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.

In Smallville, Clark's powers appear over time, as he is not aware of all of them 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;[1] he is also fallible, which allows the audience to see his humanity, but that he is also "... good to the core".

Clark is adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent (John Schneider and Annette O'Toole) as a young child, when he crash lands on Earth on the day of the Smallville meteor shower in 1989.

[9] In the season four finale, a "great evil" is awakened in space after Clark defies Jor-El's instructions and fails to obtain the three stones of knowledge.

[14] In the season six premiere, Clark escapes the Phantom Zone — inadvertently releasing several of the prisoners in the process — and returns to Smallville, where he fights and defeats Zod.

[19] As the season continues, Clark discovers that a secret society known as Veritas was aware of his landing in Smallville during the first meteor shower and, moreover, possess a device that supposedly allows them to control him.

[27] After realizing there are other Kryptonians on Earth, lacking special powers and led by Zod (Callum Blue), Clark decides to help them adjust to living as humans.

Clark realizes that his entire life has been one big trial by Jor-El; accepting his true destiny, the Blur saves Earth from Darkseid's coming Apokolips.

[45][46] In October 2000, producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar began their search for the three lead roles, and had casting directors in ten different cities looking at actors.

[55] Welling's initial fears were quelled after reading the script, when he realized that the show was not about Clark "... being a super hero ...," but more about the character attempting to live a normal life as a teenager.

[64] Writer Holly Harold noted that the introduction of Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) allowed Clark to mature more in the sixth season.

Ultimately, in season six Clark learned it would be his human side that allowed him to become the hero he needed to be, summed up by writer Turi Meyer as "... soon-to-be Man of Steel".

Whether it's running away from Jor-El at the end of season two, or choosing humanity over some sort of Kryptonian mission, those decisions get him in more trouble, and cause more people to suffer, or in Jonathan Kent's case, to die.

"[70] Echoing Owen, Judge Byun identified the same symbolism: "Superman is, in a way, the secular pop culture stand-in for Jesus Christ, a messiah figure for our generation.

That striking bit of symbolism becomes the central preoccupation of the series; Clark is the savior who sacrifices all for the greater good of humanity, and Smallville shows us how he comes to accept and embrace that role".

[71] To this point, Cinefantastique's Tom Powers suggested that these images and metaphorical emphasis through dialogue exchanges came across so heavy-handed that a very devout individual might have found them offensive.

[56] Judge Byun wondered how this Clark Kent would have room in his heart for Lois Lane later in life, as he had bounced back and forth between Lana and Chloe in the first season.

Abandoning the theme of red, blue, and yellow, the producers chose to keep the costume completely black, save for a silver Superman "S" shield painted on the front.

The producers, working alongside Warner Bros. and DC Comics, procured the costume worn by Brandon Routh in Superman Returns, which the team chose over the Christopher Reeve suit of the 1980s.

[100] Bryan Byun, of DVD Verdict, believes that Welling was the perfect choice for Clark Kent: "I can't imagine a more ideal actor to play this superpowered farm boy than Tom Welling, with his wholesome, honest face and heroic good looks—Welling not only resembles Christopher Reeve physically, but has all of the earnest charm that made Reeve the quintessential Superman".

[101] Comics2Film's Rob Worley also wrote of the physical resemblance Welling has to Christopher Reeve, noting that the actor gave the character depth with his convincing portrayal of Clark's longing to fit in.

Waterhous explained that this was due to the inner turmoil of Clark — not being able to tell those he loved his secret — and the fact that no matter what his faults were he continued to put others before himself, remaining "... pure and good ...".

In Aspect's first novel, Smallville: Strange Visitors, written by Roger Stern, Clark attempted to stop two religious con-men from robbing the town with their kryptonite-enhanced spiritual seminars.

[106] On November 1, 2002, Aspect published Alan Grant's book, Smallville: Dragon, which had Clark being hypnotized into believing that he was a normal, human teenager, with no abilities.

[110] Aspect brought in Dean Wesley Smith for their next novel, Whodunit, which involved Clark, Chloe, Lana and Pete investigating the murder of a boy and his sister.

[120] In Little, Brown Young Readers' final novel, written by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld, Sparks featured Clark trying to save Chloe after she was exposed to a kryptonite fireworks display that makes her the desire of every man.

Written by Bryan Q. Miller, who wrote for the television series, the comic took up the story of the Smallville characters six months after The Blur saved Earth from the Apokolips.

[127][128][129] At one point, Clark and Michael Jon Carter (Booster Gold) inadvertently traveled to the 31st century, where they found themselves caught in a war between New Krypton, led by Kara, and an army of xenophobes, during which Doomsday is reawakened, then defeated when all the belligerents form an alliance.

[132] After meeting Diana Prince, with whom he teamed to defeat Hades and Felix Faust, Clark, as Superman, chose to reveal to the President that he was not a meteor-infected individual as the public believed but was from another planet.