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Kryptonite theory

Started by Tomato, October 30, 2016, 02:01:42 AM

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Tomato

So I actually thought of this while I was in the shower, and while I actually wrote this to a friend of mine (if it seems like it's formatted weird, it's because this is copied from a skype chat) I thought I'd share the theory here and see what everyone here thought. I should also note that a latter part of this theory is something that might be a bit... sensitive to some people, so I'm going to keep that bit in spoilers so people don't have to read it. I'm mainly posting this to discuss what Kryptonite is and why it works, so while the latter part is interesting and something fun to muse about, it's not what I wanna discuss here.

QuoteAntimato: So ok
Antimato: In order to understand it((my theory)) you have to understand Kryptonite and why it actually affects Superman
Antimato: Most people assume that every piece that broke off from Krypton and went anywhere is inherently kryptonite and that it all affects Superman... I think that's hogwash. My theory is that Kryptonite is actually a small percentage of the planet that was radioactively charged by Krypton's exploding sun
Antimato: Red sun radiation (which is what Krypton's sun was) has been canonically used to weaken Superman to the level of a normal human
Antimato: However, since a rock, however much radiation it was hit with, is not the same thing as a whole ((Language!)) sun, is not capable of reducing Superman's entire body to human levels... but that makes it worse in some ways, because if part of the body does it's job slower than the rest it has DISASTROUS consequences
Antimato: it's why Kryptonite can kill Superman and why red sun radiation can just sorta depowers him
Antimato: I think most kryptonite, of the green variety, does the most damage to the musculoskeletal system... it's why kryptonite bullets can pierce his skin, since the skin is a muscle and why he gets super weak
Antimato: I think RED Kryptonite, however, does more damage to his internal organs
Antimato: when affected by Red Kryptonite, Superman loses all his inhibitions, behaving in a similar manner to someone who is drunk or on drugs... aka someone who has impared their liver and other organs.

Again, spoiler for the giant pink elephant in the room.

Spoiler

QuoteAntimato: However
Antimato: there's a third type of kryptonite in the reality that the current Superman comes from (the n52 one died and was replaced by the one from before the reboot... because no one liked n52 Superman)
Antimato: It's Pink Kryptonite
Antimato: it comes from a Supergirl comic, which is why it came to mind ((I was in the middle of catching up on Supergirl while writing this))
Antimato: when under the influence of Pink Kryptonite, Superman was more or less in control... except that he starts aggressively hitting on Jimmy Olsen
Antimato: Now, the generally accepted theory for that has been that the kryptonite somehow changed how superman's physical attraction works, but my theory is that Kryptonite doesn't CHANGE Superman so much as damage him internally
Antimato: *I* think that what Pink Kryptonite is ACTUALLY doing to him is actually a more mild version of that the Red Kryptonite does... instead of damaging his liver and having Superman go full on drunk, Pink Kryptonite gets him... buzzed
Antimato: lowers those inhibitions that aren't AS central to Superman as the whole "I really shouldn't smash ((More language from past me!))" ones... like the one that maybe conceals his dual sexuality.
Antimato: After all, Superman wasn't born and raised in Metropolis... he's from a small town in Kansas, the deep south
Antimato: And yeah you can play the stereotype game all you want, but canonically Clark's parents ARE the stereotypical southern farmers who raised him with good old fashioned 'Merican values.
Antimato: And let's be clear here: I may be saying I think Clark likes dudes a little, but I am NOT saying he doesn't love the ladies. Dude's had like 20 girlfriends
Antimato: Including a mermaid
Antimato: So while he may like dudes a little, if it wasn't an overwhelming urge... I doubt he looked at it too closely.
Antimato: but with a little bit of a kryptonite buzz and with a pal he's known for years...

daglob


spydermann93

I like the theory a lot, Tomato. I think that's a really clever way of looking at it. But hasn't Kryptonite been repeatedly stated to poison Superman (somehow)? I don't think "damage to the musculoskeletal system" in and of itself is "poison," but poison (at least, as I understand it) can definitely cause physical reactions like that.

daglob

At one time it was radiation poisoning, which would damage his cells. I would guess the "super" part of being Superman was that the damage healed up quickly as soon as the kryptonite was removed.

Tomato

Possibly, but I see more far often that it's Kryptonite's inherent radioactivity that is the cause of Superman's problems. However, your point does bring up a part of the theory I originally glossed over, which is that if Kryptonite is a chunk of rock affected by the exploding sun's radiation, it is therefore affected by A: how much of the red sun radiation it absorbed, and B. The chemical composition of the rock itself. It's why Kryptonite's effects vary so wildly, because it's different chunks of rock that each have different radioactive levels. And it's still radioactive... Superman might be more susceptible to it because it's from a Red star, but he's still being assaulted by varying levels of radiation... Radiation that famously gave Lex Luthor cancer. That plus an already weakened defense system... and yeah, he'd be suffering a severe case of radiation sickness, which is very much akin to poison.

spydermann93

In regards to radiation poisoning, yeah, that's what I was talking about. My silly self didn't specify that part. :doh:

But yeah, like I said, I do like this theory of yours. I haven't thought about it that way, before ^_^

daglob

Not really (or only tangentially) related, but is it now Krypton's sun that exploded? 'Way back when, it was Krypton that exploded, because it had a radioactive core, which one day reached critical mnass.

I remember this beautiful Gray Morrow illustrated story in which Krypton was an artificial planet. I figured the radioactive core was to heat it up to a temperature that would allow people to survive.

I've always thought that Krypton was settled by the Daxamites.

The vari-colored cosmic clouds that were responsible for the non-green kryptonite always seemed a little strained to me. Different isotopes of different materials (limestone, basalt, quartz) makes a lot more sense.

HarryTrotter

Im pretty sure its Krypton(the planet) that exploded.Thats still the same as it always was.
Also,IIRC,its the other way around,Daxamites are an offshot of Kryptonians.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

Tomato

The planet almost always explodes, but I've also seen variations where the sun exploded as a result or where the sun was the reason the planet exploded, it just depends on the writer. Even if it didn't though, A, We don't know how close the rocketship (and by proxy, the kryptonite chunks it trailed with it) passed by the sun, and B. Most modern variations I've seen of Krypton's destruction depict it as an advanced version of Global Warming... where the Kryptonians strip mined their own resources and destroyed the planet. At that point, I doubt it had much of an atmosphere left to prevent solar radiation from affecting the entire planet, and it certainly wouldn't have fared any better after it done got blowed up.

daglob


HarryTrotter

I did unintentionally talk about this in my Omega Men not-so-much-a-review.Basically,the same degradation that affected Krypton affects every other planet(its not really made clear how the degradation works) including Earth.And the only substance that can stop it is found in the Vega system.Then again,its pretty debatable how Omega Men as a series holds up in the broader DCU,like I said.And the multi-colored Kryptonite is also something that isnt always canon.
But lets not complicate something thats fairly simple.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

thalaw2

What is Kryptonite called when it's just floating around space?
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