Ian Randall is a supporting antagonist in the WB TV series Smallville.
Appearing in seasons two and three, he was a Smallville High student who could split into two different people. He was the main antagonist of the episode "Dichotic" and a supporting antagonist in "Asylum".
He was portrayed by Jonathan Taylor Thomas.
Biography[]
Dichotic[]
Ian Randall was an intelligent metahuman student who hoped to graduate early and leave Smallville by using his ability to duplicate himself. He gained his power from the 1989 meteor shower that struck Smallville. Ian had high hopes of going to one of America's premier colleges.
With his ability, Ian was literally in two places at once and started taking additional classes at Smallville High that coincided with his other classes. However, Ian's ambitions were in danger of falling apart, when the shop teacher, Mr. Frankle at Smallville High School was going to give him a low grade.
Ian responded by killing the shop teacher, then gave himself a better grade. Ian approaches Chloe Sullivan at the office of the Torch telling her that he's been taking night classes and extra-credit work to graduate as a sophomore to get into an Ivy-League college.
Ian splits himself in two.
Chloe asked for an interview, and they talked at the Talon. He asks her out, and Clark Kent arrives just as Ian and Chloe were leaving. He tells Lana Lang that he has to break their study date to do some of his dad's errands but Ian offered to help Lana instead. Ian went into a back room, removes his clothes and produces an identical clone of himself out of his back.
The two Ians then leave and went on their respective dates with both Chloe and Lana. Clark started to become suspicious of Ian when he began dating Chloe and Lana back-to-back. Clark confronted Ian, and accuses him of using Chloe and Lana to win his scholarship. He asks Ian about the "C" he got in shop, and Ian simply says that the teacher never posted grades. Clark and Pete Ross went to the metal shop classroom to look around and found Mr. Frankel's body in a cabinet. Suddenly a barrel of chemicals tipped over and the floor lit on fire. The pair saw Ian running away.
Clark later went to Chloe's house to find Ian and her kissing. He tells them what he saw, but Ian claims he's been at her house for three hours. Initially he deflected Clark's suspicions of him by claiming that Clark was just jealous, with his duplicating abilities providing the perfect alibi. Later, Clark discovered that Ian was taking classes at community college at the same time of day he was in school at Smallville High. Both Clark and Pete decided to follow Ian to see how he is able to be in two places at the same time.
They page him with the girls' pagers and he arrives at both the Talon and Chloe's house at exactly the same time. Clark calls Chloe to warn her, but she doesn't answer. Instead, Lana came in and they realize they might both be dating Ian at the same time. When he shows up, they confront him, and he realizes Clark and Pete are onto him.
He locks the door, and he and his double corner the girls. When Pete and Clark arrive at the Torch, they find a "suicide note" from both girls. Ian takes the girls to a dam and tries to throw them over. Chloe makes a run for it, but one Ian tackles her knocking her unconscious. Ian carried her and threw her over the dam.
Clark super-sped in at the last minute to catch an unconscious Chloe after one of the Ians threw her off the dam. Annoyed with Clark's meddling, that same Ian tried to kill him with a large pipe while he was tending to Chloe, but quickly realized that he was indestructible. After knocking the Ian clone unconscious by throwing him at a sign, he helped Lana when she and the other Ian nearly went over the edge. The other Ian, however, couldn't hold on and fell.
Asylum[]
Ian was sent to Belle Reve, where he nurtured a strong grudge against Clark for "ruining his life", apparently unconcerned about the fact that he had killed a man long before Clark became involved in his actions. Ian became in charge of the book cart offering books, magazines and newspapers to fellow inmates. He saw Clark when he came to visit Lex and taunted him by asking if he'd like something to read.
During his stay in Belle Reve, Ian befriended fellow meteor freak Eric Summers as they both have come across Clark. Later Ian and Eric approach Van McNulty and offer to break him out if he tells them what Clark's weakness is. The plan is for Eric to leech his powers again. Intrigued by the offer, Van paid a guard, Connelly, to smuggle in a meteor rock and kept quiet about it.
When Ian discovers it has arrived, Ian splits himself in two and kills Van. He later approaches Lex, still in his restraints, to cut a deal. He offers to break Lex out if he helps fund their new lives on the other side. Lex refuses. He hasn't forgiven Ian for trying to kill Lana and Chloe as part of his scheme to secure the LexCorp scholarship. Ian tries to change Lex's mind by showing him that he is on the schedule for electroshock therapy.
When Clark broke into Belle Reve to free Lex, Ian split himself in two and arrives with the meteor rock. They take turns beating Clark and Lex until neither of them can get to their feet. They haul Clark out on a gurney knowing that the guards will be coming soon for Lex's procedure.In the voltage room, Clark was still lying on the gurney incapacitated. Eric held the meteor rock in Clark's hand while Ian throws the switch, sending electricity through the gurney into their two bodies.
