LEX LUTHOR- Modern Age
Created By: Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster
First Appearance: Action Comics #23 (April 1940)
Role: Big Bad, Evil '80s Businessman, The Manipulator
Group Affiliations: The Injustice League, The Superman Revenge Squad
PL 13 (245)
STRENGTH 2/11
STAMINA 4
AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6
DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 11
AWARENESS 5
PRESENCE 6
Skills:
Deception 9 (+15)
Expertise (Business) 9 (+20)
Expertise (Politics) 2 (+13)
Expertise (Science) 7 (+18)
Expertise (Current Events) 3 (+14)
Insight 6 (+11)
Intimidation 2 (+8)
Perception 2 (+7)
Persuasion 9 (+15)
Technology 8 (+18)
Vehicles 4 (+8)
Advantages:
Benefit 5 (Wealth), Daze (Deception), Equipment 10 (Super-Lab, etc.), Eidetic Memory, Inventor, Leadership, Ranged Attack 7, Skill Mastery 2 (Science, Technology), Ultimate Technology Skill, Ultimate Science Skill, Ultimate Business Skill, Well-Informed
Powers:
"Garish Power Suit" (Flaws: Removable) [81]
Enhanced Strength 12 (24)
Flight 16 (1,000 mph) (18)
Blast 15 (Feats: Split, Improved Critical) (32) -- (33)
- AE: "Body Shock" Affliction 13 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Cumulative) (26)
Protection 10 (Extras: Impervious 11) (21)
Senses 5 (Extended Vision, Vision Penetrates Concealment) (5)
-- (101 points)
Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Suit +6 (+14 Damage, DC 30)
Blast +11 (+16 Ranged Damage, DC 31)
Body Shock +6 (+13 Affliction, DC 23)
Initiative +3
Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+14 Suit), Fortitude +7, Will +10
Complications:
Enemy (Superman)- Luthor despises that Superman is both more powerful and beloved than he is, and that Superman won't work for him.
Obsession (Greed & Power)- Luthor is possibly the most megalomaniacal person on Earth.
Responsibility (Arrogant & Evil)- Luthor is so evil that he cannot contemplate good people- when shown direct evidence that Clark Kent could be Superman, Luthor disregards it, disbelieving that anyone so mighty would ever pretend to be weak.
Total: Abilities: 82 / Skills: 60--30 / Advantages: 32 / Powers: 81 / Defenses: 20 (245)
Lex Luthor- Evil 1980s Billionaire:
-In the 1980s, John Byrne was hired on to reinvent Superman, and in so doing, transformed Luthor into the most terrifying villain imaginable- THE 1980s BUSINESSMAN!!! Yes,
Wall Street and other movies, as well as the ludicrously loud, arrogant, snotty behavior of investment bankers, real estate tycoons and assorted loudmouthed assholes of that decade had turned the "Greedy Businessman" into the world's greatest and most realistic villain. And so Lex Luthor was now the founder of "LexCorp" and the most powerful man in all Metropolis... and felt great anger and annoyance when the flashy, invincible SUPERMAN showed up, stealing all his thunder and being unable to be bought. Byrne based his Luthor off of Donald Trump, Ted Turner, Howard Hughes and "Satan himself!", making him a sinister, smirking figure, always self-assured and not a cackling madman like other versions had been. Byrne had initially depicted him as brutish and overweight, but he later got into shape.
-This Luthor was a REAL menace for Superman, because unlike the old version, he wasn't just some mad scientist busting out of prison and finding death robots against Superman, who was superior to him in every way. No, this Luthor was SMARTER than Superman, and that's why he couldn't be beaten- he was too savvy and too hidden beneath layers of legalities, so Superman could never "prove" that he was a criminal. Byrne & Marv Wolfman give him some more backstory- he's now a product of child abuse and poverty, growing up in Suicide Slum alongside Perry White. He becomes wealthy by starting a business using inheritance money he gains from taking out a huge life insurance policy on his parents and then cutting their brake line, killing them both. LexCorp, his new company, soon dominates Metropolis. In his debut, he knowingly allows terrorists to take him hostage just to see how Superman responds personally, then attempts to hire him. The mayor of Metropolis has him arrested for reckless endangerment, and the humiliation of the arrest and Superman's rejection enrages him enough to make Superman an enemy- all to prove his power.
-This Luthor also used to have a Kryptonite Ring around his finger- this eventually gave him a form of terminal cancer- Luthor first loses an arm to it, but eventually has a body cloned that makes him fitter and transfers his brain into it, faking his death and introducing himself as "Lex Luthor II", eager to make up for the mistakes of his "father". This body eventually deteriorates thanks to a sickness that affects all clones, and he sells his soul to Neron for full health (he doesn't believe in souls anyways, so he doesn't care about the ramifications)- he is restored in a body that resembles his old one in age, and his hair is gone once more. And he regains his soul thanks to superheroes anyways.
Luthor's Character Evolves:
-Interestingly, Byrne's depiction, while becoming the standard in all later incarnations, didn't depict him as a SCIENTIFIC genius at first, but by the 1990s, that started influencing Luthor portrayals again. Neil Gaiman preferred that version: "It's a pity Lex Luthor has become a multinationalist; I liked him better as a bald scientist. He was in prison, but they couldn't put his mind in prison. Now he's just a skinny Kingpin." This Luthor also tries to court Lois Lane a bunch, comes to mourn the loss of his enemy in
The Death of Superman, manipulates the protoplasm that became Supergirl into loving him, and more. In Grant Morrison's
JLA, he goes towards open villainy, forming an "Injustice League" alongside Prometheus, Queen Bee and others. Luthor eventually marries a near-immortal woman and has a daughter named Lena- eventually killing his wife so he can raise Lena without interference, but Luthor eventually gives her up to Brainiac-13, who requires a vessel, in return for some sweet technology.
-DC pulled off an amazing story in the late '90s when Lex Luthor was ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. The smirking asshole had fooled the American voters despite his open greed and villainy (HOW UNREALISTIC RIGHT?), and now Superman and others had to do their duty and obey him. Seeing Superman seethe while having to shake the hand of "Mr. President" was glorious. Luthor is President during
Our Worlds At War, trying to act like a great leader by himself, only making things worse when his plan is hijacked by Brainiac- Superman eventually returns Lena to him and suggests he try to be a man for once.
Superman Birthright and other tales return Silver Age elements like a childhood friendship between Lex & Clark Kent, and Geoff Johns later "fanfics" in that Luthor included his own DNA with Superman's to make Superboy (Kon-El).
-Finally, after years of this, the "President" arc came to a head in
Superman/Batman under Jeph Loeb, where Luthor builds the classic Silver Age green & purple armored suit and goes nuts, eventually being taken down by the heroes and arrested. His name ruined, Luthor manages to brilliantly come back later when Alexander Luthor from Earth-Three turns evil and manipulates the remaining Earth into nearly destroying itself- Alexander disguises himself as Lex to manipulate the villains and heroes, but Lex sneaks in at the last moment and has his ally the Joker slaughter Alexander ("You should have let the Joker play"), and then later grabs the press and is like "SEE?! This man WASN'T me? He was merely pretending to be me!" and manages to exonerate himself for all past crimes over it. Fuckin' snake. You gotta love it.
-In
52, Luthor gives tons of people super-powers, but deliberately shuts them off during a massive publicity stunt, resulting in the deaths of hundreds as they fall from the sky- he also has a man butchered in order to give himself superpowers, but is enraged to learn that even a full organ transplant (since the man was a perfect match for Luthor's super-power program) doesn't work. At one point he gains cosmic powers enough to remove all suffering from the universe- this would allow him to succeed in proving that he helps the world more than Superman... but he refuses to use them because it'd mean Superman himself could not suffer. Much later, he kills tends of thousands of Kryptonians (including Supergirl's mother) during the "Kandor War" arc, and receives a presidential pardon for it.
Lex Luthor As A Whole:
-Lex is one of THE big supervillains in the genre, and famous worldwide for a reason. He exemplifies maniacal villainy and super-science, and is an icon for being the greatest villain of the world's greatest and most famous hero. All the better that he's a powerless man with a bunch of inventions- if he'd been some Mirror Image Villain or another powerhouse he'd be nowhere near as famous- it means that many/most of Superman's stories had to be about OUTSMARTING a guy or assorted shenanigans instead of a brawl, and that made stories work from the Golden Age to the Silver Age- it's no mistake that the Bronze Age saw him don a powersuit and start fighting. The "Evil Businessman" schtick was a stroke of brilliance- wise men throughout history warn of the corruption of greed and the desire for wealth and respect, so Lex The Evil 1980s Businessman was an even MORE perfect villain- as Superman was meant to fight injustice, what's more unjust than this greedy asshole controlling everything and helping no one?
-The only real flaw is a general lack of depth to much of his character- he's so cartoonishly evil it's delightful, but they only make the barest statements as to him liking other people- usually his link to Lena (a sister Pre-Crisis, a daughter Post-Crisis), or near-children like Jerry White (possibly his child with Perry White's wife when Perry was thought dead) or Superboy (Conner). Even Doctor Doom had more humanity to him than this- with elements of human tragedy (his mother's fate, his life of discrimination, etc.) before his caroonish human failings harmed him. But as it stands, Lex barely has more depth than The Joker- he's just "Arrogance" given human form.
Luthor's Brains & Might:
-This Luthor completes the "full bio" (all other incarnations just take stuff off)- the Powersuit wasn't used until the past couple decades, but the scientific genius took place in the 2000s and the business genius comes from 1986. He's now the best of all worlds. Lex with his Armour is a pretty big threat, and VERY expensive, but not as much in a battle (against the entire League, that is- PL 11.5 won't take most of them out). Most of the time, he just relies on some guns, making him much less powerful, but again, Luthor's entire threat is because he's so smart, able to invent almost anything, and he has the best plans of anyone alive. Arresting him after big fights is one thing, but keeping him in prison, and avoiding the labyrinthine conspiracies he creates, is quite another. His INT stat is the highest of anyone in on DC Earth, and one notch lower than Marvel Comics' own Reed & Doom.