Kryptonite Man II
Context
As you can expect, the second Kryptonite Man was a Superman (and Supergirl) villain. He appeared in a single storyline, in 1984.
He has no special link to the prior Kryptonite Man (originally the Krypronite Kid), a 1960 Superboy foe. Or the incredible Hulk, for that matter.
Background
- Real Name: Unrevealed.
- Marital Status: Single, possibly widowed.
- Known Relatives: All deceased.
- Group Affiliation: None.
- Base Of Operations: Formerly Ny’l’uyl (Krypton), then mobile within a Seeder spacecraft.
- Height: around 7.5’ tall Weight: 3 APs, give or take.
- Eyes: Green Skin: Green Hair: Bald
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Powers and Abilities
To quote Paul Kupperberg, “Energies that can vaporize flesh — and steel — splatter ineffectually against the Kryptonite Man ! He is from Krypton ! As such he possesses many of the powers and abilities of other Kryptonians under the auspices of a yellow sun ! He is super !”
In addition to invulnerability and super-strength (in DC Heroes RPG terms STR, BODY), the Kryptonite Man can exist comfortably in airless space (Sealed Systems) and can fly (Flight). Howbeit, he lacks the superspeed of “human” Kryptonians like Superman and Supergirl.
Having lived off of kryptonite radiation for an extended period of time, his very body now gives off low-level green-k radiation.
Kryptonite radiation also infuses his version of Kryptonian heat vision (Laser Beam). That makes it a particularly effective weapon against Superman and Supergirl. He’s also demonstrated the ability to use his kryptonite vision to create a blinding flare (Flash).
Other assets and weaknesses
For unclear reasons he was able to comprehend some English within seconds of hearing it. He was comfortable with the language within a few minutes (Comprehend Languages).
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The Kryptonite Man also possesses the necessary skill to pilot the spacecraft he took from the Seeders (Vehicles/Space). Furthermore he had some basic ability to use and program high technology devices (Gadgetry, Scientist) though he is no expert.
The Kryptonite Man is very dependent on certain exotic energy sources to survive, such as those produced by the spacecraft he stole from the Seeder civilization. Before he possessed it, he’d been sustained by long absorption of kryptonite radiation.
Kryptonite in itself does not harm him the way it does others from Krypton. But kryptonite radiation infused into other attacks (similar to his own Kryptonite vision, in fact) can injure him.
History
Eons ago, the Kryptonite Man was ruler of the people of Ny’l’uyl, a world better known to us as Krypton. Long before the planet was colonized by a human-like race (that is, the race from which Superman and Supergirl descended), the Kryptonite Man’s people lived there. They were a contented people who had long ago abandoned warfare and did not practice hatred.
This paradise ended when scientists of Ny’l’uyl detected a wandering celestial object. This comet or asteroid which would strike Ny’l’uyl and annihilate all life on the planet.
The Ny’l’uylan people built stasis chambers deep beneath the surface of the world. Their race could live in suspended animation within until the disaster had passed and the surface could be re-inhabited.
Surface watch
One member of the Ny’l’uylan race needed to remain on the surface to watch and wait for the close approach of the wanderer world, making observations and performing final calculations to determine how long the stasis should last. Thousands volunteered for the duty, but their ruler would allow no one else to take the dangerous chore, considering it his duty.
Once the wanderer approached, he determined that 20 years should be sufficient time. Thus, he set automated devices which would awaken him at the end of that period so he could determine if it was truly safe to release the others.
But something went wrong, and the ruler of Ny’l’uyl slept for 100,000 years, instead of merely 20. In the intervening years the world had been colonized by near-humans, who called their world Krypton.
While the ruler of Ny’l’uyl was still reeling from these discoveries, Krypton exploded. The future Kryptonite Man had come to just in time to see Krypton destroyed. And thus he knew that all his people perished in spite of everything.
Set adrift on kryptonite bliss
Somehow, though, he survived on a chunk of mountaintop. Like everything else from Krypton, this fragment was changed to green kryptonite in the explosion. Somehow he lived off that radiation for 20 years, absorbing it.
All the while he remained certain that the later human inhabitants were behind the destruction of his world and people. Refusing to believe that it had been a natural disaster, and unwilling to face his own responsibility for their fate, he lived only to find any near-human survivors and revenge himself on them.
After the kryptonite radiation from his mountaintop was depleted, the Kryptonite Man encountered a mysterious alien race. These called themselves the Seeders. The Kryptonite Man discovered that he could also live off the energy generated by Seeder ships. As a result, he stole one of theirs to survive while he wandered the universe looking for Kryptonians.
The Seeders pursued him, and he clashed with them on several occasions. His destruction became an obsession for the Seeder priest Lord Sed, who was scarred and disfigured during one of their battles.
Man of steel, maid of might
Out in deep space, the Kryptonite Man encountered Superman. He followed him back to Earth. The Kryptonite Man attacked Superman. Then the Seeders tracked the K-Man to Earth and attacked him, ignoring the danger of collateral damage to Earthlings. *Then* Supergirl came to the defense both of her cousin and her adopted world.
During the three-way clash, the Seeders recaptured the ship which the Kryptonite Man had stolen. They rigged it to release a bombardment of super-charged gamma radiation tinted with Kryptonite radiation when he came to reclaim it. That much energy would destroy the Kryptonite Man and the Earth. That was something Lord Sed, in his obsession, did not care about.
Though the Kryptonite Man was destroyed by that awesome force he also somehow managed to push back against it. That created a feedback which destroyed the Seeders as well, and saved Earth.
His rage and hatred at all the loss he’d suffered in life killed both him and the Seeders. Or perhaps, having seen one world destroyed, he could not bear to see another die, and sacrificed himself to prevent it.
Description
The Kryptonite Man looks a lot like Marvel’s Radioactive Man – big, bald, and green. He wears red or magenta trunks but no other clothes. Basically a bipedal humanoid, his non-human nature is revealed in his heavy brow ridge.
He has only four toes on each foot, and just three fingers and an opposable thumb on each hand.
Personality
Proud and arrogant, the Kryptonite Man nevertheless cared deeply for his people and world. He took his duty to them very seriously. He put himself in harm’s way to protect them and was devastated when they perished.
On some level, he felt guilty for their death, but he sublimated that into hatred for the human survivors of Krypton’s death. He chose to blame these for the disaster.
He lived only for revenge. Yet Superman chose to believe that maybe, when he died, he’d begun to accept that it was an accident, and sacrificed himself willingly to pay off the debt he owed his people.
Quotes
“[Superman] shall be made to pay for the death of my people and pay most dearly! Neither time nor distance has held any meaning since awakening from my ages-long sleep! Nothing has mattered save seeing this deed done !”
“You would be wise in the future to select your adversaries with greater care – should you indeed have a future !”
Superman: “I usually give foes the benefit of the doubt before using my full strength – but all things considered, I’m willing to make an exception with you !”
K-Man: “Bah ! I ask no quarter, human – never would I beg it of the offspring of those who destroyed my world !”
“Do you not see the futility in your actions, Superman ? Your fate was decided that dark day many years ago – when your kind destroyed Ny’l’uyl, forever ending the chance of our resurrection !”
“Flee if you will – but you cannot hide from my wrath !”
“Your death will be ever so slow – and ever so painful – for the power is mine to slay you !”
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Kryptonite Man
| Dex: 10 | Str: 25 | Bod: 18 | Motivation: Psychopath/Responsibility of Power |
| Int: 05 | Wil: 09 | Min: 06 | Occupation: Ruler, Revenge-seeker |
| Inf: 06 | Aur: 06 | Spi: 07 | Resources {or Wealth}: 005 |
| Init: 021 | HP: 080 |
Powers:
Comprehend Languages: 10, Flash: 12, Flight: 17, Growth: 01, Laser Beam: 15, Invulnerability: 20, Sealed Systems: 10
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Growth is Always On, Already Figured in, and should be considered an innate Form Function.
- Laser Beam is laced with green kryptonite radiation, thus activating the Fatal Vulnerability and Gradual Loss Vulnerability to green-k which all Kryptonians have.
Skills:
Gadgetry: 02, Scientist: 03, Vehicles (Space): 05
Advantages:
Miscellaneous: the Kryptonite Man constantly radiates green kryptonite radiation at a low level. Any Kryptonian who comes within 0 APs of him has their Fatal Vulnerability and Gradual Loss Vulnerability to green kryptonite activated.
Drawbacks:
Fatal Vulnerability (being outside the environs of his Seeder Spacecraft more than 5 minutes, unless he finds an alternative energy source); Forced Exile (Ny’l‘uyl/Krypton); Gradual Loss Vulnerability (leaving the inside of the Seeder Spacecraft for more than 5 minutes – affects all Powers, Dex, and STR – unless he finds an alternative energy source); Minor Irrational Hatred toward the Seeders; Partial Attack Vulnerability (-2 CS to BODY vs. kryptonite radiation attacks); Serious Irrational Hatred toward the human survivors of Krypton; Strange Appearance.
Equipment:
SEEDER SPACECRAFT [STR 10 BODY 12 INT 08 WIL 05, Comprehend Languages: 12, Flight: 30, Sealed Systems: 18, Radar Sense: 25, Radio Communications: 40, Telescopic Vision: 40, Scholar (Astro-navigation), R#: 0]. The energies generated by the Seeder Spacecraft provide sustenance for the Kryptonite Man. While inside it, his Fatal Vulnerability and his Gradual Loss Vulnerability do not trouble him.
Design Notes
- As usual for a character with only one storyline, some things are inevitably speculative or incomplete. For instance, Sealed System might be as high as 20, or might be slightly lower than I’ve listed here. The same is true of his Flight. Likewise, his Kryptonite Vision might be a simple Energy Blast, but considering his origins, I felt Heat Vision was appropriate.
- This writeup is for a pre-Crisis character on a post-Crisis scale.
- The Kryptonite Man may (or may not) have other Pre-Crisis Kryptonian vulnerabilities, such as the weakness to red solar radiation and the vulnerability to magical or gravity-based attacks, at the GM’s discretion.
- Like many writeups, this takes the “Superman’s DEX is 10, although he sometimes uses his Superspeed to make it higher” approach.
- This writeup also assumes that Supergirl is using her “Wrath of Kara/Maid of Might” Alter Ego as detailed in Seb’s Supergirl II writeup; it also assumes that neither she nor Superman are pulling their punches to the extent they normally do.
Helper(s): Sébastien Andrivet’s writeup for Supergirl II (1980’s).
Source of Character: Superman #397 (July 1984) and The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #21 (July 1984).