How does kryptonite hurt superman

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, and removed Krypto's powers.

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.

In the s 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 denizens 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. 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. Superman Wiki Explore. Superman as a father LL Superman's beard Superman's deaths more lists. Editing Help Coverage Guidelines Community.

Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? Edit this page. History Talk 0. Some different types of Kryptonite. Categories Kryptonite Krypton Minerals. Universal Conquest Wiki.

The most common form of Kryptonite. In superpowered Kryptonians, causes immediate physical pain and debilitation, reduces their powers, and kills within hours. Except Superman's body according to Smallville can reject it before death as seen in the episode Void when Clark is injected by Kryptonite. Created from Green Kryptonite that passed through a mysterious red-hued cloud en route to Earth.

Red Kryptonite inflicts one of a variety of odd effects on Kryptonians, typically creating an initial "tingling effect" in those affected. No two chunks of Red Kryptonite have the same effect. Red Kryptonite effects typically last for hours though sometimes as long as 72 , after which the Kryptonian in question is always immune to that specific chunk of Red Kryptonite.

Superman has suffered the following effects upon exposure to various pieces of Red Kryptonite: being turned into a dragon, a non-powered giant, a dwarf, an ant-headed humanoid, a lunatic, and an amnesiac; being made unable to see anything colored green; growing incredibly long hair, nails, and beard; being rendered totally powerless; growing fat; gaining the ability to read thoughts; losing his invulnerability along the left side of his body; being split into an evil Superman and a good Clark Kent; being rendered unable to speak or write anything but Kryptonian , the language used on Krypton; growing an extra set of arms; becoming clumsy when trying to help out; swapping bodies with the person nearest him upon exposure to it; rapidly aging; and multiple personality changes.

In post-Crisis continuity, Red Kryptonite first appeared as an artificial construct of Mr. Mxyzptlk ; a second variety was later revealed as a synthetic variant created by Ra's al Ghul, using notes he stole from Batman.

The Red Kryptonite that Batman created causes Superman's powers to become uncontrollable, in this case it causes Superman's skin to become transparent allowing sunlight directly into his muscles and organs, requiring all his will not to explode with power. On the TV series, Smallville , Red Kryptonite has a drug-like effect, causing severe changes in Clark Kent's personality, becoming rebellious, unpredictable and acting purely on erotic and selfish emotions.

Smallville Red Kryptonite also differs from the comics in that it affects Clark and presumably all Kryptonians only when it is in direct contact with his skin although a shirt pocket seems to be close enough in one episode.

The time duration of the red K effects are unlimited so long as Clark remains in contact with the Kryptonite, but the effects are negated immediately once direct contact is broken. It did not have to be in contact with Clark to have an effect - proximity was enough. The effects were slightly different, too - instead of Clark losing his inhibitions, he became apathetic. He simply did not care about catching criminals; instead shrugging his shoulders, blaming others and talking to a girl.

It was prophesised that, given enough exposure to Red Kryptonite, Clark's condition would become permanent. However, after talking to a psychiatrist, Clark was able to resist the effects of the Red Kryptonite, and he picked up the rock and threw it out of a window. In Krypto the Superdog , it has random effects, including temporary amnesia, losing all super powers, and body-swapping.

Similar to traditional Red Kryptonite, each chunk's effect happens only once, and lasts 24 hours. Kills all plant life, whether Kryptonian or not. Induces decay immediately upon exposure, with a range of about 25 yards. The most prominent use of this variety in the comics was to destroy Virus X, which was revealed in a storyline in 's Action Comics to actually be a form of plant life.

The result of using Professor Potter 's "duplicator ray" on some Green Kryptonite. Post-Crisis, Blue Kryptonite makes Bizarros become coherent, polite and goodhearted; it also alters Bizarros' distinctive grammar, so that a Bizarro would say "I am Bizarro" instead of "Me am not Bizarro".

Blue Kryptonite has been used in Superman video games as a life restorative. In it cancels out the powers of while in contact with their bodies. Black Kryptonite was first introduced in the Smallville television series, in the fourth season premiere episode "Crusade," as Kryptonite with the ability to split the personality of Kryptonians.

It later appears in the fourth season episode "Onyx," where it is revealed to split physically the bodies of humans. In the series, Black Kryptonite can be created by super-heating Green Kryptonite.

It later made its first appearance in a DC comic in September 's Supergirl 2, where it apparently possessed the ability to split a person or a person's personality into two separate entities. In Supergirl 3, Luthor used Black Kryptonite on Supergirl, which caused her to split into two separate people, one wearing Supergirl's traditional costume, and another wearing a black-and-white version. Her black-and-white costume is similar to the one that Superman was wearing when he returned from the dead.

Luthor noted that he was given the Black Kryptonite by the self-proclaimed god Darkseid , who may have been responsible for its creation a synthesized version of Kryptonite in the feature film Superman III had similar effects on Superman, creating an evil Superman.

Has no effect on superpowered Kryptonians, but has the same effects as Green Kryptonite on non -superpowered Kryptonians. This version of Kryptonite is what killed most of the residents of Argo City in the pre-Crisis comics. Anti-Kryptonite was likely introduced to cover a writer error, as in the original Argo City story, the residents of Argo City are killed by Green Kryptonite even though it should have had no effect on non -superpowered Kryptonians.

Post-Crisis, it is the power source of Ultraman , Superman's evil counterpart who lives in an alternate antimatter universe. Created by pre-crisis Supergirl while experimenting with Green Kryptonite in hopes of finding an antidote. It has no effect on Kryptonians, but bestows temporary superpowers on Earth lifeforms, most prominently Supergirl's pet cat, Streaky.

Not to be confused with Kryptonite-X. A modified variety of Green Kryptonite produced by a human scientist that affects humans in a manner similar to Green Kryptonite on Kryptonians, appearing in The Brave and the Bold Its effect on Kryptonians, if any, is undocumented.

Artificially created by the villain Nero, "Magno-Kryptonite" is magnetically attracted to all substances originally from Krypton, with such incredible force that not even the strength of Superman or Bizarro can escape it according to Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen It is not specifically stated if any parts of its alloy are of Kryptonian origin.

Affects humans the same way Red Kryptonite affects Kryptonians. Appeared in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen Superman continued, "thankfully, the atmosphere absorbed most of the meteor's energy, with only the aftermath of the fireball doing damage to Chelyabinsk. Superman probably shaves with an angle grinder. Everything about Superman is super, even his beard. Bill Nye has a theory on how Superman takes care of his tough-as-steel five o'clock shadow.

It's product placement but it's also good science. The Mythbusters have an answer too. Superman once gave Lex Luthor cognitive dissonance. In the issue Superman 2 from , Lex Luthor, Superman's arch-nemesis, dumped resources into building a supercomputer able to deduce the hero's identity. The machine worked like a dream and out the answer popped: "Clark Kent is Superman.

But Luthor refused to believe it. The evil genius couldn't easily resolve the cognitive dissonance in his head. In psychology, cognitive dissonance is an internal tension between two beliefs a person holds. When it arises, we seek to alleviate that tension by compartmentalizing the beliefs or coming up with an explanation to deal with it. Lex simultaneously held the belief that Superman was Clark Kent and that he was too smart not to realize that obvious answer.

To get rid of the dissonance, Lex made a logical fallacy that we can call "the argument from brilliance. Superman's true identity remains a secret, and Lex Luthor makes illogical arguments.

The world is safe. Batman would beat Superman. First, because Batman. Second, because it happened. Third, Batman even faked his own death while doing it, because he's Batman.

Nobody recognizes Superman because they all have face-blindness. In a piece appearing in the science section of Slate today , I explain a neuropsychological answer to the age old question of why, simply by matching faces, no one realizes that Superman is Clark Kent.

I have excerpted a section below: The most powerful superhero of all time, Superman, has arguably the worst disguise of all time.

A slight application of hair gel and some glasses turn the Man of Steel , the statuesque savior of humanity, into Clark Kent, a mild-mannered reporter at the Daily Planet. It's a fa? Why not? This bizarre failure of perception can only be attributed to Superman's greatest and perhaps most scientifically astute superpower: He is able to surround himself with friends and co-workers who all suffer from prosopagnosia --face blindness.

Get smart. Sign up for our email newsletter. Sign Up. Read More Previous. According to the current Superman story, Kryptonians are not naturally super; they are only super on Earth due to its relatively weaker gravitational pull, ,allowing them to perform their gravity-defying feats. All scenarios, though, result in Kal-El traveling through space toward Earth while pulling fragments of Krypton, made radioactive in the explosion, along with him.

This radioactive debris became what we now know as kryptonite. Radioactivity in general can be dangerous to all living beings, Kryptonians or otherwise. On Earth, many substances emit radiation by undergoing one of several processes. Alpha decay occurs when the nucleus of a decaying atom emits alpha particles alpha particles are also called helium atoms, which are made of two protons and two neutrons. The atom then ejects the electron and the antineutrino, keeping the proton.

The ejected electron becomes a beta particle. Spontaneous fission occurs when an atom spontaneously splits into two atoms of two different elements, potentially ejecting neutrinos during this process. Atoms undergoing any of these processes have extra energy that must be released.