Tor-An is an infamous Kryptonian war criminal and member of the Sword of Rao, earning a reputation as General Dru-Zod's favorite hatchet man. Together with General Zod, Tor-An attempted to re-establish Krypton on Earth by terraforming the planet, but he was ultimately sucked back into the Phantom Zone.
Biography[]
Kryptonian Civil War[]
- "General Zod, for your crimes of murder and high treason, the council has sentenced you and your fellow insurgents to 300 cycles of somatic reconditioning."
- ―Lor-Em delivering the Sword of Rao's sentence[src]
On Krypton, Tor-An grew to become a fierce soldier in the Kryptonian military. He became a loyal servant of General Dru-Zod, and under him, helped to stage a coup d'état on the council of Krypton. Tor-An was present when General Zod raided the legislation chamber and escorted Jor-El out on Zod's orders. However, Jor-El managed to overpower Tor-An and use his firearm to kill two other soldiers before knocking him unconscious.
Tor-An later accompanied Zod to the House of El Citadel. After discovering Jor-El's plans for the Codex, Zod killed him and then ordered Tor-An to have the ship carrying Jor-El's son to be destroyed before it could leave orbit. Tor-An relayed the command as ordered, but before the gunship could achieve its objective, it was destroyed by another gunship from the Sapphire Guard.[1]
He was then arrested alongside General Zod and the rest of the Sword of Rao for their crimes and sentenced to 300 cycles of somatic reconditioning within the Phantom Zone. After the destruction of Krypton's core released the shock wave that freed him and the other prisoners from the Phantom Zone, he joined General Zod again in his quest to search for other surviving Kryptonians.[2]
Tor-An later isolated an emanating signal from Scout Ship 0344. This allowed him and the rest of the remaining Kryptonians to track the signal to Earth, which would be the site of their new plans.[1]
Search for the codex[]
After Zod delivered his ultimatum to the humans of Earth, Tor-An delivered the general and his forces to Smallville, Kansas in order to acquire the codex from the home of Superman. Tor-An returned to attack Superman after he'd damaged General Zod's breather before returning to the Black Zero. He later retrieved Nam-Ek and Faora-Ul from Smallville after they encountered Superman, dragging their brawl to a nearby town.[2]
Black Zero Event[]
Following Colonel Nathan Hardy's activation of the phantom drive aboard Kal-El's infant pod, Tor-An was pulled into the Phantom Zone singularity above Metropolis, along with the remaining Sword of Rao, Colonel Hardy, and Dr. Emil Hamilton.[2]
Personality[]
Genetically engineered into the Kryptonian Warrior Guild as a warrior, Tor-An was known as a cold-blooded killer without a drop of mercy or compassion in his veins, as he was genetically incapable of feeling empathy towards his enemies.[1] As a result, Tor-An was the favorite hatchet man of General Dru-Zod, being quick to get his hands dirty when the cause required it.[1]
His greatest weakness came from him having been programmed with limited thinking boundaries engineered into his genetics. As a result, Tor-An possessed a poor grasp of free will and was prone to dogmatic tunnel vision, utterly unable to live out any lifestyle other than the one for which he was born.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Kryptonian physiology: As a Kryptonian, Tor-An'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, Tor-An has physical attributes nearly identical to those of humans. However, if he were to travel to a planet near a yellow G-type main-sequence star, like Earth, he would gain many incredible superpowers, identical to those of Superman, which would have made Tor-An also appear godlike. However, since he was never exposed to the radiation of Earth's sun, Tor-An did not get the chance to gain his full potential superpowers before being sucked back into the Phantom Zone.
Abilities[]
- Expert combatant: Tor-An, as a member of the Kryptonian Warrior Guild, is a highly skilled combatant, having a penchant for getting his hands dirty when needed. He was, however, defeated by Jor-El, having been outsmarted by the latter in close quarters and outmaneuvered.
- Expert pilot: Tor-An is a highly skilled pilot, managing to knock down Superman with a plasma bolt and rescue General Dru-Zod, Faora-Ul, and Nam-Ek, after which he swiftly outmaneuvered and destroyed F-18 fighter jets.
Weaknesses[]
- Limited Free Will: Tor-An's greatest psychological weakness stems from the fact that it was genetically engineered in a genesis chamber (for the Kryptonian Warrior Guild), with the boundaries of thought programmed into its DNA. As a result, Tor-An has little knowledge of free will, is often prone to dogmatic tunnel vision, and is completely unable to live any lifestyle other than the one he was born for. While these limitations of thought allowed Tor-An to be an extremely formidable warrior (as he genetically lacked empathy towards his enemies) and leader, they also made him unable to live diplomatically with humanity (as Superman could), or to Accountable to Jor-El's strategy to suck him into the Phantom Zone.
Equipment[]
- Kryptonian battle armor: As a soldier of the Warrior Guild, Tor-An wore a suit of highly durable Kryptonian battle armor.
- Exploration suit: Tor-An wore this protective suit while exploring the abandoned outpost on Daxam.
Weapons[]
- Kryptonian plasma rifle: Tor-An wielded the standard issue Kryptonian plasma rifle while helping General Zod overthrow the council of Krypton during the Kryptonian Civil War. However, it was confiscated by the Sapphire Guards following his arrest.
Vehicles[]
- Kryptonian dropship: Tor-An piloted a Kryptonian dropship from the Black Zero, which he used to transport General Zod.
Relationships[]
Allies[] |
Enemies[]
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Trivia[]
Tor-An as a playable character in LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham.
- Tor-An appears as a boss in the Man of Steel DLC level in LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. This minifigure is identical to the one in the set 76003 Superman: Battle of Smallville.
- Richard Cetrone as Tor-An in the DC Extended Universe marked the first live-action portrayal of the character. A second portrayal of the character named Tor and played by Christopher Showerman appears in the Arrowverse in the television series Supergirl.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Cox, Greg (2013). Man of Steel. Titan Books. ISBN 978-1781165997.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Man of Steel
