Title Character
Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman
Supporting Cast
Lois Lane | Jimmy Olsen | Ambush Bug | Steel
Villains
Central Rogues Gallery (Alexander "Lex" Luthor, Bizarro, Vril Dox/Brainiac, Cyborg-Superman, Darkseid, Doomsday, Lobo, Mister Mxyzptlk, Mongul, Phantom Zone Criminals [General Zod]) | A-L | M-Z (Superboy-Prime)
Spin-Offs
Supergirl (Kara Zor-El/Linda Danvers/Supergirl, Supporting Cast, Rogues Gallery) | Power Girl | Superboy (Conner Kent/Kon-El, Jonathan "Jon" Samuel Kent, Supporting Cast, Rogues Gallery) | Legion Of Superheroes (The Founders, Silver Age, Bronze Age, Five Years Later, Postboot, Threeboot, Retroboot, Rebirth, Other Heroes, The Fatal Five, The Legion of Supervillains, Other Villains, Supporting Cast)
Supporting Cast
Pre-Crisis Fred and Edna Danvers were Linda Lee/Kara Zor-El's adoptive parents and Secret Keepers for her role as Supergirl. They adopted her when they realized that she was a lonely, needy little girl and gave her a home (something which Linda was deeply grateful for, since she hated the Midvale Orphanage). They thought that she was special, but they didn't know how special she was until she saved them from falling off a cliff and revealed that she was Superman's cousin. From that point on, her parents kept her secret.
A while later Linda discovered that her birth parents and several Argonian families had survived Argo's destruction by fleeing a pocket dimension known as the Survival Zone. Kara managed to free them helped by her foster father, and she feared that she would have to choose between her natural parents and her adoptive family, but Zor-El and Alura reassured her that she could keep them all.
Post-Flashpoint Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers were Kara's foster parents and agents of the D. E. O. (Department of Extra-normal Operations, a Government agency created to deal with and neutralize alien threats). Director Chase assigned them the task of being Kara's handlers and foster parents. However they treated her as their new daughter whom they had to help adapt her new home, and not as an assignment.
Fred and Edna:
- Cruel to Be Kind: In The Untold Story of Argo City, Allura's physical and mental health are deteriorating due to Kara never calling or visiting. The Danvers find out about it and they decide to abuse Linda verbally until she rejoins her biological parents (rather than explaining the situation to her). Their plan doesn't work very well because it's a bit hard to hide things from a teenager with super-hearing.
- Fatherly Scientist: Fred was a rocket scientist working for S.T.A.R. Labs.
- Good Parents: They treated Linda well and mourned her passing.
- Happily Married: Fred and Edna are very close-knit.
- Muggle Foster Parents: They raised Kara. She loved them for saving her from the orphanage and giving her a home.Edna: (thinking) To others, she's the world's greatest heroine, but she's more than that to us! She's the daughter we dearly love!
- Outliving One's Offspring:
- Before they adopted Linda, they had a son named Jan who was killed on active duty in the U.S. Army.
- Sadly, they also outlived their adoptive daughter.
- Secret-Keeper: They kept their daughter's secret until the end.
Jeremiah and Eliza:
- Action Dad: Jeremiah is a Government agent.
- Action Mom: Eliza Danvers is a Government agent trained to deal with and neutralize alien threats.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Eliza has blonde hair, like Edna.
- Adaptational Name Change: Mr. Danvers' name change from Fred to Jeremiah and Mrs. Danvers' name change from Edna to Sylvia and later to Eliza.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: In Supergirl (Rebirth) #34-35, Kara finds out that Jeremiah is fighting against a secret organization called Leviathan and that his wife Eliza joined them against him. Supergirl is then foced to leave Jeremiah in mid-sentence to answer a distress call which kicks off the "Infected" plot, and Jeremiah, Eliza and Leviatan are forgotten. The next time we see Supergirl -after her series' ending- she is living on her own in Metropolis, and she never ever mentions her adoptive parents.
- Happily Married: Jeremiah and Eliza have been married for years and they think nothing of flirting to their boss's face while they are working.
- Muggle Foster Parents: They adopted Kara.Eliza: (smiling) Damn — Look at her go. And here's us, the adorable, slow-moving human parents.
- Parental Sexuality Squick: Kara really doesn't like hearing her foster parents flirt when she's around (or when she is not around. She can hear them from anywhere, literally). They are not concerned about her squicked reaction, though.Jeremiah: What I did miss?
Eliza: Just the launch, Jeremiah. But the new uniform sure fits.
Supergirl: Comms are live. I can hear you two.
Eliza: We're your parents, Kara. We're not dead. - Put on a Bus: After "The Killers of Krypton" and "DC Year of the Villain" they virtually disappear and are not mentioned again by her adoptive daughter, who has moved to an apartment in Metropolis and is living alone.
- Secret-Keeper: To Kara.
Dick Wilson grew up at the Midvale Orphanage during the same time that Linda did. He believed that Linda was in fact Supergirl, but kept it a secret from the world. Though the two dated through college, he often came close to discovering Linda's secret life, forcing Linda to come up with some complex scheme to deceive him.
They grew apart after college, but they did meet again as adults after Linda moved to Chicago. One day, Supergirl was called to the hospital to visit her dying friend, Dick. He was diagnosed with cancer. On his death bed, he confessed he always loved her and knew of her secret identity. He even apologized for teasing her about it during childhood. They gave each other one last kiss goodbye, and he died later that night.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Name Change: Pre-Crisis, his last name was Wilson, but was given the surname "Malverne" after getting adopted.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Pre-Crisis Dick Malverne grew up at the Midvale Orphanage during the same time that Linda Lee alias Supergirl did, and he had a huge crush on her. Although the two dated for a while they grew apart after college. They met again as adults, and Dick confessed he always loved her and and knew of her secret identity before dying.
- Expy: Of Lois Lane and Lana Lang.
- Killed Off for Real: As told in Young Love, Dick sought out Linda to tell her he was dying from cancer. Before dying, he confesses he loves her and he knew her secret all along. They kissed and he passed away later that night.
- Non-Action Guy: He is an average guy with absolutely no fighting skills who dated Supergirl for a while.
- Secret Chaser: He was constantly trying to prove she had super-powers. In a story written in 2004, it was revealed that he always knew Linda was Supergirl, but he kept it a secret.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: According Solo #1, he knew Linda was Supergirl all along.Supergirl: Mr. Malverne? You asked to see me...?
Dick: Hey-Hey... Linda Lee... I wanted to see you one more time... You sure look pretty.
Supergirl: You... You know —?
Dick: I always knew, Linda. - Distaff Counterpart: In his first appearance, Linda calls him her Lana Lang.
Jerro was an Atlantean merboy who was friends with Lori Lemaris, Superman's college sweetheart.
Jerro met and helped Supergirl out when she undertook a mission to help Atlantis and quickly fell for her. Kara was genuinely interested, but she was always too busy for a relationship.
Tropes associated with Jerro:
- Amazon Chaser: Jerro falls for Supergirl when he sees her brutally dismantling a stash of dangerous forbidden weapons.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Jerro just stops showing up after Action Comics #326 for non-explained reasons.
- Death by Cameo: Jerro reappears after forty-three years in Ambush Bug: Year None #3 only to be quickly killed (albeit that story's canon status is highly questionable).
- First Love: Jerro was the first boy who Silver Age Supergirl developed a crush on, although her relationship never went beyond kissing.
- Interspecies Romance: He is an Earth merman in love with a female Kryptonian.
- Oblivious to Love: He has absolutely no idea that Lenora, Loris' little sister, is in love with him.
- Our Mermaids Are Different: Jerro is member of a race of merpeople who survived the Atlantis' sinking eons ago. All Atlanteans are half-human and half-fish, no matter the gender.
- Spear Counterpart: He's basically a male version of Superman's old mermaid girlfriend, Lori Lemaris.
- Telepathy: Jerro is able to communicate telepathically.
Lex Luthor's younger sister.
Lena was a toddler when one accident changed her life forever. She was playing in her teen brother's lab -who was barely paying attention to her even though he was supposed to be babysitting her-, when she touched one of his energy experiments, which somehow gave her telepathic powers.
Shortly after, Lex became a notorious criminal mastermind in his teenage years. Their parents were so ashamed of their son's crimes and reputation that they moved away from their home in Smallville with Lena and changed their surname to "Thorul"—"Luthor" inverted.
Lena's parents did their best to hide the reality of her brother's activities from her, claiming that her brother Lex had been killed in an accident. Jules and Arlene Luthor died in a car accident shortly after, Lena was sent to an orphanage and forgotten everything about her biological family.
Gifted with ESP after an incident in Lex's laboratory, Lena joined the police, and became one of Supergirl's friends.
Her daughter Lori inherited mental defenses from her mother, and can be found under "Friends and Allies'' on this character sheet.
Tropes:
- Alliterative Name: Lena Luthor.
- Big Brother Instinct: Was the only person who could trigger Lex's.
- Friendless Background: Linda Danvers was her friend. Her only friend.
- Inexplicably Identical Individuals: She and Pre-Crisis Kara looked like clones. During the "Jungle Queen" storyline they traded costumes without anybody being any the wiser.
- Locked Out of the Loop: At Lex's insistence. When Lena did find out who he was during an interview with him (and temporarily lost her mind, running off to Africa and becoming "Jungle Queen") Luthor staged an escape from prison so that he could expose her to flowers that erased unpleasant memories. She eventually found out for good in a storyline in 1981, and the two reconciled.
- Morality Pet: To Lex, who went out of his way conceal their relationship from her, fearing that association with him would only hurt her. They eventually did reconcile.
- Odd Friendship: With Supergirl.
- Psychic Powers: Her ESP was strong enough to control animals and bypass even Luthor's defences.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: She found out about Linda's secret identity, but she kept it to herself
◊. - Telepathy
Miss Hart was the headmistress of the Midvale Orphanage where Linda Lee and Dick Wilson lived pre-adoption.
Tropes associated with Miss Hart:
- Apron Matron: Miss Hart is a very plump, doting and headstrong woman.
- Last-Name Basis: She was only known as Miss Hart.
- No Full Name Given: Her first name was never revealed.
- Put on a Bus: She only makes some few appearances after Linda is adopted and the history shifts away from the Orphanage before disappearing entirely.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: She did her best to look after her wards. Even though Linda would reveal several years later she hated the orphanage, she had no complaints about Miss Hart.
Streaky was Pre-Crisis Supergirl's pet tomcat that was given super-powers by an unusual form of Kryptonite. Linda was experimenting on a piece of green kryptonite in an attempt to find a way to neutralize its deadly effects. When her experiment failed, she tossed the X-Kryptonite (as it became known) out the window. Accidentally her pet Streaky came across the X-Kryptonite, and was exposed to its radiation.
Streaky was depowered during the events of Kryptonite Nevermore (since the Kryptonite nugget was turned into iron) and became a normal cat again. A while later, when Linda moved to San Francisco, she left it with her adoptive parents.
Several years later, Linda was a grad student living in Chicago and studing Criminal Psychology. One day she found a female stray cat which she adopted and named "Streaky" because it reminded her of "another cat she used to own".
Streaky had a 30th century descendant named Whizzy (who also had superpowers).
Tropes:
- Animal Superheroes: A cat with Kryptonian powers.
- From Stray to Pet: Regardless of the continuity, Streaky is always a stray tabby found and adopted by Kara.
- Gender Flip: Originally, a male; the DC Rebirth version was female.
- Hour of Power: X Kryptonite only gives him powers temporarily.
- Legacy Character: Has a a 30th century descendant called Whizzy.
- Meaningful Name: Kara names him Streaky due to two bolt-like yellow marks on his sides.
- Something Person: He is Supergirl's Supercat
- Superpowerful Genetics: Has passed his powers onto Whizzy.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: After a while, Streaky stopped making appearances. Several fans wondered what happened to Supergirl's pet cat, and Superman editor E. Nelson Bridwell answered in the Supergirl (1972) letter column◊ that Streaky was depowered during the events of Kryptonite Nevermore and was living out with the Danvers.
Comet was born as Biron a centaur in ancient Greece. The witch Circe gave him a potion to turn him fully human after he stopped an evil sorcerer poisoning her water, but instead it turned him into a full horse. Circe was unable to reverse the curse but instead gave him superpowers (super-strength, super-speed, telepathy, shape-shifting and enhanced intelligence), and made him immortal. The sorcerer trapped Biron on an asteroid in the constellation of Sagittarius.
When Supergirl's ship passed it broke the mystical force field, which allowed him to escape. Comet met Supergirl and they became close friends. Whilst on a mission with Supergirl on another planet, he was given the opportunity to turn into a human, but only while a comet passes through the solar system. As a man, he adopted the identity of "Bronco" Bill, a rodeo star.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Species Change: A non-powered horse called Comet cameos on the Kent farm in Superman: True Brit and in Kingdom Come's Fortress of Solitude.
- Animal Superheroes: Comet is a super-heroic horse.
- Attractive Bent Species: He's a centaur turned horse who is in love with Supergirl herself.
- Artistic License – Space: Turns human whenever a comet enters our solar system. In real life comets permanently orbit the sun though scientists have theorised that interstellar comets might exist.
- Combo Platter Powers: Comet has super-strength, invulnerability, telepathy and flight thanks to Circe's potion.
- Cool Horse: A flying, super-strong, super-fast, intelligent horse.
- Metamorphosis: He was originally a centaur called Biron who wanted to be fully human. Unfortunately Circe's potion was sabotaged and made him fully horse instead. Because the spell couldn't be reversed, Circe gave him superpowers to try and make up for it.
- Our Centaurs Are Different: Comet was one originally and turns into one temporarily before he becomes human when a comet enters the solar system.
- Romantic False Lead: Kara is completely unaware of Comet's crush on her.
- Sapient Steed: Due to being originally a centaur, Comet is a horse with human-like intelligence.
- Something Person: Nicknamed Superhorse.
- Talking Animal: Variant. Comet speaks telepathically.
Siobhan is a good natured Irish punk girl living in New York and the first human being the New 52 Kara meets who doesn't try to capture and/or kill her.
Siobhan came to New York City to escape her homeland of Ireland due to family issues. Her father died when she was young and her mother had only recently died which caused her to seek a new life in what she considered the "greatest city in the world".
After arriving and settling down in Queens she accidently found herself face to face with Supergirl. Instantly understanding her language, and after a short tussle with the authorities, she escaped with the help of Supergirl. Figuring that they needed each other and striking a fast friendship, the girls returned to Siobhan's home where they got to know each other properly and quickly become friends.
However, Siobhan's past catches up with her; her father is the evil magical being Black Banshee and she herself is having difficulty keeping her own powers in check as the even more frightening Silver Banshee.
For pre-New 52 Silver Banshee, see Superman's rogues gallery.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Heroism: Usually a villain, in the Post-Flashpoint universe Siobhan is a nice girl.
- Evil Me Scares Me: Siobhan fears that the Silver Banshee will take over her body when it manifests.
- Hereditary Curse: She inherited the Banshee curse from her father. It's implied that it runs in the Smythe bloodline as a whole.
- Heroic Willpower: When fighting Red Lantern Supergirl, she's able to mostly stay in control as the Silver Banshee.
- The Lad-ette
- Super-Scream: As the Silver Banshee, she has the appropriate sonic screams.
- Oireland: She has the accent at the very least.
- Omniglot: An actual super power; due to her quasi-magical nature Siobhan is able to speak any language she hears, even a non-human one like Kryptonian (if the dialogue is any indication she always retains her Irish accent though.)
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Her Omniglot abilities even allow her to talk to birds.
- Superpowered Evil Side: Her Silver Banshee form.
Kara's birth parents.
Pre-Crisis Zor-El and Allura In-Ze (her name is sometimes spelled Alura) met in Argo City and married several years after Krypton's destruction. After a short while they gave birth their only birth, Kara. Fifteen years later, when Argonians were dying because of Kryptonite poisoning, Zor-El built a space vessel that would rocket Kara away from Argo City and programmed it with a course heading for Earth, where Superman lived. Kara believed her parents were killed along with the destruction of Argo City. However, it was later revealed that In Argo City's final moments, Zor-El discovered a limbo dimension which existed parallel to the Phantom Zone. Dubbing it the Survival Zone, he created a projection device which transported dozens of Kryptonians to safety, although they were now trapped, with no means to return to the normal universe. Kara managed to free them, helped by her foster father, and Zor-El and Alura relocated to the city Kandor on the planet Rokyn.
Post-Crisis Zor-El and Alura were members of the Science Guild stationed in an offworld colony (Zor-El was a member of the Art Guild before marrying Alura). Zor-El was more emotional and warm in contrast to the cold and rational Alura. Zor-El designed and built the dome that saved Argo City from Krypton's destruction, and tried -uselessly- to convince the City Council to find a new planet to settle on before the energy dome failed. At the same time he built a space rocket, only in case. When Brainiac attacked Argo City, he and Alura sent Kara to Earth, asking her to look after her baby cousin. Captured by Brainiac, they were added to his bottled city of Kandor, and eventually freed by Superman. While Zor-El is a certified Nice Guy, Alura is a Knight Templar kept in check only by her husband.
Post-Flashpoint Zor-El was a scientist. Alura a soldier and part of Argo City guard. Although Zor-El had a falling out with his little brother, he paid heed to Jor-El's warnings and built a protective dome around Argo City, at the same time building a space pod to send his daughter to Earth before Krypton's destruction in case the city dome failed. He neglected to tell Alura his plans, though, which caused a rift between them.
Pre-Crisis Tropes:
- Adaptational Job Change In Pre-Crisis comics, Zor-El is a scientist like his brother, and Alura In-Ze is mostly presented as the Kryptonian equivalent of a stay-at-home mom. Post-Crisis Zor-El was an artist and Alura a scientist. Post-Flashpoint Zor-El goes back to being a scientist.
- Good Parents: They put their daughter above all. They would not ask her to live together again because they didn't want to break her bond with her foster parents, even though they clearly missed her.
- Happily Married: They got along really well.
- Never Found the Body: Kara assumed that her parents died due to Kryptonite poisoning after they sent her off. It turned out that they were trapped in a limbo dimension dubbed the Survival Zone.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Zor-El is convinced that his forcefield will save lives due to creating a new germ-free atmosphere. Instead, it keeps them from being blown up when their planet is destroyed (something he didn't believe his brother's warnings about) and gives them a source of air when they're propelled into space.
- Sanity Slippage: In The Untold Story of Argo City, Allura -who is living in Kandor at the time- is wasting away due to heartbreak over being separated from her daughter, and her mind is losing her grip, to the point that she picks a robot doll belonging a child and pretends it is her daughter Kara.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Alura is a nigh-on dead ringer for her daughter, something retained through the reboots.
Post-Crisis Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Post-Crisis Alura. Aside from being emotionally distant to Kara, she often puts her down verbally.
- Action Mom: Alura is mostly a bureaucrat but she is not afraid to fight when Brainiac invades New Krypton.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Alura does this to Reactron.
- Dark Action Girl: The best way to describe Alura is as an Anti-Hero, and even then with an extreme spirit of generosity.
- Death Equals Redemption: Alura uses her last moments to throw Kara into a special chamber that shields her from Reactron's explosion.
- Defrosting the Ice Queen: Alura was pretty cold and aloof before dating Zor-El, declaring that "emotions" and "love" are mere chemical reactions. Zor-El changed her mindset.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Alura definitely cares about both Zor-El and Kara. Well, she definitely cares about Zor-El. Kara... is a bit sketchier.
- Evil Matriarch: Alura, who tries to control every aspect of Kara's life, and is a Knight Templar at best.
- Good Parents: As New Krypton goes on, it's clear Kara got her heroic personality from her father Zor-El.
- Happily Married: They were very happy together, to the point that Alura loses it when her husband dies.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Alura dies saving Kara from Reactron.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Alura believes that all humans are scum, that Superman can't be trusted, and that General Zod is a great hero. She couldn't be more wrong about any of the above.
- Ignored Expert: Zor-El warned the Argo Council that they needed to look for a new world to settle on because the dome could fail at any moment. You would think they would be more inclined to believe him after his brother was proved right. You would be wrong.Zor-El: Seems my brother's label as "Doomsayer" will be mine as well.
- Killed Off for Real: Zor-El dies in battle with Reactron. Alura is killed when Reactron blows himself up, wiping out all of New Krypton.
- Knight Templar: Alura. Zor-El knows it too, and tries to act as a check on her.
- Mama Bear & Papa Wolf: Don't hurt Kara in front of either of them.
- Motherhood Is Superior: Inverted like you wouldn't believe. Alura was cold and distant towards Kara while Zor-El was the sympathetic parent.
- Morality Chain: Zor-El was this to Alura. With him dead, Alura keeps making morally dubious action after morally dubious action.
- Nice Guy: Zor-El was a spectacular father and was genuinely intrigued by humans and proposed peaceful interactions with them.
- Older Than They Look: Time moves slower in Brainiac's bottled cities, so Zor-El and Alura look decades younger than they actually are.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Alura's torture of Reactron is wrong and is portrayed that way, but given that we're talking about the single worst member of Supergirl's rogues gallery here, you aren't liable to have much sympathy for him.
- Superpower Lottery: They have all the classic Krytponian powers.
Post-Flashpoint Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Zor-El genuinely loves his daughter and wants to help her. However his methods put Kara through the wringer.
- Action Girl: Alura was a soldier.
- Came Back Wrong: Alura is brought back from the dead by Cyborg Superman. However she is a soulless, mute zombie robot.Supergirl: This isn't the future. Look at them. Look at their eyes. You made them monsters! [...] These things aren't alive. You perverted our people's bodies. It isn't right. They move but they don't talk and they aren't really alive.
- Divided We Fall: Zor-El and Jor-El both believed Krypton was doomed, but couldn't agree on how to save its people. Jor-El favored building rockets to flee the planet, while Zor-El wanted to build force fields around their cities. Both of them are right about their ideas being viable (as shown when Jor-El saves his son while Zor-El saves Argo City) but neither of them saves as many people as they could have by working together.
- Fantastic Racism: Zor-El mainly opposes Joe-El's Homeworld Evacuation proposal because he loathes the idea of going to live among alien races he views as primitive.
- Good Parents: No one messes with Alura's daughter.
- Happily Married: Their relationship was strained after Zor-El blasted Kara off the planet, but they kept loving each other.
- You Shall Not Pass!: It happens when Sheko tries to read Supergirl's memories. A memory of Alura blocks her, declares firmly that her daughter's mindraping is NOT going to happen and throws her out:Sheko: You... You can see me?
Alura: OF COURSE I can see you. Now GET OUT of our home!
Sheko: Who are you...?
Alura: Alura Zor-El! Praetor of Argo City! And you trespass at your peril!
