Clark Kent (Smallville)

Clark Kent (Smallville)

Clark Kent is a fictional character on the television series Smallville. The character of Clark Kent, first created for comic books by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1938 as the alternate identity of Superman, was adapted to television in 2001 by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar—this is the fourth time the character has been adapted to a live-action television series. Clark Kent has been played continually by Tom Welling, with various other actors portraying Clark as a child. The character has also appeared in various literature based on the Smallville television series, none of which directly continues from or into the television episodes. As of 2011, Smallville's Clark Kent has appeared in eighteen young adult novels.

In the series, Clark Kent attempts to live the life of a normal human being, and struggles with keeping the secret of his alien heritage from his friends. He has an on-again, off-again relationship with Lana Lang through the first seven seasons, the trials of which are based on his lack of honesty about his secret. In contrast to previous incarnations of the character, this Clark Kent starts out best friends with Lex Luthor, whom he meets after saving the latter's life. The pair's friendship eventually deteriorates into hatred for one another. In Smallville, Clark's powers appear over time. He is not aware of all of his powers at the start of the show; for instance, his heat vision and super breath do not develop until season two and six, respectively.

When developing Smallville's version of Clark Kent, the producers decided to strip him down to the "bare essence" of Superman; he is also fallible, which allows the audience to see his humanity, but also "good to the core". In the series, he has even been seen by critics, and intentionally portrayed by the filmmakers, as a symbolic representation of Jesus Christ. Tom Welling has been nominated for multiple Teen Choice Awards and Saturn Awards for his portrayal of Clark Kent since the show began its first season.