Originally Posted by
godisawesome
Kon-El, Conner Kent, The Superboy/Scion
He’s one of my favorite characters, and I’ve had this “amalgamated” idea of combining his different iterations for a while.
Cadmus creates Subject 13 as an insurance policy for the government in the event of Superman’s death; because of the intergalactic threats Earth faces, there’s a genuine effort to make sure they have some kinder backup plan. Lex Luthor is brought in to do most of the work with the science using his Brainiac-imbued 12th level intelligence, and even though he’s closely watched, he infiltrates it’s “programming” phase and implants a “Manchurian Candidate” sleeper program.
Superboy is a modified human/Kryptonian hybrid, and effectively designed to overcome the issues suffered by the B-0 (Bizarro) prototypes Luthor himself had developed long ago - the human side allows for a stable base organism, while the Kryptonian side supplies the energy absorption and redirection aspect that fuels Superman's powers. Subject 13’s powers are the result of what Kryptonian powers can be replicated (but use solar energy inefficiently in comparison and take longer to develop) and mental powers - TTK - that can be imbued and powered more efficiently by the Kryptonian cells. His “programming” is actually more about making sure he has some understanding about the outside world (so he has a broad factoid knowledge base like YJ Superboy) but also about allowing him to use his TTK at an expert intuitive level - it looks red when his “programming” is being used... and would be blue if the programming ever failed and he had to manually utilize it...
It should be noted that the Superboy is so freakishly expensive and delicate an project that he effectively can’t be replicated himself without massive changes (for which I’m saving Match for later) - Subject 13 has that number because he’s the 13th iteration, and he’s paid for by the same international apparatus that funds Justice League International (so it’s the only project in the world paid for by NATO + China + Russia, etc.)...
...Which makes it very annoying when Subject 13 gets released before he’s done “cooking.”
He’s freed by Impulse and Robin III when they’re investigating a crooked Cadmus scientist (like in YJ), but very quickly after being Fred, his highly impressionable young mind becomes consumed by pop-culture (his stasis resting without sleep ends up happening while cable TV is on, so... yeah.)
He then goes through four phases:
Phase 1: The Kid
This is basically a mix of 90’s Superboy with a pinch of New 52 Superboy; he’s a colorful, enthusiastic, and often cocky showboat superhero in a colorful suit with a trademarked leather jacket, who’s TTK is capable of a grab bag of powers beyond the expected Kryptonian set, which isn’t fully developed yet. He becomes best buds with Tim and Bart, becomes aware of and eventually reciprocates Cassie Sandmark’s crush, and has a decent career, until...
Phase 2: Project Lionel Luthor is forced to activate the “Manchurian Superboy” earlier than he wished because of Lois’s investigations, and uses the brainwashed and taciturn Superboy as his main muscle/bodyguard/enforcer. Despite intending to use him as just a weapon, Lex has some tiny inkling of paternal instinct crop up with Superboy, which allows Superboy to slowly fight off some of his instructions, before Cassie manages to finally hold him down while newly arrived Miss Martian manages to break the programming - *all* of it...
Phase 3: Smallville’s Savior ...which leaves Superboy struggling to use what Kryptonian powers he has as his only tools for a while, while also struggling to come to terms with the trauma of his time as Lex’s weapon. Superman takes charge, giving him both his Kryptonian name and his human name and hooking him up with Pete Ross as a foster father in Smallville, which is growing beyond a small town. he wears the blue jeans and T-shirt look here. Conner slowly regains his confidence, his command of his TTK, and grows into a more mature person here. He also ends up becoming the second Superboy of the Legion of Superhperes here (Clark, Kon, and Jon all take a turn at it.) Finally, he enters...
Phase 4: The Scion Conner matures into a young man, and ends up as sometimes cosmic adventurer and sometimes conventional superhero, wearing a mix of his two most famous costumes - his shirt is a colorful spandex-y look, but her wears cargo pants ala Jon Moxley (‘cause I want him to) and a leather jacket that’s actually festooned with mementos. He also develops a relationship with Miss Martian here. And, having some complicated perspectives of Lex Luthor, he ends up becoming a protector and big brother of Lex’s daughter Lena when she ends up becoming Brainiac 2.0...