Lex Luthor (DC Animated Universe)

***NOTE: This page is only about Lex Luthor in Justice League Unlimited as he was not voted as a Magnificent Baddie in Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League, and thus only his info and crimes in Justice League Unlimited should be put here.***

## Magnificent Baddie

### Allies

Mercy Graves
Amanda Waller
Brainiac
Gorilla Grodd
Tala (all formerly)
Legion of Doom
Justice League (briefly)

### Powers/Skills

Exceptional intelligence
Incredible wealth and resources
Master manipulator and strategist
Willpower
Gunmanship
Marksmanship
Override switch on every Legion's powers
Magic medallion that reflects magic attacks
Photographic memory
**Brainiac fusion:**
Immortality
Superhuman strength
Superhuman speed
Superhuman durability
Superhuman intelligence
Regenerative healing
Technology manipulation
Energy projection

### Goals

Kill Superman.
Destroy the Justice League.
Merge with Brainiac to become a God and remake the universe in their image.
Resurrect Brainiac so as to fuse with him again and continue their plans (all failed).
Save the Earth from Darkseid to get revenge for Brainiac's destruction (succeeded at the cost of his own freedom).

### Crimes

Mass murder
Torture
Conning
Propaganda
Attempted hegemony
Conspiracy
Abuse of power
Attempted omnicide

### Type of MB

Hegemonic Opportunist

**Lex Luthor** is one of the two main antagonists of *Justice League Unlimited* (along with Brainiac). He was a billionaire as well as a brilliant criminal mastermind, being one of Superman's greatest enemies.

He was voiced by Clancy Brown, who also voiced The Splotch from *The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants*.

## What Makes Him Magnificent?

* Clancy Brown's voice-acting is great as always, being one of his most iconic roles to date.
* He runs for president while posing as a reformed charity-goer towards the general public, even baiting Superman into destroying Lexor City (which he thought had a bomb underground) and fighting Captain Marvel all on camera.
* He stops an enraged Amazo from possibly destroying the world by simply talking him down, telling him to go find his purpose in life.
	+ During this, he photographically memorized the Atom's blueprints for the android so that he can build himself a duplicate body for himself later, hoping to become immortal. If it wasn't for Amanda Waller, this goal would've succeeded.
* He survives the Question's assassination attempt on him by beating the crap out of him with his bare hands alone. He does the same to Batman when he snaeks into LexCorp and tries to destroy the Amazo duplicate.
* He's the only organic being that Brainiac is actually friends with, and defeats most of the Justice League during their brief teamup.
* He becomes the Legion of Doom's new leader by usurping Gorilla Grodd after seeing his boring plan to turn all of humanity into apes, having powerful primed backups ready for him to counter the attacks of any and all future traitors, such as Dr. Polaris and Tala.
* His side wins the attempted mutiny against Grodd, and then survives Darkseid blowing up their entire base by the skin of their teeth.
* When he ended up in The Flash's body, something he could not possibly have accepted, he immediately gives the whole Justice League the fight of their lives by using the Flash's super-speed in creative and devastating ways.
* Due to being "overqualified" as a 12th-level intellect, Lex survives getting the Anti-Life Equation from the Source Wall, which he then uses to sacrifice himself by teleporting Darkseid away right when he's about to cut out Superman's heart, thus saving the world yet again (although it was mainly to get his revenge for destroying Brainiac).

## What Makes Him a Baddie?

* He hacks the Justice League's Watchtower and uses its superlaser to fire on Project Cadmus' base. While it's explicitly stated that Waller suffered no casualties on her side since they were somewhere else, the same is never confirmed for the civilians.
* He teams up with Brainiac so they can nearly destroy the entire Earth in one fell swoop before targeting the rest of the universe, planning to recreate it in their own image with all the information absorbed.
	+ During this, he tries to execute a defenseless Flash with a shotgun out of revenge for foiling his plans (even stating that he's gonna enjoy it) just to recreate the tragedy that happened in the Justice Lords' universe, and then nearly causes his death as he unleashes the Speed Force by repeatedly running around the globe to destroy Brainiac's outer shell.
* He personally attempts to kill Grodd by sucking him out of the airlock into space, and then has the surviving mutineers from his side executed via being frozen by Killer Frost (who switches sides to save herself).
* He states that he would've killed Tala to bring back Brainiac even if she didn't betray him, and talking about he is a sick person too.

## Trivia

* In *Superman: The Animated Series* and *Justice League*, Lex selfishly abandoned Lois Lane and Mercy Graves in crumbling buildings to save his own skin, and begged for mercy when Amazo turned the tables on him in "Tabula Rasa". His plans also always backfired due to underestimating the world's heroes and sometimes fellow villains; he even gave himself cancer by messing with Kryptonite too much. Therefore, he only earned his MB status in *Justice League Unlimited*.
	+ Likewise, while he was still a baddie back then (i.e. creating Metallo and Bizarro, starting the rivalry between Atlantis and the surface world, and usually killing off his own subordinates), it was never too irredeemable especially when compared to the franchise's Pure Evils. It helps that he had some moments of honor such as attending Dan Turpin and Superman's funerals, and honoring his bargain with the latter in "A Better World".
* He, Kyodai Ken, King Barlowe and Vandal Savage are the only villains from the *DC Animated Universe* to count as Magnificent Baddies.

## External Links

* Lex Luthor at the Villains wiki
* Lex Luthor at the DC Database wiki
* Lex Luthor at the DC Animated Universe wiki
* Lex Luthor at the Inconsistently Heinous wiki
* Lex Luthor at the Inconsistently Admirable wiki