 Portrayed by Tom Welling , Clark Kent is an alien being with superhuman abilities , which he uses to help others in danger . Clark is adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent in the series pilot , when he crash lands to Earth as a three @-@ year @-@ old child . Twelve years later , he tries to find his place in life after being told he is an alien by his adoptive father . For most of the series , Clark spends his time running from his Kryptonian heritage , going as far as leaving Smallville , abandoning a quest his biological father Jor @-@ El sends him on in search of three Kryptonian stones of knowledge , continuing his training at the Fortress of Solitude , and unwittingly unleashing a Kryptonian criminal from the Phantom Zone when he refuses to kill Lex . 
