Tyler Randall was a metahuman from Metropolis with the ability to turn living things into ash.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Tactile disintegration: Tyler could disintegrate anything organic through physical contact. He didn't have much control over this, so he generally wore leather gloves.
- Undead Physiology: Tyler body systems weren't all active; as example, his heart wasn't beating. Thus, he couldn't die from any natural causes, and apparently also no longer aged.
- Durability: Tyler's altered physiology made him far more resistant to harm than ordinary humans; though it wasn't put to the test, Clark doubted bullets could cause him much harm.
- Pain immunity: Tyler was apparently numb or nigh-numb to physical pain; he was able to instantly recover and run away after he was thrown into crates by Clark.
- Speed: While not quite on a superhuman level, Tyler was very quick. After Clark threw him into crates, he was able to disappear from the scene in a matter of seconds. He was also able to sneak up on Lana in the middle of the open Smallville Cemetery without her noticing him, and later similarly disappear when she looked away for a couple of seconds.
Vulnerabilities[]
Despite being more durable, Tyler was vulnerable to his own power of tactile disintegration. When he brought his hands into physical contact, he was instantly turned into ashes. Moreover, he was unable to affect inorganic matter with his touch, as he was wearing gloves when shaking someone's hands. He was also unable to turn Clark into ashes. The explanation for this is twofold: One factor was Clark's invisible force field that somehow blocked most of the destructive energy which led to extremely rapid oxidation and subsequent disintegration in any human Tyler touched. Another aspect was Clark's healing factor which kicked in after his skin was partially affected and quickly regenerated the damaged tissue.
Season One[]
Tyler originally had no powers. After his elderly mother asked him to euthanize her, he attempted to suffocate her with a pillow. Hospital security was called, and Tyler was knocked out the window 20 feet to his death. After pieces of meteor rock were lodged into the bones of his wrist, combined with a series of medication that he had been taking prior to his demise, he came back to life in the morgue. When he touched the coroner, Dr. Heller, the latter was turned into ash and died instantly.
Mrs. Sikes turns to ash from Tyler's touch.
Tyler felt that he was the liberator of those that were suffering and he killed those that were sick and needed a peaceful death. As a volunteer in the Mobile Meals program bringing hot meals to homebound residents, he met many such people. He killed one such participant in the program - the elderly Birdy Sikes - and then accidentally killed Mobile Meals coordinator Hank Pond at the facility warehouse.
Remarkably, he was capable of hurting Clark Kent with his touch. Luckily, Clark's powers reduced the effects of Tyler's touch, allowing him to throw Tyler off with his super-strength, although contact with Tyler did make him weak for a few moments.
Tyler found out that Whitney Fordman's father was sick and he went to the hospital to put him out of his misery. He told Lana Lang what he was up to and she warned Clark who raced to the hospital. Tyler knocked Whitney unconscious, but Clark told Tyler his mother was still alive.
After visiting his sleeping mother, Tyler realized he hadn't been relieving people of their pain; he had been reliving himself of his own pain. Overcome by the weight of his guilt, Tyler committed suicide using his own powers before Clark could stop him.
Trivia[]
- Tyler was like a reaper, in being undead and able to kill anything he touches.