Superboy (Young Justice cartoon TV series)

Superboy

(Young Justice cartoon version)


“Brute Force. Raw Power. Bad Temper.”

Context

Young Justice was an animated television series. It ran for 2 seasons (2011-2013). Young Justice wasn’t based on the prior comic book series. Instead, it took place in a series-specific version of the DC Universe (“Earth-16”) and with a different roster.

On Earth-16, super-heroes have been around for less than a decade, but the Justice League already has sidekicks. Yearning to be considered as real heroes, these teenagers form “the Team”. The Team specializes in covert missions and reconnaissance.


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The show’s tone was a healthy blend of teen angst, humour, and action. Throughout the series, the plot remained fresh while respecting the source material.

At this stage, our Young Justice profiles cover the first 10 episodes of Season 1.


Background

  • Real Name: Superboy.
  • Alter Ego: Conner Kent.
  • Former Aliases: The Weapon, Project Kr, Dean Danger, The Boy of Steel.
  • Marital Status: Single.
  • Known Relatives: Clark Kent (genetic donor), Lex Luther (genetic donor), Match (clone).
  • Group Affiliation: “The Team”; The Justice League.
  • Group Designation: B04.
  • Base Of Operations: Mount Justice, Happy Harbour, Rhode Island.
  • Height: 5’10” Weight: 180 lbs.
  • Eyes: Blue Hair: Black


Powers & Abilities

Strength Level

Superboy possesses prodigious levels of superhuman strength enabling him to easily lift (press) several hundreds of tons directly overhead under normal conditions.

In the past he has lifted automobiles, shattered concrete and steel plating with ease. He even managed to immobilize Superman for several seconds using nothing more than the power of his muscle and sinews.


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Known Superhuman Powers

As an adolescent clone of the world-renowned hero, Superman, Superboy exhibits the same baseline kryptonian  abilities that his genetic “father” possesses.

In addition to his raw strength, Superboy’s kryptonian physique possesses a high degree of resistance to injury, pain and presumably disease. His skin is capable of withstanding intense heat and cold with little to no affect and great impacts (he has ignored high calibre gunfire and survived direct hits by field artillery cannon shells).

Superboy’s superhuman strength extends itself to the muscles in his legs allowing him to leap great distances much like the Hulk; he has been seen covering at least a mile in a single bound. And while it is clear that he is not faster than a speeding bullet he definitely possess some measure of superhuman speed and reaction time.

In addition to his raw physical enhancements, Superboy’s senses of sight and hearing operate at a superhuman level. His hearing is excessively acute. He can perceive frequencies far outside of the range of a normal human being. He can hear distant whispers with crystal clear clarity as though it were uttered at a normal volume directly next to him.

He also possesses telescopic vision much like that of an eagle, and can shift the frequency of his sight into the infrared range.

Abilities

Through regular training with Black Canary, Superboy has developed rudimentary hand to hand combat skills and has become an effective grappler.

Superboy (Young Justice animated series) wrestles a robot

Paraphenalia

The process used to create Superboy involved splicing Kryptonian DNA into the human genome, thus creating a being of a hybrid nature. One of the side-effects of this procedure is a suppression of Superboy’s full kryptonian potential.

It is for this very reason that he has not developed the capacity for flight, or the ability to unleash the various forms of radiation from his eyes like a full-blooded Kryptonian.

Lex Luthor, Superboy’s human genetic donor, created a novel solution to this problem. The solution consisted of a series of small pentagonal patches (called “Shields”). When applied to his bare skin, these somehow suppressed the influence of Superboy’s human DNA; thus unleashing his full Kryptonian potential.

Each Shield was only affective for an hour, and was unremovable during that period of time. Once the hour elapsed, the patch would blacken and the Superboy’s powers would return to normal as his human DNA reasserted itself.

Limitations

Like all Kryptonians, Superboy’s powers are dependant on the solar energy provided by Earth’s golden sun. If he were deprived of its life giving radiation, his strength and invulnerability would eventually fade to relatively human levels.

Worse, Superboy is vulnerable to the life threatening radiation given off by Green Kryptonite, just like his genetic progenitor. Exposure to the radioactive mineral will cause him intense agony, a loss of his physical powers and eventually death.

Finally, the balance between Superboy’s human and Kryptonian DNA is both a delicate and deliberate one. The human DNA is in place to modulate his mood swings and maintain his sanity.

Suppression of said DNA via a “Shield” results in radical mood swings and unbridled rage within Superboy. This makes him as potentially dangerous to all that surround him as the foes he faces.

The longer term affects of suppressing his human DNA are unknown, but it would not be foolhardy to assume that madness would be the ultimate result.


History

Little was known about the secret organization codenamed “Project Cadmus” before an intense fire started in the building that housed the project on July 4, 2010. The blaze was intense enough to draw the attention of the 3 young heroes Aqualad, Robin and Kid Flash who had just recently been snubbed by their older counterparts in the Justice League.

The trio were under the false assumption that they were going to be offered full membership into the Justice League. They were sorely disappointed when they were instead only allowed into the “Hall of Justice” in order to use the library and computer facilities.

In an attempt to prove their value to the league, the three young heroes rushed off to the site of the fire without first gaining permission from their mentors.

The trio of young heroes began saving civilian lives immediately upon their arrival to the scene of the fire. During the course of their individual efforts, they discovered a secret elevator that descended into an underground facility that was housed under the building.

Curiosity overwhelmed the three young heroes, and despite their better judgement, they ventured into the facility without contacting the rest of the League. As they explored the facility they were confronted with all manner of security forces and strange alien creatures.

The three found themselves fighting for their own survival and eventually stumbled into a secure chamber marked Project Kr for a brief respite from the action that followed them.

Project Kr awakens

Upon entry to the chamber, they found a comatose young man standing within a large glass pod. He was dressed in a skintight white body suit with a Superman ’s’ shield emblazoned prominently on his chest. When the initial shock of the scene passed, Robin immediately hacked into the computer systems that were present in the chamber and discovered the origins of the youth.

Apparently, 16 weeks prior to the fire (approximately in mid-March) Project Cadmus initiated Project Kr. The goal of Project Kr was the creation of a fully functional, viable clone of the Kryptonian hero, Superman. The youth in the pod was the successful result of the experiment.

Superboy (Young Justice animated series) destroys a tank gun

The 3 heroes had a brief debate about what to do next, and after a failed attempt at contacting the League, decided to free the youth. Robin hacked into the computer systems of the cell that contained him and with a few quick key strokes, freed and awakened him.

While the young Kryptonian regained consciousness, the protégés noticed a trio of small alien creatures that sat above him in the pod.

As the “Superboy” awakened, the creatures above him stirred restlessly and their eyes and horns glowed with menace. Suddenly and without warning, the Superboy’s eyes flashed open and he blurred forward; attacking the three with abandon.

Of them all, only Aqualad managed to put up a decent fight. The two exchanged several heavy blows in a clash of atlantean muscle versus kryptonian might.

Unfortunately for Aqualad, the fight was short and ultimately one sided. At its conclusion, Aqualad joined Kid Flash and Robin in the depths of unconsciousness.

After the confrontation, Superboy stood stock still and waited patiently as he watched Cadmus personnel enter the chamber. They took the three unconscious heroes and loaded them into pods much like the one he was born in. He watched them for several minutes until they eventually regained consciousness.

Conversation with the Kryptonian

The three boys took turns talking to Superboy, and eventually got him to speak and respond freely to them. When they questioned his memories and his knowledge of who he was, he replied honestly and frankly about the nature of his creation. He knew that he was created as a replacement for Superman should he fall in battle, or turn away from the light.

He knew all sorts of things that a normal teenaged boy his physical age would know. But he had never seen the night sky, felt the warmth of the sun or experienced anything first hand. Aqualad implored him to free them, offering him a chance to leave with them and meet his genetic progenitor.

The offer seemed to get through to Superboy but was rendered moot when the director of Cadmus, Mark Desmond, entered the chamber. He was accompanied by a small telepathic Genomorph that used a form of compulsion to encourage Superboy to return to his pod.

Unable to resist, Superboy dutifully left the chamber all the while listening to the screams of the captured trio as they had their own genetic material extracted from their bodies.

Hoping that Superboy inherited more than the Man of Steel’s strength and good looks, Aqualad whispered a final plea for help to the young clone. He bet his and his friends futures on a single sentence that he hoped would get through to the young clone.

He whispered, “What would Superman do?”

Superboy froze dead in his tracks, standing motionless for a few seconds. The words obviously struck a chord deep within him, and with the barest bit of effort he broke free of the compulsion he had been under for the majority of his life. Then with narrowed eyes and an ever growing rage, he turned around and marched back to the chamber that held the three young heroes.

Escape

He surprised the three Cadmus personnel inside (including a telepathically controlled Guardian) by wrenching the thick steel door from its frame and then stalking into the chamber. With a casual shove of his mighty arms, Superboy knocked all of his former jailers unconscious and then freed the others.

The quartet of teen heroes then attempted to flee the Cadmus facility. Despite Superboy’s kryptonian might, they were eventually overwhelmed and apprehended by the superior numbers of the army of Cadmus created Genomorphs but only for a short time. One of the Genomorphs came forth at that time, and identified himself as Dubbilex.

Dubbilex had planned and set up the entire situation from the very beginning. He set the fire, and telepathically attracted the young heroes who responded all in the hopes of drawing the attention of the League itself and granting his people their freedom. With a wave of his hand, he commanded the other Genomorphs to release the heroes.

As the quartet sought their freedom once more, they were interrupted a final time by Desmond, who had drunk a genetic cocktail that transformed him into a powerful monster. The newly christened Blockbuster attacked the quartet only to be met by an enraged Superboy. The two traded blows briefly, but to his surprise, Superboy found himself outmatched.

Reluctantly, he found himself having to accept help from the other young heroes in order to fight the monster that Desmond had become. The 4 combined their skills and powers in order to sufficiently weaken the structural support of the building itself, collapsing the upper levels upon themselves and Desmond alike.

The four dug themselves out of the rubble, and for the first time in his life, Superboy saw the night sky. He marvelled at it for a short moment before his vision of it was blocked by the arrival of the Justice League. His eyes widened further when he saw Superman himself drop from the sky and alight deftly on the ground before him.

Father figures

Before anyone could react, Superboy strode forward to stand in front of the man who he naturally saw as a father. He proudly displayed the “S” shield on his chest. It only took Superman an instant to understand what had happened and who the young boy was. Unfortunately, he didn’t hide the displeasure and near revulsion he felt at being cloned fast enough for Superboy not to notice.

Pain and anger flashed across Superboy’s face as Superman turned around and walked away to discuss options with the League. When the discussion broke up, Superman told Superboy that Batman would work something out for him, and that he had to leave. Disappointed but not surprised, Superboy waited for Batman to admonish the quartet for their actions.

He didn’t have to wait long, as Batman, Aquaman and the Flash approached the four immediately and informed them that the events of the night would never have a chance to happen again. To their mentor’s surprise, the 4 youths responded without pause that they would continue to fight together with or without the League’s blessing.

When Kid Flash explicitly included Superboy as part of their group, he stepped forward and stated aggressively to Batman, “Get on board or get out of the way.”

Four days later, Superboy and the others were taken to the location of their new headquarters, Mount Justice in Happy Harbour, Rhode Island. The League had eventually decided that the four were capable of doing good work together and deserved a chance to prove it. Even more so, Batman realized that he could kill two birds with one stone.

He needed a way to reign in the young heroes, but he also needed a team that could do things and go places that the much more famous members of the Justice League simply couldn’t. He needed a covert team. And he just found one.

Superboy joined Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Miss Martian (the Martian Manhunter’s niece) to form a team that would do some good, and hopefully gain the respect and attention of the one person that meant the most to him. After all, what else did he have to do?

Black Canary

Nearly a month after his initial release, Superboy was present in Metropolis when a bridge threatened to collapse. Superboy responded to the emergency and in the process crossed paths with Superman for the second time since his release from Cadmus Labs.

Despite his best efforts, Superboy’s assistance threatened to collapse the bridge, and he found himself on the receiving end of a near scolding from Superman.

In spite of the confrontational nature of their conversation, Superboy still reached out to Superman for support and help in figuring out his abilities. As soon as he did, he saw the discomfort in Superman’s stance and countenance. Before he had to answer, Superman’s communicator chimed and Superman rocketed off to respond to another emergency.

Superboy (Young Justice animated series) and Superman

Disappointed and angry, Superboy teleported back to Mount Justice just in time to walk in on an in progress training session for the Team. Black Canary was attempting to teach the youths some formal self-defense and made a point of calling out Superboy.

Scoffing, he attempted to walk away from the session claiming that his powers made self-defense useless for him. He almost made it, until Black Canary insulted his pride.

Without prompting, he turned and entered the training circle and squared off against the human woman. Unknown to Superboy, he had lost the confrontation before it even begun. In moments, he had been thrown to the ground twice in front of his friends, and even worse by a human woman.

Amazo

Enraged and embarrassed, he got to his feet and stormed out of the circle. He would have left the building, except he was interrupted by Batman who gave the team a mission; escorting the disassembled body of the Amazo android safely to storage.

The Team was assaulted and Amazo was stolen while they were en route to the safe house. The theft was perpetrated by a collection of unique flying robots that greatly resembled monkeys. As the MONQIs escaped into the evening sky, Superboy abandoned his teammates to follow them. He leaped through the sky with a burning fury in the pit of his stomach as he trailed the MONQIs to a cargo train.

When he finally made his way to the appropriate car, the unthinkable had happened … Amazo had been reassembled by Professor Ivo and attacked him head on. The robot that battled seven members of the Justice League, including Superman, to a standstill for 5 hours proceeded to beat the hell out of the young Kryptonian.

It was only the timely arrival of Kid Flash, Robin and some surreptitious aid from Artemis that saved Superboy’s life. and eventually led to the destruction of the android.

When the Team returned to Mount Justice, they received some faint praise from Batman who claimed to be impressed with their performance. Superboy however, wasn’t satisfied with his. He had learned a valuable lesson that day, and upon their dismissal approached Black Canary and humbly asked her to train him.

M’Gann

As the weeks passed, Superboy grew closer and closer to his teammate M’gann. The two had a lot in common. They both lived in Mount Justice. Neither one of them had a secret identity or were enrolled in any local school. And they were both socially awkward teens (emotionally if not physically).

As the two spent more time together, both on and off of missions, they ended up forging a friendship that began to graduate into something more.

Shortly after September 4, their JLA supervisors decided to enrol M’gann and Superboy in a local high school in Happy Harbour. The goal was to teach them how to better integrate with people more their age. M’gann took the name Megan Morse and was eager to go.

When Superboy still hadn’t chosen a name for himself, M’gann (Megan now) suggested to him the name “Conner” as it was her favourite Earth name. When queried about a surname, J’onn J’onzz suggested Kent, as it was the name of the recently deceased Doctor Fate. With a dispassionate shrug, Superboy accepted the name.

School was easy for the young clone, as he had the entirety of the curriculum telepathically implanted in his memories while he was held at Cadmus Labs. However, integrating with the youths that surrounded him was awkward.

One short week later, M’gann and Superboy were given a unique mission. The two were sent to Belle Reve, a prison designed to contain superhuman prisoners, in the guise of the Terror Twins. They were sent to discover the reason that 4 super-villains, all with cold based powers, were easily captured on the same day.

It wasn’t long before they discovered that the 4 chilly villains were critical to a plan that would have resulted in a facility wide escape for all of the captured super-villains.

Superboy proved critical to disrupting the escape plan, but was unable to do so before M’gann fell afoul of Killer Frost. The cold blooded villainess encased M’gann in a block of solid ice rendering her unconscious for quite some time.

M’gann eventually regained consciousness when Superboy discovered her and telepathically begged her to return to him. The icy prison shattered into tiny shards when M’gann eventually unleashed her telekinetic might.

Exhausted, M’gann then fell into Superboy’s waiting arms who immediately kissed her with a passion she had not expected. Despite her surprise, M’gann eagerly returned the kiss and the two took the first step in their still burgeoning relationship.

Match

The next few months were good ones for Superboy. His relationship with M’gann blossomed. Over the course of two missions he found and kept Wolf, a massive genetically enhanced Wolf Hound, and discovered that the Sphere he had found during a mission in Bialya was actually the sentient Super Cycle. The soul numbing loneliness that he had experienced was slowly being beaten back by his ever growing “family.”

In late November, Superboy’s super hearing tuned into an ultrasonic message that was directed only at him. Superboy followed the voice in the message to Washington, DC where he confronted Lex Luthor. Luthor had been waiting there for him, and revealed to him that yet another Superman-clone remained hidden with the underbelly of Cadmus Labs.

Superboy set out immediately for Cadmus Labs in order to confirm or refute the existence of the other clone, but when he arrived no one within the facility would confirm the information he was given. He took the opportunity to nose about himself when his guide, the Guardian, left him momentarily alone.

It didn’t take long before he and Wolf, stumbled across a secret laboratory that housed the other clone. The clone was contained in an identical tube that Superboy awoke in, and was labelled Project Match. Superboy released the clone as quickly as he could, and immediately tried to pacify the young man as he awoke.

His attempts were in vain though, as “Match” attacked Superboy the instant he regained consciousness and recognized the symbol on Superboy’s chest. To Superboy’s chagrin, Match actually seemed stronger than he was and worse still, could fly! In seconds, Match proved to be Superboy’s superior by beating him into a state of unconsciousness.

Superboy awoke a short time later, under the care of Cadmus staff who informed him that Match left immediately after their short but violent battle. As he recovered, Luthor contacted Superboy once again, this time via a console in Cadmus, and explained to him that Match was the original attempt to clone Superman.

What the Cadmus scientists discovered nearly instantly was that Match’s near perfect Kryptonian DNA had rendered him mad, and that Superboy was the best compromise that they could conceive of.

Re-Match

When Superboy decided to confront Match again, Luthor offered Superboy a method of evening the odds. He gave him a pack of “Shields,” technological patches that could inhibit Superboy’s human DNA and give him his full Kryptonian powers for up to an hour. Superboy took the Shields, and eventually crossed paths with Match once again.

The two clashed, and almost levelled the underground Genemorph settlement that was hidden in the bowels of Cadmus. Superboy once again found himself on the receiving end of a beating from Match, until he utilized one of Luthor’s Shields. With his human half inhibited, Superboy’s powers skyrocketed and the 2 kryptonians fought to a standstill.

Eventually Match managed to enrage Superboy, who flew into a berserker rage and brutally beat Match into unconsciousness. Only the sudden arrival of Cadmus officials prevented the young hero from taking his own “brother’s” life.

Superboy immediately realized at that point, that the Shield’s powers came at too high a cost and tried to return them to Luthor. Luthor refused the remainder of the Shields (there were 20 in the packet originally), and after revealing that he was the source of Superboy’s human DNA, told him that they were a gift from father to his son.

Angry at Luthor’s insinuation, Superboy attempted to apprehend him, but was halted with the simple phrase “Red Sun.” When he eventually awoke, Superboy returned to Mount Justice with the Shields in hand.

Against the Light

Over the next month, Superboy used every last one of the remaining Shields on one mission or another. He kept the Shields and their effects on his powers a secret but with each use, his temper and recklessness got worse, until on one mission he was seen flying and actually endangered the lives of his teammates.

At that point, he was left with little choice but to tell the truth. He revealed the entire story to his teammates, including the truth of his origins and the fact that Luthor had offered him an additional set of Shields if he worked for him.

The Team listened intently to his story, and accepted his apology. M’gann removed all traces of the command phrase “Red Sun” from Superboy’s mind while the others devised an ambush for the gathered villains. They then set out for Santa Prisca (where the villains had assembled) defeated them in one fell swoop.

Superman

Superboy was present on New Years Eve when Batman and the Red Tornado told the gathered members of the Team that Red Arrow was not only a mole that had infiltrated the League, he was also a clone of the original Roy Harper. Superboy was stunned at the revelation and set out with Miss Martian to find Red Arrow.

He found Roy in Washington, where he revealed everything he knew including the fact that he was controlled with certain coded phrases. And worse, that the entire League had fallen under the control of the Light.

Superboy returned with Red Arrow and Miss Martian to Mount Justice. There the Team, alongside Red Tornado, came up with a daring plan to free the League from the clutches of the Light. Within 12 hours, they had created a cure for the Light’s mind control and had infiltrated the Watchtower which orbited the Earth.

Things were going smoothly. Using team work and stealth, the Team took down several mind controlled members of the League until Superman, Batman and the other senior members joined the fray.

Superboy (Young Justice animated series) blocks an energy beam with his forearm

Superboy found himself quickly outmatched by his genetic father and on the receiving end of yet another beating, until he and Robin teamed up to take on their mentors. Superboy flung Robin into Batman with enough force to knock him out, and while Superman was distracted, held him long enough for Robin to expose the two kryptonians to a sliver of kryptonite.

While they writhed in pain on the ground, Robin exposed Superman to the cure and released his mind from the Light’s control.

As the sun rose on New Year’s day, the League was free from the influence of the Light and Superboy watched the sunrise while sharing an embrace with M’gann.

They were interrupted by Superman who stood awkwardly waiting to speak to Superboy. When M’gann left with a silent smile, the two kryptonians spent an awkward moment attempting to make conversation with one another, until Superman finally let down his guard.

When he discovered that Superboy had taken on the civilian name Conner Kent, he revealed his own secret identity and explicitly blessed his choice of names. And for the first time in his short existence, Superboy had finally received the only thing he truly wanted; his “father’s” acceptance.


Description

As a clone of Superman, Superboy looks like a younger version of the Kryptonian hero. He appears to physically be a 15 to 16 year old boy despite being barely a year old. He is exceptionally fit and has a tall, broad and muscular frame.

His face is quite handsome, with piercing blue eyes and a strong squarish jaw. His midnight black hair is cut close to his skull and hangs simply in an unruly mop. It doesn’t yet hang in Superman’s familiar “s” spit curl in the front but the hints of that familiar curl are there.

Superboy refuses to wear a costume made of spandex or a cape. Instead he wears a black t-shirt with the classic ’s’ symbol in red displayed prominently in the middle of his chest. He generally pairs this shirt with a pair dark blue jeans or cargo pants which are tucked into brown combat boots.

Most disconcerting about Superboy’s appearance is the manner in which he stands. He rarely has anything but a frown on his face, or a stoic look of casual indifference. His body language always seem to scream impatience and irritation, unless he or his teammates are confronted by danger.

In those moments, his closed fists and angry glare can’t be mistaken for anything short of pure aggression.


Personality

Many words can be used to describe the young man known as Superboy. At a glance, the words: brash, bold, impulsive, sullen, laconic, surly, defiant and volatile seem to describe his personality the best. But at the end of the day, the simplest way to describe who he is, is to say that Superboy is an angry and lost young man who is desperately seeking the approval of the only father he knows.

While he resembles a typical 16 year old boy, Superboy is actually anything but typical. He has all the same rampant hormones and is prone to highly emotional states, but has had a very short time to learn how to deal with and control them.

As it stands, it takes very little emotional stimulus to provoke an outburst of anger from the young man as he hasn’t developed any alternative coping mechanisms as of yet.

His typical response to most situations, whether they are disappointment, conflict or danger ranges from utter silence and brooding to angry shouting and physical reactions. Additionally, he has no practical experience with the day to day trappings of life and has no real likes or dislikes.

While his teammates obviously know how to have fun, Superboy will often be seen awkwardly hanging back and observing them, or simply sitting quietly watching a blank television screen.

Le freak

It is clear that Superboy sees himself as a freak, and knows that he will always be compared to his genetic progenitor.

Even worse, his conditioning by Cadmus combined with the natural affection that a young man has for his father has given birth to a form of hero worship within him for Superman. Like most of the people who surround Superman, he sees him as a perfect being without doubt or malice within him.

He idolizes the Man of Steel and desperately feels the need to not only emulate him but also for his explicit approval and attention. Superman’s initial rejection of Superboy hurt him deeply and is one of the main causes for his constant state of simmering anger.

Perhaps due to the way he was manipulated by Cadmus (or maybe simply because he’s a teenager), Superboy does not like being told what to do. He will often lash out and outright defy people who he perceives to be authority figures.

As another hold over from his treatment at Cadmus’ hands, Superboy detests telepaths and is instantly leery of any form of telepathic communication even if it is from someone he should trust.

Superboy revels in the fact that his kryptonian heritage makes him the most physically powerful member of the team. While in combat, he is absolutely brimming with confidence and enjoys the outlet for his constant frustration.

He has complete faith in his strength and invulnerability; often leaping into battle without care or caution, and always attempting to take out the visibly strongest target without the aid of his friends or the benefit of a plan. With all that being said, when the chips are down Superboy has proven that he can be a focused team player that is loyal to his friends and always tries to do the right thing.


Quotes

Kid Flash: “He… he can talk ?”
Superboy: “Yes, ‘HE’ can.”

“I am the Superboy, a genomorph, a clone made from the DNA from the Superman. Created to replace him should he perish, or destroy him should he turn from the light.”

“Don’t. Give. Me. Orders.”

Kid Flash: “You here to help us or fry us ?”
Superboy: “Huh. I don’t seem to have heat vision, so I guess helping is my only option.”

(After plummeting down an elevator shaft) “Superman can fly, why can’t I fly ?”

“I choose Freedom.”

(Addressing Batman regarding the sidekicks teaming up) “Why let them tell us what to do ? It’s simple. Get on board, or get out of the way.”

(To Miss Martian after being telepathically spoken to) “GET OUT OF MY HEAD !”

“Don’t talk to me.”

(In response to an offer for a high-tech costume) “No capes. No tights. No offense.”

(Scoffing during Black Canary’s lecture on hand to hand combat) “Oh please — with my powers the battle’s always on my terms. I’m a living weapon, and this is a waste of my time.”

(In response to Aqualad’s order to stand-down and wait for backup) “I don’t need help ! Don’t want any !”

Professor Ivo: “I didn’t realize that Superman had a brat.”
Superboy: “He doesn’t.”

Professor Ivo: “Normally Amazo would study and mimic your abilities during battle, but what’s the point ? You’re all such poor copies of the originals.”
Superboy: “So everyone keeps saying.”

(Joking with Robin after the group defeated Professor Ivo and Amazo) “Fine… feeling the aster.”

Batman: “Complications come with the job. Your ability to handle them has impressed the League.”
Superboy: “The whole League ?”
Batman: “Given time, yes. Kryptonians, as you know, have very hard heads.”


DC Universe History

The events of Young Justice are canonical and take place on Earth-16 within the DC Universe. Any travel through the DC Multiverse could potentially bring the player characters into contact with this version of Superboy.



Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG

Tell me more about the game stats

Superboy (Earth-16)

Dex: 06 Str: 13 Bod: 11 Motivation: Unwanted Power
Int: 05 Wil: 06 Min: 05 Occupation: Superhero
Inf: 05 Aur: 06 Spi: 05 Resources {or Wealth}: 001
Init: 025 HP: 050

Powers:
Directional Hearing: 08, Extended Hearing: 08, Flight: 18, Iron Will: 02, Jumping: 07, Laser Beam: 12, Sharpness (Laser Beam): 03, Super Hearing: 08, Superspeed: 06, Telescopic Vision: 08, Thermal Vision: 08, X-Ray Vision: 08

Skills:
Martial Arts (+Techniques): 03

Advantages:
Attractive, Headquarters (Expansive), Languages (Arabic, Atlantean, French, Korean, Russian, Spanish), Lightning Reflexes, Omni-Scholar (High School Curriculum, World History), Pet (Sphere), Pet (Wolf).

Connections:
“The Team” (High), Justice League (Low), Red Tornado (High), Miss Martian (High), Superman (Low).

Drawbacks:

  • Age (Young).
  • Minor Bulletproof Syndrome.
  • Fatal Vulnerability (Kryptonite, Range of 1 AP).
  • Gradual Power Loss Vulnerability (Lack of Yellow-Sun Solar Radiation, All Powers 0 APs, All Physical Stats 04 APs).
  • MIA towards Getting Superman’s approval.
  • Minor Rage.
  • Power Loss Vulnerability (Kryptonite, Range 1 AP, All Powers to 0, STR & BOD to 04).
  • Power Loss Vulnerability (Absence of Shields: Flight, Laser Beam, X-Ray Vision are all reduced to 0 APs, STR is lower by 1 AP).
  • Secret Identity.
  • Socially Inept (Minor, Persuasion Only).

Genre:
Action.

Equipment:
[See the Young Justice (Main Article) writeup for a description of the equipment that Superboy may employ].


Design notes

  • Most of the animated series characters upper limits appear to be much lower than their comic book counterparts. Even though Superman has had one single major appearance in the Young Justice cartoon at this time, I’m assuming his abilities will be similarly capped as they have been in the Superman TAS and Justice League cartoons and movies, which seem to be around the 20AP mark.
  • Re-evaluated STR based on episode 09 where a mindless Superboy absolutely destroys a series of battle tanks. I originally based Superboys STR on episode 5 where he somewhat struggles while rescuing a school bus from the edge of a bridge. More than likely, he flubbed his initial roll and spent hero points on the follow up in order to ensure success (especially when you see the ease in which he lifts a midsize automobile in the previous seconds).
  • Went back and forth several times on DEX, ranging from 06 to 08 APs, mainly due to the fact that in episode one he easily manhandles Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad with little to no effort (my basic assumption is that he Pressed the Attack each round and attempted to Grapple each time, once grappled the others stood little to no chance). But in other circumstances, he spends plenty of time losing initiative and missing his target(s). Eventually decided on a solid 06 to start.
  • Though he hasn’t demonstrated any true Kryptonian drawbacks, I’ve made the assumption that as a Superman clone, he has similar vulnerabilities to Kryptonite and lack of sunlight.


By Bryan Gittens.

Source of Character: Animated Series – Young Justice S1E01-S1E25, produced by Greg Weisman and voiced by Nolan North.

Helper(s): Young Justice Wiki, Ethan Roe, Frank Murdock, Azrael.

Writeup updated on the 07th of January, 2013.