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The black crystal.

The black crystal was a Kryptonian device that could open a portal wormhole to the Phantom Zone dimension.

Appearance[]

The black crystal appeared as a diamond stick almost identical in appearance to Zor-El's blue crystal although slightly larger and, akin to its name, was opaque black in color. When inserted into the Fortress console the crystal, and the entire fortress, glowed a bright pinkish red.

Powers and Abilities[]

  • This crystal could open a portal to the Phantom Zone and could be programmed to send and extricate individuals from the Zone in that Brainiac specifically programmed it to remove Zod whilst Clark was able to "command" it to open a basic portal to banish Davis Bloome.[1]
  • This crystal could also harm Kryptonians.[2]
  • Additionally the crystal possessed the ability to trigger the Fortress' self-destruct program (as was seen in Solitude).

In Clark's possession it seemed that the crystal could be used to create a phantom zone wormhole without triggering the Fortress's self-destruct program or releasing Zod's phantom, which according to Brainiac, were its primary directives thereby implying that its effects are somehow governed by the intentions of the user.

Vulnerabilities[]

The vulnerabilities to the black crystal are unknown as it's never shown any vulnerabilities onscreen, although Tess Mercer was able to somehow destroy it. It could be speculated that she used knowledge she learned from the Orb to destroy it, or that she destroyed it using green kryptonite in some way. Additionally, the crystal will lose its effects if it is removed from the Fortress of Solitude's console. It can be speculated that the crystal required a huge amount of power to fuel its portal generating ability in that the console glowed with an intensely fierce light and appeared to draw in all the energy/light from the surrounding crystal columns.

Season Five[]

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Brainiac and the crystal.

After feeding Clark lies about Jor-El and Zod, Brainiac retrieved the black crystal from the Black Ship and gave it to Clark when they traveled to the Fortress of Solitude. He instructed Clark to insert the crystal into the Fortress' console, explaining that, by doing so, Jor-El would be destroyed.

Once Clark inserted the black crystal into the console, the Fortress began to self-destruct and a portal to the Phantom Zone opened for Zod's essence to escape and inhabit Clark's body. However, Clark, now aware of Brainiac's true goals, removed the black crystal from the console and defeated the Kryptonian supercomputer. It is assumed that Clark stored the black crystal in the Fortress.

Season Eight[]

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Clark inserts the black crystal into the Fortress' console.

Three years later, Clark used the black crystal to open a portal to the Phantom Zone so he could send Davis Bloome there and thereby stop Davis' alter-ego, the Kryptonian monster known as Doomsday, once and for all. Unfortunately, Chloe Sullivan closed the portal by removing the crystal, and managed to escape with Davis.

Clark managed to store the black crystal in a secret compartment in the Kent Farm's barn, hoping to use it again. However, the crystal was later destroyed by Tess Mercer, who told Clark that it was his destiny to kill Doomsday rather than send him into an eternal prison from which he would find a way to escape.

Notes/Trivia[]

  • In contrast to the Kryptonian black box and even the Black Ship, the black crystal was the only Brainiac related item that appeared not to contain some active version of the supercomputer himself.
  • When Brainiac took over the Fortress of Solitude, he turned the white crystals into black crystals.

Appearances[]

References[]


Kryptonian artifacts in Smallville
Major Stones of Power (Crystal of Fire, Crystal of Air, Crystal of Water) • Book of RaoOrb
Fortress Crystal of KnowledgeFortress of Solitude (console, dagger)
Ships Kal-El's shipBlack Ship (Black box) • Kara's ship
Kawatche Kawatche CavesMemory pendantAltarKeyPalak
Other Phantom Zone crystalBlack crystalBlue crystalCrystal of ElDax-Ur's shieldMirror box
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