Fortress of Solitude
Encyclopedia
The Fortress of Solitude is the occasional headquarters
of Superman
in DC Comics
. Its predecessor, Superman's "Secret Citadel", first appeared in Superman
#17, where it was said to be built into a mountain
on the outskirts of Metropolis
. By issue #58 (May-June 1949) it is referred to as the Fortress of Solitude and said to be located in a "polar waste." However, the Fortress does not actually make an on-stage appearance until the story "The Super-Key to Fort Superman", published in Action Comics
#241 (June 1958).
Traditionally, the Fortress of Solitude is located in the Arctic
, though more recent versions of the Superman comics have placed the Fortress in other locations, including the Antarctic
, the Andes
and the Amazon
rainforest
. The general public in Superman's world is either unaware or at best only vaguely aware of the existence of the Fortress, with its location kept secret from all but Superman's closest friends and allies (such as Lois Lane
and Batman
). A trademark of the Fortress is that it contains a memorial statue of Jor-El
and Lara, Superman's Kryptonian
parents, holding a large globe
of Krypton. Although Superman has living quarters at the Fortress, his main residence is still Clark Kent's apartment in Metropolis
. The arctic Fortress of Solitude concept was first created for pulp hero Doc Savage during the 1930s.
pulps in the 1930s and 1940s. Doc Savage built his Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic and retreated to it alone in order to make new scientific or medical breakthroughs, and to store dangerous technology and other secrets. Superman's original Silver Age
Fortress, first appearing in 1958, was also located in the Arctic
and served similar purposes. Built into the side of a steep cliff, the Fortress was accessible through a large gold-colored door with a giant keyhole, which required an enormous key to open it. The arrow-shaped key was so large that only Superman
(or another Kryptonian
such as Supergirl
) could lift it; when not in use, the key sat on a perch outside of the Fortress, where it appeared to be an aircraft path marker. This was until a helicopter pilot followed the direction of the arrow straight to the entrance of the Fortress, forcing Superman to develop a mirage-ray to camouflage the entrance and key and to ensure the Fortress's secrecy.
The Fortress contained an alien zoo
, a giant steel diary in which Superman wrote his memoirs (using either his invulnerable finger or heat vision to engrave entries into its pages), a chess
-playing robot
, specialized exercise equipment
, a laboratory where Superman worked on various projects such as developing defenses to Kryptonite
, a (room-sized) computer
, communications equipment, and rooms dedicated to all of his friends, including one for Clark Kent
to fool visitors. As the stories continued, it was revealed that the Fortress was where Superman's robot duplicates were stored. It also contained the Phantom Zone
projector, various pieces of alien
technology he had acquired on visits to other worlds, and, much like the Batcave
, trophies of his past adventures. Indeed, the Batcave and Batman
himself made an appearance in the first Fortress story. The Fortress also became the home of the bottle city of Kandor
(until it was enlarged), and an apartment in the Fortress was set aside for Supergirl.
A detailed depiction of the Fortress and its contents forms the background to DC Special Series #26 (1981); Superman and his Incredible Fortress of Solitude, in which Superman minutely inspects the Fortress, suspecting an enemy has planted an Earth
-destroying bomb within it. Another noteworthy appearance of this version of the Fortress was in 1985's Superman Annual #11, a story by Alan Moore
and Dave Gibbons
titled For the Man Who Has Everything
, in which it served as a battleground for Superman, Batman, Robin
, and Wonder Woman
against the alien would-be overlord Mongul
. This story was adapted to animation
in Justice League Unlimited
.
In addition to Mongul, the Fortress has been independently broken into at various times by villains Lex Luthor
, Brainiac
and the Atomic Skull
, among others.
This version of the Fortress made its last appearance in the 1986 non-canonical (or "imaginary") story "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?", appearing in Action Comics
#583 and Superman
#423.
According to Action Comics #261, Superman first established secret Fortresses in outer space and at the center of the Earth before settling on an Arctic location.
Additionally, Superman established an undersea Fortress of Solitude - hollowed out of the side of an undersea cliff - in September 1958. The undersea Fortress, which is reportedly located at the bottom of the Sargasso Sea
at 28 degrees North latitude
, 50 degrees West longitude
, is stocked with numerous exotic ocean relics and is equipped with sophisticated monitoring apparatus to enable Superman to keep abreast of events occurring throughout the seven seas. Superman later abandoned the undersea Fortress and the structure is now used by the mer-people of Atlantis as a showplace and a tourist attraction.
miniseries
, which re-wrote various aspects of the Superman
mythos, the Clark Kent
persona was described as a "Fortress of Solitude", in that it allowed him to live as the ordinary person he saw himself as and leave the world-famous super-hero behind.
This concept was often invoked in later stories, with one story even featuring Superman hiding his secret identity from a telepath
behind a door identical to that of the pre-Crisis
Fortress. By that time, however, a more physical Fortress had been reintroduced.
In Action Comics Annual #2 (1989), Superman, on a self-imposed exile to space, was entrusted with a Kryptonian
artifact called the Eradicator
, created by his ancestor Kem-El. Dedicated to preserving Krypton, this device built a new Fortress in the Antarctic
as a precursor to recreating Krypton on Earth
. Superman broke the Eradicator's control, but maintained the Fortress as a useful location for emergencies. The first appearance of this new post-Crisis version of the Fortress was in Adventures of Superman #461 (Dec. 1989).
It contained many artifacts from the post-Crisis version of Krypton, most notably a number of robot
servitors (one of whom, Kelex
, became a trusted confidant) and a battlesuit from the Third Age of Krypton.
This Fortress was cast into the Phantom Zone
as a result of a battle between Superman, Lex Luthor
, and Dominus
, a villain who played with Superman's mind and who was also trapped in the Phantom Zone. It did, however, serve as the template for the next Fortress, built by Steel
, which was an extradimensional
space accessed through a vast puzzle-globe. The now-mobile Fortress was relocated somewhere in the Andes
.
In the DC One Million
series (1998), Superman's Fortress of Solitude in the 853rd Century resides within a tesseract
located at the center of Earth's sun
. By this time, Superman has lived in self-imposed exile within the Fortress for over 15,000 years.
During the "For Tomorrow" story arc in 2004-2005 Superman comics, Wonder Woman
breached the Fortress in an attempt to confront Superman, causing the Fortress to self-destruct. Superman subsequently established a new Fortress in an ancient temple on a remote village in the Cordillera Del Condor Mountains, on the border of Ecuador
and Peru
. This version of the Fortress is visually similar to the earliest "Secret Citadel" from Superman #17.
The final version of the post-Crisis Fortress was home to Krypto
and his dog-sitter Ned (the last remaining Superman robot), and contained a version of Kandor
, a portal to the Phantom Zone, Kryptonian and alien artifacts, and holographic images of Jor-El
and Lara. The caretaker of the Fortress was Kelex, a Kryptonian robot that was a descendant of the Kelex robot that served Jor-El.
Infinite Crisis
, several survivors of the pre-Crisis multiverse
- the Earth-Two Superman
, Lois Lane of Earth-Two, the Earth-Prime Superboy
, and Earth-Three
's Alexander Luthor, Jr.
- set up a base in the ruins of the Antarctic
Fortress following their escape from the "paradise dimension" they had been trapped in since the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths
. It was then revealed from Power Girl
's repressed memories from her life on Earth-Two that her cousin Kal-L had his own version of the Fortress of Solitude similar to his Earth-One counterpart's Fortress.
"Up, Up, and Away!
", Superman recovered a piece of Kryptonian
sunstone, which Lex Luthor
had used to awaken an ancient Kryptonian warship
. Superman learned that the sunstone had been sent with him from Krypton, and used it to construct a new Fortress in the Arctic
in exactly the same manner as in the 1978 Superman film. He nevertheless plans to restore the Peruvian Fortress, even if compromised and no longer in a secret location, and plans more Fortresses around the world. This version of the Fortress physically resembles the movie and television depictions, and Superman communicates with Jor-El via crystal constructs as in the Superman film and Smallville
.
. Superman
has replaced the giant key with a normal-sized key which is made from super-dense dwarf star
material and weighs half a million tons, restricting its use to those with immense superhuman strength. It has a team of robot
s working on various projects. The Fortress itself contains the Titanic, the space shuttle
Columbia
, and a baby Sun-Eater
, as well as larger-than-life memorabilia, similar to the objects found in the Batcave
. It has various scientific facilities as well, including a time telescope that can receive, brief cryptic messages with reception of limited quality from the future.
, in which it did not appear), the Fortress is created by a crystal that Jor-El
enclosed in Kal-El's spaceship. The crystal leads teenage Clark Kent
to an ice
field where, after he throws it down, it melts into the ice and grows into a huge crystalline building, similar to the crystalline architecture shown on Krypton at the beginning of the film. This Fortress contains numerous "memory crystals" that can be used to access Jor-El's artificial intelligence and hologram, interactive holographic recordings of Lara, and other Kryptonians, and a chamber that uses red sun radiation to strip Kryptonians of their super powers.
In Richard Donner's cut of Superman II
, the Fortress is destroyed by Superman as its existence was revealed to Lex Luthor
. However, Superman then turns back time (à la Superman I), so technically the fortress is completely undamaged, while Zod, Ursa and Non are returned to the Phantom Zone. In a deleted scene, it was also revealed to the police who arrested General Zod
, Ursa, and Non.
In Superman Returns
, the Fortress follows the same formula as the earlier movies, but goes into more detail about the crystal origins of the Fortress and Kryptonian
architecture. Lex Luthor
attempts to use memory crystals he stole from the Fortress to create a new continent
. An observation is made (following Superman II
) that he acts as though he has been there before.
The tie-in book, Superman Returns: The Visual Guide lists the Fortress as sitting on "Fletcher's Abyssal Plane".
In Superman Returns: The Videogame, it was thought that the Fortress would be accessible. However, it is only shown in one cutscene. The only locations accessible in the game are Metropolis
, and a small part of Warworld
. The Fortress in the game is the Options menu.
The Fortress of Solitude is also a location in Mortal Kombat vs. DC. Its appearance is based on the Donner-Singer films, but with some added visuals, including ice statues of Jor El and Lara holding up Krypton, and a Jor El image behind a crystal. This same fortress design is shown in the DC Universe Online
MMORPG
, and is used by Batman
and Lex Luthor
as a last bastion against the forces of Braniac
.
The Fortress has several appearances in the Super Friends
animated series. The Superfriends version of the Fortress of Solitude is said to be located "in a deserted region of the frozen Arctic". In the episode "Terror at 20,000 Fathoms", Superman gives Aquaman
, the Wonder Twins
and Gleek
a guided tour of the Fortress showing off many structures such as the Bottle City of Kandor
. A 1981 episode titled "Evil From Krypton" depicted the Fortress with a somewhat crystalline exterior and without the giant key, reminiscent of its film appearances. In a 1986 episode titled "The Death of Superman", the Fortress more closely resembles the pre-Crisis comic-book version, including a giant yellow key whose use required the combined efforts of Green Lantern
, Wonder Woman
and Cyborg
.
Superman: The Animated Series
and Justice League Unlimited
present a slightly altered version, with the Fortress located in the ocean underneath the Arctic tundra; access was gained by diving into the Arctic water and emerging in an opening inside the Fortress. This version contained an alien zoo
housing alien life-forms saved from The Preserver's ship and some computer equipment, along with a Brainiac
information sphere stolen from his hijacked spacecraft just before it was destroyed, which is used by Superman to access information about Krypton. The fortress also contains massive sculptures of Superman's biological parents, Jor-El and Lara, serving as monuments to Krypton.
The Fortress of Solitude is also a major setting for the Justice League Unlimited episode "For the Man Who Has Everything
". A fight with the warlord Mongul
took place there, after he delivered a parasite capable of hypnosis to Superman and was detected by Batman
and Wonder Woman. In this version, the name "Fortress of Solitude" was given by Professor Emil Hamilton in a sarcastically humorous remark while he visited the Fortress in one episode.
The Fortress also appears in the Legion of Super Heroes
animated series. It appears in the episode called "Message in a Bottle". In that episode, the Legion chase Imperiex
to the Fortress, where he shrinks himself to enter Kandor
, to steal highly advanced ancient Kryptonian
technology invented by Jor-El
.
In the Young Justice
episode "Failsafe," the Fortress of Solitude appears on Robin
's satellite imagery as a location that was being investigated by alien invaders.
On Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
, the "Fortress" was conspicuously absent, presumably because the series' aim was to explore the idea of Clark Kent being the true identity and Superman merely being the disguise (therefore, the character would have no use for an otherworldly fortress). In the earlier issues of the John Byrne revamp of Superman, the Fortress was also absent so the show was probably following suit.
In the tradition of this approach, the Fortress of Solitude was the name of Clark Kent's childhood treehouse in Season 1 Episode 16 "The Foundling".
In Smallville
, Jonathan Kent once referred to the loft space in the Kent farm's barn as the "Fortress of Solitude" since it was the place where the teenage Clark Kent
usually preferred to be alone.
The fifth season
premiere episode, Arrival, introduces a Fortress of Solitude that is almost identical, both in appearance and construction by self-replicating crystals, to that depicted in the original Superman movies. During the episode, Clark carries an injured Chloe Sullivan
from the Fortress to a hospital in the Yukon
, suggesting this is one of the nearest inhabited/medically proficient locations to the structure.
An Artificial Intelligence
built into the Fortress by Clark's biological father, Jor-El
, would provide Clark with various 'Trials' throughout the series to help steer him toward his destiny as a symbol of hope for humanity. The Jor-El
A.I. was for the most part, omniscient, with the ability to send characters through time, open portals to alternate dimensions, and remove, restore and also transfer Clark's powers to other characters, seemingly at will.
In later seasons, the Fortress is exposed as being vulnerable to other Kryptonian technology - namely Brainiac
, and the Orb of Kandor. Lex Luthor
would later use the Orb to revert the Fortress back into its original, handheld crystal form after becoming obsessed with Kryptonian conspiracy theories, and mistaking the structure for an alien invasion
base.
When the crystal was later recovered by Lex's sister, Tess Mercer, as she searched for the now deceased Lex in Northern Greenland
, Clark successfully rebuilt the Fortress to resume his training with Jor-El
. During the series' tenth and final season, the Fortress became home to a Martha Kent-crafted, classic Superman
costume, which Clark would go on to ( appear to) don in the final episode. Rather than being specifically made for the production, the costume was originally designed and created for Brandon Routh
to wear in, Superman Returns
.
The Fortress is also referred to as Jor-El's 'Fortress of Knowledge' by his assistant Raya.
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
of Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
in DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. Its predecessor, Superman's "Secret Citadel", first appeared in Superman
Superman (comic book)
Superman is an ongoing comic book series featuring the DC Comics hero of the same name. The character Superman began as one of several anthology features in the National Periodical Publications comic book Action Comics #1 in June 1938...
#17, where it was said to be built into a mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
on the outskirts of Metropolis
Metropolis (comics)
Metropolis is a fictional city that appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and is the home of Superman. Metropolis first appeared by name in Action Comics #16 ....
. By issue #58 (May-June 1949) it is referred to as the Fortress of Solitude and said to be located in a "polar waste." However, the Fortress does not actually make an on-stage appearance until the story "The Super-Key to Fort Superman", published in Action Comics
Action Comics
Action Comics is an American comic book series that introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
#241 (June 1958).
Traditionally, the Fortress of Solitude is located in the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
, though more recent versions of the Superman comics have placed the Fortress in other locations, including the Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
, the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
and the Amazon
Amazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...
rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
. The general public in Superman's world is either unaware or at best only vaguely aware of the existence of the Fortress, with its location kept secret from all but Superman's closest friends and allies (such as Lois Lane
Lois Lane
Lois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
and Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
). A trademark of the Fortress is that it contains a memorial statue of Jor-El
Jor-El
Jor-El is a fictional character, an extraterrestrial in the . He was created by the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster, and he first appeared in a newspaper comic strip in 1939 as Superman's biological father....
and Lara, Superman's Kryptonian
Krypton (comics)
Krypton is a fictional planet in the DC Comics universe, and the native world of the super-heroes Superman and, in some tellings, Supergirl and Krypto the Superdog. Krypton has been portrayed consistently as having been destroyed just after Superman's flight from the planet, with exact details of...
parents, holding a large globe
Globe
A globe is a three-dimensional scale model of Earth or other spheroid celestial body such as a planet, star, or moon...
of Krypton. Although Superman has living quarters at the Fortress, his main residence is still Clark Kent's apartment in Metropolis
Metropolis (comics)
Metropolis is a fictional city that appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and is the home of Superman. Metropolis first appeared by name in Action Comics #16 ....
. The arctic Fortress of Solitude concept was first created for pulp hero Doc Savage during the 1930s.
Original version
The concept and name "Fortress of Solitude" first appeared in the Doc SavageDoc Savage
Doc Savage is a fictional character originally published in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. He was created by publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L...
pulps in the 1930s and 1940s. Doc Savage built his Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic and retreated to it alone in order to make new scientific or medical breakthroughs, and to store dangerous technology and other secrets. Superman's original Silver Age
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
Fortress, first appearing in 1958, was also located in the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
and served similar purposes. Built into the side of a steep cliff, the Fortress was accessible through a large gold-colored door with a giant keyhole, which required an enormous key to open it. The arrow-shaped key was so large that only Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
(or another Kryptonian
Krypton (comics)
Krypton is a fictional planet in the DC Comics universe, and the native world of the super-heroes Superman and, in some tellings, Supergirl and Krypto the Superdog. Krypton has been portrayed consistently as having been destroyed just after Superman's flight from the planet, with exact details of...
such as Supergirl
Supergirl
Supergirl is a female counterpart to the DC Comics Superman. As his cousin, she shares his super powers and vulnerability to Kryptonite. She was created by writer Otto Binder and designed by artist Al Plastino in 1959. She first appeared in the Action Comics comic book series and later branched out...
) could lift it; when not in use, the key sat on a perch outside of the Fortress, where it appeared to be an aircraft path marker. This was until a helicopter pilot followed the direction of the arrow straight to the entrance of the Fortress, forcing Superman to develop a mirage-ray to camouflage the entrance and key and to ensure the Fortress's secrecy.
The Fortress contained an alien zoo
Zoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
, a giant steel diary in which Superman wrote his memoirs (using either his invulnerable finger or heat vision to engrave entries into its pages), a chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
-playing robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
, specialized exercise equipment
Exercise equipment
An apparatus or device used in any given physical activity for shaping and forming muscle groups for specific areas of the body. A mechanism or machine that is intended to promote health and fitness by using motion with varying degrees of resistance either fixed or adjustable.-Exercise...
, a laboratory where Superman worked on various projects such as developing defenses to Kryptonite
Kryptonite
Kryptonite is a fictional material from the Superman mythos —the ore form of a radioactive element from Superman's home planet of Krypton. It is famous for being the ultimate physical weakness of Superman, and the word kryptonite has since become synonymous with an Achilles' heel —the one weakness...
, a (room-sized) computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
, communications equipment, and rooms dedicated to all of his friends, including one for Clark Kent
Clark Kent
Clark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
to fool visitors. As the stories continued, it was revealed that the Fortress was where Superman's robot duplicates were stored. It also contained the Phantom Zone
Phantom Zone
The Phantom Zone is a fictional prison dimension featured in the Superman comic books and related media published by DC Comics. It first appeared in Adventure Comics #283 , and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp...
projector, various pieces of alien
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
technology he had acquired on visits to other worlds, and, much like the Batcave
Batcave
The Batcave is the secret headquarters of fictional DC Comics superhero Batman, the alternate identity of playboy Bruce Wayne, consisting of a series of subterranean caves beneath his residence, Wayne Manor.-Publication history:...
, trophies of his past adventures. Indeed, the Batcave and Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
himself made an appearance in the first Fortress story. The Fortress also became the home of the bottle city of Kandor
Kandor
Kandor is the name of the former capital city of the fictional planet Krypton in the DC Universe. It is best known for being stolen and miniaturized by the supervillain Brainiac...
(until it was enlarged), and an apartment in the Fortress was set aside for Supergirl.
A detailed depiction of the Fortress and its contents forms the background to DC Special Series #26 (1981); Superman and his Incredible Fortress of Solitude, in which Superman minutely inspects the Fortress, suspecting an enemy has planted an Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
-destroying bomb within it. Another noteworthy appearance of this version of the Fortress was in 1985's Superman Annual #11, a story by Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
and Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons is an English comic book artist, writer and sometime letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything"...
titled For the Man Who Has Everything
For the Man Who Has Everything
"For the Man Who Has Everything" is a comic book story by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, first published in Superman Annual #11 and later adapted into a Justice League Unlimited episode in 2004.-Plot:...
, in which it served as a battleground for Superman, Batman, Robin
Robin (comics)
Robin is the name of several fictional characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson, as a junior counterpart to DC Comics superhero Batman...
, and Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
against the alien would-be overlord Mongul
Mongul
Mongul is the name of two fictional characters that appear in comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the character debuted in DC Comics Presents #27 and was created by writer Len Wein and artist Jim Starlin. The second version first appears in Showcase '95 #85 and was created by...
. This story was adapted to animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
in Justice League Unlimited
Justice League Unlimited
Justice League Unlimited is an American animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and specifically based on the Justice League superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the...
.
In addition to Mongul, the Fortress has been independently broken into at various times by villains Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
, Brainiac
Brainiac (comics)
Brainiac is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Action Comics #242 , and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino....
and the Atomic Skull
Atomic Skull
Atomic Skull is the name of two different DC Comics supervillains.-Albert Michaels:Albert Michaels was a brilliant but distinctly unfriendly scientist-administrator at S.T.A.R. Labs with a rare nervous system disorder that short-circuited the electrical impulses in his brain, creating painful and...
, among others.
This version of the Fortress made its last appearance in the 1986 non-canonical (or "imaginary") story "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?", appearing in Action Comics
Action Comics
Action Comics is an American comic book series that introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
#583 and Superman
Superman (comic book)
Superman is an ongoing comic book series featuring the DC Comics hero of the same name. The character Superman began as one of several anthology features in the National Periodical Publications comic book Action Comics #1 in June 1938...
#423.
According to Action Comics #261, Superman first established secret Fortresses in outer space and at the center of the Earth before settling on an Arctic location.
Additionally, Superman established an undersea Fortress of Solitude - hollowed out of the side of an undersea cliff - in September 1958. The undersea Fortress, which is reportedly located at the bottom of the Sargasso Sea
Sargasso Sea
The Sargasso Sea is a region in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by ocean currents. It is bounded on the west by the Gulf Stream; on the north, by the North Atlantic Current; on the east, by the Canary Current; and on the south, by the North Atlantic Equatorial Current. This...
at 28 degrees North latitude
28th parallel north
The 28th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 28 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America and the Atlantic Ocean....
, 50 degrees West longitude
50th meridian west
The meridian 50° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Greenland, the Atlantic Ocean, South America, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
, is stocked with numerous exotic ocean relics and is equipped with sophisticated monitoring apparatus to enable Superman to keep abreast of events occurring throughout the seven seas. Superman later abandoned the undersea Fortress and the structure is now used by the mer-people of Atlantis as a showplace and a tourist attraction.
Post-Crisis versions
In John Byrne's 1986 Man of SteelThe Man of Steel (comic book)
The Man of Steel is a six-issue comic book limited series released in 1986 by DC Comics, several months after the twelve-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths completed. The Man of Steel was written and penciled by John Byrne and inked by Dick Giordano.-Overview:The mini-series was...
miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
, which re-wrote various aspects of the Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
mythos, the Clark Kent
Clark Kent
Clark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
persona was described as a "Fortress of Solitude", in that it allowed him to live as the ordinary person he saw himself as and leave the world-famous super-hero behind.
This concept was often invoked in later stories, with one story even featuring Superman hiding his secret identity from a telepath
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
behind a door identical to that of the pre-Crisis
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity...
Fortress. By that time, however, a more physical Fortress had been reintroduced.
In Action Comics Annual #2 (1989), Superman, on a self-imposed exile to space, was entrusted with a Kryptonian
Krypton (comics)
Krypton is a fictional planet in the DC Comics universe, and the native world of the super-heroes Superman and, in some tellings, Supergirl and Krypto the Superdog. Krypton has been portrayed consistently as having been destroyed just after Superman's flight from the planet, with exact details of...
artifact called the Eradicator
Eradicator (comics)
The Eradicator is a fictional comic book superhero character having a recurring role in Superman stories published by DC Comics. Originally created as a weapon by an ancient alien race, he is over 200,000 years old and is considered an artifact of Krypton...
, created by his ancestor Kem-El. Dedicated to preserving Krypton, this device built a new Fortress in the Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
as a precursor to recreating Krypton on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. Superman broke the Eradicator's control, but maintained the Fortress as a useful location for emergencies. The first appearance of this new post-Crisis version of the Fortress was in Adventures of Superman #461 (Dec. 1989).
It contained many artifacts from the post-Crisis version of Krypton, most notably a number of robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
servitors (one of whom, Kelex
Kelex
Kelex is a fictional robot created by John Byrne as caretaker of Superman's Fortress of Solitude in Superman comic books published by DC Comics...
, became a trusted confidant) and a battlesuit from the Third Age of Krypton.
This Fortress was cast into the Phantom Zone
Phantom Zone
The Phantom Zone is a fictional prison dimension featured in the Superman comic books and related media published by DC Comics. It first appeared in Adventure Comics #283 , and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp...
as a result of a battle between Superman, Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
, and Dominus
Dominus (DC Comics)
Dominus is a fictional character and a DC Comics supervillain who first appeared in Action Comics #747. He appears primarily as an opponent of Superman.-Fictional character biography:...
, a villain who played with Superman's mind and who was also trapped in the Phantom Zone. It did, however, serve as the template for the next Fortress, built by Steel
John Henry Irons
Steel , also known as the Man of Steel, is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Universe. First appearing in The Adventures of Superman #500 , he is the third character known as Steel and was created by Louise Simonson and artist Jon Bogdanove...
, which was an extradimensional
Tesseract
In geometry, the tesseract, also called an 8-cell or regular octachoron or cubic prism, is the four-dimensional analog of the cube. The tesseract is to the cube as the cube is to the square. Just as the surface of the cube consists of 6 square faces, the hypersurface of the tesseract consists of 8...
space accessed through a vast puzzle-globe. The now-mobile Fortress was relocated somewhere in the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
.
In the DC One Million
DC One Million
"DC One Million" was a crossover storyline that ran through a self titled, weekly limited series and through special issues of almost all "DCU" titles published by DC Comics in November 1998...
series (1998), Superman's Fortress of Solitude in the 853rd Century resides within a tesseract
Tesseract
In geometry, the tesseract, also called an 8-cell or regular octachoron or cubic prism, is the four-dimensional analog of the cube. The tesseract is to the cube as the cube is to the square. Just as the surface of the cube consists of 6 square faces, the hypersurface of the tesseract consists of 8...
located at the center of Earth's sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
. By this time, Superman has lived in self-imposed exile within the Fortress for over 15,000 years.
During the "For Tomorrow" story arc in 2004-2005 Superman comics, Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
breached the Fortress in an attempt to confront Superman, causing the Fortress to self-destruct. Superman subsequently established a new Fortress in an ancient temple on a remote village in the Cordillera Del Condor Mountains, on the border of Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
and Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. This version of the Fortress is visually similar to the earliest "Secret Citadel" from Superman #17.
The final version of the post-Crisis Fortress was home to Krypto
Krypto
Krypto, also known as Krypto the Superdog, is a fictional character. He is Superman's pet dog in the various Superman comic books published by DC Comics. Krypto's first appearance was in a Superboy story in Adventure Comics #210 in March 1955...
and his dog-sitter Ned (the last remaining Superman robot), and contained a version of Kandor
Kandor
Kandor is the name of the former capital city of the fictional planet Krypton in the DC Universe. It is best known for being stolen and miniaturized by the supervillain Brainiac...
, a portal to the Phantom Zone, Kryptonian and alien artifacts, and holographic images of Jor-El
Jor-El
Jor-El is a fictional character, an extraterrestrial in the . He was created by the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster, and he first appeared in a newspaper comic strip in 1939 as Superman's biological father....
and Lara. The caretaker of the Fortress was Kelex, a Kryptonian robot that was a descendant of the Kelex robot that served Jor-El.
Infinite Crisis
In the 2006 limited seriesLimited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
, several survivors of the pre-Crisis multiverse
Multiverse (DC Comics)
The DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct that exists in stories published by comic book company DC Comics. The DC Multiverse consists of numerous worlds, most of them outside DC's main continuity, allowing writers the creative freedom to explore alternative versions of characters and...
- the Earth-Two Superman
Kal-L
The Superman of Earth-Two is a fictional character, a comic book superhero published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Justice League of America #73 . He is a version of the Kryptonian superhero Superman from an alternate reality called Earth-Two...
, Lois Lane of Earth-Two, the Earth-Prime Superboy
Superboy-Prime
Superboy-Prime, also known as Superman-Prime, or simply Prime, is a DC Comics superhero turned supervillain, and one of several alternate Supermen. The character first appeared in DC Comics Presents #87 , and was created by Elliot S...
, and Earth-Three
Earth-Three
Earth-Three is a fictional alternate universe set in the . It is the Earth of an alternate reality in the DC Multiverse. It first appeared in Justice League of America #29 .-Pre-Crisis:Its history is a mirror image to the Earth we know...
's Alexander Luthor, Jr.
Alexander Luthor, Jr.
Alexander Luthor Jr. is a DC Comics character who turned from a hero to a villain. Created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, Alexander has a prominent role in the DC Universe storylines Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis....
- set up a base in the ruins of the Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
Fortress following their escape from the "paradise dimension" they had been trapped in since the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity...
. It was then revealed from Power Girl
Power Girl
Power Girl is a DC Comics superheroine, making her first appearance in All Star Comics #58 ....
's repressed memories from her life on Earth-Two that her cousin Kal-L had his own version of the Fortress of Solitude similar to his Earth-One counterpart's Fortress.
"One Year Later"
In the 2006 story arcStory arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
"Up, Up, and Away!
Superman: Up, Up and Away!
"Up, Up and Away!" is an eight-issue Superman story arc written by Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek with art by Pete Woods.It was originally published in Action Comics #837-840 and Superman #650-653 by DC Comics from May through August 2006...
", Superman recovered a piece of Kryptonian
Krypton (comics)
Krypton is a fictional planet in the DC Comics universe, and the native world of the super-heroes Superman and, in some tellings, Supergirl and Krypto the Superdog. Krypton has been portrayed consistently as having been destroyed just after Superman's flight from the planet, with exact details of...
sunstone, which Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
had used to awaken an ancient Kryptonian warship
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
. Superman learned that the sunstone had been sent with him from Krypton, and used it to construct a new Fortress in the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
in exactly the same manner as in the 1978 Superman film. He nevertheless plans to restore the Peruvian Fortress, even if compromised and no longer in a secret location, and plans more Fortresses around the world. This version of the Fortress physically resembles the movie and television depictions, and Superman communicates with Jor-El via crystal constructs as in the Superman film and Smallville
Smallville
Smallville is the hometown of Superman in comic books published by DC Comics. While growing up in Smallville, the young Clark Kent attended Smallville High with best friends Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross...
.
All-Star Superman
In the out-of-continuity series All-Star Superman, the Fortress is once again located in the ArcticArctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
. Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
has replaced the giant key with a normal-sized key which is made from super-dense dwarf star
Dwarf star
The term dwarf star refers to a variety of distinct classes of stars.* Dwarf star alone generally refers to any main sequence star, a star of luminosity class V.** Red dwarfs are low-mass main sequence stars....
material and weighs half a million tons, restricting its use to those with immense superhuman strength. It has a team of robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
s working on various projects. The Fortress itself contains the Titanic, the space shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia was the first spaceworthy Space Shuttle in NASA's orbital fleet. First launched on the STS-1 mission, the first of the Space Shuttle program, it completed 27 missions before being destroyed during re-entry on February 1, 2003 near the end of its 28th, STS-107. All seven crew...
, and a baby Sun-Eater
Sun-Eater
A Sun-Eater is a fictional, artificially created living weapon in the DC Comics universe. It has played an important role in various storylines.-History:...
, as well as larger-than-life memorabilia, similar to the objects found in the Batcave
Batcave
The Batcave is the secret headquarters of fictional DC Comics superhero Batman, the alternate identity of playboy Bruce Wayne, consisting of a series of subterranean caves beneath his residence, Wayne Manor.-Publication history:...
. It has various scientific facilities as well, including a time telescope that can receive, brief cryptic messages with reception of limited quality from the future.
Superman film series
In Superman and its sequels (except for Superman IIISuperman III
Superman III is a 1983 superhero film and the third film in the Superman film series based upon the long-running DC Comics superhero. Christopher Reeve, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure and Margot Kidder are joined by new cast members Annette O'Toole, Annie Ross, Pamela Stephenson, Robert Vaughn and...
, in which it did not appear), the Fortress is created by a crystal that Jor-El
Jor-El
Jor-El is a fictional character, an extraterrestrial in the . He was created by the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster, and he first appeared in a newspaper comic strip in 1939 as Superman's biological father....
enclosed in Kal-El's spaceship. The crystal leads teenage Clark Kent
Clark Kent
Clark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
to an ice
Ice
Ice is water frozen into the solid state. Usually ice is the phase known as ice Ih, which is the most abundant of the varying solid phases on the Earth's surface. It can appear transparent or opaque bluish-white color, depending on the presence of impurities or air inclusions...
field where, after he throws it down, it melts into the ice and grows into a huge crystalline building, similar to the crystalline architecture shown on Krypton at the beginning of the film. This Fortress contains numerous "memory crystals" that can be used to access Jor-El's artificial intelligence and hologram, interactive holographic recordings of Lara, and other Kryptonians, and a chamber that uses red sun radiation to strip Kryptonians of their super powers.
In Richard Donner's cut of Superman II
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut is a 2006 re-edit of the 1980 superhero film, Superman II, by Richard Donner, who shot a large part of the original movie before being replaced as director by Richard Lester. It stars Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Terence Stamp, Margot Kidder and Marlon Brando...
, the Fortress is destroyed by Superman as its existence was revealed to Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
. However, Superman then turns back time (à la Superman I), so technically the fortress is completely undamaged, while Zod, Ursa and Non are returned to the Phantom Zone. In a deleted scene, it was also revealed to the police who arrested General Zod
General Zod
General Zod is a fictional character who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, a supervillain who is one of Superman's more-prominent enemies. The character first appeared in Adventure Comics #283 , and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp...
, Ursa, and Non.
In Superman Returns
Superman Returns
Superman Returns is a 2006 superhero film directed by Bryan Singer. It is the fifth and final installment in the original Superman film series and serves as a alternate sequel to Superman and Superman II by ignoring the events of Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace .The film stars...
, the Fortress follows the same formula as the earlier movies, but goes into more detail about the crystal origins of the Fortress and Kryptonian
Krypton (comics)
Krypton is a fictional planet in the DC Comics universe, and the native world of the super-heroes Superman and, in some tellings, Supergirl and Krypto the Superdog. Krypton has been portrayed consistently as having been destroyed just after Superman's flight from the planet, with exact details of...
architecture. Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
attempts to use memory crystals he stole from the Fortress to create a new continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
. An observation is made (following Superman II
Superman II
Superman II is the 1980 sequel to the 1978 superhero film Superman and stars Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Terence Stamp, Ned Beatty, Sarah Douglas, Margot Kidder, and Jack O'Halloran. It was the only Superman film to be filmed by two directors...
) that he acts as though he has been there before.
The tie-in book, Superman Returns: The Visual Guide lists the Fortress as sitting on "Fletcher's Abyssal Plane".
Computer and video games
In the video game The Death and Return of Superman for SNES, the Fortress of Solitude is shown in one of the cutscenes.In Superman Returns: The Videogame, it was thought that the Fortress would be accessible. However, it is only shown in one cutscene. The only locations accessible in the game are Metropolis
Metropolis (comics)
Metropolis is a fictional city that appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and is the home of Superman. Metropolis first appeared by name in Action Comics #16 ....
, and a small part of Warworld
Warworld
Warworld is a fictional artificial planet published in several stories by DC Comics, most of which feature Superman. It first appeared in DC Comics Presents #27 , and was created by Len Wein and Jim Starlin.-History:...
. The Fortress in the game is the Options menu.
The Fortress of Solitude is also a location in Mortal Kombat vs. DC. Its appearance is based on the Donner-Singer films, but with some added visuals, including ice statues of Jor El and Lara holding up Krypton, and a Jor El image behind a crystal. This same fortress design is shown in the DC Universe Online
DC Universe Online
DC Universe Online or DCUO is an MMORPG by Sony Online Entertainment – Austin. Jim Lee serves as the game's Executive Creative Director, along with Carlos D'Anda, JJ Kirby, Oliver Nome, Eddie Nuñez, Livio Ramondelli, and Michael Lopez...
MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
, and is used by Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
as a last bastion against the forces of Braniac
Brainiac (comics)
Brainiac is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Action Comics #242 , and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino....
.
Super Friends
The Fortress has several appearances in the Super Friends
Super Friends
Super Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup...
animated series. The Superfriends version of the Fortress of Solitude is said to be located "in a deserted region of the frozen Arctic". In the episode "Terror at 20,000 Fathoms", Superman gives Aquaman
Aquaman
Aquaman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 . Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo title...
, the Wonder Twins
Wonder Twins
The Wonder Twins, Zan and Jayna, are fictional extraterrestrial comic book superheroes published by DC Comics. Their first comic book appearance was in Super Friends #7 , by E. Nelson Bridwell and Ramona Fradon...
and Gleek
Gleek (Super Friends)
Gleek is a fictional character appearing in the animated series Super Friends and its related spinoffs. He debuted in The All New Superfriends Hour, which first aired September 10, 1977. Gleek's vocalizations were provided by Michael Bell....
a guided tour of the Fortress showing off many structures such as the Bottle City of Kandor
Kandor
Kandor is the name of the former capital city of the fictional planet Krypton in the DC Universe. It is best known for being stolen and miniaturized by the supervillain Brainiac...
. A 1981 episode titled "Evil From Krypton" depicted the Fortress with a somewhat crystalline exterior and without the giant key, reminiscent of its film appearances. In a 1986 episode titled "The Death of Superman", the Fortress more closely resembles the pre-Crisis comic-book version, including a giant yellow key whose use required the combined efforts of Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
, Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
and Cyborg
Cyborg (comics)
Cyborg is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez, and first appears in a special insert in DC Comics Presents #26...
.
DC animated universe
Superman: The Animated Series
Superman: The Animated Series
Superman: The Animated Series is an American animated television series starring DC Comics' flagship character, Superman. The series was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on The WB from September 6, 1996 to February 12, 2000. Warner Bros...
and Justice League Unlimited
Justice League Unlimited
Justice League Unlimited is an American animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and specifically based on the Justice League superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the...
present a slightly altered version, with the Fortress located in the ocean underneath the Arctic tundra; access was gained by diving into the Arctic water and emerging in an opening inside the Fortress. This version contained an alien zoo
Zoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
housing alien life-forms saved from The Preserver's ship and some computer equipment, along with a Brainiac
Brainiac (comics)
Brainiac is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Action Comics #242 , and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino....
information sphere stolen from his hijacked spacecraft just before it was destroyed, which is used by Superman to access information about Krypton. The fortress also contains massive sculptures of Superman's biological parents, Jor-El and Lara, serving as monuments to Krypton.
The Fortress of Solitude is also a major setting for the Justice League Unlimited episode "For the Man Who Has Everything
For the Man Who Has Everything
"For the Man Who Has Everything" is a comic book story by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, first published in Superman Annual #11 and later adapted into a Justice League Unlimited episode in 2004.-Plot:...
". A fight with the warlord Mongul
Mongul
Mongul is the name of two fictional characters that appear in comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the character debuted in DC Comics Presents #27 and was created by writer Len Wein and artist Jim Starlin. The second version first appears in Showcase '95 #85 and was created by...
took place there, after he delivered a parasite capable of hypnosis to Superman and was detected by Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and Wonder Woman. In this version, the name "Fortress of Solitude" was given by Professor Emil Hamilton in a sarcastically humorous remark while he visited the Fortress in one episode.
Legion of Super Heroes
The Fortress also appears in the Legion of Super Heroes
Legion of Super Heroes (TV series)
Legion of Super Heroes is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation that debuted on September 23, 2006, based on characters appearing in the DC Comics comic book series. The series centers on the young Superman's adventures in the 31st century, fighting alongside a...
animated series. It appears in the episode called "Message in a Bottle". In that episode, the Legion chase Imperiex
Imperiex
Imperiex is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Superman #153 , and was created by Jeph Loeb and Ian Churchill...
to the Fortress, where he shrinks himself to enter Kandor
Kandor
Kandor is the name of the former capital city of the fictional planet Krypton in the DC Universe. It is best known for being stolen and miniaturized by the supervillain Brainiac...
, to steal highly advanced ancient Kryptonian
Krypton (comics)
Krypton is a fictional planet in the DC Comics universe, and the native world of the super-heroes Superman and, in some tellings, Supergirl and Krypto the Superdog. Krypton has been portrayed consistently as having been destroyed just after Superman's flight from the planet, with exact details of...
technology invented by Jor-El
Jor-El
Jor-El is a fictional character, an extraterrestrial in the . He was created by the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster, and he first appeared in a newspaper comic strip in 1939 as Superman's biological father....
.
Young Justice
In the Young Justice
Young Justice (TV series)
Young Justice is an American animated television series created by Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti for Cartoon Network. Despite its title, it is not an adaptation of Todd Dezago and Todd Nauck's Young Justice comic series, but rather an adaptation of the entire DC Universe with a focus on young...
episode "Failsafe," the Fortress of Solitude appears on Robin
Robin
Robin may refer to:* Robin , a common given name and a surname.It may also refer to:- Birds:Most birds called "robins" belong to the superfamily Muscicapoidea:* European Robin...
's satellite imagery as a location that was being investigated by alien invaders.
Lois & Clark
On Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman was a live-action American television series based on the Superman comic books...
, the "Fortress" was conspicuously absent, presumably because the series' aim was to explore the idea of Clark Kent being the true identity and Superman merely being the disguise (therefore, the character would have no use for an otherworldly fortress). In the earlier issues of the John Byrne revamp of Superman, the Fortress was also absent so the show was probably following suit.
In the tradition of this approach, the Fortress of Solitude was the name of Clark Kent's childhood treehouse in Season 1 Episode 16 "The Foundling".
Smallville
In Smallville
Smallville
Smallville is the hometown of Superman in comic books published by DC Comics. While growing up in Smallville, the young Clark Kent attended Smallville High with best friends Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross...
, Jonathan Kent once referred to the loft space in the Kent farm's barn as the "Fortress of Solitude" since it was the place where the teenage Clark Kent
Clark Kent
Clark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
usually preferred to be alone.
The fifth season
Smallville (Season 5)
Season five of Smallville, an American television series, began airing on September 29, 2005. The series recounts the early adventures of Kryptonian Clark Kent as he adjusts to life in the fictional town of Smallville, Kansas, during the years before he becomes Superman...
premiere episode, Arrival, introduces a Fortress of Solitude that is almost identical, both in appearance and construction by self-replicating crystals, to that depicted in the original Superman movies. During the episode, Clark carries an injured Chloe Sullivan
Chloe Sullivan
Chloe Sullivan is a fictional character from the television series Smallville. Series regular Allison Mack has portrayed the character since the pilot episode; two other actresses performed the role of Chloe Sullivan as a child. The character was created exclusively for Smallville, by series...
from the Fortress to a hospital in the Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
, suggesting this is one of the nearest inhabited/medically proficient locations to the structure.
An Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
built into the Fortress by Clark's biological father, Jor-El
Jor-El
Jor-El is a fictional character, an extraterrestrial in the . He was created by the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster, and he first appeared in a newspaper comic strip in 1939 as Superman's biological father....
, would provide Clark with various 'Trials' throughout the series to help steer him toward his destiny as a symbol of hope for humanity. The Jor-El
Jor-El
Jor-El is a fictional character, an extraterrestrial in the . He was created by the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster, and he first appeared in a newspaper comic strip in 1939 as Superman's biological father....
A.I. was for the most part, omniscient, with the ability to send characters through time, open portals to alternate dimensions, and remove, restore and also transfer Clark's powers to other characters, seemingly at will.
In later seasons, the Fortress is exposed as being vulnerable to other Kryptonian technology - namely Brainiac
Brainiac (comics)
Brainiac is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Action Comics #242 , and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino....
, and the Orb of Kandor. Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
would later use the Orb to revert the Fortress back into its original, handheld crystal form after becoming obsessed with Kryptonian conspiracy theories, and mistaking the structure for an alien invasion
Alien invasion
The alien invasion is a common theme in science fiction stories and film, in which extraterrestrial life invades Earth either to exterminate and supplant human life, enslave it under a colonial system, harvest humans for food, steal the planet's resources, or destroy the planet altogether.The...
base.
When the crystal was later recovered by Lex's sister, Tess Mercer, as she searched for the now deceased Lex in Northern Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, Clark successfully rebuilt the Fortress to resume his training with Jor-El
Jor-El
Jor-El is a fictional character, an extraterrestrial in the . He was created by the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster, and he first appeared in a newspaper comic strip in 1939 as Superman's biological father....
. During the series' tenth and final season, the Fortress became home to a Martha Kent-crafted, classic Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
costume, which Clark would go on to ( appear to) don in the final episode. Rather than being specifically made for the production, the costume was originally designed and created for Brandon Routh
Brandon Routh
Brandon James Routh is an American actor and former fashion model. He grew up in Iowa before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, and subsequently appeared on multiple television series throughout the early 2000s. In 2006, he gained greater recognition for his role as the titular hero...
to wear in, Superman Returns
Superman Returns
Superman Returns is a 2006 superhero film directed by Bryan Singer. It is the fifth and final installment in the original Superman film series and serves as a alternate sequel to Superman and Superman II by ignoring the events of Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace .The film stars...
.
The Fortress is also referred to as Jor-El's 'Fortress of Knowledge' by his assistant Raya.
External links
- Supermanica: Fortress of Solitude Supermanica entry on the pre-Crisis Fortress of Solitude
- Google Sketchup/Earth Model of the Fortress of Solitude
- Supermanica: Secret Sanctuary Supermanica entry on the Secret Sanctuary
- Comic Coverage: The Fortress at 50
- Superman's Fortress of Solitude, a short story by Rick Stoeckel