Zod (Smallville)

Zod appeared as a character on the television series Smallville. He was played by Michael Rosenbaum in the episodes "Vessel" and "Zod," briefly by Terence Stamp in the aforementioned episode "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. He was married to an unknown woman with whom he had a young son, and was best friends with Jor-El. In 1966, Zod was leading his soldiers on the border of Kandor during a war against an enemy known as Black Zero. He then witnessed Black Zero's destruction of Kandor which claimed the lives of its residents, including his own wife and son; he tried to run toward the exploding city as the shockwave reached the Kandorian border, but was 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, Zod interrupted the session and made an impassioned plea to the Council to spare Jor-El's life. The Council agreed on the condition that Zod and Jor-El donate their blood to the experiment 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 experiment and begged him to resurrect his 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 plan 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). Zod also enlisted the help of Jor-El's brother Zor-El. When Jor-El created Brainiac to help the Council fight against Zod and his forces, Zod corrupted the Kryptonian supercomputer, making it loyal to him.

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. However, this was especially difficult for Zod, since his host body needed to already possess Kryptonian abilities.

Although Zod was captured and imprisoned, his war eventually led to the destruction of Krypton. According to the web series Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton, Zor-El programmed Brainiac to ignite the planet's core in an effort to fulfill a Kryptonian prophecy.

Seasons 5 & 6
During the meteor shower that hit Smallville in 2005, Nam-Ek and Aethyr arrived on Earth inside the black 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 to the Phantom Zone 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. After being impaled with the dagger, Brainiac used the dagger to gain access to the Fortress and open a portal to the Phantom Zone, allowing Zod to 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.

Zod kidnapped Lana Lang, intending for her to sire him an heir for his new empire. When Lana resisted him, he impaled her hand to a wall and left to retrieve some equipment from the Pentagon. Zod began using the stolen equipment to transform Earth into a new Krypton when Clark escaped from the Phantom Zone and thwarted Zod's plans by destroying Brainiac's hard drive. Enraged, Zod rushed at Clark, grabbed him, and flew through the air. The two landed in a forest where Zod brutally beat Clark and demanded that he kneel before him. Clark obeyed, but tricked Zod into holding a Kryptonian crystal that removed Zod from Lex's body, sending him back to the Phantom Zone.

Season 9
In "Salvation," Zod and his soldiers leave Zod's mark on several of the world's monuments. Zod 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.

[[Category:Business Villain