Why is Superman's own home planet lethal to him?

Question

Pieces of Krypton are deadly to him, but how could his people live in a planet that was deadly to them?
It's like humans being allergic to Earth.

Answer 1

In order to understand why Kryptonite is deadly to Superman, you need to understand his powersource. Superman absorbs electromagnetic radiation from yellow stars (like Earth's sun). Kryptonite's radioactivity possibly interferes with this semi-photosynthetic process, driving the energy out of his cells in a painful fashion. Long term and high-level exposure to green kryptonite can be fatal to Superman.

And Kryptonite did not exist on the planet Krypton until it was destroyed, so it is not the same as a human being "allergic to Earth". When the planet Krypton blew-up, pieces of it became irradiated and changed; like if a nuclear bomb went off - it would contaminate the area in which it exploded. The explosion that killed the planet made pieces of Krypton into fantastic KRYPTONITE!

Answer 2

The answers thus far are relatively correct but lets put this in easier to understand terms.

A human is harmed by uranium which is radio active. The general idea is that when Krypton blew up, the fragment were transformed into something similar that is deadly to Kryptonians.



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Answer 3

Whe the planet Krypton exploded, the various pieces were contaminated with radiation that is intensely harmful to Kryptonians, like Uranium is to humans. It isn't the pieces themselves, but the radiation they have been contaminated with that harmful. As best as I understand it, the contamination was a result of the explosion the destroyed the planet. Prior to that the radiation level were nonexistant and thus not harmful.

Answer 4

On Krypton, there is more gravity. The kryptonians move like we do on earth. The can not fly or super jump on Krypton. But on Earth, there is less gravity, so Superman can do all that cool stuff. But Kryptonite weakens him, and he's probably been on Earth so long that he's not used to not having his powers. It's like when a person goes to the moon and then comes back down, they feel weak because they have been use to the low gravity atmosphere and being weightless in space. ^-^

Answer 5

Pieces of his homeworld are deadly to him because during krypton's destruction, the processes involved with the destruction affected the pieces of krypton in such a way that made them radioactive. So in short, the pieces were made deadly AFTER the planet's destruction itself.

Answer 6

The concept of fragments of Krypton being dangerous to its survivors ties in to the nature and source of his powers.
The same process that give him his abilities is also occurring within the rocks causing them to gain special properties as well.

The fragments of Kryptonite are irradiated in one form or another and the frequency of their radiation is in tune with his body so when you put Superman and Kryptonite in close proximity it causes a reaction within his cells. making him ill.

In the TV show Smallville, the 'K' can be refined and manipulated to create wide ranging and dangerous effects on humans, and in the comics, it was at one point anyway revealed to be dangerous with long term, continuous contact.in that Lex had a 'K' he used to keep Superman away from him, and it eventually caused his hand to decay and need to be removed.

and for the record, Plutonium, Uranium, and Radium, just to name a few, are all 'earth' but also quite deadly to humans, and that is without a planetary explosion, and light years of travel in space

Answer 7

Oh, so now finding another planet with life has shattered peoples beliefs? Very bad assumption PS Im not a believer