- NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Jor-El from the DC Extended Universe. The mainstream version can be found here: Jor-El (DC).
| “ | You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you; they will stumble and they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders. | „ |
| ~ Jor-El, to Clark Kent. |
| “ | You're as much a child of Earth now as you are of Krypton. You can embody the best of both worlds. The dream your mother and I dedicated our lives to preserve. The people of Earth are different from us. It's true. But ultimately I believe that's a good thing. They won't necessarily make the same mistakes we did. Not if you guide them Kal. Not if you give them hope. That's what this symbol means. Symbol of the House of El means hope. Embodied within that hope is the fundamental belief the potential of every person to be a force for good. That's what you can bring them. | „ |
| ~ Hologram Jor-El explaining Kal-El's mission on Earth. |
Jor-El is the overarching protagonist of the 2013 superhero film Man of Steel, based on the character of the same name appearing in DC Comics. He is the biological father of Kal-El, currently the last Kryptonian alive.
He was portrayed by Russell Crowe, who also portrayed Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator, and Dr. Henry Jekyll in The Mummy (2017). In the Japanese dub, he was voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue, who also voiced Kakashi Hatake in Naruto.
Biography[]
Man of Steel[]
At the start of the movie, Jor-El helps his wife Lara Lor-Van give birth to a son they name "Kal-El." Kal-El, as it turns out, is the first Kryptonian to be naturally conceived and born in centuries against present Kryptonian law, which forbids natural reproduction (Kryptonians are instead genetically engineered in Genesis chambers).
Not long after, Jor-El meets with the planet's governing council and tries to persuade them that Krypton is doomed due to their people exhausting the planet's natural resources, rendering the core unstable. The session is interrupted by General Zod and his soldiers, who are staging a coup against what Zod sees as the corrupted and foolish leadership of the council. Jor-El confronts Zod and refuses to help him create a new Kryptonian order, prompting Zod to place Jor-El under arrest. Jor-El, however, manages to subdue his captors and escape. He then retrieves the Codex which contains the genetic code of every Kryptonian yet to be born.
Once he has the Codex, Jor-El escapes from Zod's forces who arrive to apprehend him and makes his way back home, where he and Lara prepare to send their newborn son to Earth. Before placing Kal-El into a spacecraft, Jor-El infuses the Codex into his son's cells.
When Zod and his men approach the citadel, Jor-El dons Kryptonian armor and arms himself to take on Zod. When Zod enters the citadel, Jor-El reveals that he and Lara had a son through natural means. Zod is outraged at the revelation, leading to a violent fight between the two former friends. Lara manages to launch Kal-El's capsule into space; not long after, Zod, in a fit of rage, stabs Jor-El, killing him.
Thirty-three years after Krypton's destruction, Kal-El, now named Clark Kent, finds and activates a Kryptonian scoutship that crash-landed on Earth centuries earlier, coming into contact with a hologram programmed with Jor-El's consciousness. Jor-El tells Clark about his heritage and Krypton's history, explaining that he sent Kal-El to Earth to bring hope to humankind before presenting Clark with a Kryptonian uniform.
Later, when Zod makes his way to Earth and begins terraforming the planet into a new Krypton, Jor-El confronts Zod aboard the scoutship and unsuccessfully tries to convince his old friend to stop his genocidal plan. Zod responds by eliminating Jor-El's programming from the ship's systems.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Kryptonian Physiology: As a Kryptonian, Jor-El's alien body adapted to Earth's atmosphere and gravity and absorbed the yellow radiation emitted by the sun. This process of adaption would have gained Jor-El superhuman powers. However, this never happened as he wasn't ever exposed to a sun different to the the Kryptonians' natural red one.
Abilities[]
- Genius-Level Intellect: As the most illustrious member of the Kryptonian Thinker Guild, Jor-El was extremely intelligent and wise, Jor-El's intellect extends to his superb scientific and tactical skills, making him a formidable opponent to his former friend, Dru-Zod, who despite Kal-El deeming Zod as his equal in intelligence, he ultimately proved to outsmart Zod, due to being much calmer, more intellectually experienced and wiser, as Jor-El's intelligence proving critical in Zod's defeat by his son as well as an effective mentor to his son, Kal.
- Master Scientist: As an illustrious member of the Kryptonian Thinker Guild, Jor-El was one of Krypton's foremost scientists. He was able to accurately predict that that mining Krypton's core would result in its imminent collapse and, by extension, the destruction of the entire planet. Jor-El was an innovative character who was breaking the thinking boundaries programmed into his engineered DNA.
- Master Marksman: Jor-El also possessed amazing marksmanship with weapons, such as the Kryptonian Rifle, as seen when Zod's men arrested Jor-El, and Kelex intervened.
- Master Combatant/Martial Artist: Jor-El was a very skilled combatant and martial artist, even going head-on against Zod.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Lara Lor-Van † - Wife
- Kal-El - Son
Allies[]
- Members of the LCK (Leading Council of Krypton)
- Kelex † - Service Robot
- Kelor † - Service Robot
- Lois Lane (A.I. Projection)
Enemies[]
- Zod † - Former Friend and Killer
- Sword of Rao
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Sean Penn and Clive Owen were runners for the role alongside Russell Crowe before the latter was casted.
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 Heroes
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