General Zod Quotes in Man of Steel (2013)

General Zod: [transmission] You are not alone... My name is General Zod. I come from a world far from yours. I have journeyed across an ocean of stars to reach you. For some time, your world has sheltered one of my citizens. I request that you return this individual to my custody. For reasons unknown, he has chosen to keep his existence a secret from you. He will have made efforts to blend in. He will look like you, but he is not one of you. To those of you who may know of his current location: the fate of your planet rests in your hands. To Kal-El, I say this: surrender within 24 hours, or watch this world suffer the consequences.

Lor-Em: General Zod, for the crimes of murder and high treason, the council has sentenced you and your fellow insurgents to 300 cycles of somatic reconditioning. Do you have any last words?

General Zod: You won't kill us yourself! You wouldn't dirty your hands but you'll damn us to a black hole for eternity! Jor-El was right! You're a pack of fools, every last one of you!

General Zod: [to Lara] You... you believe your son is safe... I will find him. I will reclaim what you have taken from us! I will find him. I will find him, Lara. I WILL FIND HIM!

General Zod: [Holding dust in his hand talking to Superman] Look at this. We could have built a new Krypton in this squalor, but you chose the humans over us. I exist only to protect Krypton. That is the sole purpose for which I was born. And every action I take, no matter how violent or how cruel, is for the greater good of my people. And now... I have no people. My soul, that is what you have taken from me!

Jor-El: Our people can co-exist.

General Zod: So we can suffer through years of pain, trying to adapt like your son has?

Jor-El: You're talking about genocide.

General Zod: Yes! And I'm arguing its merits with a ghost.

Jor-El: My son is twice the man you were, and he will finish what we started. I can promise you that.

General Zod: Tell me, you have Jor-El's memories; his conscience. Can you experience his pain? I will harvest the codex from your son's corpse, and I will rebuild Krypton atop his bones.

General Zod: This council has been disbanded!

Ro-Zar: On whose authority?

General Zod: Mine.

[Zod shoots and kills Ro-Zar]

General Zod: The rest of you will be tried and punished accordingly.

Jor-El: What are you doing, Zod? This is madness!

General Zod: What I should have done years ago! These lawmakers with their endless debates have led Krypton to ruin!

Jor-El: And if your forces prevail? You'll be the leader of nothing!

General Zod: Then join me. Help me save our race. We'll start anew. We'll sever the degenerative bloodlines that led us to this state.

Jor-El: And who will decide which bloodlines survive, Zod?... You?

[pause]

General Zod: Don't do this, El. The last thing I want is for us to be enemies.

Jor-El: You have abandoned the principles that bound us together. You've taken up the sword against your own people. I will honor the man you once were, Zod, not this monster you have become.

General Zod: I was bred to be a warrior, Kal. Trained my entire life to master my senses. Where did you train? ON A FARM?

General Zod: There's only one way this ends, Kal. Either you die, or I do.

General Zod: What have you done to me?

Superman: My parents taught me to hone my senses, Zod. Focus on just what I wanted to see. Without your helmet, you're getting everything.

General Zod: Unh!

Superman: And it hurts, doesn't it?

General Zod: Your father equipped himself with great honor Kal.

Superman: You killed my father?

General Zod: I did. And not a day goes by that it does not haunt me. But if I had to do it again I would. I have a duty to my people, and I will not allow anyone to prevent me from carrying it out!

General Zod: If you love these people so much, you can mourn for them!

Clark Kent: Don't do this! Stop! Don't!

General Zod: Never!

Clark Kent: NOOOO!

[from trailer]

Superman: I won't betray them.

General Zod: You already have.

General Zod: Lara, listen to me! The Codex is Krypton's future! Abort the launch!

[Lara continues the launch sequence and sends her son into space]

[repeated line]

General Zod: You are not alone.

General Zod: Your son, Lara, where have you sent him?

Lara Lor-Van: His name is Kal, son of El. And he is forever beyond your reach.

General Zod: What have you done?

Jor-El: We've had a child, Zod. A boy child. Krypton's first natural birth in centuries, and he will be free, free to forge his own destiny.

General Zod: Heresy! Destroy it!

Superman: If Krypton lives again, what happens to Earth?

General Zod: A foundation has to be built on something. Even your father recognized that.

[Superman sees he is surrounded by human bones]

Superman: No! NOOO!

General Zod: I'm going to make them suffer, Kal. These humans you've adopted, I will take them all from you one by one.

Superman: You're a monster, Zod, and I'm gonna stop you.

General Zod: Where is the Codex?

Martha Kent: Go to hell!

General Zod: Bring the phantom drive online!

[first scene: General Zod and his minions are on trial. Jor-El states the accusations]

Jor-El: This is no fantasy, no careless product of wild imagination. No, my good friends. These indictments I have brought you today, specific charges listed herein against the individuals - their acts of treason, their ultimate aim of sedition... These are matters of undeniable fact. I ask you now to pronounce judgement on those accused...

[Jor-El approaches the accused and indicates Non]

Jor-El: On this... this mindless aberration, whose only means of expression are wanton violence and destruction.

[Jor-El indicates Ursa]

Jor-El: On the woman Ursa, whose perversions and unreasoning hatred of all mankind have threatened even the children of the planet Krypton.

[Jor-El indicates Zod]

Jor-El: Finally, General Zod - once trusted by this council, charged with maintaining the defense of the planet Krypton itself. Chief architect of this intended revolution, and author of this insidious plot to establish a new order amongst us - with himself as absolute ruler.

[pause]

Jor-El: You have heard the evidence. The decision of the council will now be made.

[all members of the Council announce "Guilty!"]

General Zod: The vote must be unanimous, Jor-El. It has therefore now become your decision. You alone will condemn us, if you wish, and you alone will be held responsible by me.

[pause]

General Zod: Join us.

[wordlessly, Jor-El turns and walks off]

General Zod: You have been known to disagree with the council before. Yours could become an important voice in the new order, second only to my own! I offer you a chance for greatness, Jor-El! Take it! Join us!

[Jor-El doesn't even look back]

Jor-El: [DELETED LINE, mostly to himself] I've seen the likes of your new order, too many times before. And I know only too much about what you call "greatness".

General Zod: You *will* bow down before me, Jor-El! I swear it! No matter if it takes an eternity, YOU *WILL* BOW DOWN BEFORE ME! *BOTH YOU AND, ONE DAY, YOUR HEIRS!*

Ursa: [All three criminals are imprisoned within the Phantom Zone] Forgive me...!

General Zod: I shall return...!

General Zod: No! Who else is seeing this?

Reporter: Well, with the satellite link up just about everybody, I mean the whole planet.

General Zod: The whole planet Houston?

Reporter: Earth... The whole planet Earth.

General Zod: [pleased] You may continue.

Reporter: As the extraordinary story continues...

Ursa: [petulantly to Zod] Enough of this! If the whole planet is watching, cannot we show them something more interesting?

Army Major: Throw down your arms and surrender. This is an order!

Ursa: General Zod does not take orders. He gives them.

Clark Kent: General, would you care to step outside?

General Zod: Come to me, son of Jor-El, kneel before Zod!

General Zod: Why do you say this to me, when you know that I will kill you for it?

Ursa: [watching an Army helicopter] Look. They need machines to fly.

General Zod: What bravery. Be nice to them, my dear. Blow them a kiss.

General Zod: This "super-man" is nothing of the kind; I've discovered his weakness.

Ursa: Yes?

General Zod: He cares. He actually cares for these Earth people.

Ursa: Like pets?

General Zod: I suppose.

Ursa: Sentimental idiot!

President: [on T.V] This is your President. On behalf of my country and in the name of the other leaders of the world with whom I have today consulted, I hereby abdicate all authority and control over this planet to General Zod. Only by following all his directives will the lives of millions be spared...

[desperately]

President: Superman! Can you hear me? Superman! Where are you...

General Zod: Who is this Superman?

President: You'll find out and when you do-...

General Zod: Come to me, Superman! I defy you! Come and kneel before Zod! Zod!

General Zod: [looking at the Presidential Seal on the floor of the Oval Office] I see you are practiced in worshiping things that fly. Good. Now, rise before Zod.

[the "President" stands up]

General Zod: Kneel before Zod.

[the "President" kneels]

General Zod: You are not the President. No one who leads so many could possibly kneel so quickly.

President: [appears from behind the other men] I'm the man they're protecting. I'm the President. I'll kneel before you, if it will save lives.

General Zod: It will, starting with your own.

Ursa: [walking towards a group of military men] What a backwards planet this must be, where the men wear the ribbons... and the jewelry!

[rips the ribbons off a general's uniform]

President: What I do now, I do for the sake of the people of Earth. But there is one man on this planet who will NEVER kneel before you.

General Zod: Who is this imbecile? Where is he?

President: I wish I knew.

[kneels]

President: Oh God.

General Zod: Zod!

Lex Luthor: [to Zod and Company, at the half-wrecked White House] ... Hi! Lex Luthor.

[no reaction from the Super Villains]

Lex Luthor: LEX LUTHOR! Possibly you've heard the name? the Greatest Criminal Mind on Earth!

Ursa: I told you this was a puny planet.

[moves menacingly towards Luthor]

Lex Luthor: Whoa whoa whoa wait... why don't you get to know me better?

[Ursa continues moving towards Luthor]

Lex Luthor: WAIT! I can give you anything! The... the... the... the Brass Ring, unlimited freedom to maim and kill! PLUS! Lex Luthor's keen mind, Lex Luthor's savvy, Lex Luthor's school of career guidance...

[Ursa begins crushing his hand]

General Zod: We already have this without you. You cannot bargain with what you don't have.

Lex Luthor: [sucking on his thumb to numb the pain] Oh Great One, what I am bargaining with is what YOU do not have: The Son of Jor-El.

General Zod: The Son of Jor-El?

Lex Luthor: [confused] I just said that.

General Zod: Jor-El? Our jailer?

Lex Luthor: [sarcastically] No, Jor-El the BASEBALL PLAYER...

[Ursa and Non start moving menacingly towards Luthor]

Lex Luthor: Yes, Jor-El your jailer.

General Zod: The Son of Jor-El! On this planet!

Lex Luthor: Perhaps you know him better by his nom de voyage, or the name he travels under: Superman.

General Zod: So THIS is Superman! How do you know of Jor-El?

Lex Luthor: Well, Your Excellency, as I explained earlier: I'm about the best there is.

General Zod: Revenge! We will kill the son of our jailer!

Ursa: Revenge!

Lex Luthor: REVENGE! Now we're cooking!

General Zod: He flies then?

Lex Luthor: Constantly.

General Zod: He has powers as we do?

Lex Luthor: Certainly. But, oh Magnificent One, he is one, while you are three.

[Non growls]

Lex Luthor: Or four, if you count him twice!

General Zod: Come! We will bring him to his knees!

Ursa: Praying!

General Zod: Yes, to ME!

Lex Luthor: Wait!

[the Super Villains turn to face Luthor]

Lex Luthor: First you must find him... and Lex Baby is the only one who knows where he is...

Ursa: You are master of all you survey.

General Zod: [bored] So I was yesterday. And the day before.

Ursa: [after using heat vision on a snake] Did you see that? Did you see what I did? I have powers beyond reason here!

General Zod: We all have them, my dear.

General Zod: I win. I always win. Is there no one on this planet to even challenge me?

Lex Luthor: What am I gonna do with you people, huh? I held up my end, I delivered the blue boy. What do I get from my triple threat? "Bow! Yield! Kneel!" That kind of stuff closes out a town.

General Zod: Why do you say this to me when you know I will kill you for it?

Lex Luthor: Kill me? Lex Luthor? Extinguish the greatest criminal flame of our age? Eradicate the only man on Earth with...

Ursa: Kill him!

Lex Luthor: ...Superman's address?

General Zod: Come. The three of us will crush the son of our jailer!

Ursa: Come forward. Your General wishes to speak.

General Zod: I am General Zod. Your ruler. Yes, today begins a new order. Your lands, your possessions, your very lives, will gladly be given in tribute to me, General Zod! In return for your obedience you will enjoy my generous protection. In other words you will be allowed to live.

[rips a Generals stars from his shoulder]

General Zod: So you are a General? And who is your superior?

General: I answer only to the President.

General Zod: And he will answer to me! Or all of his cities will end up like this one.

General Zod: Crude noisemaker.

General Zod: [to Superman] And now... finally. Take my hand and swear eternal loyalty to Zod.

Sheriff: [finding General Zod and Company standing on a dirt road, the Sheriff kicks in his car's lights and siren; to Duane] From the look of 'em, I'll bet ten dollars they're from Los Angeles.

[to the Kryptonians]

Sheriff: Hey, you hippies! Get your butts off the road!

General Zod: I like the glow that flashes red like our Krypton sun. But not this irritating noise. Make way.

General Zod: Did you think we would give up our advantage? No. The son of Jor-El will be my slave... forever. Or else, the millions of Earthlings you protect shall pay for your defiance.

Lex Luthor: [Lex arrives] Hi, guys. Sorry I'm late.

General Zod: We have no more use for this one. Kill him.

Lex Luthor: Me? Lex Luthor? General, you came to me with nothing. I gave you Superman!

General Zod: Silence!

General Zod: Son of Jor-El. We were beginning to think you were a coward.

Superman: I'm not a coward, Zod.

Ursa: Let him prove it!

General Zod: Possibly not. It is extremely likely you are merely a fool. Like father, like son.

Superman: Somehow, I just can't hear you, Zod.

General Zod: [Using his heat vision, he breaks off the entire side of a nearby building and catches it with both hands] Then die, as you deserve to!

[He throws it at Superman, who uses his own heat vision to blow the huge projectile apart]

General Zod: [as somebody pulls a gun on him] These humans are beginning to bore me.

Superman: [at the Fortress of Solitude; whispering to Luthor] Try and get them all into this molecule chamber. It takes away their powers, see... and turns them into ordinary human beings. Now if you could...

[Zod approaches]

Superman: Shh, shh!

Lex Luthor: [pauses] General, don't go in there. It's a trap.

Superman: Luthor, you poisonous snake!

Lex Luthor: That's a molecule chamber. It turns people like you into people like me.

General Zod: [nods] You've done well, Lex Luthor.

Lex Luthor: [pointing] The crystal there activates the mechanism.

General Zod: Lex Luthor, ruler of Australia... activate the machine.

[Non grabs Luthor and flies him up to the control panel]

General Zod: No one may leave without my permis -

[spots Willie escaping on horseback]

General Zod: I said no one leaves!

[at Zod's direction, Non hurls a projectile, obliterating Willie and his horse]

Woman: He was only a boy!

Ursa: Who will never become a man!

[Arriving on Earth after overhearing some NASA astronauts]

General Zod: So this is planet Houston.

Ursa: [after their carnage on the moon] Strange, I tore those metal fibers like paper. And what HE did... was amazing! Something is happening...

General Zod: Yes, to all of us. The closer we come to an atmosphere with only one sun, a yellow sun, the more our molecular density gives us unlimited powers.

Ursa: [pointing to Earth] They come from there, a place called Houston.

General Zod: Then we will go there to rule. FINALLY, to rule.

[turning to Ursa]

General Zod: And you, will shall everything you wish.

Ursa: Men! To kill!

General Zod: And I will lead!

General Zod: [picking up the stunned astronaut] What sort of fragile life-form is this...?

General Zod: [just before using heat vision on Metropolis] I'll draw his fire... with some of my own.

General Zod: I offer you a chance for greatness, Jor-El! Take it!

[ranting as Jor-El turns his back on Zod and walks away]

General Zod: You will bow down before me! No matter that it takes an eternity, you will bow down before me - you, and one day, your heirs!

General Zod: [referring to Superman's home] Scruffy. Morbid. A sentimental replica of a planet long since vanished. No style at all!

Superman: I expect better manners from my guests, Zod.

Lois Lane: Superman, this wasn't my idea...!

General Zod: Accept your destiny, Kal-El. As your father once condemned us, so now do we condemn his misbegotten brat!

General Zod: [after rampaging through the Daily Planet, Zod thinks he has found Superman. He holds Jimmy way up by the collar] ... *This* is the son of Jor-El?

Jimmy Olsen: No, but I'll bet *you're* the son of a...!

Lois Lane: [cutting him off] *Jimmy!*

Krypton Elder: You three criminals have been caught in a further act of seditious treason.

Krypton Elder: [to Zod] General Zod, your only feeling was contempt for our society; your only desire was to command.

Krypton Elder: [to Ursa] Ursa, the only feeling you showed was for your vicious general. Your only wish: to rule at his side.

Krypton Elder: [to Non] Non, you are as without thought as you are without voice.

Krypton Elder: This council has no hesitation in proclaiming you all...

Krypton Elder: Guilty!

Kryptonian Elder #2: Guilty!

Kryptonian Elder #3: Guilty!

Krypton Elder, Kryptonian Elder #2, Kryptonian Elder #3, Kryptonian Elder #4: Guilty!

Ursa: [the dome opens, and the Phantom Zone portal enters the chamber; Zod, Ursa and Non are transported into the Phantom Zone] Aah!

General Zod: Aah! You will bow down before me, Jor-El! Both you and one day, your heir! Jor-El!

General Zod: Did you think we would give up our advantage? Now... the son of Jor-El will be my slave... forever, if not, the millions of Earthlings you protect shall pay for your defiance. Destroy this place.

Lex Luthor: Hi, guys. Sorry I'm late.

General Zod: We have no more use for this one, kill him.

Lex Luthor: Me? Lex Luthor? General... you came to me with nothing, I gave you Superman!

General Zod: Silence!

Lex Luthor: Well, look -

[Non shoves Luthor from behind]

Lex Luthor: Watch it, don't touch me!

[to Superman]

Lex Luthor: Guy's a clod; promises were made, gifts exchanged. I gotta hand it to you, you know. You always told the truth, a guy always knew where he stood with you.

Superman: Hmm.

[whispers to Lex Luthor]

Superman: Try and get them all into this molecule chamber. It takes away their powers, see... and turns them into ordinary human beings. Now if you could -

[Zod approaches]

Superman: Shh, shh!

Lex Luthor: General, don't go in there, it's a trap.

Superman: Luthor, you poisonous snake!

Lex Luthor: That's a molecule chamber. It makes people like you into people like me.

General Zod: You've done well, Lex Luthor.

Lex Luthor: General, uh... the crystal there, uh... activates the mechanism.

General Zod: Lex Luthor, ruler of Australia... activate the machine.

[Non grabs Luthor and flies him up to the control panel]

Lex Luthor: Thank you.

[takes a crystal]

Lex Luthor: With your permission.

[Lois cries as Superman enters the chamber and the lights turn on]

General Zod: [Superman exits the chamber, and proceeds to kneel before Zod] And now... finally. Take my hand... and swear eternal loyalty to Zod.

[Superman grips Zod's hand and crushes it]

General Zod: Ahhh, uuuuh! Oooohhh, ahhh!

[Superman lifts Zod off the ground]

General Zod: Oooh, oh no!

[Superman throws Zod against the Fortress's wall, where he falls into the chasm below]

General Zod: Ugggh!

Non: Urgh!

[Non tries to fly, but falls off the cliff, into the chasm below]

Non: Huh? Ohhhh!

Lex Luthor: He switched it, he did it to them! I mean, the lights were on out here... while he was safe in there!

[Superman nods and gives Luthor an OK sign]

Lois Lane: You know something? You're a real pain in the neck!

[Lois punches Ursa into the chasm below]

Ursa: Uurghhhh!

Superman: [Lois goes to Superman, who hugs her] Are you all right?

Lois Lane: Mm-hmm.

Superman: I knew you'd double-cross me, Luthor. A lying weasel like you couldn't resist the chance.

Lex Luthor: Me, are you kidding? Hey, I was with you all the time! That was beautiful! Did you see the way they fell into our trap? Ha ha ha ha!

Superman: Too late, Luthor! Too late.

Lex Luthor: Look - look, Superman, I got- I got a proposition for you. Now, now don't stop me, don't stop until you've heard me because... I know I owe you one, but we're in the North Pole, right? Let's wipe the slate clean. If you give me a ride back, I promise I'll turn over a whole new leaf...