- “I am, Kal-El. My real name is Tal-Rho. I'm the son of Zeta-Rho and Lara Lor-Van.”
- ―Tal reveals himself to Kal as his long lost brother.
Tal-Rho is the main antagonist turned anti-villain of the CW series Superman & Lois, serving as the main antagonist of Season 1 and an anti-villain in Season 2. He was the son of Zeta-Rho and Lara Lor-Van, the maternal half-brother of Kal-El/Clark Kent, the brother-in-law of Lois Lane, and the paternal uncle of Jonathan and Jordan Kent.
While on Earth, he began posing as a billionaire and philanthropist as Morgan Edge and began transplanting Kryptonian consciences into humans to rebuild Krypton. However, Edge is Tal-Rho, Superman's evil half-brother and one of the Kryptonians who survived the planet's destruction. After being sent away by his father to further their Kryptonian heritage, Tal began enacting his father's vision of resurrection with a device known as the Eradicator.
After being rejected by Kal-El, Tal-Rho became the Eradicator until his brother and John Irons defeated him. After his arrest, Sam imprisoned him in an offshore DOD prison site. At least one year later, Tal-Rho became Superman's ally and aided his family in the fight against Ally Allston. However, during their conflict, Tal went to the Inverse World, taking his doppelganger's placed
Tal is portrayed by Adam Rayner and based on Morgan Edge, the Eradicator, and H'el.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Tal-Rho was genetically engineered on the dying world of Krypton in 1968, with his parents Lara Lor-Van and Zeta-Rho wedded through an arranged marriage, as they were both perfectly genetically-matched together. Knowing that Krypton was dying, Zeta sent his son to Earth with the sun stone that belonged to Tal's mother to maintain his Kryptonian heritage no matter what.
Imprisonment[]
Tal Rho landed in the countryside of England, where he encountered a farmer and his wife. The farmer aimed his rifle at Tal when his eyes began glowing red. Outraged and panicked, Tal killed the husband and wife and went on the run. However, a town mob attacked him. They managed to grab Tal and call the authorities on him. In the next nine years, Tal remained a prisoner of the scientists who experimented on him all those years. However, he eventually escaped and killed his captors.
Escape[]
Fleeing to the desert, Tal managed to take his sunstone and throw it into the open space, creating his own fortress of solitude. Making contact with Zeta's AI, Tal revealed the Eradicator was still not on Earth yet. Zeta expressed disappointment in his son but told Tal to wait for the device's arrival and told him to explore the Earth.
Discovering Kal-El[]
Eventually becoming Morgan Edge, Tal became one of the most influential businessmen of all time and built a reputation for being a world-famous tech-mogul. However, he began experimenting on humans with X-Kryptonite, recounting the same thing happening to him all those years and when the Eradicator arrived, began transplanting Kryptonian consciousnesses into humans.
When Kal-El emerged as Superman, Tal was enraged that his father kept this detail a secret from him. After confronting Zeta, Tal decided to go with his own plan and not Zeta Rho. He planned to one day approach Kal-El and convince his brother to join him, one way or another.
Meanwhile, Lois Lane began to develop distrust with Morgan Edge, especially when his deal to give people of New Carthage, Granville, and Hazel Green jobs and prosperity failed.
Evil Acts[]
- Killed two farmers as soon as he landed on Earth and, later, a group of scientists who held him hostage.
- Eventually rose to the ranks and became the owner of his own company, which caused major problems.
- Promised to give new Carthage, Grandville, and Hazel Green citizens jobs and prosperity. He was actually looking for X kryptonite for his Kryptonian armies. His search and investments ultimately led to the destruction of said towns, downward spiraling them into poverty.
- After learning Kal-El was his half-brother, Tal thought of bringing his brother in on his plan to revive Krypton by reuniting themselves with their mother.
- Illegally experimented on people with X-kryptonite, giving them powers.
- In Saskatchewan, when his mother's Eradicator tech finally returned, Tal began implanting Kryptonian consciences into the test subjects by sending them through a painful transformation
- Some of these innocent workers were his assistant, Irma Sayres, who later became Leslie Larr and Derek Powell, and David Fuglestad. Leslie and David Fuglestad were the only ones who were in control of their Kryptonian powers, while Derek Powell was rejecting these powers. This turns out that those born in Smallville were exposed to X kryptonite their whole lives and built an immunity to it.
- This led to the disappearance of Derek Powell from New Carthage. Because Derek was not born in Smallville, the Kryptonian he was hosting began glitching out. This caused him to burn down the building where Lana was sponsoring a charity donation and nearly hurting people.
- Often sent Fuglestad as his hitman and assassin.
- Deliberately rewrote Lois' article when she attempted to discredit him.
- Tal deliberately found ways to scare Lois off. This included sending David to set her car on fire and later, Leslie Larr threatening her with a lawsuit if Lois intends to publish incriminating information on Morgan Edge.
- When Lois confronts Morgan Edge and Leslie at the Shuster mines, he mocks Lois for her family's ordeals: living on a small income, pointing out her unemployed husband, and raising two sons on a small income.
- Used his charisma to even corrupt Kyle and manipulate others into believing he was trying to help him for the greater good.
- Sends Emily Phan, Kyle, and an unnamed man to attack Lois and her son, Jonathan, in order to have Emily steal her ELT to contact Clark himself.
Neutrality[]
Personality[]
Tal-Rho is a ruthless, intelligent, and self-made mogul. His xenophobic, hot-tempered, and dangerous personality most likely stems from the fact that he was raised by an abusive father and experimented on humans since he was a child. Even though his loyalty to his father is strong, Tal claims all he ever wanted was a family when he tried to appeal to Clark several times. When Kal rejected him, Tal grew vengeful and attacked his nephews and sister-in-law just to hurt Clark. Even though Lois was in the same room with him, she was the only one who did not feel intimidated by him, whether it was near the Shuster Mines or in his own office.
After time in prison, Tal changed due to time in solitary confinement. In prison, Tal has developed a fondness for reading Earth's books, such as The Fault in Our Stars' more than once. However, he still held a grudge against Clark because he once rejected him. He also has a strained relationship with Lara, his mother, blaming her for his misfortunes, including his abusive relationship with Zeta-Rho. He also came close to killing Jordan. However, he hesitated when Lara revealed there was still good in him. After Clark recovered, he attacked Tal and returned him to his cell. The encounter seemed to have affected Tal, as he decided to help his family three more times.
Despite his improved relationship with Kal, Tal is still very unpredictable. However, he gave Jordan and Jonathan expensive trucks after Jordan saved his life and allowed Lois and Clark to use his villa for private time away from their parents.
Powers and abilities[]
Powers[]
- Kryptonian Physiology: When on a planet with a yellow sun, Tal-Rho gains various superhuman abilities, which he discovered when he first came to Earth. When on a planet with a red sun, he is downgraded to a similar human physiology but more resilient.
- Solar energy absorption: Tal absorbs the power of the sun, granting him several powers.
- Superhuman strength: The ability to be stronger than a human being
- Super Durability: The ability to withstand wear, pressure, or damage.
- Superhuman speed: Tal is able to run and fly at incredible speed, stronger than a human.
- Accelerated perception: Tal has super fast reflexes.
- Flight: He is able to manipulate his gravitational field, which allows him to fly.
- During his first meeting with Clark, Tal briefly levitated in the air to prove he was a Kryptonian
- Heat vision: The ability to fire heat from one's eye. Due to more time on Earth, Tal was able to easily defeat Jordan with his twice.
- Super stamina: The ability has better stamina than a human
- Enhanced senses: Senses enhanced through sight, smell, and hearing.
- Super hearing: Tal can hear anything for a mile away. When it first developed, he likely heard ringing in his ears. The noises are everywhere while having difficulty zooming in one sound at a time.
- Super smell: Like all Kryptonians, Tal likely has a stronger sense of smell more so than any other perseon.
- Invulnerability: Tal is immune to most things found on Earth, including
- Enhanced mental capacity: Tal's mind is extremely fast and sharp, giving him a perfect memory and recall. After traveling to the Inverse World, he quickly adjusted to its backward speaking.
- Solar energy absorption: Tal absorbs the power of the sun, granting him several powers.
Former[]
- Eradicator application: Tal-Rho became the Eradicator after absorbing it in direct sunlight
- Kryptonite immunity: Tal was unaffected by Kryptonite, as seen during his fight with Steel and when his nephew Jonathan shot at him with Sam's Kryptonite empowered gun.
- Solar energy blasts: The Eradicator can absorb direct sun light and throw beams of solar energy at his opponent, as seen in his fights with Kal-El.
- Force field generation: Tal was able to create a force-field around him, especially when Clark and John Henry tried attacking him in Metropolis. The only way to knock him out was if John threw his hammer at Tal in outer space.
- Mind transference: No longer needing the Eradicator, Tal-Rho could transfer the minds of the Kryptonians into humans at will.
- Kryptonite resistance: Sam's gun had no influence on him when Jordan fired it at him.
Abilities[]
- Genius-level intelligence: Being a Kryptonian, Tal-Rho has developed superhuman intelligence. He knew how to
- Business acumen: Over the years, Tal has become a powerful businessman
- Expert tactician: Posing as Morgan Edge, Tal-Rho has been able to come up with plans. He meticulously comes up with them on the spot, having decided to use his mother's technology, the Eradicator, and patiently waited for it to arrive on Earth. In Season 2, Tal came up with the plan with his brother when they escaped their cell and DOD custody. However, even though he launched an attack on Ally Allston, he did not anticipate her to be incredibly strong because she had both Clark and his Inverse World counterpart's powers
- Multilingualism: Tal speaks both English and native Kryptonese.
- Intimidation: After learning Lois and Chrissy were planning to expose himself in the paper, he sent Leslie to the Gazette to antagonize the women by threatening to sue Lois if she posted it. Despite their friendship, Chrissy refused to publish Lois's piece in fear of Morgan Edge coming after her and her company. During his interrogation with Clark, Tal managed to strike fear into his brother when he told Clark he would fall and they were not different.
- Deception: Tal-Rho would use his charisma and charm to manipulate others by making them feel more comfortable around him. However, characters such as Lana and Lois see right past it. Lois didn't believe him when he was saying he was trying to help other people out of the goodness of his heart in Smallville. Lana was crept out by him when he was flirting with her at dinner with her husband and several other associates.
- Manipulation: Using his charisma, he easily manipulated Kyle Cushing and most of the people around him.
- Tolerance for pain Tal withstood punishment from green kryptonite when Mitch Anderson ruthlessly tortured him with it. He suffered injury from green kryptonite while protecting Kal, taking shots of green kryptonite for him. Even though shots like that would have killed him instantly, Tal was able to withstand it.
Weaknesses[]
- Kryptonite Depending on the color of the Kryptonite, the following may potentially have an effect on him.
- Green kryptonite is the deadliest form of Kryptonite to the Kryptonians. If Tal is exposed to this form of kryptonite too long, it will eventually kill him. However, this depends on the intensity, as he was able to be contained in a green-kryptonite contaminated cell. After protecting Clark from Mitch Anderson, Tal was shot instead and nearly died until Clark extracted the kryptonite from his body. Due to his long time on Earth, Tal has developed some immunity for Kryptonite, withstanding punishment from it longer.
- Silver Kryptonite: Tal could experience dangerous and terrible hallucinations that become real and not what is right in front of him . It can only be cured when it leaves his system.
- Red Kryptonite: if exposed to red Kryptonite, Tal's minds will be errands and gradually, rob him of his inhibitions and sense of morality until there is nothing left.
- Red solar energy: Tal's time in the red solar powered cell weakened him up to the point where Clark needed to fly his brother's body up to the sun in order for Tal to heal.
- Lead: Lead prohibits Tal-Rho from looking through walls with his x-ray vision. His kryptonite and red sun cell are lined with lead, making him unable to use his super sight.
Possible[]
- Sound-dampening
Equipment[]
Protective suit:
Family[]
- Lara Lor-Van † (mother)
- Zeta-Rho † (father)
- Kal-El/Superman (maternal half-brother)
- Lois Lane (sister-in-law)
- Jordan Kent (nephew)
- Jon Kent (nephew)
- Jor-El † (step-father)
Victims[]
- Unnamed farmer and his wife.
- Unnamed group of scientists
- Kal-El/Superman (attempted)
- Lois Lane (attempted)
- Jordan Kent (attempted; later abducted)
- Sarah Cushing (attempted)
- Sam Lane (attempted)
- Jonathan Kent (attempted)
Relationships[]
Family[]
Zeta-Rho[]
Created by Zeta-Rho, Tal has a less-than-perfect relationship with his father.
Over the years, Zeta abused his son. Living other than his father's thumb was torture for him and partly why he sought to have a family with Kal. After discovering Superman was his brother, Tal refused to go through with Zeta's plan and decided to find another way to resurrect Krypton.
However, when Clark rejected him, Tal followed his father's plan and decided to become the Eradicator. He also used his nephew Jordan as a vessel for Zeta when Tal brought his father back to life. Eventually, Zeta's and Tal's plans were foiled when Jordan managed to regain control over his body due to his fraternal love with Jonathan, and Tal was defeated by John Henry.
Kal-El[]
Maternal half-brother
Tal-Rho and Clark both have a rather complex relationship.
In "Loyal Subjekts," Superman comes face to face with Edge, who reveals to Kal-El they are half-brothers and that their mother is Lara Lor-Van in "Mother, Where Art Thou?" Superman refuses to join his brother's cause. Angered and rejected, Tal-Rho stopped seeing Kal as a brother and just another enemy and began hurting those Clark loved. He threatened Kal-El's family until Superman gave himself up. After John and Kal defeated Tal, he reveals how he just wanted to have a family, and Clark states he could have had that with him. After Tal's arrest, Clark reveals his true origins to Chrissy Beppo in an interview for the Smallville Gazette. ("Last Sons of Krypton")
After Clark began receiving visions of another life, he was forced to go to Tal for his help and was tricked into releasing him. At Tal-Rho's fortress, the Kryptonian attacks both Clark and Jordan after pretending to have lost his powers until Clark stops him.
Despite their shortcomings, Kal and Tal learn to improve their relationship. However, Tal disappears in the final act of the battle with Ally, leaving Clark with his problems. Tal even lets Lois and Clark use his villa so his brother and sister-in-law can spend time away from their sons.
Lara Lor-Van[]
Mother
Throughout most of his life, Tal was led to believe his mother abandoned him and was forced to live under his father's abusive nature. However, this was a lie. For years, Lara learned the truth about her son's existence and tried reaching out to him. However, Zeta refused. When Kal-El was born, Lara wished her sons would reunite one day. After Krypton exploded, taking the lives of many Kryptonians, including his parents, Tal-Rho was made an orphan. Hoping to use his mother's technology, the Eradicator, to supplement humans with dead Kryptonian minds, he plotted to bring everyone back, including her. He kept her AI in his fortress; however, his father would never let him access it should Lara change his mind. Tal wanted to know why his father even bothered to give him his mother's AI. He was somewhat disappointed that Zeta would not let him talk to Lara. Instead, he went through with his father's plans up until he learned about Kal-El's existence. When he learned from Kal that he spoke to their mother and how she hoped there was goodness in him, it still didn't stop Tal with his plans.
When reunited with his mom's AI, Tal held nothing back when he ranted to her about how she abandoned him. However, Lara insisted she never intended to forget about him, noticing his jealousy of how she had a newfound family. He reveals the pain Zeta inflicted on him over the years, unaware that Zeta kept them apart for years and that Lara truly felt remorse for not trying harder. When Clark also revealed that they were both enemies, Lara was heartbroken to learn this. After Tal nearly killed Jordan, Lara stopped him by believing there was still good in him before Kal engaged in a fight with him for attacking his son.
By the next time they met, Tal showed no ill will towards his mother, instead proudly recounting the tale of how he and Clark worked together to escape their imprisonment. Though Clark was irritated, Tal and Lara were both proud of this accomplishment, with Lara glad knowing that her sons were working together like she wanted them to. After Mitch Anderson attacks them, Lara frees Bizarro, begging him to save her children, and Lara scans Tal's body for the green kryptonite stuck within him.
Lois Lane[]
Brother/sister-in-law at each other's throats.
Lois is Tal's sister-in-law through her marriage to Clark Kent, but they were both initially unaware of their familial ties. As "Morgan Edge," he has been enemies with Lois Lane since minute one, and he bought The Daily Bugle and fired her husband from his job. She also didn't trust Edge due to negative results in helping many towns. When he started targeting Smallville, she tried everything in her power to expose the truth, starting with an article about Morgan Edge's callous nature and how he never intends to save the struggling communities. However, he re-wrote her entire article, causing Lois to quit with a letter of resignation. She began her campaign against Edge by joining the Smallville Gazette and never striving away from her opinion. He later arranged for David to have her scare Lois away by destroying her car and targeting her. When she confronted him at Shuster Mines and his own company, Tal unsuccessfully scared her from her quest to stop him. Realizing he needed a way to contact Superman, Tal had both Emily Phan and Kyle's Kryptonian minds attack Lois and her son, Jonathan, for her ELT.
When he learned Lois was married to his brother, Tal decided to attack her and her sons to hurt Kal and show his anger that his brother chose Lois over him.
In Season Two, Tal apologizes to Lois for everything he has done to her, even bringing her flowers. Tal promised never to hurt anyone she loves again; despite his unpredictable nature, Lois believes his confession to be genuine.
Due to living in the Inverse World, Tal is currently unaware of Lois' cancer.
Jordan Kent[]
Tal thanks Jordan for saving his life.
Jordan is Tal's eldest nephew through his brother, Kal-El. However, they were both initially unaware of their familial relationship until Tal discovered Clark's secret identity and his connection to Lois Lane and her children. He attacked Lois and her family, even besting Jordan when he tried using his heat vision to stand up to his "Evil Uncle." In the penultimate episode of Season 1, Tal abducts Jordan and temporarily implants Zeta-Rho in his mind.
When Clark came to his brother for help as to why he was suffering from visions, he brought Jordan along. During their time together, Jordan expressed that his dad's fortress was better looking than Tal's own. When he met Lara for the first time, Jordan was taken aback by the way she was talking to Tal. Despite his moment of sympathy, Jordan still mocked Tal when he was still powerless with the power-dampening cuffs. However, much to their surprise, Tal had lied and began attacking Jordan and would have killed him if Lara's words hadn't prevented him from doing so. After saving Clark's life, Tal asked Clark to apologize to Jordan for all the pain he has caused him. However, Clark hopes that one day, Tal will be able to tell Jordan on his own.
In "Waiting for Superman," Tal's remorse for hurting Jordan is clear. After losing a fight with Ally Allston, Jordan comes to Tal's rescue by helping him safely land on the Earth's surface. To show his gratefulness, Tal bought very expensive vans for both of his nephews, officially bringing him into "Cool Uncle territory." This was not only a thank you but also a way for Tal to tease Kal and Lois as well.
Allies[]
Leslie Larr[]
Leslie is one of Tal's most loyal followers and has been implied to have been his ally the longest. She follows his every order, acting as a second in command of his army.
It is also implied that Leslie is afraid of her boss, as she has a slight touch of fear when he warns her not to fail him again.
Alternative Versions[]
Earth-38[]
- Main article: Morgan Edge (Supergirl)
John Henry Irons' Earth[]
- Main article: Tal-Rho (John Henry Irons' Earth)
Inverse World[]
- Main article: Tal-Rho (Inverse World)
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- When Superman and Lois aired, it was believed Adam Rayner was recast as Morgan Edge and that the show took place on Earth Prime. However "Loyal Subjects" and "O Mother, Where Art Thou, revealed he was Tal-Rho, an apparently original character in the series until he became the Eradicator
- Tal is also based on H'el, a Kryptonian survivor who was allegedly the son of Lara and Jor-El. However, in the series, Tal is Kal-El's maternal half-brother.
- Unlike his Earth-Prime counterpart, Edge is not gynophobic because his right-hand is a woman but doesn't mind insulting them, like he did Lois Lane and Lana Lang.
- Tal-Rho is somewhat similar to Astra from Supergirl. They were both the main antagonists of the first season, a relative of one of the heroes (Tal is Clark's brother and Astra is Supergirl's aunt), have a device used to ensure Krypton's survival. They also failed to tempt their relative to their side and don't succeed in their plans and feel wronged by the heroes' mothers (Alura and Lara).
- Throughout the series, Tal-Rho always refers to Clark by his birth name more than his preferred one
- Tal-Rho is very similar to Loki: both are embittered, have a hatred for humanity and a complex relationship with their brothers, Thor and Kal-El. The only difference is Tal-Rho is the older sibling instead of being younger
- Tal-Rho is an avid reader, having a large collection of books in his red cell. He even read The Fault in Our Stars several times.
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