How is Superman so super but kryptonite weakens him?
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 at
6:34 am
He’s like the strongest superhero of all superheroes, but yet some radiation from gemstones drains all his energy, so that doesn’t necessarily make him "Super". Another thing, if villains had the opportunity to use kryptonite on him, why haven’t they tried to kill him? I’m not hating on Superman, he’s clearly one of the best superheroes of all time, but i’m no superhero- comic wiz, why do they make him weak if he’s suppose to be "Superman"?
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When people create superheroes (including Superman), it is for the readers. They want to create suspense and excitement. If the superheroes didn’t have weaknesses they will find it hard to relate to the character and soon find it repetitive. It gives them a flaw, but yet at the same time they are still stronger than humans. Thus the comic-readers can look up to them as a role model, because as humans we also have flaws. We are able to relate ourselves to the different situations they face. For example Superman is weak to kryptonite, we can replace that with our own flaws like being afraid of snakes. This makes us closer to Superman and we can actually relate to him.
Superman sucks
Superman is weak to the radiation produced by *green* Kryptonite. The green Kryptonite is what caused his home planet, Krypton, to be destroyed as it drove the planet’s core to explode. The explanation provided by the comics themselves is that its the radiation that has a specific effect on the Kryptonians, as it has to do with their genetic makeup, and so since Superman is a Kryptonian, he’s weak to Kryptonite. As for why it happens, well, the most common reason would be that without Kryptonite, Superman would become too "super" and not have any weaknesses, and he could never be put into a close fight with a villain. Now that he has this weakness, villains at least have a chance to defeat him, but we all know that’s a very rare occurrence.
Hope this helps!
Superman is most vulnerable to green Kryptonite, mineral debris from Krypton transformed into radioactive material by the forces that destroyed the planet. Exposure to green Kryptonite radiation nullifies Superman’s powers and immobilizes him with pain and nausea; prolonged exposure will eventually kill him. The only mineral on Earth that can protect him from Kryptonite is lead, which blocks the radiation. Lead is also the only known substance that Superman cannot see through with his x-ray vision.
Pretty much every superhero or villain has some sort of weakness. Superman just happens to have a huge weakness, the kryptonite could be something like our cancer, or any other disease ya know.
He still is Superman, he is stronger than the human race.
I dont know the answer to your question, i just wanted to blah blah blah.
Kryptonite isn’t exactly common, it’s not like there’s a kryptonite warehouse where villains can go to stock up. In a few different stories there has been a large amount of it found, but by the end it is almost all destroyed. As to why haven’t villains killed him… they’ve tried.
A few times people, most notably Bloodsport, have used kryptonite bullets. Why haven’t their efforts worked? Why hasn’t someone shot Batman in the mouth, where he doesn’t wear armor?
Kryptonite is/was an important creation in the superhero-comic universe. It expands upon the idea of the Achilles-heel, where-in a virtually invincible character can have a weakness. One weakness that can potentially kill him, and did in the case of Achilles. A hero without a weakness becomes boring to watch, since the outcome of almost every endeavor is preordained. Without it, the hero can only lose if he comes up against a villain of even more power, thenthe writers strain themselves creating villains of near god-like power. It can get ridiculous. See Sentry for an example.