Superman Robots

Superman Robots were fictional robots from the DC Comics Universe. The robots resembled Superman in appearance and abilities.

Silver Age versions

Superman robots played a particularly dominant role in late 1950s and 1960s era Superman comics, when readers were first introduced to Superman possessing various robot duplicates. These Superman robots each possessed a fraction of the Man of Steel’s powers and were sometimes used to substitute for him on missions (such as those where kryptonite was present) or for the purposes of protecting his secret identity (to that end, Superman also possessed a few Clark Kent robots). One notable Superman robot is Ajax A.K.A Wonder Man

The idea of Superman robots were extended into Superboy stories of the period as well, where it was revealed that Superboy also possessed robot duplicates of himself (both as Superboy and as Clark Kent). Nearly all of these robots were either deactivated or converted into adult-sized robots when Superboy grew up to become Superman.

In the early 1970s, the Superman comics largely abandoned the use of Superman robots as part of a change in the books’ tone and writing style; the excuse given in the comics was that Earth’s pollution levels and atmospheric conditions had rendered Superman‘s robots unusable.

Modern Age versions

The notion of Superman robots were reintroduced for post-Crisis comic continuity in a late 1990s storyline. During the period where Superman (under the control of Dominus) felt he must police the entire earth, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week he built an army of Superman Robots (created in his own image, all wearing the famous “S” shield but wearing variations of the Red, Blue and Yellow costume).

However, unlike the pre-Crisis Superman robots, these automata were not realistic androids capable of passing for the real Superman, but instead were obviously mechanical, with metallic bodies that possessed no artificial skin. These modern Superman Robot’s powers included Super-Strength, Flight and Heat Vision, but were inferior to Superman‘s own powers. The Superman Robots were also given a small degree of sentience, making each one an autonomous agent of the Man of Steel. Their job: To protect mankind (aggressively if necessary) and attend to crises beyond Superman‘s reach.

Once Dominus had been defeated, Superman had most of the Robots destroyed. One particular Superman robot (programmed to protect Lois) was particularly difficult to get rid of.

After Krypto almost killed Mongul, Superman realised that he was too dangerous to have around and so confined him to the Fortress of Solitude, where one robot is currently employed as Krypto’s caretaker. The robot is programmed to give off Superman‘s scent every now and again to keep Krypto happy. The robot is named “Ned”.

In more recent times, a forgotten unit became active, its powers increased to a prodigious level thanks to its possession by Brainiac 8, and fought the Teen Titans, killing Donna Troy and Omen before it was defeated.

Originally Posted by Kain Darkwind of the Dicefreaks forums.

On this Thread

Superman Robot
Medium construct
Wounds	300 WP (15d10+150)
Initiative	+22
Speed	450 ft; fly 1350 ft. (perfect)
AC	38 (+3 Dexterity, +10 natural, +15 speed) touch 28, flat footed 20
Base Attack/Grapple	+15/+51
Attack	Slam +42 melee (6d6 + 38 /19-20)
Full Attack	2 slams +42 melee (6d6 + 38 /19-20)
Space/Reach	5 ft. /5 ft.
Special Attacks	Cold breath, heat vision
Special Qualities	Damage reduction 30/adamantine, energy resistance (acid, cold, disintegration, fire) 50, energy resistance (force, sonic) 10, immune to radiation, super senses, super speed level 10, super strength
Saves	Fort +9, Ref +12, Will +5
Abilities	Strength 60, Dexterity 17, Constitution -, Intelligence -, Wisdom 11, Charisma 6
Skills	Listen +48, Spot +48
Feats	Combat Reflexes, Fly-by Attack, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (slam), Improved Initiative, Power Attack
Climate/Terrain	Any
Organization	Solitary or pair
Challenge Rating	30
Treasure	None
Alignment	Neutral

Cold Breath (Ex) Once per round, as a standard action, a Superman robot may exhale a blast of freezing cold winds from its mouth. This affects a 100 foot cone (Reflex DC 17 half), and deals 10d6 points of cold damage. Creatures and objects within the area are also affected as if by a hurricane strength wind.

A Superman robot can maintain this power as an intense action, dealing 20d6 points of cold damage instead, for up to 3 rounds. Any creature damaged must make a Fortitude save (DC 17) or be encased in ice. The ice melts in 2d6 hours at room temperature and has hit points equal to the cold damage taken by the attack.

Heat Vision (Ex) Once per round, as a standard action, a Superman robot may fire a blast of extreme heat from its eyes. This deals 10d6 points of fire damage and requires a ranged touch attack to connect.

Creatures who are vulnerable to the sun take an additional 50% damage from a Superman robot’s heat vision.

Super Senses (Ex) A Superman robot can see and hear at a distance far beyond that of a human being. It suffers distance penalties of -1 per mile instead of 1 per 10 feet. By focusing (requiring one of its swift actions for the round), he can extend this by a factor of 2 per swift action used. This is cumulative, so if it used three of its swift actions to extend its senses, it would suffer a -1 penalty per 8 miles.

By focusing its sight as a swift action, a Superman robot may see through solid material. This power is blocked by lead.

By focusing its sight as a swift action, a Superman robot may see into the microscopic spectrum. This eliminates any size bonus to armor class or Hide checks.

A Superman robot possesses Darkvision and low light vision.

Super Speed Level 10 (Ex) The following benefits are provided from Superspeed Level 10:

• +10 speed bonus to AC, initiative, and Reflex saves
• +10 speed bonus to attack rolls
• +5 speed bonus to melee damage rolls
• A Superman robot may make 10 swift actions in a round.
• A Superman robot reduces the amount of time to complete an action by 2 steps, allowing it to take full round actions as move actions and move actions as immediate actions.
• Characters with less than Superspeed level 5 are considered flat-footed for the purposes of a Superman robot’s attacks. Characters with Uncanny Dodge have an effective Superspeed Level equal to their Dexterity modifier for this purpose.
• As a construct, a Superman robot cannot make a run action.

Superstrength Level 4 (Ex)

• +8 melee damage bonus.
• +4 bonus on grapple and bull rush checks.
• Lift capacity x16.

Skills A Superman robot has a +30 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks.