Lex Luthor

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"The road to darkness is a journey, not a light switch." - Lex Luthor, to Ryan James, Ryan

Alexander "Lex" Luthor is a young billionaire in Smallville and has become the main antagonist in the series. He has struggled with a dark history and a darker destiny. Lex is the son of Lionel Luthor and Lillian Luthor. He was the brother of Julian and the half brother of Lucas. He had a thick mop of red hair as a child but has been bald since age nine after being caught in the 1989 meteor shower.

In the final years of Lex and Clark's association, Lex finally and decisively turned to darkness. Currently he abuses his company's assets and resources to fund questionable and most likely illegal scientific research on cloning and alien intelligence. He also recently purchased Metropolis' main newspaper, the Daily Planet and named himself CEO. He has already used his authority to kill stories, fire reporters, and monitor employee's computer usage.

Contents 1 Personality 2 Early Life 3 Season One 4 Season Two 5 Season Three 6 Season Four 7 Season Five 8 Season Six 9 Season Seven 10 In the Comics 11 Trivia 12 Other Faces of Lex Luthor 13 See Also

[edit] Personality

Lex's personality traits stem from the loving care of his mother and the neglectful, unfulfilling upbringing he received from his father after Lillian's death. Because of these conflicting influences, Lex is an extremely complex individual. Many different stages of Lex's growth have been depicted. As a child, Lex was very close and protective of his ailing mother but fearful of his emotionally- and physically-abusive father. Lionel criticized him harshly whenever he showed the slightest weakness. Lex took great joy in being a big brother, saying it was the only time he ever felt like he was part of a real family. He is depicted as a quiet but kindhearted little boy.

After being caught in the meteor shower at age nine, Lex was teased mercilessly by other children for being bald. After the death of his mother when he was eleven, Lex became a calloused, alienated, and self-destructive young man. As a teenager and into his young adult years, he partied hard, got arrested, and was a general source of embarrassment and disappointment to Lionel. In the seven years since moving to Smallville, Lex's personality has undergone many changes. Although forced to move there by Lionel, he struggled to overcome Lionel's ruthless, uncaring reputation. He was honest, kind and willing to use his wealth to help others. He stopped being self-destructive and worked hard to become a productive, valuable citizen. Occasionally, he would show signs of the evil man he will become, but, by his own admittance, his friendship with Clark Kent helped to keep this at bay.

Lex desperately seeks the love of a family. He constantly sought his father's approval and was envious of Clark Kent's relationship with his own father. He thought of Clark as the brother he never got to have. This desperation for familial love seemingly fueled his motivation for the creation of Project Gemini. Additionally, his romantic relationships are intense. He married both Helen Bryce and Lana Lang after relatively short courtships.

In the first years of Lex and Clark's relationship they became good friends, often saving each other from danger. But Lex has begun to abandon truth and justice in search of power and control. He has become more arrogant, eventually stylizing himself as a protector of the world. As Lex and Clark have grown apart in recent years, he more often displays personality traits similar to his father. Currently, Lex seems to have accepted his destiny of becoming the tyrannical and ruthless leader his father raised him to be. He has abandoned the agricultural roots of LuthorCorp and converted it into a leading military contractor. He has developed prisons or laboratories on which he experiments or controls metahuman. Lex has killed people in the past, but now seems much more willing to kill or torture someone simply for making him angry or if they fail to cooperate. His thirst for power has become stronger as well. Even as Lex and Lana's relationship intensified, he seemed to focus more on obtaining power than Lana's difficult pregnancy, a pregnancy that he very likely faked to get Lana to marry him.

Lex has indicated that he possesses some sort of spiritual beliefs. He is well-versed in the Bible and has mentioned on more than one occasion that he prays. Lex is intelligent and intellectual. He quotes a variety of historical figures and often uses scholarly and literary facts to illustrate his point of view. Lex is also an accomplished classical piano player. He enjoys fast cars, scotch, chess, pool, and fencing. Lex is a fairly accomplished swordsman, marksman and hand-to-hand fighter, owing his skills to years of private tuition.

[edit] Early Life

Lex attended boarding school from an early age. He also frequently played with the children of his parents' powerful friends, the Teagues, the Queens, and the Swanns.

In 1989, when Lex was nine years old, Lionel took him to Smallville on a business trip at the insistence of his mother. Fatefully, they arrived on the day of the meteor shower. The meteorites seemingly cured Lex's asthma but caused him to go bald, in addition to apparently super-charging his immune system. Lex has not been sick since. Days before his first trip to Smallville he overheard his father conversation with Robert Queen, Edward Teague and Virgil Swann, discussing something called Veritas. Veritas was mentioned again the day he boarded the helicopter to Smallville, two days after the death of the Queens.

Lex's brother Julian was born when Lex was eleven years old (c. 1991). Their mother Lillian suffocated Julian in early infancy during a bout of severe post-partum depression. Lex discovered the murder and took the blame, fearing his father would harm his mother but knowing he would not be harmed, as he was Lionel's only remaining heir. He then repressed the memory and grew up believing that he really had killed his brother. His father resented Lex for years until Lex's memories surfaced during treatment at the Summerholt Institute and he told his father what had really happened.

After the death of his mother in 1993, Lex was raised without real affection, parenting, or love. Instead, Lionel lavished Lex with money and gifts and sent him away to expensive, exclusive boarding schools. Even though his nanny, Pamela Jenkins promised to stay and raise Lex, Lionel forced her to leave. Years later, she returned to see him, seeking his forgiveness before she succumbed to her cancer.

In 1996, while at Excelsior Academy Preparatory School, he and his friend Duncan Allenmeyer were bullied by Oliver Queen. Lex eventually turned on Duncan to gain Oliver's acceptance and beat him up so brutally, Duncan stumbled into the street and was hit by a car. Lex expressed regret at betraying Duncan but never forgave Oliver for the way he treated them. Lex graduated from Excelsior in 1998.

In 1999, Lex took Amanda Rothman to Club Zero knowing she would see her fiancé Jude Royce flirting with other girls. When Jude attacked Lex, Amanda shot and killed him. Lionel handled the incident in such a way that Lex's name stayed out of the papers.

Like his father, Lex graduated from Princeton in less than four years and was taking a break from graduate studies at Yale in 2001 when he was sent to live in Smallville to manage the Smallville Fertilizer Plant #3.[1]

[edit] Season One

"After the accident, when my heart stopped. It was the most exhilarating two minutes of my life. I flew over Smallville, and for the first time, I didn't see a dead end. I saw a new beginning. Thanks to you, I have a second chance. We have a future, Clark, and I don't want anything to stand in the way of our friendship." -Lex Luthor, Pilot, Season 1

On his first day in Smallville, Lex was driving on the Loeb Bridge when he lost control of his car and accidentally hit Clark Kent; they both fell into the river. Clark used his powers to save Lex from drowning, and so began their friendship and Lex's obsessive investigations. Lex developed an interest in the effects that the meteor rocks had on humans, and this interest became most dangerous to Clark when Lex finds the key to his spaceship.

As a businessman, Lex has shown himself to be both smart and generous, but not always successful. He successfully protected his employees from layoffs by finding other ways to cut expenses when profits were down, but Jonathan Kent resisted his interest in investing in the Kent Farm. Lex did, however, invest in Lana Lang's project to convert the Talon theater into a coffee shop. He was at his most heroic this year when Earl Jenkins took hostages inside the LuthorCorp fertilizer plant. Lex entered the plant to negotiate and became a hostage in place of the others. He also actively helped find a cure to the effects of the Nicodemus flower and showed generosity when he forgave Pamela Jenkins.

Lex showed his callousness when he renewed his relationship with Victoria Hardwick as a means to an end, and showed his ruthlessness when he blackmailed Roger Nixon and later stuffed an auditor in the trunk of his car, but Lex experienced his darkest moment when a tornado hit Smallville. Lionel arrived in Smallville to close the plant. Despite the fact that Lex had made it profitable, Lionel wanted Lex in Metropolis. Lex refused to go, saying the relationships he developed in Smallville were too important to him. In response, Lex formed LexCorp and organized an employee buyout of the plant which Lionel was trying to block by buying the Smallville Savings and Loan. When the tornado hit, Lionel was injured, and Lex hesitated before saving him.

[edit] Season Two

"I've always been fighting my destiny, trying to avoid becoming my father. But we all have certain genes that, no matter how much we want to change, dominate us." -Lex Luthor, Exodus, Season 2

In the wake of the tornado, Lex got his father to the hospital and approved a surgery which failed to save Lionel's eyesight. He helped Clark find Jonathan, and later saved Jonathan from being killed by Roger Nixon by shooting the reporter with a handgun. Jonathan finally gave up his mistrust of Lex, and the two forged a positive relationship. When Lucas and Lionel Luthor kicked Lex out of the mansion, Lex stayed with the Kents and did chores around the farm. Jonathan later stood in for Lionel at the wedding rehearsal dinner.

Lex spent a good deal of the year trying to protect LexCorp from his father's attempts to acquire it. He later discovered that Lionel bugged the mansion, and attempted to bug LuthorCorp. Lex finally secured his company again with the help of his long-lost half-brother, Lucas. When Rachel Dunleavy (Lucas' mother) arrived in town claiming to be Clark's biological mother, Lex thought that Clark was his brother, but it turned out to be false. Lex and Lionel also fought over control of the Kawatche Caves.

Lex did a good deed for Smallville when he met Mayor William Tate, discovered him to be corrupt, and supported his opponent in the next election. He helped Lana learn to fight after she was attacked at the Talon, and he helped Jonathan find Clark when he ran away from home.

Lex was briefly married to Desiree Atkins while under the influence of her super pheromones. His relationship with Helen Bryce was much more complex. They met at the hospital after Jonathan broke his leg. They broke up when Lex suspected Helen of spying on him, but they worked it out and got back together. Helen gave up a fellowship and moved into the mansion. Lex made a great leap forward and showed real trust when he shared with Helen his room of obsessions.

When an ex boyfriend showed up in Smallville and beat her within an inch of her life, he very nearly killed him, but it was his love for her that pulled him back from the edge. That's when he decided to propose to her. They broke up again, when she learned that he stole something from her office, but Lex managed to dig deep and beg forgiveness. They were finally married, but while flying to their honeymoon, something went terribly wrong. Lex woke up to find the plane empty and crashing.

[edit] Season Three

"There's so much of my own life I can't explain. I've survived countless brushes with death, and it all started with this car crash. If I'm guilty of anything, it's that I've inherited my father's eccentric curiosity for the unexplained." – Lex Luthor, Covenant, Season Three

Lex managed to survive the crash and ended up on a deserted island. He met a man, Louis Leery Jr., who suggested that either Lionel or Helen set him up to die in the plane crash. Louis, however, revealed himself to be quite insane, forcing Lex to remain on the island with him and thwarting all his attempts to be rescued. Three months later, Lex found a skeleton that turned out to be the remains of Louis' father. Louis admitted to killing his father, but said the old man deserved it because he was always taunting him and chipping away at his sanity until he couldn't take it anymore. He then attacked Lex and chased him, but Lex turned the tables and hacked Louis to death with a machete. When he was rescued, Lex was shocked to learn that there hadn't been anyone else on the island. He had a breakdown while on the island and imagined the whole incident; it was all a manifestation of Lex's own hatred of his father and his struggle with his humanity. When he returned to Metropolis, Lex confronted Lionel at LuthorCorp and pulled a gun on his father, accusing him of setting him up to die. Lionel told Lex that it was Helen who had tried to murder him, but Lex refused to believe him. Later, Lex was shocked when he learned that Helen had lied to everyone and told them that the plane had been caught in a storm, the pilot had disappeared, and there was only one parachute, which Lex heroically offered to her in order to save her at the expense of his own life. Lex confronted Helen, who tearfully told him that she had awoken on the plane to find the pilot gone and the plane about to crash, realized he had been drugged but was unable to wake him. Afraid for her life, Helen took the only parachute and left Lex to die. She offered to have the marriage annulled, but Lex told her he wanted a second chance with her. However, when they went on yet another plane ride, Lex confronted Helen again, armed this time with the truth. He'd done his research and discovered that she had been working for his father to spy on him after all, but that she'd decided to kill him instead, against Lionel's wishes. Helen had the original pilot killed, snuck her own on board, drugged Lex, and was dropped off at a nearby island and later returned to Smallville. The pilot flew Lex hundreds of miles off course into a storm hoping he'd be killed, and then took the only parachute and jumped off the plane, only to find that Helen had rigged the parachute to fail so that he'd fall to his death. After Lex finished telling Helen what he knew, she pulled a gun on him. Lex fought with Helen over the gun and in the struggle the gun went off and the pilot was killed. Lex fought to get control of the plane, and while he did so, Helen escaped via parachute and was never seen again.

Lex decided to try and get along better with his father and accept his destiny as a Luthor. He told his father, "If I were anyone else's son, I would have died on that island. If I keep my pride in check, I know there's a lot more I could learn from you." He and his father agreed to run LuthorCorp together and work on their relationship. Throughout the third season, Lex continued to want nothing more than to have a real family with his father, and later admitted to Chloe Sullivan that all he wanted was for his father to love him.

During the course of the battle of wills between Lex and Lionel, Chloe uncovered evidence that Lionel had murdered his parents for the insurance money needed to start LuthorCorp. Seeing this as a way to get out from under his father's thumb once and for all, Lex went to the police, but Lionel had learned of Lex's plan and had him drugged to make people believe that Lex was insane. Morgan Edge was in on Lionel's plan. While under the effects of the drugs, Lex witnessed Clark's abilities, and while still in Belle Reve, he had kept Clark's secret.

To prevent Lex from telling anyone else about his past or trying to stop him, Lionel requested that Lex be given electroshock therapy, which completely erased the seven weeks of his life. Later, Lex went to Dr. Lawrence Garner, seeking his help in regaining his memories. He underwent an experiment process which involved being lowered into a tank of liquefied meteor rock. Although he didn't regain memory of the past seven weeks of his life, Lex did regain his true memories of his younger brother's death at the hands of his mother years previous.

Later, Lex was informed by Chloe of his grandparents' murder at the hands of his father and Morgan Edge, and got the information to the FBI. As the year ended, Lex's room about Clark was found out by Clark, and Clark, angered and hurt over the fact that Lex had been investigating him all of his life, ended their friendship. Though he was arrested by the FBI, Lionel proved to be especially brutal and tried to poison Lex in retaliation.

[edit] Season Four

" It's like that Dumas novel we used to read as a boy. King Louis imprisoned his brother in an iron mask. Everyone thought it was so no one would know his identity but we know better. It was because he couldn't bear to see such a weak reflection of his own greatness. It's good to be the king.." – Alexander, Onyx, Season Four

Apparently, Lex's incredible metahuman immune system saved him from dying, but still, he required blood filtration every 72 hours to flush out the toxins. With his father in jail, Lex decided to continue one of his father's projects: search for the Kryptonian Stones of Power. It was only his discovery of the Crystal of Fire that completely healed him, so that he would not have to depend on blood filtration to save his life.

Lex asked Clark for a second chance, and they reestablished their friendship. Later, he bought a manuscript that contained a hidden map that led to one of the Stones of Power, and also discovered that a family friend, Genevieve Teague, had been searching for the stones and a witch, Countess Margaret Isobel Thoreaux, who happened to be an ancestor of Lana Lang, was also searching for them.

When conducting an experiment on meteor rock, the mineral turned black, which split Lex into two beings, one good and one evil. The evil Lex imprisoned the good Lex in the wine cellar of the Luthor Mansion and began his rampage by trying to kill Clark and Chloe, tempting a reformed Lionel to return to his old ruthless ways, threatening Lana to move in with him, and force Clark to use his powers to bring the world to its knees. Fortunately, Clark was able to use black kryptonite to recombine Lex and Alexander. It is still unclear as to what would have really happened if either the good or the evil Lex had been killed. As stated by the evil Lex, he was concerned as to what would really happen if something were to happen to himself or Lex.

After learning that Lana and Lionel each had a stone, Lex tried to get ahold of them, but they were both eventually taken by Clark. Angered, even when he found his office a mess with Chloe there, he figured that Clark was in the mix of all it. Incredibly obsessed and notwithstanding the impending meteor shower, Lex dragged Chloe along with him to the Kawatche Caves to find Clark, but was knocked unconscious by Chloe.

[edit] Season Five

"I used to think you had this strong inner core. You were so virtuous. And yet you lie... all the time! To me, to Lana, to all the people who cared about you. What kind of sick person would do that?" – Lex Luthor, to Clark Kent, Vessel, Season Five

After the meteor shower, Lex became the son that Lionel had always wanted. He became obsessive and controlling and never let anything slip by him. By the start of the season, Lex had broken all ties to his friends, including Clark.

He started working on projects that would proved to be dangerous to others, such as Leviathan and Project 1138. Lex even decided to run for State Senator. Besides hiding the information about keeping the Black Ship from everyone, he told Lana that black ship may be the key to the meteor showers and the strange happenings around Smallville.

On Christmas Eve, Lex was given an envelope containing damaging information that would destroy Jonathan Kent's life and had to decide whether to use it as it would also bring harm to Clark and Martha. Before he could decide what to do, Lex got shot and fell into a coma. He dreamed that his mother visited him and showed him the life he could lead if he walks away from his father and LuthorCorp. In this alternate life, Lex was happily married to Lana with a son, Alex, and a daughter, Lily, on the way. After Lex dropped out the race, Jonathan became Senator and years later, to that reality, he gave Lex an award. Lex also learned that Clark and Chloe had gotten together and were working at the Daily Planet as reporters. However, he was separated from his father, the power, and the money that came with it. When Lana gave birth to Lily, she died after losing large amounts of blood. Disappointed of how life was in this reality, Lex continued his ambition to become Senator and defeating Jonathan. About a month later, Lex and Lana were held captive by two crazed deputies who demanded to know where the black ship was. (It had disappeared following Clark defeating Brainiac). Lex was shot and almost bled to death. Lana remained by his side and the ordeal brought them closer.

Lex lost the senatorial race to Jonathan and drunkenly asked Lana what she knew about Clark. He chased Lana in his car, and Lana was killed in a car crash. Lex also witnessed Clark super-speed to the scene of the accident. However, due to Clark reversing time, Lana didn't die in a car crash and Lex didn't see Clark. Lex later attended Jonathan's funeral.

Some time later, Lex discovered Simone, a petty shoplifter with a stone that could hypnotize other people to do her bidding, and used her to break up Clark and Lana, and discover Clark's secret. Though Simone did manage to break the couple up, she betrayed Lex by using Clark to her own advantages. Lex used his resources to find Milton Fine in Honduras, and was led to believe that Fine was a government agent for the U.S. State Department who was investigating the recent meteor shower. Once Lex returned home, Simone sent Clark to kill him. When Chloe tried to stop Clark, Simone used her stone to hypnotize Lex and commanded him to kill Chloe. However, Chloe wrestled the gun from Simone and the gun went off; Simone was hit in the chest and the gem was destroyed.

When Lex was Void|injected]] with the Limbo drug while trying to save Lana, he died and awoke in the afterlife where he encountered his mother. Lillian told Lex how disgusted she was of him for not taking her advice, and told him that, by going down his current path of darkness, he would become a murderer.

Lex and Lana began seeing each other, and Lex was attacked by Graham Garrett. When Graham attacked him and Lana at the Smallville Medical Center, Lex shot Graham dead (Unknowingly being saved by Clark) .

Lex let Lana in on his plans with the virus he had been developing for Fine, but knew he could not trust Fine with what he had planned so he developed a vaccine for Fine's deadly virus. To stop him from carrying out any further, Lana told Lex about the meteor rocks which could weaken beings like the Disciples of Zod. However, Fine injected Lex with the vaccine, and shortly after, Lex developed accelerated healing.

Later, Lex was abducted by Brainiac and given Kryptonian powers. He was later returned and confronted by Lionel, whom he threw against a car with his newfound super-strength. Lex shared his powers with Lana and told her to meet him on the roof of LuthorCorp in Metropolis. Unknown to Lex, he was chosen to be the vessel for General Zod, and Clark was told by Jor-El that he had to kill Lex in order to prevent Zod's return.

Lex confronted Clark at the Kent Farm and told him that this was a new step in his destiny, now that he had Lana at his side. He then attacked with his Kryptonian abilities, and Clark reacted to it, letting Lex know that he had the powers as he did. After a brief but intense fight, Clark defeated Lex and prepared to stab Lex with a Kryptonian dagger. However, he could not bring himself to kill Lex, and instead hurled the dagger at Brainiac, who used the dagger to gain access to the Fortress of Solitude and open the portal for Zod.

When Zod possessed his body, Lex became dormant and his spirit seemed to be "dead." After trapping Clark in the Phantom Zone, Zod posed as Lex for the time being, overseeing the destruction happening around Metropolis. Lana met him on the roof of LuthorCorp, and he kissed her.

[edit] Season Six

"Lana, with the life I've led, I go to bed praying every night that I don't get what I deserve." – Lex Luthor, Hydro, Season Six

Lex managed to get free from General Zod when Clark returned from the Phantom Zone and used the Crystal of El to separate Zod's spirit from Lex's body, restoring Lex back to normal with no recollection of the destruction he caused while possessed by Zod, other than what Lana told him.

Lex had Lana move into the Luthor Mansion due to the Metropolis University dorms being closed. Shortly after, he was [Sneeze|kidnapped]] by Orlando Block. Block threatened Lex until he told him about a serum that would supposedly endow a person with superhuman strength, and brought in Lana to be the test subject. Luckily, Lex got loose and killed Block. However, the laboratory caught fire, but Clark secretly put it out and Lex and Lana were saved.

Lex hosted a charity costume ball to raise money for the families and victims of Dark Thursday, and consummated his relationship with Lana. Later, he enlisted Lionel's help in testing Lana's loyalty about their decision with the Kryptonian black box. Lex later encountered an old classmate, Oliver Queen, at their Excelsior Academy class reunion, and he had to come to terms with the events that happened years ago. Shortly after, Oliver's old friends were killed in violent and mysterious accidents that pointed to Duncan Allenmeyer.

Lex was confronted by Jimmy Olsen with evidence of his meeting with Dr. Groll to discuss the Kryptonian black box and had Jimmy fired from the Daily Planet. Lana grew tired of Lex's obsession with the box and gave Lex an ultimatum: the box or her. When the box was destroyed by the Zoner Baern, Lex chose Lana, but she suspected that he only chose her by default.

Lex was shot with an arrow by the Green Arrow. As Lex lay dying, Clark gave him a healing drug to save his life. In one of his lowest moves, Lex seemingly had the maker of the drug murdered and had a teenager from the Halfway House blamed for it. As all of this was going on, Lana learned that she was pregnant. Feeling that her relationship with Lex had begun to go downhill because of Lex's dishonesty and mistrust, Lana seemed devastated by the pregnancy.

Lex got stuck in a different "frequency" of reality by Bronson, a patient from Level 33.1. He was unable to be seen or heard by anyone, unless by radio. While Lex was in a different frequency, Lana told him she was pregnant, and after he stopped Bronson, Lex asked her to marry him. However, he didn't want to pressure Lana into an answer and waited several weeks for her to respond. Lana confessed to Chloe that something about Lex made her hesitate, and she still had feelings for Clark. When Lana's comments were published in the gossip column of the Daily Planet by Linda Lake, Lex had to face the reason for Lana's hesitation. However, Lana chose to resolve her feelings for Clark and accept Lex's proposal.

Lex caught Bart Allen and displayed a new level of inhumanity by torturing the young man in the Ridge Facility of LuthorCorp before he was rescued by the Justice League.

Clark and Lois, both infected with an aphrodisiac made with red meteor rock, burst in and disrupted Lex and Lana's engagement party. When Clark grabbed Lana and took her to the Kent Farm, Lex came after him with a gun. Clark knocked the gun out of his hand and tried to strangle Lex, until Lex grabbed a chisel and tried to stab him at the same time Martha disabled Clark with a meteor rock. When Lana feared she was being stalked, Lex did all he could to ensure her safety, but was angered by Lana's decision to hide out at the Kent Farm. He hand-delivered Clark a wedding invitation so that Clark could see what he lost.

Lex worked with Dr. Robert Bethany to manipulate Tobias Rice into identifying meteor-infected people. He supervised the kidnapping and experimentation of Chloe Sullivan.

On his wedding day, Lex confessed to Lionel that he was afraid Lana would not show up. That same day, Dr. Langston, Lana's obstetrician, attempted to blackmail Lex and threatened to tell Lana every detail of her pregnancy. In a fit of rage, Lex murdered Langston, but Lionel found out and berated him for doing such a sloppy job of cleaning up his messes. Due to Lionel's coercion, Lana did indeed show up and she and Lex were married on February 24, 2007.

A week after the wedding, Lana miscarried and fell into a deep depression. Lex seemed concerned for Lana's health and state of mind, but he was seen burning her medical files. Lana continued to pull away and when she was hospitalized again, she learned that her pregnancy was faked due to synthetic hormone injections. She believed Lex to be responsible, but did not confront him and continued to pretend to be his devoted wife. Lex became increasingly preoccupied with his Level 33.1 project. He obtained the extraterrestrial body of the fighter Titan and had Moira Sullivan transferred, where he administered a drug that brought her out of her catatonic state. She was able to control her daughter Chloe to steal a flash drive from Lex, so Lex manipulated Moira by kidnapping Chloe too. Under her mother's mind control, Chloe shot Lex in the face, but Clark arrived in time to save Lex and rescue Chloe and her mother. Chloe attempted to write an article exposing Lex's project, but he calmly threatened to have her thrown in jail or killed, also possibly hinting to keep her in 33.1. Lex was trapped in an underground tunnel by Jodi Keenan. At Lionel's request, Clark attempted to save him but was also trapped by the green meteor rock lining the tunnels' walls. While attempting to escape, Lex and Clark analyzed the breakdown of their friendship and Clark revealed that Lana was going to leave him. However, they realized that they would only be safe if they helped each other. When Clark was trapped under rubble, Lex freed him. They managed to escape through a ladder leading up to the surface. The purpose of the tunnels was revealed to be an underground laboratory leading to Reeves Dam, for Project Ares, which had just completed its first prototype, Wes Keenan.

Using the alien DNA of Titan, Lex turned Wes Keenan into a super solider, with many different meteor powers and tested him in the tunnels. Lex met with Senator Ed Burke to inform him the progress of Project Ares, but Burke wanted it canceled, threatening to release incriminating evidence about LuthorCorp. Lex used Wes to kill the senator, but Wes unexpectedly ran into a familiar face, Lois Lane, and was able to circumvent his programming. Lex was unable to regain control of Wes before he battled Clark Kent. Wes was badly damaged and chose to die rather than be under Lex's control. Lex studied Wes' body but was unsatisfied with his results. He decided that Project Ares would only be successful with a living DNA donor and began to track the last loose Phantom Zone wraith, Bizarro.

When Lana decided to leave Lex, he assumed that Clark had finally come between them. Lana maintained that his betrayal over the fake pregnancy was the real reason and declared that he would have to kill her to keep her. Lex claimed to not know anything about the scam and slapped Lana across the face, thus putting an end to their short and turbulent marriage.

Bizarro was apprehended in the body of a young boy but Lex and his team lost control. Lex narrowly escaped death but while fleeing Reeves Dam, he was arrested for Lana's murder.

[edit] Season Seven

"This is Smallville! Meteor freaks, alien ships, cryptic symbols... These threats are real. Someone had to take control. Someone has to protect the world. ." – Lex Luthor to Clark Kent, Descent

As the dam was about to burst, Lex watched as the water washed the police car he was in. Fighting to stay alive, Lex saw an angelic girl in the river, and she later saved him by bringing him to shore. Lex managed to catch a glimpse of her before she flew off. Lex was found later and decided to turn himself in. Lex was approached by Bizarro in need of finding Clark and killing him. Lex confessed and was incarcerated. Lex willingly went to jail for Lana's murder for a short time, until someone else confessed. He was let free and Lex was released because Lionel Luthor paid a terminally-ill LuthorCorp employee to confess to the crime. Lex believed Lana was not really dead and questioned Chloe, but she had nothing to say to him. Lex hired private investigators to use voice-recognition software on cellular phone lines and Lana was located in Shanghai, China. Lex subsequently tracked Lana down and confronted her and she revealed that she she discovered his experimental clone he had produced and used it to frame him. She claimed she allowed herself to be found and tried to shoot him but was unable to pull the trigger. Lex was resigned and apologetic for victimizing her and informed her that she could come back to Smallville and divorce him with no resistance from him.

Lex began working with Dr. Curtis Knox on a way to cure metahumans. Lex started questioning Knox's experimentation of using their organs and discovered that he was killing his patients. Knox almost killed Lex but he was saved by Clark Kent. Lex then helped Clark located Knox's latest victim, Chloe, before Knox killed her.

When the movie version of "Warrior Angel" came to Smallville, Clark went to Lex for help when a crazed fan, Ben Meyers, tried to kill the movie's leading lady. Lex used his extensive "Warrior Angel" comic collection and knowledge to help Clark figure out the fan's motives. Lex later confronted Ben and asked him what he knew about Clark's secret, but Ben would not tell him anything.

Lex was revealed to be responsible for making Grant Gabriel an editor at the Daily Planet. He told Grant to break off the relationship he had with Lois. Although Grant said that he was Julian Luthor, it was later revealed that he was actually a clone of Julian when Adrian Cross from the time he used Lois to expose Project Gemini. He also revealed that he has purchased the Daily Planet. Lex cloned his deceased brother to have someone to love him and to be a companion. However, he had warned Gabriel to stay away from Lionel, under the guise that Lionel will reject and hate Gabriel. Instead, Gabriel, resentful of Lex's control of his life and how he was created confronted Lionel with what his son had done. Instead, to Gabriel's amazement, Lionel, while truly repulsed by what Lex did, none the less doesn't hold it against Gabriel and actually accepts him as his son. After learning that Grant went to Lionel and that Lionel knows about him and to his hurt Lionel prefers "Julian" over Lex despite being repulsed at Lex for creating him. Later, Lex tried to force the two to stay away from each other by warning Gabriel to do so and firing him from the editor position at the Daily Planet. However, when neither obeyed, Lex felt that he was forced to have Grant assassinated, not being able to stand that Lionel loved him more than him. He had an assassin pose as mugger to rob them. The assassin shot Gabriel in front of Lionel, and he died in Lionel's arms. The assassin text messaged Lex that the job was done. Lex, in numb shock, walked to his patio in the rain and screamed skyward in grief and loneliness over what he had done.

Lex received the DVD that had incriminating information on it from Black Canary. He pays her and offers more for her if she brings in Green Arrow. Once Black Canary appeared, knowing he tricked her, Lex shoots her and forces her to tell him about the Green Arrow, only to start an intense fight with the heroic, green archer. He later gets stabbed by a dagger from the Black Canary, as he watches both of them leave.

Lex and Lois had managed to track Kara down into Detroit, Michigan. To save both Lois and Kara, he shot Finley; unfortunately, Lex ended up with a bullet in the head. However, he was healed and saved by Chloe. Lex managed to bring Kara back to Smallville to regain her memory.

Lex showed Kara pictures of Kryptonian symbols that resembled the one on her bracelet. Lex had the computers in the Daily Planet, especially Chloe's, connected to his so he could see what they are doing. Lex used blackmail to get Pete to steal Kara's Kryptonian bracelet from Lionel's vault to protect Chloe's secret as a metahuman. When Pete returned, Lex started torturing Pete about the bracelet. After getting knocked out by Clark, he was talking to an assistant about the meteor shower in 1989 when Kara came into the room. The assistant left and Kara asked if she could stay with him since she couldn't trust Clark and Lana anymore.

Lex planned to get Kara's memory returned so he could have answers to the questions that plagued him. He later met his childhood friend, Patricia Swann, who informed him about Veritas. Lex later demanded to be told about Veritas, but Lionel did not give in. Lex had a hand in the assassination of Patricia as he had her necklace. He later remembers a memory in which his father is meeting with the secret Veritas Society.

After Lionel returned to his office, Lex questioned his father about Veritas and the reason they were in Smallville on the day of the Meteor Shower. He then stolen his Veritas key and later pushed his father out of his office window. When the authorities came, Lex made up a story about hearing him fall to his death outside of his office. Somewhat overwrought with guilt, Lex saw his childhood personality questioning him about what he had done. He then later returned to the mansion, and remembering every trip he went with his father, as he told a story to his assistant. Lex found a Veritas key in Chloe's desk at the Daily Planet, and had her fired. As he found Clark in the mansion, the two had a heated discussion and argument about their friendship and their own fathers. While he was being tortured with guilt by his childhood personality, Lex had did away with it, for he claimed it made him weak. Lex made Lionel's funeral cut down to only one participant, him.

As he was ready to fly over to Zurich, Lex was halted by one of his security men who told him that there was a problem between him and the government, but Lex managed to make it to Zurich where he opened the Veritas safety deposit box and found a strange cryptograph. When Chloe was in danger by the government, Lex came to the rescue and ended the investigation for Jimmy. Lex reminded Jimmy that because he thought of Jimmy and the Daily Planet employees were like family to him, family should help each other out when needed.

In an alternate universe, Lex was President of the United States. He and Milton Fine (Brainiac) were planning on destroying half the world in order to reshape it with his new order using a missile strike. In the real reality, Lex offered Clark his help with saving Lana, but Clark didn’t agree to it.

As Lex had one of North America’s greatest cryptographers examining the Veritas map, he felt impatient with him and was forced to have the man examine it in his laboratory. After he left, Lex was attacked and his attacker carves Kryptonian symbols into his chest. Lex later awakened to find himself in the hospital with the symbol on his chest. He then went to the cryptographer and killed his attacker. Lex learned from the cryptographer about the maker of the map and its possible location in Montreal. Lex had found the clock, placed the map inside it as it played a familiar melody to Lex, and released a black Kryptonian pentagon piece. He was then confronted by Edward Teague and the two fought over the secret of the Traveler and the Destroyer. After returning home, Lex put the clues together he had gathered about Veritas and discovered a device placed in the chimney of the Luthor Mansion. Bringing the pentagon piece and device together, showed an image of the Earth and exact coordinates to a certain point placed deep into the Arctic Circle.

As he was searching for a specific location in the Arctic, he had Jimmy keep Lois occupied with a fake story as he threatened to put Chloe in jail. Brainiac, posing as Kara, told Lex that he was meant to destroy the Traveler to protect the Earth. Lex then left for the Arctic and had the Department of Domestic Security go after Chloe when Jimmy failed to do his bidding. Lex then arrived in the Fortress, with Clark arriving shortly after. The two had a brief confrontation, than Lex placed the Control Device in the console of the Fortress of Solitude, and the Fortress started crumbling down on them with him and Clark inside.

[edit] In the Comics

Lex Luthor has been Superman's archenemy for most of the superhero's existence, having been envisioned as his dual opposite; morally depraved and relying on intellect over strength. Luthor is a wealthy scientist and formerly a CEO of one of the most powerful high-tech conglomerates in the world, LexCorp. After many defeats at the hands of Superman, Luthor turned his sights on more power, starting a campaign to become president of the United States of America; Luthor managed to secure his presidency and became more dangerous than ever.

Because of major changes in the history of the DC Universe Lex's backstory was changed like many others in the DC universe. Many new changes mirror the Smallville television series. Lex was the son of Metropolis mogul Lionel Luthor and was sent to live in Smallville with his aunt Lena. Lionel had hoped that Lex would learn some humility in a place like Smallville. While there Lex reluctantly made friends with Clark, Lana and Pete. He left Smallville "under a cloud of rumor and suspicion". Not much else is known on Lex's new backstory as it has only been elaborated. Lex also seems to have a hatred for Clark as well as Superman shown when he assaulted a powerless Clark. This Lex is described as both a "shrewd businessman" and scientist, as well as a criminal mastermind.

Distinguishing Luthor from the majority of Superman's rogues gallery is his normality; Luthor is an innovator and possesses no special abilities besides that of his own cunning; however, he did have a talent for manipulating other super villains so that they would work with his plans, Luthor owned a crystal, which could help him bend people's will, to more easily control them. He is bent on destroying Superman, whom he perceives as an alien threat.

Though the show has not shown his full potential, Lex's scientific knowledge is at genius-level. Rather than harnessing his genius for good, Luthor seizes power for his own benefit and is a threat at large. He claims that as soon as he kills Superman, he will move onto "solving all of the world's problems", but during the recent One Year Later storyline, where Clark lost his powers for a year, all that Lex accomplished was the creation of temporary superhumans and digging up a Kryptonian warship that he attempted to use to destroy Metropolis.

[edit] Trivia

• Lex has appeared in every episode so far.
• Lex is 6 feet tall.
• Had the meteor shower not happened, Lex would have curly red hair.
• Lex was nine years old when the meteor shower occurred, which puts his birth year at 1979 or 1980.
• Lex is left-handed.
• He speaks fluent German (Legacy) and Japanese (Fragile).
• Lex was named after Alexander the Great.
• Lex received a copy of The Will to Power for his 10th birthday, and a copy of The Art of War for his 14th birthday.
• He is, or at least was, an avid Warrior Angel fan. He claims to have not read it since he and Clark were friends, but still keeps his collection in catalogued protective sleeves and is well-versed in the comic's plotlines and details.
• He has been knocked unconscious more times than any other character on Smallville a total of 49 times as of season seven.
• Lex has had three weddings in the first six years after moving to Smallville. He married Desirée Atkins in Heat, Helen Bryce in Exodus and Lana Lang in Promise. He has also had one funeral. (Exile)
• Lex has an increased white blood cell count, which he speculates might be why he's never been sick since the day he was caught in the meteor shower.
• Younger versions of Lex have been played by four separate actors: Matthew Munn in Pilot and Lineage, Wayne Dalglish in Memoria, Lucas Grabeel in Reunion, and Connor Stanhope in Fracture, Veritas, and Descent.
• In the comics, Lex's middle name is Joseph, but this has not been confirmed on the show.
• The code for the safe behind Lex's bookshelf is "15899".
• Noteable comic book aliases - Mockingbird*

[edit] Other Faces of Lex Luthor

Sherman Howard as Lex Luthor in Superboy

Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor in Superman movies

John Shea as Lex Luthor in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor in Superman: The Animated Series

Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor in Superman Returns

[edit] See Also

• Luthors
• Lex Luthor's near-death experiences - a chronological list of the many times Lex has almost died.
• Lex Luthor's homicides - an article about the instances Lex Luthor took or attempted to take a life, both lawfully and unlawfully.
• Lex and Lana
• Lex and Lionel
• Lex and Oliver
• Clark and Lex
• Lex's email