Nigel St. John

### Occupation

Former spy of Her Majesty's Secret Service, Personal Assistant to Lex Luthor, Intergang Agent

## Actor/Actress

### Portrayed By

Tony Jay

*"Mr. Luthor did not hire me for my congeniality!"*
—Nigel St. John

**Nigel St. John** was a recurring villain in the series.

He was once Lex Luthor's personal assistant, but then turned against him and joined a criminal organisation called Intergang.

## History

Nigel was born in England and soon became an agent for Her Majesty's Secret Service. However for unknown reasons he became corrupt. He was then hired by Lex as his personal assistant at LexCorp.

### Season 1

After Superman came to Metropolis and posed as a threat, Lex was determined to find out the Man of Steel's strengths and weaknesses. Nigel and some of his other LexCorp employees began organizing tests at the expense of people's lives. Though Superman proved to them that he seemed unbeatable and would continue being there to help regardless of the consequences, Lex was certain that Superman's morals, ethics and unrelenting goodness would lead to his undoing. (*Neverending Battle*)

Later Lex built a new power plant, but he had secretly made a leak in one of the reactors that caused a massive heatwave in the winter. Superman was blamed and then decided to leave. Lex gloated to Nigel on how he had finally beaten Superman. However Superman soon found out that the power plant was the reason for the heatwave and soon stopped it. As a result Lex's power plant was shut down and he had to pay for all the damages he had caused to the city. However Nigel cheered him up by saying that the LexCorp Water and Air Conditioning divisions had made a 2000% profit over the last three weeks. (*The Man of Steel Bars*)

Both Nigel and Lex were then involved in a scheme involving a former employee and lover of Lex named Miranda who had invented a perfume that made people uncontrollably in love. When Lex cut off her funding, Miranda was determined to prove to him that her fragrance really worked and soon made most people at the Daily Planet acting crazily in love with no responsibility for their actions.

Nigel then picked up reporter Lois Lane at her apartment to attend a date with Lex. Before Lois arrived, Miranda had sprayed her fragrance at Lex, hoping it would make him fall in love with her again, but it didn't take effect until Lex was alone with Lois. The next morning, Nigel awoke a dreary Lex who had fallen asleep in his office. After Nigel had told him that he had taken Lois home, they both realized what had happened. Miranda had also threatened to decided to spray a more permanent version of the fragrance all over Metropolis.

Superman managed to foil Miranda's scheme and also received a passionate kiss from Lois, much to Lex's disgust. He later told Nigel that he had now fallen in love with the reporter. (*Pheromone, My Lovely*)

Nigel was then seen with Lex who was practicing clay pigeon shooting from the very top of his building. Lois and Clark then arrived to see them asking questions about a former employee named Henry Harrison who had previously been murdered and a programme called "The Ides of Metropolis". Lex told them he knew that Henry had not been pleased about being dismissed and relocated and had wanted to be his own boss, but he didn't know anything about Henry's programme.

It was later revealed that Henry had faked his death and was working with his wife Lena to spread his virus programme that was evidently called "The Ides of Metropolis" to every computer system in the country which included many of Lex's technology companies, but thanks to a security code the virus was counteracted and Superman eventually stopped the Harrisons.

Lex is practicing clay pigeon shooting again, but this time he accidentally misses and he and Nigel stare as the clay pigeon falls the ground far below, presumably injuring someone. Lex then orders Nigel to phone his lawyers. (*The Ides of Metropolis*)

Later he and Lex hired a boy called Jack to ransack Clark's apartment for information on Superman. They then got hold of a special globe resembling Superman's home planet Krypton that played holograms and messages of the Man of Steel's past. Although Superman got the globe back before Nigel and Lex had finished learning from it, they had found out that Superman had come to Earth as an infant and been raised as an Earthling, which made Lex even more confident of defeating the Man of Steel if he ever learned who he really was. (*Foundling*)

After this Nigel left for unknown reasons and was replaced by Mrs. Cox as Lex's new personal assistant, though it is possible that he did find out about Lex's suicidal death.

### Season 2

At some point after this, a new criminal organization called Intergang was formed and Nigel was hired as one of their agents.

He was then contacted by Lex's former physician Gretchen Kelly who had frozen Lex's body and was hoping to bring him back from the dead. At a hideout in the sewers, Gretchen managed to succeed and Nigel watched with her in astonishment as Lex smashed his way out of his frozen chamber and lifted himself out.

Afterwards Nigel worked with Gretchen to help Lex achieve what he had lost before his death: rekindle his relationship with Lois Lane and destroy Superman. He, Gretchen and his partner Ramine Tarbush then kidnapped Lex's former attorney Sheldon Bender who had now swindled Lex out of his fortune and brought him to Lex. They then tortured Bender out of vengeance who said he would be able to find Kryptonite to help Lex kill Superman.

Lex then disguised himself as a wheelchair bound old man to see Lois again and afterwards told Nigel who was hiding in the shadows that she was even more beautiful than ever. Nigel asked him if he had any feelings for Gretchen, but Lex replied that she was only his physician and didn't inspire him.

Nigel warned him that Lois wouldn't be so easily persuaded to take him back, but Lex was still determined to have her. He would allow her the chance to come to him willingly, but if she refused, he would use force.

Later He, Lex and Bender then paid a visit to a prisoner Rollie Vale who had Kryptonite in his possession after his brother Emmet had stolen from Lex Labs to power a cyborg. They then made a deal: Vale would give them the Kryptonite in exchange for half a million dollars and his freedom. Lex then created a diversion to get the equipment they needed to break Vale out by wiring a bomb to the chair of Daily Planet editor Perry White. While the Bomb Squad and Superman were saving Perry, Lex and Nigel successfully gained the equipment.

Lex then had Bender arrange for Vale to be moved to the courthouse for another hearing and returned him to his home, but then arranged for Nigel to kill him after he found out that Lois and Clark were investigating and that he may of turned them in.

In a van, Nigel and Lex set off to break Vale out of the prison van and arranged for Gretchen to capture Lois and bring her to him. They succeeded in breaking Vale out and took him back to their hideout, while Gretchen captured Lois who had been hanging around there. When they arrived, Vale gave Lex the Kryptonite that had been concealed in his robotic left arm. Lex decided to lure Superman to him so he could be killed and gave the Kryptonite to Nigel for safe keeping.

He attempted to double-cross Vale, but Nigel and Ramine had been plotting against him all along and double-crossed him instead, revealing their true colors as spies for Intergang. In anger, Lex threw Vale at Nigel who shot a crossbow bolt at him and killed Vale before he and Ramine escaped with the Kryptonite. Gretchen was then accidentally killed and Lex was caught by Superman and imprisoned. (*The Phoenix*)

Sometime later, Nigel was contacted by a businessman named Jason Mayzik who had obtained a diary that had been written by a time traveller named Tempus who had accurately written every major event from 1866 to the present. It even revealed Superman's true identity of Clark Kent from a story of how Tempus tried to murder the Man of Steel as a baby. He also needed the Kryptonite that Nigel still had in his possession to kill Superman, promising him great wealth if he helped him. Jason then paid for Nigel's trip from England to Metropolis and he used the alias of Nicholas S. Janacek.

Nigel then made an alliance with Jason to have the Man of Steel completely under their control. Nigel wanted to see the diary for himself, but Jason told him that the deal was getting 50/50 of having Superman under their control and the diary wasn't part of it.

Jason contacted Clark, telling him that he knew who he really was and threatened to tell the world his secret if he didn't steal $20 million worth of uncut diamonds from one of his jewellery stores and bring them to him. However knowing that Clark may not give in to his threat, he and Nigel then kidnapped Clark's parents Jonathan and Martha Kent who were staying in Metropolis for their honeymoon as insurance that Clark would do as he was told.

With no other choice, Clark successfully stole the diamonds and left them in the fountain at Centennial Park as Jason had requested, but Jason wanted more and didn't want to let Clark's parents go just yet.

Eventually Clark along with Lois caught on to what Jason was trying to do as his name had been linked to paying for Nigel's fare as an airline passenger. They paid him a visit, but Jason denied everything. After the two reporters left, Nigel then told Jason that if he wanted the Kryptonite, he had to get rid of Lois once and for all as she had been a thorn in his side for far too long.

Jason then phoned Clark again and ordered him to have Lois dead in thirty minutes or his parents would be killed.

Clark succeeded thanks to Lois' co-operation of the situation and freezing her. he then took her to the address Jason had given him and when Nigel and Jason appeared, he demanded to know where his parents were. Jason then pushed Superman's buttons even more when he asked to be addressed as "Sir", prompting the Man of Steel to lose patience and lift him up roughly by his lapels.

Nigel then opened a box of containing the Kryptonite and explained to Jason how easy it was to use. They then pushed the weakened Superman into the lead lined room where his parents were being kept.

Jason then placed the Kryptonite on the ground and walked out with Nigel who trained a gun on the Kents to prevent them from following them. They shut the door and Jason pulled a lever on the wall to release a deadly gas that would kill the Kents in seconds with the Man of Steel being too weak to save them.

Afterwards Jason opened a flask and handed Nigel a cap full of wine to toast their victory. Nigel then double-crossed him by holding him at gunpoint and demanding the diary for himself. However Jason had been one step ahead of him as he had read from the diary of how Nigel had previously double-crossed Lex so he had taken precautions by poisoning him in the same way as his father. Nigel then spluttered and fell to the ground dead while Jason escaped.

Later Superman survived Jason's trap and managed to save both his parents and Lois. Jason was then sent to prison and the diary was destroyed. (*And the Answer Is...*)

## Episode Appearances

### Season 1

* Neverending Battle
* The Man of Steel Bars
* Pheromone, My Lovely
* The Ides of Metropolis
* Foundling

### Season 2

* The Phoenix
* And the Answer Is...

## Trivia

* Tony Jay also played a role in the DCAU cartoon *Superman: the Animated Series*, where he voiced Sul-Van, Superman's grandfather.