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 Luthor, Julian Luthor, Lucas Luthor, and Tess Mercer, an enemy-turned ally of Clark Kent and the former emissary of Jor-El

Lionel was portrayed by actor 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

### Season 1

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### Season 2

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### Season 3

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### Season 4

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### Season 5

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### Season 6

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### Season 7

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## Personality

* Villain
* Anti-Villain
* Anti-Hero

"
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 found 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 wants, 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 convince 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 tries 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 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.

After swapping bodies with Clark, Lionel 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 to learn 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. 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 swap 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 will 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 lipt o 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 into 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.
## Physical Appearance

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## Powers and Abilities

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## Equipment

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## Relationships

### Family

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## Trivia

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## References

1. ↑ **Clark to Chloe**: Another person who treated me like a son and died because of it."