An infant boy was born to scientist Jor-El and his wife Lara Lor-van in the planet of Krypton; he was the first naturally-born Kryptonian child in centuries. Jor-El and Lara placed their newborn son in a spaceship which transported him to the planet Earth, moments before Krypton collapsed due to an unstable core from years of excessive mining.
The spacecraft crash-landed in Smallville, a small town in Kansas, and the infant was found by farmers Jonathan & Martha Kent. Knowing right away that the boy was an alien, and not knowing anything else about his original home, they decided to raise him as their son. Their generosity and openheartedness was one of the many wonderful examples they set for their son, whom they named Clark.
The time came when Clark was old enough for school, and he began to develop superpowers. He tried to control his powers, but he was scared and confused. The Kents knew they had to be honest with him, so Jonathan brought Clark to their backyard and showed him the spacecraft that brought him to Earth all those years ago. After revealing to a preteen Clark that he was an extraterrestrial, Jonathan warned about social rejection and advised him not to use his powers in public.
Several years later, after Jonathan and a 17-yr old Clark had an argument, a tornado came forth across the highway. Clark and Martha assisted in bringing the other citizens to safety, but Jonathan sprained his leg while trying to save their pet dog Hank from the car. In his final moments, Jonathan signaled restraint to Clark not to save him at the risk of revealing his powres to the poeple, before being swept away by the tornado. Struggling with the loss of his adoptive father who had sacrificed himself for the preservation of Clark's secret, an adult Clark spent several years living a nomadic lifestyle, working different jobs and anonymously performing good deeds. He had become more determined to discover his birth name, heritage, and the reason he was sent to Earth.
