| Colors of Kryptonite | Effects |
|---|---|
| Green Kryptonite | The most common form of Kryptonite. In superpowered Kryptonians, causes immediate physical pain and debilitation, reduces their powers, and kills within hours.
In both Superman Returns and its indirect predecessor, Superman: The Movie, Green Kryptonite is shown as effectively removing Superman's powers during the time he is exposed; in the first movie, Superman is nearly drowned while exposed to Green Kryptonite, and in Returns, Superman is brutally beaten by Lex Luthor's henchmen and stabbed with a Kryptonite shard by Luthor. In most versions of the comics continuity, Superman retains his powers (and invulnerability to conventional weapons) while exposed to Green Kryptonite, although dramatically weakened and in severe pain. His skin would also begin to turn green. This avoids the logical shortcut which would result if a villain could, for instance, simply expose Superman to Kryptonite and then shoot him with a gun. The comics continuity has consistently held that only exposure to Kryptonite, in and of itself, would be sufficient to kill Superman. Green Kryptonite has no short-term effects on humans (though strictly in post-Crisis continuity, long-term exposure is apparently lethal to humans, due to radiation poisoning) or non-superpowered Kryptonians. In one early Silver Age story, Superboy built up immunity to specific chunks of Green Kryptonite through repeated non-fatal exposure, as seen in the story "The Great Kryptonite Mystery", (Superboy (volume 1) #58, July 1957). (This idea was further developed in the Elseworlds series Kingdom Come, when Luthor reveals that the older Superman's absorption of solar radiation over the years rendered him immune to Kryptonite.) In most incarnations, lead blocks the effects of Kryptonite. In the television series Smallville, Green Kryptonite, refined or not, can cause normal humans to mutate special abilities, although an outside catalyst (such as a strong electrical charge) is usually required. Although most of these were accidental (the mutants were accidentally exposed), others started to refine and take in Kryptonite willingly to obtain its effects. One character named Marsh inhaled liquid Kryptonite to gain superhuman strength. This also gave him temporary Kryptonite radiation, thus causing Clark to be unable to stop him until the "dose" wore off.In the episode Void when Clark is injected with Kryptonite,his body rejects it before death meaning it can't actually kill him. In the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Green Kryptonite acted similarly to movie-continuity Kryptonite. Whenever Clark was exposed to it, it caused nearly crippling pain and temporarily removed his powers. Additionally, it would take some time (usually a few minutes) after the Kryptonite was taken away for Clark to regain his powers; during this period, he was as vulnerable to injury as a human. |
| Red Kryptonite | Created from Green Kryptonite that passed through a mysterious red-hued cloud en route to Earth. Red Kryptonite inflicts one of a variety of odd effects on Kryptonians, typically creating an initial "tingling effect" in those affected. No two chunks of Red Kryptonite have the same effect. Red Kryptonite effects typically last for 24-48 hours (though sometimes as long as 72), after which the Kryptonian in question is always immune to that specific chunk of Red Kryptonite. Superman has suffered the following effects upon exposure to various pieces of Red Kryptonite: being turned into a dragon, a non-powered giant, a dwarf, an ant-headed humanoid, a lunatic, and an amnesiac; being made unable to see anything colored green; growing incredibly long hair, nails, and beard; being rendered totally powerless; growing fat; gaining the ability to read thoughts; losing his invulnerability along the left side of his body; being split into an evil Superman and a good Clark Kent; being rendered unable to speak or write anything but Kryptonian, the language used on Krypton; growing an extra set of arms; becoming clumsy when trying to help out; swapping bodies with the person nearest him upon exposure to it; rapidly aging; and multiple personality changes. In post-Crisis continuity, Red Kryptonite first appeared as an artificial construct of Mr. Mxyzptlk; a second variety was later revealed as a synthetic variant created by Ra's al Ghul, using notes he stole from Batman. The Red Kryptonite that Batman created is similar to the Red Kryptonite in the Lois & Clark series in which Red Kryptonite causes Superman's powers to become uncontrollable, in this case it causes Superman's skin to become transparent allowing sunlight directly into his muscles and organs, requiring all his will not to explode with power. On the TV series, Smallville, Red Kryptonite has a drug-like effect, causing severe changes in Clark Kent's personality, becoming rebellious, unpredictable and acting purely on erotic and selfish emotions. Smallville Red Kryptonite also differs from the comics in that it affects Clark (and presumably all Kryptonians) only when it is in direct contact with his skin (although a shirt pocket seems to be close enough in one episode). The time duration of the red K effects appear to be limited to a few days at which point contact must be broken and then re-established. The effects are negated immediately once direct contact is broken. In Krypto the Superdog, it has random effects, including temporary amnesia, losing all super powers, and body-swapping. Similar to traditional Red Kryptonite, each chunk's effect happens only once, and lasts 24 hours. |
| Gold Kryptonite | Removes superpowers from Kryptonians permanently; however, in one story, a temporary antidote was developed that negated this effect for a short period of time. For obvious reasons, this variety was little used in Superman stories. It played key roles in the 1982 limited series "The Phantom Zone", as well as in three noncanonical stories, namely the 1986 tale Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? (a possible conclusion to the story of Superman of Earth-One), an "imaginary story" about what might have happened if someone other than the Kents had found the baby Superman, and the Superman & Batman: Generations stories. Additionally, it appeared briefly in the post-Crisis DC Universe, when Superman used it on a trio of Kryptonian criminals while visiting the Pocket Universe (Adventures of Superman #444, Superman v2, #22). Gold Kryponite also made an appearance in The Flash #175 when Superman and the Flash had to race to the end of the universe. As cited in World's Finest Comics #159 (1966), Gold Kryptonite has an effective range of two feet. In the mainstream post-Crisis DC universe, it appears that instead of removing Kryptonian super-powers pemanently it causes cellular degeneration and once caused Superman to age at an accelerated rate; however, it is not confirmed if this is true of all Gold Kryptonite because this version was presumably created by the time traveller Gog. Recently, Lex Luthor has stated that Gold Kryptonite like its previous pre-crisis version can permanently rob Superman of his powers stating that it completely destroys the ability for Superman's cells to process solar energy. |
| White Kryptonite | Kills all plant life, whether Kryptonian or not. Induces decay immediately upon exposure, with a range of about 25 yards. The most prominent use of this variety in the comics was to destroy Virus X, which was revealed in a storyline in 1968's Action Comics #362-366 to actually be a form of plant life. |
| Blue Kryptonite | The result of using Professor Potter's "duplicator ray" on some Green Kryptonite. Pre-Crisis, Blue Kryptonite affected only Bizarros, and in a manner similar to that of Green Kryptonite on Kryptonians. Using Bizarro logic, Superman was able to recover from the effects of Red Kryptonite by using Blue Kryptonite in an episode of Super Friends. Post-Crisis, Blue Kryptonite makes Bizarros become coherent, polite and goodhearted; it also alters Bizarros' distinctive grammar, so that a Bizarro would say "I am Bizarro" instead of "Me am not Bizarro". In the Superman/Batman comics #25, Bizarro puts on Batzarro's Blue Kryptonite ring and receives a 12th level intellect. Blue Kryptonite has been used in Superman video games as a life restorative. |
| Jewel Kryptonite | Jewel Kryptonite amplifies the psychic powers of Phantom Zone residents, allowing them to project illusions into the "real world" or perform mind control. It was made from what was left of a mountain range on Krypton called the Jewel Mountains (it is shown in one comic story to be used by Zod and Ursa outside the Zone in the "real" world as well, to blow up the piece they had and transport themselves back to the Phantom Zone. So it is probable that any Kryptonian can make use of Jewel Kryptonite as long as they are in close proximity to it.) In the post-Crisis Silver Age limited series, a "prismatic gem from the Jewel Mountains of Krypton" was used by the Injustice League to amplify the psychic powers of the Absorbascon, but was not referred to as Jewel Kryptonite. |
| Black Kryptonite | Black Kryptonite was first introduced in the Smallville television series, in the fourth season premiere episode "Crusade," as Kryptonite with the ability to split the personality of Kryptonians. It later appears in the fourth season episode "Onyx," where it is revealed to split physically the bodies of humans. In the series, Black Kryptonite can be created by super-heating Green Kryptonite. It later made its first appearance in a DC comic in September 2005's Supergirl #2, where it apparently possessed the ability to split a person or a person's personality into two separate entities. In Supergirl #3, Luthor used Black Kryptonite on Supergirl, which caused her to split into two separate people, one wearing Supergirl's traditional costume, and another wearing a black-and-white version. Her black-and-white costume is similar to the one that Superman was wearing when he returned from the dead. Luthor noted that he was given the Black Kryptonite by the self-proclaimed god Darkseid, who may have been responsible for its creation (a synthesized version of Kryptonite in the feature film Superman III had similar effects on Superman, creating an evil Superman.) In All-Star Superman, which takes place outside of DC Universe continuity, Black Kryptonite makes Superman evil, almost as if he is transforming into Bizarro Superman. |
| Anti-Kryptonite | Has no effect on superpowered Kryptonians, but has the same effects as Green Kryptonite on non-superpowered Kryptonians. This version of Kryptonite is what killed most of the residents of Argo City in the pre-Crisis comics. Anti-Kryptonite was likely introduced to cover a writer error, as in the original Argo City story, the residents of Argo City are killed by Green Kryptonite even though it should have had no effect on non-superpowered Kryptonians. Post-Crisis, it is the power source of Ultraman, Superman's evil counterpart who lives in an alternate antimatter universe. |
| X-Kryptonite | Created by pre-crisis Supergirl while experimenting with Green Kryptonite in hopes of finding an antidote. It has no effect on Kryptonians, but bestows temporary superpowers on Earth lifeforms, most prominently Supergirl's pet cat, Streaky. Not to be confused with Kryptonite-X. |
| Slow Kryptonite | A modified variety of Green Kryptonite produced by a human scientist that affects humans in a manner similar to Green Kryptonite on Kryptonians, appearing in The Brave and the Bold #175. Its effect on Kryptonians, if any, is undocumented. |
| Magno-Kryptonite | Artificially created by the villain Nero, "Magno-Kryptonite" is magnetically attracted to all substances originally from Krypton, with such incredible force that not even the strength of Superman or Bizarro can escape it according to Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #92. It is not specifically stated if any parts of its alloy are of Kryptonian origin. |
| Bizarro Red Kryptonite | Affects humans the same way Red Kryptonite affects Kryptonians. Appeared in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #80. |
| Kryptonite-X or Kryptisium | A form of filtered/purified Kryptonite. Professor Emil Hamilton used the term "Kryptonite-X" (The Adventures of Superman #511, April 1994, page 13) to describe the substance that restored Superman's powers after a confrontation with the villain known as the Cyborg Superman in Engine City (Superman v2, #82, part of the "Return of Superman" storyline). This substance was created when the Cyborg used a huge chunk of Kryptonite in an attempt to kill the weak, powerless, recovering Superman. The Eradicator, who had fashioned a faux-Kryptonian body using a Kryptonian matrix, jumped in front of Superman before the release of the Kryptonite energy could kill him. Despite the Eradicator's efforts, the Kryptonite energy hit Superman, but instead of killing him, it transferred all of the characteristic Kryptonian powers from the Eradicator to Superman, as well as saturating Superman's body with a purified/filtered form of Kryptonite. This substance eventually led to Superman becoming an over-muscled giant, due to his accelerated sunlight absorption and overstorage of energy. (This Kryptonite is not to be confused with X-Kryptonite.) |
| Silver Kryptonite | In the television show Smallville episode titled "Splinter," manufactured "silver kryptonite" brings out Clark's paranoid side, and his delusions show him some of his greatest fears, which he believes to be real. The effects of the kryptonite were removed by Dr. Fine (Brainiac) who sent the "silver meteor rock" to Lana in Lex's name to "help" her with her astronomy paper. Clark pricked his finger with the sharp edge of the rock as he held it while visiting Lana in her dorm room, causing him to feel the effects immediately. However, this "new form of kryptonite" turned out to be a hoax (see Smallville entry below). |
| Pink Kryptonite | From an alternate timeline in a 2003 Supergirl storyline by Peter David, this bizarre variety of Kryptonite apparently turned heterosexual Kryptonians temporarily into homosexuals; it was seen in just one panel, with Superman giving flattering compliments to Jimmy Olsen about his wardrobe and decorative sense. It spoofs the more "innocent times" of the Silver Age (Lois Lane is depicted in this story as not understanding what's gotten into Superman).[3] |
In the comics, some varieties of kryptonite that turned out to be hoaxes: