- "12 years, we've been forced to hide in the shadows. But the General's arrival is imminent. Nothing must interfere. You are instructed to eliminate the human operatives. You can add this girl to the list."
- —The Commander to Vartox[src]
The Commander is an underling of General Astra and the leader of her and Non's army.
Biography
At some point, The Commander joined General Astra and Lieutenant Non's crusade to save Krypton, but was captured and sentenced to Fort Rozz by Alura Zor-El. When the prison crashed on Earth in 2003, he was amongst the many who escaped. The Commander began working with Astra and Non's army to take over the planet, personally dealing with the other escapees.[1]
Sabotage of Flight 237
The Commander talks with Vartox.
12 years later, the Commander worked with Vartox to sabotage Flight 237 in order to kill several D.E.O. operatives on board to eliminate any interference in their mission. When this failed, the Commander questioned Vartox and learned of a mysterious heroine who flew into the sky and saved the plane. Wondering if the woman was Alura's daughter and Kal-El's cousin, the Commander ordered Vartox to kill the mystery heroine alongside the D.E.O. operatives in any manner necessary regardless of human casualties, as General Astra's arrival was imminent.
After Vartox's death, the Commander reported to Astra of the situation. He confirmed that, among other things, Vartox had ascertained Supergirl's identity as Alura's daughter, Kara Zor-El, who escaped Krypton alongside her cousin. The Commander was dismissive of the new heroine, but Astra disagreed. She ordered the Commander to find and kill Kara, as nothing was to stand in their way.[1]
Powers and abilities
Powers
- Kryptonian physiology: Normally, like all Kryptonians, the Commander's capabilities are no greater than a normal human of his physical conditioning. However, once charged by the energy of a yellow sun and metabolized into his body, he becomes able to perform various inhuman feats.
- Longevity: As a Kryptonian, the Commander's life span is considerably longer than a normal human and likewise ages far slower.
- Solar energy absorption: The Commander is able to absorb and metabolize solar energy from a blue or yellow sun to obtain his powers.
- Super strength: The Commander is far stronger than a normal human, as well as some aliens, when exposed to a blue or yellow sun.
- Super speed: The Commander is able to move at super-sonic speeds, both through flight and on foot.
- Flight: The Commander is able to fly and levitate by manipulating gravity to generate thrust.
- Invulnerability: The Commander has nearly impenetrable flesh and bones, making him essentially immune to all Earthly weapons, with bullets simply ricocheting whenever they come in to contact with his skin. This allows him to take far more damage than a normal human and have a higher resistance to pain.
- Accelerated healing factor: The Commander is able to heal and recover far faster than a normal human. His higher metabolism allows his body to process and burn calories far more faster than any other normal human, allowing him to not gain weight and remain physically healthy with little to no maintaining.
- Super hearing: The Commander can hear perfectly across several miles and through structures.
- Super breath: The Commander is able to exhale powerful gusts of wind from his mouth, as well as causing the temperature of his breath to drop below subzero cold, therefore allowing him to freeze nearly anything.
- X-ray vision: The Commander is able to see through all solid objects, except for lead.
- Heat vision: The Commander can emit blue energy beams of intense heat from his eyes.
- Contaminant immunity: The Commander has an immunity to all forms of disease and contaminants on Earth.
- Telepathy immunity: The Commander is immune to most forms of telepathic powers.
Abilities
- Bilingual: The Commander is capable of fluently speaking English and Kryptonese.
Weaknesses
- Kryptonite: Like all Kryptonians, even while empowered, the Commander is vulnerable to the exposure of Kryptonite, a radioactive mineral from his home planet Krypton. Depending on the nature of the said Kryptonite, it will cause a different adverse affect on him;
- Green Kryptonite: Green Kryptonite not only physically hurts the Commander and weakens his physical attributes, leaving him vulnerable to weapons and anything in general that can kill a normal human, but if he is exposed to it for too long, it will kill him.
- Red Kryptonite: If exposed to Red Kryptonite, it gradually destroys the Commander's inhibitions and turns him into a corrupt version of himself. Left without morality, compassion, rationality, or any cares whatsoever, the Commander will become malevolent and prone to hostility and aggression, making him a danger to everyone around him.
- Silver Kryptonite: If exposed to Silver Kryptonite, it will cause the Commander to go in a deep and frightful hallucination where nothing from the outside world can stir him out of it until it leaves his system.
- Lead: Due to the fact that; the Commander's x-ray vision is similar to that; of actual x-rays; he cannot see through lead.
- Red sun energy: Like all Kryptonians, exposure to a red sun will render the Commander the equivalent of a human being on Earth.
- Extreme energy: Extreme amounts of energy can be enough to kill the Commander.
- Solar energy depletion: Using his powers to its maximum for an extended period can significantly drain his solar energy to the point where the Commander loses all of his powers and is rendered more human like for at least a day. This renders him as weak as a human, allowing the Commander to get injured and killed as easy as killing a human.
- Solar energy overload: If the Commander absorbs too much solar energy, it will act as a poison and kill him.
- High-frequencies: Although considered a strength, the Commander's hearing does have its disadvantages. Since his hearing is more sensitive than a normal human's, higher pitch noises (sonic screams, etc.) can disorient him and cause pain in his ears, leaving him vulnerable in a fight. Therefore, enemies with sound-based powers, like Silver Banshee, can potentially be powerful enough to cause the Commander's ears to bleed.
- Sound-dampening technology: Specially-designed frequencies to block super-hearing, like those utilized by the D.E.O., will cause the Commander slight pain when trying to use this power in areas protected by the technology.
Appearances
Supergirl
Season 1
- "Pilot"