# Could Chloe Sullivan be supergirl? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 9, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764 "2006-07-09T17:40:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/1 "2006-07-09T17:40:36Z")
I know that technically supergirl is supposed to be from Krypton, but the superman story changes all the time. There are a lot of things in smallville that I like better than what I know of the standard superman. It would be a shame to lose Chloe and since she knows Clarks secret it almost seems that she might be doomed. It seems there have been many versions of supergirl and none of them have been very good. I think chloe would be great for supergirl. But maybe I’m way off base. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/2 "2006-07-09T18:37:53Z")
I likes me da Chloe, but… If theyt want to give Clark any kind of tragic dimension, he has to have a dead girlfriend. That’s what Chloe is destined to be. Plus, he has to fight a giant spider. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/3 "2006-07-09T18:57:03Z")
I agree that that was probably her originally planned destiny. Perhaps I’m in denial. Maybe she dies and gets buried on a patch of blue kryptonite. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/4 "2006-07-10T18:22:24Z")
I don’t remember who said it, but someone here on another thread said that Chloe was showing up in the in the Superman comics on occasion. I can’t vouch for it, since I was not reading Superman for the last several years, but it would be nice if true. But she is definitely not Supergirl. That is Kara Zor-El, Superman’s cousin, currently starring both her own comic and **Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes**. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/5 "2006-07-10T18:31:06Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > I likes me da Chloe, but… > > If theyt want to give Clark any kind of tragic dimension, he has to have a dead girlfriend. That’s what Chloe is destined to be. > > Plus, he has to fight a giant spider. Nah, I think the dead girlfriend will be Lana, won’t it? (Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease.) There’s going to be some tragedy where Lana dies and Clark fails to save her, which leads the heartbroken Lex to blame her death on Clark and turn all evil and stuff. This is the second time I’ve heard the Chloe/Supergirl theory, and I have to say I like it. Early on in the series, I expected Chloe to turn into Lois Lane (as a penname, perhaps), but short of a mind-wipe so she doesn’t remember the Clark/Superman thing and the tragic death of Lois and some sort of bizarre tribute thing, I don’t see that as too likely anymore. There’s certainly no shortage of phlebotnum to make it possible: dunked in a vat of liquid kyrptonite, taken off-planet by Brainiac and mysteriously returned “different”, Caves of Wonder, who cares. I’m gonna be mighty pissed if they kill Chloe off before the series ends. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/6 "2006-07-10T18:39:51Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Nah, I think the dead girlfriend will be Lana, won’t it? (Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease.) There’s going to be some tragedy where Lana dies and Clark fails to save her, which leads the heartbroken Lex to blame her death on Clark and turn all evil and stuff. > > This is the second time I’ve heard the Chloe/Supergirl theory, and I have to say I like it. Early on in the series, I expected Chloe to turn into Lois Lane (as a penname, perhaps), but short of a mind-wipe so she doesn’t remember the Clark/Superman thing and the tragic death of Lois and some sort of bizarre tribute thing, I don’t see that as too likely anymore. > > There’s certainly no shortage of phlebotnum to make it possible: dunked in a vat of liquid kyrptonite, taken off-planet by Brainiac and mysteriously returned “different”, Caves of Wonder, who cares. > > I’m gonna be mighty pissed if they kill Chloe off before the series ends. Word! ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/7 "2006-07-10T19:08:12Z")
Yeah, Chloe’s being set up as dead meat. When comics Superman was revised recently, incorporating some Smallville elements, they wanted to introduce Chloe as an adult. They were not allowed. Also, Supergirl is Superman’s cousin from Krypton. They tried to do another origin, but it didn’t take. Unless Chloe is retroactively made Clark’s cousin (eew) she won’t be Supergirl. ---
**Author:** ![First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/First_Amongst_Daves)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/8 "2006-07-11T13:19:43Z")
I’ve only been a recent watcher of Smallville (I keep calling it “Superboy” by accident) and I thought it clear from the beginning that Chloe can’t survive the series. It seems obvious that when it reaches it last legs, Chloe will bite the dust, propelling young Clark into the costume. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/9 "2006-07-11T14:45:20Z")
It’s a shame, because I hear Chloe is the only decent female character on Smallville. A friend of mine is convinced that she has a alternate-Earth counterpart with a show of her own, called Veronica Mars. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/10 "2006-07-11T15:10:04Z")
They already had a “Supergirl” show up, as a message from Jor-El. She even said her name was “Kara”. So, probably no Chloe as Supergirl. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/11 "2006-07-11T16:03:11Z")
I like Chloe better than any other female on the show, so I’d _love_ to see her be Supergirl–however, I’m with the others who think she’s not long for this world. In the second or third season, Chloe wrote her first story for the _Daily Planet_ and used the byline Lois Lane, stating that was her cousin’s name. Until the start of the fourth season, I was convinced that Chloe would eventually _be_ Lois, and all would be well. Then Lois showed up, and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. In the comics, Lana continued to be a regular character into adulthood, so as much as I’d _like_ to see her take the dirt nap and get the hell off my TV screen, I regret to say that she’ll probably continue to live her useless, pretty life, and Chloe will get to use that headstone they put up when she went into witness protection. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/12 "2006-07-11T17:11:32Z")
The problem with Kara being supergirl is that at the begining of that episode, she killed a man unnecesarily. That is not what I could consider the behavior of the woman of steel. ``` I am not with the crowd that beleives that all Superman versions must match in thier story. This is the behavior of irrational comicbook guys that are trying to make a real world out of an imaginary one. They should let Superman be what is best for the medium they choose. I would probably not like those DC Comic guys. Superman should be for everyone not just Supergeeks. ``` ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/13 "2006-07-11T17:23:50Z")
I’m no Supergeek, but even I know that “canon” in the DC World is very malleable and Smallville in particular has played around a lot. [This Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supergirl) on Supergirl mentions: > [@](#): > > Although never claiming to be Supergirl or Kara Zor-El, a girl named Kara (played by Adrianne Palicki) appears in an episode of the Smallville television series claiming to be from Krypton in the episode “Covenant”. This Kara did not claim to be Kal-El’s cousin, though, and she seemed to be interested in him in a sexual way. However, Clark later tells Lana Lang that Kara is his cousin, visiting from California. At night, she emerges from the woods naked and uses her strength to ruin a car. Acquiring clothing (but not footwear), she goes to Clark Kent’s house. It is later revealed that she was not an actual Kryptonian, but an innocent girl kidnapped, brainwashed, and given superpowers by the artificial intelligence that claims to be based on the mind of Jor-El. She was recruited by the A.I. to bring the teenage Clark Kent to confront his Kryptonian heritage and to persuade him to follow his destiny, which is as yet not disclosed. She took Clark Kent to an ancient Indian cave which contains Kryptonian technology. In the end she vanishes, “Jor-El” saying she’d “served her purpose”. It is not known whether she survived this or whether she will ever return in the series. > > The human name that Kara had in Smallville was not Linda Lee Danvers, but Lindsey Harrison, who was reported missing after the 1989 meteor showers of Smallville. The car that she and her mother (who was driving) was found on Route 8, which was near the Kawatche Caves. According to Jonathan Kent, Jor-El kidnapped her body and kept Harrison in stasis for 16 years. It is unclear whether the name “Kara” is meant to imply a connection to Supergirl or if it is simply coincidental. So it’s far from certain that Kara was Supergirl, and if she is, then her origin story has changed again - she’s not even Kryptonian. I’m not saying Chloe will be Supergirl, just that she “could” be, which was what the OP asked. But **Mennochio** ’s information that “When comics Superman was revised recently, incorporating some Smallville elements, they wanted to introduce Chloe as an adult. They were not allowed.” makes me doubtful that that’s where they’re going. Unless (grasping at straws) they weren’t allowed to use Chloe as an adult because she’s living a double life as Supergirl, and they don’t want it revealed yet! The best I can hope for is that Chloe makes it to the series finale, then dies, and we see Superman fly away in his blue pajamas for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/14 "2006-07-11T18:07:16Z")
> [@Christopher](#): > > That is not what I could consider the behavior of the woman of steel. It IS the act of a Smallville-style Kryptonian. Clark is, as Johnathan points out when they find out that Prof. Fine is Kryptonian (before they find out he’s a Kryptonian _AI_) - Clark is an exception. He was raised by humans. Jor-El, and Fine/Dox/Brainiac have both shown absolutely no care about human lives. Hell, even in the comics, the current version of Kara was sent to Earth to murder Kal-El as a baby. (It was only that she took the scenic route and spent 30 years in stasis, while he took a direct route and grew up, that saved him.) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/15 "2006-07-11T18:18:06Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > So it’s far from certain that Kara was Supergirl, and if she is, then her origin story has changed again - she’s not even Kryptonian. Smallville plays fast and loose with the characters’ history, so that’s not exactly strong evidence. As a reversed example - in the comics Brainiac (Professor Fine) is NOT Kryptonian. He’s Coluan. And even in the animated universe (where he’s Kryptonian), he was created by Jor-El, and has no connection to Zod. Neither of the non-Smallville versions has standard Kryptonian powers. Actually, he’s more like the Eradicator than Brainiac - the Eradicator has no connection to Zod, either, FTR. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/16 "2006-07-11T20:22:11Z")
When “Kara” showed up on Smallville, they played it so that they could throw out a few in-jokes – e.g., Clark claiming she was his cousin. When “Arthur Currey” showed up on Smallville, there were Aquaman in-jokes. When the Flash-kid showed up, there were Flash in-jokes. They’ve been pretty clear indications that they’re intended as “how [character] is in Smallville’s universe”. Aquaboy stayed pretty close to the comics origins; Flashboy didn’t, so much. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t expect _any_ of the characters they’re based on to show up in another guise. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-chloe-sullivan-be-supergirl/363764/17 "2006-07-12T01:16:20Z")
Nope. In Smallville Jor-El already used a (very hot) human girl as an avatar. She was clearly a reference to Supergirl in that her Kryptonian name was Kara, she was introduced as his cousin, and her human name was reminiscent of the original Supergirl’s human identity. It’s unclear how much of her personality was created by Jor-El or exactly what happened to her after Jor-El told Clark that she had “served her purpose.” She could still be reintroduced. Chloe is a good character, and she’s a good friend to Clark, but there’s no way she’s going to be more than that in the series. Aside from some dream sequences from other character’s points of view, Clark shows no attachment to her other than friendship. They’ve had almost three seasons to start building in some sexual tension between the two of them, but there’s been absolutely no indication that the writers will even explore the possibility. She might be his enabler, covering for his absences at work at the Daily Planet while he’s out saving the world, but I don’t think she’s going to die. Even if she does die, when she was “dead” earlier in the series it didn’t have any catastrophic effect on Clark. He was upset, but he wasn’t tormented enough to exile himself or change the world, and that’s what he’s going to have to do when he eventually accepts his full heritage (on his terms, not Jor-El’s) and becomes Superman. There has to be some serious tragedy in Clark’s life or he’ll never sever his ties with Smallville. Around the third season, I thought, “Lana is going to have to die.” She actually has a couple of times, but they keep bringing her back. I don’t think the writers will ever allow them to get together permanently because then they’ll have to deal with the aftermath. Clark might even be forced to kill her if she becomes some kind of super-villainess (again). I’m up to the middle of the fifth season now, and it’s quite clear that nothing short of Lana’s death will get Clark to leave. The only reason he stayed in Smallville after graduation was Lana. Even the recent tragedy in his life just makes him more determined to stay at home. She’s also being set up in a love triangle between Lex and Clark, and I agree with an earlier poster, that probably her death will be the catalyst for the two to become enemies.