Hiram Lodge

"You wanted a more active role in Lodge Industries, and we let you have it. Then you break into my office and try to use whatever you find as leverage. Now I admit, there's a lot you don't know, and that's on purpose. Mija, you think you want to know everything, but you don't."

- Hiram to his daughter, Veronica.

Hiram Lodge​ is the main antagonist of the CW Soap Opera Riverdale.

He first serves as the unseen overarching antagonist of the first season before appearing as the central antagonist of the second season and the main antagonist of the third season. He is the father of Veronica Lodge and the husband of Hermione Lodge.

He was portrayed by Mark Consuelos as an adult and Michael Consuelos as a teenager.

​Season 1
Prior to the events of the first season, Lodge was put on trial and arrested due to fraud and embezzlement, forcing his wife Hermione and daughter Veronica to move to Riverdale. Throughout the series, Lodge was working behind the scenes doing things such as sending a large bag of money for Hermione to give to the Southside Serpents as reward for de-valuing the profit of the local Drive-In cinema. FP informed Hermione that, upon being informed that she was in a relationship with Fred Andrews, Lodge hired men to come down to his construction site and damage the equipment, the men also attacked one of his volunteer workers. At the end of the season, Hermione told Veronica that Hiram was being released and would be moving to Riverdale to live with them.

​Season 2
In season 2, Hiram is indeed released from prison and appeared towards the end of the season premier where he reconnects with Veronica and Hermione. He warmly greets his daughter yet is mildly disappointed with her not being home for his arrival, however he remains happy nonetheless. Once hearing Veronica mention Fred Andrews and his condition after being shot by the Angel of Death, Hiram immediately turns to his wife possibly suspecting that she still has feelings for him.

In the next episode, Hiram is seen attempting to re-connect with Veronica and bring his family back together sadly however his daughter wants nothing to do with him prompting Hiram to go searching for Veronica, he then talks to her commenting on how much he deeply missed Veronica and Hermione while in prison; he still attempts to heal his family's relationship however Veronica reveals to him that she can't let go of the past and apologizes for not being able to; she then tells Hiram about her plan to work with her friends in a protest against the local café Pop's from closing to which Hiram offers his help for in any way he can. Veronica accused Hiram of buying out Pop's as an anonymous buyer much to his annoyance and confusion, he then told Veronica to sit down since he wished to explain himself to her. Veronica then lashed out at her father accusing him of shooting Fred otherwise hiring the Angel of Death to do it, despite his claims and denies over having any involvement in Fred's shooting Veronica disbelieves it and reveals to Hermione a threatening letter towards Hermione thinking it was Hiram himself when it was truly Hermione herself who wrote it in order to convince Veronica to testify on behalf of Hiram; appalled and distraught over what they have done Veronica abruptly leaves telling her parents that they were perfect for each other. As a way of apologizing Hiram and Hermione go to the celebration for Pop's where Veronica agrees to have a fresh start with her family; both of her parents then promise her complete honesty in the future and Hiram offers that Lodge Industries make a great deal of assistance towards Pop's. Hiram reveals to Hermione that they actually own the Pop's restaurant, Hiram then reveals that Hermione lied over the letter to which he thanks her for her loyalty.

In the next episode, Veronica requests to her father to bring her friends around to watch TV to which he kindly agrees, Veronica then after her friends appear skeptical (due to the recent attack from the shooter) when she brings up the offer reveals that her true motive is for her friends to meet her father. Hiram is then introduced to Veronica's friends and even gives them advice upon the recent incidents before going off to dinner with Hermione, he then presents Archie with the offer of joining he, Hermione and Veronica for dinner the following week in order to hear his ideas on how he plans to help Riverdale.

The night of the dinner comes and Hiram tells his wife to stop her attempts at ruining his relationship with Veronica to which she agrees to showing visible fear towards Hiram. Abruptly afterwards Hiram compliments her and goes down the stairs in preparation.

During the dinner, Hiram questions Archie on his actions and compliments his achievements before asking Archie if he would like a drink of rum. He takes Archie to his study to take the rum in private and refuses Veronica's entry. In the study the two sit down and Hiram discusses with Archie about the group he started called the Red Circle, he then begs Archie to never hurt Veronica and warns him to lay off the Black Hood case since the latter is thriving on terror as this will make him lay off of his stress, the two then raise their glasses to each other and drink whilst watching the fire. The following morning Veronica asks Hiram to have more involvement in Lodge Industries to which he allows and even decides to let her into his previously restricted study in the future. At the end of the episode he is seen watching the video the Red Circle uploaded threatening the Black Hood and looking impressed with Archie's hard work in forming the group. He then rotates his chair to admire the painting of his daughter on the wall.

Hiram's role appears more minor in some of the following episodes until episode 19 where he is angry towards Alice Cooper for accusing his daughter of lying and later when accused of still being in contact with the St Clairs by Veronica Hiram swears harshly that he isn't. He then implicitly gets revenge on Nick St Clair for attempting to rape his daughter by staging a traffic collision although these events remain unconfirmed.

In the season finale, at the Whyte Wyrm, Hiram calls a meeting with all his accomplices i.e. Penny Peabody, Penelope Blossom, Claudius Blossom, Malachai and Sheriff Minetta. It's been months in the making but the time has finally arrived. Hiram welcomes them all to New Southside. Penelope asks about Hermione, who Hiram explains can't be privy to certain machinations now that she's mayor. However, the plan remains the same. The prison will soon be up and operational, with Claudius' drugs running through it. "Like brother, like brother", Penny comments. Malachai and his Ghoulies will be their soldiers and dealers, with Penny troubleshooting. And hopefully, doing a better job than she did of killing Jughead, Hiram remarks. However, as Penny explains, he wasn't breathing when they left him. Penelope reminds Hiram that he promised her a brothel, which Hiram intends to make good on. As for Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica, they are not of concern as far as Hiram is concerned as steps have been taken to tear them apart.

In addition to that, he sets Archie up to be arrested by Minetta for the murder of Shadow Lake resident, Cassidy Bullock. He watches in the gym as Archie is taken away just before his inauguration as student body president.

Season 3
Archie is declared guilty, and Hiram is shown to be happy about this. He antagonizes Veronica and claims that he framed Archie for murder as "punishment for her betrayal." When Archie and the other prisoners start a game of football in prison, Hiram puts an end to it by orchestrating an ambush. He then attempts to frame Veronica and Reggie for drug use. Later, it is revealed that Hiram was involved in the "Gryphons and Gargoyles" game back in high school. Back in present day, Veronica helps Archie escape from prison. Hiram tries to stop this, but he fails.

At some point, Betty tricks all the parents who played G&G into attending a meeting held by her. Hiram is suspected to be the Gargoyle King, and Jughead confronts him about this later. Veronica, who is trying to clear Archie's name, finds a video of Sheriff Minetta forcing one of Cassidy Bullock's friends to blame Cassidy's murder on Archie under Hiram's commands, and she sends it to the authorities. However, she is caught breaking into Hiram's room, and she is locked in a prison cell. In order to destroy all evidence and make himself appear as innocent, Hiram has all of Cassidy's friends killed, as they were all witnesses to Cassidy's murder.

Personality
Hiram's full personality is unclear however he appears to be an intimidating yet polite, charming and gentlemanly man, he is shown to be very professional and respectful to others and does have a deep love for his daughter.

Despite this however, Hiram has a dark side since he's also manipulative and is infamous for his embezzlement and even goes as far as to threaten and slander his wife for his own gain. But, he doesn't only focus on manipulating Hermione and Veronica, he also manipulates Archie throughout the second season by first gaining Archie's trust only to nearly ruin his relationship with his father, Fred.

Hiram doesn't value human-life and cares nothing about the deaths murders caused by the Gargoyle King. Hiram also show little to no remorse or sadness of the suicides that have happened, indicating a lack of base empathy. Hiram is a classic con artist - his go-to method being tricking people with the underlying goal of collecting more and more power and wealth. He takes pride in his ruthless business tactics and genuine ingenuity.