Lara Lor-Van was the biological mother of Kal-El and the wife of Kryptonian scientist Jor-El. Both she and Jor-El decided to have a natural birth for their son and reluctantly sent her son to Earth. She later perished along with the rest of Krypton as the planet imploded.
Biography
Together, Lara and her partner Jor-El decided to give birth to a child by natural means, disobeying Kryptonian law. She later gave birth to a son they name Kal-El. Both parents knew that Krypton's implosion was immanent and had Jor-El suggested sending the baby to Earth. Lara hesitated about sending her child there, fearing for his safety. Lara stayed with the boy, while Jor-El vainly attempted to convince the Law Council to evacuate Krypton.
Lara and Jor prepare Kal's ship.
Jor-El eventually after stealing the growth codex. He hid so upon witnessing General Zod's coup d'état. He gave Lara the codex, who began preparing for their child's trip to Earth, whilst Jor-El attempted to stop General Zod. In the meantime, she launched the ship and Kal began his journey. Jor-El was stabbed in the torso by General Zod before he was arrested.
Later, she attended General Zod's sentencing where he and his forces were sentenced to three hundred years in the Phantom Zone. Enraged, General Zod bellowed out a warning to Lara that he would find her son, no matter what. Not long after, Lara watched on as Krypton's core collapsed. Despite inevitably vain advice from her droids to take shelter, she resigned herself to death as the planet imploded.
Personality
- "Lara, and I were a product of the failures of our world as much as Zod was. Tied to its fate."
- ―Jor-El[src]
Genetically engineered to be born into the Kryptonian Thinker Guild, Lara was highly intelligent. Unlike most of her fellow Kryptonians though, Lara was also a highly innovative individual who was capable of breaking the thinking boundaries programmed into her engineered DNA. As a result, she could see that Krypton's society was stale, flawed and outdated, so she and her husband subsequently chose the illegal step of having a natural born child, strongly believing in their cause. Knowing that her planet was to be imminently destroyed, Lara took the strong and incredibly hard step of sending her son to Earth so that he can survive and also to be free of Kryptonian society's chains and be truly free, choosing to stay behind herself, so that any flaws do not travel with her son, since she still considered herself to be as much a product of the outdated society as her former family friend, General Zod.
Lara was also an exceptionally kind and loving mother, tearful and devastated at the prospect of forever sending away her infant son Kal-El, and fearing that the people of Earth would view him as a freak and outcast, due to his alien superpowers. She would, however, ultimately have in her the strength to send him away, out of General Zod's reach, tearfully pleading with Kal-El to "make a better world than [her's]."
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Kryptonian Physiology: As a Kryptonian, Lara's bone structure is almost identical to that of a human. On a planet near a red class M main-sequence star, like her native Krypton with its sun Rao, Lara had physical attributes nearly identical to those of humans. However, if she were to travel to a planet near a yellow G-type main-sequence star, like Earth, she would have gained many incredible superpowers, identical to those of her son Superman, which would have made Lara also appear godlike.
Abilities
- Gifted Intellect: Lara Lor-Van, as an illustrious member of the Kryptonian Thinker Guild, was highly intelligent, though not on par with her husband Jor-El.
- Free Will: Lara was also a highly innovative character, with her and Jor-El being the only known genetically-engineered Kryptonians who managed to break the thinking boundaries programmed into their engineered DNA. However, as Jor-El states, even she is genetically incapable of having as much free will as her naturally born son Superman.
Equipment
- Kelex: Lara's male service robot, who helped deliver his son Kal-El.
- Kelor:: Lara's female service robot, who helped him break free from the Sword of Rao and steal the Growth Codex.
- Infant Starship (Formerly): Lara's husband Jor-El constructed this starship and equipped it with a Phantom Drive, in order to send their infant son Kal-El away from Krypton's imminent apocalypse and onto Earth. As Jor-El was preoccupied with fighting off General Zod, Lara was the one to launch the starship.
Relationships
FamilyAllies |
Enemies |
Behind the scenes
- Initially Connie Nielsen was considered for the role of Lara Lor-Van, Julia Ormond was eventually cast, but she dropped out, leading to Ayelet Zurer's casting in her stead.[citation needed]
