Originally Posted by
Ascended
There's definitely a sportsman-like element to Clark. He enjoys physical challenge, whether that's trying to outrace tachyons or push a continent-sized asteroid out of earth's path or beat Diana in a sparring match.
I think he enjoys sparring, but I don't think he likes actual fighting. Clark will happily jump into the ring with Diana (and he'll even win, sometimes!) for some training that'll leave them both bloody, but I don't think he enjoys "real" violence. There's some exceptions of course, Clark will smile every time he gets to punch Mongul or Zod in the face, because he really hates those guys and knows they deserve far worse. But I don't think Clark takes any joy out of hurting people (most of the time). The sweet science of boxing, that's sport. Putting Parasite in the hospital? Not so much. He won't lose any sleep over it, but he won't be happy about it either.
I think that probably applies to a lot of heroes, but there's plenty out there who just like hurting people too. Batman. I mean, come on, that dude *loves* breaking bones.