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"What kind of a monster are you?" – Lana Lang, to Lex Luthor, Phantom

The relationship between Lex Luthor and Lana Lang was one of the most intense and complicated relationships in the series.

This relationship was commonly referred to as "Lexana" by fans.

Early History[]

Lana and Lex first met when Lana was ten and Lex was sixteen. She had walked in on him skinny dipping with Patricia Swann after Lionel Luthor had invited her and her aunt to stay with him during a riding competition.

Season One[]

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Lana pleads with Lex for the theater.

When Lex moved to Lana's hometown of Smallville, they met again during a farmer's market. Lana made a big impression on Lex and he did not take long to discover why his new friend Clark was interested in her. Lex found Lana in the stables and they talked about her achievements and the first time they met. Due to the friendship that they had with Clark Kent, Lana and Lex became friends over time.

Lex let Lana use the Luthor Mansion for her birthday party with the hope that Clark used this opportunity to get closer to her, but this did not happen and Lex consoled Lana about Clark's absence.

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Lex at Lana's birthday party at the Mansion.

Their friendship was reinforced when, after Lana's effort to preserve an old theater that had been acquired by Lex, they became business partners and opened a brand new coffee shop. Although Lex had a bad reputation, Lana was keen to trust Lex after witnessing his struggle to keep the Smallville LuthorCorp facility open.

During this time, Lex tried to help Clark conquer Lana, but Lana could not help noticing that Lex was also interested in her, as well as when she was infected with the Nicodemus flower, she tried to take advantage of this situation trying to seduce Lex to get what she wanted. Once she was cured, Lana apologized to Lex and the two continued their friendship as if nothing had happened.

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Lana tries to seduce Lex.

Lex continued to help Lana manage the Talon and offered tips for eliminating competition when they crossed through a rough patch, as well as also helped her to clarify her feelings for Clark.

Season Two[]

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Lex helps Lana learn self-defense.

When Lex started a relationship with Desiree Atkins and evicted Lana, she was furious with him, asking herself how she could be so stupid to believe that he had changed. Their business relationship soon recovered when Lana discovered that Desiree had been manipulating Lex with pheromones and Lex retracted the eviction notice.

Lex and Lana worked closely to successfully run the Talon and Lex seemed pleased with her endeavor. Lana relied on Lex to teach her how to fight when she became concerned for her safety and wanted to be able to defend herself.

Season Three[]

When Perry White was harassing Lana for an interview, she went to Lex, who immediately promised her protection, showing his leniency and protectiveness towards her. Later, after Lana was enticed to steal from the Talon, she apologized to Lex and he gave her her job back without hesitation, despite what she had done.

After Lana gets injured, Lex takes care of her entire medical bill unasked.

Lana went to Lex for advice about her relationship with Clark and her trust in him grew.

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Lex and Lana at the Luthor Mansion.

At the end of the Talon's second year in business, Lana decided to leave to study art in Paris and Lex announced his intentions to shut the coffee shop down and sell the building. Lana was extremely upset and when she confronted him, Lex admitted that the Talon was not very lucrative, making it clear he only kept it open because he cared for Lana and knew how much she loved it.

Lex even paid for her trip to Paris and on the day she left he was the only one to say goodbye to her at the airport.

Season Four[]

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Lex kisses Lana for the first time.

When Lana returned from Paris, she was in a committed relationship with Jason Teague. Lex was not fond of Jason and was under the impression that he had to protect Lana from him, causing Jason to get fired from his job as Smallville high school's assistant football coach.

Lex had apparently already developed feelings for Lana, which was shown when the evil side of Lex hit on Lana and tried to kiss her after Lex was split in two by Black kryptonite. However, Lana rejected his advances and slapped him. Nevertheless, Lex proved to be a very dependable figure in Lana's life as he helped her cover up the murder of Genevieve Teague after Lana was possessed by Countess Thoreaux.

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Lex helping Lana washing off the blood on her hands.

Lana trusted Lex until his selfish ways were exposed when he tried to take one of the Stones of Power from her. Nevertheless, he still cared for her safety and insisted that she leave Smallville in his helicopter before the second meteor shower.

Season Five[]

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Lex tries to comfort Lana.

Lex was the first human Lana came across after the meteor shower brought down the Black Ship with the Disciples of Zod. She relied on Lex's help as she was in a state of shock and trusted him with the information about the spaceship. Lex abused this trust and hid the ship after Lana started to date Clark again.

Lex eventually confided in Lana about his research into the Black Ship and they became partners to discover the truth about it. This brought the two of them closer together.

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Lex and Lana trapped in a panic room.

That Christmas, a wounded Lex hallucinated a world where he was married to Lana and had two kids, Alex and Lily. This was Lex's dream life and he was deeply traumatized when Lana died from complications after giving birth to Lily. When Lex returned to consciousness, he continued to be drawn closer to Lana. They were later trapped in a panic room when two intruders were seeking the whereabouts of the Black Ship. When Lex was shot in the chest, Lana stayed by his side to tend to his wound. Lex then told Lana about his dream and that she was the best part of it.

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Lex discovers that Lana knows Clark's secret.

Desperate to have Lana for himself, Lex arranged for a powerful hypnotist to break Lana and Clark up. Lana immediately relied on Lex to help her through this difficult time in her life and, when she became addicted to the Limbo drug, she began to steal from him to fund her habit. Upon this discovery, Lex - clearly concerned for Lana's safety - stepped in and tried to stop her from taking it. Lana eventually apologized to Lex and told him that his mother should be proud of the man he has become.

As they continued to get closer, Chloe became concerned for Lana, as she didn't trust Lex. In return, Lex started to alienate Lana from her friends and then moved in for a kiss. Initially confused by her new feelings for Lex, Lana quickly left Lex.

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Lex and Lana's first real kiss.

After this they spent some time apart, which helped Lana to understand the feelings that she was starting to have for Lex and when they saw each other again they both admitted that they missed each other and began a romantic relationship.

Nevertheless, Lex still kept secrets from Lana involving Milton Fine and other business ventures. It was unclear if he did this as he did not completely trust Lana or if he was concerned for her safety, as his involvement with Milton Fine proved to be dangerous when Fine started to prepare Lex to be General Zod's vessel.

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Zod and Lana together.

During this process, he got Kryptonian powers and immediately confided in Lana about this, shooting himself with a gun to prove it. Lana backed away in horror momentarily, but then came to him as he claimed he couldn't keep anything secret from her. Finally thinking she had found an honest and committed relationship, Lana agreed to meet him on the roof of LuthorCorp and, despite the Dark Thursday riots, she made it there to prove her committment. However, unbeknownst to her Lex was then possessed by Zod.

Season Six[]

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Lana moves in with Lex.

After discovering Zod had possessed Lex, Lana became his hostage. Sacrificing her love for Lex for the greater good, she planned to kill Zod with the Kryptonian dagger, but was overpowered by him. Nevertheless, he was ultimately defeated by Clark, leaving Lex unharmed. When Lex went to see Lana in the hospital after having been exorcised of Zod, she is understandably skittish towards him but forgave him and moved into the Luthor Mansion.

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Lex and Lana consummate their relationship.

At first Lana was keen to maintain some barriers in their relationship, sleeping in separate rooms. She was horrified when she discovered that there were video cameras in her bedroom and insisted that Lex remove them. Nevertheless, shortly afterwards Lex and Lana consummated their relationship and Lana soon discovered that she was pregnant.

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Lex surprises Lana.

This concerned Lana, as she was still unsure of her feelings for Lex. However, when Bronson made Lex vanish in front of her, she became concerned for his safety and realized how much he meant to her. As Lana discovered that Lex was trapped in the library of the mansion on a different reality frequency, Lana poured her heart out in case Lex could hear her. She told him that she missed him so much and she didn't want to raise their child alone. Eventually, thanks to Jimmy, Lana and Lex were reunited. Lex told Lana that he was thrilled that she was having his baby.

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Lex and Lana at the Talon.

Soon after, Lex proposed, yet Lana still needed time to think due to the speed that their relationship was going. After days of waiting Lex approached Lana again at the mansion and admitted that he was afraid of her answer. Lana confessed that she would always love both Clark and him, but she was done regretting so she accepted his proposal. Lex's relationship with Lana served as a direct contrast to his increasingly darker personality. At his own admittance, she unnerved him to the point of spontaneity and a tendency to do anything to keep her happy and by his side. He often wondered aloud what he would do without her.

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Lex and Lana get married.

It soon became clear that Lana's pregnancy "wasn't typical", but was progressing "as scheduled". On her wedding day, Lana had second thoughts about marrying Lex when she discovered Clark's powers, but Lionel told Lana if she did not marry Lex then he would kill Clark.

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Lex informs Lana that they lost their baby.

She went through with the marriage but regretted it when she was told that she had lost the baby as this was the only happiness she had in her relationship.

After being attacked by a meteor-freak, Lana was taken to the hospital again. There, the doctor revealed to her that she was never pregnant and accused her of faking her pregnancy to marry a billionaire. However, her horrified face quickly disproved him and Lana realized that Lex had been injecting her with a massive amount of hormones to make her believe she was pregnant.

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Lana leaves Lex.

Despite seeming willing to do anything to please her, at the same time he victimized and violated her by orchestrating a fake pregnancy and creating a clone of her without her knowledge.

Lana then began to manipulate Lex into continuing to trust her but finally declared her love for Clark and told Lex that she had known about the fake baby and was leaving him. Shortly afterwards, Lana's car exploded and Lex was arrested for murder.

Season Seven[]

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Lana and Lex in Shanghai.

It was revealed that Lana faked her death to frame Lex, but when Lex discovered this he gave her permission to live free of him if she pleased and invited her to return to Smallville, clearly feeling guilty for what he put her through.

Lex quietly accepted the dissolution of their marriage and Lana had no contact with him for a long time, although she kept a close eye on him in the hope of exposing him to the world.

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Lex kisses Lana.

Lana temporarily gained Clark's powers and attacked Lex. To stop her, Lex taunted her, claiming that she still loved him and he kissed her. Lana pulled away and knocked him unconscious but Clark stopped her from completing her revenge. Despite this, Lex clearly still loved Lana, as he tried to cure her when she was in her Brainiac-induced coma.

Season Eight[]

Still on a vengeful mission, Lana decided to cut Lex off from his loyal follower, Tess Mercer. Having discovered that Lex had installed microchips in Tess' eyes to allow him to see everything she sees, Lana revealed the truth to Tess, causing Tess to turn her back on Lex.

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Lana seeing the nasty truck explosion that killed Lex.

Lana's revenge continued, as she stole Lex's only hope of recovering from extensive injuries sustained when the Fortress of Solitude collapsed on him. Nevertheless, Lex was then able to use this to his advantage by causing Lana's Prometheus suit to absorb a huge amount of kryptonite, causing her to be forever separated from Clark.

Season Ten[]

When Tess erased Lex's memories, these included his memories of being together with and being married to Lana.

Sexual Escapades[]

  • In Nicodemus, Lana tried to seduce Lex whispering in his ear and moving sensually.
  • In Wither, Lana slept with Lex after a costume party. They continue a sexual relationship throughout Season Six and mid-season she comes to believe that she is pregnant.
  • In Fracture, while Clark is using Project Intercept to enter Lex's mind, Lex forced Clark to watch Lex's memories of making love to Lana.

In the Comics[]

The characters of Lex Luthor and Lana Lang appear in most versions of Superman's origin but rarely have a romantic relationship. In fact, in the comics Lana has been romantically linked to the another alien super-hero Vartox and eventually married Pete Ross and the two settled into a quiet life in Smallville. Lana became CEO of Lexcorp following the ouster of founder Lex Luthor. Lex has been portrayed as having romantic feelings for Lois Lane.

The Smallville series is one of the few interpretations that has paired the two characters. They also had a brief relationship in Superman: The Animated Series. Considering that Smallville took place 5 years after Superman: The Animated Series, the former's portrayal could have partly inspired the relationship in the latter.

See also[]

Lex Luthor in Smallville
Family Luthors: Lionel, Lillian, Julian, Lachlan, ElizaTess MercerLucas Luthor
Clones LX-13Conner KentGrant GabrielAdrian CrossClones
'Ships Clark (destiny) • LionelJonathanJasonOliverBrainiacTessLanaChloeHelenLoisKara
Work LuthorCorpTalonDaily PlanetLexCorp
Other Luthor MansionLex's resumeCompassDestinyBlack gloveWatchemailHomicidesNear-death experiencesEpisodes
Lana Lang in Smallville
Family Family: Langs (Laura and Lewis) • Nell Potter • Relatives: Ezra SmallHenry SmallLouise McCallum
'Ships Chloe SullivanLois LaneTess MercerWhitney FordmanAdam KnightJason TeagueClark KentLex LuthorBizarro
Work Talon (apartment) • Isis Foundation
Isobel IsobelMark of TransferenceSpell book
Other Lana's necklaceWhitney's letterModel 503Project PrometheusNear-death experiencesEpisodes
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