General Zod

General Zod (full name Dru-Zod) is a fictional character who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, a supervillain who is one of Superman's more prominent enemies. The character first appeared in Adventure Comics #283 (April 1961), and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp. In the motion pictures Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980), Zod is portrayed by British actor Terence Stamp; the character is the principal villain in the latter film. British film magazine Total Film ranked Stamp's version of Zod as #32 on their "Top 50 Greatest Villains Of All Time" list in 2007. Pop-culture website IGN.com also ranked the General as #30 on their list of the "Top 100 Comic Book Villains", asserting that "Stamp is Zod" (emphasis in original).

Silver Age
Dru-Zod is a megalomaniacal Kryptonian, in charge of the military forces on Krypton. He knew Jor-El, Superman's father, when Jor-El was an aspiring scientist. When the space program was abolished after the destruction of the inhabited moon Wegthor (engineered by renegade scientist Jax-Ur), he attempted to take over Krypton. Zod created an army of robotic duplicates of himself, all bearing a resemblance to Bizarro. He was sentenced to exile in the Phantom Zone for 40 years for his crimes. Zod was eventually released by Superboy when his term of imprisonment was up. However, he attempted to conquer Earth with his superpowers acquired under the yellow sun. Zod was sent back into the Phantom Zone, from which he occasionally escapes to target Superman.

Pocket Universe Zod
This Zod came from a Krypton in a pocket universe created by the Time Trapper. He (along with companions Quex-Ul and Zaora) devastated the Earth of that universe following the death of its Superboy, despite the best efforts of a Supergirl created by this world's heroic Lex Luthor. Eventually, the survivors of this world managed to contact the Superman of the main universe to help them, and he was able to take away the powers of the three super-criminals with Gold Kryptonite (since he was not from that universe, the Kryptonite of that reality would have no effect on him). However, as the three vowed to some day regain their powers and return to Superman's world to kill him, Superman was forced to execute them with Kryptonite; and it was this action which caused him to question his powers and how to deal with evildoers. This version of Zod is based closely on the Pre-Crisis version; the significant difference is he killed everyone on the pocket Earth, rather than conquering them (there is no Superboy/Superman to stop him).

"Return to Krypton" Zod
This incarnation of General Zod was introduced in the 2001 storyline "Return to Krypton". He was the head of the Kryptonian military in an alternate reality created by Brainiac 13. Like the Pre-Crisis version, Zod held the Kryptonian equivalent of fascist beliefs. He sent aliens to the bottle city of Kandor and planned a military coup. Zod was defeated by Superman and the Jor-El of that Krypton.

Russian Zod
This General Zod is a Russian who was affected before his birth by Kryptonite radiation, since he was the son of two cosmonauts whose ship was too close to Kal-El's rocketship. This Zod is unnaturally weak under a yellow sun, but superpowered under a red sun (the opposite of Superman). After his parents died from radiation, he grew up in a KGB laboratory under the name "Zed."

Apparently spoken to by the spirit of the Pocket Universe Zod, Russian Zod created a suit of red armor which filtered the sunlight, and declared himself ruler of the fictional former Soviet state of Pokolistan. After several inconclusive encounters with Superman, he revealed his long-range plan to turn the sun red and take Superman's place. This was temporarily successful until Lex Luthor rescued Superman, gave him a blast of yellow solar radiation to regain his powers, and worked to restore the sun. Superman returned to battle Zod, but refused to kill him. When the sun turned yellow again the now-vulnerable Zod struck Superman with all his power at super-speed, but was killed due to Superman's invulnerability.

This Zod is most similar to the Zod who appears in Season 9 of Smallville (see below), since both are initially powerless under a yellow sun but have Kryptonian powers under a red sun. Both Zods plot to turn Earth's sun into a red sun in order to permanently gain these powers.

Phantom Zod
Introduced in the twelve-issue For Tomorrow (Superman #204-#215) storyline, written by Brian Azzarello and penciled by Jim Lee, this Zod lives alone in an alternate Phantom Zone and resents Superman for tampering with it. By his own account he comes from the same Krypton as Superman and was exiled to the Phantom Zone by Superman's father, Jor-El. This Zod wears large, spiked black armor and when unmasked, is a bald, white-bearded old man. This incarnation also uses a variation of "Kneel before Zod". He appeared in Metropia, a version of the Phantom Zone created by Superman to resemble a living world (including apparently-living beings). Since Superman created the world of Metropia with similarities to Krypton, it has been revealed that this (again) is not the real Zod. However, whether or not this was the real Zod of the pre-Infinite Crisis DC universe he has been superseded by the present storyline (which features a new Zod, freed from the Phantom Zone).

Krypton Zod
General Zod appeared as a primary antagonist in the Superman: Last Son storyline (written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner [director of Superman: The Movie and most of Superman II]). In a similar story to that of Superman II, Zod, Ursa, and Non escape from the Phantom Zone and come to Earth to try to turn it into a "New Krypton". This incarnation is the first Post-Crisis Zod who came from Superman's Krypton, and not from an alternate reality.

The backstory for the three Kryptonians was revealed in Action Comics Annual #10. Non had once been a brilliant scientist, on a par with Jor-El. Both were researching the event which would ultimately destroy Krypton. Zod entered their lab with troops (at this point, Zod was still working for Krypton's Council). Both Jor-El and Non were arrested by Zod, warned by the High Council to halt their research and released. Jor-El set to work creating the rocket that would send his son Kal-El to Earth, while Non began to spread the word of the planet's impending doom. Non's message convinced both Zod and Ursa that Krypton was soon to be destroyed. Non then disappeared from public life, only to return with a mutilated brain. The council had transformed him into a mindless brute, and this act inspired Zod and Ursa to rebel against the Kryptonian government. Without any sense of right and wrong, Non now fought alongside Zod and Ursa. Zod attempted to recruit Jor-El to their cause; however, Jor-El saw that the plans were fueled by greed, lust for power and violence.

This rebellion was short-lived and the rebels were again arrested and sentenced to be executed. Not wishing to resort to execution, Jor-El appealed on their behalf to exile them instead. The council accepted this, on the condition that Jor-El would be the jailer. Zod, Ursa and Non were imprisoned, and embittered against Jor-El for years to come.

The story also features the debut of Christopher Kent, a young Kryptonian boy discovered and briefly raised by Superman and Lois Lane. It is revealed that Christopher (whose birth name is Lor-Zod) is the son of Zod and Ursa, born in the Phantom Zone and used as a conduit for their escape. The birth was possible in the otherwise-timeless Phantom Zone because of an ancient accident. An entire Kryptonian prison was transported to the Zone; inside it, time passes.

After ambushing Superman, Zod trapped him in the Zone. At the same time about 25 other Kryptonian criminals also escape the Zone and defeat a number of Earth's heroes, beginning their quest to conquer the planet (starting with Metropolis). Superman escapes the Zone with the aid of Mon-El, and ultimately defeats Zod with the unlikely aid of Lex Luthor, Metallo, Parasite and Bizarro. Out of nearly 30 Kryptonians Metallo, Parasite, and Lex Luthor manage to kill five or six of them with Kryptonite and red solar radiation. Zod and his compatriots are sent back into the Phantom Zone; unfortunately, so is Chris Kent. At the end of the "New Krypton" arc, it is revealed that Alura has brought Zod, Ursa, and Non back from the Phantom Zone (making Zod the army's new leader).

World of New Krypton
When Superman decides to see what life is like on New Krypton, he is drafted into the Military Guild under General Zod. Zod and Superman maintain a mistrustful professional relationship. Despite their past, neither seems prepared to behave with marked aggression toward the other. When Zod orders that Superman and his people kill a Kryptonian criminal, Superman circumvents the order. He feels that killing the criminal would be not only unnecessary, but wrong. The criminal is arrested, without further fatalities.

Zod accuses Superman of treason, of which he is found guilty. Before being executed, Superman gives a heartfelt speech about morality. Much to the everyone's surprise, Zod is apparently moved by the speech. He requests that the Religious Guild give Superman absolution, overturn the "guilty" verdict. As a result, Superman is cleared of all charges. When asked why he did not go through with the execution of the son of someone he hated Zod explains that, despite everything that had happened before, he realized that his military would be stronger and better for having Superman in it. As a result it appears that there is a level of mutual respect (if not peace) between Zod and Superman.

Later, during a Kryptonian ceremony, Zod is shot by the Kryptonian Ral-Dar (who is working with Sam Lane). In issue seven of this story arc, he names Kal-El temporary General until he has fully recovered. By issue 11 he has recovered, but returns to his duties at the worst possible moment. Kal-El, Adam Strange, and Tyr-Van are about to be killed, after having their powers removed because they were with Tam-Or. Tam-Or is a principal suspect of killing a member of the council; even Superman is unable to halt the execution. Zod stops the execution and (with Kal-El) investigates members of a group of traitors to Krypton. They discover the last member and, after getting him to confess to his crimes, arrest him. As Kal-El and Zod are talking about how Kal-El has changed New Krypton by helping the Labor Guild get on the Council, Brainiac attacks.

Last Stand of New Krypton
With New Krypton under attack by Brainiac Zod begins his plan to defeat him after his greatest defeat by the Coluan, when he bottled Kandor from Old Krypton.

War of the Supermen
After the final moments of Last Stand of New Krypton (when the planet was destroyed by Reactron), Zod declares war on Earth. After a fierce conflict, Zod is pushed back into the Phantom Zone by his son.

DC The New 52
General Zod appears in Action Comics (vol. 2) #5 in the Phantom Zone. In this issue Krypton is being destroyed and Jor-El and Lara look for various ways to save himself, Lara, and an infant Kal El. Jor-El suggests going into the Phantom Zone. Zod however appears with other Phantom Zone prisoners and attempts to escape the Phantom Zone. Krypto however sacrifices himself by attacking Zod thus going into the Phantom Zone as well.

Other versions

 * General Zod does not appear in the Superman or Justice League animated series, but appears in the spinoff comics of that universe; in Superman Adventures #21, he is an Argosian. This General Zod also appears in Justice League Unlimited #34.
 * The General Zod of Earth-15 is this world's Superman. This version is later killed by Superman Prime, who was angry because Zod was not a "maniac".
 * The Zod of JSA: The Liberty Files was not a general of any kind. He was recast as a sociopathic 11 year-old, who created a deadly synthetic virus on Krypton for no reason other than fun. Zod was banished to the Phantom Zone because of his actions (the first child ever sent to the Zone) until American scientists breached the Zone and discovered him. Taken in by the government and named "Clark Kent", Zod would fool most of his adult superiors by playing the role of a scared child until he grew up and became the adult "Super-Man".

Powers and abilities
Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, General Zod possesses vast strength, speed, and endurance; super hearing; x-ray vision; telescopic, microscopic, and heat vision; super-breath and freeze-breath; invulnerability; healing and flight. In addition, Zod possesses a detailed knowledge of military tactics, giving him an advantage over Superman's somewhat amateurish combat prowess. Zod was trained in fighting arts before receiving his abilities, while Superman is prone to battling his foes with the aid of his own. Despite his tactical superiority in a confrontation with Superman, Zod's main weakness is shown to be his arrogance. Not only does he underestimate Superman's other allies, but he also lacks the ability to acknowledge his mistakes. When Zod originally escaped the Phantom Zone in the post-Crisis continuity, he proclaimed that he could have saved Krypton if his plan to kill the Council had succeeded; Superman's rational argument was that nobody on Krypton would have followed him and his inability to explain exactly what he would have done to avert Krypton's destruction, with Zod's only response being to reiterate his belief in his own success rather than provide any kind of counter to Superman's claims.

Superman and Superman II
General Zod appears in Superman: The Movie, Superman II and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, portrayed by actor Terence Stamp as a pathologically arrogant and pompous aristocrat, almost bored with his incredible powers and disappointed with the ease of overtaking Earth. He is also portrayed as a super-powered psychopath, especially in the "Richard Donner Cut", which includes a scene where Zod is shown laughing while using an Armalite AR-10 to shoot soldiers in the White House, despite possessing superpowers. He is eventually defeated when Superman lures Zod and his allies to the Fortress after reprogramming a chamber designed to remove Kryptonian powers so that the red sunlight it generates will be reflected outward into the rest of the Fortress rather than into the chamber, allowing Superman to retain his powers while depriving Zod of his. In the Richard Donner cut, it was shown that Superman rotated the Earth backwards again to prevent General Zod and his followers from escaping from the Phantom Zone.

In 2009, issue #7 of the 15-story Superman: World of New Krypton copied this with the phrase "Kneel Before Kal-El" on the cover. Director Richard Lester inspired much of Zod (and company)'s destruction of downtown Metropolis. One scene involved his heat vision being reflected by Superman. Standing in front of a tanning-salon billboard, he comedically imprinted his silhouette over the bikini-clad figure; the rest of the poster charred. In a later scene Superman knocks him to the street and grabs him by his hand and foot; he spins Zod violently then throws him miles away where he crashes through a neon Coca Cola billboard. The film portrayal of General Zod is rated #58 on Wizard magazine's "100 Greatest Villains of All Time" list. Terence Stamp is the voice for Jor-El in the TV series Smallville, and his figure/shape and scream also appear also as Zod in the show (see below). Zod is notably the only other villain to appear in the film series originating from the comics beyond Lex Luthor.

Man of Steel
General Zod will be the main antagonist in the Zack Snyder film, Man of Steel, played by Michael Shannon''.

Animation
In the Super Friends episode, "The Evil From Krypton" in 1981, a Phantom Zone villain named Zy-Kree resembles the movie-version of Zod.

General Zod appears in the 1988 animated series Superman episode "The Hunter" voiced by René Auberjonois. Zod is imprisoned in the Phantom Zone with Ursa and Faora (two Kryptonian women), whereas most portrayals of the conspiracy show the Zod trio composed of two men and one woman.

The Superman: The Animated Series version of Jax-Ur is an amalgamation of the comic book character of the same name and General Zod.

Though neither Zod nor Jax-Ur appear in Justice League or Justice League Unlimited, the Justice League Unlimited episode "For the Man Who Has Everything" contains a depiction Superman's dream world where his Kryptonian wife, Loana, mentions another Kryptonian named "Little Zod".

The Silver Age version of Zod makes a cameo appearance in the Legion of Super Heroes episode, "Phantoms". He is one of the many Phantom Zone prisoners attacking the Legion.

Smallville
General Zod appears as a recurring villain in Smallville, although off-screen at first. References to Zod began with season five's season premiere "Arrival", which featured two Kryptonian disciples of Zod (who arrived on Earth in the meteor shower of the season-four finale) searching for Clark Kent (Tom Welling). The season concludes with the Kryptonian artificial intelligence known as Brainiac (James Marsters), having granted Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) Kryptonian superpowers, is able to make him host for Zod's consciousness. The season-six première opens with Zod (Rosenbaum) set to rule over a devastated Metropolis. However, Clark is able to evict Zod's consciousness and send it back to the Phantom Zone. Zod's disembodied spirit resembles Terence Stamp. In season eight's "Bloodline", Zod's wife Faora escapes the Phantom Zone and inhabits the body of Lois Lane (Erica Durance). She reveals that she and Zod genetically engineered a son&mdash;Davis Bloome (Sam Witwer), Smallville's version of Doomsday&mdash;after they discovered they could not have children. Zod and Faora sent Doomsday to Earth to destroy the planet and the infant Clark. Faora also remarks that Davis (Witwer) strongly resembles Zod. In the season-eight finale "Doomsday," Zod's symbol is burnt into the grass by the Orb in the possession of Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman); a man stands on the burning lawn (a brief, uncredited portrayal by Witwer).

Season Nine introduces the return of General Zod as his younger self, Major Zod (British actor Callum Blue), as a main character. It is revealed that before Krypton exploded, Zod duplicated his DNA when he was still a Kandorian Major, before committing the atrocities for which he is known, with Jor-El treating the DNA samples with blue kryptonite to prevent the resulting clones manifesting abilities on Earth; as a result, Blue's Zod is a powerless clone of the original who has no memory of becoming the villain Clark knows. Kelly Sounders observes, "over the course of the season, the venomous side of Zod rises because he experiences a few key betrayals with our beloved characters." Season nine begins with Tess as Zod's prisoner in the Luthor mansion; he and many other weakened Kandorians live there. In "Metallo", Zod and his soldiers use LuthorCorp equipment to create the supervillain Metallo (Brian Austin Green) using Kryptonian scientific knowledge. Zod discovers that he is a clone in "Kandor". Based on memories of Lois- who accidentally used a ring Clark had recceived from the Legion of Super-Heroes to travel forward in time by a year, resulting in her witnessing a future where the Kandorians had regained their abilities and conquered Earth-, Clark contacts the Kandorians to try and help them adjust to life on Earth without powers rather than remaining apart from them so that they can acquire powers without his moral guidance. In the episode "Disciple", Zod introduces himself to an injured Lois Lane as a friend of Clark's. Clark uses his blood to revive a dying Zod in "Conspiracy", which has the side effect of awakening Zod's abilities. Zod masquerades as "the Blur" to trick Lois into helping him investigate Tess Mercer, until Lois discovers the duplicity. Although Clark is able to convince Zod's followers to leave him when they learn he killed a pregnant Faora for objecting to his plans of conquest, Zod and Clark battle, both powerless due to the effects of Blue Kryptonite as part of Zod's attempt to escape being teleported to New Krypton. The episode ends with Clark in free-fall and Zod ascending, since he is taken out of Earth by the Kryptonian book of Rao and sent to New Krypton after the Blue Kryptonite is removed from his presence. Zod makes a final appearance in the season ten (2011) episode "Dominion". The other Kandorians had chosen to punish Zod by sending him to the Phantom Zone, where he was reunited with the disembodied spirit of General Zod, resulting in the two combining into a physical form with the memories of the original and clone Zods. The united Zod's hatred of Clark is further intensified, prompting him to arrange an elaborate trap to lure Clark into the Zone. Despite an attempt by Darkseid to use a brainwashed Green Arrow to trap Clark in the Zone, Clark and Oliver manage to escape, destroying the exit and trapping Zod in the Zone for good.

Video games

 * General Zod is mentioned in World of Warcraft with a weapon named "Zod's Repeating Longbow", which bears the phrase "Kneel before him".
 * The 1988 Superman NES game has the Zod trio as the final bosses whom Superman must defeat in order to win the game. The fight takes place at the fictional Statue of Freedom in Metropolis, based on the Statue of Liberty.
 * General Zod appears in the DC Universe Online video game, voiced by Alexander Brandon.
 * General Zod appears in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Townsend Coleman.

Novels
In the novel The Last Days of Krypton (by Kevin J. Anderson, ISBN 0-06-134074-X), General Zod (also known as Commissioner Dru-Zod) is the son of Cor-Zod (former head of the Kryptonian Council). Initially a middle-level bureaucrat, he takes advantage of a major planetary cataclysm and the apparent decapitation of the government to seize absolute power as a military despot. He is ultimately overthrown by a resistance movement led by scientist Jor-El and his brother, civic leader Zor-El.

Web series

 * Parodies of the character have been seen in some episodes of the web series Galacticast, played by actor Rudy Jahchan.
 * In 2010, Doug Walker of That Guy with the Glasses produced a Christmas series in which he plays General Zod analyzing some of the traditions and symbols of Christmas (including snowmen, Christmas trees, and Santa Claus). In February 2011, Walker appeared as Zod, announcing his candidacy for President of the United States. In 2012, Zod re-appeared as an antagonist in the fourth anniversary special, To Boldly Flee, once again played by Walker. Nostalgia Critic and his fellow Channel Awesome reviewers must travel to Jupiter in order to discover the fate of Ma-Ti following his sacrificial death at the end of Suburban Knights. Zod is introduced by the series' shadowy antognist, The Executor (played by Walker's brother, Rob) to replace the incompetent Terl (Noah Antwiler) from Battlefield Earth, whose numerous failures in stopping the Critics infuriates his master no end. He is later killed along with Terl and Linkara's evil robotic counterpart, Mechakara, after the trio crashes their ship into the Exceutor's Space station, and a thermal detonator in Mechakara goes off.

Music

 * The American rock band Electric Six includes the "Kneel before Zod" line in its song "Rip It".
 * Irish thrash metal band Gama Bomb's Citizen Brain album features a song entitled "In the Court of General Zod".
 * Rapper Tech N9ne, in the song "Sinister Tech", says "I'll make you kneel before Zod".
 * Rapper RZA includes the line "Kneel to Zod" in his song, "Gone".
 * The band Mammals of Zod is based in both New York and Texas.