Lex Luthor
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Real Identity: Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor
Affiliations: LexCorp, Project Cadmus, The Light, and United Nations
Appearances (Episodes): Targets, Revelation, Misplaced, Agendas, Usual Suspects, Auld Acquaintance, Alienated, Satisfaction, Darkest, True Colors, Runaways, The Hunt, Endgame, Royal We, Evolution, Home Fires, Influence, Elder Wisdom, Antisocial Pathologies, Into the Breach, Overwhelmed, Nevermore, The Lady, or The Tigress?, Odnu!, Leviathan Wakes, Beyond the Grip of the Gods! (Hallucination), Forbidden Secrets of Civilizations Past! (Hallucination), Rescue and Search (Hallucination), and Over and Out (Hallucination)
Appearances (Comics): Players Chapter Two, Players Chapter Three, Evocative Intel, Metallic Aftertaste, and Last Rights
Appearances (Games): Legacy
Powers/Skills: Genius, Science, Technology, and Manipulation
Voiced By: Mark Rolston
Lex Luthor is a powerful and influential figure in the political and business community, a captain of industry, and a brilliant scientist. He owns the LexCorp conglomerate. Although the company conducts many legitimate businesses, it is also used as a front for covert arms trading and many other illegal activities. Over the years, Luthor became a long-time rival of Superman. Luthor firmly believes the best resources a person has are that of their mind.
Lex Luthor founded Project Cadmus and initiated cloning projects to create a suitable match for Superman. Project Match was a failure since Kryptonian DNA was too difficult to read using current technology. For Project Kr, Luthor donated his DNA to help bridge gaps in their Kryptonian DNA and create a stable clone. Luthor became a part of the Light as one of its core seven members. He helped further its influence on September 7th. Luthor volunteered to be an independent arbitrator for a Rhelasian peace summit in Taipei. He was saved by Red Arrow from assassination upon his arrival. While denying Arrow's accusation of shell companies selling weapons to both nations, Luthor maintained his intentions were good despite LexCorp would make billions from a united Rhelasia. He manipulated Red Arrow to further play into his agenda by opposing the League of Shadows. When the last assassin attempted to kill Luthor, Mercy Graves stepped in and blasted him. Luthor was thanked by the delegates and influenced them to willingly sign a treaty, paving the way for a possible reunification. Luthor and Ra's Al Ghul celebrated the Light's latest victory.
On November 25th, Luthor broadcasted on a frequency only Superboy and animals could hear and invited him to meet at East Potomac Park. Luthor introduced himself as the new Chairman of the Board for Project Cadmus and alerted him to the existence of another Super-Clone. When Superboy awoke from having lost to Match, Luthor gifted him with a tin box filled with Shields. One Shield could give Superboy full access to his powers for one hour. He learned from Dubbilex that Luthor was the founder of Project Cadmus and started the cloning projects with Dr. Desmond. Superboy confronted Luthor and learned about his genetic connection. Luthor insisted Superboy keep the Shields then uttered the phrase "Red Sun." Superboy was neutralized for several hours. When he came to, Luthor was long gone. On December 30th, after Superboy used his last Shield, Luthor contacted Superboy via high frequency and instructed him to go to Santa Prisca. When Superboy agreed to work for him in exchange for more Shields, Luthor was not convinced and immobilized him with the Red Sun phrase. When the Team arrived, Luthor withdrew with Graves and Queen Bee.
In Team Year One, the search for Speedy began. Lex Luthor was shadowed in shifts by Red Arrow, Guardian, Black Canary, Green Arrow, and the Team. After everyone gave up the search, Red Arrow continued on alone. On October 26th, 01:25 Korea Standard Time (KST), he infiltrated on of Luthor's robotics plants in Seoul. Red Arrow continued tracking Luthor's operations and was continually opposed by Cheshire, such as in Athens on December 25th. On September 16th, 21:45 EST, Team Year Four, Luthor met with the Riddler at Gotham's Museum of Antiquities - in the Babylonian Wing. On February 15th, 20:00 Moscow Standard Time (MSK), Team Year Five, Red Arrow observed another meeting between Luthor and Riddler in Moscow. He learned they were after some sort of a statue.
In cooperation with the Light's plan to activate Tiamat and use her as a weapon, Lex Luthor contributed LexCorp tech, from drilling equipment, laser cannons, satellite jamming systems, to various types of robots. On February 17th, Team Year Five, the Team observed the presence of LexCorp tech in Verhoyansk and even commandeered a LexCorp cargo ship while tracking a signal from Dr. Sandsmark. Batman shared Justice League intelligence that Luthor was overseeing a mining operation on Santa Prisca. The intel was indeed correct. Luthor was part of an operation to excavate a fragment of the Tiamat statue deep below the heavily modified Atabey's Shrine. When the Team arrived, Luthor fled the scene up the river aboard his fleet of hovercrafts with the fragment. Aquaman and Alpha Squad caught up and disabled the vehicles. Luthor left the fragment behind and flew off on his hovering device.
In Team Year Six, on March 21st, Lex Luthor became the target of Speedy, who wanted revenge for having eight years of his life stolen. Luthor anticipated this eventual confrontation and prepared to offer him an advanced cybernetic arm. After Speedy blew up his office, Luthor retrieved the arm from his secret room and made haste to the parking structure. After Speedy dispatched Mercy Graves, he wrapped Luthor's right arm with Detonation Cord. Before Speedy could kill Luthor, he was surrounded by the LexCorp security team. Luthor then offered him the arm, a choice between revenge or satisfaction. Speedy chose the latter and spared Luthor's life. Lex Luthor and the Reach teamed up and announced a new initiative to end world hunger by increasing food production. On April 9th, following Alpha Squad's mission, Lex Luthor and Vandal Savage surveyed a production area in LexCorp Farms. As they anticipated, the Team took a sample of the Reach additive. Luthor mused the Light should form a team of their own and presented photographs of the four teenagers experimented on by the Reach and saved by the Team.
Luthor watched over the teenagers for weeks. On May 13th, to aid in their planned escape, Luthor secretly staged a power outage in S.T.A.R. Labs and sent in Red Volcano and later the press as a distraction. On May 14th, Luthor approached the teenagers at a wrecked bus depot in Taos. He admitted his hand in helping them escape, Blue Beetle was an agent of the Reach, and he was being used by the Reach. Luthor pledged his resources to protect them and help them take control of their destinies. On May 29th, Luthor initiated a plan to use the runaways as a distraction so Deathstroke could infiltrate the Warworld and steal the Crystal Key. Luthor gifted the runaways with a Father Box and a mission to rescue the Team on Warworld, an act that could both return the favor to the Team and strike a blow to the Reach. They accepted the mission and boomed to the Warworld. On May 30th, 00:33 MDT, Luthor was annoyed to see they returned with Arsenal. Arsenal quickly deduced Luthor's scheme. Asami Koizumi destroyed the Father Box and laptop given by Luthor and the team ended their affiliation with him.
On June 20th, Lex Luthor used Tseng's private line to the Watchtower and presented his solution to save the world, anti-Reach software. At 08:16 EDT, Luthor addressed the heroes gathered and instructed them on how to disable the Magnetic Field Disrupters. He then returned to his office at LexCorp and observed the heroes' progress. When the last Disrupter was found too late, Luthor proposed the Flash and Impulse run counter to the chrysalis' energy flow. The Atom recognized the strategy and advised them to keep running until the chrysalis was completely neutralized. On July 4th, G. Gordon Godfrey nominated Lex Luthor as Tseng's successor as United Nations Secretary-General much to Superman's dismay. Luthor became Secretary-General and used the Justice League's United Nations charter to place more and more restrictions on the team. It was assumed he also worked behind the scenes to turn other nations against the League. In January Team Year Eight, the Joker attempted to blow up the United Nations and kill Luthor and all ambassadors as revenge for being used as a pawn by the Light eight years ago. Batman, his proteges, and Batwoman intervened.
On July 30th, 14:21 EDT, Team Year Eight, Catherine Cobert finished her address to the General Assembly. Luthor commented it went without saying that the independent nations of the world were deeply disappointed that some of the Justice Leaguers didn't seem to believe in the values that the League claims to represent. After Ambassadors Garth, Troia, Sumaan Harjavti, and Kaizen Gamorra exchanged words about the subject, Luthor called for order and gave the floor to Ambassador Zviad Baazovi of Markovia. On September 8th, Cassandra Savage called up Luthor then handed the tablet to Vandal Savage. Luthor greeted him and asked to what he owed the pleasure of his call. Savage informed him of an armada of warships currently beyond the Kuiper Belts on a course towards Earth. He asked Luthor if he could alert the Justice League. At 15:09 EDT, in his United Nations office, Luthor noted half the League resigned thanks to the restrictions he persuaded members of the nations to impose and the other half didn't have the firepower to stop an armada.
Luthor inquired about the Leaguers deployed on their galactic goodwill tour. Savage revealed he was keeping them busy on Appelxia. Luthor asked about the Green Lantern Corps. Savage told him half the Corps were battling the Reach thanks to the Light's manipulations and the other half was occupied fighting the forces of Apokolips. Luthor asked about Klarion but remembered he was working on Project Rutabaga. He admitted they did too much of a good job. Savage decided to protect their interests personally. On September 28th, 22:03 UTC+3, the Light met in a facility in Greater Bialya to discuss two delicate situations, dealing with Ocean-Master and verifying Nightwing formed his own covert team. On September 30th, 01:01 UTC+3, Lady Shiva reported to the Light that Ocean-Master was dealt with. Gretchen Goode stated a plan was in place to deal with Nightwing's covert team in good time.
On November 4th, 11:05 EST, Luthor commented on the League shutting down several meta-human trafficking centers. He downplayed it as a "few kids" they dumped in Taos then focused on the League failing to coordinate with local authorities which led to the big players of the meta-trafficking ring vanishing into the wood work. He believed their methods also further antagonized national and international governments with whom they should be cooperating with. On November 6th, 20:18 EST, Luthor appeared on The G. Gordon Godfrey Show in New York to comment on Ambassador Troia and Catherine Cobert's public denounciation of Luthor's restrictions on the League. Live on the air, Godfrey jokingly asked Luthor how he found the time to be a leader of nations and the supervillain the League frames him to be. Luthor laughed, admitted it was exhausting, and stated he had grown weary of the tit-for-tat public statements. He stressed the need for accountability and transparency then used that to justify the United Nations having a satellite parked next to the Watchtower for the last two years.
Godfrey noted even his Lexcorp had oversight. Luthor revealed he placed Lexcorp in a blind trust to avoid a conflict of interest with his current duties at the United Nations and reiterated his sister Lena Luthor now runs the company. Godfrey noted she recently made headlines by pledging Lexcorp funds to the Meta-Human Youth Center in Taos and asked if he was saying he had nothing to do with the charitable grandstanding. Luthor teased he was not saying anything at all. Later that month, Lex and Lena Luthor and Gretchen Goode handed a donation to Eduardo Dorado Senior for the Meta-Human Youth Center. By December 4th, Luthor restricted League action pending United Nations review. On December 31st, 09:00 CAT, Godrey reported live from the United Nations climate summit in Bwundasa and spoke with Ambassadors Garth and Baazovi, Luthor, and General M'barra. Luthor clarified the summmit's location was not because his company owned the hotel it was being held at but because M'barra invited the United Nations then stated global warming affected everyone. He concluded with a statement the new year would bring a new chance to set the world right. They stopped for a photo op.
Luthor pretended to be shocked after Ambassador Garth was darted in the neck by the Bwundaian Independence Front, which was really the League of Shadows in disguise. They attempted to flee and were saved by the Outsiders. With M'barra's permission, Luthor called in the League. The Flash responded and ended the crisis. Luthor then stated the system worked and the Outsiders were amateurs who entered the country illegally then inflated Kid Flash being knocked away by an exploding arrow to prove his point. Flash stated the League was happy to help then leaned to Luthor and told him he refused to be part of his dog and pony show then left. A liberated meta-human named Lia Briggs confirmed to the joint Team-Outsiders team that the whole incident was staged to slam the Outsiders. En route in a private jet, Cassandra Savage called Luthor on an encrypted channel. He implored her to ask her questions despite her hesitance to overstep. She noted Troia and Garth survived and asked they failed. Luthor admitted it would have been nice if they were eliminated but told her defaming the Outsiders was the primary objective.
Savage noticed the Outsiders were still trending positive. Luthor assured her they were right into their hands. She noted they captured Briggs. He countered she could not confirm his involvement. Savage believed they would know. Luthor stated knowing and proving were two different things. On January 1st, 20:03 EST, Team Year Nine, Godfrey and Luthor went over the Outsiders' appearance in Dublin and the subsequent factory explosion. Luthor stated it was wonderful Moira Malone was rescued but he believed the local constabulary could have managed it then defamed the Outsiders for rushing in and causing massive property damage as expected. Godfrey asked if it was an isolated incident or a pattern. Luthor believed it was the latter. He cited Bwunda and concluded they showed the maturity of kids putting on a show in their backyward. He called it appalling that Flash, Wonder Woman, and the League allowed any of it. He claimed to know that the parents and guardians of these Outsiders were not onboard with their antics.
Luthor called upon the nations of the world to authorize a new hero registry to catalog, unmask, and regulate all vigilantes, cracking down on them and holding them accountable, even for the actions of their wayward proteges. He recalled such a registry existed in the 1950s. Godfrey yawned and called his words inaccurate, presenting recent social media posts that proved Outsiders' parents were 100 percent onboard. He played a video the original Flash Jay Garrick started an account just to post. Godfrey then noticed Garrick posted a response to Luthor's comments saying the fascist hero registry didn't work in the 1950s and it won't work now. Godfrey declared Luthor was on the wrong side of everyone on the topic. Backstage, Luthor was irate. Godfrey told him the script needed changing and he needed a wake up call because he took the wrong approach, allowing a personal vendetta to cloud his judgement. Luthor feigned ignorance.
Godfrey pointed out the Dublin factory was where he secretly stored his Spider Bots and he lost a fortune in the explosion and his attacks on the Outsiders only increased their popularity. He advised Luthor not to attack but to embrace. Luthor understood, he had to embrace and co-opt. Luthor had a public team of young meta-heroes formed. They were named Infinity Inc. and were composed of three members: Fury, Trajectory, and Everyman. On January 22nd, 17:20 ICT, the Light held a meeting. Goode lamented the incursion at her home. They later met to discuss Dr. Jace's trade for Halo. On January 25th, 20:21 EST, while in his office at Lexcorp, Luthor checked 1K Wordsworth and saw hashtag WeAreAllOutsiders was still ahead of hashtag InfinityInc. He made a call. He checked Wordsworth after Infinity Inc. battled Killer Frost and saw the two hashtags were now tied. On January 26th, 09:57 EST, Infinity Inc. met in secret with Luthor in his limousine in an alley in Manhattan. The Infinity Inc. hashtag was now leading over the Outsiders' one. Trajectory asked him if he was happy. Luthor smiled.
On February 15th, 09:02 ICT, the Light held a meeting. Luthor declared it was time to put their plan into motion. Deathstroke received a text from Terra informing him that King Gregor Markov was out of Markovia meeting with his meta-siblings. Luthor found that an important development and believed the target, Beast Boy, was important enough to risk compromisng Terra's cover. He told Deathstroke to send the word the operation was a-go. In a pre recorded video at 00:45 EST, Luthor issued a statement in response to Baron Bedlam's coup in Markovia. He stated they would not lift United Nations restrictions on the Justice League preventing them from entering Markovia and emphasized it was an international matter, there were good people on both sides, and the solution involved peaceful negotiation and not super-heroics. At 18:35 EST, Luthor and Deathstroke monitored the operation in person at Lexcorp in Metropolis with the other members of the Light on monitors. Luthor declared the board was set and the players were in position.
Luthor confirmed to Vandal Savage that everything was going as planned. He believed it would be a complete debacle for the Outsiders, proving what he had been saying in the media for months: all heroes and meta-humans needed to be registered and regulated, worldwide then his Infinity Inc. would be the first to volunteer to register and eventually they would supplant the Justice League. Deathstroke noted the Light would fill Infinity's ranks with meta-humans under their control. Luthor imagined heroes would be rendered outlaws and subject to arrest, imprisonment, and even Inhibitor Collars. Deathstroke mused Amanda Waller would love to get a brain implant in Batman. Luthor still believed sacrificing Terra's cover to guarantee a decable was worth the outcome. There were no objections. Luthor stated the line was secure. Deathstroke hailed Terra on comms and ordered her to publicly kill Beast Boy on their signal. Terra ultimately spared Beast Boy and sided with Tigress. Luthor was shocked Batman read Deathstroke's micro expressions during an operation on Santa Prisca and discovered Terra was a mole.
Cyborg took Terra's comm and hacked the channel. Black Lightning appeared in hologram form in the operation room and addressed Luthor and Deathstroke. Despite Terra's actions and Lightning's incursion, Luthor was confident the footage of heroes in Markovia, a coup on live television, and an Outsider executing Bedlam and declaring himself king was enough for him to easily frame the argument for heroes to be registered and regulated. He prematurely declared Infinity Inc. had ascended. On February 16th, 20:02 EST, Cyborg and Lightning presented documents and Control Chips to the United Nations General Assembly that proved Luthor defied regulations by continuing to run Lexcorp in secret, exploited its resources to operate his own meta-trafficking chain, and used his illegal organizations to create and control Infinity Inc. in secret. On February 17th, 12:04 EST, Luthor stated it was fake news and he resented even addressing allegations from unregulated meta-vigilantes like the disgraced Black Lightning. He promised to change international libel laws to prevent the so-called heroes from smearing his good name with spurious charges.
Superman and Superboy addressed the General Assembly backing Cyborg and Lightning's claims. Luthor tried to dissuade Superboy but it was in vain. Superboy revealed Luthor bred and enslaved living weapons, including himself, at Project Cadmus. He revealed he was a Genomorph, a clone made from the combined DNA of Superman and Lex Luthor and was created to replace or destroy Superman for Lex Luthor's Light but he grew to be more than a weapon. Superman declared he came to think of Superboy as his brother and vouched for him. Superboy volunteered to have his DNA tested as proof. Ambassador Garth called for an immediate vote of no confidence in Secretary-General Luthor. Luthor faced multiple indictments and was forced to resign as Secretary-General of the United Nations. Ambassador Troia succeeded him. On February 23rd, 00:00 ICT, the Light met. Savage declared the Light was satisfied despite Luthor's legal issues. Luthor credited Markovia's new status as their puppet kindom to the Light's newest member, Zviad Baazovi.
At some point, Lex Luthor took an interest in a young man confirmed to be a meta-human with self-healing abilities named Juan Cordero. Luthor found his mother a job at Lexcorp and made sure his sisters got into the best schools but never asked for anything in return. Cordero asked what he could do and fell for Luthor's stories. He showed him Match and claimed he reached out to Superman and Superboy for help but was rejected. Cordero volunteered to be the son Superboy failed to be and to do whatever it took to serve and avenge Luthor. After several surgeries, Cordero was given a metal body but it needed a power source to be able to kill Superboy once and for all. On May 14th, 07:32 ICT, Team Year Ten, the Light held a meeting. Baazovi briefed everyone on how well their meta-human operations were going in Markovia. While he was stranded in the Phantom Zone, Superboy began to hallucinate due to the Zone Sickness. A hallucination of Lex Luthor triggered the Red Sun phrase and Superboy reverted to his base state until he was later restored to normal by Miss Martian.
On November 10th, the Bat Family determined Lex Luthor was behing the kidnapping of Queen Perdita Vladek after it was discovered the kidnappers were robots. Nightwing took a head and hailed his comrades for help in identifying the creator. Robin and Oracle determined the machine had proprietary technology common to Luthor's Spider-Bots. At 13:14 EST, Luthor resided in his office at Lexcorp. The Kryptonite stolen from the kidnapped Queen Perdita Vladek was used to power Juan Cordero's metal body. On November 12, 12:00 EST, Lex Luthor told Otis and Mercy about Miss Martian sparing Metallo's life and called it a class move but he suddenly vanished from their sight. They searched for him in the office, unaware he was still present but in Rocket's force-bubble which was concealed by Zatanna's glamour spell. Rocket asked how he would prove it. Zatanna asked who would believe him. Aquaman got to the point and clearly stated Queen Perdita Vladek was part of their family and was now off-limits to the machinations of the Light and its members. Luthor scoffed at the notion of them trying to intimidate him. He brought up how he faced down Superman. Aquaman simply responded with a "yes" and Zatanna returned him to his previous place. Otis tried to get his attention in vain. Luthor was intimidated.