- "To think you said you weren't obsessed with the Kryptonians."
- "I told Lena that she had it right. Aliens shouldn't be Earth's saviors. A Luthor should. And now I will be."
- —Lillian Luthor and Lex Luthor[src]
Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor[1] (after 1983[2]–2019; resurrected 2019) is a billionaire industrialist, inventor and scientist, as well as one of the most intelligent people in the world. He is the son of the late Lionel Luthor and the late Lillian Luthor, the older paternal half-brother of Lena Luthor and the best friend-turned-archenemy of Superman, whom he viewed as an obstacle to his megalomaniacal plans and as a threat to the very existence of humanity.
Lex is a charismatic and well-known, yet controversial public figure, as well as the CEO of Luthor Corp. In the original multiverse, he was succeeded by his half-sister following his incarceration of 32 consecutive life sentences at Stryker's Island Penitentiary.
Later, Lex managed to escape from prison to continue his war against Kryptonians, eventually being killed by Lena. Mar Novu later resurrected him in order to have Lex's help in the Anti-Monitor Crisis, during which he used the Book of Destiny to rewrite reality and replace Earth-96's Superman as the Paragon of Truth.
As a result, Lex became one of the few individuals whose memories of the original multiverse were left intact within a new universe, where he has no criminal history. After Leviathan was defeated by the Superfriends, Lex began his final battle against the heroes, resulting in Lex imprisoning Supergirl within the Phantom Zone.
After the battle, Lex was arrested and once again stood trial, his crimes exposed to the whole world to know. However, Lex did not go to prison, having won sympathy from the jury by using Eve and Lena's involvement in his schemes to discredit their testimony and spinning the truth in his favor.
After the trial, Lex traveled to the 31st century to lay low, where he fell in love with Nyxlygsptlnz, whom he saw as his equal. Several months later, he returned to the 21st century after his Nyxly died, and is now working with the present day Nyxly to prevent her death in the future. In the end, both Lex and Nyxly were imprisoned in the Phantom Zone.
Quick Answers
Why did Lex Luthor hate his father?
What did Lex promise his sister?
What did Lex inherit after his father passed away?
Who did Lex become partners-in-crime with?
What caused a falling out between Lex and Superman?
Biography[]
Original multiverse[]
Early life[]
Lex Luthor was born sometime after 1983[2] in Metropolis to billionaires Lionel and Lillian Luthor. He hails from one of the city's wealthiest and most prestigious families. Since early childhood, Lex exhibited an extremely high intellect, which made his mother greatly proud of him, often referring to her son as a "genius" and being very close to him as he grew up.[3][4]
As a child, Lex learned to play chess from Russian grandmaster Anatoly Karpov.[1] An introverted boy, Lex had a dog named Ignatius, whom he considered his closest companion. When Lex was 7 years old, Ignatius fell ill and had to be put down. Lex wanted to be present at the procedure, but Lillian felt that her son was too sentimental and forbade it, forcing him to go on a business trip with his father instead. There, the duo were accompanied by Elizabeth Walsh, a woman to whom Lionel gave all of his attention. At first, Lex swore to himself that he would loathe Elizabeth for taking his father from him when he needed him the most, but couldn't keep his promise because of how kind she was to him. On the day they put down Ignatius, Elizabeth embraced Lex and sang him a beautiful Irish song in order to comfort him. By the end of the trip, Lex wished that Elizabeth was his mother.[5]
In 1997, after Lena (whom Lex figured out early on was secretly Lionel's illegitimate daughter with the woman on their business trip) was adopted into the Luthor family after her mother's death, Lex made her feel especially welcome.[6] When they first met, he invited her to play a game of chess that the four-year-old girl eventually won.[7] After this, they started playing chess together often, regularly leaving secret notes for each other inside chess pieces.[8] Sometime later, at the age of 13, Lex read the entire biography of Oscar Wilde and began impersonating him to the point of asking for weeks to being called by the author's pseudonym, Sebastian Melmoth.[2]
During their youth, Lex and Lena were very close;[9] Lex affectionately referred to his sister as "The Lost Princess" like the Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanova,[8] and would always challenge Lena to succeed in her inventions.[10] Despite constantly being very hard on her, Lex acknowledged Lena's potential and considered his behavior the best way to ensure that she would keep getting better.
According to Lena, Lex would build anthills for days in order to make ants believe they were coming back home before setting them on fire.[5] Also in their school days, both he and Lena had a Latin tutor named Ms. Krinick who, every time Lex misquoted Salutati, sent him to a corner and forced him to repeat "Ego me non placebo" ("I don't like myself") until his Latin improved.[5]
Despite being deeply loved by his mother and half-sister, Lex had a difficult relationship with his father, as Lionel was distant[5] and favored Lena over him.[4] Their relationship worsened when Lionel started heavily drinking, eventually becoming an alcoholic. Lex grew to hate his father because he stayed with his family, making their lives miserable.[1]
One day, Lena stole Lionel's prized fountain pen, a gift he received from the King of Jordan, in order to please Lex. However, Lex deemed the gesture "pathetic" since if Lena knew how brilliant she was, she didn't have to cry to gain attention. To escape their drunken father's wrath, they hid in their tree house, where Lex comforted Lena, assuring her that Lionel could not climb up. Lex promised that one day, he would have all the money in the world, which he will use build a house on the Alps for his sister in order to keep her safe.[8]
Lex inherited the family company, Luthor Corp, after his father passed away, becoming the new CEO. He then hired Mercy and Otis Graves as head of the company's head of security and a member of security, respectively.[11] Over time, Lex's relationship with Mercy grew deeper, to the point that she eventually became his closest confidant and frequent dinner guest. It was even strongly implied that there was a romantic connection between them.[10]
Illegal business with Bruno Mannheim[]
At some point, Lex became partners-in-crime with Bruno Mannheim for illegal schemes related to Luthor Corp. With Lex's help, Mannheim laundered money through Luthor Corp, but he soon dumped Lex as his partner when the latter was investigated by the state. The center of the scheme were parking lots which Mannheim purchased through a subsidiary he bought from Lex. According to Lena, it was Lex's affiliation with Mannheim that sent him down the wrong path in his life.[11]
Dealings with Superman[]
- "Superman offered your brother the world. But he kept all the power for himself. And when your brother went to take back that power, he convinced the world he was evil."
- —Lillian to Lena Luthor on Lex's old partnership with Superman[src]
Years later, as the Kryptonian superhero Superman made his debut in Metropolis, Lex kidnapped and interrogated Jimmy Olsen, the young photojournalist who took the 1st photo of Superman, in order to find out what he knew about the superhero.[2] In spite of this, Lex and Superman would later become best friends and they initially worked together to repel the threat of alien invasions. However, Lex's methods were far crueler than Superman's, which set them at odds. Although Superman tried hard to trust his friend, defending him against the accusations of others and continuing to give him several chances to atone for his wrong deeds,[7] Lex ultimately proved unable to forever deceive Superman, who eventually realized his true nature; this consequently resulted in a falling out between the pair. Shortly after this, Lex came to believe that Superman himself was the cause of alien terrorism, since his presence attracted extraterrestrials, and declared war on his former friend, becoming his greatest enemy.[3][6] Lex's obsession with taking down the Man of Steel soon dissolved his relationship with Mercy.[10]
After Lex started targeting Superman, Lena grew concerned for her brother's well-being and tried to help him, but he ignored her.[12] Thus, their relationship quickly fractured as Lex kicked Lena out of Luthor Corp[1] and proceeded with his plans to destroy Superman, committing unspeakable crimes. He tried first to use Spheerical Industries' technology in order to pulverize Kryptonite (a mineral that he later began to study intensively) and spread it in the air.[13] One of his subsequent endeavors involved triggering a fault line in California with an "earthquake machine", which was tended to by Superman.[6] Another incident involved Lex creating and selling a series of battle armors he called "Lexosuits", which Superman was not happy about.[14] Lex would use the Lexosuit to even the playing field when facing the Kryptonian.[7] Also, Lex wrote in his journals several possible methods to defeat Superman, one of which involved a crippling overdose of the drug of a certain Doctor Crane, while another consisted in using a sample of Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy's pheromone in an attempt to mind control his nemesis.[8] Lex also had notes of his own way to do so by using Q-waves to get past Superman's invulnerable skin.[15]
Over the years, Lex built many secret storage facilities around the world, where he kept arsenals of weapons that he collected to defeat Superman once-and-for-all.[7] One of his hideouts was the Mount Norquay Bunker.[16] He also converted his own cloaked mansion's basement into a bunker designed to protect him from any threats, only confiding in Lena of the mansion's location.[9]
Theorizing that Superman had hidden every weapon used against him by Lex himself or anyone of his many enemies into a "secret fortress", Lex spent years searching for it, although to no avail.[17]
Lex went so far as to inject himself with Kryptonite in order to keep Superman away from him,[5] as well as kidnapping Jimmy again, whom he tortured and left with 16 scars.[1]
Incarceration[]
- "Maybe we should make it 32."
- —Lex Luthor at his trial[src]
After several years and various brutal encounters resulting in numerous fatalities, Lex and Superman had a final confrontation in early 2016, prior to which Lex turned Earth's yellow sun red in an attempt to de-power the Kryptonian, consequently causing destruction on a global scale.
Lex took Lena captive in his office in Metropolis while observing the results of his work from various monitors, as his half-sister tearfully told him that he didn't have to go through with his actions, Lex, quoting a sentence from Epicurus, claimed he was doing it for the entire human race, then, taking her in front of the window to listen to the citizens' cries of pain, commented that they were already cheering. When Lena angrily replied that he would kill millions of people as the world couldn't live under a red sun, Lex responded that not even Superman can and explained that humans had grown complacent and they must put faith in themselves instead of looking up to Superman. He considered it his duty to dispel the world of the notion that Superman was invincible since, by killing the Kryptonian, Lex would finally wake them up and show them what Superman really was; a false god.
Shocked after seeing him shoot down a Metropolis Police Department helicopter during his monologue, Lena commented in disgust that at least Superman was a good man, causing Lex to yell in anger that he wasn't and he (Lex) should be the "Man of Tomorrow" instead. Lena then asked if then was all about his ego, to which Lex answered it was for science as he wanted to see if the Kryptonian could bleed, since even gods can die. Then, a team of agents stormed into the office and Lex calmly allowed them to arrest him, telling his half-sister that one day everyone would thank him for what he had done.[5]
Lex was somehow able to escape from them, being subsequently recaptured at his mansion after Superman managed to thwart his plans and finally defeat him.[7]
Two months later, he underwent a trial in which Mercy was a key witness, betraying him,[11] also both James and Lena (the latter revealing she was wearing a wire when he turned the sun red) testified about his actions. Lex scribbled in Kryptonese on a sheet for the duration of said testimonies and as before reading the verdict, the judge asked him if he had any statements, he replied "Superman made me do it"; stating that he was trying to protect humanity from extinction since aliens lived among them and there would always be a "before" and an "after" Superman.
After the judge condemned him to 31 consecutive life terms, she and the jury started to cough and eventually died poisoned, to which Lex pointed sarcastically that maybe 32 was better, being consequently dragged away by the guards.[1]
Lex was incarcerated for said consecutive life terms[6] in Stryker's Island Penitentiary.[18]
There he was visited by Eve Teschmacher whom he noticed amongst the crowd, calling out to him while being taken away from court, prompting him to have Otis recruit her since he recognized her as the fangirl who sent him several letters over the years. During their meeting, Lex asked her to infiltrate CatCo Worldwide Media to spy on James Olsen.[1]
After Lena took over Luthor Corp, with plans to rename it to "L-Corp" and atone for Lex's crimes, he hired the international assassin-for-hire John Corben to kill her in National City. However, his plan was thwarted by Superman and Supergirl, leading Corben to be nearly killed and later turned into the Kryptonite-powered cyborg known as Metallo by Project Cadmus, headed by Lillian.[6]
Plotting with Kaznia[]
- "Prison is the greatest alibi ever created."
- —Lex on why he chooses to stay in jail between his leaves
While in prison, Lex spent the next few years planning his escape, corrupting the warden, as well as the guards and the other inmates; furthermore, to alleviate boredom, he began to engrave on the wall of his cell a bas-relief depicting Hannibal crossing the Alps and building a secret computer room inside it, he also wrote dozen of diaries.[8]
Then, in mid 2018, he was informed by Kaznia's Minister of Defense about the existence of the copy of Supergirl and, after leaving an hologram in his cell at his place, he leave prison for seventy-two hours and reached for her in Kaznia, eventually founding the girl in a cabin in the woods after she saved a young boy from some thieves, due to her only memory: the name "Alex". Relying on this, Lex convinced the copy to be "Alex" and accepted the offer of the Kaznian government to condition her in order to make her a weapon, then, after Eve recognized a soldier who had made the copy "uncomfortable", Lex ordered for him to be executed and later scolded Eve for flinching during this.
He got close to the copy and asked her if she would like to learn how to control her strength, then having a first training session with her, and beginning to instruct, promising her to explain everything regarding her origins and sending her books and other material before departing due to his seventy-two free hours having nearly expired. Moving away, he asked Eve how the copy's existence could be possible, to which she replied revealing him about the Harun-El and her experiments with Lena. Lex complimented her and ordered her to ensure she got results with her research, then explained his plan to force a war between United States and Kaznia to foil it and become a hero in the eyes of public opinion, ordering Otis to manipulate his sister to create the Children of Liberty placing Ben Lockwood as their leader to serve as the "All-American Hero" to use as a scapegoat, while Lex came back to prison since considering it "the best alibi".
On October 10, 2018, Lex bought a missile base in Kaznia using the pseudonym of Sebastian Melmoth and AmerTek as a cover.[2]
Some weeks later, he came back to the copy in Kaznia, to control her training and continue to teach her English, during a game of chess, Lex told the copy to consider her very similar to his sister, who, however, had disappointed and abandoned him; after which he scolded her for appreciating The Great Gatsby (one of the books he had sent her) instructing her on how capitalism makes men weak and that the only reason he has money is to fight them.
Later, as the Children of Liberty released Kryptonite into the Earth's atmosphere, Lex placed the copy into a special confinement cube to protect her and pierced her ears to make her more similar to Supergirl. Lex decided to spend the time necessary for the cloud to clear up to tell the copy that she was one of the last Children of Krypton and that her task was to start a period of peace on Earth by bringing together all the peoples and fighting the champions of corrupt governments: Superman and Supergirl. He also told her that Supergirl was her sister and robbed her of her place in the World.
In the aftermath of those events, Otis got killed by an Hellgrammite[19] and Lex ordered Eve to perform the "Metallo Procedure" over him reviving him as a Kryptonite-powered cyborg.[20]
After a month, he took the copy to National City under the alias of "Linda Lee", in order to let her see how dissolute are the lives of the people that Supergirl protected. Lex also brought "Linda" to see Kara Danvers' apartment (revealing to know her secret identity) so that she learned her way of thinking and developed disgust for her counterpart's luxurious lifestyle. While there, Lex and "Linda" were almost caught by Alex, but the copy managed to deceive her posing as Kara.
A few hours later, he was informed by Eve that the copy "has a conscience" and it could be a problem for their project, as she founded her while trying to approach Lena at CatCo, so, in order to strengthen her resentment towards the Americans, Lex ordered her and Otis to stage the bombardment of the house of the child that the copy saved, by an American aircraft carrier.
However, after she discovered it, she attacked the aircraft, ignoring Lex's advice not to do it, and, after he stopped her and staged her attack at the platform to seem like an accident, he scolded her for having risked compromising all their work due to a moment of weakness, after the copy confronted him about everything he wasn't telling her, Lex simply replied she had "disappointed" him.[1]
Meanwhile, he ordered the abduction of numerous aliens, having them deported to Kaznia with the secret support of the U. S. government, in order to perform various experiments on them and their powers.[21]
Cancer[]
Months later, Lex was informed that the copy was sick due to some sort of disease and, against all of Eve's advises not to do it, he decided to enter a radioactive chamber in order to developed an inoperable cancer[1] telling everyone that it was due to having previously injected himself with Kryptonite.
His plan worked and he eventually suffered a stroke, so he contacted Lena for assistance and she decided to help him. Knowing that Lena was working on the Harun-El in search of a cure for cancer, Lex pulled some strings, arranging for her to work with the D.E.O. and use their resources, with Colonel Lauren Haley oblivious to the fact that he was behind it. He also sent Eve,[20] to shoot James Olsen and use his signal watch to call Supergirl onto the scene as part of a larger plan.[5]
Cure and escape[]
Freed from prison on a mercy furlough, Lex was transported to his mansion on a helicopter, escorted by a massive deployment of FBI agents. After he arrived and Lena coldly asked if he wanted to see her so badly, Lex sarcastically answered he missed her.
After he was escorted inside and handcuffed to a wheelchair by the federal agents, Lex explained that they never let him out of their sight as if they feared he would escape like a dog without a leash, to which Lena told him he would have done it, causing Lex to smile and told her he couldn't due to his condition, reminding her that he was dying. Lena replied sarcastically that she knew it, since in the past six weeks he only spoke about that during their phone calls. Lex told her that he was not accustomed to needing help, telling he considered it "weak" and "pathetic", as well that he would be saved if she tested the Harun-El on humans. After Lena firmly refused, he asked her what was the meaning of all he had done to help her have better resources to her work then, asking if everything she really wanted was "a front row seat to watching him die", to which she replied that despite everything he was her brother and she wanted to save him. They were interrupted by Eve Teschmacher, who entered the room in a panic to inform Lena about James, and was mocked by Lex who asked for a macchiato, telling her to call him "Lex" as it was easy to write.
Once Lena came back from the hospital and asked him to help her work on the Harun-El in order to save James' life as well as his own, Lex commented on the irony of the two of them working together to save "Superman's pal," wondering what would their mother had think, all while staring at a painting of Lillian. While working at the Harun-El remembering the times they "worked together" as children, Lex felt sick and started coughing up blood, so Lena called a guard to bring him a glass of water but he let it fall to the floor, saying he could lick it like a dog. Before Lena could react, Lex told her that he was used to it since "he wasn't very popular in prison." He then told her that he was proud of her and her accomplishments, right before saying to get back to work as sentimentality would have killed him faster than his cancer.
Lex was subsequently assaulted by an utterly indifferent government agent and, while Lena helped him by telling the agent to gave her the keys to his handcuffs, he told his sister not to blame the man as "He knows not what he does," comparing himself to Jesus. Later, while Lex and Lena were testing the Harun-El drug on tumorous hearts while reminiscing about their childhood, they finally managed to shrink the tumor but, moments later, Lena received a phone call from Alex Danvers and was informed that James was about to undergo a surgical operation with a high risk of death. As she fell depressed and stated she couldn't save James anymore, Lex told her that he always knew she was his half-sister and revealed the beautiful memory he had of her mother, stating that, unlike him who was born from hate, Lena was born from love and even if the rest of their family lurked in darkness with pride, she would always fall into the light. Then he urged her to reach for James, telling her that he needed her.
After Lena left, Lex remotely cut off the backup power of the hospital during the power outage caused by Manchester Black, forcing his sister to inject James with the Harun-El in order to save his life. However, Lena realized what he had done and confronted him while he was having a cup of tea. Lex immediately admitted that he was responsible for the hospital's blackout as well as James' shooting in order to give Lena the incentive and a human test subject on which she could test the Harun-El to guarantee its safety to be used as a healing agent. When a disgusted Lena replied that she would never give him the cure, Lex, not surprised, revealed that he already had someone administer it to him.
The FBI agent in the room then revealed himself to be Otis, thought to be dead and disguised by an image inducer, and he restrained Lena to Lex's wheelchair after the latter stood up and tore off his prison garb to reveal a sharp suit. Lex then called for Eve, who entered and shot another federal agent, revealing she was working with Lex all along. Lex revealed he had no intention of killing Lena, then ordered Otis to chloroform her and Eve to "take care of her." He then left the mansion, killing a handful of federal agents with the mansion's security systems and another group of agents with landmines hidden in the ground. Then, Lex prepared to flee by helicopter, only to be intercepted by Supergirl, whom he was happy to finally meet in person.[5]
Lex quickly jumped out of the helicopter and donned his Lexosuit being chased by Supergirl through Metropolis' skies and over the roof of the Daily Planet, there Lex had a brief confrontation with her revealing to have developed powers thanks to the Harun-El and then lifting the Daily Planet's globe to smash it on Supergirl. A few hours later he arrived to Kaznia and gave Supergirl's copy a blood transfusion in order to restore her health, apologizing with her for having leave, giving her a suit and calling her his legacy: his Red Daughter.[1]
Some weeks later, Lena and Supergirl went to his cell at Stryker's Island Penitentiary in order to find evidence regarding his plans, triggering a secret alarm. Lex sent Otis to take care of them, however, when his henchman failed and the National Guard broke in to arrest the Girl of Steel as the Public Enemy No. 1, Lex called Otis via phone ordering him to enter his cell and detonate him to destroy all the evidence. He then had Eve rebuild Otis and resurrect him a second time.[8]
"Hero" of his Country[]
Later as Lex was working in his laboratory, Red Daughter reached for him to inform him that Kara Danvers had escaped her and she failed him, however he reassured her that she had not, since she made her bleed and he knew that Kryptonite alone couldn't kill Supergirl yet her heart could, so he ordered her to head to Kara's apartment and threaten to kill Eliza Danvers.
Lex subsequently created a compact version of the Claymore satellite for his Lexosuit powering it with the energy extracted by the powers of all the aliens he has kidnapped, then, as he was experimenting with it alongside Eve, he tested his function ordering to a random security officer to "stand very still" and then kill him by firing to him an energy blasts from his gauntlet. He then scolded Eve again for having flinched, but she reassured it was not because of the murder but for Otis, who was killed again by Ben Lockwood; Lex ordered the man's execution and asked Eve if she realized that the World was about to be theirs, prompting the girl to answer that she knew it from the very first time they met, they shared a kiss and then the woman departed to deal with Lockwood.
Five hours later, Lex went to the White House and met his secret accomplice, President Baker, who since Kaznia's forces were gathering at the border has begun to be doubtful of the plan, Lex reminded him of everything he had done for his political career and to never doubt the success of his plans, then he received a phone call from a Kaznian General and gave them the green light for the attack, wishing him good luck.[22]
However, as Kaznia began its invasion on the soil of the United States, he attacked them immediately, annihilating single-handedly their forces and, when Red Daughter reached the battlefield late due to her battle with Supergirl (in which she had supposedly killed her) Lex shot her in front of the cameras, making it appear as if he had murdered her, thus accomplishing his plan and prompting the media to acclaim him as a hero with a special broadcast held by the President.[23]
Afterwards, Lex transported Red Daughter to Shelley Island and imprisoned her in an AmerTek's containment cell designed to extract energy from her alien powers and convert it into a power source for a bigger and most powerful version of Claymore. As she regained consciousness, Red Daughter claimed that she had trusted him, prompting Lex to mock her stating that she should have been either stupid or naïve, since she had access to the Internet and thus all his personal history and should have known that defending Kaznia was not something he would have done and, especially, that he hated Kryptonians like her. Red Daughter told Lex that he should have killed her, however, he left the room stating that he had bigger plans for her.[22]
Later on, Lex showed off various "proofs of magnanimity" including rebuilding and supplying energy to the houses that had been damaged by the Kaznian bombing, and the President announced his upcoming appointment to Secretary of the United States Department of Alien Affairs.[22]
Descending upon Washington, D.C.[]
He then settled at the Oval Office and summoned his mother and half-sister for a private tea party, commenting that three Luthors in said place was something that could happen only in America as they entered the room. After Lena asked him if he had tied the President in a closet, Lex stated that "puppets don't need to be tied"; then Lillian asked her children to play nicely as that was their first family reunion in years, stating her murderous son having duped the Earth to think he was a hero was something completely normal for the Luthor family, suggesting they had a cup of tea while Lex explained that everything he had done was for all of them, in order to have their family's name rehabilitated and take their proper place in history by revolutionizing energy worldwide using aliens as batteries with his last discovery. When Lena stated how vile his plan was, Lex quoted responded that he "doesn't see why men shouldn't be cruel as nature", to which Lillian noted that he should not quote Hitler in public.
Lena pointed out that since he had supposedly killed Supergirl and took over America, Superman would come back from Argo City in order to defeat him, however, Lex stated that the first batch of depleted aliens would have charged the satellite weapon that would have destroyed both Argo and his nemesis. Hearing this, Eve asked Lex to speak privately and expressed her concern about wasting an amount of energy that should have lasted for decades because of his obsession on defeating Superman, however, he remained that they weren't partners due to him being the boss and that all victories need fireworks.
After Lex came back to Lena and Lillian inside the Oval Office, he brought champagne and proposed a toast, assuring his mother that, unlike the tea she had offered to him, it doesn't contain poison; Lena then told him that what he was about to do was genocide and the public would eventually found out the truth, however Lex replied that the truth was meaningless since everyone believed he was Earth's savior due to their need of a human hero, he claimed that facts are irrelevant as people don't read and even if they do, they don't think since he was the leader of the Country.[22]
Battle of Shelley Island[]
Following his toast to victory, Lex turned on a monitor and tried to activate the satellite but it doesn't fire, so Eve informed him of the Superfriends having attacked Shelley Island and he immediately donned his Lexosuit to take care of the matter personally. After he arrived at the island and started to shoot the implant, Lex was intercepted by Supergirl, who sent him falling to the ground into a warehouse. Surprised, Lex commented how similar she was with her cousin, stating that no matter how many times he got rid of her, she would always resurface. They started to battle and, despite Supergirl was wearing her protective suit, Lex managed to best her and poison her with Kryptonite, however after he was ready to kill her with a final Kryptonite blast, Red Daughter (who was freed alongside the other aliens prisoners) shielded Supergirl from his shot and died, merging back into Kara and giving her enough power to reject his next blast with her heat vision, sending Lex through the window.
Although he managed to escape, his Lexosuit was badly damaged and eventually he fell into the void and his grabbed to the arm by Supergirl but, refusing to be saved by a Kryptonian he unhooked his gauntlet and let himself fall to the ground while the crowd cheered the superheroine after Lex's crimes were exposed to the public by a blog posted by Kara.[22]
Death[]
Lex Luthor, however, managed to survive the impact and teleported himself to the cabin he and Lena loved when they were children thanks to a device of his suit. There, he was ambushed by Lena, who extracted the Harun-El from his system removing his superpowers. Lex complimented his half-sister for having found that location and, as she pointed a gun at him he stated that she was unable to harm him, being sincerely surprised when she shot him in the chest.
On the verge of dying, Lex accepted his fate with dignity telling Lena that he was proud of her, admired her abilities and had underestimated her for all their life, right before to showing Lena a video footage that revealed Kara Danvers' true identity as Supergirl and the fact that everyone in her life has hidden that secret from her. Lex's last words to Lena before dying were that, unlike her, he hasn't lived as a fool and that she would have remained with no one and nothing.[22]
Resurrection[]
- "Finally, you've returned. I don't know if anybody's told you this, but the feng shui of this place is a bit stale."
"I brought you back because the universe will need a mind like yours."
"Someone who can checkmate anyone?"
"The time has come for you to fulfill your destiny, Lex Luthor. You can now become the hero that you have longed to be."
"I've always been the hero." - —Lex Luthor and Mar Novu[src]
Later on, Lex's body was visited by Mar Novu who decided to use Lex for his goals, filling his body with interdimensional energy.[22] Novu resurrected Lex to put his mind to use during the Crisis. Lex was left in the Monitor's realm with only intergalactic chess games to entertain himself, which he always won. Eventually, Novu returned and after Lex welcomed him back pleasantly, noting that his realm is a bit stale, Lex was offered the opportunity to become the hero he always thought he was.
Though Lex already believed he was a hero, the Monitor's approach proved to be right and Lex happily agreed to help. He got up from his chair and demanded that before he offered his aide they first discuss how to properly handle his sister.[16] The two struck a deal that in exchange for Lex's assistance during the impending Crisis, Novu would insure that Lena survived the multiversal threat unscathed and all her memories of her life up to that point and after would be intact.[24]
Anti-Monitor Crisis[]
Killing the Supermen of the Multiverse[]
After the Anti-Monitor Crisis began, the Monitor brought on board of the Waverider from Earth-74, shocking Kara who told the cosmic entity she couldn't trust someone that considers Lex Luthor an ally, however he replied that Lex has a role to play in his plan. After Kara left the room, Kate Kane, having overheard the conversation, threatened Lex remembering him that if he died again no one would have bring him back.
A few moments later, Harbinger started to hear voices in her head telling her to prevent Luthor from taking the Book of Destiny so she went to the ship's library only to find the man already holding the item and opening a breach stating that "No Man Should Be Able to Fly" before disappearing in it. As the Monitor entered the room, he told Harbinger that was all part of his plan. Then, Lex went to Earth-75 and killed its Superman right in front of Lois Lane's doppelgänger. Lois of Earth-38 and Clark watched the incident on the news in Metropolis.
Later, he went to Earth-167's Smallville appearing right in front to its version of Clark Kent and making Lois Lane, Iris West-Allen and Earth-38's Clark disappear, who had slightly preceded him to inform Clark of the danger, then introduced himself.
Unimpressed, Clark said he wasn't Lex, to which he replied no matter the universe, Superman would always be his enemy as the Book of Destiny told Lex that his true name was Clark Kent, but he believed that was only true in this universe and that the Clark Kent in his own universe couldn't possibly be Superman, to Clark's amusement. Lex declared that he would kill him and every other Superman in the multiverse.
Lex pulled out a piece of Kryptonite, but because Clark had given up his powers, it had no effect and Clark snatched it out of his hand and threw it into a field. Lex was incredulous that Clark would give up the powers of a god, so Clark explains that he did it to have a family. When Clark was distracted by Earth-167's Lois calling for him, Lex angrily tried to punch him, but Clark easily caught the punch and decked him. Lex said killing a powerless Superman would be no fun and left through a portal, saying Clark and his world were doomed anyway.
Later, Lex appeared on Earth-96's Daily Planet, where Earth-38 Clark, Lois and Iris had finally found the Paragon of Truth: that universe's version of Clark Kent. As he walked in the editor-in-chief's office, he jokingly told them that to his own astonishment, he is getting tired of killing Superman, so he used the Book of Destiny's power to force Earth-96 Clark into try to kill Earth-38 Clark, the two Supermen engage in a battle through the skies of Earth-96 Metropolis, until Lois managed to knock Lex out, and they were able to make Earth-96 Clark came back to his senses.
Then, Clark, Lois, Iris and Earth-96 Clark returned to the Waverider locking Lex in a cell, while the Monitor confessed that his had always been to take advantage of Lex's jealousy towards Kryptonians to have the madman weed out the Supermen in the multiverse that weren't the Paragon.[25]
Infinite Luthors[]
While playing chess with Harbinger to pass the time while the Crisis unfolded, Lex was freed by a Lex Luthor from another universe, who brought him to the Council of Luthors meeting on Earth-99. Lex explained he ignored their telepathic summons as he was working on his own plan to save what remained of the multiverse. Belittling his counterparts for focusing on destroying the Supermen of their worlds instead of using them first to stop the Crisis, Lex was accused of being a willing collaborator with his Superman, branded a traitor and condemned to execution. However he was saved by the heroes, brought back to the Waverider and locked up, then he told the heroes how his counterparts were wasting their time instead of helping fight the Crisis.[26]
Making himself a Paragon[]
On December 10, 2019, after the Paragon detector was activated by Ray Palmer and Cisco Ramon, the heroes split in order to accomplish their separate missions with Lois coordinating them; the only two who remained on board of the Waverider were Kate and Kara.
Being determined to use the Book of Destiny to restore her homeworld, Kara went to Lex's cell and had him interrogated and beat by Kate in order to make him reveal how the artifact worked. Lex stated that the user should concentrate on something specific - as he did with his hatred for Superman - otherwise he would have gotten crazy like happened to John Deegan. Hearing this, Kara and Kate lock him once again inside his cell and left the room, with Batwoman determined to prevent Supergirl from using the Book.
Later, after the Anti-Monitor possessed Harbinger, killing the Monitor and even destroying Earth-1, thus the whole multiverse, with a massive antimatter wave, Lex seemingly dies together with all of the heroes on board of the Waverider. However, after Pariah teleported the Paragons to the Vanishing Point, Earth-96 Superman started to deteriorate and eventually vanished, while Lex appeared at his place, revealing he used a page of the Book of Destiny he had kept with himself to replace Clark as the Paragon of Truth. Then, he playfully smirked asking what the others planned to do now.[27]
Over their several weeks in the Vanishing point, Lex and Ryan Choi attempted to create an inter-dimensional teleporter device in order to escape, although they weren't sure if it would work as there was nowhere to be teleported.
After the machine was completed, nobody offered to test it, so Supergirl forced Lex into doing it, prompting him to ironically ask her if she was mad at him for having killed her parallel-reality cousin. Right after the test failed and the machine short circuited, Barry returned after having disappeared into the Speed Force for over a month, where he was then stuck; unable to move through the dimension and lost track of the time as everything was destroyed and he had no place to run.
Then Oliver arrived, stating that he had became a "Spectre" and that Mar Novu was the one responsible to open a breach between their universe and the netherverse bringing there the Anti-Monitor during an experiment around 7980 B.C., Barry suggested to use the full potential of the Speed Force to take all of the Paragons to the Monitor's home planet, Maltus, in order to prevent him from ever entering the antimatter universe to begin with, however the Anti-Monitor attacked them resulting in Lex, Kara and Ryan being the only ones to successfully arrive.
Lex immediately left, but was caught by Kara whom he knocked unconsious with a blast of energy, revealing that he had used the Book of Destiny to give himself powers. Ryan arrive and unsuccessfully attempted to stop him, only to be incapacitated as well.
Then, Lex went on to find Mar Novu and interrupted his experiment, having already knocked his wife, Xneen, unconscious. Lex explained how Mar Novu's experiment would release the Anti-Monitor and doom the entire multiverse, but stated that he could help prevent that in exchange for Mar Novu killing Superman and Supergirl after he eventually gaining his powers. Right in that moment Kara arrived, having regained consciousness, and began to fight Lex, buying Ryan enough time to take Mar Novu to check on Xneen and convince him to let go of his experiment.
Shortly afterwards, the other Paragons arrive and they all found themselves transported to the Dawn of Time, where the Anti-Monitor awaited for them, stating that despite all their efforts, there would always be a version of Mar Novu who would travel to the antimatter universe and offer the way to his arrival. All of the Paragons, including Lex, fight off an army of shadow demons while Oliver sacrificed himself to defeat the Anti-Monitor using his powers to open a breach, to which Lex understood they had to concentrate their willpower like ha has done while using the Book of Destiny, in order to "fan the flame" and create a new universe.[28]
New multiverse[]
Status as world famous hero[]
- "Since I have been on this Earth, I have done nothing but 'protect and serve'. Judging me for the crimes of another Earth's Lex, now that's not fair, is it?"
- —Lex Luthor to Kara Danvers[src]
In January 2020, the day when the Paragons gained memories of their Pre-Crisis lives, Lex woke up in his king-size bedroom inside his mansion while his butler was bringing him breakfast, surprised he asked if he was dead, however the latter stated he simply suffer from a bad hangover and suggested him to take some coffee. Looking out of the windows, Lex noticed that he succeeded in saving the world, to which his butler replied it was nothing new for him, ant that was the reason he was about to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, thus showing him an article that reported it. Pleased, Lex corrected his statement by saying that he hadn't simply saved the world but instead created a new one.[29]
After taking note that, in the new reality he was known worldwide as a beloved and respected humanitarian as well as the owner of the D.E.O. He also has a much better relationship with Lena and has defended Supergirl to the President on multiple occasions. The former part of this news made Lex extremely happy, as now, in this new world, he was finally celebrated as the hero he tried to be; a man who always put humanity first in a world filled with not only with aliens, but now an abundance of meta-humans as well.
He asked to see his sister and, seeing she was sleeping in his mansion, noticed that the Monitor has kept his word, then he injected Lena with a sleeping drug and asked his butler to take her to her house. Later that day he took part at the ceremony to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, giving a speech about the importance of being a simple human without any special power. Noticing Kara Danvers in attendance, Lex gave a subtle acknowledgement that he remembered the pre-Crisis universe.
Despite being the Paragon of Truth, Lex was not targeted by the Shadow Demons when the Anti-Monitor made his appearance on Earth-Prime.[30]
Lex then went to his mother and told her everything about the multiverse's death and rebirth, which Lillian took quite lightly stating that what matter was maintaining their status in the new world, since both Lena and Supergirl were about to remember their past lives. Lex suggested to find the Fortress of Solitude to destroy the Kryptonians, prompting Lillian to suggest him to support Lena and made her his ally instead in order to have her on his side while playing the "long game".[29]
Leviathan[]
Investigation[]
- "You were just a puppet on a string for Leviathan before. What makes you think this time will be any different?"
What the hell is Leviathan?" - —Lena reveals to Lex that his actions with Red Daughter were a manipulation
The following day, Lex visited his sister at her office at Luthor Corp bringing her some eggs and orange juice in order for her to cope with the methohexital hangover she suffered the previous night; however, having regained her memory for before the Crisis as sanctioned by Lex's deal, she asked how could be possible for him to be alive.
Lex explained about the Crisis, the deal he made with Mar Novu, how he "forgive" her for having killed him and how they could now work side-by-side to create a better world, stating that Kara Danvers would never have seen the world the way they did, prompting Lena to spitefully told him he was nothing but Leviathan puppet before and now it won't be any different, to which Lex surprisingly asked what Leviathan was.
Later, Lex began to search for information about Leviathan obsessively, and called Alex and Supergirl in his office at the D.E.O. in order to offer them a temporary "peace" to better work together against the common enemy, however they stated that there were no sign of Leviathan after the birth of Earth-Prime, meaning he was the only threat to the world in their view.
That evening, after leaving his office, he visited Lena once more, stating that he knew she was skeptical because she couldn't trust him, so he placed a baby Truth-seeker around his arm prompting her to ask everything she wanted. Lena asked him if he really could help her with Project Non Nocere to which he answered positively, stating that he wouldn't cause any unnecessary murders, then as she asked when will he betray her, Lex declared that that would happen if their partnership would became inconvenient and that he knew she was planning to use Non Nocere on him. With this, the two Luthors shook hands, sealing their alliance.
Later that evening he went to the ceremony to be awarded with the Man of Tomorrow Prize and, during Lena's speech to introduce him he thanked his mother for having persuaded her not to ally with the Kryptonians, to which Lillian responded that they were partners when they took over the last world and they should be even in this new one.
Back in his office, Lex was visited by Brainiac 5 who offered help with his investigations regarding Leviathan, prompting him to reveal they would need information from the future and, while the timeline they knew may be different, they had a way to "bring the future to them", thus showing him a picture of a doppelgänger recently arrived to their world via wormhole who may could help them.[24]
After having Brainiac 5 freed Winn Schott's counterpart, Lex greeted him in a limousine offering him his help to archive the goal of avenging his father who, in his Earth, committed suicide after failing to kill the man who stole his toy designs, Chester Dunholtz, and suggesting him to go at the National City Toy Con in order to do something that "will be remembered in the future".
Then, after returning at Luthor Corp parking lot, Lex encounter Lena, upset with him since she waited him to no avail in her office to work on Project Non Nocere, which was far more difficult since the Q-Waves had changed on the new Earth; however Lex explained that she underestimated Leviathan and he was now working with Brainiac-5 to discover more about them, telling her that the Coluan is trustworthy as he now take his decisions using just logic, and asking her to question Andrea Rojas to find out what she knew about said organization, promising he would find her a source of Q-Waves for the following day.
The next day, at National City Toy Con, Lex was busy signing some action figures of himself and Supergirl produced by his company when he was approached by Kara and William Dey, who started questioning him about the death of Russell Rogers. Lex quickly dismissed William's questions and subsequently told Kara that if the man kept investigating he would have killed him and also revealed her identity to the world.
The next day, at the D.E.O. Lex asked Brainiac 5 why he didn't bring the Legion's cruiser on which Winn Schott arrived to stop his doppelgänger into one of their hangar as planned, promoting the latter to told him it was placed on Fort Harrison by Alex and he needed to use Winn's DNA to open it. Lex thanked him and prepared to leave when his situational ally asked him to call off the Toyman now that he had what he wanted, only for Lex to reply that he didn't knew how to do it and to take care of it on his own.
That night, Lex entered the military facility and accessed the cruiser using an hair he secretly took from Winn's counterpart on the limousine, then he accessed the vehicle's memory cube, asking information about Leviathan and discovering it's connection with the woman he knew as "Gemma Cooper".
Later, after Lena informed him at the phone that Andrea didn't knew anything about Leviathan since she was still not activated by them on that Earth, Lex went to her office bringing with him the cube and presenting its functions to his half-sister allowing her to map the Q-Waves of Earth-Prime.[31]
While there, he also obtained the information regarding Eve Teschmacher, whose life on Earth-Prime was completely rewritten as an assassin and spy for Leviathan who never crossed paths with the Luthors or Supergirl. Lex approached her while she was on a mission revealing her that he knew her and was aware that Leviathan manipulated her into working for them by killing her father and threatening to kill her mother as well. After she admitted that she had enough of killing, Lex replied that she was a good person and he would have set her free, making her his double agent and slowly starting to seduce the naïve girl.[29]
"Alliance" with Gemma Cooper[]
After having the file on "Gemma Cooper" uploaded by Brainiac 5, Lex ordered him to keep an eye on Alex Danvers, as he noticed she was spying him; stating that despite she had yet to having interfered his plan, if he ever does it he would have adopted some "permanent measures" as solutions.
Later, as Toyman uploaded his consciousness inside the D.E.O.'s computer and Alex placed its headquarter on lockdown, Lex called her with an old phone he had previously installed in case the informatic systems stop work, asking what was happening, to which Alex told him about the situation and that Supergirl was already on it, prompting Lex to remind her the D.E.O. has Kryptonite-alimented weapon in its defense system and the Anti-Kryptonite suits doesn't exist on Earth-Prime before ordering her to find another way to keep the Toyman at bay.
Few moments later, he was called back by Brainiac 5, who asked him why he haven't warned him before of the possibility that Toyman uploaded himself on the D.E.O., to which Lex responded it wasn't necessary for him to know it and that he wanted him to bring him Toyman's code so they could beat Leviathan at their own game allowing himself to achieve immortality as it was the one advantage they had over him.
In the morning, Lex brought Lena an espresso asking her how her Project Non Nocere was doing, she responded that was almost ready and would have loved to receive some help from the Obsidian North's Platinum algorithm, however she didn't managed to convince Andrea to cooperating, prompting Lex to offer his help in persuading the woman.
Lex then approached Gemma Cooper at a restaurant and discussed with her the various opportunities and profits that a business deal between Luthor Corp and Obsidian North could bring to both, stating that he could be a very good friend to her and their goals for a very long time, eventually managing to winning her over and making her advise Andrea to accept said offer.
Then, Lex called Lena in her laboratory in order to compliment her for their success stating that they one step closer to defeating Leviathan for the good of humanity and, while asked what he has done to convince Andrea, he simply replied that he became closer with her company's Board Director.
The following day, Lex received Toyman's immortality code from Brainiac 5 and the resignations of Alex Danvers as Director of the D.E.O., he complimented with the agent for the success of the operation and appointed him as the new Director.[32]
Sometime after that, while Andrea Rojas launched the first promotional spots of Obsidian Platinum, Eve informed that she failed into infiltrating Gamemnae's ship as he requested her, since she was sacred that Leviathan would have harmed her mother. Lex quickly replied that he hired a team of Mossad agents to guard her mother 24/7 and reassured her saying they were a team.
Eve then informed him that she convinced Gamemnae to place her inside Obsidian North and that she found a glitch in the system, to which Lex instructed the girl that her role would have been to prevent Leviathan from fixing the glitch so they would need help in covering it up and he would gain their trust by doing it.
Meanwhile Lex, posing as a bartender, approached Richard Bates while he was getting drunk after discovering his wife was cheating on him, prompting him to tell him his story so that he may help him, offering him his hacking skills to build the VR torture chambers.
Few days later, Eve thanked Lex after he brought her a new apartment, telling him that nobody ever treated her like that, to which he replied that she should start to acknowledge how wonderful she was. Then he informed them on their mission's following step, helping Amy Sapphire into getting the technology necessary to blowing up Obsidian and letting her attack Andrea in order to offer them Supergirl's protection, thus gaining "Gemma Cooper"'s trust.
Hearing this, Eve commented Lex's brilliance and confessed that she was starting to feel something for him, to which he lied, replying that he felt the same, but is better to wait until their enemy is defeated. He then proceed in making an experiment with two mice and "something like" Q-waves, disintegrating one of them.[29]
The next morning, Lex assisted at Lena's first results with Project Non Nocere and complimented the fact that all the animal trial were successful, however when Lena stated that human brains were far more complicated, saying that before Crisis she was criticized by Supergirl as she was trying to "mind control" humanity. Lex reassured Lena that was not the case and informed her he organized Stryker Island's prisoner for being willing test subject in order for them to be reformed and sent back into the society.
Then, after being called at the phone, Lex reached for Brainiac 5 at the D.E.O. where he informed that he managed to reverse engineer Toyman's immortality code to use it against Leviathan but has discovered that they're techno-organic life forms hailing from Krypton's same solar system, thus they needed to find "their version of Kryptonite" to weaken them in order to inject them with it. Brainiac 5 suggested that the best way to do it would have been getting close to their base of operation, to which Lex pointed out that they didn't even know where it was.
In that moment an agent informed them that Andrea Rojas has been attacked by a terrorist in an attempt to prevent the Obsidian Platform's launch, although his ally commented the news as fortuitous, Lex, knowing that Gemma Cooper has invested in it, thought it was an extremely good occasion to getting close to Leviathan as he previously suggested. Lex assigned Supergirl to bodyguard duty, which she firmly refused saying that it could be handled by the D.E.O. itself, however Brainiac 5 pointed out that the aggressor was likely a Chlorophyllian and their energy track could be tracked, while Lex threatened her by reminding her of what was in jeopardy.
Then Lex tracked Gemma Cooper and offered her to deal with the situation since he could give them Supergirl's help. She initially refused but after Lex told her that letting him deal with the problem would have been the better choice for her and "her people" in order to protect their anonymity, she was intrigued and accepted but not before reminding her that it was better he didn't make promises he couldn't keep as their people doesn't gave second chances.
That evening, Lex confronted Lena after her experiment on Stryker's prisoners failed causing them to develop vengeful feelings, she told him that she was probably as delusional as he was when he turned the Sun red. Lex replied that instead he remembered that while he was worried for their first contact with an alien race she find it intriguing and he fired her because of it but now felt that he has the possibility to change it and doing it the right way so he offered his help in fixing Non Nocere.
Later Lex was approached by Brainiac 5 who asked him why the D.E.O.'s resources didn't provide any help during the blackout, to which Lex replied that he had not to worry as Supergirl saved the day as always. After walking away, Lex met Gemma in his limousine and told her he could be the perfect man to represent Obsidian into the world and all he asked in return was to meet "her friends".[33]
The day before he left US in order to begin his Obsidian Platinum's world tour, Lex was informed by Eve that people was starting to remain trapped in the VR as he predicted and took him to the warehouse where they kept them, explaining that Margot Morrison was put in charge of them. Lex replied by giving Eve a backdoor to allow Richard to hack Obsidian to get revenge on his wife's lover prompting the heroes to start investigating the VR; also he gave her a vial of poison.
This caused Eve to ask him if he was asking her to kill again and why, to which Lex explained that he found her father's killer in Peru and that his name is Jeremiah Danvers, so he demand her to kill him to avenge her father, which she was happy to comply to. Then, he departed for his world tour, calling it the beginning of Leviathen's end.[29]
World tour and move against Leviathan[]
- "Work with me, and no home will be without Obsidian Platinum"
- —Lex offers his help to Gemma
Lex has then a dinner with Prince Raakaan El-Farah of Qurac, after which he managed to archive a deal to distribute Obsidian Platinum VR lenses in his country,[34] also, he became a board member of Obsidian North and, over the following two weeks, launched 32 satellites, one for every country he visited in his Obsidian world tour.[35]
After he came back he was bathed in gratitude by Obsidian's North, and a party at his honor was held on their main office, however, during said occurrence, he noticed that his sister left the party to visit Kara offering her support after hearing of her adoptive father's death.
The following day, while playing chess with his mother, Lex revealed about that miscalculation, stating that he wouldn't take the risk of letting Lena rekindle her friendship with Kara. Thus he made up another plan to set up Supergirl and drift her apart from Lena once and for all, calling it a better plan despite Lillian stated it was a display of weakness, Lex exited the room after winning the game with a checkmate.
Then he called Eve in order to ensure William Dey will get the information he asked to his contact regarding one of the missing person kidnapped by Leviathan after they were trapped in VR, then recording the reporter's meeting at Kara Danvers' apartment with the latter, Alex and Kelly Olsen and showing it to "Gemma".
Thus, Lex informed her that he knew about the true nature of her associate and wanted to help them, suggesting that in order to prevent them being exposed the better option was to spread fear.
Lex then visited Brainiac 5 at the D.E.O. and was confronted about his suspicious that he was using Obsidian Platinum for his own purpose instead of disbanding Leviathan. Lex explained that the responsible of trapping people in VR was Leviathan and not him, suggesting him to ask Supergirl if she had some kind of technology in the Fortress that could help track them.
After Supergirl activated Myriad to counteract Q-waves and detect the missing persons, Lex visited his sister lab and, noticing what was happening suggested her to tell him where the Fortress was so he could stop Myriad before her experiment are ruined, however Lena didn't trust him, prompting him to give her his watch as a teleportation device, letting Lena go herself and sending a Morae with her, thus leading to the liberation of the baby Sun-Eater inside it, which put the world in jeopardy leading to many people seeking refuge in the VR.
After Supergirl, J'onn J'onzz and M'gann M'orzz saved the sun, Lex went to Leviathan's warehouse, killed Margot after making Eve record a video using her appearance with an image inducer to link her to Amy Sapphire, then he wake up the comatose missing persons passing as an hero to everyone. After Supergirl and J'onn arrived, he told them that they should trust him since Leviathan was the real and common enemy.
Then after he went back to his office he was confronted and assaulted by Gamemnae, enraged at Margot's death and the Morae's imprisonment, Lex however assured her it was all necessary sacrifices, since Supergirl was starting to get suspicious and no one could defeat her since too many tried and failed, prompting Gamemnae to reply that she wouldn't right before leaving Lex's office.
That night, after he went back to his mansion, Lex found Eve with an heart-pattern apron after she prepared dinner for him. She stated she was happy that they could finally spent a quiet night together as a couple, to which Lex replied that in "another time and another world" they were, but that made him weak and it won't happen again.
Lex then explained that he have always manipulated her, the Mossad agents wait for his order to kill her mother if she ever betrayed him and that the man he killed was actually Supergirl's father so that she wouldn't get any help from her either since he recorded the murder. After Eve stated that he was worse than Leviathan, Lex corrected her saying he was better.
Later, after recording a message for his mother explaining how he perfectly accomplished his plan, he looked at the watch he gave Lena and, tracking his last teleporting location, discovered where the Fortress of Solitude was. After a moment of hesitation, he couldn't resist his curiosity and decided to visit it himself.[29]
Lex took an unspecified item from the Fortress and, while checking it and putting it on a suitcase inside the D.E.O. storage room, was approached by Brainiac 5 who told him he was behind the Sun Eater, pointing out there was a difference between manipulating Leviathan and helping them destroy the world, to which Lex replied that he had to convince them he was on their side even if it cost giving them weapons. After Brainiac 5 reminded him that people could have died, Lex reminded him that he has to believe in him, stating that sometimes for a greater good is necessary to break some "super-eggs" and then leaving the room saying he expect Brainiac 5 to trust the process.
Later, he visited Stryker Island, where the Non Nocere applied to the inmates has suddenly failed after weeks of apparent success, sending one of them in a coma. While checking on him together with Lena, they were approached by Steve Lomeli, whom Lex pretend not to recognize as his former prison mate on Earth-38. Then noting it was an isolated incident, Lex reassured Lena that he could easily fix "one broken inmate".
Due to the attempt to fix the problem with the Non Nocere inside the man's brain apparently failing, Lena suggested that it might be caused by his survival instinct triggered during the Sun Eater attack having clashed with the program directives.
After Steve asked them if they could fixed it, several other inmates started to display an uncontrollable aggressive behavior that overturned the program in their mind. Thus, Lena and Lex watched as said virus evolved and quickly spread throughout the prison.
In order to stop the riot, Lex, Lena and Steve went through the prison to the warden's office to activate Lena's Q-waves generator. Then, Lex distract the prisoners using his teleportation watch until Lena managed to find the right Q-wave frequencies to shut down the glitch, apparently deleting Non Nocere completely.
Later, after placing the prisoners back to their cells, Lex heard Lena's complain about Non Nocere being a fruitless project due to human condition needing pain, she also stated that she was stupid to believe she could "fix humanity", prompting Lex to admit that humanity has to be controlled by someone with a firm hand that must be a human and not an "arrogant alien".
He suggested Lena they could be humanity's saviors and, after she told him that he knew it since the beginning that her project was a failure and did all that due to his megalomania, Lex yelled her that he didn't sabotaged her at all, instead he supported her and put his own goals aside because she needed to see he project fail with her own eyes in order to understand "the true depravity of humanity" and that his way was the only one. Hearing this, Lena walked away calling him a "monster".
Lex destroyed the room in a fit of rage then, after a security guard asked him what to do with the prisoner, he gave them a bomb and told him to burn it, consequently causing an explosion. As he left Stryker, Lex received a call from Gamemnae, who told him that due to the weapon he took from the Fortress and gave them, she would sent him a car the following morning to "meet her colleagues".
Later, he met with Brainiac 5 into his limousine and, after the Coluan told him that he took full responsibility for the D.E.O.'s destruction, Lex simply replied that it was "tax deductible" explaining it was his plan since the very beginning, since with the item he stole from the Fortress and the Kryptonite Leviathan could make Supergirl's life miserable and, in sign of gratitude he was finally invited to their spaceship. Making a toast at the event, Lex told Brainiac 5 to be prepared for the following day.[36]
Bottling up the Gods[]
- "You know, I pride myself on seeing things, connections where others only find coincidence."
- —Lex to Gamemnae[src]
The following morning, Lex was welcomed by Gamemnae inside Leviathan's headquarters, where the defense system started to suffocate him since he was recognized as hostile by the ship. Gamemnae promptly gave him a device similar to a brooch to protect him from the defensive system, scolding Rama Khan for not having deactivated it. Rama Khan reminded her that keeping it active were higher orders and noted that he still did not trust Lex.
Lex was then told to leave the Supergirl massacre to Rama Khan and his "colleagues" right before using the weapon he gave them, three Kryptonite-absorbing rings, to prepare for the battle with the Girl of Steel.
Later, Lex asked Gamemnae what was Rama Khan referring to speaking about the one giving orders, to which she explained that she answered to another individual; then before Lex left the building he was told that he could keep the protective device since he earned it and that the following day would have been the last of the old era.
Exiting the building, Lex met with Brainiac 5 in his limousine and told him about the defensive system, refusing to give him the protective device since he intended to wait for Leviathan to kill Supergirl and her allies before uploading the "Mortality Code" in their ship; Brainiac 5 reminded him that they weren't the enemy, causing Lex to reply that indeed they were heroes and thus would all be happy to sacrifice to protect Earth.
At the eve of Obsidian Worldwide Unity Festival, Lex informed Gamemnae that the satellite was launched, to which she lashed out, briefly turning into her true form and informing him that Rama Khan, Sela and Tezumak were having trouble with the Superfriends. Lex reassured her that it won't be a problem and asked her if she was ready to begin the end of the world, right in the moment in which Andrea called for them to begin.
Lex then spoke to a live planetary video inciting all the inhabitants of the Earth to join their festival in Obsidian VR. Later that night, after Supergirl entered the VR herself to stop them, Lex urged Gamemnae to send another assassin to take care of Supergirl's physical body, prompting her to activate Andrea as Acrata.
After finding Gamemnae having a sort of short-circuit in Andrea's office, Lex realized Brainiac 5 betrayed him and reached for him at Leviathan's headquarters. After Lex yelled at the Coluan asking him why he didn't wait for Supergirl to die, the latter replied that he underestimated him as he would never let his friends die, to which Lex laughed saying he didn't underestimate anything since he knew since the beginning he would have chosen to shrink the Gods in a bottle instead of kill them but he didn't expect for him to chose suicide in order to do it.
Taking away the bottle in which Brainiac 5 sealed Leviathan, Lex informed him that he succeeded in preventing Leviathan from killing Supergirl, thus forcing him to do it himself. Continuing, he said it would be fun right before mockingly saluting him and exiting the room. Then Lex teleported to his lab and gave the bottle to his mother telling her to "get to work".[37]
Downfall[]
- "Has the razzle-dazzle of my immortality made you forget that I am the smartest man alive? You really think I would fall for something so prosaic?"
- —Lex Luthor[src]
Lex's absorbed the powers and immortality of the Jarhanpurians. When Lex emerged from the absorption chamber, he could wield lightning, had super-strength, and, with a Kryptonite ring that they once wore, had geokinetic powers. Lex then said he would use his device to control the minds of everyone on earth, and whoever didn't work would he kill them.
When Lex invaded the Fortress of Solitude, he took the solar hammer and used it to try to destroy the Fortress, but he was stopped by the Superfriends. After Lex sent Kara to Phantom Zone, the Superfriends sent him to a prison for his crimes and when he was in the middle of talking to his mother, Lena showed up there and erased Lex and Lillian's memories of Supergirl's identity-doing the same to all their associates as well.[38]
Luthor civil war[]
Trial[]
While in National City Jail, Lex was visited by Lillian, who advised him to take the plea deal so he could enjoy his golden years after getting out of jail in 2045. However, Lex refused because Lillian was caring more about optics than family.
At Lex's trial, he spoke in obscure truths, painting Eve as a potential suspect and invalidating her testimony by revealing her previous infatuation with him. With his victory assured, Lex was prepared to be a free man until Lena stepped in as a witness and revealed he corrupted Non Nocere to brainwash people into loving him so he could kill with no opposition when it suited him. Lex snapped, stating that he had the courage to use power to better humanity, making him a target for those jealous of his greatness. Ensuring Otis set up bombs for an escape plan, Lex was utterly shocked that he was found innocent and let go; he had done nothing but tell the truth (like in his last world) but this time Lex had managed to win sympathy.
At home, Lex played chess with Lillian, who was impressed he managed to "Houdini" himself out of what seemed to be a sealed fate. Lex retorted that for the first time he saw the value of pure truth; having wasted so much time lying, bribing and even threatening others to act as he wished. His new plan is to use the truth to trick the people into believing his version of truth.[39]
Battle for Luthor Corp[]
Lex knew that Brainy had to have been involved; Lex could not access his computers in Luthor Corp and the blockage was of a higher capability than Lena could have programmed. Lex infiltrated it anyway. Lex then went to an interview about his trial. Finally, Lex went and had brunch with the new district attorney named Matthews and asked him about what criminal charges could be brought against Lena for Non Nocere.
Now that Lex could access his computers he had work to do with Kasnia, but he noticed Lena was in her office, so he decided to talk to her, given that they had not talked since the trial. Lex gloats that he was smarter than Brainy and wants Lena to stop attempting to impede his business deals. Lex soon discovered that Lena had transferred some of his money to the Luthor wing of the children's hospital. Irate, Lex called Otis.
Later, Lena told Lex that the company was his; she tired of their competition and wanted nothing more to do with him. Lex did not believe her. He told his sister that, with him in total control, she is denying herself access to the money and technology of Luthor Corp; Lena said that she would be alright.
Returning to the Luthor Mansion, Lex was shown by Philippe a newspaper article about his takeover. After Lex finished his call with Kasnia, the butler asked Lex what more could he want as he had everything he wanted: no criminal record, no Supergirl, and control of the family business. Lex said he wanted more, as he walked through his transmatter portal.[40]
Working with Nyxly[]
- "You see, the thing about that imp is she is the only thing I want. Nyxly is the love of my life."
"I'm sorry... what?"
"I know. Me? In love? I've always shouldered this world alone. I've never known what it meant to have a true partner. Who could possibly match my wit? My flair? My unfiltered genius? But when I met Nyxly, I knew she was the one." - —Lex Luthor to Otis Graves[src]
Lex went to the future, where he met Nyxlygsptlnz. To his own surprise, Lex saw she matched his ambition and intelligence, falling in love with her. Their romance filled Lex with content as this imp was what he was seeking. Nyxly spoke of her revenge often, glowing her joy. They even got matching tracking bracelets so they could always know where the other was. Together, they created many things that merged science and magic together. However, Nyxly made a fatal mistake with the Totems that killed her. A grieving Lex quickly saved her mind in his Lexosuit and backtracked to 2021, to change the past to save Nyxly.[41]
Lex sent the suit to Nyxly, giving her an edge over the Superfriends.[42] After she got the Dream Totem, AI Nyxly used it to summon him.[43] However, past Nyxly didn't want anything to do with him. Lex reunited with Otis, who was now on the board of directors (thanks to Lillian) during his absence. Otis suggested that if Nyxly loved him before, Lex should try again. Lex quickly devised a plan to get the Love Totem to her. However, Nyxly wasn't happy with the assistance and the Superfriends got the totem. Lex saved Nyxly from being imprisoned, revealing their future romance and that he was trying to save her.[41]
Final Battle Against the Superfriends[]
Lex and Nyxly searched for the Totem of Truth. The duo faced the Superfriends for the totem and used the Lexosuits to fight. Nyxly was about to kill Kara, but she was defeated by the Kryptonian and she, Mitch and Lex managed to escape from the ship. Nyxly lost the Totem of Truth, which was taken by Kara. She was impressed that Lex truly loves her and the duo infiltrated the Tower to kidnap Esme. Lex was furious at William for allegedly leaking his diary and shot him, leaving him for dead. After kidnapping Esme, Lex and Nyxly escaped.[44]
Lex was determined to kill the girl to obtain the Totem of Love, something that angered Nyxly, since she didn't kill children. So Nyxly tried to gain Esme's trust in order to obtain the Totem. Lillian visited Lex and questioned if he really loved Nyxly, as he hated aliens and was incapable of loving anyone, but Lex claimed he did and Lillian left. Eventually, Nyxly bonded with Esme and obtained the totem. After Nyxly abandoned him, Lillian reappeared and questioned him if he would take revenge. Nyxly went to a meeting with Alex Danvers and Kelly Olsen to trade Esme for the Totem of Fate, however, Lex and Lillian showed up to kill them all, and Lex fought against Nyxly while obtaining all the totems, and turned all of humanity into people without feelings. So Lex and Nyxly turned into horrible monsters, and left the place.[45]
After finishing their fight, Lex and Nyxly lost the powers of the totem, and were upset to see that the Superfriends were responsible. Lex and Nyxly used what power they had left to bring back old villains from the heroes' past and led the army of evil against them. As the villains were stopped and the Superfriends were backed by National City's civilians, Lex brought Phantoms from the Phantom Zone, intending to have them prey on everyone else's fears. However, the Superfriends and citizens stood firm, causing the Phantoms to turn against Lex and Nyxly, bringing them into the Phantom Zone to be locked away for all eternity.[46]
Legacy[]
Original multiverse[]
- "Your friends have been lying to you from the start. Your boyfriend Jimmy, Alex, J'onn, that little alien runt Brainy. Even your own mother. They've mocked you, humiliated you, betrayed you. Every last one. Denial's a powerful thing, Isn't it? It's been standing right in front of you this whole time. And you chose not to see it. Kara Danvers is Supergirl. I'm about to die, but at least I lived without ever being a fool. You're left with no one and nothing."
- —Lex Luthor on his legacy[src]
As a result of Lex's actions, the Luthor family's name was tainted to the point that most individuals are unwilling or at least have difficulty trusting anyone with the last name "Luthor".[6]
In Lex's final moments, he spitefully revealed to his half-sister, Lena Luthor that her best friend, Kara Danvers is Supergirl and that the Kryptonians has been lying to her from the beginning.
This revelation severely damaged Lena's friendship with Kara[22] and also began leading her down a dark path spurred by this betrayal. Although unlike Lex, Lena took steps to avoid falling into madness. However, when Lena realized that Lex has betrayed her once again, she returned at the Superfriends' side,[36] reconciling with Kara and strengthening their friendship.[37]
Personality[]
- "Narcissist, sociopath, evil genius; there are a lot of ways to describe Lex Luthor. But I find douchebag to be the most descriptive."
- —Ryan Choi[src]
Lex is a human supremacist who genuinely believes his crusade against aliens to be a righteous one, as he committed unspeakable acts in his attempt to protect Earth from alien invaders. He is a narcissist and a sociopath, with a complete lack of conscience, empathy, and remorse for his actions. Lex's derangement stems back to his early childhood, where he would frequently torture and murder animals, as well as constantly criticize his half-sister to push her to excel. According to Lena, Lex is willing to do anything or hurt anyone to achieve his goals. He schemes, manipulates, tortures, and kills without principles or mercy for his victims. Infamous for his extreme callousness towards the well-being of others as, despite claiming that he wants the best for humanity, he displayed no qualms about murdering millions in order to accomplish his goals, considering himself the real "Man of Tomorrow" being so misguided in said beliefs that he was sure, in the end, people would understand and thank him for his nefarious actions.[5]
Lex often presents himself as a calm, level-headed, patient, and sarcastic man, but he is very prone to losing his temper and yelling in a delusional manner. His ego, conceit, and megalomaniac trends are so great that, even while suffering a seizure under the watch of an utterly indifferent government agent, he couldn't help but compare himself to Jesus Christ, muttering to Lena, "Don't blame him. He knows not what he does";[5] also he stated to be the only one with the right to rule the Universe.[28]
Lex was once best friends with Clark Kent (under the persona of Superman) as the two initially tried to work together to repel the threat of alien invasions, but his methods were far crueler than Clark's, despite Kal-El's doing his best to trust Lex, defending him against accusations of others and continuing to give him several chances to atone for his wrong deeds; the two ultimately fell out and became bitter enemies once the paragon realized Lex's true nature, with Lex, for his part, coming to believe that Superman himself was the cause of alien attacks, which led him to declare war on Superman, committing unspeakable crimes in his relentless crusade to take down the Kryptonian.
Lex is ruthless not only towards aliens and humans in general, but also towards his own family members as well, as he hired John Corben to kill his sister Lena simply because she was going to rename the family company, which he did not take too all that well as Lex was proud of his family name, these negative traits of his are what eventually led to his incarceration. Despite this, he has proven to care for Lena as he does have a link he can't break with her and to some degree, he acknowledges that she is incredibly gifted as an intellect and a scientist, so he loves her in a twisted and narcissistic way due to finding them both "alike".[47] When Lena finally kills him, Lex seems actually proud of her ability to bring herself to do so.
Despite Lex having a difficult relationship with his father and falling out with his half-sister, he remained fond of his mother, since she seemed to agree with his views, he even kept a portrait of Lillian in his mansion,[9] however, when he met Lena's mother during childhood, he wished she was his, though this may have merely been a young Lex's attempts to manipulate his family.[5] In truth, even his bond with Lilian was nothing more than a façade. As he was more than willing to murder her in cold blood while she was imprisoned, as Lena explained to her, the clincher being that her cell number on a Blueprint of the prison they shared, while handing it to her mother showing the name Lilian written beside it in bright red; a sign of which is known to indicate of Lex's giving a kill order in his family.[20]
Part of this familial enmity stems from the years of harsh tutorship his mother paid for to which, in his sister's words, damaged his already demented psyche even more; Lena stating how it contributed to him becoming a sociopath when a particularly shrill instructor of his would make him stand in a corner while repeating the phrase "I do not like myself" in perfect Latin whenever he messed up his studies. These resentments were made extant by Lex punching the eyes of Lillian's portrait out once after he was cured of his cancer.[5]
Overall, Lex is completely capable of committing horrible crimes, such as mass murder, without hesitation, and displays a sadistically shameless side to him, such as when he gleefully took down federal agents using his mansion's security systems as he calmly strolled out of his own house. As well as cackling insanely while singing jovially alongside Frank Sinatra - My Way lyrics when blowing up his Kaznian allies battle fleet. He has proven to be several steps ahead of his opponents, even having had a hand in the events of surrounding the rise of the Children of Liberty and Lena's experiments with the Harun-El.
Due to Lex's profound derangement, he is unable to form any real attachments with those around him and will do anything to complete his goals, and according to Lena, Lex is incapable of truly empathizing or caring for anyone, Lex shows this by manipulating Red Daughter and attempting to murder a child, the one person she cared for most, just to get her to start a war with Supergirl, Lex is seemingly incapable of genuinely caring for anyone and uses those around him for his own means, which he is very good at disguising as caring. Also, he gives apparently no value to life at all, as he planned to eradicate Argo City solely because his mortal enemy, Superman, was there, completely disregarding the thousands of bystanders, putting his preeminent hatred of Kryptonians ahead of the loss of innocents.
Despite Lex's intelligent and calculating traits, he is extremely arrogant and egotistical to the point of being delusional, as Lex believes himself to be the most intelligent individual on the entire planet, completely disregarding the fact that Clark (under the persona of Superman) is slightly more intelligent than him; which eventually led to his downfall at the hands of the Kryptonian, even after being defeated by Clark, he still believes himself to be wiser than the latter; a sign that Lex is not only incapable of acknowledging his mistakes, but he is also incapable of learning from them as well.
Lex is proven to be extremely overconfident; for example, he believed no matter how much Lena despised him, she would never kill him, not only does he finds out the hard way that he was wrong, but he also realizes that he has been underestimating his half-sister from the beginning, despite this, Lex accepts his fate with dignity.
In Lex's final moments, he has proved to be spiteful and vindictive, revealing to Lena that her best friend, Kara Danvers is Supergirl and that the Kryptonian, along with shared associates, have all been lying to her from the beginning, thus; damaging Lena's friendship with Kara.
- "I have always taken the big swings that you never would. But I supported you, because you're a Luthor. I kept you by my side when you were too timid and weak to do what was necessary. It takes guts to wield power. And I wield my power to make the world better. So did I help develop Non Nocere? Yes. And yes, Non Nocere failed. Boo-hoo, it happens. But instead of accepting that humbly, my sister blames me for it. It's no surprise that this entire case has fallen apart when every single charge hinges on the unsubstantiated hearsay of bitter women like my sister and Eve. Women who, mind you, could have committed these crimes themselves, as could any number of other suspects that the prosecutor has overlooked in her obsession with targeting me, and why? Because I am powerful. So let that be a lesson to you all. If you try to build a good life for yourself, there is always somebody waiting to tear you down and punish you for your greatness. But I accept who I am. I like power, and I have the guts to do something with it. I did not commit the crimes of which I stand accused. But if I had, who could blame me? If push came to shove, you'd have done it."
- —Lex to Lena Luthor and the jury at his trial[src]
After Earth-Prime was created, Lex's personality seemed to have changed, he became a world-wide respected humanitarian, although how much of this is true remains unknown, but he clearly changed in the fact that he showed a strong desire to have his family back at his side, and even offered Supergirl and Alex peace and an alliance to fight threats, going as far as to become Supergirl's number-two supporter. He also seemed to have become less willing to cause innocent deaths, as he openly admitted that he would help Lena with her project and ensure there won't be too much who died.[24] Most notably, Lex was much happier. Finally getting the recognition for all his hard work for putting humanity first in his scientific pursuits. However, at least some of these traits are merely a facade, as in truth, he still desires to control humanity, but in a twisted manner to make the world a better place.
- "The truth is I love you. I love you so much that when you... died, part of me died too. And you don't understand. I don't love anybody. In fact, I hate everyone. From a very young age, I knew I would move through this world alone, riding that solitary high-speed train towards progress and greatness all by myself. But there you were. This radiant, powerful being, vibrating with your own brilliant madness. I never thought anyone could match my ambition, my genius, but... Then I met you. In all the timelines, in all the dimensions, in all the universes, you... were the only one that could match me. But of course, you don't know any of this, 'cause you weren't there. Yet. You haven't met me yet, and I sound insane."
- —Lex confesses his true feelings to Nyxly[src]
Powers and abilities[]
Powers[]
- Lexosuit application: Lex is masterful in using his Lexosuit, a battle armor he created to suit his needs, enhance his physical strength and durability to protect himself against Kryptonian-level threats.[1][48] He further improved his suit by equipping it with a self-created compact version of the Claymore satellite, which converts aliens powers into kinetic energy in order to defeat them.[23] Lex Luthor built the exoskeleton himself and, while wearing it, displayed a strong mastery of its combat functions and weapons usage. The Lexosuit can materialize and de-materialize on him upon his command[1] and is equipped onboard technology with HUD to control all of it functions, which can project Kryptonite-based energy beams, fly at high speeds, or manifest energy shields that can be activated even while separate from the rest of it.[22] After going to the 31st century, Lex’s technology has been upgraded and can now perform extended feats, as he and a future version of Nyxly were able to invent unique, even amongst the advancements of the 31st century, scientific technologies that have been fused with magic.
- Energy projection: The suit can create focused blasts of green energy. Due to it being the same color as Kryptonite is most likely powered by said mineral, hence could harm Kryptonians. After Lex upgraded the arm cannons with a miniaturized Claymore satellite, it became powerful enough to kill Kryptonians or melt a normal person.[22]
- Kryptonite sword: The suit's right arm it carries a Kryptonite sword that is able to damage a Kryptonian giving him radiation poisoning. It unknown if Lex ever used this.
- Kryptonian imprisonment: The Lexosuit can be remotely controlled to imprison a target inside of it, as well as releasing a Green Kryptonite gas on its inside.[20]
- Autonomous operation: The Lexosuits can operate with no pilot so that no one gets hurt if a suit is destroyed.[32] It is presumably controlled remotely like a drone.
- Explosion inducement: Lex can generate powerful blasts from his gauntlets that detonate upon impact with their target and cause powerful explosions.
- Bio-metallic symbiotic exoskeleton: Lex’s advanced Lexosuit can now craft itself onto Lex, as if it were a living creature, and it can do the same to other people.
Former powers[]
- Harun-El mutation/Enhanced physiology: Lex had given himself the Harun-El serum in order to save Red Daughter from Harun-El withdrawal, by giving the cure to her through a blood transfusion. By injecting himself with the drug, he acquired great superhuman physical prowess and the following abilities,[1] but lost them when Lena took the Harun-El out of his system with an anti-serum.[22]
- Accelerated healing factor/Cancer immunity: The Harun-El mutation allowed Lex to cure his self-inflicted cancer and regenerate to full health.[5][5]
- Superhuman strength: Under the Harun-El's effects, Lex was able to achieve great strength, being able to lift the Daily Planet globe, and smash it on top of Supergirl.[1]
- Superhuman durability: Lex was able to block a punch from Supergirl without suffering damage.[1] He also survived a heat blast from Supergirl after she was empowered by Red Daughter and when he fell from the sky.
- Flight/Levitation: Lex could levitate by using his flight abilities.[22] Though this could be via to his Lexosuit.
- Powers via the Book of Destiny: Using the book, Lex was able to perform metaphysical feats, until it was taken back from him.[25]
- Absolute reality perception: Once opened, the Book enabled Lex to look at the whole of reality.[25]
- Anger inducement: Lex managed to use the book to manipulate the Superman of Earth-96 into attacking the Superman of Earth-38. He did this by turning his love into hate.[25]
- Ergokinesis (presumed): The book would have allowed Lex to release surges of energy powerful enough to even harm Kryptonians, though it's unknown whether he ever used it for that purpose.[25]
- Essokinesis/Reality manipulation: Once opened, the book allowed Luthor to manipulate reality to how he saw fit in the blink of an eye.[25]
- "Oh; I probably should've mentioned that I gave myself a few upgrades when I checked the Book of Destiny out of the library."
- —Lex Luthor[src]
- Mutation via the Book of Destiny (presumably): As Lex revealed when he went to Maltus with Ryan Choi and Supergirl, when he stole the Book of Destiny, he granted himself a set of powers that allowed him to fight a Kryptonian of equal grounds.[28] However, after the creation of Earth-Prime, he apparently didn't retain those powers.[29]
- Breach creation: As seen when fighting Kara Danvers on Maltus, Lex exhibited the power to open a small breach, thereby directing Kara's heat vision back at her, explaining that he'd given himself this power with the Book of Destiny.[28]
- Energy projection: As seen when he fought Kara and Ryan Choi after being sent to Maltus with them, and again when he fought the Anti-Monitor's army at the Dawn of Time alongside the Paragons, Lex demonstrated the power to channel blasts of energy through his hands, revealing that he'd granted himself this ability using the Book of Destiny.[28]
- Jarhanpurian physiology: After Brainy bottled Sela, Tezumak and Rama Khan, Lex stole the bottle holding them from Brainy and went to Shelley Island, where Lex and his mother conducted an experiment that gave Lex the powers of the Jarhanpurians in the bottle, turning him into a self-proclaimed god. However, the Superfriends were able to strip him of these powers using Jarhanpurium.[38]
- Electrokinesis: After absorbing Sela's powers, Lex gained the power to generate and control electricity.[38]
- Energy projection: Lex was able to generate powerful blasts of green energy. He mainly did this through the use of the Leviathan operatives’ hand ring, but he was also able to shoot energy at the Superfriends without the ring.
- Force-field generation: Lex was able to generate a powerful force-field around himself that none of the Superfriends' attacks were able to penetrate, and was also able to unleash it to knock them back.[38]
- Flight: Lex's experiment granted him the ability to fly.[38]
- Super strength: Following his experiment, Lex was strong enough to dent a steel pipe with a single punch.[38]
- Immortality: As evidenced by both himself and the Superfriends, Lex became immortal after absorbing Leviathan’s powers.
- Invulnerability: An added side benefit of his immortality was that he was incredibly durable. But after being stripped of his powers, Lex was once again vulnerable to physical attacks.
- Telekinesis: After absorbing the powers of Leviathan's operatives, Lex demonstrated the ability to pick up a large rock with his mind, and crush it effortlessly from a distance. He also demonstrated the ability to draw the Phantom Zone projector to himself from several feet away while fighting the Superfriends in the Fortress of Solitude.[38]
- Powers via the AllStone:
- Nigh-omnipotence: When the AllStone was formed and Lex grabbed a third of it (thanks to Esme smashing the whole object), he temporarily had access to nearly unmatched levels of supernatural power.
- Shapeshifting: When Lex obtained the powers of the Allstone, the energy output was too much for his body to handle, and it transformed him into a scaly monster that represented a Phantom.
- Flight: After Lex got his hands on a shard from the AllStone, he was able to soar through the sky at incredible speeds while fighting Nyxly.
- Invulnerability: While Lex was fighting Nyxly, he survived serval attacks from her, that would have killed an ordinary human and was unscathed.
- Energy projection: Lex could use the AllStone to generate a powerful beam of mystical energy strong enough to damage a solar powered Kryptonian.
- Conjuration: Using his piece of the AllStone, Lex summoned various enemies the Superfriends had faced over the last six years.
- Portal creation: Lex was able to open a portal to the Phantom Zone and release all the Phantoms inside, but he wasn’t able to control them.
Abilities[]
- "I will remind you, I have been in prison before. I have been shot and killed and risen from the dead before, and I will not be subjugated again. You should know, I always have a plan."
- —Lex Luthor to Lillian Luthor[src]
- Genius-level intellect/Great business acumen/Master tactician/Leader: A child prodigy turned recognized-genius, Lex's intelligence is nearly unrivaled, quite possibly being the single smartest being on Earth-38, and even easily ranking among the greatest in the multiverse. Mar Novu also deemed Lex's mind as being an important piece to helping the multiverse survive the Crisis.[16] While having no known degrees, he is an immensely well-read and equally multi-skilled individual. Ever calculating and methodical, he is a near flawless planner, able to assess and account for the numerous variables and from this, effectively manipulate the situation to unfold as he sees fit. So effective in his methods, the only individual who was ever capable of outsmarting Lex was Superman. Being among the greatest CEOs of Luthor Corp, his intellect has easily overseen for years the company's daily activities and maintain its status as a multi-billion dollar corporation, all while successfully having hideouts all around the world and leading his minions successfully in secret to defeat any sort of alien-related threats.[7] His immense intelligence and strategical abilities were seen in his years-long war with the tremendously powerful and notoriously intelligent Superman, as Lex was able to stalemate the Man of Steel with many complex plans, plots, and attacks against him, although in the end, Superman ultimately defeated and exposed his true nature to the public.[6] Lex was also able to efficiently and patiently program his escape from prison by infiltrating Eve Teschmacher at Lena Luthor's side to get her research, intentionally giving himself cancer to have himself placed under house arrest in his mansion, to curing himself of his disease and effortlessly kill his handlers with the mansion's secret defenses to escape, all while catching his extremely intelligent sister completely off-guard.[5] Lex even managed to survive the destruction of the Multiverse by changing his destiny to becoming a Paragon and replace Superman of Earth-96.[27] In the new Earth-Prime, Lex once again displayed his exceptional leadership and business skills, running effectively both the D.E.O., Luthor Corp[24] and Obsidian Platinum's world tour. Due to his unimaginable intellect and his evil devotion, Lex was one of the most dangerous men in the multiverse, with Lena even stating that the world would never be safe with him in it.[29]
- Master of deception/Manipulator: Lex is exceptionally talented in the art of deception, as he is able to fool and convince many others of his agenda, to the point that he was able to keep up the façade of being merely a normal person of extreme intelligence and a famous CEO of Luthor Corp while simultaneously fighting Superman to a long standstill, only being exposed as a criminal after Superman defeated and revealed his crimes to the public. Lex's great proficiency as a manipulator and deceiver was so great that even Superman, despite his exceptional perception, was fooled into trusting him for years.[7] Lex is also an extremely talented master of disguises.[1][29]
- Master scientist: Lex has a great aptitude countless fields of study; he was able to inject himself with green kryptonite and understand Lena's research on the Harun-El with ease, despite the fact that it took her months to study it.[5] Lex is also an extremely capable biologist and is considered among the greatest living experts on Kryptonians, having studied them intensively due to his obsession with destroying Superman.[5] His mastery regarding said aliens is acknowledged even by various governments over the world.[1]
- Master engineer: Lex is a brilliant inventor, specializing in various scientific fields of engineering, with Lena noting despite her own great proficiency, Lex still outshines her. An extremely talented engineer, he was able to design many sophisticated devices such as an "earthquake machine" that triggered a fault line in California,[6] a device to turn Earth's sun red,[5] a warsuit to argument his physical attributes,[7] a secret computer room inside his cell,[8] a wrist teleportation device,[22][29] and many other weapons.
- Medical knowledge: Though he was never explicitly stated to have an M.D. or doctorate, Lex demonstrated satisfactory resourcefulness and remarkable knowledge in the medical field, as he was able to make a correct diagnosis of his condition, as well as cure himself.[5]
- Computer specialist/Master computer hacker: Lex was able to build a miniaturized computer into his watch and use it to take control of various complex devices, such as Luthor Corp's and his mansion's security systems.[5] Lex's computer expertise is so advanced that he managed to disable with ease the security systems of Mar Novu's laboratory on Maltus, going so far as to describe them as "a joke".[28]
- Multilingualism: Lex is capable of fluently speaking English, Latin,[5] and Kaznian-dialect Russian.[1] He can also read and write in Kryptonese.
- Network: Lex had a dense network of information throughout the world; despite being in a maximum security prison, he maintained enough influence and connections to hire the professional assassin John Corben to kill Lena,[6] orchestrate the assassination attempt of James Olsen,[5][49] manipulate the government to have his sister work with the D.E.O., and organize his escape from house arrest.[5]
- Litigation: He successfully defended himself as a pro se litigant in his trial for crimes against humanity.
- Expert hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: Lex is a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist. While wearing his battle armor, which gave him the necessary physical powers needed to combat a Kryptonian, he proved to be able to single-handedly compete against Superman. Despite being able to put up a fierce fight to the point of stalemating the superhero on several occasions, Lex is ultimately less skilled then his ex-best friend-turned-archenemy, as Superman was eventually able to best and incarcerate Lex in their final/prolonged confrontation.[14][48] Although he has proved to be a formidable opponent for Supergirl in two of their confrontations,[1][22] Lex's combat skills are proven to be inferior to master level combatants/martial artists; such as Clark Kent of Earth-167[25] and Kate Kane respectively,[27] however, despite this, he demonstrated to be able to effortlessly fight bare-handed a group of much larger men during a prison riot.[36]
- Expert marksman: Lex is highly trained in using firearms, capable of shooting and killing a group of US Navy soldiers using a single shot each.[1] He later used his revolver to shoot and kill William Dey with two precise shots to the chest.
- Artistic: Lex is an incredibly skilled sculptor, considering it to be "mere geometry".[1]
- "Lex is completely unhinged. His obsession with Superman is out of control. He'll stop at nothing to kill him and I am very afraid that a lot of people are going to get hurt... or killed in the process."
- —Lena Luthor to Andrea Rojas[src]
- Indomitable will/High tolerance for pain: A driven and determined person, Lex is nearly fearless and almost never gives up, as proven by his lifelong feud with Superman. Lex's willpower is so strong that he managed to enter a radioactive chamber - voluntarily poisoning himself with radiation - in order to get cancer, without having the slightest hesitation,[1] as well as to orchestrate the rest of his master plan despite his failing health.[5] Later on, despite sustaining two gunshot wounds to the chest from Lena Luthor, Lex refused to give in to his wounds until he fully revealed to a dismayed Lena that her best friend, Kara Danvers, is Supergirl - successfully damaging his half-sister's friendship with Kara.[22] His willpower is strong enough that he was able to use the Book of Destiny without losing his sanity in the process.[27]
- Intimidation: Lex is universally regarded as an extremely dangerous individual and among Earth's most feared men; he commands an intimidating presence, to the point where most humans and aliens are afraid of him.
Weaknesses[]
- "Lex went insane.
Exactly. And if they could take the brightest mind on Earth and drive him crazy defending himself, imagine what they could do to you." - —Lena and Lillian Luthor on Lex Luthor[src]
- Mental instability: Lex is extremely arrogant, erratic, cruel, unstable and delusional, believing himself intellectually superior to the rest of the world and Superman. He grew to resent Superman's popularity with the public and his animosity against the superhero eventually corrupted him, resulting in all of Lex's personal relationships collapsing, including that with his half-sister, Lena Luthor[9] and his then-girlfriend, Mercy Graves.[10] Lex even went so far as to inject himself with Kryptonite to keep his obsession at bay.[5] He is also very overconfident about his schemes and takes no further caution beyond his initial plans, greatly losing his temper if something happen beyond his expectations.[5] The fact that Lex had not learned from Superman's ability to defeat him - not only in direct combat, but also outsmart and reveal his crimes to the public - also proves that he is incapable of learning from his mistakes, as Lex still proclaims to be the strongest and most intelligent individual on the entire planet.
- Lack of empathy: Despite Lex's intellect, he completely lack any ability to emotionally connect with others; though he was able to figure out on his own that Kara Danvers is Supergirl, Lex failed to realize Superman's secret identity as Clark Kent, simply because he can't imagine a frail human like Clark to be someone as powerful as Superman and simply deeming it as "ridiculous".[25]
- Obsession with Kryptonians: It has been noted often[29][38] that Lex has an obsession with destroying Kryptonians or proving that he is better than they are intellectually. This obsession has been used to the advantage of the Superfriends to distract Lex from other maneuvers on their part.
Former weaknesses[]
- Failing health: After voluntarily locking himself in a radioactive chamber,[1] Lex had a stroke and developed inoperable cancer. However, he was able to cure his condition after hijacking his sister's research on the Harun-El.[5]
Equipment[]
- Lexosuit: Lex has created a high-tech battle suit, nicknamed "Lexosuit",[14] which gave him enhanced strength, durability, flight, energy blasts and advanced weaponry, among other capabilities.[7] He used it to better match Superman.[14][48]
- Watch: Lex always carries with him a special watch of his own invention with which he is able to remotely control various devices,[5] as well as teleport himself across various distances by opening transmatter portals.[22][29]
- Guns: Lex is an expert in using multiple types of guns. He keeps a pistol holstered inside his jacket, though only used it in emergencies.[1]
- Lapel pin: Lex got a pin from Gamemnae in order to protect himself from the protective shield radiation that hurt all but Jarhanpurians after he was welcomed into the organization.[37]
Former equipment[]
- Book of Destiny: Lex stole from Mar Novu a book which allows him to alter reality[25] and even after it was taken back from him, he kept a page with him to make himself a Paragon.[27]
- Solar hammer: When Lex invaded the Fortress of Solitude, he took the solar hammer and used it to try to destroy the Fortress, but he was stopped by the Superfriends.[38]
Appearances[]
Supergirl[]
Batwoman[]
Season 1[]
The Flash[]
Season 6[]
- "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Three"
- "A Girl Named Sue" (pictured)
- "Death of the Speed Force" (flashbacks)
Season 8[]
- "Impulsive Excessive Disorder" (mentioned)
Arrow[]
Season 8[]
DC's Legends of Tomorrow[]
Season 5[]
Season 7[]
- "The Need for Speed" (name seen)
Comics[]
Crisis on Infinite Earths Giant[]
EARTH-PRIME[]
- "Flesh and Mud" (flashbacks)
- "Savior Complex" (mentioned)
Gallery[]
Promotional images[]
Supergirl[]
Season 4[]
Crisis on Infinite Earths[]
Trivia[]
- It's strongly implied that Lex's baldness is an inherited trait which he gained from his father instead of something caused by an accident as generally represented.
- Lex is the third known human capable to understand Kryptonese, after Winn Schott and Thomas Coville.
- It is stated that Lena had already been adopted when Lex was 13, thus, placing his birth year as 1984 at the earliest, making him around 9 years older than Lena and at least 5 years younger than Superman.[2]
- This also makes him the second version of Lex Luthor who is younger than Superman, after Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal in the DC Extended Universe.
- Lex appears to be a fan of Frank Sinatra.[22]
- He is implied to be a fan of the Alien film franchise.[28]
- According to Lena, Lex made fun of her relentlessly over her love for the film, Titanic.[13]
- Lex and Eobard Thawne share very similar characteristics; they are both uniquely brilliant scientists in their own right and obsessed in destroying their arch-nemeses out of paranoia and/or jealousy; Superman and The Flash, respectively.
- Having killed millions of people during the years of his war against Superman, as well as dozens of F.B.I. agents in his first physical appearance, Lex is arguably the main villain with the highest body count in the Arrowverse, alongside Vandal Savage and the Anti-Monitor.
Behind the scenes[]
- Lex Luthor first appeared in Action Comics #23 (April, 1940) and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. While the Golden Age version was known as Alexei Luthor, the Silver Age versions was known as Lex Luthor. He is considered to be the intelligent and ruthless archenemy of Superman. He appears as a brilliant mad scientist in the Pre-Crisis era and a corrupt billionaire industrialist in the Post-Crisis era with a personal vendetta against the Man of Steel. Even though Lex has always been a controversial figure in the public eye, he has also maintained political popularity, once serving as the President of the United States.
- Lex's act of creating an earthquake in California[6] is a reference to the original 1978 Superman film, where Luthor's master plan was to use the quake to sink the West Coast and turn the near-worthless desert real estate he'd bought up into valuable water-front property.
- James reveals that Lex and Clark were friends in youth, before becoming enemies. This is one of several aspects from Supergirl taken from Smallville, rather than the original Superman mythology.
- Jon Cryer also portrayed Lex Luthor's nephew, Lenny Luthor, in the 1987 DC film, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, which is widely regarded as the most disappointing Superman movie ever.
- According to Cryer himself, the film's less than sterling reputation was half the reason he accepted the role, alongside his love of the first Superman movie and the comics, as he wanted the opportunity to do the Luthor name justice.[50]
- Lex served as one of the main antagonists of Season 4 alongside Agent Liberty and one of the main antagonists of Season 6 alongside Nyxlygsptlnz of Supergirl.
- This also makes him the third male main antagonist of Supergirl after Non in Season 1 and Agent Liberty earlier in Season 4.
- Lex is also the second character to have been the main antagonist of two different seasons (Supergirl Season 4 and Season 6).
- Interestingly enough, this is the first live-action adaptation of Lex Luthor with facial hair.
- Lex having an inoperable cancer after injecting himself with Kryptonite is a reference from the original comics, where he discovered that Kryptonite radiation was deadly to humans (if not quite so fast-acting as it is with Kryptonians) after he began wearing a Kryptonite ring to keep Superman at bay and later developed cancer.
- In a flashback from "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", Lex turned Earth's sunlight red in a bid to de-power Superman. This is a nod to the Superman: War of the Supermen storyline of 2010, when he briefly turned the sun red to save Earth from an invasion of hostile Kryptonians.
- In "The House of L", it was mentioned that Lex was named after Alexander the Great, a reference from the DC comic books.
- Lex is the sixth character in the Arrowverse to be brought back to life without time travel, after Sara Lance, Kuasa, Damien Darhk, Otis Graves, and Nate Heywood.
References[]
Other versions of Lex Luthor | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
To see other versions of this character, click the Earth name below for that Earth's counterpart of Lex Luthor. | ||||
New multiverse | ||||
Earth: Prime • TUD25 • Inverse World | ||||
Original multiverse | ||||
Earth: 38 • 75 • 96 • 167 • 1938 • TUD22 • TUD16 | ||||
Transmultiversal multiverse | ||||
Earth: |