Warning! Contains spoilers for Kneel Before Zod #5!

General Zod’s history has always been a bit of a mystery, but his brutal personality is well-known. Recently, DC has begun exploring where that brutal history came from with a look into Zod’s childhood, and this story reveals exactly how Zod became one of Superman’s most brutal villains — and how his parenting might shape his son into a similar villain.

Zod’s brutal childhood was revealed in Kneel Before Zod #5 by Joe Casey and Dan McDaid. This story shows a flashback of Dru-Zod’s father casting him out at a young age. Dru-Zod’s father wanted him to be strong enough to lead the Zod family, and that isn’t strength that Dru would find at his father’s side.

It’s a brutal bit of parenting, and Dru-Zod would later repeat this “casting out” with his son Lor-Zod. Dru-Zod cast Lor-Zod out of this dark family in much the same way his own father did, and it seems to be setting his son on a similar dark path.

General Zod Cast Out His Son – Just as His Father Did to Him

Panels fromKneel Before Zod #1 by Joe Casey and Dan McDaid

Dru-Zod is a brutal villain and a harsh man, which is completely understandable from the childhood he went through. At a young age, he was abandoned by his father, forced to go out into the darkness of the galaxy on his own in order to gain the strength he would need to lead the Zod family. It clearly wasn’t the best thing to force on a child, as Dru-Zod responds by carving the Zod family crest into his chest with a heated sunstone crystal. Instead of wanting to spare his child the same brutality, Dru-Zod has instead repeated his father’s mistakes by sending Lor-Zod out into space as well.

Lor-Zod is now on a similar dark path as his father. After being cast out of his planet, Lor-Zod has become a member of the Sinister Sons, a duo team with him and the supposed son of Sinestro. While Lor-Zod’s original pre-New 52 character was a hero, that’s because he was raised by Superman as Chris Kent. The current version of Lor-Zod is DC fans’ first look into who Lor-Zod might become if he is raised by his biological father, Dru-Zod. This raising is apparently pretty hands-off, as Lor is abandoned to fend for himself in the dark galaxy in the hopes of showing he has the strength to survive — just as General Zod’s father did to him in his own childhood.

Lor-Zod Is on the Same Dark Path as His Father

Lor-Zod Is Unlikely to Become a Hero Like His Past Self

Zod’s origin shaped him into the dark man he is today, and it seems that Lor-Zod is being put on a similar path. While Lor-Zod’s first appearances in the pre-Flashpoint DC Universe portrayed him as a hero, it was only under the influence of Superman’s parenting. Taken away from that caring environment, Lor-Zod is, unfortunately, seemingly destined to become the same monster as his father, and it all started with General Zod forcing his son to go through the same childhood trauma as him.

Kneel Before Zod #5 is available now from DC Comics!