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Superman
Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent
Voiced by: James Denton
"There's always a way."
- Adaptational Badass: Due to the immense amount of solar radiation he absorbed, this Superman became immune to green Kryptonite and also developed the ability to extend and project his bioelectrical field.
- Adaptational Intelligence: Downplayed. He implies that his intelligence is also increased by the expedition to the sun, but it's not necessarily shown.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- It's not clear if he was ever Superboy, though it's implied by bystanders that he initially existed under the nickname of "The Kansas Superman".
- He disguises himself as the "Unknown Superman", but the story is vague on whether this is an actual descendant of his that he's briefly borrowed the identity of or merely a disguise for when he time travels back to his boyhood to chain the Chronovore. Morrison themself vaguely touched upon the subject in supplementary materials with nothing more than claiming that they headcanon such a character existing.
- The Anti-Nihilist: Luthor's epiphany reveals that Superman's Super-Senses showed him the complete meaninglessness of existence... which ended up enforcing Superman's view of all life as precious and worth protecting.
- All-Loving Hero: The worst he gets is disappointment in people who waste their potential, like Lex Luthor. He even shows concern and compassion towards his robotic servants.
- Broad Strokes: Morrison has claimed that he's the Silver Age Superman, but there's enough ambiguation to place him as any version of Superman going on his final adventure(s).
- Canon Character All Along: The end of the series (and some Foreshadowing) reveals that he's Superman Prime from Grant Morrison's DC One Million.
- Character Catchphrase: Denoting his optimism and determination: "There's always a way."
- Clark Kenting: Frank Quitely draws him as being able to contort his musculature to give himself a chubby appearance. It works so well that Lex Luthor doesn't even recognize him when he takes off his glasses and gets in his face.
- Energy Being: He eventually becomes a being of pure information thanks to the surplus solar radiation in his cells. On a meta level, this is meant to represent the story of Superman transcending above his comic origins, an idea Morrison expounds in their other works.
- Foregone Conclusion: DC One Million shows that he eventually outlived everybody he ever loved, indicating that Lois's faith in him returning to her once he's done repairing the sun tragically never came to fruition.
- Good Is Not Soft: He threatens to send Atlas and Samson to the Phantom Zone if Lois dies at the Ultra-Sphinx's hands. Considering this is sometimes considered a Fate Worse than Death, this isn't as harmless a punishment as one might think.
- Greater-Scope Paragon:
- He will become this as Superman Prime by the 853rd century, having become the forefather of the Superman Dynasty via the Super Serum he gifts to Leo Quintum.
- Despite not existing on Earth-Q, its inhabitants respond to his absence by creating him bit by bit as an ideal hero for them to strive to live up to.
- In Spite of a Nail: He creates Earth-Q as a universe where Superman doesn't exist, just out of curiosity to see how things will turn out without him around to help. An Earth without Superman solves the problem of his absence by turning him into an idea developed throughout its history through philosophy and mythology, until eventually two boys from Cleveland, Ohio come up with an idea...
- King in the Mountain: At the end of the story he fully converts into a being of solar radio-consciousness and enters the sun to repair the damage Solaris done to it. He'd be done in 15,000 years by the time the events of DC One Million rolls around.
- Miles to Go Before I Sleep: The story of All-Star is primarily Superman working to prepare and accomplish as much as he can before his death via solar radiation overdose.
- My Greatest Failure: Heavily implied to be Jonathan Kent's death, which he indirectly caused by getting too close to the Chronovore and getting precious years eaten until Jonathan dies of a heart attack. It's the moment he realized that in spite of his immense power, he can't prevent certain things.
- Never Got to Say Goodbye: Before he leaves Smallville for Metropolis, a younger Clark cries that he never got the chance to bid farewell to Jonathan before his death. Through a Stable Time Loop, the Superman Squad is able to grant him a second chance to say goodbye to Jonathan while disguised as the Unknown Superman.
- Nice Guy: He's Superman, what else would you expect?
- Not So Above It All: He gets some revenge on Steve Lombard for pranking him (a prank that shouldn't even have hurt him, mind you) by setting his toupee on fire with his heat vision.
- Not So Stoic: He maintains a stoic front despite his impending death. When infected with Black Kryptonite, his inverted personality causes him to break down over dying.
- Right Makes Might: Demonstrated when Superman gets affected by Black Kryptonite; the more of a bully and coward he became, the weaker his powers got, showing that Superman's strength genuinely comes from his virtues.
- Shock and Awe: He develops the power to extend his bioelectric field, an example usage being when he throws a bolt of electricity at Bizarro.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Superman considers himself and Lois as this, arguing that as two different species, they are biologically incompatible and cannot even entertain the idea of children.
- Troll: Considering that it turns out he's the Unknown Superman, it was kind of a dick move to claim to Lois that he's the "horrible answer" about whether or not she and Superman will have children.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Really good at this, understandably since he's Superman. He's convinced a teenage girl from committing suicide, lifted Zibarro's spirits, and earned Bar-El and Lilo's respect through his unwavering kindness.
- Your Costume Needs Work: In the penultimate issue, his Daily Planet co-workers notice "Clark" acting and looking strange and call I Knew It! when he "reveals" himself as Superman in disguise, with Cat Grant noting that he's more muscular than Clark.Superman: Thanks for noticing those extra hours on the stairmaster, Cat.
Lex Luthor
Alexander Luthor
Voiced by: Anthony LaPaglia
- Adaptational Badass: In the final issues of the series, Luthor drinks Superman's exo-gene formula and acquires his powers for 24 hours. This puts him on the same level of strength as his mortal enemy.
- Adaptational Heroism: He's the one who provides Quintum with Superman's genome so a new Superman can be created in the animated film.
- Bald of Evil: As a Lex Luthor, naturally.
- Big Bad: Of All-Star Superman.
- Became Their Own Antithesis: He loved to boast about how he was and should be better than Superman on the basis that he relies on his intellect rather than brute strength. Once he takes the super serum, he ends up relishing on the Super-Strength and Super-Senses, throwing away all his inventions for no longer being of use to him and resorting to simply trying to beat the tar out of Superman. This ironically results in him being defeated by Superman outsmarting him.Superman: You were right, Lex... brain beats brawn every time!
- Break the Haughty: Upon temporarily receiving Superman's powers and going on a mad power trip with them, culminating him in beating Superman to a pulp, Luthor suddenly gains an epiphany about the world and just how frail and precious it is. He actually wants to use these powers for good, only to realize that Superman had tricked him into using up all his powers and stolen the only other vial of Superman's serum, which Superman then destroys before his very eyes. Luthor cries and berates Superman for not giving him the chance to "save" the world with those powers, only for Superman to retort that Luthor would have already saved the world with his intelligence if he had actually cared before punching him out. In the animated film, Luthor finally admits that Superman was right all along, a fact that he bitterly hates and yet somberly accepts.
- Card-Carrying Villain: According to a judge, he openly reveres Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Al Capone, and Adolf Hitler.
- Compensating for Something: He's a little too enthusiastic about working out in the prison gym and giving himself some muscles just to show off "hard human work" compared to Superman's situationally acquired strength.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Superman punches him out while telling him that he could've saved the world a long time ago if he had actually cared.
- Drunk on the Dark Side: He relishes in the new powers he gets, ironically becoming The Brute who is defeated by Superman outsmarting him without even using any of his regular abilities.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He's clearly fond of his niece Nasthalthia and encourages her aspirations to be a supervillainess. He also implies still having some affection for his sister considering he asks about her after breaking out of prison and reconvening with Nasthalthia.
- Face Death with Dignity: Luthor really goes out of his way to not be bothered by his death sentence, and has no worries about making it back to his cell alive when the prison riot breaks out. Part of this is due to stealthily preparing a Super Serum that'll give him Superman's powers during his execution.
- Fascinating Eyebrow: His hastily drawn eyebrow after it gets accidentally wiped away gives him this appearance.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Luthor's motivation, as always. Upon the smallest hints of aging appearing on his face, Luthor finally decided to put more effort into killing Superman.Luthor: Three months ago, I looked in the mirror at those nasty little spiderwebs of lines around my eyes, and I realized something. I'm getting older and he isn't. So, if I want to die happy, it's time to get serious about killing Superman, don't you think?
- Heel Realization: When Luthor gains Superman's powers, he starts seeing the world from Superman's perspective and realizes just how cruel and petty his former goals were.
- Ignored Epiphany: In his final minutes with Superman's Super-Senses, he realizes exactly why Superman is so determined to protect all life... only to revert to a Villainous Breakdown where upon he rants and raves to Superman about how he kept butting into his attempts to save the world. Subverted when Leo Quintum reveals Luthor was emotional at the memorial service, indicating that he eventually came to his senses and spent the rest of his days finally understanding his hated enemy.
- Likes Clark Kent, Hates Superman: He admits that he's genuinely fond of Clark, purely for being everything that Superman isn't. The Dramatic Irony is palpable.
- No Brows: He draws them on with pen. It's likely a side effect of his baldness. It causes his rant at the end of the fifth issue to come off as all the more pathetic, since he accidentally wiped one of his eyebrows off and then drew it back on without using a mirror, leaving it comically misshapen.
- Psychopathic Manchild: He rather childishly demands that Perry White give him a corporeal manifestation of "the truth" when Perry tells him the truth sent him to the electric chair.Luthor: I mean, what color is it? Can I touch it? Nah, I didn't think so!
- Recruiting the Criminal: Luthor was initially recruited by Sam Lane to work for the US government, but he instead uses the resources they gave him for an elaborate scheme to poison Superman with solar radiation.
- Spiteful Spit: When Superman urges him to do good before his execution, he gives out such a spiteful one that it's the trope page's image.
Lois Lane
Lois Lane
Voiced by: Christina Hendricks
- Cassandra Truth: Lois doesn't seem to believe that Superman and Clark are the same person by the end of the story, though there are hints that she's just in heavy denial due to some deep-rooted fears that the "oafish" Clark Kent disguise has some truth to him.
- Composite Character: Her Superwoman outfit is a recolored version of the Crime Syndicate character's from the Antimatter universe.
- Dude Magnet: Steve Lombard, Atlas and Samson, and Superman are all attracted to her.
- I Will Wait for You: She knows at the end of the story that Superman is still alive, simply preoccupied by repairing the sun and decides that she will wait for him. Tragically, DC One Million implies that Superman eventually just outlived all his loved ones, including Lois.
- Military Brat: Sam Lane cameos at the beginning of the story, implying that Lois is still this in this version.
- Operation: Jealousy: She plays along with Atlas and Samson's suggestion of competing for her affections as playful revenge against Superman for "pranking" her about the whole Clark Kent thing.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: She's not at all perturbed by being carried around by Mechano-Man while he rampages. In fact, she admits to Superman that she let herself get captured just to talk with him.
Jimmy Olsen
Jimmy Olsen
Voiced by: Matthew Gray Gubler
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The issue centered around him introduced him in the middle of a particular period of extreme misfortune, having earlier pissed off the Queen of the Gypsies somehow and got cursed. This initially painted him as an impulsive oaf who is in over his head. By the end of the issue, he's warded his curse off enough to save Metropolis from a Black Kryptonite-infected Superman, survived his self-inflicted transformation into Doomsday and reverted back before it could overload his nervous system, and had casually hacked into P.R.O.J.E.C.T.'s bank account to pay off the damages. Overall, Jimmy's smarter than he looks and there's a really good reason why he's Superman's young pal.
- Composite Character: With Doomsday.
- Demoted to Extra: He doesn't have his adventure as head of D.N.A.P.R.O.J.E.C.T. in the film.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Superman, he's his young pal after all. He's willing to risk his own life to become Doomsday and beat the Black Kryptonite-infected Superman into submission in order to save him from himself.
- Impossibly Tacky Clothes: Apparently Lucy Lane isn't too impressed with his wardrobe for the Homeless Olympics. Also when he tries out Kryptonian overgarments, Lois bluntly tells him that he looks insane.
- Noodle Incident: He apparently crossed the Queen of the Gypsies, which got him cursed with bad luck for a period.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: Morrison confirmed that he's figured out that Superman and Clark are one and the same, but respectfully kept it to himself out of understanding that there's a good reason for Superman to maintain the illusion.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: In true Jimmy Olsen fashion, he briefly shows up in drag in one scene. In the movie, he's introduced in drag, and he reacts in confusion when Lombard asks if he's in disguise for an assignment.
Leo Quintum
Leo Quintum
Voiced by: Alexis Denisof
- The Atoner: Whatever he's done in the past, he wishes to make up for it by heading D.N.A.P.R.O.J.E.C.T. and championing the advancement of humanity in a way that lives up to Superman's faith in them.
- Canon Foreigner: Is an entirely new character created for All Star, but meant to fall into the archetype of Superman's "scientist friend" like Emil Hamilton.
- Good Counterpart: To Lex Luthor, as a Mad Scientist to actually used his gifts, technology, and even army of henchmen to try to improve mankind rather than rule over them.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Leo is rather comfortable about questioning Superman's trust in him, outright calling himself the Devil when Superman gives him the Super Serum.
- Limited Wardrobe: Apparently he has dozens of identical rainbow coats.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Leo's horrified when he realizes that his expedition to the sun gave Luthor the means to kill Superman.
- Redeeming Replacement: D.N.A.P.R.O.J.E.C.T. is the successor to Project Cadmus, an organization that had been a thorn in Superman's side to varying degrees.
