Zod (Smallville)


 * "Unlike you, I will lead from a throne, not from the shadows! Every human on this planet, including the woman you love, will kneel before Zod!"--Zod, to Clark, "Salvation"

The version of Zod that appeared on Smallville was played by Michael Rosenbaum in the episodes "Vessel" and "Zod," briefly by Terence Stamp in the aforementioned "Zod," and by Callum Blue in a number of episodes in Season 9 and the Season 10 episode "Dominion."

History
On the planet Krypton twenty years before its destruction, Zod commanded the Kandorian Army, serving with the rank of Major, and was best friends with the scientist Jor-El. In 1966, Zod was leading his soldiers on the border of Kandor during a war against Black Zero. He then witnessed Black Zero's destruction of Kandor which claimed the lives of its residents, including his wife and young son; he tried to run toward the exploding city as the shockwave reached the Kandorian border and had to be restrained by Jor-El.

Later, when Jor-El was on trial by the Ruling Council for stopping an experiment on the battlefield and sentenced to death for his actions, Zod interrupted the session and made a plea to the Council to spare Jor-El's life; the Council agreed on the condition that Zod and Jor-El donate their blood so that clones of the Kandorian Army could be led by the two men, who were considered by the Council to be two of Krypton's greatest heroes. Sometime later, Zod approached Jor-El as he completed the Council's experiment and begged him to resurrect his deceased son, but Jor-El refused, fearing adverse effects; this angered Zod so intensely that he declared that Jor-El was as dead to him as his son.

By 1986, Zod had attained the rank of General and married one of his soldiers, Faora. He then began a war to conquer Krypton and gathered a number of devoted followers who came to be known as his "disciples" (two of these disciples were Nam-Ek and Aethyr). When Jor-El created Brainiac to help the Ruling Council fight against Zod and his forces, Zod corrupted the Kryptonian supercomputer to serve his own ends.

Zod and his wife Faora were eventually captured and sentenced to the Phantom Zone by Jor-El. Both Zod and his wife were stripped of their physical bodies while their essences were imprisoned in the Phantom Zone; the only way either of them could ever escape was for them to inhabit human vessels on Earth.

Although Zod was captured and imprisoned, his war resulted in the destruction of Krypton and the deaths of most of its inhabitants (the exceptions of course being Kal-El and a few others).

Seasons 5 & 6
During the meteor shower that hit Smallville eighteen years after Krypton's destruction, Nam-Ek and Aethyr arrived on Earth inside a black Kryptonian spaceship. After wreaking havoc in search of Kal-El, the two disciples were defeated and imprisoned in the Phantom Zone by Kal-El, otherwise known as Clark Kent. Following Nam-Ek and Aethyr's defeat, Brainiac assumed human form and set out to free Zod from the Phantom Zone. Posing as a college professor named Milton Fine, Brainiac befriended Clark and manipulated him into using the Fortress of Solitude to open a portal for Zod. Zod almost escaped but was thwarted when Clark closed the portal.

Zod was finally freed when Brainiac tricked Clark into stabbing him with a Kryptonian dagger given to him by Jor-El to kill Lex Luthor, whom Brainiac had earlier transformed into Zod's vessel. After being impaled with the dagger, Brainiac used the dagger to gain control of the Fortress, which he then used to open a portal to the Phantom Zone, allowing Zod to escape and possess Lex. Zod recognized Clark as Jor-El's son and offered for him to join him in conquering Earth. When Clark refused, Zod imprisoned Clark in the Phantom Zone.

Later, Zod kidnapped Lana Lang, intending for her to sire him an heir, and retrieved Brainiac's hard drive from the black ship. When Lana resisted, he impaled her hand to a wall and left to retrieve some equipment from the Pentagon. Later, Zod began using the stolen equipment and Brainiac's hard drive to transform Earth into a new Krypton when Clark, who managed to escape from the Phantom Zone, arrived and thwarted his plans by destroying Brainiac's hard drive. Enraged, Zod rushed at Clark, grabbed him, and flew out of the Luthor Mansion window and through the air. The two landed in a forest where Zod brutally beat Clark and demanded that he kneel before him. Clark obeyed, but this turned out to be a ploy to trick Zod into taking hold of a Kryptonian crystal that removed Zod's essence from Lex's body and sent him back to the Phantom Zone.

Season 8
In the episode "Bloodline," Zod's wife Faora escapes from the Phantom Zone and possesses Lois Lane. She tracks down Davis Bloome/Doomsday and reveals that he is the biological son of herself and Zod. Faora goes on to explain that she and Zod were unable to have children, so they genetically engineered a child by mixing their combined DNA with genetic material taken from Krypton's strongest life-forms, and intended for their offspring to destroy Earth so Zod and Faora could rule the planet.

Season 9
In "Salvation," Zod and his soldiers leave Zod's mark on several of the world's monuments. Zod himself travels to the Fortress of Solitude and finds Tess there. After a tense conversation, Zod is beaten by Tess using kryptonite brass knuckles. In retaliation, Zod burns half of Tess's body with a blast of heat vision. When Clark arrives at the Fortress and finds the console destroyed, Zod admits his culpability. The two Kryptonians have a tense stand-off before parting ways.

Season 10
In the episode "Dominion," Clark and Oliver travel to the Phantom Zone. There, they are captured and brought before Zod who, due to a bargain he made with Darkseid, now rules the Phantom Zone.