Jor-El

Jor-El is a fictional alien scientist and an important figure in the Superman multimedia franchise. He is classically presented as the biological father of Kal-El, aka, Superman. Jor-El has been presented in practically every iteration of the Superman origin. Although the details of Jor-El's personality and history have altered with each presentation, the basic concept behind the character remains unchanged. He is presented as a scientist from the planet Krypton who learned that the planet was destined to explode. Failing to make headway with Krypton's leaders, Jor-El devised a rocket ship that he used to send his infant son, Kal-El, away to Earth. Jor-El stayed behind with his wife, Lara, and died when Krypton exploded.

Publishing history
The original Jor-El first appeared in the pages of Superman #53 in August, 1948. This version of the character, which has since become associated with the Golden Age Earth-Two era of DC's publishing history, spelled his name Jor-L. A revised Silver Age version of the character, bearing the name Jor-El, was associated with DC's Earth-One publishing continuity. This was the continuity in which Superman also had adventures as a teenager under the name Superboy. This Jor-El was first established with the introduction of Superboy in More Fun Comics #101 in 1945.

The 1985-86 comic book maxi-series, Crisis on Infinite Earths completely retooled the history of Superman into a brand new continuity, excising everything that had come before. Drastic alterations were made to Jor-El's background, presenting him as a stoic, unfeeling man living in a sterile environment where passion was discouraged. The Post-Crisis version of Jor-El, along with his wife Lara, were first re-imagined in Man of Steel #1 in 1986 by writer/artist John Byrne. The Byrne version of Jor-El, as well as the rest of Kryptonian culture became a staple in DC Universe continuity for the next seventeen years.

Jor-El's background was rebooted once again in the 2003 limited series Superman: Birthright by writer Mark Waid and artist Leinil Francis Yu. In this series, Waid did away with all of the changes that John Byrne had made, returning to a more classic representation of Kryptonian culture, where Jor-El was presented as a strong, regal leader.

Following the events of "Flashpoint" in 2012, the entire continuity of the DC Universe was completely rebooted under the banner of the "New 52" universe. In the last days of Krypton, Jor-El had taken an "enviro-pod", a special transport of his own creation, to investigate Krypton's core. His research on the underground had confirmed his suspicion: Krypton was dying from within.

Post-Crisis
Jor-El was a scientist who lived on the planet Krypton with his wife, Lara. Around the time of Earth year 1938, Jor-El returned home to inform Lara that their entire planet was doomed. A geological chain reaction had fused the planet's core elements into a new radioactive compound. This new compound was destroying their world and they only had hours left to live. Jor-El told Lara that he has devised a way for their son, Kal-El, to escape Krypton's destruction. He placed him inside of a specially designed birthing matrix equipped with hyper-drive capabilities. As Krypton explodeed, the gestation chamber launched itself into hyperspace; its destination – Earth. Both Jor-El and Lara died with the destruction of Krypton.

New 52
In the last days of Krypton, Jor-El had taken an "enviro-pod", a special transport of his own creation, to investigate Krypton's core. His research on the underground had confirmed his suspicion: Krypton was dying from within. As he continued down the underground tunnel, Jor-El found a hole covered with a mysterious liquid. He realized that the liquid was in fact an acid-based life form that tried to break through the enviro-pod. Knowing that his life was in danger, Jor-El returned to the surface, forsaking his research. As he returned to the research center, he made plans to return, but the technicians informed him that he would need clearance from the Science Council.

Later, Jor-El visited his former science teacher, Kra-Hu, at the Core Central Complex. He askd Kra-Hu to convince the Council to give him another chance to return to Krypton's core. Kra-Hu told him that he would try, but encouraged Jor-El to return home and spend more time with his wife.

Jor-El returned home, still at a loss about Krypton's pending death. Fortunately, his wife Lara comforted him, revealing that she was pregnant. Jor-El was overjoyed by the news, but suddenly, an explosion erupted Kryptonopolis.

As he went to investigate, Jor-El discovered that everyone in the Core Central Complex, including Kra-Hu, had been killed in the explosion. In that moment, a group of Jor-El's former classmates from the Omniversity, led by a former school-rival, Arana, entered the El house and took Lara hostage. Lara broke free from her captors, and Jor-El and she tried to escape.

Arana called for backup, which came in the form of a group of the Eradicator's soldiers. The squad leader, Bnu-Or, revealed that the Eradicator knew about Krypton's "Grand End" and wanted Jor-El dead to prevent that information from being revealed ahead of time. Jor-El activated a Phantom Zone projector, banishing Bnu-Or and the other soldiers to the Phantom Zone. Arana revealed that the Eradicator had set up a Doomsday cult, saying that his goal was not the end of Krypton, but the end of everything. When Arana tries to shoot Jor-El, Lara stabbed her with a spear, wounding her. Arana later committed suicide, but not before telling Jor-El to reveal Krypton's fate to Lara. After Arana's death, Jor-El tells Lara that Krypton was doomed.