After watching a lively episode of Lois & Clark early this morning, I wondered why kryptonite has such harmful effects on Superman. I know that Kryptonite nullifies his powers; but why is it actually harmful to him? Is it because of our yellow sun? If not, life on Kryptonite would never had existed.
It’s harmful because they said it was. In the original comic book, the Kryptonians had clad their planet in shielding metals so they weren’t affected by the highly radioactive (to them) stuff the planet was made out of. Why they didn’t, you know, LEAVE, I never figured out.
As far as I have been able to discern, Kryptonite isn’t what the entire planet of Krypton was made of. Kryptonite was one of it’s more dangerous radioactive elements, so really what’s happening to ol’ Supe when he gets exposed to it is a big dose of radiation poisoning. It’s kind of like what would happen to you if someone put you in a room full of Uranium, except in your case, it would probably take longer. 
Maybe there’s a Superman-ophile out there who has better sources of info than I?
Wild Speculation Follows: Maybe since the Yellow Sun gives him extra strength (equate to a suit like ripley wore in Aliens) and since he relies on that power so much that when the kryptonite negates the effect of the yellow sun that his muscles/body isn’t used to shouldering the task of keeping him alive (having been so easy before because of the suns amplification). Sorry it is so rambly… but that is the best way I can explain it.
As I recall, Krypton was not made of Kryptonite. The pieces of Krypton became Kryptonite when the planet exploded. Argo City’s inhabitants did not need to shield themselves from the earth (umm. . . ground?) until the city was blown off the planet.
catmandu42 hit the nail on the head. The kryptonite is a radioactive element from Krypton that is only harmful to Kryptonians. If he were to put the kryptonite in a lead container then he would be OK.
Just providing a cite for the previous statements.
http://www.fortress.am/Encyclopaedia/kryptonite.html
Kryptonite was created by the radiations of the exploding planet Krypton.
In re: radioactive ground
In one of the versions of Superman’s origin, Argo City was blasted from the planet as one chunk, complete with handy-dandy dome. When the ground underfoot changed to kryptonite, the citizens covered it with lead. This worked for a while, until a meteor storm tore up the shielding. At this point, with everyone dieing, the parents of Kara Zor-el launched her to Earth where she became Supergirl.
This is not the current version of Superman’s origin but I won’t go into this.
Amp wrote:
Not strictly true on either count. In the current Superman stories, Lex Luthor “died” from cancer, caused by prolonged exposure to a kryptonite ring he wore as superhero insurance. Luthor had his brain, or mind, transferred to the body of a relative or clone (not sure which) and is thus still active.
Also, in The Dark Knight Returns, Bruce Wayne has managed to synthesize kryptonite. We see him working with it from behind a radiation shield while preparing for a fight with Clark.
Close, but not quite:
Anything on Krypton (ANYTHING) became Kryptonite, not just dirt. Plants, plastics, metals,etc. were all transformed by the explosion into Green Kryptonite.
The one exception to this was the chunk of ground under Argo City. That was transformed into Anti-Kryptonite. See, Green Kryptonite doesn’t harm Kryptonians who don’t have super-powers. So if you put Superman on a Krypton-like planet and tossed him a piece of Green K, nothing would happen. ANTI-Kryptonite, on the other hand, affects non-powered Kryptonians the way Green K affects superpowered ones: in other words, it makes them weak, then sick,then dead. (Note that Green K in the Silver Age didn’t do anything to humans either.)
Somewhere Niven (I believe) speculated (it wasn’t in “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex”) that Green K emitted neutrino-like particles and a super-powered Kryptonian had a body so dense that it actually absorbed those particles. (The problem with this is that lead DOES stop Green K radiation, and if that theory is correct, it shouldn’t.)
A much more accurate page than the one listed above is here
Fenris (who spent WAAAAAY too much of his youth reading and collecting Superman comics.)
Exactly. Kryptonite, in current DC Comics continuity, is harmful to all living things, it just a lot more exposure to it for it to kill a human. Lex Luthor wore a kryptonite ring, and eventually had to have his hand replaced by a cybernetic/mechanical one. This later proved to not be enough, and like the above quote states, he had to move his brain into another body.
The problem with getting a definitive answer to this is the fact that DC Comics decided to alter Superman’s origin and continuity slightly around the mid to late 80’s. Riding high on a wave of fan approval from their revamp and stripping-down of Batman, they gave old Supes a whirl. Now, the Kents never died, he was never Superboy as a teen, Superman is not as infinitely strong as he used to be, and there is only one kind of natural kryptonite, which is green in hue…and it’s deadly to anything with long enough exposure.
I seem to recall some DC Comics pseudo-explanation for Kryptonite’s effect on Supes…I’m paraphrasing from memory, but it went something like this: Superman’s cells are basically living solar batteries, and the radiation from kryptonite negates the yellow sun energy that is soaked up by his cells.
I suggest poking around at http://www.dccomics.com to find out the officially sanctioned explanation.
Somebody give me a wet-nap so’s I can wipe the “comic book geek” label off my forehead…
Exactly. Kryptonite, in current DC Comics continuity, is harmful to all living things, it just a lot more exposure to it for it to kill a human. Lex Luthor wore a kryptonite ring, and eventually had to have his hand replaced by a cybernetic/mechanical one. This later proved to not be enough, and like the above quote states, he had to move his brain into another body.
The problem with getting a definitive answer to this is the fact that DC Comics decided to alter Superman’s origin and continuity slightly around the mid to late 80’s. Riding high on a wave of fan approval from their revamp and stripping-down of Batman, they gave old Supes a whirl. Now, the Kents never died, he was never Superboy as a teen, Superman is not as infinitely strong as he used to be, and there is only one kind of natural kryptonite, which is green in hue…and it’s deadly to anything with long enough exposure.
I seem to recall some DC Comics pseudo-explanation for Kryptonite’s effect on Supes…I’m paraphrasing from memory, but it went something like this: Superman’s cells are basically living solar batteries, and the radiation from kryptonite negates the yellow sun energy that is soaked up by his cells.
I suggest poking around at http://www.dccomics.com to find out the officially sanctioned explanation.
Somebody give me a wet-nap so’s I can wipe the “comic book geek” label off my forehead…
Ah, kryptonite. Anyone besides me able to name the seven different types and what they do?
There’re more than 7 types:
- Green: (kills Kryptonians)
- Blue (kills Bizarros)
- Red (Random 24-48 hour non-repeatable effects)
- White (kills plant life)
- Gold (permanantly de-powers Kryptonians, AND their descendants.)
- Jewel (only one piece: lets people from the Phantom Zone blow things up with their thoughts)
- Anti-Kryptonite: Does to normal kryptonians what Green does to powered ones
- Kryptonite-X: Gives Streaky the Super-Cat his powers
- Slow-Kryponite: Does to humans what Green K does to Kryptonians
- Silver Kryptonite: A hoax
- Yellow Kryptonite: We don’t know. It confuses the hell out of Superman Robots though.
Right back atcha, Chuck: Can you give their ORIGINS?!
Fenris
GOD, I’m a fanboy :rolleyes:
What’s even worse is that I did that off the top of my head.
Boy howdy. What was the rationale for THAT?
It showed up as a plot gimmick in the early '60s. As to the rationale for how it worked…no one ever bothered, since it didn’t show up very often (it’s only been used in like 3 or 4 stories although it’s been shown a ton of times). But it kills ALL plant life, Earth-plant life, Kryptonian plant life, etc. It also kills viruses(?!)
Fenris
Boy howdy. What was the rationale for THAT? **
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It showed up as a plot gimmick in the early '60s. As to the rationale for how it worked…no one ever bothered, since it didn’t show up very often (it’s only been used in like 3 or 4 stories although it’s been shown a ton of times). But it kills ALL plant life, Earth-plant life, Kryptonian plant life, etc. It also kills viruses(?!)
Fenris **
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Jeeeeeeesus…what’s next? Lamb-and-turkey Kryptonite? 
What’s next is at most, more Green K.
All the others ceased to exist as of Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Bicycle lock kryptonite which keeps Superman from stealing yout bike…
White kryptonite was used as a gimmick in the 60s. Superman died somehow and his funeral barge was being transported from planet to planet for the citizens to pay their respects. When they went to Bizarro planet, the Bizarro people, being bizzarre, threw kryptonite at his dead body. This kryptonite happened to be white kryptonite. Superman was revived by this kryptonite assault, and it turned out he was comatose from a bacterial infection that the white kryptonite killed.
(I have every Superman comic and every bit of Superman-related merchandise produced from 93-97.)
–Tim