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Good boy.
WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF GRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Wait... this is one of those where writing the trope as the character probably won't work.
Krypto the Superdog is Superman's pet canine, a white dog of indeterminate breed who like his owner also survived the explosion of Krypton. He was created by Otto Binder and Curt Swan, first appearing in Adventure Comics #210 (March, 1955). In the original Silver Age origin story, Krypto was the El family dog on Krypton, and was used by Jor-El as a test subject for his work on the escape rocket he was building for Kal-El. The experimental rocket Krypto was put in, however, got knocked off-course, and Krypto drifted (presumably in some sort of suspended animation) for years before eventually winding up on Earth, reunited with the now-teenaged Superboy. Being from Krypton, of course, gave Krypto a dog-sized version of Superboy's/Superman's powers and roughly human level intelligence (albeit with a dog's sense of priorities), which he used to help his owner fight crime.
Krypto was the first major Silver Age addition to the Superman mythos (the succeeding years would see other familiar elements, such as the Fortress of Solitude, the Phantom Zone, Supergirl, etc. added).
He regularly appeared in Superboy stories from 1955 to 1970. In 1959, he was introduced to stories depicting the adult Superman. Regularly appearing to 1970. He was then dropped for a few years. Before revived in 1974. The Seventies were arguably his heyday, with Krypto getting solo stories in the pages of Action Comics, Superman, and Superman Family. The New Adventures of Superboy (1980-1984) at times depicted Krypto along Superboy. But this was the end of the original version of the character.
Post-Crisis, Krypto was at first eliminated from continuity, but (after a few short-lived characters with the same name were introduced) was brought back in the early 2000s as Superman's pet dog again, this time described as having come from an alternate-reality version of Krypton. This version needed considerably more maintenance considering he has only a regular canine level intelligence, which means he can be carelessly destructive and in combat, he will instinctively fight with all his strength without regard of the nature of the opponent.
In the New 52, Krypto was the El family's dog only to end up trapped in the Phantom Zone when protecting his family. He was eventually freed by Superman and has since served as a supporting character to the entire Superman family. However later retcons to the post-2011 DC Universe retooled his story so that he'd been adopted by Jor-El in Krypton's last days, which eventually brought back his pre-Crisis Silver Age backstory wholesale (part of a larger move by DC to move backstories back to the Silver Age after the failure of the New 52). Since around 2020 though, he's usually found in Supergirl's company.
While Krypto's first animated appearance was as Superboy's sidekick in the mid-60s Filmation-animated Superboy cartoons and a puppy clearly inspired by him was a minor character in the pilot of Superman: The Animated Series, Krypto received his own animated series in 2005 titled Krypto the Superdog. In this series, Krypto was allowed by Superman to live with a suburban Metropolis boy and his family, and had adventures alongside other characters such as Ace the Bat-Hound and Streaky the Supercat. Since then, Krypto has made minor appearances in Lighter and Softer DC cartoons, alternating which of the Super cousins is his owner. And while Krypto didn't appear in Young Justice, though his name was mentioned, he was the main inspiration for the character of Wolf (along with a few other DC dogs). He also made an unnamed cameo (alongside Streaky) in the Legion of Super-Heroes episode "Message in a Bottle" as a resident of the bottle city of Kandor.
Likewise, while Krypto had made cameos in several DC Universe Original Animated Movies, he made the proper leap to DC's animated movies with 2022's DC League of Super-Pets serving as the main character (voiced by Dwayne Johnson). He also got to headline a crossover movie a year later where he joined forces with Scooby-Doo.
While a Suspiciously Similar Substitute of Krypto appeared in Smallville in an episode named after him, Krypto made his proper live-action television debut in the 2018 show Titans as Superboy/Connor Kent's pet. This version of Krypto was a Golden Retriever who had been genetically modified. This carried over to his next live-action incarnation, in Superman & Lois, where he was a normal Golden Retriever that Clark adopted in his retirement years.
Krypto made his live-action film debut in the 2025 Superman movie the first trailer having the Superdog show off his Animal Superheroes credentials by dragging a wounded Superman into the Fortress of Solitude. In the new DC Universe multimedia franchise, Krypto is also confirmed to appear in 2026's Supergirl (which adapts a comic he had a major supporting role in).
In 2025, he got his own spotlight mini-series, Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton, retelling his Silver Age backstory in the post-Flashpoint DC Universe.
- Amplified Animal Aptitude: It's unclear how intelligent Krypto naturally is but it's generally suggested that Earth's yellow sun has upped him to roughly human-level. He can't talk aloud but it's implied he's a Sapient Pet who can understand what his owners are saying.
- Animal Superheroes
- Canine Companion: To the House of El as a whole but since the late 2010s, mainly Supergirl's.
- Cool Pet
- Depending on the Artist: He's most commonly depicted as a White Labrador Retriever but he's also been shown as, among others, a Fox Terrier, a Greyhound, a mixed breed or a straight up Cartoon Creature.
- Depending on the Writer: How he's related to the House of El varies quite a bit. While he's most often Kal-El's pet, it's not unheard of to find him as Kon-El's or Kara Zor-El's. 2021's World of Krypton had him as Jor-El's pet.
- Flying Brick: He's a Kryptonian dog. Duh.
- Gratuitous Animal Sidekick
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- In Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, Krypto dies of Kryptonite poisoning after biting Kryptonite Man.
- And also the Krypto from the Pocket Universe.
- And in the New 52, the first thing Krypto does is dive into the Phantom Zone portal to stop the criminals from dragging in Jor-El, Lara, and infant Kal-El to torture. Also a moment of awesome considering the reactions from the criminals.
- Killer Rabbit: A textbook example of a Precious Puppy... with Kryptonian powers.
- Logical Weakness: Despite his Amplified Animal Aptitude, he's still a dog who can be distracted pretty easily by food, toys or just being happy to see his owner.
- Morality Pet:
- Even Bizarro adores Krypto.
- In Supergirl Vol. 7/the 2016 run, Supergirl is infected by The Batman Who Laughs' toxin and went full Evil Feels Good. Then, in issue #38, her dog showed up and she didn't lay a finger on him, keeping him around as someone to hear her Evil Gloating. Fight Wonder Woman and terrorize Smallville? Sure. Hurt her dog? Unthinkable. Seeing she was scaring him was the final push Kara needed to start Fighting From the Inside.
- Mythology Gag: Bibbo rescued a white puppy from drowning (sadly, it was too late for his siblings). He decided to keep him and names him "Krypton". However, his dog tag is spelled "Krypto". The guy who sold him the tag charges extra, but Bibbo decided on "Krypto".
- Reimagining the Artifact: Like many other survivors of Krypton, he was reimagined following Crisis on Infinite Earths mandating that Kal-El be Krypton's only survivor to be an Earth dog experimented on to have Kryptonian powers. A true post-Crisis version of Krypto eventually appeared.
- Retcon: Following the Cosmic Retcon of Infinite Crisis, it is now said that the Krypto from the alternate reality Krypton is from the real Krypton, and has been with Clark since his teenage years.
- Put on a Bus: The Earth dog Krypto was last seen on Hawaii.
- Ret-Gone: At first post-Crisis.
- Sitcom Arch Nemesis:
- Streaky the Super-Cat, Supergirl's (or Power Girl's) pet cat.
- Depending on the Writer, he has some of this going on with Batman as well, the Dark Knight clearly having no patience for a dog with Kryptonian powers.
- Super Team: The Legion of Super-Pets (along with the Space Canine Patrol Agents).
- Undying Loyalty: Messing with the El family in Krypto's presence is... unwise.