Last son of krypton, last son of gallifrey

Introduction

Not the first superhero but still the most famous, Superman is a world renowned icon since his inception nearly a hundred years ago. Facing years of changes with the growth of the comics industry and changing cultural sensibilities, Superman has managed to maintain a core character premise uncommon in characters with publication history as little as five years. The premier American superhero, Superman represents the true ideal of heroism yet many see him as a boring paragon character with little complexity. Facing similar mischaracterisation The Doctor, known more famously as Dr who, is no superhero and according to him, he’s far from it. Devised decades apart these two characters serve as pop culture icons on two sides of the globe and they have much more in common than you think.

Last of their race

Having never met his people, Superman struggles with his alien identity as his powers manifest and the fragility of those he lives alongside becomes painfully clear. His home planet of Krypton was destroyed moments after his birth and he came to earth as a young child without a family of his own. Atleast, this was true until he found the Kents. It’s important to note that Superman’s origin was based on the tales of Moses with the flair of comic books added for flavour. However, Superman comes to earth as a young boy to contrast the immigrant experience. He wasn’t born on earth like many later iterations wish to change, his birth on Krypton is almost as important as the planet’s destruction. His Kryptonian name isn’t known to him for many years after he was given his human name, Clark Kent.

The Doctor faces a much more grim dilemma. While Clark never knew his people further than the first sight of his parents, the Doctor lived a full life on Gallifrey before its destruction. The moral integrity of the Gallifreyan people erodes more and is revealed until the modern day, where many Gallifreyans were warmongering elites, mad scientists or even those caught in the crossfire of characters larger than life. By the 2005 revival of the series, the doctor directly blames himself for the destruction of Gallifrey in the event known as the time war. The destruction of Krypton is sometimes presented as inevitable. In the 1978 movie the kryptonian elite are depicted as uncaring to the plight soon to take their lives while the maligned Man of Steel movie mirrors the warmongering elites of Gallifrey. The key distinction here is that any mystery of Gallifreyan nature is the Doctor’s indirect sentimentality warping the truth that we are only privy to as far as he allows his companions to see. Despite Clark’s lack of responsibility, the destruction of Krypton holds a heavy toll in his heart. There are times when the Doctor justifies his decision to end Gallifrey and times when he regrets it deeply.

The lonely god

Clark’s greatest enemy, Lex Luthor, holds great contempt for the Man of Steel as he rationalises that no one man deserves all the magnificent power he holds. Lex is an intellectual powerhouse that sees the sway he holds as earned, which only further incites his hatred for Superman. Without very few powers to his name, the Doctor is leagues above Superman with his trusty ship, the Tardis. The Doctor travels through time almost every episode and it is demonstrated multiple times throughout the series that his understanding of time allows him to manipulate large swaths of humanity. Superman is never directly called a lonely god like the Doctor is, but that is the imagery that thousands of writers have noticed and played up for the sake of their own unique stories. The Doctor can’t punch through steel, but he can change lives to even the most minute detail. Almost every character to question the power these characters hold is depicted as ignorant, malicious or in the most interesting cases, correct.

As the series progresses death is no longer an obstacle for the Doctor as he regenerates, returning from the brink with a new face and more importantly, personality. After the death of the 9th doctor he regenerates into the 10th, being portrayed by the most recognisable actor in the role, David Tennant. As previously mentioned, the Doctor’s personal responsibility in his status as the Last son of Gallifrey is heavily emphasised and it started with the 9th doctor. Regenerating after a series’ worth of reinstating this fact, the 10th doctor takes a peculiar turn. He takes a sort of pride in this fact. After several personal tragedies there is a scene where the Doctor attempts the impossible act of changing a fixed point of time and delivers perhaps the most powerful speech of his tenure. He saves a woman never supposed to live past a fixed point, a woman whose death inspires her daughter to revolutionalise space travel for humanity. His selfish desire to save everyone is punctuated when he declares that the laws of space and time are his alone. In this drastic state, the Doctor reveals the extent of his grave actions causing the very woman he saved to commit suicide. The timeline is fixed and it’s left to the viewer to decide if the Doctor’s grandiose speech killed her or time itself. In either scenario, the Doctor proves he is the Lonely god. The Doctor lost Rose Tyler mere episodes before this event to a separate universe and this death only further proves, he can not save everyone.

No matter the situation, Superman always tries to save everyone. While Lex sees him as someone trying to be a god, he hasn’t considered the fact Clark is aware of his nature in the way the 10th Doctor never could be. He knows he can not save everyone yet tries anyway. The idea that Clark’s power allows him never to relent on situations where many are forced to make impossible decisions is a trap that Lex and many audience members fall into. Without his power, it is clear he’d never do the things he does but without his power he never would do these things. In the 1978 movie he manipulates time to stop an earthquake and save Lois Lane, a decision very similar to what the Doctor does in his darkest moments. Despite the success of the 1978 movie this is a decision I can never truly agree with as it cheapens the fact that Superman saves people by his own moral integrity and not the vast power he holds. Though he only rewinds time a day, it is a middling decision in an otherwise perfect film. Many of Superman’s greatest feats are reminders he will never let things get to that point and that when they do, he grieves as we do. Even with the death of Lois Lane, one of the few people he trusts with his identity, he never falls to the level of the 10th doctor in his darkest moments. What the movie got right is that his manipulation of time is a calculated act that meddles with humanity the least he can. The 10th doctor’s ego first presents in his debut episode where he deposes the prime minister that would bring a ‘golden age’ to Britain, because she murders the fleeing aliens that had invaded the planet after he had already sent them away. This act will be very important for a further point in this discussion.

In many versions of the Superman story, Pa Kent dies from a heart attack and Clark is helpless to stop it. This moment is used as the defining tragedy that reminds Clark of heroism’s nature. A natural death, not a villain, is Superman’s greatest weakness.

Human nature and the importance of individuals

At one point in the series the Doctor’s ego causes him to dismiss Donna Noble as unimportant, confused as to why the monsters of the week are pursuing her in her debut episode. Once he regenerates into the 11th, there is a scene where states he has never met someone unimportant. This is crucial for demonstrating how human the doctor really is. He says things he doesn’t truly mean in moments of exasperation and grows with every episode. The Doctor loves humanity, at one point having to erase his memories and live as one in an attempt not to battle with a group coming after his ‘gift’ of immortality. He takes the name John Smith, a name as unassuming as Clark Kent. It’s not a performance of sorts, it’s a separate identity he undergoes that causes him deep pain when the time comes to return as the Doctor. John Smith grieves his life, but gives in and the Doctor is left to suffer the memory of the experience with the remaining love John had for a woman he met adding to this suffering.

There are two Clark Kents, the true man and the identity presented at the Daily planet. Clark’s desire to hide his identity as Superman leads him to develop the persona of Clark Kent, not the man he is. The persona of Clark Kent stumbles his way through life as man so far removed from the idea of Superman that it never leads to suspicion. But the use of this identity serves more than just deceit but to connect Clark to the humans he saves. He is painfully aware of his alien identity and sees it as a separating force. The connections he makes as Clark Kent dispel this idea and enrich his hope in humanity. He inspires people to be better because he knows they can do great things. Even with Lex Luthor, he knows he can do so much more. From children to firefighters to his greatest enemy, he sees the full extent of everyone’s capabilities and his greatest wish is to see everyone meet those standards.