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This article is about the Zoner "Bizarro". For the Season 7 episode, see Bizarro (episode).

"I'm you... only a little more bizarre."
— Bizarro to Clark, Phantom

Bizarro, or Bizarro Clark, was the last and possibly most dangerous Phantom wraith that escaped from the Phantom Zone. He was accidentally created in a laboratory on Krypton and was later discarded and sent to the Kryptonian prison by Jor-El and Martian Manhunter.

He escaped when Clark Kent opened a portal to Earth so he could escape from the Zone using the House of El gateway. Bizarro followed him and spent the next several weeks seeking a host that could sustain him, though humans could only serve as hosts for up to 24 hours before he would need a new vessel.

Bizarro eventually confronted Clark and absorbed his DNA, allowing him to create an imperfect clone of the Kryptonian which would act as a permanent host body for Bizarro to inhabit, which also gave him Clark's powers. (Phantom)

Physical Appearance[]

ClarkBizarro

Bizarro.

It is unclear what Bizarro originally looked like before being stripped of his corporeal form and banished to the Phantom Zone. Upon his banishment there, he became a phantom wraith. As a wraith, he appeared as a skeletal, decayed being, grey in color, shrouded in tattered robes.

After escaping the zone, Bizarro took a piece of Clark Kent's DNA which gave him a permanent form that was identical to Clark's on an atomic level; Brainiac used his x-ray vision on a subatomic level to identify him. In that form, his clothing choices were an inverse of Clark's. He wore a navy blue jacket over a maroon shirt. He also wore the dark blue jacket and bright red shirt combination that Clark was seen wearing in the show's early seasons. His voice was also noticeably deeper than Clark's, though he appears to be able to modulate the pitch of his voice to more easily mimic Clark.

When exposed to strong levels of sunlight, Bizarro's skin became a gray stone-like substance and broke away when exposed to more direct levels of sunlight, revealing chunks of what appeared to be bright green flesh.

Personality[]

"This creature was discarded at birth as a poor imitation. He was shown no compassion, no conscience. Therefore, he has none. He knows only one thing: Survival."
— Martian Manhunter to Clark, Bizarro
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Bizarro enjoys killing an innocent.

As a wraith, Bizarro appeared to have no moral qualms. He was obsessed with finding a Kryptonian to create a natural body for himself and be made whole and has probably killed dozens, if not hundreds of humans, often in a brutal fashion: both as a wraith and while posing as Clark. Bizarro seriously wounded the Martian Manhunter and killed at least two Humans by disemboweling them with his bare hands.

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Bizarro flirts with Lois.

While posing as Clark, Bizarro seemed strangely affected by the genetic memories he shared with Clark as he began to kill people in a less indiscriminate fashion, decided against revealing Clark's powers to the town's populace and steadily increased his attempts to integrate himself into society.

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Bizarro is heartbroken after being betrayed by Lana.

He also found himself developing strong human emotions from his genetic template, such as his feelings for both Lois Lane and Lana Lang. Brainiac even taunted him for falling in love with a human like Kal-El did. He opened up to Lana in ways that apparently Clark never did. He did develop true feelings of love for Lana, even after she betrayed him and gave him a chunk of blue Kryptonite which made his skin distort, caused him to get overloaded with power to where he self-destructed. He did however have some heroism in him, such as when he saved Chloe and Jimmy from the bomb in the Daily Planet elevator in which he only did that so he wouldn't bring suspicions among him and blow his cover of him posing as the real Clark Kent (due to at the entire time Clark was punished and frozen at the Fortress of Solitude for disobeying his father.)

As an amoral sociopath, Bizarro did things Clark would never do. He hit on Lois by grabbing her buttocks (but accepted when she rejected him) and was willing to kill in order to survive. Bizarro was also very confident, regarding himself as every bit Clark's superior.

Powers and Abilities[]

As a Wraith[]

  • Flight: Like all wraiths, the Last Phantom had no weight to its ghost-like constitution. As such, the phantom existed outside of any gravitational forces and could seamlessly fly through the air at high velocities sufficient to traverse across the entire planet in a matter of a few days.
  • Possession: As an incorporeal creature, the Last Phantom was dependent upon living human vessels to survive. Due to its unstable nature, the phantom's presence had a degrading affect on those whom it possessed - causing their anatomies to break down and eventually expire within a day's time.
    • Superhuman Strength: The Last Phantom dramatically increased the strength levels of its host. Regardless of the health or size of the body - from an old man to a child - the phantom could punch a hole through the Martian Manhunter's gut and send him through a roof as well as slaughter men seamlessly.
    • Superhuman Speed: Like their strength, the phantom's presence accelerated the vessel's movements to speeds fast enough to seemingly appear and disappear in the blink of an eye. The uppermost limits of its speed as a wraith was never fully determined as it was never seen to dodge or catch a bullet.
  • Crystal of El Immunity: Due to its unique origins as a powerful Kryptonian mutant, the Last Phantom was seemingly unaffected by the Crystal of El. Upon emerging from its last host, the phantom's sheer momentum - even without any physical mass - was powerful enough to destroy the crystal.
  • DNA Mimicry: Due to its unique background and nature, the Last Phantom possessed the ability to mimic the genetic makeup on an atomic level of another Kryptonian through touch - creating an entire new body for itself in the likeness of the Kryptonian source, possessing both their powers and their memories.

Curiously, the Last Phantom could seemingly discriminate between differing sentient species of extraterrestrials on sight. It was easily able to recognize the Martian Manhunter as a Martian as well as quickly discern that Clark was a Kryptonian upon seeing him for the first time.

As a Kryptonian Clone[]

"You're no match for my strength."
— Bizarro boasts of his newfound prowess. Bizarro

After cloning Clark's body, Bizarro possessed powers similar to that of Clark, however due to the faulty cloning process he was weakened by yellow sunlight and powered by green Kryptonite.

Fwerwe

Bizarro absorbing radiation from green Kryptonite.

  • Green Kryptonite Radiation Absorption: Bizarro's imperfect cloned cellular structure allowed him to absorb, store and metabolize green Kryptonite radiation to fuel all of his abilities. This process was momentarily overwhelming for Bizarro upon physical exposure, resulting in visible pain coupled with an increase in strength, healing, and durability.
  • Flight: Bizarro was able to defy gravity and fly at will. He was able to fly at exceptionally high velocities, similar to those he can run at (possibly faster, as he preferred to fly than to run).
  • Superhuman Strength: Bizarro gained tremendous physical strength, able to fight the late-adolescent Clark on even grounds. Exposure to green kryptonite increased his strength enough to allow him to momentarily overpower clark.
  • Superhuman Speed: Bizarro gained the ability to move and react fast enough to match (and later impersonate) the late-adolescent Clark. He could also perceive the world in a slowed perception while moving unhindered at super speed. However, he usually flew, not ran.
S7e1-1903

Bizarro's heat vision.

  • Heat Vision: Bizarro's eyes can emit beams of concentrated heat that are hot enough to super-heat the air to the point of ionization, resulting in lighting-like bolts erupting from his eyes. He was just as proficient with his heat vision as Clark.
  • Super-Healing: Like Clark, Bizarro's empowered cells possessed exceptional regenerative capabilities. Exposure to green kryptonite would magnify this ability. However, direct exposure to yellow sunlight seemed to cease his healing process.
  • Invulnerability: Bizarro possessed extraordinary durability. Even after just emerging as a Kryptonian clone, Bizarro possessed enough raw durability to withstand Clark's blows and being sent through a concrete wall; emerging with only a bloody lip.
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Bizarro uses his super-hearing

  • Superhuman Hearing: The only other enhanced sensory ability which Bizarro used was his super-hearing. His hearing sensitivity was just as precise as Clark's, to the point where he was able to perceive a bomb ticking in an elevator of the Daily Planet and later when he heard Lana texting in a closet.

Vulnerabilities[]

Clark: "How do I stop someone who has all my powers and none of my weaknesses?"
Martian Manhunter: "By opening your eyes to what you take for granted every day."
Clark Kent and Martian Manhunter in Bizarro
Bizarro exposed to sun

Bizarro's body distorts after being exposed to sunlight

 

  • Unstable Physiology (formerly): Being a failed lab-experiment, Bizarro could only survive and restore a stable and natural structure with Kryptonian DNA. His vessels were unable to retain him and constantly needed feeding on human organs to survive. While Bizarro was designed to have no weaknesses of a Kryptonian when he was made whole from the DNA sample he siphoned from Clark, he found out that the sunlight that strengthened Clark would weaken him.
Blue K kills Bizarro

Bizarro is overloaded with power and his body begins to explode.

  • Yellow Sunlight: The radiation of Earth's yellow sun breaks down the Kryptonite radioactivity flourishing within bizarro's cells, thus weakening him while transforming his skin into jagged stone. Although sunlight does not appear to have the same fatal effects on Bizarro as Kryptonite is on Clark, large quantities of sunlight cause him pain and break away chunks of his skin, as was shown when Clark punched him into the sky.

Early Life[]

The creature that would become the Last Phantom - and subsequently, Bizarro - began life as a lab experiment on the planet Krypton. In an attempt to create sentient life from original genetic material, several scientists in the field of cloning were able to create a living being.

The exact sequence of DNA used to create the creature was never revealed, but - regardless of its origin - the creature emerged badly deformed and was discarded by the Ruling Council as a poor imitation of life. Driven mad by this rejection, this powerful beast went on a rampage.

Driven by survival, the beast slaughtered many Kryptonian citizens. Finally, the Ruling Council commissioned Jor-El to quarantine the monster. To this effect, he called upon the Martian Manhunter to aid in the effort. With the Martian's superpowers, the beast was finally stopped.

As punishment for its heinous crimes, and being considered too powerful and too dangerous to be kept in its living state, the Ruling Council decreed that the creature be stripped of its super-strong physical anatomy and its essence condemned to spend eternity in the Phantom Zone.

Season Six[]

"Thanks for sharing. I feel a lot better now."
— Bizarro to Clark, Phantom
Sv601 0762

The Last Phantom emerging in Argentina.

In 2006, when Clark Kent escaped from the Phantom Zone, several of the other prisoners, including Bizarro, followed him back to Earth. Bizarro burst out of Iguazu Falls, Argentina and began a desperate search to find a Kryptonian body, inhabiting human hosts to survive. He killed a couple making a tourist video: Lex Luthor obtained this video, which was stolen by his wife Lana Lang, who gave it to her father-in-law Lionel Luthor. Lex and Lionel then simultaneously began tracking the wraith.

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Bizarro in a human host.

Bizarro inhabited an old man in Quebec, Canada, when the Martian Manhunter found him and was subsequently injured by the phantom. Lex's men arrived shortly after, but Bizarro left the old man's body and proceeded to possess and kill a mail carrier in a neighboring village.

622Smallville0903 (1)

Bizarro in Philip's body.

Eventually, Bizarro took control of a young boy named Philipe Lamont. Lex abducted the child and brought him to Reeves Dam to extract the boy's mutated DNA and empower his army of super-soldiers. The possessed boy broke free and killed Bartlett, Lex's project assistant, as well as Dr. Donovan Jamison. Clark arrived as Lex escaped the wraith. Bizarro left Philipe's body through his mouth and passed through Clark's body to create a permanent body using Clark's Kryptonian DNA.

True Form

Bizarro flies out of the dam.

Clark was momentarily stunned, but soon awakened to find an exact duplicate of himself with Bizarro dwelling inside of it and the two began a super-powered battle that tore the dam apart. Lionel arrived with a chunk of green kryptonite and tried to weaken Bizarro with it, unaware that it would strengthen him. Bizarro was then able to overpower Clark, sending him flailing through the air uncontrollably.

Season Seven[]

"Hey, Clark! You ever wonder what would happen to all of these humans if you weren't here to play savior? I know you do; you'd just never admit it."
— Bizarro to Clark, Bizarro
S7e1-1028

Bizarro faces off with Clark

Bizarro flew after Clark and continued their battle upon finding him in a forest. Clark managed to gain the upper hand when Bizarro stepped into the sunlight and Bizarro was punched away and impaled on a power line pole. After killing a man with a burst of heat vision, Bizarro then went to Clark's loft at the Kent Farm and healed himself using Clark's chunk of green kryptonite.

701Smallville0869

Bizarro uses Lex.

Wanting to strike a deal with Lex, Bizarro made his way to the Luthor Mansion where he met Lois Lane and came onto her. Under the impression she was interacting with Clark, Lois responded by letting Bizarro down gently at first, then slapping him when he grabbed her backside.

701Smallville1024

Bizarro is launched into the sky by Clark.

Bizarro located Lex and was taken to an area of Reeves Dam that housed more kryptonite, only for Lex to double-cross him. After knocking Lex unconscious, Bizarro fought with Clark again and was punched upward toward the sun. The Martian Manhunter then caught Bizarro and flew off into space, trapping Clark's doppelgänger on Mars.

Gemini390

"Clark" is actually Bizarro.

Bizarro re-appeared months later after escaping Mars and the Martian Manhunter. His escape was assisted indirectly by Zor-El after he eclipsed the sun in the solar system, allowing Bizarro a brief window to escape and fly back to Earth. After returning to Smallville he found Clark gone, as well as devised a plan take over Clark's life and managed to avoid suspicion from most of Clark's friends.

When Bizarro told Lana Lang that he wanted to help take Lex down, Lana revealed to him her lab at the Isis Foundation where she was attempting to care for Casey Brock, who had been poisoned by Brainiac. Bizarro recognized that Brock was speaking Kryptonian and sought out Chloe Sullivan's help to translate it, coincidentally saving her and Jimmy Olsen from an explosive device. Together, they learned that Brainiac was attempting to reboot itself.

710Smallville0624

Bizarro allied with Brainiac.

Bizarro tracked down Brainiac to ask him for a way to live under the sun and take Clark's place permanently. Brainiac was too weak to help him, but divulged that a Kryptonian scientist named Dax-Ur, who could be located with a shield, could help. Bizarro went to the Fortress of Solitude to look for the shield and alerted Jor-El to his presence, which led to Clark being freed from his icy imprisonment to put a stop to his lookalike's plan. Bizarro again asked Chloe for help, but his behavior made her question if he was really Clark: she was proven correct when Clark returned. Lana was also informed of Bizarro's charade and was shocked to realize that she had been living with an impostor for over a month.

710Smallville0925

Lana discovers that in fact it was Bizarro and not Clark.

However, Brainiac was using both Bizarro and Clark to locate Dax-Ur for himself. While posing as Lionel, Brainiac told Clark that he could acquire a supply of blue kryptonite from Dax-Ur and use it to destroy Bizarro. Meanwhile, Bizarro followed Lana to Oliver Queen's apartment and Lana called Clark for help when she saw Bizarro's true appearance in the sunlight.

710Smallville1060

Bizarro is destroyed.

Clark arrived, but was powerless once he opened the lead box containing the blue kryptonite: as such, he was left unable to get close enough to Bizarro to defeat him. Finally, Lana declared her love for Bizarro, which lowered his guard long enough for her to place the blue kryptonite in his hand. Shortly before exploding, Bizarro then reciprocated Lana's feelings. His last words were "I love you".

Appearances[]

In the Comics[]

BizarroSuped

Bizarro as he appears in the comics

Bizarro, based on the different eras of the comics, has seen an abundance of different origin stories and histories.

General Dru-Zod had originally created bizarro duplicates of himself to dominate the planet Krypton. The bizarros had no power because they were not under a yellow sun, but they were soldiers ready to kill and die without hesitation. This was the reason why Zod was banished to the Phantom Zone for 25 Krypton sun-cycles (Phantom Zone #1). The original Bizarro was created in a laboratory accident. A scientist was demonstrating his newly invented "duplicating ray" to Superboy, testing it on a radium pellet and a jewel. However, the duplicated radium was non-radioactive and the jewel melted. The scientist then stumbled and knocked the machine, inadvertently creating an imperfect Superboy. Although the scientist insisted the duplicate was not alive, it nonetheless escaped from the lab. Although Bizarro wanted to be accepted, his appearance and erratic behavior scared people, especially since he had no idea of his own super-strength. He was befriended by a blind girl, shortly before Superboy realized the remains of the machine would act as kryptonite to him. Bizarro headed straight towards Superboy, having somehow realized that the shockwave from his destruction would cure his friend's blindness.

There have been at least two different Bizarros in current continuity. The first Bizarro created appeared in Man of Steel #5 (1986) and made several attempts to "be" Superman, including wearing a jacket and glasses over his costume, although leaving it visible. He was apparently not capable of speech. As his non-living matter was continually flaking off, he was destroyed when he and Superman smashed into each other. In a modern parallel, this Bizarro also somehow realized that his destruction would cure someone else's blindness (in this case, Lucy Lane, Lois Lane's sister).

Lex Luthor later re-created Bizarro to see if it would offer insight into how to stop the "Clone Plague." This Bizarro escaped and kidnapped Lois, taking her to "Bizarro World," a warehouse set up like a surreal version of Metropolis. He subjected her to danger, so that he would be able to rescue her from it. Lois managed to escape and Bizarro was re-captured by LexCorp, where it subsequently died.

778543-758607 cover final super

Bizarro mourns Jonathan Kent: all in his own way.

The current incarnation of Bizarro was created by Batman villain The Joker after stealing the powers of Mr. Mxyzptlk as part of Emperor Joker's own twisted universe later saved by Mxyzptlk. This Bizarro later joined the Secret Society of Super Villains after a race with Zoom, the outcome being irrelevant as Bizarro's complicated speech patterns made the initial deal unsure. Lex Luthor would later make Bizarro a much more violent creature by keeping him captive in a room with a television for over a year.

Bizarro

Bizarro as he appears in modern publications.

In most comics, Bizarro's speech patterns use opposite words in place of the proper versions. For instance, if he says, "Goodbye, me no am Bizarro," that statement would mean, "Hello, I am Bizarro." Some incarnations portray him as being gentle (if destructively careless) and confused rather than actually malevolent. In addition, some incarnations of the character depict him having reversed versions of some of Superman's superpowers, such as having the ability to see behind him, turn things into microscopic by looking at them, breathe fire and freeze things with his eyes instead of cold-tinged super breath and heat vision, respectively.

In the comic, blue kryptonite is Bizarro's traditional weakness. However, in Smallville, it overloads him with powers to the point of self-destruction: in the comics, blue kryptonite weakens and could theoretically kill Bizarro the way that green kryptonite does to Kryptonians.

Notes[]

  • According to the Martian Manhunter in a deleted scene from Labyrinth, Bizarro makes Zod look like child's play.
  • The doppelgänger was never actually referred to as Bizarro, but mostly as "the phantom" or "the wraith." Even Jor-El and John Jones who possessed detailed knowledge about Bizarro's existence only labeled him as "the last phantom". Chloe once referred to him as "our Bizarro-Clark." He has also been described as "bizarre" by several characters, including himself. In addition, one of the episodes he was featured in was called Bizarro.
  • Bizarro absorbed the Kryptonite radiation in a similar way to how Clark's spaceship did. This is perhaps only a similar neutralization of the Kryptonite, however: when Clark inserted the Kryptonite key into his ship in Exodus, the Kryptonite did not charge the ship, but, in fact, caused it to self-destruct. This reinforces the idea that, while both occasions caused the green Kryptonite to turn clear, it was a neutralizing effect from the ship and an energy-leeching by Bizarro.
  • This Bizarro is based on a variety of characters from the original comics:
    • Him gaining strength from green Kryptonite and being weakened by yellow sunlight is similar to the new 52 Ultraman.
    • His crystalline skin, desire for Clark's life and lack of backwards speech is similar to the original silver age Bizarro.
    • His origin is similar to the Bizarro clones Zod made in order to take over Krypton.
  • Clark's fight with Bizarro marked the second time he fought a double of himself. When the shape-shifting Tina Greer was in a form of a copy of him in Visage, his fight with her marked the first time he fought a double of himself, although Tina lacked Bizarro's level of power.
  • In Bizarro, Bizarro was rumored to have been trapped by the Martian Manhunter on the sunny side of Mars. Because of Bizarro's vulnerability to sunlight, this would have reduced his powers and potentially made it difficult for him to fly back to Earth. This may perhaps also be considered a nod to elements of the DC Comics continuity, where the corrupt Superboy-Prime was left stranded without a yellow sun for power, perhaps fittingly the opposite of what happens to Clark's opposite Bizarro.
  • According to producers, his return in Gemini was made possible by the solar eclipse that Zor-El caused in Blue. Normal solar eclipses occur when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partially obscuring Earth's view of the Sun. Zor-El's solar eclipse may have been broader in scope, blocking out the Sun throughout the solar system.
  • Bryan Q. Miller confirmed on twitter that bizarro was originally meant to keep his original, failed experiment body and then transform into an identical copy of clark via touch.
  • Al Gough left Bizarro's return in the future open, saying "There is ALWAYS a chance that this guy could show up." It should be noted that Bizarro has never been a singular entity in the comics. Superboy #68 (October, 1958), set during Clark Kent's teenage years, saw the creation of the original Bizarro, who was destroyed in the same issue. Action Comics #254 (July, 1959), set years later (when Clark Kent is an adult and has become Superman), saw the creation of the second Bizarro (the more familiar version). In fact, the same issue featured the creation of a third Bizarro (who was killed not long after).
  • Bizarro, being the most powerful Phantom Zone prisoner Clark has encountered, is one of two main antagonists of Season Six. The other is Lex. He is also a supporting antagonist in season seven.
  • Bizarro was the fourth main antagonist to die.
  • Although Bizarro is shown to have heat vision and presumably super breath like Clark's, he possesses more "bizarre" versions of these powers in the comics, namely heat breath and freeze vision.
  • Bizarro never interacted with Jimmy or Kara, but he did save Jimmy and Chloe from the explosive bomb in Gemini.
  • Bizarro was seen in one of Clark's trials in Finale, Part 2.

Other faces of Bizarro[]

Quotes[]

Bizarro: "Thanks for sharing. I feel a lot better now."
Clark Kent: "What just happened?"
Bizarro: "I took a little piece of your DNA. (lifts Clark by neck) And now, I'm gonna take your life!"
Bizarro and Clark Kent in Phantom

Bizarro: "Hey, Clark! You ever wonder what would happen to all of these humans if you weren't here to play savior? I know you do; you'd just never admit it."
Clark Kent: "You don't know anything about me."
Bizarro: "No, Clark, I know everything about you. I didn't just borrow your DNA; I have all your memories. All your thoughts. Every last twisted one of them. When I'm living your life, I won't make those same mistakes."
Bizarro and Clark Kent in Bizarro

"You had the existence I could only dream of. Every pleasure at your disposal and you wasted it. You don't deserve this life, Clark, but I do."
— Bizarro to Clark to Bizarro

Bizarro: "I know what's in his mind, Lana. He doesn't love you like I do."
Clark Kent: "That's a lie!"
Bizarro: "You're lying, Clark, to yourself! You're so worried about doing the right thing that you don't even see it."
Bizarro and Clark Kent in Persona

See also[]

External links[]

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