Superboy-Prime (Clark Kent, born Kal-El), also known as Superman-Prime or simply Prime, is a DC Comics superhero turned supervillain and an alternate version of Superman.

Over time, his convictions and morals become twisted and warped, and he came to believe that Earth-Prime was the only proper Earth and that Superboy-Prime was the only one worthy of the Superboy mantle.

What the Kents do not know is that the baby is a young Kal-El, who was teleported to Earth by his father Jor-El moments before the planet Krypton was destroyed.

Young Clark lives the first fifteen years of his life as a normal boy before Halley's Comet passes by Earth, awakening his Kryptonian powers.

[3][4] After the Anti-Monitor is killed, Superboy-Prime joins Alexander Luthor Jr. of Earth-Three, Kal-L, and his wife Lois Lane in a "paradise dimension".

This assault caused ripples that overlapped parallel timelines (Hypertime), which was used as an explanation for character changes, errors, and retcons in DC continuity.

Together, they set into motion the events that culminate in Infinite Crisis: The Superman of Earth-Two breaks open a portal to the DC Universe, and the four residents of the paradise dimension return,[17] making themselves known to Power Girl and Batman.

Jay Garrick, Wally West, and Bart Allen eventually banish Superboy-Prime to a parallel world and imprison him in a facility with artificial red sunlight, where he remains for four years.

[19][20][21] Hours later, an older Bart Allen, dressed in his grandfather's costume, emerges from the Speed Force and tells the heroine Doctor Light to warn the other heroes that Superboy-Prime has escaped.

Conner and Superboy-Prime's battle sends them both headlong into Alexander Luthor's vibrational tuning fork with the effects causing the machine to explode and fuse the alternate Earths into one.

Superboy-Prime escapes Bart and flies toward the planet Oa, intending to destroy it and spark another Big Bang which would recreate the universe with himself as the sole hero.

Superboy-Prime is taken into the custody of the Guardians of the Universe, who place him in a quantum containment field, surrounded by a red Sun-Eater and guarded by 50 Green Lanterns.

[24] A year later, Superboy-Prime sits naked in his cell and is watched over by a special cadre of Green Lanterns, including Guy Gardner, when the Guardians of the Universe discuss whether they should question him.

[26] Calling himself Superman-Prime (in part due to the legal disputes over the Superboy name), he arrives on Earth and battles a large group of heroes while flashing back on his life so far.

[33] In Countdown to Final Crisis, following the conclusion of the Sinestro Corps War, Superman-Prime is shown wearing a costume similar to the black suit worn by Superman shortly after his resurrection and has discovered the existence of the new Multiverse, traversing it in the hopes of finding Earth Prime.

The two seem evenly matched until Prime becomes slightly injured after Monarch exposes part of his suit and releases some of his massive contained energies.

In the middle of his tantrum, the museum tour guide (a holographic recreation of Jimmy Olsen) tells Prime of the Legion of Super-Villains.

Prime, resolved to be a villain with more of an impact than any other enemy of Superman, sets out for the prison planet of Takron-Galtos, and frees LSV members Lightning Lord, Saturn Queen, and Cosmic King.

[42] Superboy-Prime led his Legion of Super-Villains to Sorcerer's World, where he recruits Mordru and kills Rond Vidar (the last Green Lantern) before heading to Earth.

[43] Then Bart Allen returns from the Speed Force, wearing the Kid Flash uniform that he had not worn since fighting Prime in Infinite Crisis.

[44] Soon after, Conner Kent (Superboy) enters the battle, his corpse dug up by Starman in the present and placed in a Kryptonian restoration chamber for the past 1000 years.

The resurrections of Kid Flash and Superboy are part of a master contingency plan devised long before by Brainiac 5, who was forewarned of Superboy-Prime by one of Dream Girl's prophecies.

[46] Superboy-Prime continues to live his secluded life, unknowingly but constantly monitored by the prime universe Brainiac 5, still compulsively reading every comic book and message board post pertaining to the DC multiverse.

The extended cool-off period forced on him has left Clark more regretful, aware of his reputation as a joke character in the eyes of the people of Earth-Prime.

However, since the fifth issue is not yet on the shelves, the events unfold exactly as Clark already read them, with Alexander Luthor, multiversal-hopping Black Lantern, bestowing to him all of his powers in order to bring him to a higher emotional state.

[47] Unable to damage the Black Lanterns, Superboy-Prime flies to the DC Comics building in New York and attempts to take revenge on the writers he believes made him the way he is.

Enraged by this, he vows to destroy the Teen Titans, forming a cadre of young supervillains consisting of Headcase, Zookeeper, Indigo, Sun Girl, Persuader (Elise Kimble), Inertia, and three clones of Superboy.

[51] In DC Rebirth, Superboy-Prime is imprisoned in the Monsterlands before being freed by Doctor Sivana and Mister Mind and eventually defeated by the Shazam Family.

[24] After his escape from Oa, Superboy-Prime is given a new power suit built by the Sinestro Corps and reveals that he created the original after seeing how the Anti-Monitor's armor acted as a giant energy collector.

[47] Superboy-Prime is vulnerable to red sun radiation and unable to store solar energy, requiring constant exposure to it to maintain his powers.