Given how much I liked the old TV series I thought I’d do a write-up on the original 1950s version of Superman from the B&W days of television from what I can remember of him, so hope you all enjoy.

Super-hero ID: Superman
Name: Clark Kent (Note, he is unaware of his actual Kryptonian name or history.)
Power Category-Alien
Height: 6’ 2”
Weight: 388 lbs (Due to his dense molecular structure Clark Kent weighs far more than outward appearances suggest)
Sex: Male
Age: 30ish

Fighting: Remarkable (30)
Agility: Incredible (40)
Strength: Amazing (50)
Endurance: Unearthly (100)
Reason: Excellent (20)
Intuition: Monstrous (75)
Psyche: Unearthly (100)

Health: 220
Karma: 195
Resources: Good (Given his superhuman nature and his wholesome upbringing has little need of material wealth, and may create diamonds as desired from coal if he wishes)
Popularity: 100

POWERS

True Invulnerability: Due to his dense molecular structure Superman has Incredible protection from all attacks save those of a Psionic or magical nature.

True Flight: Shift X

Enhanced Senses (All): All of Superman’s senses operate at the Unearthly level of sensitivity.

Protected Senses (All): Superman’s alien nature and superhuman resiliency provides him with Unearthly protection from sensory attacks

Penetration Vision (X-Rays): Superman may see through virtually any substance with Unearthly ability, with only dense metals like lead that can block X-rays being able to impede his vision. Note that due to the intensity of his X-Ray Vision prolonged exposure could lead to radiation burns or cause death due to cellular necrosis. They may also transform certain metal alloys via transmutation into radium.

Heat Emission (Eyes): By concentrating he may emit beams of pure heat from his eyes of up to Amazing damage and range.

Self-Duplication: As a result of his dense molecular structure by an act of extreme concentration (red psyche feat), Superman may split himself into two otherwise identical beings, possessed of roughly half the strength of the original, and may later rejoin by a similar act of concentration.

Phasing: Also as a result of his unique molecular structure and willpower he may on a Red Psyche feat phase through solid matter with Unearthly ability. He may engage in nothing else but a slow walking pace while doing so.

Hyper-Leaping: CL1000

Super-Hypnosis: More of a unique talent than a power Superman is capable of hypnotizing a willing subject with Unearthly ability and granting them limited superhuman abilities in the process. He has been shown hypnotizing Lois Lane and causing her to levitate and become sufficiently rigid to prevent a compression-wall trap from crushing them both while he was weakened due to exposure to kryptonite.

Hyper-Running: Monstrous

Hyper-intake/expulsion: By taking a deep breath Superman may engage in a number of stunts with Monstrous ability; including inhaling a deadly gas to protect others or cause sufficient drop in oxygen to cause others to collapse, blow out fires or attack/knock-down others, as well as freeze objects.

Self-Sustenance: Superman has no need for food, water, or air in order to survive, although does eat for the sake of appearing normal as well as for the general pleasure/enjoyment of it.

LIMITATIONS

Kryptonite: Left over from the original destruction of Krypton the radioactive material known as kryptonite gives off radiation that due to his dense molecular structure is severely debilitating to and will eventually kill Superman from extended exposure. Initial exposure will see Superman immediately begin to lose strength and durability, dropping to human normal strength and endurance and loss of virtually all other powers save for his Super-Hypnotism after coming within 10 feet of the substance. While the length of time required to kill him is unknown it is unlikely he could last even an hour under such exposure. It is also possible to synthesize artificial kryptonite if one knows what one is doing. It appears as a solid silvery metallic material and no other version of kryptonite appears to exist in this continuity.

Extreme Cold: It has been shown that exposure to temperatures close to absolute zero will turn Superman snow-white (including his hair) and completely eliminate his powers and reduce him to Poor FASE stats. Only extreme heat on the order of a blast furnace is capable of restoring him to his original capabilities in this event.

EQUIPMENT

Costume: Superman wears a costume made from material native to his home planet that is apparently indestructible; as such it is a CL1000 material for any attempts made to damage/destroy it.

Glasses: Appearing as normal glasses and worn only in his Clark Kent guise they appear to grant Unearthly protection from recognition as Superman in his human appearance.

TALENTS

Journalism; Leadership; Engineering; Chemistry; Physics; Safe-Cracking;

HISTORY

Rocketed to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton and adopted by an elderly couple in Kansas Clark Kent left home as a young man after the death of his father and the revelation that he was not from earth he received from his mother. Seeking to put his strange abilities to good use he went to the great city of Metropolis where he used his own revelation of his first public appearance as Superman to earn himself a spot as a reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper as a means of keeping up on the flow of activities in his new home and best act to save the regular public from evil.

CONTACTS

Lois Lane; Perry White; Jimmy Olsen;

ENEMIES

Pretty much anyone of a criminal nature or intent.

PERSONALITY

Clark Kent is the ideal that humans reach for, a caring and compassionate man of the strongest moral fiber thanks to his humble upbringing on the farm by his adoptive parents. Due to his upbringing as a result he never lies (anyone asking him questions that would require him to lie he skillfully diverts with distractions or statements that seem so outrageous that only an outside viewer of things know are in fact completely honest and accurate, such as when he occasion says he is Superman in response to a question how he managed to do something unbelievable) and always works within the law to the best of his ability, although as he is a champion of justice he will never allow anyone to suffer an injustice like imprisonment or death simply because the law having failed in its duties says that they must. He has however on at least one occasion to protect his secret identity transported several gangsters to a remote icy mountaintop to imprison them lest they reveal his identity, where they died trying to scale down the icy cliffs to escape.

Very nice write-up.

I would only add that he probably possessed some variant of hyper-speed, as well (although perhaps this could be covered by his hyper-running, I don't know). I recall an episode when they simply used camera redirection to show him moving across a room faster than two crooks could even blink. They saw him at the window, panicked, turned toward the door to flee, and there he was. "Sorry boys," he quipped. "I get around faster than you do."

Perhaps hyper-running would cover it, but I think hyper-speed (if that is indeed a distinct power) would seem more appropriate.

Hmmmm, without the DVD set or any way of watching it on cable/satellite I can't remember him showing any forms of Hyper-Speed, although it doesn't take too many ranks of hyper-speed to do something like that (plus running around a building would only require something like Excellent) Hyper-Running anyway to get from one side to another faster than someone can move normally). Since Hyper-Speed you still tire you just cover the distance faster but Hyper-Running you have long-term endurance I'd go with Hyper-Running for that since he never really tired except under extra-ordinary circumstances. But the commentary and feedback is always helpful as I could be wrong since it has been so long, just didn't want this version forgotten with all the hype to model the modern versions.

I'd drop the bit with the glasses, the only real reason that no one recognizes him is because the writers said they couldn't (despite Lois and Jimmy's multiple attempts to prove that Clark was Superman...) If anything I'd say they all have Pr intuation as they can't seem to do anything without consulting Clark first.

This would be in line with the cops from the Batman and Robin series in the 60s as well.

Keith

That's probably true of a lot of things about superheroes that wouldn't work in real life. Just putting on a mask never hides your identity from anyone who knows you well, especially not from close up. Batman Begins tried to tackle that with Bale's voice being considerably different when he was Batman, but still probably not enough. The glasses having that ability at least tries to give an explanation for the seeming success of the deception.

I always thought it might be connected to his super-hypnosis, though. Maybe he's unconsciously hypnotizing everyone around him so that he looks different.

I like how Christopher Reeve in the movie really "geeked up" when he was playing Clark. Pretty fun stuff, and more than just putting on his glasses the way George did.

Also, as to Superman's weight, I remember reading in an earlier comic (still DC, after he could fly) that Superman (when he's Clark Kent) is always sort of hovering, enough so that Clark's weight seems to be around 200 lbs, when in reality he's probably more like the weight you've chosen (if not more).

Some of the older Pre-Crisis write-ups for Superman in the DC game actually did list his glasses with the super-power of concealing his identity by making people disbelieve he was Superman. However the version of Superman from the TV show only used hypnosis in one episode and only after it was brought up by someone else (one of many handy one-shot plot devices back when Hypnosis was thought to be the latest magical do-anything medicine). Then again as I just was thinking about that it could be the TV Clark Kent had a form of Hypnotic Voice so that when he would say things like 'Are you SURE about that?' he was reinforcing the disbelief in whoever he was talking to so that they'd not believe he was Superman.

He probably does weigh more than that, I just tend to go with a roughly double normal appearing weight for someone who has a greater natural density, but weight's one of those things difficult for me to guesstimate. Having not seen the shown in so long I can't remember any of the episodes that while rare did occur where he was unconscious and someone was trying to move him to get a feel for his weight. In the comics though at times people have had to use forklifts to move him (say to get him away from kryptonite) because a normal human just wasn't strong enough. Given his self-duplication power's example he's likely more in the 500 lb range since it's explicitly stated it's only because of his high density he has the mass available to fission into two people which would mean there'd have to be enough to make two people and still have a bit extra to support his reduced TI.

Hey, didn't George Reeves who played Superman , feel obligated to " Dodge " the empty guns the thugs would throw at him ??

Perhaps Hurled objects did FULL damage that bypassed his body armor ?
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Yeah he did....

I would allow thrown guns to do full damage when playing a retro tv version of the TSR game.