History
Lex Luthor: 1970 - Present
Alexander "Lex" Luthor was the first child born to billionaire Lionel Luthor. Lex's mother was Lionel's first wife Lillian. Two days after Lex's eighth birthday, his mother died from leukemia. Lex took this particularly hard and to make matters worse he was not liked in school, and his crying in class weeks after his mother's death only attracted bullies. After Lex was expelled from school for getting in a fight he did not start, he was forced to accompany his father as he conducted business in preparation for a new fertilizer plant. This is what first brought Lex to Smallville, Kansas. While his father was touring the property he had just purchased, Lex wandered off into a nearby cornfield. This happened to be the day in which Smallville was struck by a meteor shower and Lex was caught near ground zero for one of the first meteor collisions. After the shower, Lionel found Lex catatonic and without any of his curly red hair, yet Lex survived which was more fortunate than many others that day. Lex would recover, though his baldness only invited more bullies.
Eventually, Lex came into his element as a teenager where he used his wit, ruthless stratagems, and lots of his father's money to win girls. In college, Lex's behavior often got him in trouble. He and his lab partner Thaddeus "Tad" Sivana were expelled from Ivy University following a fire in the chemistry department. Though Lex was uninjured and did not face criminal charges thanks to a hefty donation from Lionel Luthor, Sivana would not be so lucky. After Ivy, Lex enrolled in Midwestern where he had high marks and impressive scores on tests but was found to be paying others to complete his note book assignments and was likewise expelled. Finally, he attended Metropolis University where he completed the curriculum for an advanced business degree in a matter of fewer than two years, but after Lionel cut him off financially to teach Lex to be self-sufficient, Lex was found to be hacking the school servers to alter grades for other people for profit. When Lex had his degree revoked, he was essentially blacklisted from all other Ivy League university programs.
Frustrated with his son, Lionel Luthor sent Lex to run the Smallville Fertilizer Plant as a last resort for Lex to prove himself worthy of inheriting LuthorCorp. On his first day back to Smallville, Lex established some rather important relations with several people who would become influential in his life. This includes Mercy Graves and the Kent family. Mercy was a LuthorCorp employee that quickly proved herself to be one of Lex's most loyal associates. Lex's first encounter with the Kent family truly left an impression. Upset after realizing that he was being punished and not actually being afforded an opportunity to prove his merit, Lex went for a drive in his sports car. Distracted, Lex lost control of his vehicle as it barreled down toward fifteen-year-old Clark Kent who was in a moment of self-reflection on a bridge over the Loeb River. The car struck Clark at excessive speeds and Lex over-corrected, sending both Lex and Clark into the river.
Lex was still conscious when he saw Clark pull the door off his sports car, but soon after drowned while Clark carried him back the land. Clark applied CPR soon after and saved his life. When Lex regained consciousness, he had a new lease on life. He would question what he saw while underwater but eventually convinced himself his survival was due to destiny telling him he was special and had a purpose, and not due to Clark being special. Though, Lex would often revisit these suspicions.
Lex became friends with Clark Kent, partially due to being curious about how Clark survived the accident, but also because he saw a purity in Clark that Lex himself was fascinated by. Being with Clark reminded Lex of his own innocence which had withered away with the death of his mother. Lex inserted himself in Clark's life in several ways, buying Clark a truck, which Clark's parents refused to accept. Lex then offered Clark a job, but again the Kents resisted and forced Clark to quit after a month. Lex offered to pay for Clark's college tuition, and still, the Kents were hesitant until Lex personally met with them and explained the positive effect Clark had on him.
Soon after meeting Clark, Lex became involved in a number of Clark's teenage adventures, usually allowing Clark access to his immense resources as a favor. The first of these was when Lex found Clark and his friend Pete tied up like scarecrows in a cornfield after-dark near the LuthorCorp Fertilizer Plant, victims of a cruel high school football team tradition. Lex rescued the two but as he was taking them back to his car to drive them to the hospital, Lex noticed a car he didn't recognize parked in front of the plant. Lex went to investigate and told Clark and Pete to stay behind. They didn't listen, but it's a good thing as they found Lex beaten unconscious behind the plant. Pete took Lex back to the car while Clark went on ahead to investigate. Clark found a person planting a bomb and though the bomber escaped, Clark was able to toss the bomb into the cornfield to avoid damage to the plant which would have ended the jobs of a large number of Smallville residents and been a serious black eye on Lex's future with LuthorCorp.
Despite the number of strange happenings at Smallville, Lex managed to turn a profit at the fertilizer plant. He did this by taking an invested interest in the weird things happening in Smallville, many of which Clark had brought to Lex's attention. Lex's gift for strategy, manipulation, and long-term planning proved exceptionally potent here as Lex spun misfortune into fortune and disasters into opportunities. Still, despite Lex's best efforts his father constantly challenged his own agenda. This was especially true when Lex discovered that Lionel himself had taken a competing interest into Lex's research into the meteor rocks of Smallville and the meteor infected residents.
Things with Clark and Lex soured overtime when Clark discovered Lex was looking into the meteor rocks and their origin. Whenever Clark confronted Lex on the matter, Lex would often defensively accuse Clark of keeping his own secrets. Though Lex was always willing to put everything on the table if Clark returned the favor, Clark would always back down or occasionally aggressively tell Lex to stay out of his life. But despite the friction, Lex kept his promise and paid for Clark's college tuition to Midwestern University, hoping that time and distance would mend their relationship. While Clark was away at college, Lex moved back to Metropolis to take a more active role in his father's company.
However, Lionel quickly had second thoughts about keeping Lex close. Lex had innovative ideas but he did not bring them to Lionel to present to the Board of Directors, instead, he would often ambush Lionel's presentations which undermined Lionel's authority. To combat this, Lionel sent Lex to oversee his father's interests in Vlatava and Markovia. Lex recognized this as an obvious ploy to keep Lex away. Lex went without a fight, but not before he and his cohorts broke into LuthorCorp to raid Lionel's office and his personal vault, stock full of data and assorted paraphernalia, much of which had been stolen from Lex's own collection. By the time Lionel discovered the theft, Lex was in another country and had plenty of doctored evidence to assert his alibi. Despite Lex's phony protestations otherwise, Lionel knew he was being played and was determined to never let Lex return to Metropolis until Lex returned what was taken.
But Lex was a patient sort. He consolidated his power in Markovia and Vlatava, making a number of powerful connections among the two governments, including their royal families and influential figures in the business, political, and even criminal spheres. Ultimately, Lex would not remain relegated to Eastern Europe for long. Lionel Luthor took a swan dive out of his high-rise office and Lex was summoned from obscurity by the Board of Directors to take the helm of his family's company. Lex returned with a pregnant Markovian heiress with him as his fiancée. Lex inherited LuthorCorp and its worth skyrocketed. Lex became the Midas of the business world with his incredibly innovative approaches. After Superman appeared, though, Lex was no longer the media's favorite subject. Still, Lex had enough popularity, money, and ideas to take a run for the Oval Office, which he won in 2016's election.[1][2]
Threat Assessment
Resources
- Genius Intellect & Strategic Prodigy
- Expert in Chemistry and Engineering
- Extremely High White Blood Cell Count
- Chairman Emeritus of LuthorCorp
- Business & Political Contacts
- Personal Wealth (~$9.3 Billion)
- Leader of the Free World
- Control of the U.S. Executive Branch
- Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Military
Trivia and Notes
Trivia
- Lex is an atheist.
- Lex's juvenile criminal record includes an incident in which he, as a prank, stole a catering van from a convention his father was hosting. Ultimately no one was hurt, except the forty or so sheet cakes which were spilled over a three mile stretch of road when Lex did not secure the back doors properly before stealing the van.
- Before running for president, Lex put Talia al Ghul in charge of LuthorCorp, under the guise of Miranda Tate.
- One of President Luthor's initiatives is the creation of the Advena Legion.
- Lex owns a castle in Vlatava. Count Werner Zytle let him buy some Vlatavan real estate for a generous contribution to Zytle's coffers.
- He has cancer because of his exposure to Kryptonite.
- As President, Luthor has championed universal healthcare, justice reform (including no longer enforcing federal bans on recreational and medicinal uses of marijuana), and extensive immigration (including extraterrestrial immigration) reform. He has also championed the second amendment, the rights of corporations, and slashed defense spending by considerable margins. He holds a 85% public approval rating.
- He's aware Clark Kent is the Superman thanks to a file he stole from his father before he went to Europe.
- He owns a casino.[3]
Notes
- In E27, the general population don't know about Lex Luthor's criminal activities, he is regarded as a respected business person, and now the president of the United States; even though Superman and most of the Justice League suspects he has been involved in many evil deeds. He is the financial backer of the Legion of Doom, and a member of The Light, two criminal organizations, but the heroes of Earth don't know about it. However Oracle Files: Gorilla Grodd indicates he withdrawn his support.
- In E27 Lex company it's called LuthorCorp instead of LexCorp simply because Roy thinks the name "LexCorp" is silly. Not many people name their Fortune 500 Companies after their first name.
- The theft of cakes is a nod to the Super Dictionary.
Links and References
- Appearances of Lex Luthor
- Character Gallery: Lex Luthor