Kelex

Kelex is a fictional robot appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Superman.

Kelex
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceThe Man of Steel #1
Created byJohn Byrne
In-story information
SpeciesRobot
Supporting character ofSuperman
AbilitiesEnhanced Vision
Flight

Publication history

Kelex first appeared in The Man of Steel #1 and was created by John Byrne.

Fictional character biography

He first appeared in The Man of Steel #1, in which he was one of Jor-El's Kryptonian Service Robots on the planet Krypton. Presumed destroyed along with Jor-El and the rest of Krypton, Kelex has nonetheless returned as Superman's primary robotic servant within the Fortress of Solitude where he works as its property caretaker.[1]

When Kelex first appeared in 'The Man of Steel', he was only in one page of the first issue- he greeted his master, Jor-El, upon his return. Jor-El then orders him to bring the baby Kal-El (who would become Superman) in his birthing matrix. It is revealed in conversation with another of Jor-El's servant robots that Kelex had served Jor-El for all of his life, much longer than the other robot had, and had never seen him like this. The robot didn't appear for the rest of the issue, nor for the rest of the miniseries. He was presumably destroyed along with the planet Krypton.[2]

Later, when a Kryptonian device known as 'the Eradicator' was obtained by Superman, it tries to recreate Krypton on Earth, beginning with the South Pole in the Antarctic. Superman stops it, but the attempt had created the Fortress of Solitude. Along with the fortress had been created a group of robotic servants, one of which was a recreation of Kelex. Kelex is largely indistinguishable from the other Kryptonian robots who maintained the fortress.

He attends the false, Eradicator version of Superman who had taken up residence in the Fortress.[3]

Kelex is used as a framing device for a tour of a redesigned Fortress of Solitude.[4]

The Fortress of Solitude is dramatically redesigned when Dominus took mental control of Superman. It is then destroyed by Lex Luthor, severely damaging Kelex. When Superman returns to the fortress, he repairs the robot enough to enable him to speak. They were both sent to a ghostly replica of the Fortress, complete in every detail. Superman is able to keep a link to the ghostly fortress through Kelex, now reduced to a head. The robot then assists Superman in a crisis; an android double, programmed to protect Lois Lane, had become defective. Kelex is vital in making the double stand down and thus rescuing Lois.[5] Later, when realizing Brainiac 13 is vulnerable to Kryptonian technology, Superman completely rebuilds Kelex, using him to coordinate an attack on Brainiac 13 by having Kelex convey instructions to Lex Luthor and later reactivate the Red Tornado.

Kelex operates in disguise as the hero 'Steel' for a while.[6] Kelex is featured in an issue of 'Superboy'; he transcribes his impressions of Krypto, who is helping people endangered by an alien invasion.[7]

The fortress was later restored within a Tesseract (an infinite space within a finite containment), and Kelex is once again its caretaker. Natasha Irons reprograms Kelex so that he would speak more in slang, such as calling Superman 'Big Blue'.[8] During the "Superman: Godfall" storyline, he even uses 'yo mama!' as a comeback.

That incarnation of the Fortress is destroyed during the "For Tomorrow" storyline, and it was unknown whether Kelex survives its destruction. After Superman relocates his new portable fortress to South America, Kelex was seen again in the limited graphic novel series Superman and Batman versus Aliens and Predator, though the canonical status of this series is unclear.[9]

The final issue of Justice League of America (vol. 2) briefly relates a story revealing that Kelex eventually returned and attempted to conquer the Earth by taking control of all of the robots on the planet and forcing them to attack the human population. He was destroyed by Supergirl and Jesse Quick, ending the threat.[10]

Kelex is seen again in DC Rebirth, once again a loyal assistant in Superman's Fortress of Solitude.[11]

Powers and abilities

Kelex has enhanced vision and can fly.

In other media

Television
  • In CBS's Supergirl, Kelex appeared in episode "For the Girl Who Has Everything". When Kara was induced by an alien plant Black Mercy and woke up in apparent revived Krypton, Kelex introduced itself to her as a robotic medical assistant. She explained to confused Kara that she had a fever and her temperature being stabilised. In episode "Solitude", another version of Kelex, this time with a male voice, serves as a guide to Superman's Fortress of Solitude, to Supergirl and James "Jimmy" Olsen, and to assist them, as the two work to neutralize the threat posed by Indigo, AKA Brainiac 8. In episode "Myriad", within the Fortress, Kelex refused to give Kara information of program Myriad and instead directed her to a hologram of her mother. In "The Last Children of Krypton", Superman ordered Kelex to scan his hand for residual materials from a fight with John Corben aka Metallo with material revealed as promethium. At the end of "The Darkest Place" Kelex suspects an intruder within the fortress, only to identify as Kara who is actually Hank Henshaw from Cadmus who uses her blood for access to program called "Medusa". In "Medusa", Kelex refuses to give Kara access of Project Medusa and instead identified her as an intruder and attacked Kara whom she destroys him. His actions against her are a possible result of Henshaw's programming.

Film
  • In Man of Steel, Kelor (voiced by Carla Gugino) and her counterpart Kelex (voiced by Rondel Reynoldson) serve as aides to Jor-El and Lara, as they attempt to prepare their son's escape from Krypton. They are destroyed during Krypton's destruction. Another version of Kelor later appears in the Kryptonian scout ship discovered by Clark.
  • In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Kelor is secretly reactivated by Lex Luthor, who was given free access to the Kryptonian scout ship by the American government. He orders her to teach him all of her knowledge, including Superman's secret identity, and uses such knowledge to create Doomsday, though Kelor advises against Doomsday's creation as creating creatures like him was forbidden by the Kryptonian Council.

Video games

References
  1. Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  2. The Man of Steel #1
  3. Action Comics (vol. 1) #688 (Early July 1993)
  4. Superman Secret Files #1 (January 1998)
  5. Superman: The Man of Steel #90 (July 1999)
  6. Action Comics (vol. 1) #779 (July 2001)
  7. Superboy (vol. 3) #91 (October 2001)
  8. Superman: The Man of Steel #100 (May 2000)
  9. Superman and Batman vs Alien and Predator #1-2 (2007)
  10. Justice League of America (vol. 2) #60 (August 2011)
  11. Action Comics" #973 (2017)
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