Lionel Luthor (Smallville)

Lionel Luthor is one of the main antagonists turned antihero and on/off protagonist of the CW / WB television series, Smallville, serving as the main antagonist of the first three seasons, the secondary antagonist of season 4, and an antihero/major protagonist in Season 5-7. 
He was the CEO of LuthorCorp and the husband of the late Lillian Luthor, the father of Lex, Julian, Lucas Luthor, and Tess Mercer, an enemy-turned ally of Clark Kent and the former emissary of Jor-El 
Lionel was portrayed by John Glover, who also voiced the Riddler in Batman: The Animated Series, and portrayed Dr Jason Woodroe in Batman and Robin and Mr. Sivana in the DC Extended Universe film Shazam.
He was based on Jules Luthor from DC Comics.
== Biography==
===Early Life===
Lionel Luthor was born to Scottish immigrants Eliza and Lachlan Luthor. During his childhood, Lionel was often a victim of abuse at the hands of his alcoholic mother and controlling father. As a kid, he joined the rough crowd within the Suicide Slum district of Metropolis, meeting Morgan Edge. 
Around the late 1970s, with Morgan's help, Lionel set off an explosion in his parents' apartment, killing them. After their deaths, Lionel never shed a tear at their funeral and used their life insurance money to find his own company, LuthorCorp. He gave half of the money to Edge, and their shady business with each other lasted long into adulthood. 
Prior to the 1980s, Lionel eventually married Lillian Luthor and had one son with her, Alexander (nicknamed Lex). However, Lionel was an unfaithful husband, sleeping with a variety of women and having various affairs, which unintentionally caused erect between Lionel and Lex. In 1981, he had an affair with Lex's nanny, Pamela Jenkins, which resulted in their daughter, Lutessa Lena, being born. He gave her up for adoption when she was 9 years old and eventually placed her in the care of the Mercers. 
In 1984, after his wife got sick, Lionel hired Rachel Dunleavy to be Lillian's personal nurse. Their affair resulted in Lionel's second son, Lucas, born in 1985, who he forced Rachel to give up for adoption in order to keep their affair a secret. 
=== Veritas ===
During his marriage, Lionel was a part of a secret organization known as Veritas, with three other wealthy families: the Teagues, the Queens, and the Swanns. However, his wife Lillian was not a part of it. She discovered his involvement with the group when looking through his bag. However, Lionel grew angry with her and slapped her hard on the ground. He told her never to question it ever again. It was the first time Lex had suffered from his father's cruelty. The organization was founded by Dr. Virgil Swann and their intent was to protect the Traveler, a young boy who was destined to one day be the world's savior. Lionel believed the Traveler to be an alien named Kal-El. During their secret meetings, Lionel's son played with Virgil's daughter Patricia, Laura and Robert's son Oliver, and Genevieve and Edward's son Jason. Lionel tried recruiting Thomas and Martha Wayne into the organization. However, they declined. He had a Scottish castle flown in from Scotland and rebuilt in Smallville, Kansas. He, along with the rest of the Veritas group hid the Orb, an artifact capable of removing the traveler's powers in case he grew too powerful, in the fireplace of the mansion, to keep it safe. He hoped that not only could they protect The Traveler, but Lionel felt they could also control him. However, the Queens and Dr. Swann disagreed, Genevieve and Edward were more focused on finding Three Stones of Power for themselves. Wanting the traveler for himself, Lionel arranged for Robert and Laura's plane to be sabotaged, resulting in what appeared to be an accident. It left their son, Oliver, an orphan at age 10.
=== Meteor Shower, 1989 ===
Wanting to greet the Traveler himself, Lionel arranged for a on a business meeting in Smallville in 1989; however, He took 9-year-old Lex with him when Lillian convinced him to spend quality time with his father. However, the luthers were caught in the meteor shower. Lionel found Lex in the cornfield, completely bald, and was helped by the Kents to get him to the hospital. Because of that, Lionel had made it possible for the Kents to adopt Clark, and Jonathan Kent had to make the painful decision to convince Pete Ross' family to sell their property to Lionel to build his LuthorCorp Plant. However, Lionel secretly blackmails Jonathan into doing so, threatening to reveal the myserious origin of his adopted son.
=== The loss of Julian ===
In 1991, Lionel's wife got pregnant a second time and gave birth to their second son, Julian. However, Lillian did not want to have children in the first place and told Lionel he would pit their sons against each other and that she wanted a divorce. Lionel, however, refused to hear her pleas and forced her to bond with Julian by holding him. However, Lillian smothered Julian to death when he was an infant. Lex took the blame to protect his mother, causing Lionel to resent his son more than ever.
Lillian was later diagnosed with terminal cancer and died in the year 1993, leaving Lionel a widower. It wasn't until her death, years later, when Lionel was told the truth about Julian's death by Lex in 2004. 
=== Smallville ===
==== Season 1 ====
==== Season 2 ====
==== Season 3 ====
==== Season 4 ====
==== Season 5 ====
==== Season 6 ====
==== Season 7 ====
==Personality==
<tabber>
|-| Villain = "
Lionel Luthor was, in a word, ruthless, devilish, cunning, manipulative, and cruel. 
Cruel and abusive, Lionel foolishly believed that these "tests" were what made Lex stronger when they did not. When Lex went to confront Earl Jenkins when he was holding his friends hostage, Lionel did nothing to stop him and when Martha told him her son was still inside, Lionel did not care for either of their boys' well-being. He was very controlling, abusive, and cold-hearted to his wife Lillian and his son, Lex. This involved slapping his wife when Lillian demanded to know what "Veritas" meant and how Lionel often yelled at Lex whenever he showed weaknesses. 
During his youth, Lionel was the same man he was in Seasons 1-3: power-hungry and eccentric. Shortly after killing his parents, Lionel used their life insurance money to find his own company. According to Lex, power is an important tidbit in his father's personality and partially responsible for the way he was in the present day. Even though Lionel joined Virgil Swann's "Veritas" group, he mainly did so because he wanted to both protect and control the Traveler. Wanting Kal-El for himself, Lionel had Oliver Queen's parents murdered, a (failed) attempt at finding the stones of Power, and the orb that would control or take away Kal's powers hidden in the Luthor mansion. His need for money and power helps him, to his advantage. 
Lionel was, also, in a word, cunning. One of his greatest strengths were manipulating others to get what he wanted, even exploiting their weaknesses. According to Lex to Clark, Lionel is the type of person who likes to bring out people’s inner darkness and use it to his advantage. Once he has someone under his control, Lionel never wants to let go. When he arranged for Clark to be adopted by the Kents, Lionel threatened to expose the boy if Jonathan didn’t convinced Bill Ross to sell Lionel the lands he needed for his mine. This would cause further complications for the Kents and the Luthors family. After Lex was planning a coup by financing LexCorp, Lionel found out and manipulated Sheriff Ethan into helping him achieve a list of the individuals on Lex's payrolls. After the sheriff refused to continue his unethical businesses, Lionel threatened him. In the end of Season 2, when Lionel first met Chloe Sullivan, he noticed how she was hurt by many of Clark’s lies and takes advantage of her needs before Lionel revealed his intentions for her: he wanted her to spy on Clark. Initially refusing, Chloe decides to take up on his offer when she sees Clark kiss Lana and not tell her about their relationship. When Chloe tried to back out, he refused until she asked Lex for his help, which he did. 
Lionel always enjoyed testing Lex; sending him to Smallville in the first place and pointlessly lecturing him with historical figures and facts of the past. He is also eccentric and obsessive, such as his interests in Clark and the Kawatche Caves. He had refined kryptonite in his secret vault and a file on Clark. This was the reason why Martha quit working for him. However, he became even more obsessed when Clark continuously saved Lionel and his entire family due to Lionel's fear of dying from liver cancer. He also believes in putting work above everything else, hence why he forced Martha to come with him to Metropolis rather than letting her spend the anniversary as her husband. 
According to Lex, when his father has a chance of revenge, there is nothing that will stop him from achieving it. When he found out Lionel was aware his parents were murdered, it aroused Lex's suspicions. This was further exemplified in the last episode of Season 3 and the beginning of season 4, when Clark, Lex, and Chloe were key witnesses in Lionel's trials. After being sent to prison, Lionel became desperate to stop his confinement. He had Lex poisoned, and Chloe murdered. However, Lionel could not exact revenge on Clark because he had been taken away by Jor-El to save Jonathan. This carried on in Season 4 when Lionel had a metahuman assassin, Trent, to kill Chloe when he learned Lex protected her by faking Chloe's death. However, his attempts failed when Lois Lane and Clark Kent killed Trent in self-defense. After trading places with Clark when he stopped Lionel from swapping bodies with Lex, Lionel found a way to get revenge on Clark by threatening to ruin his reputation and relationships with his adoptive parents, Chloe, Lex, and Lana. However, when they switched back, Lionel had no memory of what had happened the last twenty-four hours. 
Despite Lionel's mistrustful personality, it was surprising to see Lionel have some form of humility when he learned from Lex that Lillian was the one who killed Julian instead of Lex. He was visibly shocked and horrified for what he had done and that his past treatment of Lex was uncalled for. Lionel also displayed some level of care for Martha Kent by comforting her when they were being held hostage from the Insurgence team and having discomfort when one of the men manhandled her. However, Lionel's attempts to seduce her included giving her a very expensive watch that incurred Jonathan's wrath. He also believed Lucas to be a sociopath. 
|-| Anti-Villain = After swapping bodies with Clark, Lionel underwent a personality change, as he had no recollection of the past three days. After learning that his liver cancer healed on its own, Lionel saw this as "a miracle" and his second chance. He believed he belonged in prison and apparently wanted to make amends with Lex by helping Clark when his son was accused of murdering a young woman. He tried to reconcile with Lex; however, their relationship was damaged beyond repair. However, Lex (justly) believed that Lionel was only helping because he wanted something from Lex: being a father to him. However, Lex refused. 
After being freed from prison because of Genevieve Teague, Lionel went back to his manipulative but less nefarious ways. Despite his somewhat negative traits, Lionel began developing a protective streak if Lex, and later, Clark, are threatened. He quickly gave in to Genevieve and Jason when they started torturing Lex and potentially shot Jason in either retribution or to prevent him from telling Lex something, presumably about Clark. He once helped Lana with her ancestor's mysterious background and supplied her with a map, and gave Lana and Clark permission to use the LuthorCorp jet. As Jason Teague soon voiced his suspicions to Lex about Clark being "connected" more than everyone, Lionel ended up shooting Jason to prevent Lex from learning anything. 
However, due to Lionel's obsessive behavior, he wanted one of the crystals, either for himself or for other purposes. Wanting to remain in control, he threatened to reveal Lana's murder of Genevieve Teague if Lex didn't hand over the stone Lana had in her possession. 
|-| Anti-Hero = After touching the Crystal of Water, Lionel learned about Clark's secret and entered a catatonic state for three weeks, becoming an emissary for Jor-El He promised to keep the secret he had been desperately trying to solve the past four years to himself. He often found ways to, indirectly, help Clark. He offered to pay off Jonathan's election to both Mr. Kent and Martha. However, some of his methods are immortal and questionable. Despite being warned, Lionel forced doctors to prevent Lex from being paralyzed the rest of his life. It was implied that Lionel had Griff, Lex's spy, murdered when he found incriminating information that would hurt the Kents (more specifically, Clark). According to Clark, Lionel "doesn't do anything that doesn't benefit him in the end." 
However, Lionel seems to have made amends with Chloe, such as her willingness to (begrudgingly) accept information from him, including Lex and Brainiac, the Kryptonian A.I. corrupted by Zor-El. After a while, Lionel began growing closer to Martha, which started when he offered her money for her husband's campaign. However, both Clark and Chloe think that Lionel started growing closer to Martha because in order to get closer to Clark. Lionel's attempt to forge a partnership with Jonathan ended in disaster when Lionel indirectly caused Jonathan to suffer from a fatal heart attack. After Jonathan's death, Lionel felt responsible for it and kept it a secret from Martha and Clark. This is seen when Lionel immediately backed down from his attempt to control LuthorCorp when Lex threatens to expose the truth to Martha. 
By becoming Jor-El's emissary, Lionel achieved a form of humility. After Clark saved his life, Lionel thanked him and later offered emotional support to Martha for losing her husband and when she was being blackmailed.When he saw the corpse of his driver, Lionel was disgusted and covered his body with his coat and showing concern for Martha when he learned she was being held hostage there as well. The truth eventually came out when Clark found out and confronted Lionel about it. He later told Martha about their confrontation. After coming clean, Lionel got Clark to confide in him about Zod taking control of Lex. 
After his body swapped with Clark, Lionel saw the darkness within his own son. During Lionel's attempts to take over LuthorCorp from Lex in, Lionel was, in his own words, trying to take the money and power from Lex so he would see his own humility. Even though he blackmailed Lana into marrying Lex, Lionel was disgusted by Lex faking Lana's pregnancy. After the wedding, Lionel slapped Lex hard enough for Lex's lower lip to bleed. He reprimanded Lex for how he handled the situation, even though Lex pointed out that Lionel treated his own wife, Lillian, the same way. 
Even though he had grown protective of Clark, Lionel wanted to remain in control. This was seen as early as Season 6, "The Promise," when Lionel forced Lana to marry Lex by pretending to threaten Clark. However, this later backfired on him when Lana threatened to tell Martha how Lionel attempted to use her son as a bargaining chip. In the middle of Season 7, Lionel later resorted to kidnapping Clark and holding him prisoner in a green kryptonite cell. Despite his distrust and misdeeds, Lionel tried making up for the incident and remained loyal to Clark and his family. He tried getting back Clark, Lana, and Chloe's good graces by warning them about Lex. They refused to listen. He was capable of trusting Chloe with his Veritas key so Lex wouldn't have it, left his Kryptonian library with Martha, and gave Clark a warning for him to follow. 
Lionel has transitioned from a full-fledged villain to an ally for Clark, becoming a changed man at the end of his life.
</tabber>
==Abilities and skills==
==Relationships==
===Love interests===
====Martha Kent====
When Lois finds ways to get to see Lionel Luthor, the man who is responsible for her cousin Chloe's apparent death, she approaches Martha about Lionel. However, Martha tells the young woman to stay away from Lionel and not to get caught up in his web of lies. She also reveals that she didn't escape Lionel unscathed, further than playing that Martha is still deeply affected by Lionel's influence on her family.
At the end of the next episode, Chloe testifies against him in court after Clark and Lois save her from the metahuman assassin trying to kill her. Martha sees that Lionel has been convicted of all of his crimes in the newspaper.
Clark and Lionel swap bodies, and suddenly, Martha notices Clark is acting strange. Especially when he hugs her, Martha gets suspicious and visits Lionel in prison, unaware that he is Clark. She thinks he is playing a sick, twisted game and decides to leave. However, "Lionel" convinces her that he is Clark when he tells her the story of how he first discovered he had super speed. Martha realizes the danger they are in now because Lionel is in her son's body.
At the end of the episode, Clark switches back. Martha is shocked when she and Jonathan are told by Clark that Lionel has terminal liver cancer and has months to live.
Clark reveals to his parents that when he and Lionel swapped bodies, he learned that Lionel was no longer sick, Much to Martha's shock. Clark told her that Lionel thought it as a miracle, and she did as well.
===Allies/friends===
====Clark Kent====
Clark and Lionel had a complicated relationship over the years. While at first one of his arch-enemies, Lionel's relationship with Clark becomes more personal. 
After at least two years of trying to figure out the teenager's secrets, Lionel eventually found out when he held the Crystal of Water as Clark united the Crystals of Air and Fire together during the second meteor shower. After this, Lionel became a vessel for Clark's biological father, Jor-El. However, he didn't know about Clark's powers until he used them to save Martha and Lionel in "Mercy." This was further amplified when Clark saved him from Andrea Rojas and him and Martha in the elevator. In "Cyborg," Lionel helped Martha when she was blackmailed about Clark's secret. The man made the problem "go away" by buying the disk from the blackmailer and promising to keep Clark's secret to himself. 
When the teen finally learned about Lionel's last meeting with Jonathan the night he died, Clark angrily confronted him. When he was on the verge of killing him because "Jonathan's" spirit urged him to, Lionel convinced Clark not to go through with it because the real Jonathan wouldn't want his son to be a killer. Clark got into Brainiac's ruse, and Lionel told Clark about his connection to Jor-El, warning him about the coming of Zod. 
In Season 6, Lionel had regarded Clark as a second son and the type of "son a father [could] be proud of." Clark reciprocated the father-son bond they had when he was forced to rely on Lionel for moral support or help whenever he was a last resort. On Lionel's part, he grew closer to Clark and distant from Lex, regarding him and supporting him. Because of Lionel's controlling nature, he used unethical methods to protect Clark, even in the wrong way. However, Lionel saw it in Clark's best interests. After an explosion set off by Lex supposedly killed Lana, Lionel comforted Clark and attempted to stop him from killing Lex. Fearing, he wouldn't be able to keep his temper in check if he discovered Patricia Swann was coming after them, Lionel hired thugs to kidnap Clark and hold him prisoner. This caused their friendship to deteriorate and why Clark didn't trust him anymore. 
After Lionel's death, Clark found his fallen friend's farewell message and took his warnings to heart. Misguided or not, Clark acknowledged Lionel as another father figure in the same regard as Jonathan and Jor-El. When Clark went to Earth-2, Clark was shaken by the Earth-2 version of Lionel and saw him as a more terrible version of Lionel prior to his redemption. Ironically, Lionel's daughter, Tess Mercer, would follow in her father's footsteps in protecting Clark and ensuring his destiny as Superman.
== In the Comics ==
* In addition to having two children, Lex and Lena, Lionel was also so grandfather of their daughters in two separate continuities, Lori and Lena. However, in the show, his daughter's birth name was Lutessa, with Lena being her middle name instead. He also has a third child, who is the parent of Supergirl villain Nasthalthia "Nasty" Luthor. Lucas is most likely based on Lionel/Jules' third child.
* Because of the character's popularity, Lionel's comic book counterpart, who was originally named Jules, was given his name in the Rebirth comics
** On Supergirl, Lena Luthor is one of the main characters, and her father's name is Lionel. However, he is bald like his son, implying it is hereditary
** Lionel's Earth 9 counterpart appears on Titans.
* However, in the comics, the name of Lionel's wife isn't Lillian but Leticia. Instead, Lillian is the name of Lionel's sister
==Trivia==
* Lionel was the one who arranged for Clark's adoption by the Kent family by drawing up forged adoption papers.
* For the first three seasons, Lionel is similar to Lex Luthor from the comics: CEO in charge of LuthorCorp, a thorn in the young hero's side, and an unethical businessman .
*Ironically, as Lionel's relationship with Clark improves over the course of the series, Clark's friendship with Lex worsens.
**Lex and Superman's rivalry is briefly foreshadowed in "Bound" when Clark told Lex that putting his trust in Lionel made Clark feel like he and Lex were enemies.
*In fact, Lionel is partially responsible for their falling out by giving Clark a key to Lex's private study, which showcases Lex has been privately investigating Clark since the day they met.
*Based on his past romantic relationships, Lionel seemed to be attracted to redheads, as he was married to Lillian, had two affairs Pamela and Rachel, and developed romantic feelings for Martha
*There seems to be a plot hole pertaining to Lionel and Chloe's relationship. In Season 3 and 4, the last time their relationship was touched on, Lionel sent a meta-human serial killer to take out Chloe before she could incriminate him. However, by Season 5, Lionel appears to have made amends with Chloe, evident by him giving her flowers after learning she made it by "joining the big leagues" in an amicable manner, protecting Chloe during Dark Thursday, and having no problems sitting together at Thanksgiving in 2006.
*Similar to his daughter, Tess, Lionel wanted to help Clark fulfill the destiny of "The Traveler." After both were sure that Clark was 'The Traveler,' they both utter Clark's birth name, "Kal-El." Like Lionel, Tess is killed by Lex while protecting Clark's secret and being thankful for everything Clark had done to send them on their path of redemption.
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