- NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Lex Luthor from the Arrowverse. The mainstream version can be found here: Lex Luthor.
| “ | He is not a man! I was the Man of Tomorrow! Not him! NOT! HIM! | „ |
| ~ Lex angrily expressing his hatred of Superman to his sister Lena prior to his arrest. |
| “ | 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 mocked you, humiliated you, betrayed you. Every... last... one. Denial's a very powerful thing, isn't it? It's been standing right in front of you all this 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's last words to Lena before his death just as he reveals Supergirl's identity to her. |
| “ | Maybe not the Lex you know. The multiverse is a way of lining fates. I am here for you. (Clark: Whoever you are, I'm just a guy working on his farm.) You will always be my greatest enemy on any earth. It's written in the stars and in this book, or I wouldn't know that on this earth, Clark Kent... is Superman. Where I come from, that would be ridiculous. He can't see past his glasses. | „ |
| ~ Lex Luthor confronting Earth-167 Clark Kent. |
| “ | HOW DARE YOU!? I gave you the world! Everything! I supported you! I sabotaged nothing, touched nothing! I set aside my own goals for you! (whispering) Because you needed to see your little project fail with your own eyes. To know the true depravity of humanity. To know that my way was the ONLY WAY! | „ |
| ~ Lex's villainous breakdown to Lena when she decides to abandon him and redeem herself. |
Lex Luthor is a major antagonist in the Arrowverse.
He is the overall main antagonist of Supergirl, serving as an unseen antagonist in Season 2, as one of the two main antagonists (along with Agent Liberty) of Season 4, and as a major antagonist in Season 5. He also appears in the crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths as a supporting character.
He is the former CEO of Luthor Corp (later L-Corp) and the archenemy of Superman as well as the half-brother of Lena Luthor and the son of Lillian Luthor. He is obsessed with destroying Superman by any means necessary as well as removing all aliens on Earth to prove himself as the superior individual.
He is portrayed by Jon Cryer, who also played Lenny Luthor in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and voiced Freakshow in Danny Phantom.
Contents
Equipment and Abilities
- Lexosuit Applications: Lex Luthor has built himself a technologically advanced exoskeleton which he uses during his crusade against Kryptonians and other extraterrestrials. While wearing the Lexosuit, Lex displays a strong mastery of its combat functions and weapons usage, when compared to other uses of his Lexosuit. The exoskeleton has the power to materialize and de-materialize on him upon his command. The Lexosuit greatly enhances his physical strength and resilience to the point where he can go toe-to-toe against solar-powered Kryptonians. The Lexosuit even possesses onboard technology which projects Kryptonite-based energy beams and can manifest energy shields.
- Harun-El Mutation/Enhanced Physiology (formerly): The Harun-El serum he injected himself with has given Lex great superhuman physical prowess.Lex could levitate by using his flight abilities and block a punch from Supergirl without suffering damage. He was able to physically block Supergirl's punch, lift the entire Daily Planet globe and smash it down on Supergirl. The Harun-El serum he injects himself with has even granted Lex the power to regenerate from his failing health and even cure his self-inflicted cancer and even save Red Daughter from Harun-El withdrawal, by giving the cure to her through a blood transfusion. He lost these abilities when Lena took the Harun-El out of his system with an anti-serum.
- Genius-Level Intelligence: Lex's primary asset is his astounding genius-level intellect, which even amongst the Luthor Family is unrivaled. Lex Luthor has passed a genius-level intellect from a young age, making him a child prodigy during his youth.
- Scientific Mastermind: An extraordinary scientist, Lex is a genius expert on multiple scientific fields such as bio-engineering and biology. He was capable of injecting himself with Green Kryptonite and understanding the Harun-El much faster than Lena did. His mastery of extraterrestrials, especially Kryptonians, is even acknowledged by the governments of the world, is perhaps the greatest expert in the world.
- Master Engineer: Lex is a brilliant inventor with great specialization in multiple fields of engineering that Lena admits to surpass hers, being able to design many sophisticated devices such as an "earthquake machine" that triggered a fault line in California, a device to turn Earth's sunlight red, a warsuit to argument his physical attributes, and secret computer room inside his cell. He is also a master computer programmer, as he was able to turn his watch into a miniaturized computer with which he could seamlessly take over multiple complex devices.
- Master Manipulator and Strategist: Lex was personally trained in playing chess by a chess grandmaster named Anatoly Karpov, which he mastered enough to transfer the knowledge of checkmate to even dimwitted prison inmates. An extremely skilled strategist and manipulator capable of devising extremely complex plans that are backed up further with long term plans and manipulating and deceiving others Lex was able to first deceive Superman for years of his true nature and then stalemate him in their war for an extremely prolonged time before ultimately getting outsmarted and imprisoned. Lex was eventually able to successfully escape his imprisonment.
- Mentoring Capabilities: Lex is a capable teacher and has even spent his prison sentence, mentoring prison inmates to pass on some level of intelligence to them, particularly in playing chess. Lex even mentored red Daughter by sending her books and teaching her chess as well as honing her accent to speak English in a more Americanized accent.
- Miscellaneous Abilities: In addition to his scientific and strategic abilities, Lex also possesses other remarkable intellectual skills. He is an exceptional businessman, with his success in maintaining Luthor Corp's standing as a multi-billionaire corporation being famous throughout the world, and was able to continue this up until his arrest while also engaging in war with Superman with no problems at all. While not known to have either an M.D or doctorate, Lex was a sufficiently knowledgeable and skilled medic to be able to correctly diagnose his condition and heal himself. Lex speaks a variety of languages, particularly English, Latin, Kaznian, Russian, and has even managed to master Kryptonese. Lex also has incredible artistic skills, which he used during his prison sentence to sculpt impressive images on the walls to pass the time due to boredom, with him even noting painting was a mere geometry to him.
- Immense Resources: Even after his incarceration into a maximum-security prison, Lex has somehow maintained his dense network of commodities, assets, influence, information, and connections throughout the world. He was able to arrange for issuing assassination contracts and even manipulated the government to give his sister a position within the D.E.O.
Killed Victims
Directly
- Unnamed Judge
- Unnamed Baliff
- Otis Graves (second time)
- Red Daughter
- Superman (Earth-75)
- Margot Morrison
- Numerous unnamed Kaznian soldiers
- Numerous unnamed DOC agents
- Numerous unnamed humans
- Numerous unnamed aliens
- Countless alternate versions of Superman
Indirectly
- Fiona Byrne
- Mercy Graves
- Otis Graves (third and final time killed by Ben Lockwood)
- Manchester Black
- Lydia Lockwood
- Superman (Earth-96)
- Jeremiah Danvers
- Numerous unnamed White House officials
Appearances
| Appearances of Lex Luthor |
|---|
SupergirlSeason 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
BatwomanSeason 1
The FlashSeason 6
ArrowSeason 8
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
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Trivia
- Luthor's previous friendship with Superman mirrors the same relationship his counterpart had with him in the Smallville series.
- Interestingly, Lex would go on to try and kill the Smallville's version of Superman during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
- Long before he appeared in the series, he was repeatedly referenced and mentioned by many heroes and villains, and he was best remembered for his crimes of terrorism against both human and alien life as well as his rivalry with Superman.
- Although he only appeared in four episodes, Lex ultimately outranked Ben Lockwood, the Children of Liberty, Red Daughter and President Phil Baker as the true main antagonist of Season 4 when it was revealed that they were pawns in his plan the entire season.
- Lex was also behind the formation of the Children Of Liberty and turning Ben Lockwood into Agent Liberty through Mercy and Otis Graves.
- He also knows Kara Danvers is Supergirl, which he later uses to his advantage. During the season finale, he revealed this information to Lena just before his death, ultimately driving a wedge between the two best friends.
- When betraying and destroying the Kaznian army during the Season 4 finale, Lex is singing "My Way" by Frank Sinatra, which also played during the flashback of his trial.
- There were only two archnemesis that ever got to Lex Luthor. The first one is Superman and the second one is Batman.
 Villains
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