While there is no disputing that Superman has faced up against a slew of fantastic and terrible foes, only a select few are worthy of being referred to as the best. It would be a cardinal sin not to include General Zod in the Superman’s Rogues Gallery when we are talking about the finest of them.
The character was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp and originally appeared in the 283rd issue of Adventure Comics Volume 1 in April of 1961. Of course, the character has evolved over time, and if one considers his current appearance, a rebooted version of Zod first appeared in the 13th issue of Action Comics in December 2012.
Returning to today’s video, we will investigate the former Kryptonian Military General’s origins, his relationship with the Man of Steel, his talents and abilities, and much more. Are you prepared? So, let us get started!
General Zod – Origin
Born as Dru-Zod, he was the son of emotionally distant parents, Kryptonian scientists to be more precise. To his parents, biological experiments and scientific expeditions added way more value to their life than their own son; so much so, that they literally thought nothing of taking their child into Krypton’s most isolated and untamed domain.
While the purpose was to discover new creatures, the family ended up being ambushed by dangerous animals. His mother died instantly and as for the boy, he without the slightest qualm or hesitation injured his father and threw him to the creatures, to make way for his own escape. Zod survived on his own for over a year until he was found and rescued by Jor-El and his brother Zor- El.
As time passed by, Zod became one of the best soldiers of Krypton and eventually attained the rank of a general. But it goes without saying, the General wanted more. He knew about the Char, Krypton’s violent neighboring alien species, one that had remained calm for the last 27 years.
But what frustrated Zod more was the laidback attitude of his fellow Kryptonians, especially towards the alien species. Determined to get a response from them and have things work out in his favor, Zod along with his like-minded lieutenants Faoraand Non, concocted a false flag operation.
He not only created a Char-looking creature but also had it unleashed on Krypton’s population, just to incite a war against the Char. Zod’s genocidal triumph ended the moment Jor-El uncovered his deception and turned him over to the Kryptonian Science Council, who upon finding him guilty had him along with his fanatical subordinates imprisoned in the timeless dimension, the Phantom Zone.
If you are thinking this is where his wickedness ends, we urge you to think again. So what if he is imprisoned there for decades, Zod’s hatred only kept aggravating. Soon, he along with Faora discovered a colossal alien war machine known as the Warlord and planned to use its limitless armies to vanquish the worlds outside.
This particular plan very much included Doomsday, the Kryptonian monster who was also imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. For a better understanding of the creature, Doomsday is a being of unknown origin, unimaginable power and bloodlust tied to the past of Krypton.
So, imagine what happens when Zod and Faora unleashed the beast from its captivity and threw him across the boundaries of the Phantom Zone, thereby orchestrating their eventual escape.
General Dru-Zod Storyline In Man Of Steel (2013)
Essayed by Michael Shannon, the character of General Zod is seen making an appearance in Zack Snyder’s 2013 superhero flick, Man of Steel. Here, the character is seen in a different version; he was in charge of Krypton’s Warrior Guild and was known to have kept the city of Kandor safe from every possible threat. Zod and Jor-El were not only friends while they were young but also had a mutual goal of revitalizing Krypton and building up a new era of innovation and exploration.
But as time passed by, Jor-El became in favor of science and reason while Zod embraced force along with questionable theories of eugenics. It did not take Zod much time to become utterly disgruntled with the Kryptonian Law Council and make up his mind to take matters into his own hand. Establishing the revolutionary movement called The Sword of Rao, he initiated a rebellion but got captured and sentenced to 300 years of somatic reconditioning inside the Phantom Zone.
But as fated, the destruction of Krypton resulted in the destruction of the prison, allowing the Black Zero ship to escape in the process. Post witnessing the annihilation of Krypton, Zod announced Black Zero as his new command ship and started scanning the universe for the remaining Kryptonian colonies. On the way, Zod also came across world engines, or let’s say Kryptonian terraformation machines to be more precise, and decided to take them along.
Don’t be surprised by the fact that he did have plans of converting a planet’s atmospheric and topographical composition so as to make it more suitable for the Kryptonians, giving them access to easy colonization. As more time passed by, he was able to pick up a Kryptonian beacon and pursued it straight to earth while looking for Kal-El along and a new home.
Right after arriving on earth, Zod started extorting people into handing him Kal-El aka Superman or suffering the inevitable apocalyptic consequences. Of course, his plan was to terraform the planet and also repopulate the world with genetically engineered Kryptonians, killing every bit of Earth’s indigenous lifeform in the process.
Superman intervenes and taking the aid of the US Military, he is able to foil Zod’s plan by creating a singularity that sucks all of Zod’s men back into the Phantom Zone. This enrages Zod to a great extent and he engages in a tediously long, catastrophic battle with Superman crushing down skyscrapers all across the Metropolis. The fight took a whole new level when Zod attempted to unleash his heat vision upon the innocent people. Realizing that there aren’t too many ways to subdue Zod, Superman is forced to snap his neck, thereby killing him in order to save the family.
What Does General Zod’s Name Really Mean?
As intimidating as the name General Zod sounds, has it ever occurred to you what it actually means? While the character made its comic debut way back in the 1960s, it is important that we take you to Richard Lester’s 1980 superhero flick, Superman II. The second installment in the Superman film series had veteran English actor Terence Stamp portraying the character of General Zod. But if you pay close heed to the movie, you are bound to remember the most iconic dialogue in the movie – “Kneel before Zod!” This is the very line that securely locked the power-hungry fanatic General Zod in the A-category of DC villains.
Please note here that Zod is someone, that even Superman was afraid of. So, you can imagine someone this dynamic, powerful and strong certainly was in need of a name, one that was both capable of implanting fear and also look ‘alien’ enough to complement his Kryptonian origins. There is a high chance that the word, ‘Zod’ besides sounding daunting might be a derivative of the Hebrew term ‘Zayn’ which by the way means weapon. Of course, there is nothing that confirms this but if we actually look at things, this is not the first time that Superman comics have resorted to Hebrew as an inspiration for names.
Let’s take a look at Superman’s Kryptonian family name, ‘El’. You translate the term to Hebrew and you have a generic word for God. The Superman canon also has other signs of Jewish and Hebrew influences, a major one is when Jor-El sends his son Kal-El in a spacecraft towards Earth to evade the fated destruction of Krypton. If you look at this instance, you will see that it is actually pretty similar to how Moses was sent away in a basket for his safety only to be raised by others.
Coming back to Zod and a possible meaning ‘weapon’, to think of it does match up with the character. Zod is a vanquisher, one who makes use of every weapon that he is in possession of to gain mastery over his enemies. Well, with a name like that, it is quite difficult to imagine him as anything else but a sheer threat to Superman.
What Makes General Zod So Deadly?
As a Kryptonian, General Zod looks absolutely similar to a human. But hey, don’t let that fool you. Like all Kryptonians under the effects of a yellow sun, General Zod possessed superhuman speed and reflexes letting him easily do stunts like catching incoming bullets and covering great distances in little or let’s say no time.
There’s the super-breath that lets him create hurricane-force winds simply by exhaling air from his lungs as well as chilling the air to freeze his targets. The super-breath also lets him be capable of pulling in excessive amounts of air or vapor back into his lungs. This is followed by his superhuman strength, stamina, invulnerability, super hearing skills, accelerated healing, solar energy absorption as well as heat vision.
Zod also boasts of an enhanced vision, one that processes the entire electromagnetic spectrum giving him immense control over selective perception and focus. To break this particular ability further, he was in possession of electromagnetic spectrum vision, telescopic vision, x-ray vision, microscopic vision as well as infrared vision. Zod was capable of flying, just in case, we forgot to point this out earlier.
Stressing on further abilities, he was very skilled in hand-to-hand combat. He has been engaged in a fight with creatures double his size, as well as armored men using just his bare hands. His knowledge in the field of science is what led him to fool Krypton into a war – remember his false flag operation, one where he created a Char-looking creature? Next comes his survival instincts; to be honest, he did manage to survive on his own for about a year before being rescued by Jor-El[Jor-el]. Then comes his proficiency with the usage of weapons.
Right from the time that he was a child, he was quite adept with primitive bows and arrows. Add to that his life in the military, which exposed him to various Kryptonian weapons. Due to his background as a Kryptonian general, Zod possessed a detailed knowledge of military tactics as well as battle strategies which eventually proved him to be a competent military leader. Last but not the least, in spite of being a Kryptonian, he is quite fluent in English. This was pretty evident when he threatened the people of Earth into handing them, Superman.
Terrifying Versions Of General Zod In Other Forms Of Media
Voiced by Bruce Thomas, Zod has made an appearance in Justice League: Gods and Monsters, a 2015 direct to video animated superhero flick. Here, his character is seen imprinting his genetic code on Lara’s egg before the destruction of Krypton leading to Superman being the biological son of Zod.
Speaking of television series, Zod has appeared in quite a few. There is Alfred Gough and Miles Millar’s superhero tv series, Smallville. Then, there is Ali Adler, Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg’s[Kries berg] Supergirl. The list certainly does not end here, his character has also appeared in Todd Helbing and Greg Berlanti’s superhero drama tv series titled Superman & Lois. Plus, there’s David S Goyer’s Krypton too.
Putting stress on video games, the 1988 Superman NES game has characters Zod, Ursa, and Non as the final bosses, whom Superman has to defeat so as to win the game. Next, there is the DC Universe Online video game where he is voiced by Alexander Brandon, and Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes which he is voiced by Townsend Coleman. Zod has also made an appearance as a downloadable character in Injustice: Gods Among Us, where he is voiced by Nolan North. This is where Michael Shannon’s General Zod is available as an alternate costume. Then, there is Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham followed by Lego Dimensions and Lego DC Super-Villains.
Lastly, you are bound to be surprised to know that his character has also made an appearance in Kevin J. Anderson’s novel titled, The Last Days of Krypton.
What Do We Think Of General Zod?
You know when it comes to the world of comics, the best villains are usually the ones who are mirror images of the heroes. Well, it would not be wrong to state General Zod as the dark mirror image of Superman. Equipped with literally every power of the Man of Steel, General Zod is one of the greatest military minds in Kryptonian history. It is his power, his abilities, his association with Superman, and his influence on the DC Universe that ranks him higher in the supervillain category easily making him one of DC’s most iconic, powerful antagonists.