Krypto
Krypto, also known as Krypto the Superdog, is a superhero dog appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the character Superman. In most continuities, Krypto is Superman's pet dog, usually depicted as a white dog of a generic pedigree.
Krypto has appeared in numerous television series and films, such as the animated series Krypto the Superdog; the television series Smallville, the live-action HBO Max series Titans, the animated film DC League of Super-Pets voiced by Dwayne Johnson, and the fourth season and series finale of Superman & Lois. The character made his live-action cinematic debut in the film Superman, an installment of the DC Universe media franchise.
Publication history
Krypto's first appearance was in a Superboy adventure story in Adventure Comics #210, and was created by writer Otto Binder and artists Curt Swan & Sy Barry. Originally intended as a one-off character, the dog attracted positive attention from the audience, and returned four issues later and became a regular member of Superboy's cast.Character biography
The original Krypto
On Krypton, parallel evolution leads to the emergence of analogous species to Earth birds, felids, canids, and simians. They are domestic companion animals as they are on Earth. As explained in his first appearance, Krypto is originally the young dog and household pet of toddler Kal-El while they are on Krypton.Jor-El, testing prototypes for the rocket that will eventually send Kal-El to Earth, decides to use Krypto as a test subject, with the dog launched in extended cryogenic sleep. However, Krypto's rocket is knocked off-course by meteors and drifts through space for approximately ten Earth years until it eventually lands on Earth, where Krypto is reunited with the by-then teenaged superhero, Superboy. Due to the environment, Krypto possesses the same powers and abilities as his master, although his physical abilities are proportionate to his smaller size and species. Certain sensory abilities of Krypto's are more acute than those of Superman, just as an ordinary dog's senses are more acute than those of an ordinary human. Krypto also has human-level intelligence, with his thoughts being represented via speech balloons. Although he has normal canine instincts he is able to make decisions rationally and suppress his instincts to achieve Kal-El's objectives, such as preserving his secret identity. Upon being reunited with Kal-El, the reawakened Krypto understands due to his sense of scent that the now-teenager is in fact Krypto's own companion from Krypton now grown to adolescence.
Krypto is drawn as a medium-sized, short-haired white dog of generic pedigree. The early appearances of the character in the comics feature exaggerated anthropomorphic facial expressions; these are replaced in later appearances by a more generic canine face. When fighting crime, Krypto usually wears a gold collar, a miniature facsimile of the Superman's symbol for a dog tag, and a dog-sized version of Superman's cape. Whenever he is on Earth and wants to appear as an "ordinary" dog, Krypto pulls his collar and cape off, pulling it back on when necessary. In one story, he is gifted with a collar which contains a retractable cape that can be unfurled or hidden by pressing a stud.
When not accompanying Superboy/Superman, Krypto spends much of his time romping through space; while on Earth, however, he stays with the Kent family, posing as their pet dog, "Skip". In that identity, his guardians apply a brown dye patch on his back for a disguise which Krypto burns off with his heat vision when he goes into costume; later, the Kents devise a pullcord-activated dye applicator and other methods which Krypto can use to switch to "Skip" and back without assistance.
Krypto is part of two organizations of super-animals: the 30th century Legion of Super-Pets, and the Space Canine Patrol Agents. After the 1971 revamp of Superman by editor Julius Schwartz, Krypto does not appear for several years. The character returns suffering from amnesia in a 1974 two-part Green Arrow backup story in Action Comics #440 and #441. His memory is restored in 1975's Superman #287. Asked in a 2006 interview why he "liberated Krypto from the limbo kennel", writer Elliot S. Maggin said, "A man needs a dog. A superman needs a superdog."
Krypto had his own feature in The Superman Family #182 to #192, written by Bob Toomey.
In Alan Moore's send-off to pre-Crisis Superman, Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow?, Krypto saves Superman by biting the throat out of the Kryptonite Man. Krypto is irradiated in the process and dies with the villain.
In Superboy #126 "Krypto's Family Tree", Krypto's father's name is given as Zypto, his grandfather as Nypto, and his great-grandfather as Vypto.
The modern Krypto
Pocket universe Krypto
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity reboot, Superman's history is extensively rewritten, initially eliminating Krypto and all other survivors of Krypton. The Time Trapper creates a pocket universe that replicates pre-Crisis continuity and has a version of Krypto. While battling three Phantom Zone criminals, Krypto sacrifices his powers by giving Superboy gold kryptonite to depower them.Krypto and Bibbo
The second modern Krypto is a small white pet dog, rescued, and later named by Bibbo Bibbowski. Originally, Bibbo wanted to name the dog "Krypton" after Superman's home planet. However, the engraver of the dog tag intentionally drops the letter "n" to extort more money from Bibbo; an angry Bibbo refuses to comply and renames the dog "Krypto." Soon after, the dog finds two young children who were trapped in a bomb shelter for a month following Superman's fight with Doomsday. The children are badly malnourished and dehydrated, but it is learned that they survive and recover. This gives Superman the idea to explain Clark Kent's long absence by staging a faked rescue from a similar predicament.Krypto is later acquired by the modern Superboy; however, this version of Krypto is an ordinary Earth dog with no superpowers. The dog and Superboy do not get along. For a time, Krypto's friends are agent Rex Leech, Dubbilex, and reporter Tana Moon. Krypto becomes involved in many of Superboy's adventures. The dog is eventually dropped from the series, remaining in Hawaii when Superboy returns to Project Cadmus. Superboy's friends believe him to be missing and Krypto is left in the care of Hillary, a young neighbor that he likes. After Superboy #69 of that series, the dog goes to live at Cadmus. Along with a creature called Grokk the Living Gargoyle and a DNAlien named Angry Charlie, Krypto starts an uprising against the Agenda, an evil consortium which is influencing Cadmus at the time. After battling the DNAlien the Gene-gnome, Krypto is not seen again; his last appearance is in Superboy #74.
The dog from Krypton
The third and more familiar version of Krypto is introduced in the early 2000s Superman comics storyline Return to Krypton, as a dog from a false, idealized Krypton created as a trap by Brainiac 13. Superman is able to defeat the trap, and when he returns to Earth, Krypto follows him.This new version of Krypto has all the physical abilities of his pre-Crisis predecessor, but with a normal canine intellect and instincts. This initially causes a great deal of trouble for his new master when, for instance, he would scratch at a door to indicate he wanted to go out and unintentionally gouged big chunks out of the door with his super strength, or inflicting grievous bodily harm when combating villains. As a result, Krypto is for some time locked away in the Fortress of Solitude under the care of one of Superman's robots. This robot is programmed to emit the scent of the dog's real master. Superman has gone to great lengths to train the dog, and he now occasionally accompanies the Man of Steel on missions. Batman never misses an opportunity to poke fun at Krypto when Batman and Superman don't see eye-to-eye.
Krypto operates on his own for a short period of time, helping out when disasters rocked the planet because of the plans of the invading Imperiex. He is shown rescuing endangered people.
In the "Hush" story arc, Batman uses Krypto to find Poison Ivy after she uses kryptonite to control Superman. It also appears that Krypto has taken a great liking to Catwoman, to her displeasure.
Krypto is part of the rescue force put together late in the Superman/Batman storyline "Public Enemies". Thinking Batman and Superman needed to be rescued from President Lex Luthor, a small team of superheroes, which includes such heroes as Superboy, Nightwing, and Robin, invade the White House. Krypto destroys part of the upper floors while subduing some Secret Service agents.
Krypto has a surprisingly violent reaction to Kara Zor-El when he first encounters her. The dog happens upon the girl while she was exploring the Fortress of Solitude and attacks, going so far as to use his heat vision and other potentially lethal attacks. Batman, who distrusted Kara at that time, pointed this out as an argument that Kara might not be who she says she is when he remarks "Doesn't it bother you at all that the dog hates her?" Superman's response was "It's his job to protect the fortress while he's here. Besides...the dog hates everybody."
Some time later, Superman left Krypto in the care of Superboy, saying that Smallville's open spaces were a better place for the dog, and that Superboy could use a friend. Their relationship had a shaky start, not helped by Krypto getting Superboy in trouble with Starfire for destroying her garden.
However, they have slowly developed a close friendship, in which Krypto willingly does anything he can to protect Conner. One example of this loyalty was Krypto's quick defense of Conner from an enraged Superboy-Prime. He bit Superboy-Prime in the shoulder. Although Krypto was injured with a punch sending him bouncing down the main street of Smallville, this only strengthened his relationship with Conner. Superboy is killed in battle while destroying a multiverse influence tower that Superboy-Prime helped build.
Krypto makes a brief appearance in JLA #87, where Martian Manhunter mind-controls him after his evil Fernus persona resurfaces.
Krypto is mentally influenced by an alien armada led by Despero. This is seen in Superman/Batman #32. Along with other Earth-based heroes influenced by alien origins, Krypto attacks Superman and Batman after a gathering in Metropolis. The two titular heroes neutralize the alien threat, freeing the minds of everyone affected.