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* InformedSmallTown: Despite being described as a small town, Smallville has a population of 45,001, which would make it one of the most populous cities in Kansas at the time the series aired.
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** Jimmy says this when Chloe, who is at the time his girlfriend, walked in on [[Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] and him alone but not doing anything suspicious.
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** Jimmy says this when Chloe, who is at the time his girlfriend, walked in on [[Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] and him alone but not doing anything suspicious.
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* ImStandingRightHere: In "Kara", ''[[Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]]'' insults Chloe by saying she is "[[PunyEarthling just a human]]" condescendingly when she is standing right there; Clark defends her by saying [[TheSmartGirl Chloe is smarter than both of them put together]].
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* ImStandingRightHere: In "Kara", ''[[Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} ''[[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]]'' insults Chloe by saying she is "[[PunyEarthling just a human]]" condescendingly when she is standing right there; Clark defends her by saying [[TheSmartGirl Chloe is smarter than both of them put together]].
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** The names ComicBook/MartianManhunter and Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} starts out as Chloe's nickname for them in ''Smallville''. She is also known for calling Clark the Man of Steel.
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** The names ComicBook/MartianManhunter and Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} starts out as Chloe's nickname for them in ''Smallville''. She is also known for calling Clark the Man of Steel.
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** [[Recap/SmallvilleS08E11Legion Legion]]" did this a lot. For example, surprised at Clark not being Superman, Lightning Lad expresses dislike at the "No tights, no flights!", and they mention that they've never heard of [[CanonImmigrant Chloe]]. Possibly also a MythologyGag in reference to the Legion visiting Comicbook/PostCrisis Superman for the first time and being surprised at how he was not the Superman they were expecting. That story was a pivotal attempt at explaining how the Legion could remain non-retconned after the retconning of Superman removed his Superboy adventures. It didn't work.
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** [[Recap/SmallvilleS08E11Legion Legion]]" did this a lot. For example, surprised at Clark not being Superman, Lightning Lad expresses dislike at the "No tights, no flights!", and they mention that they've never heard of [[CanonImmigrant Chloe]]. Possibly also a MythologyGag in reference to the Legion visiting Comicbook/PostCrisis ComicBook/PostCrisis Superman for the first time and being surprised at how he was not the Superman they were expecting. That story was a pivotal attempt at explaining how the Legion could remain non-retconned after the retconning of Superman removed his Superboy adventures. It didn't work.
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* AMinorKidroduction: The first episode's prologue is this to [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Clark Kent]] and Comicbook/LexLuthor.
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* AMinorKidroduction: The first episode's prologue is this to [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Clark Kent]] and Comicbook/LexLuthor.ComicBook/LexLuthor.
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* HammyVillainSeriousHero: Clark Kent is about keeping the peace and order and spends most of his time fighting krypto freaks who want to take over the world. [[RealityWarper Mikhail Mxyzptlk]] is the exact opposite, using his powers of luck and influence, sometimes for his own personal gain and sometimes just to see what happens.
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Disambiguated trope per TRS thread, Wick Cleaning Projects
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** Creator/AnnetteOToole cast as Martha Kent after playing ComicBook/LanaLang in [[Film/{{Superman}} the movie series]]; Creator/ChristopherReeve, Creator/HelenSlater, and Creator/MargotKidder guest spots. Creator/TerenceStamp voicing Jor-El.
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** Creator/AnnetteOToole cast as Martha Kent after playing ComicBook/LanaLang in [[Film/{{Superman}} [[Film/{{Superman|FilmSeries}} the movie series]]; Creator/ChristopherReeve, Creator/HelenSlater, and Creator/MargotKidder guest spots. Creator/TerenceStamp voicing Jor-El.
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** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E02Heat Heat]]": When Jonathan goes to talk to [[HotTeacher Desirée]] attempts to seduce Jonathan when they meet in the Luthor Mansion's swimming pool, but he's unimpressed. But while he's able to resist her beauty and charms, he has no defense against her LivingAphrodisiac powers and succumbs when she uses them.
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** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E02Heat Heat]]": When Jonathan goes to talk to [[HotTeacher Desirée]] Desirée]], she attempts to seduce Jonathan him when they meet in the Luthor Mansion's swimming pool, pool (she's SkinnyDipping), but he's unimpressed. But while he's able to resist her beauty and charms, he has no defense against her LivingAphrodisiac powers and succumbs when she uses them.
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* HotterAndSexier: The show has a cast full of HeadTurningBeauty for both genders and often puts them in {{Fanservice}} outfits and situations, far more than UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} ''ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'' comics it was loosely inspired by or ven the usual ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' show.
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* HotterAndSexier: The show has a cast full of HeadTurningBeauty for [[HeadTurningBeauty Head-Turning Beauties]] of both genders and often puts them in {{Fanservice}} outfits and situations, far more than UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} ''ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'' comics it was loosely inspired by or ven even the usual ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' show.
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* ItAlwaysRainsAtFunerals: It rained heavily during the funeral of Whitney's father, but for everyone else, it was a subversion. It snowed at Jonathan Kent's funeral; It was a bright sunny day at Henry James "Jimmy" Olsen's funeral; and it was also sunny at Carter Hall's funeral in Egypt in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E10Luthor Luthor]]", albeit was held indoors.
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* ItAlwaysRainsAtFunerals: It rained heavily during the funeral of Whitney's father, but for everyone else, and it was a subversion. It snowed at Jonathan Kent's funeral; funeral. But for everyone else...
* ItsAlwaysSunnyAtFunerals: It was a bright sunny day at Henry James "Jimmy" Olsen's funeral; and it was also sunny at Carter Hall's funeral in Egypt in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E10Luthor Luthor]]", albeit was held indoors.
* ItsAlwaysSunnyAtFunerals: It was a bright sunny day at Henry James "Jimmy" Olsen's funeral; and it was also sunny at Carter Hall's funeral in Egypt in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E10Luthor Luthor]]", albeit was held indoors.
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Dewicked trope
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** Smallville's Lois Lane (Creator/EricaDurance) is one of the most sexed-up versions of the character, with the story constantly having her in {{fanservice}}y situations that show off her legs, bust and [[BareYourMidriff toned abs]]. She also wore an impressive collection of SexyWhateverOutfit and FanserviceCostumes throughout her time in the show. [[http://doena-journal.net/en/577/lois-lanes-costumes Case in point]] and once went undercover as a stripper.
** Kara Zor-El's (Creator/LauraVandervoort) casual attire [[BareYourMidriff shows her midriff]] and legs and even ends up winning a BeautyContest in a skimpy bikini.
** Kara Zor-El's (Creator/LauraVandervoort) casual attire [[BareYourMidriff shows her midriff]] and legs and even ends up winning a BeautyContest in a skimpy bikini.
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** Smallville's Lois Lane (Creator/EricaDurance) is one of the most sexed-up versions of the character, with the story constantly having her in {{fanservice}}y situations that show off her legs, bust and [[BareYourMidriff toned abs]].abs. She also wore an impressive collection of SexyWhateverOutfit and FanserviceCostumes throughout her time in the show. [[http://doena-journal.net/en/577/lois-lanes-costumes Case in point]] and once went undercover as a stripper.
** Kara Zor-El's (Creator/LauraVandervoort) casual attire[[BareYourMidriff shows her midriff]] midriff and legs and even ends up winning a BeautyContest in a skimpy bikini.
** Kara Zor-El's (Creator/LauraVandervoort) casual attire
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Shes Got Legs is currently a disambiguation
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** Kara Zor-El's (Creator/LauraVandervoort) casual attire [[BareYourMidriff shows her midriff]] and [[ShesGotLegs legs]] and even ends up winning a BeautyContest in a skimpy bikini.
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** Kara Zor-El's (Creator/LauraVandervoort) casual attire [[BareYourMidriff shows her midriff]] and [[ShesGotLegs legs]] legs and even ends up winning a BeautyContest in a skimpy bikini.
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Shes Got Legs is currently a disambiguation
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** Smallville's Lois Lane (Creator/EricaDurance) is one of the most sexed-up versions of the character, with the story constantly having her in {{fanservice}}y situations that show off [[ShesGotLegs her shapely legs]], [[BuxomIsBetter buxom figure]] and [[BareYourMidriff toned abs]]. She also wore an impressive collection of SexyWhateverOutfit and FanserviceCostumes throughout her time in the show. [[http://doena-journal.net/en/577/lois-lanes-costumes Case in point]] and once went undercover as a stripper.
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** Smallville's Lois Lane (Creator/EricaDurance) is one of the most sexed-up versions of the character, with the story constantly having her in {{fanservice}}y situations that show off [[ShesGotLegs her shapely legs]], [[BuxomIsBetter buxom figure]] legs, bust and [[BareYourMidriff toned abs]]. She also wore an impressive collection of SexyWhateverOutfit and FanserviceCostumes throughout her time in the show. [[http://doena-journal.net/en/577/lois-lanes-costumes Case in point]] and once went undercover as a stripper.
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** Also, the recurring role played by Creator/JaneSeymour in season 4, after Schneider had been a recurring character on ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman''.
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** Also, the recurring role played by Creator/JaneSeymour Creator/JaneSeymourActress in season 4, after Schneider had been a recurring character on ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman''.
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* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: Played straight when Jonathan Kent (Creator/JohnSchneider) is the one introducing us to Senator Jennings (Creator/TomWopat), both from ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard''.
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* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine:
** Played straight when Jonathan Kent (Creator/JohnSchneider) is the one introducing us to Senator Jennings (Creator/TomWopat), both from''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard''.''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard''.
** Also, the recurring role played by Creator/JaneSeymour in season 4, after Schneider had been a recurring character on ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman''.
** Played straight when Jonathan Kent (Creator/JohnSchneider) is the one introducing us to Senator Jennings (Creator/TomWopat), both from
** Also, the recurring role played by Creator/JaneSeymour in season 4, after Schneider had been a recurring character on ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman''.
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Up To Eleven is no longer a trope.
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* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: The show tends has a lot of this going around in the early seasons. Typically, whenever Lana has moved on from Clark and entered a new relationship, Clark will often be seen sadly saying something along these lines. Meanwhile, this is also Chloe's attitude towards Clark's attraction to Lana. Taken UpToEleven in season five, in which both of them [[ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex complain to her about their sex life]], then Clark decides to tell Lana his secret and proposes to her. Clark thinks Chloe would say they are too young and whatnot, but instead she provides her support and encouragement. Chloe supportively says "If there's anyone who deserves to be happy, Clark, it's you."And this, in turn, was ''also'' Pete's attitude towards Chloe's teenage crush on Clark during the early seasons of the show. Thankfully, everyone involved eventually moved on to much healthier relationships.
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* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: The show tends has a lot of this going around in the early seasons. Typically, whenever Lana has moved on from Clark and entered a new relationship, Clark will often be seen sadly saying something along these lines. Meanwhile, this is also Chloe's attitude towards Clark's attraction to Lana. Taken UpToEleven Exaggerated in season five, in which both of them [[ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex complain to her about their sex life]], then Clark decides to tell Lana his secret and proposes to her. Clark thinks Chloe would say they are too young and whatnot, but instead she provides her support and encouragement. Chloe supportively says "If there's anyone who deserves to be happy, Clark, it's you."And this, in turn, was ''also'' Pete's attitude towards Chloe's teenage crush on Clark during the early seasons of the show. Thankfully, everyone involved eventually moved on to much healthier relationships.
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* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: [[UpToEleven Brought up to ridiculous levels.]] The meteor shower in Smallville made it so Kryptonite can show up anywhere and with anyone.
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* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: [[UpToEleven Brought up to ridiculous levels.]] levels. The meteor shower in Smallville made it so Kryptonite can show up anywhere and with anyone.
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* HotterAndSexier: The show has a cast full of HeadTurningBeauty for both genders and often puts them in {{Fanservice}} outfits and situations, far more than the UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} ''ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'' comics it was loosely inspired by or ven the usual ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' show.
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* HotterAndSexier: The show has a cast full of HeadTurningBeauty for both genders and often puts them in {{Fanservice}} outfits and situations, far more than the UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} ''ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'' comics it was loosely inspired by or ven the usual ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' show.
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Loads And Loads Of Characters is no longer a trope
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* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
** In addition to the main cast, you have other Creator/{{DC|Comics}} characters, {{Canon Foreigner}}s who have important roles, [[Characters/SmallvilleMeteorFreaks Freaks of the Week]], [[Characters/SmallvillePhantomZone Phantom Zone escapees]], and dozens of high school students, Smallville citizens and Daily Planet staff members. Since it lasted 10 years, that's a pretty big cast. According to the [[TheWikiRule Smallville wiki]], throughout the series there are 18 main characters, 170 recurring characters and 341 minor characters, with a total of a staggering '''529''' characters.
** In addition to the main cast, you have other Creator/{{DC|Comics}} characters, {{Canon Foreigner}}s who have important roles, [[Characters/SmallvilleMeteorFreaks Freaks of the Week]], [[Characters/SmallvillePhantomZone Phantom Zone escapees]], and dozens of high school students, Smallville citizens and Daily Planet staff members. Since it lasted 10 years, that's a pretty big cast. According to the [[TheWikiRule Smallville wiki]], throughout the series there are 18 main characters, 170 recurring characters and 341 minor characters, with a total of a staggering '''529''' characters.
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** Smallville's Lois Lane (Creator/EricaDurance) is one of the most sexed-up versions of the character, with the story constantly having her in {{fanservice}}y situations that show off [[ShesGotLegs her shapely legs]], [[BuxomIsBetter buxom figure]] and [[BareYourMidriff toned abs]]. She also wore an impressive collection of SexyWhateverOutfit and FanserviceCostumes throughout her time in the show. [[http://doena-journal.net/en/577/lois-lanes-costumes Case in point]].
** Kara Zor-El's (Creator/LauraVandervoort) casual attire [[BareYourMidriff shows her midriff]] and [[ShesGotLegs legs]] and even ends up winning a BeautyContest.
** Kara Zor-El's (Creator/LauraVandervoort) casual attire [[BareYourMidriff shows her midriff]] and [[ShesGotLegs legs]] and even ends up winning a BeautyContest.
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** Smallville's Lois Lane (Creator/EricaDurance) is one of the most sexed-up versions of the character, with the story constantly having her in {{fanservice}}y situations that show off [[ShesGotLegs her shapely legs]], [[BuxomIsBetter buxom figure]] and [[BareYourMidriff toned abs]]. She also wore an impressive collection of SexyWhateverOutfit and FanserviceCostumes throughout her time in the show. [[http://doena-journal.net/en/577/lois-lanes-costumes Case in point]].
point]] and once went undercover as a stripper.
** Kara Zor-El's (Creator/LauraVandervoort) casual attire [[BareYourMidriff shows her midriff]] and [[ShesGotLegs legs]] and even ends up winning aBeautyContest.BeautyContest in a skimpy bikini.
** Kara Zor-El's (Creator/LauraVandervoort) casual attire [[BareYourMidriff shows her midriff]] and [[ShesGotLegs legs]] and even ends up winning a
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removed as Bald Woman has been disambiged
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* ImYourBiggestFan: Samantha Drake in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E10Fanatic Fanatic]]" is president of the Students for Lex Luthor group. [[BaldWomen She shaves her head]] to resemble him and goes to great lengths to get Jonathan Kent to drop out of the Senate race. She expects praise from Lex for the assault on Jonathan.
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* ImYourBiggestFan: Samantha Drake in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E10Fanatic Fanatic]]" is president of the Students for Lex Luthor group. [[BaldWomen She shaves her head]] head to resemble him and goes to great lengths to get Jonathan Kent to drop out of the Senate race. She expects praise from Lex for the assault on Jonathan.
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* {{Long Runner|s}}: After running for ten years, ''Smallville'' beat ''Series/StargateSG1'' as the longest running American Sci-Fi show[[note]] It surpassed it on May 6, 2011, and the series GrandFinale aired a week later on the 13th[[/note]] . The difference in length is only ''three'' episodes, however, and the ''SG-1'' movies ''[[Film/StargateContinuum Continuum]]'' and ''Film/TheArkOfTruth'' put it over the top if counted.
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* {{Long Runner|s}}: After running for ten years, ''Smallville'' beat ''Series/StargateSG1'' as the longest running American Sci-Fi show[[note]] It surpassed it on May 6, 2011, and the series GrandFinale aired a week later on the 13th[[/note]] . The difference in length is only ''three'' episodes, however, and the ''SG-1'' movies ''[[Film/StargateContinuum Continuum]]'' and ''Film/TheArkOfTruth'' ''Film/StargateTheArkOfTruth'' put it over the top if counted.
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* TheMountainsOfIllinois: Kansas is famously as flat as a pancake. At least 11 episodes have mountains in the background.
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** When Tess finds out that her father is Lionel, it [[InTheBlood explains a lot]] about her ManipulativeBastard tendencies as well as her HeelFaceRevolvingDoor. However, she's determined to prove that she's nothing like a Luthor. When his AlternateUniverse version asks her why she doesn't just have him killed (which is something he'd do), she says that that's not who she is.
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** When Tess finds out that her father is Lionel, it [[InTheBlood [[VillainousLineage explains a lot]] about her ManipulativeBastard tendencies as well as her HeelFaceRevolvingDoor. However, she's determined to prove that she's nothing like a Luthor. When his AlternateUniverse version asks her why she doesn't just have him killed (which is something he'd do), she says that that's not who she is.
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* LancerVsDragon: Oliver has served as Clark's Lancer ever since he was promoted to series regular. [[spoiler: In the series finale he kills Darkseid's CoDragons]].
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** [[DoubleSubversion Double subverted]] in "Precipe". Lana is attacked by a guy named Andy who also makes the mistake of [[BerserkButton making misogynistic comments about her to Clark]]. Clark throws the guy onto a car and he sues the Kents for the resulting injuries. However, it turns out that Andy is actually faking his injuries - getting thrown onto a moving car didn't hurt him at all.
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Smallville/TropesAToC | Smallville/TropesDToG | '''Tropes H to M''' | Smallville/TropesNToS | Smallville/TToZ
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Smallville/TropesAToC | Smallville/TropesDToG | '''Tropes H to M''' | Smallville/TropesNToS | Smallville/TToZSmallville/TropesTToZ
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'''Tropes H to M''' | Smallville/TropesAToC | Smallville/TropesDToG | Smallville/TropesNToS | Smallville/TToZ
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Smallville/TropesAToC | Smallville/TropesDToG | '''Tropes H to M''' | Smallville/TropesAToC | Smallville/TropesDToG | Smallville/TropesNToS | Smallville/TToZ
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'''Tropes H to M''' | Smallville/TropesAToC | Smallville/TropesDToG | Smallville/TropesNToS | Smallville/TToZ
----
!!!''Series/{{Smallville}}'' provides examples of the following tropes:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:H]]
* HappilyAdopted: Clark has boatloads of angst over his Kryptonian heritage, but he loves his parents and considers them his real family. He even explicitly says in "Rosetta" that no matter what he finds out about his people, the Kents will still be his mom and dad. He has also told Jor-El that Jonathan is his real father and never calls Jor-El "father". Except in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E09Abyss Abyss]]".
* HappilyEverAfter: [[spoiler: ''Crisis On Infinite Earths'' revealed that Clark and Lois settled down on the Kent farm, Clark depowered himself permanently, and the two have two daughters]].
* HappilyMarried:
** The Kents, naturally, before Jonathan dies. They argue a few times, usually over Clark's most recent alien/superhero issues, but ultimately always support each other and him and work through their issues by talking them out.
** General Zod and his wife Faora do genuinely love each other. Ironically things go very badly for clone Zod and clone Faora.
** Arthur gets married to Mera offscreen in season 10 and both are extremely dedicated to each other and their commitment to justice, with him and Mera working well as a BattleCouple.
** Clark is married to Lois in the GrandFinale. According to the flash-forward sequence set in 2018, Clark and Lois are happily married, although they chose not to display any rings at the Planet office due to their desire to keep their professional lives separate from their personal lives. By 2019, both have left the city life to live in the Kent farm with their two daughters.
* HardHead: ''Smallville'' is the ''king'' of this trope. Lex and Lana have each been knocked out almost ''50 times''.
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Despite numerous allusions to his famous alter ego, we never see Clark in full Superman regalia. Even in "Finale", we only see Clark in the Superman suit in ''extreme'' long shots (where he's probably a CGI double), or ''extreme'' closeups where it's just his face with some blue and red barely visible at the shoulders. Even the final shot ends with Clark just ripping open his shirt to show the S emblem underneath. Tom Welling wearing an actual Superman costume is never shown at any point in the entire series.
* HealingFactor: The Kryptonians, Curtis Knox and Lex possess it. Certain drugs can temporarily give anyone this power, [[PsychoSerum with side effects]]. For a while, Chloe had not only the power to heal herself but to heal others, even resurrect them. She saved Lois' life once. She later lost that power because of Brainiac.
* HeelFaceDoorSlam: Lex Luther has actually attempted to perform a HeelFaceTurn numerous times throughout the series but has always been trusted back into the world of villainy. Usually through the actions of the heroes though mainly Lana.
* HeelFaceTurn:
** Lionel, who eventually becomes a [[ParentalSubstitute father figure]] for Clark. It was mostly a case of Clark redeeming him. While Lionel still had ulterior motives, for the most part by Season 7, he was genuinely concerned with making sure the world didn't end as a result of Lex's various insane quests, and Clark was naturally the best means to accomplish this.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E04Homecoming Homecoming]]", both Brainiac (5) and Greg Arkin (the villain of the second episode of the series who returned to his high school reunion to thank Clark for helping him overcome his madness)..
** Tess does one in the finale of Season 9, eventually joining the team in Season 10.
* HeroicSacrifice: Thanks to Jor-El, Clark is able to do this several times. It's practically one of his powers in the series.
* HesAFriend: Clark tries to do this between his cousin Kara and ComicBook/MartianManhunter. It didn't end well.
* HomeBase: The Watchtower, a loft apartment in Metropolis that resembles a ClockTower is used as the headquarters for Oliver, Chloe and the Justice League.
* HomeEarlySurprise: Clark's parents go to Metropolis for an evening, so he invites a few people over. This becomes a full WildTeenParty compete with trashed house. The next morning Clark uses his SuperSpeed to clean up, figuring on his parents being none the wiser when they get home - but when he gets done he turns around to see them in the door, [[SarcasticClapping applauding]] his finish.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Clark is a tall strapping guy and most of the women in his life are fairly petite but of course Clark and Chloe are the exemplars.
* HumanAliens: The Kryptonian Clark looks just as a regular human would, as do all Kryptonians. In fact, ''all'' of the aliens shown either look human, are [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifters]] posing as human, or disembodied beings [[BodySurf possessing human bodies]].
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: A few episodes like "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E12Insurgence Insurgence]]", "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E13Suspect Suspect]]" and "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E19Precipice Precipice]]" are completely meteor-freak-less and have [[{{Mundanger}} regular people]] as the MonsterOfTheWeek. Also, "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E14Tomb Tomb]]" has a girl raised from the dead by a meteor rock bracelet ([[LightningCanDoAnything and a bolt of lightning]]) to go after an AxCrazy but otherwise ''human'' psych ward orderly. Who, y'know, ''put her there in the first place''.
* HotterAndSexier: The show has a cast full of HeadTurningBeauty for both genders and often puts them in {{Fanservice}} outfits and situations, far more than the UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} ''ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'' comics it was loosely inspired by or ven the usual ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' show.
* HurricaneOfPuns: Often happens in discussions of the freak of the week.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Pretty much everybody from [[TheHero Clark]] and [[LoveInterests Lana]] to [[BigBad Lionel Luthor]].
** The worst example, however, has to be Lex, who constantly bitches about Clark keeping his secret from him, while simultaneously keeping an army of skeletons (all of them far, far darker than Clark's) in his own closet.
** Lana complains constantly about Clark and Lex hiding things from her, but the minute she has a secret (the black spaceship, the fact that Lex is still alive, etc.), she goes out of her way to hide it from Clark. Which also makes her TooDumbToLive, since in those situations Clark is probably the ''first'' person she should be talking to, as he actually has a proven track record of saving her from these situations.
** Clark is perhaps the biggest example: he expects everyone else to be completely honest with him about everything, but builds his relationships around lies and deceit, insisting on keeping his "secret" even among his closest friends. That's probably why he's so touchy about lies; he knows people keep secrets and that somebody can be deceiving you even when it doesn't seem like it--he does so himself. Lampshaded in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E14Zero Zero]]" where he chews out Chloe for snooping around in his past, then ''immediately'' invites her to join him in snooping into Lex's. Chloe does a double-take.
** He admits that his reactions to things are what keep people from telling him things in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E10Luthor Luthor]]". He starts the episode off by telling ([[DramaticIrony secret]]) Luthor Tess that all Luthors are dangerous and evil. He then is furious and offended when he finds out that she hid Lex's clone from him. He then disappears [[AlternateUniverse into the plot]] before Tess can admit to her heritage, so we don't know how he would've taken that. At the end of the episode, however, he's realized that blaming the entire Luthor bloodline for Lionel's influence is the exact reason why Tess didn't tell him the truth, so he stops being a jerk about it.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E05Nocturne Nocturne]]", he peevishly comments that Lana's [[ObsessiveLoveLetter Secret Admirer]] sounds like a stalker. This, from Mr. Peeping Telescope.
** Clark gets a lot of heat in the start of season 3, [[NotHimself acting like a totally different person]] under the influence of [[GRatedDrug red kryptonite]]. The thing is, ''the same thing happened'' to Chloe in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E04Devoted Devoted]]", Lana in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E08Spell Spell]]" and Lex in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E17Onyx Onyx]]" later in season 4. Either Clark can't bring himself to call them out on it, or it never occurred to him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:I]]
* IAmNotMyFather:
** Lionel is introduced as a proto-Lex Luthor and Lex becomes closer, and closer to what Lionel is as the story advances, much to his horror. In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E19Memoria Memoria]]", Clark even warns Lex about it.
-->'''Clark:''' You always tell me how you don't want to turn into your father, and I believe that, but the more you two go at each other, the more like him you become and the more people get hurt.\\
'''Lex:''' I will never become my father. I would never sacrifice you or anybody I cared about to bring him down.
** When Tess finds out that her father is Lionel, it [[InTheBlood explains a lot]] about her ManipulativeBastard tendencies as well as her HeelFaceRevolvingDoor. However, she's determined to prove that she's nothing like a Luthor. When his AlternateUniverse version asks her why she doesn't just have him killed (which is something he'd do), she says that that's not who she is.
* ICanExplain
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E14Zero Zero]]" Lex attempts to convince a female friend that she deserves better and got her to a nightclub, where she found the man she is engaged with when he is supposed to be on a business trip. The guy says the line repeatedly but it's quite clear he's just a cheating JerkAss.
** When Chloe and Clark are both [[NotHimself not themselves]], they do some intense making out right under Lana's nose. When Chloe strips Clark, the red kryptonite is removed and he is back to normal. He says this to Lana who slams the door in his face after NotWhatItLooksLike. He can't explain anyway as he must save Chloe before she get herself killed as some parasite makes her dangerously impulsive, and Clark can't tell Lana about the red kryptonite anyway.
** Lana once says this when Lex finds out she stole his car. There is absolutely nothing she could explain, really.
** Jimmy says this when Chloe, who is at the time his girlfriend, walked in on [[Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] and him alone but not doing anything suspicious.
** Clark would often tell this to Lois in later seasons, when [[TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife he often had to ditch her for heroics]] but couldn't quite explain it, such as in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E15Infamous Infamous]]" when he left her in the rain for three hours and in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS09E04Echo Echo]]" when he didn't show up for a date.
* ICantDance: Clark is a terrible dancer, which is a RunningGag on the show and especially noticeably in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E08Spell Spell]]" when he's forced to dance due to a spell being cast.
* ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe: In early seasons, Clark was usually baffled whenever a girl expressed interest in him, especially Lana, because his self-esteem was so low that he was oblivious to the fact that even without superpowers, he's still [[{{Hunk}} very attractive and buff]].
* ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin: The early seasons treated several of the "[[MonsterOfTheWeek Freak of the week]]" as a metaphor for drug addiction. [[GRatedDrug Red Kryptonite]] that makes Clark NotHimself was given a similar treatment.
* IgnoreTheFanservice:
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E15Nicodemus Nicodemus]]": Lana tries to seduce Clark and Lex with little success. {{Justified|Trope}} as she's under the influence of the [[LoveIsInTheAir Nicodemus plant]] that makes her NotHimself and they're both AboveTheInfluence.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E02Heat Heat]]": When Jonathan goes to talk to [[HotTeacher Desirée]] attempts to seduce Jonathan when they meet in the Luthor Mansion's swimming pool, but he's unimpressed. But while he's able to resist her beauty and charms, he has no defense against her LivingAphrodisiac powers and succumbs when she uses them.
** {{Averted|Trope}} in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E01Crusade Crusade]]". Lois [[NakedFirstImpression first meets the amnesiac Clark]] when he's NakedOnRevival and [[InnocentFanserviceGuy no longer understand the concept of nudity taboo]]. She attempts to ignore it and tells herself to [[MyEyesAreUpHere keep her eyes on his face]] but fails and lets her eyes wander... ''lower'' for [[EatingTheEyeCandy a significant time]].
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E05Action Action]]", when Clark finds Rachel having a massage in his living room, he is very uncomfortable and makes a point to keep his eyes averted while she puts a robe on.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS09E14Persuasion Persuasion]]": When Tess [[SexySurfacingShot climbs out of the bathtub]] in front of Zod', his eyes never leave her face.
* IJustWantToBeBadass: This is the show's interpretation of the [[HeroicWannabe Wonder Twins]] and [[IdiotHero Booster Gold]].
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Clark, especially in the early seasonsIn the early seasons, just wished to be a normal guy with no superpowers and secrets. In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E17Hex Hex]]", when ComicBook/{{Zatanna}} granted his deepest wish he lost his powers and his memory of them (Chloe was able to snap him out of it). In Season 9, it's even less likely he wants to be normal, as he has accepted his destiny to help humanity with his powers. This could be considered as part of the character growth as a virtual human raised by humans who is on the cusp of fully accepting who and what he is and thus becoming Superman. Even the "incident" with Zatanna is treated less like Clark wanting to give up his abilities completely, and more like just wanting to take a vacation in the land of the ordinary human for a day or two.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial:
** Pete Ross is shown to have a desire for superpowers, mostly to get out of Clark's shadow. Whenever he does get powers, something goes wrong.
** This is one of Lex's main motivations. After being put through traumas that include [[PrematurelyBald losing his hair as a child]], being [[BullyMagnet bullied at school]], TakingTheHeat for his mother murdering his infant brother, having his mother pass away from cancer while he was away and dealing with his [[AbusiveParents emotionally abusive father]], Lex desperately needed to believe that it was all for a higher purpose as the alternative (That it was all for nothing) is far too horrible to contemplate. This goes to explain his resentment of Clark who constantly rejects his amazing power and doesn't want to fulfill the destiny Lex believes he is entitled to.
* IJustWantToBeYou
** Tina Greer is a [[VoluntaryShapeShifting meteor freak shapeshifter]] who grew up envying Lana's seemingly perfect life. When we meet her, she has already styled her hair to resemble Lana's and dresses in clothes that are basically the same clothes that Lana wears... even going as far as buying an emerald necklace to imitate the Kryptonite necklace Lana wears (that was made from the meteor that killed Lana's parents). After the death of her mother (which she was responsible for), Tina shapeshifts to impersonate her mother while concocting a story that her mother is moving to Metropolis, and asks Lana if she can move in with her and Aunt Nell. When Lana says that she needs to ask Aunt Nell for permission (a perfectly reasonable point), Tina freaks out and takes this as a sign of rejection... and then decides that she's going to [[KillAndReplace murder Lana and use her shapeshifting abilities to assume Lana's identity]], even going as far as practicing writing Lana's signature multiple times as preparation. When she returns in another episode her obsession with Lana [[PsychoLesbian became romantic]] and she dropped this angle.
** Bizarro started as a pure evil wraith. He was viewed as a monster by his creators and trapped in the Phantom Zone. He never knew happiness. When he was freed from the Zone [[MoralEventHorizon he possessed human bodies to survive]]. Until he got Clark's DNA, memories and powers. He tried [[KillAndReplace to replace Clark while he was trapped in the fortress]] after he genuinely falls in love with Lana.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E07Rage Rage]]", Oliver becomes addicted to a PsychoSerum that gives him a HealingFactor but turns him increasingly psychotic. After he is stopped and recovers from the addiction, he admits that he was jealous of Clark's abilities and was trying to emulate them.
* INeedToGoIronMyDog: In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E19Stiletto Stiletto]]", when Lois is operating as a superheroine. Note that this is late at night and Shelby, Clark's dog, is in Smallville, not Metropolis.
-->'''Police Scanner:''' Attention downtown units. Silent alarm at Riverside Jewelry on 5th and Water, handle code 10-38.\\
''[Clark and Lois stands up abruptly to leave]''\\
'''Clark:''' Well, I better... go feed Shelby.\\
'''Lois:''' Uh, I should hit the gym.
* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: Played straight when Jonathan Kent (Creator/JohnSchneider) is the one introducing us to Senator Jennings (Creator/TomWopat), both from ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard''.
* IllKillYou:
-->'''[[EvilTwin Clark Luthor]]:''' Give me the box.\\
'''Tess:''' And if I don't?\\
'''Clark Luthor:''' I'll kill you.
* ImColdSoCold: Subverted. Eric says something like this when he is drained of Clark's powers, but he survived.
* ImYourBiggestFan: Samantha Drake in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E10Fanatic Fanatic]]" is president of the Students for Lex Luthor group. [[BaldWomen She shaves her head]] to resemble him and goes to great lengths to get Jonathan Kent to drop out of the Senate race. She expects praise from Lex for the assault on Jonathan.
* ImStandingRightHere: In "Kara", ''[[Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]]'' insults Chloe by saying she is "[[PunyEarthling just a human]]" condescendingly when she is standing right there; Clark defends her by saying [[TheSmartGirl Chloe is smarter than both of them put together]].
* IdenticalGrandson: In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E06Relic Relic]]", Clark's father and Lana's great-aunt are portrayed by Clark and Lana's respective actors. Lana's distant ancestor Countess Isobel also looks just like her.
* IdentityImpersonator: In a variation on the usual Superman formula, "[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E10Hydro Hydro]]" sees Clark dressed up as the ComicBook/GreenArrow in order to help Oliver 'prove' to Lois that he and Green Arrow are two different people. Lois (who was dating Oliver at the time) plants a kiss on her hero -- only to realize her mistake as Oliver appears. Oliver would later repay the favour to Clark in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E07Identity Identity]]" when Jimmy Olsen put two-and-two together. However, Jimmy didn't kiss him.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: They always use {{One Word Title}}s. PlayedWith in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS09E11E12AbsoluteJustice Absolute Justice]]", the two-hour special. But then again, it ''was'' a double-length episode, but played straight when you consider that the two individual episodes "[[Recap/SmallvilleS09E11E12AbsoluteJustice Absolute Justice]]" is comprised of are named "Society" and "Legends", and thus stick to using one-word titles. It also forced them coming up with more and more elaborate synonyms for "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E04Red Red]]". Like "[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E13Crimson Crimson]]".
* IdiotBall: This also has the UnfortunateImplications to often be combined with HystericalWoman. In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E19Nemesis Nemesis]]", a military officer who is able to conduct CIA style informational espionage kidnaps Lex and rigs 5 miles of explosives because she knows her husband is alive.
* IfICantHaveYou: An astounding number of meteor freaks who pursued Lana had this as a modus operandi.
** Davis, who was apparently A-OK with burying himself alive to stop his SuperpoweredEvilSide from rampaging around the world, but only if Chloe loved him. [[MurderTheHypotenuse If not...]]
** Spoken word-for-word by Conner on red kryptonite towards Lois in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E16Scion Scion]]".
* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: Or so Lana tells Clark (regarding Lex) in Season Eight's "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E14Requiem Requiem]]".
* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Since possession and other influence causing a main character to temporarily become an opponent is very common; the phrase is often spoken but it is usually not much of a fight.
** Subverted in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E08Bloodline Bloodline]]" when Faora has possessed Lois and is attacking Clark:
--->'''Clark:''' Lois, stop!\\
'''Faora:''' Lois can't hear you.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E11Legion Legion]]", there isn't much of a fight between Clark and Chloe (possessed by Brainiac) because Brainiac knows Clark can't bring himself to hit Chloe. He even taunts Clark about it.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E18Booster Booster]]", ComicBook/BoosterGold successfully talks down Jaime Reyes when he is taken over by the ComicBook/BlueBeetle scarab, proving to Clark that he is a true hero after all.
** Played straight in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E21E22Finale Finale]]" when Oliver attacks Clark at his wedding while being controlled by ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} and Clark successfully talks him down.
* ImmuneToFate: In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E12Hereafter Hereafter]]", a boy named Jordan can foresee the death of anyone he touches but is powerless to change it. When he touches Clark he doesn't see a death, however, just Clark going on "forever". Then Clark proceeds to save someone from the death that Jordan has foreseen. This leads them to conclude that Clark has the power to change predestined events.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Many characters die this way: it seems everyone is MadeOfPlasticine and metal rods (however blunt) ''will'' punch right through you as if you were made of tissue paper.
* ImportantHaircut:
** Lionel Luthor has his head shaved at the end of "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E22Covenant Covenant]]", the season finale of the third season, while we're shown his son choking to death on poisoned wine and Chloe Sullivan being blown up. The dramatic effect was somewhat lessened the next season when it turned out that they had both miraculously survived, and one of the attempted murders hadn't even been committed by Lionel.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E13Power Power]]", Lana chops off some hair after her TrainingFromHell, to signify she has TakeALevelInBadass.
* ImprobableAimingSkills
** ComicBook/GreenArrow is an impressive shot, able to shoot a specific country on a globe or into the opening of a soda can.
** Dark Archer, Green Arrow's EvilCounterpart has similarly impressive aiming.
** Clark hardly ever misses, whether he throws a football, basketball, bowling ball, knife, can, anything. He even ''[[ShootTheBullet shoots a bullet out of the air]]'' with his heat vision. It is implied that his talent comes from his powers, as in one episode where he was BroughtDownToNormal, he found that he now sucked at basketball. Heat vision is also hard to miss when you are faster than the speeding bullet and all you need to do is look directly at your target.
** ComicBook/BlackCanary had deadly accuracy with her throwing knives.
** ComicBook/{{Deadshot}}, naturally. He once shot two officers simultaneously, with the bullets curving past either side of Chloe's face.
* InformedWrongness: In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS09E15Conspiracy Conspiracy]]", the VillainOfTheWeek Dr. Chisholm sounds like just another [[ConspiracyTheorist 'alien-conspiracy' nutcase]] killing off helpless Kandorians who just want to live peacefully among humans but whom he fears are part of an AlienInvasion. Good thing the cruel and horrific experiments the 'peaceful' Kandorians performed on him and other humans to regain their Kryptonian powers so they could TakeOverTheWorld [[OffstageVillainy occurred offscreen]] or they'd seem more like {{asshole victim}}s. Even Clark called them out on that one, saying that human beings are not their personal guinea pigs. Part of his agreement to help was because they were his people.
* InNameOnly:
** While Smallville is full of different takes on the featured comic book characters, Cat Grant is absolutely nothing like her comic book counterpart. In the comics, she started out as a promiscuous gossip columnist and later became a cougar with breast implants and low cut blouses where the TV version actually spells the word "sex" at one point because she's too uptight to say it and is actually kind of pudgy and conservatively dressed. All this to turn her into a [[StrawCharacter Straw Conservative]] where the comic book version couldn't care less about politics.
** Slade bears very little resemblance to his comic book counterpart, ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}. He's actually much closer personality-wise to [[GeneralRipper Wade Eiling]] or Marvel's [[ComicBook/XMen Senator Kelly]].
* InformedAttribute: Throughout Season 9, Zod frequently claims that Kryptonians have superior intelligence to humans, despite the fact that they juggle the IdiotBall and VillainBall nearly all series long and make a symphony of blunders and bad decisions.
* InsaneTrollLogic:
** Albeit not as strong of an example as others have been, one episode has Jimmy figuring out Clark's secret as a vigilante. The general train of logic goes something like this. Jimmy takes picture of blurred red figure (Clark saving both him and Lois from a mugger using superspeed in his typical red jacket), Smallville has people being saved from various "accidents" (past episode kinds of things), then after seeing a picture of Clark in his red jacket, thinks Clark is the vigilante. While the end conclusion is correct, the train of logic/actions taken to figure this out is wildly weird. It's reasonable to start looking in Smallville first, seeing that most of the incidents occurred over in that area. But the real head turner is how he managed to pinpoint Clark of all people as the Blur. [[SarcasmMode Because he's clearly the only person on the planet who wears a freaking red jacket.]]
** Lana’s notion in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E13Power Power]]" that she had finally become Clark's equal after gaining power through selfishness, money, lies, and near suicide.
** Pete in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E15Nicodemus Nicodemus]]". Just watch his thought process when he came to the conclusion that if he killed Lex Luthor, Chloe would like him.
* InSeriesNickname:
** Lois usually calls Clark "Smallville", but "[[EmbarrassingNickname Clarky]]" on rare occasions. Lois almost always just call Chloe "cous" (as in, "cousin") or "Chlo,"[[note]]Many FanFic writers picked this up to use as an AffectionateNickname from whoever they are pairing Chloe with[[/note]] or more rarely "Goldilocks". She once calls Jimmy "Baby Bear", and he is not happy.
** Chloe sometimes calls Lois "Lo".
** Jimmy sometimes calls Chloe "[[AffectionateNickname Brighteyes]]". And yes, she has eyes that you can't stop staring at.
** Chloe's boss at the Daily Planet used to call her "Chloster". Jimmy picked it up. She is not amused.
--->'''Chloe:''' How much blunt trauma do you think a stapler to the back of the head would cause?
** The names ComicBook/MartianManhunter and Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} starts out as Chloe's nickname for them in ''Smallville''. She is also known for calling Clark the Man of Steel.
** Oliver started the tradition of calling Clark "Boy Scout" and Bart "Impulse". Bizarrely, Brainiac sometimes also call him that, but he always refer to him as Kal-El face to face.
* InstantExpert: Lana's martial arts skills. She was trained by Lex in the early seasons and worked out much like Tess did later, including wearing boxing gloves and hitting the heavy bag. The episode we see Lana being trained by Lex has her facing a guy who'd been threatening her, and kicking him so hard he's knocked into a table and ends up unconscious. She couldn't have had more than a few days practice with Lex until that point. Basically anything Lana tries, she becomes this. Even when she gains Clark's abilities she knows how to use them instantly; it took Clark years to master his powers. This is especially jarring since Eric Summers didn't instantly master those abilities.
* InstantSedation: Has happened multiple times to almost every female regular, but the hands-down winners are Chloe, Lana, and Lois. Basically, if you're a female character who's attracted to Clark, chances are it'll happen to you. Combines naturally with DamselInDistress for maximum effect.
* InterchangeableAsianCultures: Isobel finds ''a sai'' in a Chinese temple in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E15Sacred Sacred]]".
* InterclassFriendship:
** The relationship between alien farm boy Clark Kent and human billionaire Lex Luthor actually starts with the two future arch-enemies being friends. Pretty much everybody was sceptical of the two being friends since Lex was a Luthor. Despite that, Clark did genuine consider Lex a friend and was his confidant. Sadly, the two do have a falling out thanks to all the lies and secrets being too much.
** By the time Clark and Lex's friendship was falling apart, rich boy Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow enter to be Clark's new ally. Though, it does start out rough and the two did have a falling out after Ollie killed Lex. They do make up and Ollie actually becomes Clark's best man at his wedding to Lois.
* InterspeciesRomance: Clark and any of his girlfriends, as well as Bizarro/Lana. Other Kryptonian-human relationships also apply. It helps that they are {{Human Alien|s}}.
* IntrepidReporter: The show is saturated with these. Chloe and later Lois and Clark are the most prominent examples.
* InvoluntaryShapeshifter:
** Davis is actually Doomsday in disguise, and gradually loses control over his alter ego.
** This also happens to Bizarro as well whenever he's exposed to sunlight, revealing his true nature as a Phantom who stole some of Clark's DNA in order to gain his appearance.
* IronicEcho:
** Listen to Clark's explanation to Lana in seasons 1-3 about why he can’t be truthful. Then listen to Lana’s explanation to Adam about why she left Paris.
** After Lionel puts Lex in Belle Reeve for electrotherapy, watching him in a straitjacket from behind two-way glass, it's Lex's turn to watch Lionel in a straitjacket from behind two-way glass after having one of the season's {{MacGuffin}}s on his person when it activates causes him to go catatonic. [[CallBack They even keep the camera angles and everything.]]
** After all the grief Clark gets for not telling Lana the truth about himself, the end of season 5 has Lex developing similar powers from a syringe by Brainiac, to prepare him to be Zod's vessel. He then goes on to rub it in everyone's faces by reusing Clark's reasons when he tells Lana.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E03Hothead Hothead]]":
*** When Coach Arnold is trying to convince Clark to join the football team, he tells him football is in his genes. In the final act, after Arnold witnesses Clark walk through a wall of fire unscathed and asks how he did so, Clark remarks "It's in the genes."
*** After insulting Dominic and two other [=LuthorCorp=] employees, Lex dismissively tells them "This meeting is adjourned." Later, after Lionel bests Lex in their fencing match and orders him to fire 20% of his employees, he tells Lex "Meeting adjourned."
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E12Leech Leech]]", after beating the Hardwicks, Lex remarks to Sir Harry, "That's what you get when you trust family" (because Sir Harry sent Victoria to [[HoneyTrap get cozy with Lex so she could dig up information]] he could use in his takeover of [=LuthorCorp=]). In the final act, Lionel tells Lex the exact same thing... right before Lex receives evidence that he set up the whole thing.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E23Exodus Exodus]]", when Pete enters the Kawatche Caves [[TheBait to distract Lionel]] so Clark can SuperSpeed in and swipe the Kryptonite key, Pete tells the guards who apprehend him "You know you hate [Lionel]," to which Lionel remarks he knows they hate him and that hatred and anger is a weakness. After Lionel finds the Kryptonite key missing and suspects that Pete stole it, he prepares to strike Pete after he plays dumb, at which point Pete reminds him, "Careful, Mr. Luthor; you wouldn't want to look weak."
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E11Delete Delete]]", computer genius Molly asks ComicBook/LexLuthor how he found her. He shrugs and says "Birds of a feather." Later, when Clark walks in to search for the CD containing the program she's been using to hurt his friends, Lex has already surreptitiously stolen it. When Molly responds with shock and asks "How did you get that?" he replies "Birds of a feather."
* IsNothingSacred: In the episode "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E13Hero Hero]]".
-->'''Clark:''' I found the source of Pete's powers. Kryptonite-enhanced gum. I found a whole stockpile.\\
'''Chloe:''' Chewing gum? Is nothing sacred anymore?
* ItAlwaysRainsAtFunerals: It rained heavily during the funeral of Whitney's father, but for everyone else, it was a subversion. It snowed at Jonathan Kent's funeral; It was a bright sunny day at Henry James "Jimmy" Olsen's funeral; and it was also sunny at Carter Hall's funeral in Egypt in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E10Luthor Luthor]]", albeit was held indoors.
* ItsAllMyFault: Clark keeps blaming himself for the damages and conditions that resulted from the meteor shower that he arrived in, even though he had absolutely no control over the situation. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6z8EPJyb1U He says this often.]]
* ItsAWonderfulPlot: When Clark received a message in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E18Apocalypse Apocalypse]]" telling him that Brainiac is going to the past to erase him from history, he thinks the world might be better off that way. Jor-El shows him what life would be like for everyone if he hadn't made it to Earth.
* IvyLeagueForEveryone: Clark has a scout from freakin Princeton come to see him in a season 4 episode...for football, even though Princeton isn't known for its football program. Thankfully the show actually subverts this.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: The show tends has a lot of this going around in the early seasons. Typically, whenever Lana has moved on from Clark and entered a new relationship, Clark will often be seen sadly saying something along these lines. Meanwhile, this is also Chloe's attitude towards Clark's attraction to Lana. Taken UpToEleven in season five, in which both of them [[ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex complain to her about their sex life]], then Clark decides to tell Lana his secret and proposes to her. Clark thinks Chloe would say they are too young and whatnot, but instead she provides her support and encouragement. Chloe supportively says "If there's anyone who deserves to be happy, Clark, it's you."And this, in turn, was ''also'' Pete's attitude towards Chloe's teenage crush on Clark during the early seasons of the show. Thankfully, everyone involved eventually moved on to much healthier relationships.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:K]]
* KarmaHoudini:
** Lex and Oliver after it was revealed in the Season 6 episode "[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E05Reunion Reunion]]" that he indirectly causes the death of one of the classmates that he bullied though no one calls him out on it, not even Clark.
** Lana Lang is probably the ultimate example of this. She has kidnapped and tortured an old man, ran a shadow organization, spied on an old lover, beat him senseless, knocked out people at a major press [[DisproportionateRetribution who will not run one of her stories]], released Brainiac into the world, and got away with it all as she did it to help the person she loved.
* KarmicTransformation: The Meteor Freaks often have their powers be related to something that they are in contact with or close to during the exposure to the meteors. Like Coach Arnold who got his PlayingWithFire powers during a sauna or Desirée Atkins who got her LivingAphrodisiac powers while she was having sex with her boyfriend.
* KeepingSecretsSucks: Lana's motto, which she repeated to Clark over and over from Seasons 2 through 6... not that it stopped ''her'' from keeping her own big secrets during that time period. Chloe in particular gets a lot of pressure from Lana when the latter (finally) figures out Chloe is protecting Clark.
* KickTheDog: Lex does this more and more as the years go by: he begins lying, cheating, and stealing to get his hands on the Kryptonian artifacts, and the following season begins kidnapping and torturing superpowered characters. He also sends a band of superpowered murderers to kidnap the Kents and Lana in a selfish (and dangerous) attempt to force Clark to reveal his powers against his will (this ends up destroying his friendship with Clark once Clark finds out it was Lex who orchestrated the whole thing), and eventually Lex begins murdering people to get what he wants.
* KilledOffForReal:
** Main/recurring characters who died include Whitney Fordman, Dr. Virgil Swann, Jason and Genevieve Teague, Sheriff Nancy Adams, Jonathan Kent, Lionel Luthor, Henry James "Jimmy" Olsen, and Davis Bloome.
** Lex was thought to likely be a case of NotQuiteDead or NeverFoundTheBody. It turns out that Lex really ''was'' dead after Oliver killed him; Earth-2 Lionel Luthor, however, brought him back through a [[DealWithTheDevil deal with Darkseid]], at the cost of his ''own'' life and soul.
* KlingonPromotion: By Season 7, Lex really, really wants to be evil. But he just can't pull it off convincingly. The solution? Kill the [[BigBad biggest baddie]] around, Lionel Luthor. Also a case of DyingToBeReplaced.
* KneelBeforeZod:
** Naturally. In the case of the season six premiere when Zod is introduced, Clark responds with an instance of ISurrenderSuckers. And in the Season 9 finale, the {{Trope Namer|s}} himself turns it into a BadassBoast:
--->'''Zod:''' Unlike you, I would rule from a throne, not the shadows. Every human on this planet, including the woman you love, will kneel before Zod!
** Flipped in Season 9, when Major Zod commands his troops to "Kneel before Kal-El".
* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: [[UpToEleven Brought up to ridiculous levels.]] The meteor shower in Smallville made it so Kryptonite can show up anywhere and with anyone.
* KungFuSonicBoom: Whenever Kryptonians battle.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:L]]
* LaserGuidedAmnesia:
** All the time in the early seasons, it is a convenient cop-out whenever ''anyone'' discovers Clark's powers they get hit by this, if not [[KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade outright dying]]. It doesn't matter how you found out, what you saw, or what he did under the influence of this week's {{phlebotinum}}. Your memory ''will be wiped'', often without explanation. In later seasons, nearly every important cast member but Lex is in the know, so there's less need for this. The superhero cameos learn quickly, but keep the secret since they're on the same side.
** In [[Recap/SmallvilleS01E01Pilot the very first episode]], Jeremy forgets everything after [[PsychoElectro electrocuting]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard himself]].
** Lana, Jonathan, and Pete forget everything after they are cured of the Nicodemus flower's toxin.
** Chloe forget all about Clark's secret after the parasite inside her is removed.]]
** Judging by what happened to Lois's memory after her LovePotion wore off, the writers seem to think that all drugs erase your memory.
** We've lost count of the number of times a bump on the head has wiped Lana's memory of seeing some super-heroics.
** However, one notable subversion to all this is Javier Ramirez in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E09Subterranean Subterranean]]", who does find out and does not get amnesia by the end of the episode.
** In a rare example of plot-central, rather than "convenient", amnesia, Season 3 has Lex undergo a mind-wipe disguised as electroshock therapy for his supposed schizophrenia.
** Lois and Sheriff Adams see Clark use his powers in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E19Blank Blank]]". Luckily, the [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual metahuman]] he just met can erase the last few moments of someone's memory and he owes Clark a favor.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E15Freak Freak]]", Daniel and later Chloe has their memory of Lex's secret lab wiped after being experimented on. After the viewers see the trauma Chloe goes through as Lex's lab rat, it's possibly [[IgnoranceIsBliss best for her to forget]].
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall:
** At the end of the two-part pilot, Jonathan asks Clark if he'll be okay. Clark asks him to get back to him in about five years. The line makes no sense (a high-school-aged teenager would be thinking in four-year increments if anything) except as a reference to the amount of time needed to complete the 100-episode minimum necessary for effective second-run syndication. This is confirmed in the DVD commentary, in which the producers joke that it would have been too obvious to have Clark say "Ask me again in a hundred episodes."
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E21Tempest Tempest]]", Remy Zero appears as themselves and plays "Save Me" for the high school dance. Clark and his friends comment, "These guys are awesome."
** [[Recap/SmallvilleS08E11Legion Legion]]" did this a lot. For example, surprised at Clark not being Superman, Lightning Lad expresses dislike at the "No tights, no flights!", and they mention that they've never heard of [[CanonImmigrant Chloe]]. Possibly also a MythologyGag in reference to the Legion visiting Comicbook/PostCrisis Superman for the first time and being surprised at how he was not the Superman they were expecting. That story was a pivotal attempt at explaining how the Legion could remain non-retconned after the retconning of Superman removed his Superboy adventures. It didn't work.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E05Thirst Thirst]]", Clark tells Professor Milton Fine, who is played by Creator/JamesMarsters (who also played the vampire Spike on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'') about the vampires, to which Fine replies "Clark, there's no such thing as vampires". The name of the chief vampire in the episode is Buffy Saunders.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E15Fortune Fortune]]", during Clark and Lois' engagement party, Oliver Queen makes the toast: "They've finally realised what the rest of us have known for a very long time."
* LetsSplitUpGang: Clark and Kara in the S&M club in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E03Supergirl Supergirl]]".
* LetsYouAndHimFight: How the first meeting between Clark and another superhero usually goes.
* LightningCanDoAnything:
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E12Leech Leech]]", "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E09Asylum Asylum]]" and "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E07Wrath Wrath]]", GreenRocks and lightning team up for PowersAsPrograms.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E16Crisis Crisis]]": Lightning, GreenRocks and a telephone line lets you ''call back in time''.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E14Tomb Tomb]]". Substitute the telephone line for a dead body hidden in the Talon bathroom wall, [[OurGhostsAreDifferent and poof, instant ghost]].
* LikeParentLikeSpouse: Isn't it a little peculiar how much Lex's mother looked a lot like, and sounded a lot like, Lana?
* LimbSensationFascination: One episode has Lionel and Clark switch bodies; Lionel then admires his new body in a mirror.
* LimitedWardrobe: A side-effect of ColourCodedForYourConvenience -- Clark's blue shirt and red jacket combo. Every time he wears something else, he's probably at work, it's a special occasion, or he is evil/"dead".
** [[LampshadeHanging It got to the point]] where, in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E07Identity Identity]]", Jimmy caught the red/blue blur on his camera and came to the conclusion that it was Clark going around saving people, just based on the colors. The episode also included a scene where Clark gets all his clothes out to sort the red and blue ones from the rest and dispose of them, only to discover that they are all red and blue.
** By Season 9, Clark doesn't wear any red and blue on his uniform, though sometimes in his everyday clothes.
** Perhaps made fun of in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS09E13Warrior Warrior]]", where Clark goes to the ''Smallville'' universe's version of Comic-Con. We see somebody wearing what looks like Clark's red and blue. This would mark the first time Clark has worn red and blue since "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E22Doomsday Doomsday]]" (the Season Eight finale, which was over eleven episodes ago)... if it weren't for the fact we see Clark bump into the guy wearing what looks like his old outfit, and is wearing his ''Daily Planet'' suit.
** Clark was in a major funk after the episode "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E22Doomsday Doomsday]]", feeling responsible for the death of Henry Olsen and regretting his humanity, so he took on an all-black motif until early in season 10 where he is wearing at least maroon and blue.
* LiteralChangeOfHeart:
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E04Cure Cure]]", Knox tries to do this to Chloe.
** Darkseid takes Lionel's heart out and plants it in the Lex clone's body.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
** In addition to the main cast, you have other Creator/{{DC|Comics}} characters, {{Canon Foreigner}}s who have important roles, [[Characters/SmallvilleMeteorFreaks Freaks of the Week]], [[Characters/SmallvillePhantomZone Phantom Zone escapees]], and dozens of high school students, Smallville citizens and Daily Planet staff members. Since it lasted 10 years, that's a pretty big cast. According to the [[TheWikiRule Smallville wiki]], throughout the series there are 18 main characters, 170 recurring characters and 341 minor characters, with a total of a staggering '''529''' characters.
* LonersAreFreaks:
** Most loners turn out to become [[Characters/SmallvilleMeteorFreaks Freaks of the Week]], though a fair number of popular kids in that show turned out to be evil too.
** Subverted in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E11Hug Hug]]", with Lana and Whitney automatically assuming that the local hermit is responsible for Lana falling off her horse simply because he happened to be around at the time (Lana so strongly believes in his guilt that she turns on Clark when he isn't prepared to judge as quickly). As it turns out, it really was just an accident and the episode's true villain is a FauxAffablyEvil CorruptCorporateExecutive who prides himself on (pretending to) being everyone's buddy.
* {{Long Runner|s}}: After running for ten years, ''Smallville'' beat ''Series/StargateSG1'' as the longest running American Sci-Fi show[[note]] It surpassed it on May 6, 2011, and the series GrandFinale aired a week later on the 13th[[/note]] . The difference in length is only ''three'' episodes, however, and the ''SG-1'' movies ''[[Film/StargateContinuum Continuum]]'' and ''Film/TheArkOfTruth'' put it over the top if counted.
* LossOfInhibitions:
** This is the effect of Red Kryptonite on humans and Kryptonians. It is especially bad when it happens to Clark is his powers combined with a lack of inhibitions make him very, very dangerous.
** The episode "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E15Nicodemus Nicodemus]]" has a scientist use Green Kryptonite to resurrect a toxic flower which has been extinct for 100 years. If someone is sprayed by the flower's toxic mist, they lose all of their inhibitions. Jonathan, Lana and Pete are all infected with the flower's toxins and begin to act dangerously OutOfCharacter; Lana becomes more outgoing to the point of suicidal recklessness, Pete reveals his feelings for Chloe and tries to kill Lex and Jonathan tries to kill an employee at the bank who turned him down for a loan.
* LoveAtFirstSight: In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E03Fierce Fierce]]", Kara has an immediate crush on Jimmy Olsen that triggers her heat vision, which is caused by sexual thoughts.
* LovePotion: "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E04Devoted Devoted]]" has a slight twist on the usual formula, as anyone who already has a true love grows even more devoted to the person they're infatuated with.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:M]]
* {{MacGuffin}}: The show loved this trope. Almost every season features at least one object--often of Kryptonian origin--that various characters would be jockeying for control of, due to the perception that it would either grant them power or help them solve some mystery. Season 4's plot was especially centered around this trope, as Lex, Lionel, Genevieve Teague, Jason Teague, Lana, Lana's undead witch ancestor Countess Margaret Isobel Thoreaux, Dr. Swann's foundation, and even a rogue unit of Chinese soldiers all start plotting and feuding with each other and tripping all over themselves to track down the Stones of Power, which combine to form the Fortress of Solitude. Clark is [[{{RefusedTheCall}} reluctant]] to jump into the middle of this, as [[{{IJustWantToBeNormal}} his life now has some semblance of normalcy]] for once, but [[{{ResignedToTheCall}} circumstances and Jor-El essentially force him to hunt down the Stones himself]], because--in Jor-El's words--if any of these factions unite the Stones before he does, they could very well be overwhelmed by the temptation to misuse the Fortress's power. Jor-El fears that this would lead to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.
* MadeOfIron
** Every single character who does have NighInvulnerability powers suffers from this, easily recovering from beatings, gunshot wounds, and [[HardHead blows to the head]].
** Jason Teague in Season 4 might be the best example He's shot by Lionel and [[DisneyDeath falls off of a cliff and into a waterfall]]. [[NotQuiteDead He somehow recovers enough to arrive at the Kent farmhouse, take them hostage, and then doesn't go down until he's been hit by a meteor.]]
** Chloe Sullivan once took a SuperStrength punch from Clark directly to the face.
** Lana was once beaten up by ''Zod'' and is up and about in no time.
** Lois once had her and her car thrown high into the sky then crash down courtesy of a {{Yandere}} Maxima. She barely had a scratch on her.
** Yes, he spent a few weeks in the hospital, but ComicBook/JimmyOlsen still looks pretty good for someone who has been mauled in the chest by freaking '''Doomsday'''.
** Chloe was once knocked down and [[SoftGlass showered by shattered glass, which doesn't leave a single scratch on her]]. The odd thing is, Oliver is covered in small cuts in the same scene.
** A special mention also goes to Tess, who was voluntarily killed by a defibrillator and then brought back to life with atropine. She wakes up, sits up, looks weak for about five seconds, and then walks out of the room as if she wasn't dead ten seconds earlier.
** Slade is probably the very worse case. He took a couple of hits from Hawkman's mace and somehow survives not one, but ''two'' huge explosions. The first one took one eye. The second one doesn't seem to even scratch him. Lampshaded on the second occasion - a possible explanation might be that he is under the influence of {{ComicBook/Darkseid}}.
* MagicFromTechnology: Kryptonian technology was mistaken for magic on medieval Earth, and can boost Countess Isobel's real magic somehow.
* MagicMeteor: Superman himself may not count, but the MonsterOfTheWeek was often a "meteor freak", i.e. got their power from exposure to Kryptonite. This powers didn't have anything to do with regular Kryptonian powers either.
* MagicalComputer: Much to the heroes' delight, Chloe is a hacking pro.
* MagicalDefibrillator: In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E16Fever Fever]]", doctors defibrillate a flatlined patient.
* MakeWayForThePrincess:
** Invoked in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E08Spell Spell]]". Apparently this trope goes back to [[OlderThanSteam Margaret Isobel Thoreaux's time.]]
** We get the more traditional version in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E18Spirit Spirit]]". Yeah, you heard me, a ValleyGirl in ''Kansas''.
* MalfunctionMalady: How Clark discovers his super-breath. And superhearing too, if you think about it.
* ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex: Clark has the typical problem with his relationship with Lana, to the point he actually complains to poor Chloe about his sex life at one point. When Chloe wonders what the big deal is since they can shake hands and hug without Clark pulverizing her. Clark explains, rather embarrassed, that it always takes him some time to adjust his "abilities" to new circumstances. [[BrainBleach Chloe decides to cruise right past that mental image.]] The problem is eventually resolved when Clark is {{DePower}}ed and they have TheirFirstTime, but when his powers return, he's back at CantHaveSexEver. They only have sex again in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E07Wrath Wrath]]" and "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E14Requiem Requiem]]" due to Lana gaining similar powers to his and their sex ends up being a DestructoNookie both times. Later, when he's in a relationship with Lois, he gained enough control over his abilities that the problem no longer exists. He outright states that his training at the Fortress of Solitude included learning exactly that sort of control.
* MarkedChange: Clark is branded by Jor-El, Lana getting her ancestor's witch-mark on her back.
* TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife: Many problems befalling Clark's love life stems from Clark's refusal to tell anybody about his powers, though Clark's fear is quite justified considering that superpowered individuals and their loved ones tend to get targeted by government conspiracies and mad scientists.
* MassSuperEmpoweringEvent: The [[GreenRocks Kryptonite]] meteor shower in which Clark first arrived to Earth and at the same time giving many of the locals odd powers and/or [[PsychoSerum altering their personality sometimes]] and causing them to become the MonsterOfTheWeek. There are a few humans empowered by Kryptonian technology, and it's vaguely implied that there's some Kryptonian ancestry among humanity. Chloe says the meteor shower was what turned Smallville into a WeirdnessMagnet town.
-->'''Chloe:''' I call it 'The Wall of Weird.' It's every strange, bizarre, and unexplained event that's happened in Smallville since the meteor shower. That's when it all began—when the town went schizo.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E17Void Void]]" is about a serum that brings a person near death, giving them visions of their loved ones that have passed on. Which could merely be drug-induced hallucination and nothing more, but then the "vision" of Jonathan Kent tells Clark something that ''Jonathan didn't live to tell anyone''.
* MindManipulation: Several Meteor Freaks have this power, or [[MoreThanMindControl something similar]].
* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E19Blank Blank]]" starts off with the [[MonsterOfTheWeek freak of the week]] using his LaserGuidedAmnesia powers to steal money. Then Clark is wiped, and the boy's powers are revealed to be the result of a botched procedure to alter his memories after his brother was killed by a shot from his own gun. Which later turns out to be implanted memories by his father, ''who created the procedure at Summerholt''. At least there's some positive fallout, as the law finally clamps down on Summerholt in the end.
* AMinorKidroduction: The first episode's prologue is this to [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Clark Kent]] and Comicbook/LexLuthor.
* ModestyBedsheet: Sheets are extremely prevalent whenever characters sleep together.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E01Crusade Crusade]]" has two {{Fanservice}}-heavy examples with both [[MrFanservice Clark]] and [[MsFanservice Lana]].
*** Lois finds Clark [[NakedFirstImpression naked and brainwashed on a cornfield]] and decides to take him to a hospital, but first gives Clark a red blanket for him to cover himself with. Not really [[InnocentFanserviceGuy understanding modesty in this state of mind]] he drops the sheet soon after they get to the hospital, to the annoyance of an orderly and the [[EatingTheEyeCandy joy of a nurse.]]
*** After touching Countess Isobel's tomb, Lana ends up losing consciousness and the next time she awakens [[UndressingTheUnconscious she's nude back in her bed]] with a sheet draped over, seemingly strategically placed to show as most skin as possible but still keeping the essential bits covered. When Jason starts knocking on the door she wraps the sheet around herself before getting up to answer the door.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E09Bound Bound]]" begins with Lex seducing a woman during an event. They end up in bed soon after, but all the action is hidden by the bedsheet. When he wakes up the morning after, he [[TheMurderAfter finds her dead body next to him]] both of them still covered by a bloodied bedsheet.
** Clark and Lana both share a modesty duvet the morning after they had TheirFirstTime in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E03Hidden Hidden]]". We see Clark [[RightThroughHisPants was wearing boxer shorts]] when he gets out of bed.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E01Bizarro Bizarro]]", when Chloe comes BackFromTheDead thanks to her [[HealingFactor healing powers]] she [[WakingUpAtTheMorgue wakes up at a morgue]] with a bedsheet covering her.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E10Persona Persona]]"'s intro has Lana and Bizarro (who's [[BedTrick pretending to be Clark to be with Lana]]).
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E05Committed Committed]]", Oliver is seen with a sheet up to his waist in bed after his night with Tess, who's already dressed up in a robe.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E14Requiem Requiem]]", Clark and Lana's super-powered lovemaking [[DestructoNookie breaks the bed]] but they're still both covered by the bedsheet. When Lana gets out of bed, she uses her new SuperSpeed powers to get dressed in an instant.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E21Injustice Injustice]]", Tess finds Oliver in her bedroom [[ReadyForLovemaking waiting for her naked under the bedsheets]]. But she rejects him and tells him to [[PleasePutSomeClothesOn put his pants back on]] and leave.
** During season 9 Lois starts DreamingOfThingsToCome of a BadFuture, which includes scenes of her and Clark having sex, but still covered with bedsheets even in her dream. When they do end up sleeping together, we see Lois getting up and dragging the sheet along with her as she walks to the balcony. Clark hugs her from behind soon, wearing pants put still {{shirtless|scene}} as they watch the sunset together.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS09E16Escape Escape]]", Tess and Zod [[UnholyMatrimony sexually charged "partnership"]] finally ends with them in bed, where we see them after the act under a red satin bedsheet.
** When Tess is BackFromTheDead in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E01Lazarus Lazarus]]", she awakens at Cadmus Labs with nothing but a hospital sheet covering, which she quickly replaces with a lab coat.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E10Luthor Luthor]]", when Clark Kent wakes up in another reality in the body of his Earth-2 counterpart he finds himself in a BedFullOfWomen with everyone covered up by a bedsheet.
** Oliver and Chloe are under a blanket after they have sex in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E13Beacon Beacon]]".
* MomentKiller
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E10Shimmer Shimmer]]", Lionel drops in on Lex as the latter's in the middle of making out with Victoria.
** Done to an extreme in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E21Tempest Tempest]]": after building up for several episodes, Chloe and Clark is about to kiss at the dance before being interrupted by a tornado warning.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E09Bound Bound]]", a mother and her kids appear when Chloe and Clark are, er, alone in the elevator.
--->'''Chloe:''' [[BlatantLies Nothing was happening! We weren't doing anything!]]
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E10Bride Bride]]": Clark and Lois are about to kiss for the first time, "officially", when there is a shout of "Oh my god!" and Clark's ex, Lana Lang, walks in.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E04Instinct Instinct]]": Lois interrupts Clark and Maxima's [[ElevatorGoingDown wild romp in the elevator]], which actually manages to break off Clark from the lust daze [[LivingAphrodisiac Maxima's kiss]] put him in.
* MonsterOfTheWeek:
** The show has [[GreenRocks Meteor Freak of the Week]], mutants created by kryptonite. Season 6 also gave us the Phantom Zone escapees-of-the-week. As the series has progressed, it has much more of a StoryArc, but often keeps the Monster of the Week format.
** It also had an interesting variation starting in Season 4: ''Hero'' of the Week. Every season would have about two or three episodes where a superhero or two from the comics would guest star, run amuck, get on Clark's bad side, then ultimately they'd make their peace and help each other out before leaving in a manner that some could interpret as a PoorlyDisguisedPilot.
* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Metropolis University must be the world's leading college for obtaining a MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate, because almost every single doctor appearing on the show is either evil or a WellIntentionedExtremist doing unethical experiments ForScience (or, y'know, in return for Luthor money). Even a regular medical doctor Helen Bryce turned out to be evil in Season 3.
* MoralMyopia: In Hero Chloe goes to Lex's office and yells at him about stealing her files despite the fact that she has repeatedly stole information in the past.
* {{Mordor}}: The Phantom Zone is a desolate wasteland populated by Krypton's worst criminals, many of whom are Phantoms, seeking new bodies. Nothing grows, the wind always blows at gale force, and the terrain is treacherous. It actually gets worse in Season 10, when General Zod seizes control of it in the name of ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} and carves out a hollow empire from it ruins, forces many of the residents into his army, and institutes a brutal series of gladiatorial games that prune out those who nature and their fellow criminals have missed.
* MotiveDecay:
** Jason Teague. He goes from refusing to help his mother after learning she may be manipulating him and Lana, to being a fully clued-in accomplice to her plan and treated as though he always was. It smacks of rushing him out of the show.
** Similarly, Davis Bloome's transition from good-hearted paramedic to completely-unstable killer that murders Jimmy when he realizes Chloe doesn't love him reeks of contrivance, simply to make Clark leave at the end of Season 8 because HumansAreTheRealMonsters. Many people were upset, including Sam Witwer.
* MrFanservice: Several of the male characters are quite attractive and have a few {{fanservice}} scenes, even many of the SpecialGuest or MonsterOfTheWeek characters. The most notable recurring examples are:
** Clark (Creator/TomWelling) is a [[{{Hunk}} handsome man with an impressive built]] and has a fair amount of {{shirtless scene}}s and plenty of FemaleGaze on him throughout all 10 seasons. In the very first episode, Clark is stripped to his underwear, tied to a symbolic cross, painted with a giant S on his chest, and left to hang there, sweating and helpless due to the Kryptonite around his neck, which even became the [[FanserviceCover image on the First Season box cover]].
** Oliver Queen (Creator/JustinHartley) is a handsome [[TheCasanova womanizer]] who gets plenty of {{fanservice}} scenes, is often {{shirtless|scene}} and gets quite a few WorkoutFanservice moments.
* MsFanservice: Just like MrFanservice, several of the female characters apply, including many SpecialGuest or MonsterOfTheWeek. The most notable recurring examples are:
** Lana (Creator/KristinKreuk) is a HeadTurningBeauty that has most of the cast attracted to her, and the story doesn't shy away from showing off her body, including not one but two instances of SkinnyDipping with Clark. This became played up even more after season's 4 when she started to get gratuitous {{Shower Scene}}s and is shown [[SleepsInTheNude sleeping naked]].
** Smallville's Lois Lane (Creator/EricaDurance) is one of the most sexed-up versions of the character, with the story constantly having her in {{fanservice}}y situations that show off [[ShesGotLegs her shapely legs]], [[BuxomIsBetter buxom figure]] and [[BareYourMidriff toned abs]]. She also wore an impressive collection of SexyWhateverOutfit and FanserviceCostumes throughout her time in the show. [[http://doena-journal.net/en/577/lois-lanes-costumes Case in point]].
** Kara Zor-El's (Creator/LauraVandervoort) casual attire [[BareYourMidriff shows her midriff]] and [[ShesGotLegs legs]] and even ends up winning a BeautyContest.
** Tess Mercer (Creator/CassidyFreeman) is an extremely attractive woman and [[ProudBeauty she knows it]]. Her outfit diverges from [[WomanOfWealthAndTaste elegant clothing]] to practical [[FormFittingWardrobe skin-tight outfits]], as she has a lot of scenes with her [[WorkoutFanservice practicing or working out]] to show off her physical prowess and athletic figure.
* MundaneUtility: Clark has been known to use his powers for several mundane tasks such as using [[EyeBeams heat vision]] to make toast, popcorn, heat drinks and light candles; using his SuperSpeed to clean up or run to school whenever he misses the bus, in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E09Lexmas Lexmas]]", Chloe recruited him Clark for an to deliver Christmas presents to thousands of children in Metropolis; he uses SuperStrength to drive nails with his bare hands, plant fence posts, and lift cars and tractors instead of using a jack; even using his XRayVision to locate the fish in a fishing trip with his father. During one of Clark's more JerkAss moments, he actually accused Jonathan and Martha of exploiting his abilities to keep the farm running more cheaply and efficiently than hiring extra hands or buying new farm equipment. JerkAssHasAPoint is [[ZigZaggingTrope Ziz-Zagged]], as the chores his parents give are typical farm labor, and could be done perfectly well with the tools on hand, Clark's abilities just let him do them faster and more efficiently.
* TheMultiverse: As of 2019, Smallville was retroactively added to the [[Series/{{Arrowverse}} Arrowverse]] as Earth-167, and this version of Clark Kent and Lois Lane appeared in the CrisisCrossover ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019''.
* MythologyGag: The show has ''countless'' references to the comic book continuity and Superman mythos.
** Clark considering naming his dog Krypto. Another possible name is Skip. In the Silver Age Superboy comics, Krypto goes by the name "Skipper" as an ordinary Earth dog.
** Creator/AnnetteOToole cast as Martha Kent after playing ComicBook/LanaLang in [[Film/{{Superman}} the movie series]]; Creator/ChristopherReeve, Creator/HelenSlater, and Creator/MargotKidder guest spots. Creator/TerenceStamp voicing Jor-El.
** Music/JohnWilliams theme [[MusicalNod played during the final scene]] of the GrandFinale. In fact, both Williams' Superman and Fortress themes were used in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E17Rosetta Rosetta]]".
** Creator/DeanCain of ''Series/LoisAndClark'' has made a guest appearance, and Creator/TeriHatcher appeared as Lois' mom in Season 10.
** ''Series/WonderWoman'''s Creator/LyndaCarter showing up as Chloe's mom.
** Several references are made to [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham City]].
*** Carter Bickson from the Deletion Force mentioned that there was a Level Three facility in Gotham City. ("Chronicle")
*** Oliver Queen's friend Geoffrey says he has to return to Gotham right before he gets in his limo. It then explodes. ("[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E05Reunion Reunion]]")
*** Linda Lake taunts Chloe by saying she can see Gotham from her new office. ("[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E10Hydro Hydro]]")
** Bart Allen, the Smallville-verse Franchise/TheFlash, has fake [=IDs=] in the names of all the other [[Franchise/TheDCU DC Universe]] Flashes (Wally West, Barry Allen and Jay Garrick) in his first appearance. Now flash forward to The JSA in Season 9 and Jay Garrick...
** In the final season Chloe mentioned a "[[Franchise/WonderWoman wondrous woman]]" and "[[Franchise/{{Batman}} a billionaire with lots of neat toys]]".
** The Season 3 ep "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E16Crisis Crisis]]", which actually references a teen crisis hotline, while nodding at how Creator/DCComics really likes the word 'ComicBook/{{crisis|OnInfiniteEarths}}'.
** A Brainiac-infected Chloe is a lot like the Brainiac-13-infected Lena Luthor and [[ComicBook/KingdomCome Brainiac's Daughter]].
[[/folder]]
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!!!''Series/{{Smallville}}'' provides examples of the following tropes:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:H]]
* HappilyAdopted: Clark has boatloads of angst over his Kryptonian heritage, but he loves his parents and considers them his real family. He even explicitly says in "Rosetta" that no matter what he finds out about his people, the Kents will still be his mom and dad. He has also told Jor-El that Jonathan is his real father and never calls Jor-El "father". Except in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E09Abyss Abyss]]".
* HappilyEverAfter: [[spoiler: ''Crisis On Infinite Earths'' revealed that Clark and Lois settled down on the Kent farm, Clark depowered himself permanently, and the two have two daughters]].
* HappilyMarried:
** The Kents, naturally, before Jonathan dies. They argue a few times, usually over Clark's most recent alien/superhero issues, but ultimately always support each other and him and work through their issues by talking them out.
** General Zod and his wife Faora do genuinely love each other. Ironically things go very badly for clone Zod and clone Faora.
** Arthur gets married to Mera offscreen in season 10 and both are extremely dedicated to each other and their commitment to justice, with him and Mera working well as a BattleCouple.
** Clark is married to Lois in the GrandFinale. According to the flash-forward sequence set in 2018, Clark and Lois are happily married, although they chose not to display any rings at the Planet office due to their desire to keep their professional lives separate from their personal lives. By 2019, both have left the city life to live in the Kent farm with their two daughters.
* HardHead: ''Smallville'' is the ''king'' of this trope. Lex and Lana have each been knocked out almost ''50 times''.
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Despite numerous allusions to his famous alter ego, we never see Clark in full Superman regalia. Even in "Finale", we only see Clark in the Superman suit in ''extreme'' long shots (where he's probably a CGI double), or ''extreme'' closeups where it's just his face with some blue and red barely visible at the shoulders. Even the final shot ends with Clark just ripping open his shirt to show the S emblem underneath. Tom Welling wearing an actual Superman costume is never shown at any point in the entire series.
* HealingFactor: The Kryptonians, Curtis Knox and Lex possess it. Certain drugs can temporarily give anyone this power, [[PsychoSerum with side effects]]. For a while, Chloe had not only the power to heal herself but to heal others, even resurrect them. She saved Lois' life once. She later lost that power because of Brainiac.
* HeelFaceDoorSlam: Lex Luther has actually attempted to perform a HeelFaceTurn numerous times throughout the series but has always been trusted back into the world of villainy. Usually through the actions of the heroes though mainly Lana.
* HeelFaceTurn:
** Lionel, who eventually becomes a [[ParentalSubstitute father figure]] for Clark. It was mostly a case of Clark redeeming him. While Lionel still had ulterior motives, for the most part by Season 7, he was genuinely concerned with making sure the world didn't end as a result of Lex's various insane quests, and Clark was naturally the best means to accomplish this.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E04Homecoming Homecoming]]", both Brainiac (5) and Greg Arkin (the villain of the second episode of the series who returned to his high school reunion to thank Clark for helping him overcome his madness)..
** Tess does one in the finale of Season 9, eventually joining the team in Season 10.
* HeroicSacrifice: Thanks to Jor-El, Clark is able to do this several times. It's practically one of his powers in the series.
* HesAFriend: Clark tries to do this between his cousin Kara and ComicBook/MartianManhunter. It didn't end well.
* HomeBase: The Watchtower, a loft apartment in Metropolis that resembles a ClockTower is used as the headquarters for Oliver, Chloe and the Justice League.
* HomeEarlySurprise: Clark's parents go to Metropolis for an evening, so he invites a few people over. This becomes a full WildTeenParty compete with trashed house. The next morning Clark uses his SuperSpeed to clean up, figuring on his parents being none the wiser when they get home - but when he gets done he turns around to see them in the door, [[SarcasticClapping applauding]] his finish.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Clark is a tall strapping guy and most of the women in his life are fairly petite but of course Clark and Chloe are the exemplars.
* HumanAliens: The Kryptonian Clark looks just as a regular human would, as do all Kryptonians. In fact, ''all'' of the aliens shown either look human, are [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifters]] posing as human, or disembodied beings [[BodySurf possessing human bodies]].
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: A few episodes like "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E12Insurgence Insurgence]]", "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E13Suspect Suspect]]" and "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E19Precipice Precipice]]" are completely meteor-freak-less and have [[{{Mundanger}} regular people]] as the MonsterOfTheWeek. Also, "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E14Tomb Tomb]]" has a girl raised from the dead by a meteor rock bracelet ([[LightningCanDoAnything and a bolt of lightning]]) to go after an AxCrazy but otherwise ''human'' psych ward orderly. Who, y'know, ''put her there in the first place''.
* HotterAndSexier: The show has a cast full of HeadTurningBeauty for both genders and often puts them in {{Fanservice}} outfits and situations, far more than the UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} ''ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'' comics it was loosely inspired by or ven the usual ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' show.
* HurricaneOfPuns: Often happens in discussions of the freak of the week.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Pretty much everybody from [[TheHero Clark]] and [[LoveInterests Lana]] to [[BigBad Lionel Luthor]].
** The worst example, however, has to be Lex, who constantly bitches about Clark keeping his secret from him, while simultaneously keeping an army of skeletons (all of them far, far darker than Clark's) in his own closet.
** Lana complains constantly about Clark and Lex hiding things from her, but the minute she has a secret (the black spaceship, the fact that Lex is still alive, etc.), she goes out of her way to hide it from Clark. Which also makes her TooDumbToLive, since in those situations Clark is probably the ''first'' person she should be talking to, as he actually has a proven track record of saving her from these situations.
** Clark is perhaps the biggest example: he expects everyone else to be completely honest with him about everything, but builds his relationships around lies and deceit, insisting on keeping his "secret" even among his closest friends. That's probably why he's so touchy about lies; he knows people keep secrets and that somebody can be deceiving you even when it doesn't seem like it--he does so himself. Lampshaded in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E14Zero Zero]]" where he chews out Chloe for snooping around in his past, then ''immediately'' invites her to join him in snooping into Lex's. Chloe does a double-take.
** He admits that his reactions to things are what keep people from telling him things in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E10Luthor Luthor]]". He starts the episode off by telling ([[DramaticIrony secret]]) Luthor Tess that all Luthors are dangerous and evil. He then is furious and offended when he finds out that she hid Lex's clone from him. He then disappears [[AlternateUniverse into the plot]] before Tess can admit to her heritage, so we don't know how he would've taken that. At the end of the episode, however, he's realized that blaming the entire Luthor bloodline for Lionel's influence is the exact reason why Tess didn't tell him the truth, so he stops being a jerk about it.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E05Nocturne Nocturne]]", he peevishly comments that Lana's [[ObsessiveLoveLetter Secret Admirer]] sounds like a stalker. This, from Mr. Peeping Telescope.
** Clark gets a lot of heat in the start of season 3, [[NotHimself acting like a totally different person]] under the influence of [[GRatedDrug red kryptonite]]. The thing is, ''the same thing happened'' to Chloe in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E04Devoted Devoted]]", Lana in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E08Spell Spell]]" and Lex in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E17Onyx Onyx]]" later in season 4. Either Clark can't bring himself to call them out on it, or it never occurred to him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:I]]
* IAmNotMyFather:
** Lionel is introduced as a proto-Lex Luthor and Lex becomes closer, and closer to what Lionel is as the story advances, much to his horror. In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E19Memoria Memoria]]", Clark even warns Lex about it.
-->'''Clark:''' You always tell me how you don't want to turn into your father, and I believe that, but the more you two go at each other, the more like him you become and the more people get hurt.\\
'''Lex:''' I will never become my father. I would never sacrifice you or anybody I cared about to bring him down.
** When Tess finds out that her father is Lionel, it [[InTheBlood explains a lot]] about her ManipulativeBastard tendencies as well as her HeelFaceRevolvingDoor. However, she's determined to prove that she's nothing like a Luthor. When his AlternateUniverse version asks her why she doesn't just have him killed (which is something he'd do), she says that that's not who she is.
* ICanExplain
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E14Zero Zero]]" Lex attempts to convince a female friend that she deserves better and got her to a nightclub, where she found the man she is engaged with when he is supposed to be on a business trip. The guy says the line repeatedly but it's quite clear he's just a cheating JerkAss.
** When Chloe and Clark are both [[NotHimself not themselves]], they do some intense making out right under Lana's nose. When Chloe strips Clark, the red kryptonite is removed and he is back to normal. He says this to Lana who slams the door in his face after NotWhatItLooksLike. He can't explain anyway as he must save Chloe before she get herself killed as some parasite makes her dangerously impulsive, and Clark can't tell Lana about the red kryptonite anyway.
** Lana once says this when Lex finds out she stole his car. There is absolutely nothing she could explain, really.
** Jimmy says this when Chloe, who is at the time his girlfriend, walked in on [[Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] and him alone but not doing anything suspicious.
** Clark would often tell this to Lois in later seasons, when [[TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife he often had to ditch her for heroics]] but couldn't quite explain it, such as in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E15Infamous Infamous]]" when he left her in the rain for three hours and in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS09E04Echo Echo]]" when he didn't show up for a date.
* ICantDance: Clark is a terrible dancer, which is a RunningGag on the show and especially noticeably in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E08Spell Spell]]" when he's forced to dance due to a spell being cast.
* ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe: In early seasons, Clark was usually baffled whenever a girl expressed interest in him, especially Lana, because his self-esteem was so low that he was oblivious to the fact that even without superpowers, he's still [[{{Hunk}} very attractive and buff]].
* ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin: The early seasons treated several of the "[[MonsterOfTheWeek Freak of the week]]" as a metaphor for drug addiction. [[GRatedDrug Red Kryptonite]] that makes Clark NotHimself was given a similar treatment.
* IgnoreTheFanservice:
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E15Nicodemus Nicodemus]]": Lana tries to seduce Clark and Lex with little success. {{Justified|Trope}} as she's under the influence of the [[LoveIsInTheAir Nicodemus plant]] that makes her NotHimself and they're both AboveTheInfluence.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E02Heat Heat]]": When Jonathan goes to talk to [[HotTeacher Desirée]] attempts to seduce Jonathan when they meet in the Luthor Mansion's swimming pool, but he's unimpressed. But while he's able to resist her beauty and charms, he has no defense against her LivingAphrodisiac powers and succumbs when she uses them.
** {{Averted|Trope}} in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E01Crusade Crusade]]". Lois [[NakedFirstImpression first meets the amnesiac Clark]] when he's NakedOnRevival and [[InnocentFanserviceGuy no longer understand the concept of nudity taboo]]. She attempts to ignore it and tells herself to [[MyEyesAreUpHere keep her eyes on his face]] but fails and lets her eyes wander... ''lower'' for [[EatingTheEyeCandy a significant time]].
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E05Action Action]]", when Clark finds Rachel having a massage in his living room, he is very uncomfortable and makes a point to keep his eyes averted while she puts a robe on.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS09E14Persuasion Persuasion]]": When Tess [[SexySurfacingShot climbs out of the bathtub]] in front of Zod', his eyes never leave her face.
* IJustWantToBeBadass: This is the show's interpretation of the [[HeroicWannabe Wonder Twins]] and [[IdiotHero Booster Gold]].
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Clark, especially in the early seasonsIn the early seasons, just wished to be a normal guy with no superpowers and secrets. In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E17Hex Hex]]", when ComicBook/{{Zatanna}} granted his deepest wish he lost his powers and his memory of them (Chloe was able to snap him out of it). In Season 9, it's even less likely he wants to be normal, as he has accepted his destiny to help humanity with his powers. This could be considered as part of the character growth as a virtual human raised by humans who is on the cusp of fully accepting who and what he is and thus becoming Superman. Even the "incident" with Zatanna is treated less like Clark wanting to give up his abilities completely, and more like just wanting to take a vacation in the land of the ordinary human for a day or two.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial:
** Pete Ross is shown to have a desire for superpowers, mostly to get out of Clark's shadow. Whenever he does get powers, something goes wrong.
** This is one of Lex's main motivations. After being put through traumas that include [[PrematurelyBald losing his hair as a child]], being [[BullyMagnet bullied at school]], TakingTheHeat for his mother murdering his infant brother, having his mother pass away from cancer while he was away and dealing with his [[AbusiveParents emotionally abusive father]], Lex desperately needed to believe that it was all for a higher purpose as the alternative (That it was all for nothing) is far too horrible to contemplate. This goes to explain his resentment of Clark who constantly rejects his amazing power and doesn't want to fulfill the destiny Lex believes he is entitled to.
* IJustWantToBeYou
** Tina Greer is a [[VoluntaryShapeShifting meteor freak shapeshifter]] who grew up envying Lana's seemingly perfect life. When we meet her, she has already styled her hair to resemble Lana's and dresses in clothes that are basically the same clothes that Lana wears... even going as far as buying an emerald necklace to imitate the Kryptonite necklace Lana wears (that was made from the meteor that killed Lana's parents). After the death of her mother (which she was responsible for), Tina shapeshifts to impersonate her mother while concocting a story that her mother is moving to Metropolis, and asks Lana if she can move in with her and Aunt Nell. When Lana says that she needs to ask Aunt Nell for permission (a perfectly reasonable point), Tina freaks out and takes this as a sign of rejection... and then decides that she's going to [[KillAndReplace murder Lana and use her shapeshifting abilities to assume Lana's identity]], even going as far as practicing writing Lana's signature multiple times as preparation. When she returns in another episode her obsession with Lana [[PsychoLesbian became romantic]] and she dropped this angle.
** Bizarro started as a pure evil wraith. He was viewed as a monster by his creators and trapped in the Phantom Zone. He never knew happiness. When he was freed from the Zone [[MoralEventHorizon he possessed human bodies to survive]]. Until he got Clark's DNA, memories and powers. He tried [[KillAndReplace to replace Clark while he was trapped in the fortress]] after he genuinely falls in love with Lana.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E07Rage Rage]]", Oliver becomes addicted to a PsychoSerum that gives him a HealingFactor but turns him increasingly psychotic. After he is stopped and recovers from the addiction, he admits that he was jealous of Clark's abilities and was trying to emulate them.
* INeedToGoIronMyDog: In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E19Stiletto Stiletto]]", when Lois is operating as a superheroine. Note that this is late at night and Shelby, Clark's dog, is in Smallville, not Metropolis.
-->'''Police Scanner:''' Attention downtown units. Silent alarm at Riverside Jewelry on 5th and Water, handle code 10-38.\\
''[Clark and Lois stands up abruptly to leave]''\\
'''Clark:''' Well, I better... go feed Shelby.\\
'''Lois:''' Uh, I should hit the gym.
* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: Played straight when Jonathan Kent (Creator/JohnSchneider) is the one introducing us to Senator Jennings (Creator/TomWopat), both from ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard''.
* IllKillYou:
-->'''[[EvilTwin Clark Luthor]]:''' Give me the box.\\
'''Tess:''' And if I don't?\\
'''Clark Luthor:''' I'll kill you.
* ImColdSoCold: Subverted. Eric says something like this when he is drained of Clark's powers, but he survived.
* ImYourBiggestFan: Samantha Drake in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E10Fanatic Fanatic]]" is president of the Students for Lex Luthor group. [[BaldWomen She shaves her head]] to resemble him and goes to great lengths to get Jonathan Kent to drop out of the Senate race. She expects praise from Lex for the assault on Jonathan.
* ImStandingRightHere: In "Kara", ''[[Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]]'' insults Chloe by saying she is "[[PunyEarthling just a human]]" condescendingly when she is standing right there; Clark defends her by saying [[TheSmartGirl Chloe is smarter than both of them put together]].
* IdenticalGrandson: In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E06Relic Relic]]", Clark's father and Lana's great-aunt are portrayed by Clark and Lana's respective actors. Lana's distant ancestor Countess Isobel also looks just like her.
* IdentityImpersonator: In a variation on the usual Superman formula, "[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E10Hydro Hydro]]" sees Clark dressed up as the ComicBook/GreenArrow in order to help Oliver 'prove' to Lois that he and Green Arrow are two different people. Lois (who was dating Oliver at the time) plants a kiss on her hero -- only to realize her mistake as Oliver appears. Oliver would later repay the favour to Clark in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E07Identity Identity]]" when Jimmy Olsen put two-and-two together. However, Jimmy didn't kiss him.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: They always use {{One Word Title}}s. PlayedWith in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS09E11E12AbsoluteJustice Absolute Justice]]", the two-hour special. But then again, it ''was'' a double-length episode, but played straight when you consider that the two individual episodes "[[Recap/SmallvilleS09E11E12AbsoluteJustice Absolute Justice]]" is comprised of are named "Society" and "Legends", and thus stick to using one-word titles. It also forced them coming up with more and more elaborate synonyms for "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E04Red Red]]". Like "[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E13Crimson Crimson]]".
* IdiotBall: This also has the UnfortunateImplications to often be combined with HystericalWoman. In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E19Nemesis Nemesis]]", a military officer who is able to conduct CIA style informational espionage kidnaps Lex and rigs 5 miles of explosives because she knows her husband is alive.
* IfICantHaveYou: An astounding number of meteor freaks who pursued Lana had this as a modus operandi.
** Davis, who was apparently A-OK with burying himself alive to stop his SuperpoweredEvilSide from rampaging around the world, but only if Chloe loved him. [[MurderTheHypotenuse If not...]]
** Spoken word-for-word by Conner on red kryptonite towards Lois in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E16Scion Scion]]".
* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: Or so Lana tells Clark (regarding Lex) in Season Eight's "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E14Requiem Requiem]]".
* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Since possession and other influence causing a main character to temporarily become an opponent is very common; the phrase is often spoken but it is usually not much of a fight.
** Subverted in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E08Bloodline Bloodline]]" when Faora has possessed Lois and is attacking Clark:
--->'''Clark:''' Lois, stop!\\
'''Faora:''' Lois can't hear you.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E11Legion Legion]]", there isn't much of a fight between Clark and Chloe (possessed by Brainiac) because Brainiac knows Clark can't bring himself to hit Chloe. He even taunts Clark about it.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E18Booster Booster]]", ComicBook/BoosterGold successfully talks down Jaime Reyes when he is taken over by the ComicBook/BlueBeetle scarab, proving to Clark that he is a true hero after all.
** Played straight in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E21E22Finale Finale]]" when Oliver attacks Clark at his wedding while being controlled by ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} and Clark successfully talks him down.
* ImmuneToFate: In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E12Hereafter Hereafter]]", a boy named Jordan can foresee the death of anyone he touches but is powerless to change it. When he touches Clark he doesn't see a death, however, just Clark going on "forever". Then Clark proceeds to save someone from the death that Jordan has foreseen. This leads them to conclude that Clark has the power to change predestined events.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Many characters die this way: it seems everyone is MadeOfPlasticine and metal rods (however blunt) ''will'' punch right through you as if you were made of tissue paper.
* ImportantHaircut:
** Lionel Luthor has his head shaved at the end of "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E22Covenant Covenant]]", the season finale of the third season, while we're shown his son choking to death on poisoned wine and Chloe Sullivan being blown up. The dramatic effect was somewhat lessened the next season when it turned out that they had both miraculously survived, and one of the attempted murders hadn't even been committed by Lionel.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E13Power Power]]", Lana chops off some hair after her TrainingFromHell, to signify she has TakeALevelInBadass.
* ImprobableAimingSkills
** ComicBook/GreenArrow is an impressive shot, able to shoot a specific country on a globe or into the opening of a soda can.
** Dark Archer, Green Arrow's EvilCounterpart has similarly impressive aiming.
** Clark hardly ever misses, whether he throws a football, basketball, bowling ball, knife, can, anything. He even ''[[ShootTheBullet shoots a bullet out of the air]]'' with his heat vision. It is implied that his talent comes from his powers, as in one episode where he was BroughtDownToNormal, he found that he now sucked at basketball. Heat vision is also hard to miss when you are faster than the speeding bullet and all you need to do is look directly at your target.
** ComicBook/BlackCanary had deadly accuracy with her throwing knives.
** ComicBook/{{Deadshot}}, naturally. He once shot two officers simultaneously, with the bullets curving past either side of Chloe's face.
* InformedWrongness: In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS09E15Conspiracy Conspiracy]]", the VillainOfTheWeek Dr. Chisholm sounds like just another [[ConspiracyTheorist 'alien-conspiracy' nutcase]] killing off helpless Kandorians who just want to live peacefully among humans but whom he fears are part of an AlienInvasion. Good thing the cruel and horrific experiments the 'peaceful' Kandorians performed on him and other humans to regain their Kryptonian powers so they could TakeOverTheWorld [[OffstageVillainy occurred offscreen]] or they'd seem more like {{asshole victim}}s. Even Clark called them out on that one, saying that human beings are not their personal guinea pigs. Part of his agreement to help was because they were his people.
* InNameOnly:
** While Smallville is full of different takes on the featured comic book characters, Cat Grant is absolutely nothing like her comic book counterpart. In the comics, she started out as a promiscuous gossip columnist and later became a cougar with breast implants and low cut blouses where the TV version actually spells the word "sex" at one point because she's too uptight to say it and is actually kind of pudgy and conservatively dressed. All this to turn her into a [[StrawCharacter Straw Conservative]] where the comic book version couldn't care less about politics.
** Slade bears very little resemblance to his comic book counterpart, ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}. He's actually much closer personality-wise to [[GeneralRipper Wade Eiling]] or Marvel's [[ComicBook/XMen Senator Kelly]].
* InformedAttribute: Throughout Season 9, Zod frequently claims that Kryptonians have superior intelligence to humans, despite the fact that they juggle the IdiotBall and VillainBall nearly all series long and make a symphony of blunders and bad decisions.
* InsaneTrollLogic:
** Albeit not as strong of an example as others have been, one episode has Jimmy figuring out Clark's secret as a vigilante. The general train of logic goes something like this. Jimmy takes picture of blurred red figure (Clark saving both him and Lois from a mugger using superspeed in his typical red jacket), Smallville has people being saved from various "accidents" (past episode kinds of things), then after seeing a picture of Clark in his red jacket, thinks Clark is the vigilante. While the end conclusion is correct, the train of logic/actions taken to figure this out is wildly weird. It's reasonable to start looking in Smallville first, seeing that most of the incidents occurred over in that area. But the real head turner is how he managed to pinpoint Clark of all people as the Blur. [[SarcasmMode Because he's clearly the only person on the planet who wears a freaking red jacket.]]
** Lana’s notion in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E13Power Power]]" that she had finally become Clark's equal after gaining power through selfishness, money, lies, and near suicide.
** Pete in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E15Nicodemus Nicodemus]]". Just watch his thought process when he came to the conclusion that if he killed Lex Luthor, Chloe would like him.
* InSeriesNickname:
** Lois usually calls Clark "Smallville", but "[[EmbarrassingNickname Clarky]]" on rare occasions. Lois almost always just call Chloe "cous" (as in, "cousin") or "Chlo,"[[note]]Many FanFic writers picked this up to use as an AffectionateNickname from whoever they are pairing Chloe with[[/note]] or more rarely "Goldilocks". She once calls Jimmy "Baby Bear", and he is not happy.
** Chloe sometimes calls Lois "Lo".
** Jimmy sometimes calls Chloe "[[AffectionateNickname Brighteyes]]". And yes, she has eyes that you can't stop staring at.
** Chloe's boss at the Daily Planet used to call her "Chloster". Jimmy picked it up. She is not amused.
--->'''Chloe:''' How much blunt trauma do you think a stapler to the back of the head would cause?
** The names ComicBook/MartianManhunter and Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} starts out as Chloe's nickname for them in ''Smallville''. She is also known for calling Clark the Man of Steel.
** Oliver started the tradition of calling Clark "Boy Scout" and Bart "Impulse". Bizarrely, Brainiac sometimes also call him that, but he always refer to him as Kal-El face to face.
* InstantExpert: Lana's martial arts skills. She was trained by Lex in the early seasons and worked out much like Tess did later, including wearing boxing gloves and hitting the heavy bag. The episode we see Lana being trained by Lex has her facing a guy who'd been threatening her, and kicking him so hard he's knocked into a table and ends up unconscious. She couldn't have had more than a few days practice with Lex until that point. Basically anything Lana tries, she becomes this. Even when she gains Clark's abilities she knows how to use them instantly; it took Clark years to master his powers. This is especially jarring since Eric Summers didn't instantly master those abilities.
* InstantSedation: Has happened multiple times to almost every female regular, but the hands-down winners are Chloe, Lana, and Lois. Basically, if you're a female character who's attracted to Clark, chances are it'll happen to you. Combines naturally with DamselInDistress for maximum effect.
* InterchangeableAsianCultures: Isobel finds ''a sai'' in a Chinese temple in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E15Sacred Sacred]]".
* InterclassFriendship:
** The relationship between alien farm boy Clark Kent and human billionaire Lex Luthor actually starts with the two future arch-enemies being friends. Pretty much everybody was sceptical of the two being friends since Lex was a Luthor. Despite that, Clark did genuine consider Lex a friend and was his confidant. Sadly, the two do have a falling out thanks to all the lies and secrets being too much.
** By the time Clark and Lex's friendship was falling apart, rich boy Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow enter to be Clark's new ally. Though, it does start out rough and the two did have a falling out after Ollie killed Lex. They do make up and Ollie actually becomes Clark's best man at his wedding to Lois.
* InterspeciesRomance: Clark and any of his girlfriends, as well as Bizarro/Lana. Other Kryptonian-human relationships also apply. It helps that they are {{Human Alien|s}}.
* IntrepidReporter: The show is saturated with these. Chloe and later Lois and Clark are the most prominent examples.
* InvoluntaryShapeshifter:
** Davis is actually Doomsday in disguise, and gradually loses control over his alter ego.
** This also happens to Bizarro as well whenever he's exposed to sunlight, revealing his true nature as a Phantom who stole some of Clark's DNA in order to gain his appearance.
* IronicEcho:
** Listen to Clark's explanation to Lana in seasons 1-3 about why he can’t be truthful. Then listen to Lana’s explanation to Adam about why she left Paris.
** After Lionel puts Lex in Belle Reeve for electrotherapy, watching him in a straitjacket from behind two-way glass, it's Lex's turn to watch Lionel in a straitjacket from behind two-way glass after having one of the season's {{MacGuffin}}s on his person when it activates causes him to go catatonic. [[CallBack They even keep the camera angles and everything.]]
** After all the grief Clark gets for not telling Lana the truth about himself, the end of season 5 has Lex developing similar powers from a syringe by Brainiac, to prepare him to be Zod's vessel. He then goes on to rub it in everyone's faces by reusing Clark's reasons when he tells Lana.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E03Hothead Hothead]]":
*** When Coach Arnold is trying to convince Clark to join the football team, he tells him football is in his genes. In the final act, after Arnold witnesses Clark walk through a wall of fire unscathed and asks how he did so, Clark remarks "It's in the genes."
*** After insulting Dominic and two other [=LuthorCorp=] employees, Lex dismissively tells them "This meeting is adjourned." Later, after Lionel bests Lex in their fencing match and orders him to fire 20% of his employees, he tells Lex "Meeting adjourned."
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E12Leech Leech]]", after beating the Hardwicks, Lex remarks to Sir Harry, "That's what you get when you trust family" (because Sir Harry sent Victoria to [[HoneyTrap get cozy with Lex so she could dig up information]] he could use in his takeover of [=LuthorCorp=]). In the final act, Lionel tells Lex the exact same thing... right before Lex receives evidence that he set up the whole thing.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E23Exodus Exodus]]", when Pete enters the Kawatche Caves [[TheBait to distract Lionel]] so Clark can SuperSpeed in and swipe the Kryptonite key, Pete tells the guards who apprehend him "You know you hate [Lionel]," to which Lionel remarks he knows they hate him and that hatred and anger is a weakness. After Lionel finds the Kryptonite key missing and suspects that Pete stole it, he prepares to strike Pete after he plays dumb, at which point Pete reminds him, "Careful, Mr. Luthor; you wouldn't want to look weak."
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E11Delete Delete]]", computer genius Molly asks ComicBook/LexLuthor how he found her. He shrugs and says "Birds of a feather." Later, when Clark walks in to search for the CD containing the program she's been using to hurt his friends, Lex has already surreptitiously stolen it. When Molly responds with shock and asks "How did you get that?" he replies "Birds of a feather."
* IsNothingSacred: In the episode "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E13Hero Hero]]".
-->'''Clark:''' I found the source of Pete's powers. Kryptonite-enhanced gum. I found a whole stockpile.\\
'''Chloe:''' Chewing gum? Is nothing sacred anymore?
* ItAlwaysRainsAtFunerals: It rained heavily during the funeral of Whitney's father, but for everyone else, it was a subversion. It snowed at Jonathan Kent's funeral; It was a bright sunny day at Henry James "Jimmy" Olsen's funeral; and it was also sunny at Carter Hall's funeral in Egypt in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E10Luthor Luthor]]", albeit was held indoors.
* ItsAllMyFault: Clark keeps blaming himself for the damages and conditions that resulted from the meteor shower that he arrived in, even though he had absolutely no control over the situation. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6z8EPJyb1U He says this often.]]
* ItsAWonderfulPlot: When Clark received a message in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E18Apocalypse Apocalypse]]" telling him that Brainiac is going to the past to erase him from history, he thinks the world might be better off that way. Jor-El shows him what life would be like for everyone if he hadn't made it to Earth.
* IvyLeagueForEveryone: Clark has a scout from freakin Princeton come to see him in a season 4 episode...for football, even though Princeton isn't known for its football program. Thankfully the show actually subverts this.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: The show tends has a lot of this going around in the early seasons. Typically, whenever Lana has moved on from Clark and entered a new relationship, Clark will often be seen sadly saying something along these lines. Meanwhile, this is also Chloe's attitude towards Clark's attraction to Lana. Taken UpToEleven in season five, in which both of them [[ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex complain to her about their sex life]], then Clark decides to tell Lana his secret and proposes to her. Clark thinks Chloe would say they are too young and whatnot, but instead she provides her support and encouragement. Chloe supportively says "If there's anyone who deserves to be happy, Clark, it's you."And this, in turn, was ''also'' Pete's attitude towards Chloe's teenage crush on Clark during the early seasons of the show. Thankfully, everyone involved eventually moved on to much healthier relationships.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:K]]
* KarmaHoudini:
** Lex and Oliver after it was revealed in the Season 6 episode "[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E05Reunion Reunion]]" that he indirectly causes the death of one of the classmates that he bullied though no one calls him out on it, not even Clark.
** Lana Lang is probably the ultimate example of this. She has kidnapped and tortured an old man, ran a shadow organization, spied on an old lover, beat him senseless, knocked out people at a major press [[DisproportionateRetribution who will not run one of her stories]], released Brainiac into the world, and got away with it all as she did it to help the person she loved.
* KarmicTransformation: The Meteor Freaks often have their powers be related to something that they are in contact with or close to during the exposure to the meteors. Like Coach Arnold who got his PlayingWithFire powers during a sauna or Desirée Atkins who got her LivingAphrodisiac powers while she was having sex with her boyfriend.
* KeepingSecretsSucks: Lana's motto, which she repeated to Clark over and over from Seasons 2 through 6... not that it stopped ''her'' from keeping her own big secrets during that time period. Chloe in particular gets a lot of pressure from Lana when the latter (finally) figures out Chloe is protecting Clark.
* KickTheDog: Lex does this more and more as the years go by: he begins lying, cheating, and stealing to get his hands on the Kryptonian artifacts, and the following season begins kidnapping and torturing superpowered characters. He also sends a band of superpowered murderers to kidnap the Kents and Lana in a selfish (and dangerous) attempt to force Clark to reveal his powers against his will (this ends up destroying his friendship with Clark once Clark finds out it was Lex who orchestrated the whole thing), and eventually Lex begins murdering people to get what he wants.
* KilledOffForReal:
** Main/recurring characters who died include Whitney Fordman, Dr. Virgil Swann, Jason and Genevieve Teague, Sheriff Nancy Adams, Jonathan Kent, Lionel Luthor, Henry James "Jimmy" Olsen, and Davis Bloome.
** Lex was thought to likely be a case of NotQuiteDead or NeverFoundTheBody. It turns out that Lex really ''was'' dead after Oliver killed him; Earth-2 Lionel Luthor, however, brought him back through a [[DealWithTheDevil deal with Darkseid]], at the cost of his ''own'' life and soul.
* KlingonPromotion: By Season 7, Lex really, really wants to be evil. But he just can't pull it off convincingly. The solution? Kill the [[BigBad biggest baddie]] around, Lionel Luthor. Also a case of DyingToBeReplaced.
* KneelBeforeZod:
** Naturally. In the case of the season six premiere when Zod is introduced, Clark responds with an instance of ISurrenderSuckers. And in the Season 9 finale, the {{Trope Namer|s}} himself turns it into a BadassBoast:
--->'''Zod:''' Unlike you, I would rule from a throne, not the shadows. Every human on this planet, including the woman you love, will kneel before Zod!
** Flipped in Season 9, when Major Zod commands his troops to "Kneel before Kal-El".
* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: [[UpToEleven Brought up to ridiculous levels.]] The meteor shower in Smallville made it so Kryptonite can show up anywhere and with anyone.
* KungFuSonicBoom: Whenever Kryptonians battle.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:L]]
* LaserGuidedAmnesia:
** All the time in the early seasons, it is a convenient cop-out whenever ''anyone'' discovers Clark's powers they get hit by this, if not [[KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade outright dying]]. It doesn't matter how you found out, what you saw, or what he did under the influence of this week's {{phlebotinum}}. Your memory ''will be wiped'', often without explanation. In later seasons, nearly every important cast member but Lex is in the know, so there's less need for this. The superhero cameos learn quickly, but keep the secret since they're on the same side.
** In [[Recap/SmallvilleS01E01Pilot the very first episode]], Jeremy forgets everything after [[PsychoElectro electrocuting]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard himself]].
** Lana, Jonathan, and Pete forget everything after they are cured of the Nicodemus flower's toxin.
** Chloe forget all about Clark's secret after the parasite inside her is removed.]]
** Judging by what happened to Lois's memory after her LovePotion wore off, the writers seem to think that all drugs erase your memory.
** We've lost count of the number of times a bump on the head has wiped Lana's memory of seeing some super-heroics.
** However, one notable subversion to all this is Javier Ramirez in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E09Subterranean Subterranean]]", who does find out and does not get amnesia by the end of the episode.
** In a rare example of plot-central, rather than "convenient", amnesia, Season 3 has Lex undergo a mind-wipe disguised as electroshock therapy for his supposed schizophrenia.
** Lois and Sheriff Adams see Clark use his powers in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E19Blank Blank]]". Luckily, the [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual metahuman]] he just met can erase the last few moments of someone's memory and he owes Clark a favor.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E15Freak Freak]]", Daniel and later Chloe has their memory of Lex's secret lab wiped after being experimented on. After the viewers see the trauma Chloe goes through as Lex's lab rat, it's possibly [[IgnoranceIsBliss best for her to forget]].
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall:
** At the end of the two-part pilot, Jonathan asks Clark if he'll be okay. Clark asks him to get back to him in about five years. The line makes no sense (a high-school-aged teenager would be thinking in four-year increments if anything) except as a reference to the amount of time needed to complete the 100-episode minimum necessary for effective second-run syndication. This is confirmed in the DVD commentary, in which the producers joke that it would have been too obvious to have Clark say "Ask me again in a hundred episodes."
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E21Tempest Tempest]]", Remy Zero appears as themselves and plays "Save Me" for the high school dance. Clark and his friends comment, "These guys are awesome."
** [[Recap/SmallvilleS08E11Legion Legion]]" did this a lot. For example, surprised at Clark not being Superman, Lightning Lad expresses dislike at the "No tights, no flights!", and they mention that they've never heard of [[CanonImmigrant Chloe]]. Possibly also a MythologyGag in reference to the Legion visiting Comicbook/PostCrisis Superman for the first time and being surprised at how he was not the Superman they were expecting. That story was a pivotal attempt at explaining how the Legion could remain non-retconned after the retconning of Superman removed his Superboy adventures. It didn't work.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E05Thirst Thirst]]", Clark tells Professor Milton Fine, who is played by Creator/JamesMarsters (who also played the vampire Spike on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'') about the vampires, to which Fine replies "Clark, there's no such thing as vampires". The name of the chief vampire in the episode is Buffy Saunders.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E15Fortune Fortune]]", during Clark and Lois' engagement party, Oliver Queen makes the toast: "They've finally realised what the rest of us have known for a very long time."
* LetsSplitUpGang: Clark and Kara in the S&M club in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E03Supergirl Supergirl]]".
* LetsYouAndHimFight: How the first meeting between Clark and another superhero usually goes.
* LightningCanDoAnything:
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E12Leech Leech]]", "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E09Asylum Asylum]]" and "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E07Wrath Wrath]]", GreenRocks and lightning team up for PowersAsPrograms.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E16Crisis Crisis]]": Lightning, GreenRocks and a telephone line lets you ''call back in time''.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E14Tomb Tomb]]". Substitute the telephone line for a dead body hidden in the Talon bathroom wall, [[OurGhostsAreDifferent and poof, instant ghost]].
* LikeParentLikeSpouse: Isn't it a little peculiar how much Lex's mother looked a lot like, and sounded a lot like, Lana?
* LimbSensationFascination: One episode has Lionel and Clark switch bodies; Lionel then admires his new body in a mirror.
* LimitedWardrobe: A side-effect of ColourCodedForYourConvenience -- Clark's blue shirt and red jacket combo. Every time he wears something else, he's probably at work, it's a special occasion, or he is evil/"dead".
** [[LampshadeHanging It got to the point]] where, in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E07Identity Identity]]", Jimmy caught the red/blue blur on his camera and came to the conclusion that it was Clark going around saving people, just based on the colors. The episode also included a scene where Clark gets all his clothes out to sort the red and blue ones from the rest and dispose of them, only to discover that they are all red and blue.
** By Season 9, Clark doesn't wear any red and blue on his uniform, though sometimes in his everyday clothes.
** Perhaps made fun of in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS09E13Warrior Warrior]]", where Clark goes to the ''Smallville'' universe's version of Comic-Con. We see somebody wearing what looks like Clark's red and blue. This would mark the first time Clark has worn red and blue since "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E22Doomsday Doomsday]]" (the Season Eight finale, which was over eleven episodes ago)... if it weren't for the fact we see Clark bump into the guy wearing what looks like his old outfit, and is wearing his ''Daily Planet'' suit.
** Clark was in a major funk after the episode "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E22Doomsday Doomsday]]", feeling responsible for the death of Henry Olsen and regretting his humanity, so he took on an all-black motif until early in season 10 where he is wearing at least maroon and blue.
* LiteralChangeOfHeart:
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E04Cure Cure]]", Knox tries to do this to Chloe.
** Darkseid takes Lionel's heart out and plants it in the Lex clone's body.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
** In addition to the main cast, you have other Creator/{{DC|Comics}} characters, {{Canon Foreigner}}s who have important roles, [[Characters/SmallvilleMeteorFreaks Freaks of the Week]], [[Characters/SmallvillePhantomZone Phantom Zone escapees]], and dozens of high school students, Smallville citizens and Daily Planet staff members. Since it lasted 10 years, that's a pretty big cast. According to the [[TheWikiRule Smallville wiki]], throughout the series there are 18 main characters, 170 recurring characters and 341 minor characters, with a total of a staggering '''529''' characters.
* LonersAreFreaks:
** Most loners turn out to become [[Characters/SmallvilleMeteorFreaks Freaks of the Week]], though a fair number of popular kids in that show turned out to be evil too.
** Subverted in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E11Hug Hug]]", with Lana and Whitney automatically assuming that the local hermit is responsible for Lana falling off her horse simply because he happened to be around at the time (Lana so strongly believes in his guilt that she turns on Clark when he isn't prepared to judge as quickly). As it turns out, it really was just an accident and the episode's true villain is a FauxAffablyEvil CorruptCorporateExecutive who prides himself on (pretending to) being everyone's buddy.
* {{Long Runner|s}}: After running for ten years, ''Smallville'' beat ''Series/StargateSG1'' as the longest running American Sci-Fi show[[note]] It surpassed it on May 6, 2011, and the series GrandFinale aired a week later on the 13th[[/note]] . The difference in length is only ''three'' episodes, however, and the ''SG-1'' movies ''[[Film/StargateContinuum Continuum]]'' and ''Film/TheArkOfTruth'' put it over the top if counted.
* LossOfInhibitions:
** This is the effect of Red Kryptonite on humans and Kryptonians. It is especially bad when it happens to Clark is his powers combined with a lack of inhibitions make him very, very dangerous.
** The episode "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E15Nicodemus Nicodemus]]" has a scientist use Green Kryptonite to resurrect a toxic flower which has been extinct for 100 years. If someone is sprayed by the flower's toxic mist, they lose all of their inhibitions. Jonathan, Lana and Pete are all infected with the flower's toxins and begin to act dangerously OutOfCharacter; Lana becomes more outgoing to the point of suicidal recklessness, Pete reveals his feelings for Chloe and tries to kill Lex and Jonathan tries to kill an employee at the bank who turned him down for a loan.
* LoveAtFirstSight: In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E03Fierce Fierce]]", Kara has an immediate crush on Jimmy Olsen that triggers her heat vision, which is caused by sexual thoughts.
* LovePotion: "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E04Devoted Devoted]]" has a slight twist on the usual formula, as anyone who already has a true love grows even more devoted to the person they're infatuated with.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:M]]
* {{MacGuffin}}: The show loved this trope. Almost every season features at least one object--often of Kryptonian origin--that various characters would be jockeying for control of, due to the perception that it would either grant them power or help them solve some mystery. Season 4's plot was especially centered around this trope, as Lex, Lionel, Genevieve Teague, Jason Teague, Lana, Lana's undead witch ancestor Countess Margaret Isobel Thoreaux, Dr. Swann's foundation, and even a rogue unit of Chinese soldiers all start plotting and feuding with each other and tripping all over themselves to track down the Stones of Power, which combine to form the Fortress of Solitude. Clark is [[{{RefusedTheCall}} reluctant]] to jump into the middle of this, as [[{{IJustWantToBeNormal}} his life now has some semblance of normalcy]] for once, but [[{{ResignedToTheCall}} circumstances and Jor-El essentially force him to hunt down the Stones himself]], because--in Jor-El's words--if any of these factions unite the Stones before he does, they could very well be overwhelmed by the temptation to misuse the Fortress's power. Jor-El fears that this would lead to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.
* MadeOfIron
** Every single character who does have NighInvulnerability powers suffers from this, easily recovering from beatings, gunshot wounds, and [[HardHead blows to the head]].
** Jason Teague in Season 4 might be the best example He's shot by Lionel and [[DisneyDeath falls off of a cliff and into a waterfall]]. [[NotQuiteDead He somehow recovers enough to arrive at the Kent farmhouse, take them hostage, and then doesn't go down until he's been hit by a meteor.]]
** Chloe Sullivan once took a SuperStrength punch from Clark directly to the face.
** Lana was once beaten up by ''Zod'' and is up and about in no time.
** Lois once had her and her car thrown high into the sky then crash down courtesy of a {{Yandere}} Maxima. She barely had a scratch on her.
** Yes, he spent a few weeks in the hospital, but ComicBook/JimmyOlsen still looks pretty good for someone who has been mauled in the chest by freaking '''Doomsday'''.
** Chloe was once knocked down and [[SoftGlass showered by shattered glass, which doesn't leave a single scratch on her]]. The odd thing is, Oliver is covered in small cuts in the same scene.
** A special mention also goes to Tess, who was voluntarily killed by a defibrillator and then brought back to life with atropine. She wakes up, sits up, looks weak for about five seconds, and then walks out of the room as if she wasn't dead ten seconds earlier.
** Slade is probably the very worse case. He took a couple of hits from Hawkman's mace and somehow survives not one, but ''two'' huge explosions. The first one took one eye. The second one doesn't seem to even scratch him. Lampshaded on the second occasion - a possible explanation might be that he is under the influence of {{ComicBook/Darkseid}}.
* MagicFromTechnology: Kryptonian technology was mistaken for magic on medieval Earth, and can boost Countess Isobel's real magic somehow.
* MagicMeteor: Superman himself may not count, but the MonsterOfTheWeek was often a "meteor freak", i.e. got their power from exposure to Kryptonite. This powers didn't have anything to do with regular Kryptonian powers either.
* MagicalComputer: Much to the heroes' delight, Chloe is a hacking pro.
* MagicalDefibrillator: In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E16Fever Fever]]", doctors defibrillate a flatlined patient.
* MakeWayForThePrincess:
** Invoked in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E08Spell Spell]]". Apparently this trope goes back to [[OlderThanSteam Margaret Isobel Thoreaux's time.]]
** We get the more traditional version in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E18Spirit Spirit]]". Yeah, you heard me, a ValleyGirl in ''Kansas''.
* MalfunctionMalady: How Clark discovers his super-breath. And superhearing too, if you think about it.
* ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex: Clark has the typical problem with his relationship with Lana, to the point he actually complains to poor Chloe about his sex life at one point. When Chloe wonders what the big deal is since they can shake hands and hug without Clark pulverizing her. Clark explains, rather embarrassed, that it always takes him some time to adjust his "abilities" to new circumstances. [[BrainBleach Chloe decides to cruise right past that mental image.]] The problem is eventually resolved when Clark is {{DePower}}ed and they have TheirFirstTime, but when his powers return, he's back at CantHaveSexEver. They only have sex again in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E07Wrath Wrath]]" and "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E14Requiem Requiem]]" due to Lana gaining similar powers to his and their sex ends up being a DestructoNookie both times. Later, when he's in a relationship with Lois, he gained enough control over his abilities that the problem no longer exists. He outright states that his training at the Fortress of Solitude included learning exactly that sort of control.
* MarkedChange: Clark is branded by Jor-El, Lana getting her ancestor's witch-mark on her back.
* TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife: Many problems befalling Clark's love life stems from Clark's refusal to tell anybody about his powers, though Clark's fear is quite justified considering that superpowered individuals and their loved ones tend to get targeted by government conspiracies and mad scientists.
* MassSuperEmpoweringEvent: The [[GreenRocks Kryptonite]] meteor shower in which Clark first arrived to Earth and at the same time giving many of the locals odd powers and/or [[PsychoSerum altering their personality sometimes]] and causing them to become the MonsterOfTheWeek. There are a few humans empowered by Kryptonian technology, and it's vaguely implied that there's some Kryptonian ancestry among humanity. Chloe says the meteor shower was what turned Smallville into a WeirdnessMagnet town.
-->'''Chloe:''' I call it 'The Wall of Weird.' It's every strange, bizarre, and unexplained event that's happened in Smallville since the meteor shower. That's when it all began—when the town went schizo.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E17Void Void]]" is about a serum that brings a person near death, giving them visions of their loved ones that have passed on. Which could merely be drug-induced hallucination and nothing more, but then the "vision" of Jonathan Kent tells Clark something that ''Jonathan didn't live to tell anyone''.
* MindManipulation: Several Meteor Freaks have this power, or [[MoreThanMindControl something similar]].
* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E19Blank Blank]]" starts off with the [[MonsterOfTheWeek freak of the week]] using his LaserGuidedAmnesia powers to steal money. Then Clark is wiped, and the boy's powers are revealed to be the result of a botched procedure to alter his memories after his brother was killed by a shot from his own gun. Which later turns out to be implanted memories by his father, ''who created the procedure at Summerholt''. At least there's some positive fallout, as the law finally clamps down on Summerholt in the end.
* AMinorKidroduction: The first episode's prologue is this to [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Clark Kent]] and Comicbook/LexLuthor.
* ModestyBedsheet: Sheets are extremely prevalent whenever characters sleep together.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E01Crusade Crusade]]" has two {{Fanservice}}-heavy examples with both [[MrFanservice Clark]] and [[MsFanservice Lana]].
*** Lois finds Clark [[NakedFirstImpression naked and brainwashed on a cornfield]] and decides to take him to a hospital, but first gives Clark a red blanket for him to cover himself with. Not really [[InnocentFanserviceGuy understanding modesty in this state of mind]] he drops the sheet soon after they get to the hospital, to the annoyance of an orderly and the [[EatingTheEyeCandy joy of a nurse.]]
*** After touching Countess Isobel's tomb, Lana ends up losing consciousness and the next time she awakens [[UndressingTheUnconscious she's nude back in her bed]] with a sheet draped over, seemingly strategically placed to show as most skin as possible but still keeping the essential bits covered. When Jason starts knocking on the door she wraps the sheet around herself before getting up to answer the door.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E09Bound Bound]]" begins with Lex seducing a woman during an event. They end up in bed soon after, but all the action is hidden by the bedsheet. When he wakes up the morning after, he [[TheMurderAfter finds her dead body next to him]] both of them still covered by a bloodied bedsheet.
** Clark and Lana both share a modesty duvet the morning after they had TheirFirstTime in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E03Hidden Hidden]]". We see Clark [[RightThroughHisPants was wearing boxer shorts]] when he gets out of bed.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E01Bizarro Bizarro]]", when Chloe comes BackFromTheDead thanks to her [[HealingFactor healing powers]] she [[WakingUpAtTheMorgue wakes up at a morgue]] with a bedsheet covering her.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS07E10Persona Persona]]"'s intro has Lana and Bizarro (who's [[BedTrick pretending to be Clark to be with Lana]]).
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E05Committed Committed]]", Oliver is seen with a sheet up to his waist in bed after his night with Tess, who's already dressed up in a robe.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E14Requiem Requiem]]", Clark and Lana's super-powered lovemaking [[DestructoNookie breaks the bed]] but they're still both covered by the bedsheet. When Lana gets out of bed, she uses her new SuperSpeed powers to get dressed in an instant.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E21Injustice Injustice]]", Tess finds Oliver in her bedroom [[ReadyForLovemaking waiting for her naked under the bedsheets]]. But she rejects him and tells him to [[PleasePutSomeClothesOn put his pants back on]] and leave.
** During season 9 Lois starts DreamingOfThingsToCome of a BadFuture, which includes scenes of her and Clark having sex, but still covered with bedsheets even in her dream. When they do end up sleeping together, we see Lois getting up and dragging the sheet along with her as she walks to the balcony. Clark hugs her from behind soon, wearing pants put still {{shirtless|scene}} as they watch the sunset together.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS09E16Escape Escape]]", Tess and Zod [[UnholyMatrimony sexually charged "partnership"]] finally ends with them in bed, where we see them after the act under a red satin bedsheet.
** When Tess is BackFromTheDead in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E01Lazarus Lazarus]]", she awakens at Cadmus Labs with nothing but a hospital sheet covering, which she quickly replaces with a lab coat.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E10Luthor Luthor]]", when Clark Kent wakes up in another reality in the body of his Earth-2 counterpart he finds himself in a BedFullOfWomen with everyone covered up by a bedsheet.
** Oliver and Chloe are under a blanket after they have sex in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E13Beacon Beacon]]".
* MomentKiller
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E10Shimmer Shimmer]]", Lionel drops in on Lex as the latter's in the middle of making out with Victoria.
** Done to an extreme in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E21Tempest Tempest]]": after building up for several episodes, Chloe and Clark is about to kiss at the dance before being interrupted by a tornado warning.
** In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E09Bound Bound]]", a mother and her kids appear when Chloe and Clark are, er, alone in the elevator.
--->'''Chloe:''' [[BlatantLies Nothing was happening! We weren't doing anything!]]
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E10Bride Bride]]": Clark and Lois are about to kiss for the first time, "officially", when there is a shout of "Oh my god!" and Clark's ex, Lana Lang, walks in.
** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E04Instinct Instinct]]": Lois interrupts Clark and Maxima's [[ElevatorGoingDown wild romp in the elevator]], which actually manages to break off Clark from the lust daze [[LivingAphrodisiac Maxima's kiss]] put him in.
* MonsterOfTheWeek:
** The show has [[GreenRocks Meteor Freak of the Week]], mutants created by kryptonite. Season 6 also gave us the Phantom Zone escapees-of-the-week. As the series has progressed, it has much more of a StoryArc, but often keeps the Monster of the Week format.
** It also had an interesting variation starting in Season 4: ''Hero'' of the Week. Every season would have about two or three episodes where a superhero or two from the comics would guest star, run amuck, get on Clark's bad side, then ultimately they'd make their peace and help each other out before leaving in a manner that some could interpret as a PoorlyDisguisedPilot.
* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Metropolis University must be the world's leading college for obtaining a MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate, because almost every single doctor appearing on the show is either evil or a WellIntentionedExtremist doing unethical experiments ForScience (or, y'know, in return for Luthor money). Even a regular medical doctor Helen Bryce turned out to be evil in Season 3.
* MoralMyopia: In Hero Chloe goes to Lex's office and yells at him about stealing her files despite the fact that she has repeatedly stole information in the past.
* {{Mordor}}: The Phantom Zone is a desolate wasteland populated by Krypton's worst criminals, many of whom are Phantoms, seeking new bodies. Nothing grows, the wind always blows at gale force, and the terrain is treacherous. It actually gets worse in Season 10, when General Zod seizes control of it in the name of ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} and carves out a hollow empire from it ruins, forces many of the residents into his army, and institutes a brutal series of gladiatorial games that prune out those who nature and their fellow criminals have missed.
* MotiveDecay:
** Jason Teague. He goes from refusing to help his mother after learning she may be manipulating him and Lana, to being a fully clued-in accomplice to her plan and treated as though he always was. It smacks of rushing him out of the show.
** Similarly, Davis Bloome's transition from good-hearted paramedic to completely-unstable killer that murders Jimmy when he realizes Chloe doesn't love him reeks of contrivance, simply to make Clark leave at the end of Season 8 because HumansAreTheRealMonsters. Many people were upset, including Sam Witwer.
* MrFanservice: Several of the male characters are quite attractive and have a few {{fanservice}} scenes, even many of the SpecialGuest or MonsterOfTheWeek characters. The most notable recurring examples are:
** Clark (Creator/TomWelling) is a [[{{Hunk}} handsome man with an impressive built]] and has a fair amount of {{shirtless scene}}s and plenty of FemaleGaze on him throughout all 10 seasons. In the very first episode, Clark is stripped to his underwear, tied to a symbolic cross, painted with a giant S on his chest, and left to hang there, sweating and helpless due to the Kryptonite around his neck, which even became the [[FanserviceCover image on the First Season box cover]].
** Oliver Queen (Creator/JustinHartley) is a handsome [[TheCasanova womanizer]] who gets plenty of {{fanservice}} scenes, is often {{shirtless|scene}} and gets quite a few WorkoutFanservice moments.
* MsFanservice: Just like MrFanservice, several of the female characters apply, including many SpecialGuest or MonsterOfTheWeek. The most notable recurring examples are:
** Lana (Creator/KristinKreuk) is a HeadTurningBeauty that has most of the cast attracted to her, and the story doesn't shy away from showing off her body, including not one but two instances of SkinnyDipping with Clark. This became played up even more after season's 4 when she started to get gratuitous {{Shower Scene}}s and is shown [[SleepsInTheNude sleeping naked]].
** Smallville's Lois Lane (Creator/EricaDurance) is one of the most sexed-up versions of the character, with the story constantly having her in {{fanservice}}y situations that show off [[ShesGotLegs her shapely legs]], [[BuxomIsBetter buxom figure]] and [[BareYourMidriff toned abs]]. She also wore an impressive collection of SexyWhateverOutfit and FanserviceCostumes throughout her time in the show. [[http://doena-journal.net/en/577/lois-lanes-costumes Case in point]].
** Kara Zor-El's (Creator/LauraVandervoort) casual attire [[BareYourMidriff shows her midriff]] and [[ShesGotLegs legs]] and even ends up winning a BeautyContest.
** Tess Mercer (Creator/CassidyFreeman) is an extremely attractive woman and [[ProudBeauty she knows it]]. Her outfit diverges from [[WomanOfWealthAndTaste elegant clothing]] to practical [[FormFittingWardrobe skin-tight outfits]], as she has a lot of scenes with her [[WorkoutFanservice practicing or working out]] to show off her physical prowess and athletic figure.
* MundaneUtility: Clark has been known to use his powers for several mundane tasks such as using [[EyeBeams heat vision]] to make toast, popcorn, heat drinks and light candles; using his SuperSpeed to clean up or run to school whenever he misses the bus, in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E09Lexmas Lexmas]]", Chloe recruited him Clark for an to deliver Christmas presents to thousands of children in Metropolis; he uses SuperStrength to drive nails with his bare hands, plant fence posts, and lift cars and tractors instead of using a jack; even using his XRayVision to locate the fish in a fishing trip with his father. During one of Clark's more JerkAss moments, he actually accused Jonathan and Martha of exploiting his abilities to keep the farm running more cheaply and efficiently than hiring extra hands or buying new farm equipment. JerkAssHasAPoint is [[ZigZaggingTrope Ziz-Zagged]], as the chores his parents give are typical farm labor, and could be done perfectly well with the tools on hand, Clark's abilities just let him do them faster and more efficiently.
* TheMultiverse: As of 2019, Smallville was retroactively added to the [[Series/{{Arrowverse}} Arrowverse]] as Earth-167, and this version of Clark Kent and Lois Lane appeared in the CrisisCrossover ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019''.
* MythologyGag: The show has ''countless'' references to the comic book continuity and Superman mythos.
** Clark considering naming his dog Krypto. Another possible name is Skip. In the Silver Age Superboy comics, Krypto goes by the name "Skipper" as an ordinary Earth dog.
** Creator/AnnetteOToole cast as Martha Kent after playing ComicBook/LanaLang in [[Film/{{Superman}} the movie series]]; Creator/ChristopherReeve, Creator/HelenSlater, and Creator/MargotKidder guest spots. Creator/TerenceStamp voicing Jor-El.
** Music/JohnWilliams theme [[MusicalNod played during the final scene]] of the GrandFinale. In fact, both Williams' Superman and Fortress themes were used in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E17Rosetta Rosetta]]".
** Creator/DeanCain of ''Series/LoisAndClark'' has made a guest appearance, and Creator/TeriHatcher appeared as Lois' mom in Season 10.
** ''Series/WonderWoman'''s Creator/LyndaCarter showing up as Chloe's mom.
** Several references are made to [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham City]].
*** Carter Bickson from the Deletion Force mentioned that there was a Level Three facility in Gotham City. ("Chronicle")
*** Oliver Queen's friend Geoffrey says he has to return to Gotham right before he gets in his limo. It then explodes. ("[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E05Reunion Reunion]]")
*** Linda Lake taunts Chloe by saying she can see Gotham from her new office. ("[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E10Hydro Hydro]]")
** Bart Allen, the Smallville-verse Franchise/TheFlash, has fake [=IDs=] in the names of all the other [[Franchise/TheDCU DC Universe]] Flashes (Wally West, Barry Allen and Jay Garrick) in his first appearance. Now flash forward to The JSA in Season 9 and Jay Garrick...
** In the final season Chloe mentioned a "[[Franchise/WonderWoman wondrous woman]]" and "[[Franchise/{{Batman}} a billionaire with lots of neat toys]]".
** The Season 3 ep "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E16Crisis Crisis]]", which actually references a teen crisis hotline, while nodding at how Creator/DCComics really likes the word 'ComicBook/{{crisis|OnInfiniteEarths}}'.
** A Brainiac-infected Chloe is a lot like the Brainiac-13-infected Lena Luthor and [[ComicBook/KingdomCome Brainiac's Daughter]].
[[/folder]]
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