Superboy (User:Leader Vladimir)

Superboy is a superhero and a hybrid clone created from Superman's Kryptonian DNA and Lex Luthor's human DNA. He was created by the U.S. Army to serve as a living weapon against Superman in case the Man of Steel became a threat to national security. However, Superboy escaped from captivity and decided to look for Superman. When the two met, Superman was naturally shocked that the government had made a clone of him without telling him, but decided to help Superboy. Superman helped Superboy create a secret identity as Conner Kent, Clark Kent's cousin from Nebraska. Conner moved to Smallville to live with Jonathan and Martha Kent and began attending Smallville High. Now, Superboy must balance his life as a high school student with his responsibilities as a superhero. Later, Superboy is named Kon-El by Superman as an honorary member of the House of El.

Superboy was created by Karl Kessel and Tom Grummett. Officially, Superboy first appeared in Adventures of Superman # 500, but his first appearance in Leader Vladimir's fan fiction continuity was in Superman: The Rise of Superboy.

Origins
Superboy is a clone created by Project Cadmus using Kryptonian and human DNA. The scientists of Cadmus artificially aged him to mid-teens and implanted him with the necessary knowledge of someone his biological age (in regards to general studies, such as math, reading, etc). Before the experiment could be completed (i.e. aging him to full adulthood and implanting him with safeguards to control him), Superboy acquired full consciousness and escaped from the lab. Remembering Superman from his implanted memories, Superboy flew to Metropolis, hoping to find him and get some answers.

Superboy met Superman when the latter was fighting the Parasite. Acting out of instinct, Superboy helped Superman in defeating Parasite. They later flew to the North Pole, near the Fortress of Solitude, where they introduced each other and talked about Superboy's origin. Superman was naturally shocked that the U.S. military would make a clone without his knowledge, but nevertheless decided to help Superboy in starting a new life, since he saw he could trust him.

With the the help of Lois Lane, Superman created a new identity for Superboy, known as Conner Kent, Clark Kent's cousin from Nebraska. Conner went to live with Jonathan and Martha Kent in Smallville. There, Conner was well-received by the Kents, who saw him as a second son.

Teen Titans
Superboy eventually becomes a member of the Teen Titans, along with Robin, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl and Beast Boy.

Powers
Tactile Telekinesis: At first, Superboy's only superpower was "tactile telekinesis", a telekinetic force field that surrounds his body as a protective shield and allows him to simulate Superman-level speed, strength, flight and invulnerability. The tactile TK field also lets Superboy break free of an opponent's grip by pushing the field outward to force the opponent away. Other creative uses include rendering an opponent immobile by extending the TK field as long as they are both standing on the same ground.


 * Telekinetic Superhuman Strength: His full strength is undetermined at this time. He, like Superman seems to be able to lift almost anything he can conceive of. To date, he has lifted the world's largest yacht using his telekinetic strength (a feat of at least 500 tons); he has even been shown to throw a football at Mach 5. Objects lifted with his telekinetic strength do not crumble under their own weight or internal stresses. As his will power and concentration improve, so will his super strength increase. This does not truly count as super strength in the traditional sense, since Superboy has been bound with chains that were surrounded by an energy field and he was unable to escape because he could not directly affect the chains with his power.


 * Telekinetic Flight: Superboy is able to fly at high supersonic speeds using a reflexive action of his telekinesis, literally dragging himself through the sky. His concentration is required to maintain great speeds. His fastest recorded speed has been seen at Mach 3 from the pages of Young Justice, and his greatest distance flown unaided has been approximately 12,000 miles. However, as with his strength, his speed was also developing naturally, Superboy is capable of roughly reaching speeds of Mach 5 (1 mile per second) but the limit of his speed currently is unknown.


 * Telekinetic Force-Field: By creating a field around his body, he is able to resist or reduce injury from non-energy based attacks by causing the object to be deflected from his personal force field. Bullets and shrapnel are easily deflected. This field does not repel gases or energy based attacks as well, though his skill in deflecting energy attacks is improving.


 * Tactile Telekinetic Disassemble: By touching an object, Superboy may cause that object to literally fall to pieces. It can be assumed that he could conceivably put an object back together, if he understood how the object functioned in the first place. He can also manipulate aggregate solid masses such as volumes of sand or dust in the same way, causing the individual particles to fly apart in an explosive manner to create particle clouds or a forceful attack.


 * Telekinetic Field manipulation: after receiving training form Knockout, Superboy learned to project his force fields outward at will allowing him to engulf and surround people and objects with a force barrier. he could use this for supportive and defensive purposes like moving inanimate objects and living people around or throwing and pushing objects away from himself. he could also hold objects in his fields for a limited time, the fields strength relied on his own will and focus so long as he centered his mind on his task the field would remain intact.
 * Telekinetic Force Blasts: Superboy also learned that he could project burst of raw psionic energy bolts from Knockout as well. he mostly projects the energy from his hands but it is assumed that he could project them from anywhere since his Tactile TK field permeates from his entire body. The blasts he emits have concussive force equivalent to 5,000 pounds of TNT, but it is speculated that as he grows older this force amount could grow and change along with him.

Healing Factor: Superboy has a super-healing factor which allows him to recover from injury a lot faster than a normal human being would. This has helped him survive nuclear annihilation, recovering from diseases that would kill normal humans, and the ability to get up after fighting powerful metahumans such as Knockout, the Shark or Valor.

Superhuman Reflexes: Superboy's reflex action is also increased allowing him, with concentration, to knock bullets out of the air, and deflect arrows.

Kryptonian Powers
As his Kryptonian physiology matures, Superboy gains superpowers that don't derive from tactile telekinesis, including heat vision, x-ray vision, superhuman senses and superhuman stamina. With his Kryptonian powers, Conner no longer relies just on his telekinetic abilities for flight, superhuman strength and invulnerability.

Kryptonian Physiology: Superboy's cellular structure is more dense, resilient and biologically more effective than human tissue, now this includes even having superhuman strength without using any Tactile Telekinesis. Without exposure to solar energy after a certain period of time, his strength reduces to the level of a human of his height and weight who engages in regular physical activity. He does possess several organs whose functions are not yet disclosed or understood, but are believed to be part of and perhaps even the source of his biomatrix force field and reclamation aura. Superboy's body also stores energy actively within his bio-cellular matrix as an energy pattern that is linked to his body's electromagnetic field. This energy powers most of Superboy's electromagnetic capabilities such as flight and heat vision.


 * Solar Energy Absorption: Technically, this is the main source of Superboy's powers. Because Superboy's powers are greatly due to exposure to Earth's yellow sun, Conner, however, does not process solar energy as quickly as Superman. As a result, he cannot push himself and his powers too far yet; if he does so, his body starts to eat itself for energy.


 * Superhuman Strength: In recent years, it has been shown that Superboy was developing natural superhuman strength and what limited his strength such as the previous example no longer applied. As his Kryptonian physiology matures, Superboy gains superpowers that don't derive from tactile telekinesis. While the exact magnitude of Superboy's strength is unknown, it is shown that his strength is at least enough to match most super-strong opponents. This is because Superboy's strength, like his other powers, has fluctuated over time. Superboy has also shown the ability to become even stronger when "supercharged". Conner can now easily lift vehicles, bend metals and lift heavy objects above his head. Conner is sufficiently strong to lift far in excess of 100 tons. Because his cells aren't fully Kryptonian, it does take longer from him to reach the full level of strength normal Kryptonians such as Superman has, but his own strength although not on the same level as Superman, yet he will match almost him as Superboy reaches adulthood. It should also be noted that Superboy demonstrated that whilst angry he was strong enough to draw blood and harm Superman himself with a blow and even Superboy-Prime by punching him, a feat not many DC strongmen can boast about.


 * Invulnerability: Superboy's body is nigh-invulnerable as he has survived high-yield nuclear explosions. In addition, his immune system protects him from toxins and diseases. The most common explanations for his invulnerability are Superboy having a super-dense molecular structure and/or a supercharged bioelectric "aura" which acts as an invisible "force field" around his body within a few millimeters from his skin, and presumably within his body as well. The proximity of this field to his skin means that loose clothes, for example, may be burned off of him, while cloth that is close to his body is protected by the "aura;" this phenomenon is sometimes cited as Superboy's reason for wearing a skin-tight bodysuit. It is shown that he can unconsciously extend this field to an undetermined extent to protect a greater area, allowing him to carry huge objects within the Earth's atmosphere and without gravity or inertia tearing them apart around his human-sized hands.


 * Superhuman Stamina: Ability to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an undefined period. Theoretically, Superboy has unlimited stamina, nourishment coming from the solar energy his cells process; he does, however, have the psychological need to eat and drink just as humans do every once in a while, though he receives the majority of his nourishment from the Sun. He does require sleep on occasion so he can dream. He can also hold his breath for an undefined duration.


 * Flight: He possesses flight which allows him to maneuver precisely in any direction, as well as hover. The mechanism by which he flies is unknown, but some suggestions have been a field of energy allowing unconscious manipulation of gravity or diffraction/reflection of gravity due to unidentified Kryptonian organs affected by a yellow sun, or psionic manipulation of a personal anti-gravitational aura, which is also caused by his Kryptonian cells and a yellow sun.


 * Superhuman Speed: The ability to move at an incredible speed, like the Flash. This includes running, but flying is less strenuous and more versatile. Conner can move at supersonic speeds, while the upper limit has never been shown, Conner is not as fast as Superman currently. Superboy also possesses superhuman reflexes and the ability to move at incredible speeds by sheer force of will. He can also perform complex actions like assembling objects at hundreds of times faster than a normal human.


 * Enhanced Senses: Superboy possesses greatly enhanced senses.


 * Telescopic Vision: The ability to "zoom in" his distance to see something at a great distance, without violating the laws of physics. The total telescopic ability is unprecedented, but limited to some extent.


 * X-Ray Vision: The ability to see through anything except lead. He can see things behind a wall as if the wall were not there, or can "peel back" layer after layer of matter in his mind. Opponents sometimes used lead-lined constructs in an attempt to hide things from Superboy. Kon-El is able to focus his vision past layers of matter, literally seeing "through" them -- possibly perceiving x-rays, cosmic rays or other forms of energy invisible to normal human vision which pass through Earth's atmosphere (and solid objects) after emission from stars. Since it is passive, this ability would not generate harmful radiation in the same manner as a focused projection of hard X-rays.


 * Microscopic Vision: The ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the atomic level (normal optical microscopes can only see objects down to the size of chromosomes).


 * Heat Vision: The ability to fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it with the conscious act of activating this power. Visually, the power is typically depicted as two beams of red light firing from his eyes. These beams can be made invisible, allowing Superboy to work undetected. The maximum temperature of his heat vision is said to be around that of a nuclear detonation. The area of effect can be consciously determined by Superboy, down to the microscopic level.


 * Superhuman Hearing: The ability to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. The only Earth creature who can detect sounds at the frequency he can is a blue whale (0.01-200,000 Hz). He has shown enough control to block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source/frequency. Superboy was able to detect disturbances in the frequency the human brain operates.

Strength
Superboy's strength level is mostly unknown, but it is estimated that he can lift far in excess of 100 tons.

Weaknesses

 * Kryptonite: Due to his Kryptonian half, Conner is partially vulnerable to kryptonite and red sun radiation.
 * Red Sun Radiation: The damage from the Red Sun seems to be less effective on him than the full Kryptonians. His tactile-telekinetic field around his body can be penetrated by heat.
 * Yellow Sun Processing: Because Superboy absorbed less solar energy than Superman as an adult, Superboy is unable to process as much yellow sun energy as Superman can; as a result, overtaxing his powers could spell his death, as his body would literally begin to feed on itself, unable to absorb solar energy fast enough to restore itself.

Behind the Scenes

 * Superboy is played by British actor Nicholas Hoult.
 * Before Hoult was chosen, Logan Lerman was considered for the role. Lerman would later be cast to play Robin.