who came to operate on Earth following Krypton's destruction came to operate secretly under the identity of Mr. Oz. (Action Comics v1 #987)
It was remarked that he was unlike other Kryptonians. (World of Krypton v2 #3)
By Kryptonian standards, he was brilliant, curious and in his own way something of a rebel when he was a young man. (World of Krypton v2 #4) Jor-El was said to had been difficult to pry away from his studies even at the best of his times. Such a devotion to academia was said to had been an admirable quality among his people. (World of Krypton v2 #3)
Jor-El was said to had been enthralled by the past of Krypton and spent long hours studying history tapes. (World of Krypton v2 #4)
He had been the protégé of noted scientist Non with the two being close friends. (Action Comics Annual v1 #10)
It was shown that the red cloak he wrapped his son in actually belonged to his own father. (Action Comics v2 #5)
Jor-El was noted for being the son of Seyg-El. (World of Krypton v2 #3) Among his ancestors included Ter-El and Don-El. (World of Krypton v2 #4)
He had done something no Kryptonian had done in living history which was fall in love with the woman who was to be the mother of his child. (World of Krypton v2 #4) In her youth, she was noted to had been a librarian that was considered a most highly esteemed role. She had the duty to care for and maintain the central data banks that were a vast repository of history and science. Jor-El came to be fascinated by her whose interests so closely paralleled his own. (World of Krypton v2 #4)
He was said to be the 22nd generation of the House of El. (Starman v2 #51) The family line had stretched back almost to the beginning of Krypton. (World of Krypton v2 #4) One version claimed that the pairing of Jor-El and Lara was made because of their near-perfect genetic matrix. (World of Krypton v2 #3)
Powers and abilities
It was noted that he possessed an 8th Level genius. (Action Comics v2 #3)
He also created capsules that could be used to impart super-human powers to a person and originally intended for his son to make use of them if his powers on Earth were ever temporarily taken away. (World's Finest v1 #87)
Another account claimed that the experimental model rocket was built with Lara as the two worked together on the vessel. (Action Comics v2 #5)
He and his family were tended to be service robots with one notable one having been Kelex. (World of Krypton v2 #3)
Notes
- Jor-El was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster where he made his first appearance in More Fun Comics v1 #101 (January/February, 1945).
- In Superman Family v1 #192, a computer simulation indicated a possible life where Krypton exploded early. This version of events saw Jor-El's father Jor-El I and his friend Lor-Van discovering the impending destruction of Krypton. They decided to create a ship to shelter their respective children away and found an abandoned Krull vessel left on Krypton long ago. Though Kryptonian authorities opposed them, the two parents placed their respective children in the craft that was sent to Earth with Lara and Jor-El being raised by human parents. Jor-El was given to Matt Kent and his wife to be adopted by that family where he became a adoptive sibling to the couple's biological sons Jonathan, Burt and Kendall.
- In Superman/Batman v1 #50 (2008), it was shown that among worlds that Jor-El considered as destinations for his son ship included Colu, Thanagar and New Genesis.
Alternate Versions
- In Superman v1 #200 (1967), an imaginary story was told that presented an alternate series of events. This version saw Jor-El work on a rocket as Krypton faced destruction when his home city of Kryptonopolis was shrunk into a bottle by the android Brainiac. As a result, Jor-El and his family were saved by the benevolent android but were unable to return to their normal size without the rare Z-N4 gas. Brainiac's android nature meant he could shrink to Kryptonopolis where he became close friends with Jor-El. His wife Lara gave birth to their second son who they named Knor-El after Brainiacs scientist creator. Brainiac later discovered a source of Z-N4 but his ship was damaged and destroyed but not before the shrunken Kryptonopolis was put on Earth. Once there, they used their limited Z-N4 supply to restore Knor-El to normal size where he operated as Superman. Jor-El and his other son Kal-El monitored him until Kal-El restored himself to normal size to operate as Hyperman.
- In Superman v1 #230 (1970), an alternate version of Jor-El was shown in a universe designated as Earth-230. An inhabitant of Krypton, he was married to Lara and had a son that he named Lex-El who was punished at one point leading to all the boys hair to fall out. After his wife's death, Jor-El grew enraged and had Krypton destroyed with himself along with his son escaping to Earth so that he could gain power under its sun. His rockets crash killed notorious robbers Jonathan and Martha Kent but Jor-El did not gain any powers though his son Lex-El did develop superhuman abilities. The two Kryptonians settled in Smallville where Jor-El took the name of Jordan Luthor with his son being known as Lex Luthor. As his son grew older, Jor-El grew insane and attempted to have Smallville destroyed by the Matter Vacuum which was stopped by Lex-El who took his friend Clark Kent to his home to recover. Jor-El attempted to have Clark thrown out but the boy's Chromo-Stimulant implant led to him becoming aggressive where he killed the Kryptonian.
- In Superman Family v1 #189 (1978), a villainous version of Jor-El was introduced known as Jur-Ll who became known as the Crime-Lord. He was trapped in the Phantom Zone for his crimes but was able to escape it to reach the Kandor of Earth-1 on the day it was captured and shrunken by Brainiac. Trapped inside, he became a crime boss and years later battled the costumed crime-fighters Nightwing and Flamebird.
- In Elseworlds Superman: Last Family of Krypton v1 (2010), Jor-El managed to create a rocket that took himself, his wife and newborn son Kal-El to Earth. Once there, he managed to operate as a scientist and superhero in the world where he established a company known as JorCorp. During this time, he was assisted by his artificial intelligence B and also had two further children namely Valora-El along with Bru-El.
- In Justice League v2 #24 (2013), the New 52 version of Earth-3 was created with Jor-Il being this universe's counterpart to Jor-El. He was shown as a villainous figure on Krypton who had a wife named Lara and a son named Kal-Il. On his world, great power was given from the radiation of their planet until a mysterious being led to its destruction. In its final moments, Jor-Il sent Kal-Il in an escape ship as he believed his son was his greatest chance at getting revenge on the one responsible.
- In Earth 2 v1 #25 (2014), the Post-Flashpoint continuity showed a different version of Jor-El from Earth-2. He and his wife adopted Val-Zod after the boys scientist parents were executed by Kryptons ruling council for their warnings of their worlds destruction. When Krypton faced destruction, Jor-El along with Lara sent their son Kal-El, niece Kara Zor-L, Val-Zod and a fourth Kryptonian child in pods that were launched into space to safety. The Jor-El and Lara of Earth-2s Krypton died with their homeworld.
In other media
Television
- In Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Jor-El appeared in the setting of the live-action television series in the episode "The Foundling" where he was portrayed by actor David Warner.
- In Superman, Jor-El was mentioned in the setting of the 1988 Ruby-Spears animated television series.
- In Superman: The Animated Series, Jor-El made his first appearance in the DC Animated Universe in the episode "Last Son of Krypton" where he was voiced by actor Christopher McDonald. The episode "Blasts From the Past" revealed that he managed to stop the insurrection caused by High General Jax-Ur by sabotaging the rebel armies equipment thus leading to their apprehension. Jor-El was shown to be a scientist on Krypton married to Lara who was the daughter of Sul-Van and the pair had a son named Kal-El. Jor-El had discovered evidence to indicate that their world would explode but none of his fellow Kryptonians listened to him as the planetary artificial intelligence named Brainiac dismissed his claims. He later uncovered more concrete proof but was once again dismissed by Brainiac. This led to him accessing the Brainiac operations center and he learnt that the Kryptonian artificial intelligence was uploading itself into a satellite to abandon the world to its fate. As a result, there was no time for Krypton's inhabitants to be saved but Jor-El had created an escape craft that sent his newborn son Kal-El to safety on Earth.
- In Legion of Super-Heroes, Jor-El was briefly shown and mentioned in the episode "Messenge in the Bottle" in a non-voiced role. Prior to Krypton's destruction, he constructed the Messenger to save his world with this being at the capital of Kandor. However, Kandor was shrunken into a Bottle City by the Terror known as Brainiac and the loss of the Messenger caused Krypton's destruction. In the 31st century, the Messenger was used to recreate the world whereupon Kandor was placed on its surface with the city's Kryptonians restored to their natural size by a time displaced Superman along with Brainiac 5.
- In Smallville, two different versions of Jor-El appeared in the live-action series.
- In Season 1, Jor-El was an inhabitant of Krypton who was portrayed by actors Terence Stamp, Tom Welling and Julian Sands.
- In Season 9, a younger clone of Jor-El appeared who had memories from 20 years before Krypton's destruction with this one being portrayed by actor Julian Sands.
- In Superman & Lois, Jor-El appeared in the setting of the live-action television series where he was portrayed by actor Angus Macfadyen.
Films
- In Superman, Jor-El appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Marlon Brando.
- In Superman II, Jor-El was again shown in the live-action film as a guide for Superman with him being portrayed again by Marlon Brando in additional uncut scenes.
- In Superman Returns, Jor-El appeared in the live-action film where he was portrayed again by Marlon Brando prior to his death.
- In Man of Steel, the character made an appearance where he was portrayed by actor Russel Crowe. He was shown as one of the premier and most brilliant scientist on Krypton who was also an old friend of General Zod. Jor-El warned the leadership council that years of tapping into their world's natural resources had destabilized its core. As a result, Krypton faced a cataclysmic chain reaction that would have destroyed the planet and thus Jor-El petitioned to send the Codex to other worlds in order to preserve their race. His warnings were not heeded and his pleas were interrupted by Zod who stormed the council as he staged a rebellion to usurp control over the planet. Zod offered a large role in reshaping Kryptonian society to Jor-El but he would refuse where he escaped in order to retrieve the Codex from the Genesis Chamber.
- In Justice League: Gods and Monsters, the character made a minor appearance in the animated movie where he was voiced by actor Yuri Lowenthal. He was noted to had warned General Zod against tapping the planetary core with this chain of events destabilizing their world which faced imminent destruction. At his laboratory, Jor-El built a spacecraft that had an incubator pod with an egg from his wife Lara that awaited his genetic material. Jor-El intended for his and Lara's child to survive the destruction of their world. However, General Zod's forces stormed the laboratory before Jor-El could complete this task. Zod then imprinted his own DNA on the egg making the offspring a child of his and Lara that was sent into space to land on Earth who later became Superman. Jor-El and the rest of the planet Krypton died from the destruction of their world.
Video games
- In DC Universe Online, Jor-El would make a minor supporting appearance in the setting of the MMORPG where he was voiced by actor William Price. When Brainiac attacks the Fortress of Solitude, he proceeded with assimilating its technology causing the heroes and villains to attack the base. Among Brainiac's forces was a corrupt version of the artificial intelligence of Jor-El.
Novels
- In The Last Days of Krypton, Jor-El was shown as being the son of Yar-El and Charys with a two year old younger brother in Zor-El. His father was a revolutionary scientist who was slowly dying from the Forgetting Disease and his mother was a renowned psychologist who attempted to reach her husband. His research discovered the Phantom Zone but he became lost within it until he was rescued by Lara who he later married and she became his wife.
Appearances
- Action Comics v1: (1945)
- Superman v1:
- Superman/Batman v1:
- Action Comics v2:
- Superman v5:
External Links
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