Zod

Zod's History

Zod-El was a Kryptonian general, the brother of Jor-El, and the one responsible for Krypton's destruction.

Starting a coup against the Science Council, Zod went behind his brother's help to no avail, starting a long and painful civil war that lasted six months until Zod's forces were on the run and Zod himself forced to flee Krypton to avoid arrest. On his defeat, Zod went to Krypton's old enemy and gave them the means to finally destroy Krypton, and in return, they would hunt any surviving Kryptonian and, should they fail, the Dheronians would send a signal to Zod.

He arrived on Earth sometime after Tyrell's defeat at the hands of Superman, immediately gaining power from the local yellow star.

To gain Kal-El's trust, he purposely placed several lives at stake to stage the idea that he, too, arrived to help, immediately gaining the trust of his nephew. Since he was still a stranger, he told Kal that he needs some time to think before fully trusting him, so he will "explore" their new world in the meanwhile.

In reality, he went straight to the world's governments with the proposal of helping them with their Superman problem, asking them not to interfere while he deals with him.

Luring Kal to a trap, he intended to use his stockpile of Kryptonite to finally kill him, but Superman outsmarted Zod and destroyed his protective Skin-Suit, forcing him to seal the Kryptonite while Kal escaped.

He followed him to his apartment in Metropolis where he once again clashed with Superman. This time prepared, Superman was neutralized by Lex Luthor who eliminated his powers with a red solar energy frequency gun, leaving him powerless against Zod who tortured him until he grew bored and left.

Zod soon returned and began to torture Superman again, but noticed that his nephew's powers were returning. Thus, Zod decided to finish him off once and for all when a desperate Lisa rammed Zod with a truck, saving Superman from death for the time being. Zod quickly recovered and was about to kill Kal when a remorseful Lex arrived and eliminated part of his powers, hoping to give Superman a fighting chance. Superman took advantage of this until he was once again blasted with red sun radiation that left him completely powerless.

Angered at the interference, Zod delivered a fatal stroke to Lex before being finally killed by Alexandra Luthor.