Tempus Debut "Tempus Fugitive" Portrayed by Lane Davies Statistics AKA Baron Tempos

King Tempus

Tempus Tex

John Doe Classification Human Affiliation Evil

Tempus is a supervillain on the television show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. He was portrayed by Lane Davies.

He is a dangerous insane sociopath from the future and also one of the few villains to survive knowing Superman's true identity.

History

Tempus first appeared in the episode "Tempus Fugitive". He is brought to Metropolis by H.G. Wells, who discovered him on his travels to the future and was looking for a volunteer to help him prove to his associates that he had traveled to the future. Tempus detests this future, a utopia created by Superman's descendants and founded on the values and principles by which Superman led his life. In order to destroy Utopia, Tempus travels back to Smallville in 1966 to kill Superman as a baby. With the help of H.G. Wells and a detour to 1866 Smallville, (where he meets and embraces Jesse James and his brother Frank) Lois and Clark prevent this from happening. During the course of events, Tempus reveals Clark's secret identity to Lois, but H.G. Wells erases her and Clark's memories of the adventure upon their return to the present.

While imprisoned in the Wild West after the events in "Tempus Fugitive," Tempus writes a diary in which he mentions Clark Kent's secret identity. The diary falls into the hands of Jason Mazik, who attempts to use this information to blackmail Clark into stealing for him in "And the Answer Is...". When Clark does not cooperate, Mazik kidnaps Martha and Jonathan Kent. With the help of Lois Lane, who is willing to sacrifice her own life to save Clark's parents, Mazik is stopped and the diary destroyed.

Tempus reappears in the season three episode "Tempus, Anyone?", where he kidnaps Lois Lane and brings her to an alternate timeline. In that dimension, Clark Kent did not become Superman and is engaged to Lana Lang, while Lois Lane was lost on assignment in the Congo (later implied on the episode "Lois & Clarks," that the alternate Clark would travel to the past with H.G. Wells and take her to his own time thus explaining her disappearance). Lois helps the alternate Clark become Superman, only to have Tempus expose his secret identity to the world. Wells returns Lois to her own universe and Tempus is arrested.

In the season four episode "Soul Mates," Lois's and Clark's souls travel back in time (assisted by H.G. Wells), inhabiting previous incarnations of themselves, and Tempus appears again. Here it's revealed Tempus' soul is connected to Lois and Clark's and they have fought in various incarnations over the centuries. His earliest known incarnation was Baron Tempos, the nemesis of Sir Charles (aka The Fox) and Lady Loisette. He also appeared as Tempus Tex, archenemy of The Lone Rider and Lulu. Intent on destroying Lois and Clark's relationship, Baron Tempos placed a curse on Lady Loisette and Sir Charles, which prevents them from consummating their marriage, lest a horrible tragedy befall them and all incarnations of their souls. Lois and Clark lift the curse and return to their own time and the present incarnations of their souls.

In the season four two-parter "Meet John Doe"/"Lois & Clarks," after escaping Andrus (played by William Christopher of M*A*S*H fame) as he was being transported to a prison in Utopia, Tempus returns to Metropolis as "John Doe," a candidate opposing the current President of the United States in the presidential election. With the help of advanced technology from the future, Tempus brainwashes the people via the telephone into thinking he (John Doe) was "a darn nice guy," and wins the election by a landslide.

At the end of "Meet John Doe," Tempus employs a trick to banish Superman to a time vortex, a place outside of time. In "Lois & Clarks," H.G. Wells brings the alternate Clark from "Tempus Anyone?" to Metropolis to help stop Tempus, and to keep up the illusion that only Clark Kent, and not Superman, is missing. Lois and Alt-Clark thwart Tempus's plans and rescue Superman from the time vortex, and Tempus is arrested. Although he attempts to reveal Clark's secret identity, the presence of both Clarks in the room when he makes his denouncement cause all concerned to dismiss him as a madman, particularly when he claims that one of them came from another reality. This was his last appearance on the show.





Trivia