Lucious Lyon (born Dwight Walker) is a fictional character from the Fox drama series Empire, portrayed by Terrence Howard. Lucious is the main protagonist and anti-hero of the series. Created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, Lucious is the founder and CEO of Empire Entertainment, a world-famous and renowned record company that he runs with his family. Realizing he will need a successor after he is diagnosed with ALS, Lucious pits his three sons: the college-educated executive Andre Lyon (Trai Byers), the talented and gay singer-songwriter Jamal (Jussie Smollett), and youngest, rapper Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray), against one another. The story has parallels to William Shakespeare's King Lear and James Goldman's The Lion in Winter. Lyon is married to former drug dealer and ex-con Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson). The company is preparing to go public on the NYSE. However, Lyon must contend with his wife Cookie (Henson) upon her release from prison as she demands her piece of the company. He also struggles with Jamal's sexuality and Hakeem's inability to step up to the plate and show maturity as an artist. At the same time, Lyon neglects Andre, seemingly due to his lack of musical ability. Lyon and Cookie's love for each other further complicates his existing relationship with his head of A&R, Anika Calhoun (Grace Byers). The character of Lyon, who starts out selling drugs as a teenager and develops into a well-respected rapper and music mogul, is loosely based on several real-life figures, including rappers, record producers and politicians.