Lex L Luthor (DC Animated Universe)

**Lex L Luthor** is .

## Biographical Description Information

### Powers With Abilities / Skills And Talents \ InBorns Plus InNates

Manipulation, Knowledge of Sciences and Technology, Photographic Memory and Enhanced Physical Attributes

## Biography

At a young age, Lex Luthor's parents were killed and he inherited their company. Growing up, he became interested in mechanics and patented many inventions. By his 20's, he was a corporate billionaire and built his company LexCorp into a financial powerhouse. WIth an array of technology, Luthor boasted having built Metropolis and two-thirds of its population work for him in one manner or another. **Lex Luthor lived his days as the city's most powerful and influential figure. That is, until Superman debuted and slowly won the love and admiration of the people. Around the same time, Luthor unveiled his LexoSuit, a billion dollar prototype. He was unable to sell a mass produced line to a client, the Regent of Kaznia, because of a US trade embargo. The two worked a secret deal. An elite squad of terrorists under contract with the Regent would steal the prototype and use it to reverse engineer it themselves. Luthor would then collect on the insurance and bank on the Pentagon would fear any country having a military advantage and contract him to build a better and more profitable suit.** Superman refused Luthor's offer to join forces, as he viewed Luthor as a criminal and vowed to stop him. Luthor concluded he would have to attain Superman's power in another manner and kill him. With his government contacts, Luthor funded Project Achilles, a black ops program dedicated to analyzing Superman. Achilles would be later absorbed into the much larger operation, Cadmus, years later. In the meantime, he pumped funds into LexCorp Research and Development to engineer his own weapon. LexCorp continued to survive through usual business deals and off the books sales to illegal arms dealers. **While unveiling a new museum dedicated to natural history, Luthor unknowingly held a shard of Kryptonite on display. When Superman tried to stop two common thieves, he fell ill. Luthor tried twice to kill Superman; luring him to a trap with a hired muscle and the more elaborate, a mechanical dinosaur. However, Superman remembered Professor Hamilton discovered lead could shield the radiation. Afterwards, Luthor greenlit a fervent search for samples of Kryptonite. For safe keeping, he always kept a shard by his side.** In another bid for a weapon to kill Superman, Luthor manipulated the terrorist, John Corben into undergoing an experimental surgery involving Metallo alloy, powered by Kryptonite. Though gifted with invulnerability and super strength, Corben was angered that he had lost his humanity in the process. As Metallo, Corben sought to kill both Luthor and Superman and failed. **After Superman's run in with the mechanical dinosaur, LexCorp technicians collected Superman's blood. Luthor used the DNA to start a secret cloning laboratory outside of Metropolis. Generic memories were programmed into the first clone. Luthor sought to control an army of cloned Superman's. However, the cloning process was flawed and the first mutated into what became known as Bizarro. Luthor abandoned the facility and detonated the half kiloton payload to cover his tracks.** Luthor also took advantage of former employees' desire for revenge on Superman, including Edward Lytener. Luthor gave Lytener technology and access to LexCorp's satellite communications. Lytener created a red sun environment that stripped Superman of his powers. After the event passed, Luthor used the data to create red sun lamps that supplied Project Achilles with in the future. **In an unconventional alliance, Luthor hired the Joker to kill Superman for a billion dollars. Luthor gave him access to his various facilities but Batman tracked Joker to Metropolis and intervened. The Joker cut his losses by kidnapping Luthor and hijacking his LexWing aircraft. Joker set out to destroy everything Luthor built, Metropolis. Batman and Superman freed Luthor and stopped the Joker, who narrowly escaped death, once again.** After avoiding an connections to the Joker, Luthor attempted to rebound with the debut of the LexCorp Sky Sentry, a defensive tool that utilizes a high powered magnetic beam designed to knock out guided missiles. One of Luthor's previous ambitions resurfaced. Brainiac had uploaded a copy of itself into LexCorp's systems during its stay on Earth. It quickly took control of LexCorp's R&D Lab in Sector Six and sought to build itself a new body. However, Brainiac needed Luthor's technical skills to put the finishing touches. It sabotaged the Sentry and lured him to the labs. Superman, as Kent, was able to convince Luthor's assistant, Mercy, to investigate his sudden reclusiveness. Brainiac was discovered but before the lab imploded on him, it blasted another copy of itself into Luthor. Since Brainiac was reconstructed with LexCorp technology, Luthor was able to legally confiscate the remains for research. **In another project aimed at creating and controlling a Superman-esque person, Luthor debuted the fruits on one-time engineer, John Henry Irons, the LexCorp Police Battlesuit Series Alpha. Irons' concern over the flaw in the neural interface was ignored. Luthor was confident in the override failsafe. It ultimately failed and Superman was forced to use high voltage to short circuit the suit and wearer, Sgt. Corey Mills.** Superman and Batman were not the only heroes to earn the animosity of Lex Luthor. It turned out that LexCorp explosive tests being conducted off of the eastern seaboard were encroaching on Atlantis. The city's ruler, Arthur, better known as Aquaman, went to the surface and tried to stop the tests. Aquaman was detained at an aquarium until he was discovered by Lois Lane. **Superman battled another Brainiac on the Far Side of the Moon. Lex Luthor observed the fight from a lunar satellite in orbit. Luthor targeted Superman and imprisoned him in a giant robot using a mind control device which he was then used to power like a solar battery. The night after a break in at WayneTech by a giant robot, Lex Luthor was announced as a surprise guest at a cocktail party at Cloud Nine. Alfred Pennyworth apprised Bruce Wayne of the news after he presented a merino wool and cashmere suit with a subtle blue strip and was turned down. Wayne understood the implied connection between him and the break in and made an appearance at the party. Veronica Vreeland cornered Wayne at the party and asked him why they ever split up. Lex Luthor interrupted and warned her against trying to elicit emotion from a lost cause like Wayne, citing he had experience himself. Wayne introduced them.** Vreeland was charmed and recalled he was the notorious mastermind of Metropolis. Luthor advised her not to believe everything she read in the Daily Planet. He then requested a few minutes alone with Wayne and perhaps talk some sense into him. Vreeland obliged the request and invited Luthor to stop by and see her at the bar after. Wayne admitted to Luthor he was surprised to hear he was in town and he usually told him when he was. Luthor revealed he was in and out this time then admitted he wasn't particularly fond of Gotham, not since the incident with the Joker. Luthor then mused Batman wasn't to effective the night before against the robot that broke into WayneTech. Wayne chimed it could have gone better. Luthor even admitted Superman probably would have flattened it in no time. Wayne teased and asked for Superman's phone number since the two were so close. Luthor replied it wouldn't help since Superman was missing in action since last week after a big battle on the Far Side of the Moon then asked Wayne what "they" got. Wayne was confused. Luthor was sure someone had to have programmed the robot. Wayne "wished" he could tell him more. **Batman found the giant robot in a hangar at Claremon Airfield. He attached a miniature scanner to a leg then noted a device was about the crack the combination on the vault. He was suddenly shot in the back by a green energy blast. Lex Luthor, in a Lexcorp warsuit, was not pleased to see Batman and held him off the ground by his head. Luthor assured him Superman wasn't coming to his rescue. Batman countered he was in over his head. Luthor stated he was about to lose his. The vault was opened and revealed an inactive head of Brainiac. Luthor proclaimed it was the future then revealed he watched Superman and Brainiac's latest fight from a lunar satellite and knew about the head. Batman told him he wouldn't find any secrets of the universe in it and there was no programming left because Brainiac uploaded himself somewhere into space before the battle ended. Luthor smacked him and claimed all he needed to find were fragments of Brainiac's programming then he could build on them. He slowly choked Batman. Estimating ten seconds of consciousness left, Batman threw a Batarang into the Brainiac head and triggered its eye laser function. Luthor was blasted out of the hangar.** Luthor attempted to return to Metropolis in a C-17 cargo plane piloted by Mercy Graves. She informed Luthor they were five minutes from Metropolis airspace. She suggested he change into something more business-like. Luthor ordered her to just get them back to Metropolis before Batman caught up. Batman punched the nose of the plane. Luthor flew outside and tackled Batman and blasted him. Batman realized the warsuit was at half-strength thanks to Brainiac's beam. Batman clocked Luthor. He retreated to the plane, shed the warsuit, and jumped into the robot's cockpit. Graves told him the plane was going down and exited with a parachute strapped on. The robot burst out of the plane and grabbed Batman. Luthor declared he wouldn't escape. Batman fired a taser into the robot and jolted it with a Kryptonite charge. Superman was roused from Luthor's mind control device and broke free from the robot using heat vision and his super strength. Superman grabbed Luthor and asked Batman if he minded if he took care of the rest. Batman obliged and advised him to take Graves, too, on the way. **Luthor didn't like being made a fool of. He hired Deathstroke to assassinate Batman. Some time after Deathstroke set up in the Gotham, Lex Luthor made contact and cut to the chase. Luthor was not satisfied with the "production" Deathstroke was putting on and simply wanted him to kill Batman. Deathstroke insisted nothing was simple about Batman and preparation was crucial. Luthor didn't care for any explanations and wanted the assassination completed. Deathstroke stressed patience and promised he would be dead in the next 24 hours. They were unaware Jason Todd was listening in on them. Lex Luthor told Deathstroke he was holding him to that promise and warned him not to disappoint then signed off.** When Superman was brainwashed by Darkseid and arrived on Earth leading an invasion force, Luthor supplied Project Achilles with a Kryptonite-lined warhead. Supergirl and Superman were knocked unconscious and taken to a top secret facility and tried. Luthor's red sun lamps kept Superman and Supergirl in check. Luthor wanted to take advantage of the situation and kill Superman with a lethal injection of liquid Kryptonite. Lois Lane infiltrated the facility and freed the two. **Years later, the Justice League formed a sting to take down Luthor once and for all. J'onn Jonzz, disguised as Superman, confronted Luthor. Playing the part, J'onn managed to get Luthor to reveal he bribed shipping magnates and Interpol agents in order to sell weapons to terrorists. Luthor escaped the League and led Superman on a high speed chase until he suddenly suffered a seizure. It turned out that Kryptonite affects humans over a longer period of time in the form of terminal blood poisoning. Luthor was taken to Stryker's Prison but he plotted a last ditch plan to kill the League before his imminent death. With Ultra-Humanite's expertise, Luthor escaped and formed the first Injustice Gang. After failures began to stack up, Luthor paid Humanite more to create a containment unit to stabalize his condition. Luthor then donned a battlesuit capable of firing Kryptonite blasts. Luthor continued to try to kill the League but failed time and time again.** Luthor was given the opportunity to clear his record with a presidential pardon, when the League faced the Justice Lords. Luthor used his Power Disrupter to permanently strip the powers and abilities of the Lords through neural manipulation. Though Mercy Graves was entrusted as the new CEO of LexCorp, Luthor was still clearly in control. One of first acts was to write a book about his experiences called "Into The Light." Lex Luthor allied himself with Cadmus, a government program with goals of attaining defenses against the League. He provided off the books funding as he did with Achilles. Luthor also spent $75 million on a false presidential campaign to influence a chain of events aimed to provoke a confrontation between Cadmus and the Justice League. He even created Lexor City, a self-proclaimed utopia, within Metropolis, that would provide free energy and housing to the needy. It was another front to publicly discredit Superman and the League. The plan involved Superman dismantling an experimental Kryptonite fusion generator under the ruse it was a bomb. The plan fell through and more. Captain Marvel tried to stop Superman and battle was videotaped live. **After a physical conducted by Professor Hamilton, Luthor was shocked to learn his Kryptonite induced cancer was completely gone from his system and that he had the body of a fit 20 year old. Hamilton concluded it was a side effect of his vest or the Kryptonite poisoning itself. Luthor found himself gifted with super strength.** Lex Luthor apparently managed to hack into the JLU Watchtower and remotely activate the binary fusion cannon and blasted it into a Cadmus compound that was just relocated after Superman and Huntress infiltrated it. Because of this, the US government suspected the JLU of this crime since it also leveled a nearby city. It prompted Amanda Waller to launch an all out attack on the JLU. Meanwhile, Luthor was free to finish building a mysterious project of his, an android body based off of Professor Ivo's AMAZO android. Before he could transfer his brain into it, Amanda Waller destroyed it with a Nano-Disassembler Gun; ironically of Luthor's design. **The founding members of the JLU arrived and along with Waller, watched as Brainiac manifested itself from within Lex Luthor. Luthor was the unknowing vessel for a copy of Brainiac. Years ago when he was hel captive by Brainiac, it embedded a nano copy into Luthor and it bidded its time. Being the businessman, Luthor took this as the last chance to acheive his ultimate goal; power, knowledge and immortality. He managed to appeal to Brainiac, and the two set out to become gods. After assimilating the abilities of the Dark Heart, they created a machine that would allow them to assimilate a planet in one shot. After destroying everything in the universe, Luthor convinced Brainiac they would use their knowledge and power to remake the universe and be its god. However, they were stopped by the Flash. Flash used lightspeed vibrations to destroy Brainiac but Luthor was unscathed and taken back to prison.** After spending nearly a year in prison, Lex Luthor became detached. Prison officers observed him talking to himself and not showing any hostility or emotion. While being transferred, Luthor made a move and hijacked the prison van transporting him. It seems he is either suffering from delusions or still retains a limited mental bond with Brainiac. Nonetheless, Luthor was saved by the Key. The Key took him to a secluded swamp where Grodd revealed himself and his operation. Luthor declined Grodd's offer, until Grodd revealed he had the last piece of Brainiac on the planet. Luthor obliged and works for the Legion. Luthor's first test was to go to Blackhawk Island with the Key and Dr. Polaris and steal the Spear of Longinus. Their efforts were opposed by Shayera Hol, Flash, Fire and the last Blackhawk, Chuck Cuidera. However, Luthor set the self-destruct program and fled with his partners and the Spear. Grodd was impressed and assured him his next mission would be the real deal. **In the meantime, Grodd assigned Luthor to begin augmenting the powers and abilities of select Legion members. He gifted Devil Ray with increased strength, Killer Frost with pyschokinetic control and Atomic Skull with radioactive projection. When the Viking Prince's corpse was unearthed, Grodd devised a plan to take the body for himself. Luthor would then reverse engineer the Prince's invulnerability and bestow it upon every member of the Legion. The theft failed.** Lex Luthor was assigned to build Grodd a suitable amplifier for a carrier wave. Luthor was led to believe it was for Grodd's mind control module. The amplifier required a power source though. Grodd sent Luthor and several others to the Himalayas to steal the Heart of Nanda Parbat, a mystical totem. With it, the souls of the Temple's monks were taken. Grodd then led a larger group of super villains to Gorilla City to use their shield generator to spread the waves of de-evolution. However, Grodd's master plan was thwarted by Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Luthor was irritated by Grodd's plan and shot him unconsious back at Legion headquarters and assumed leadership. **Time and time again, Luthor failed to reconstitute Brainiac. In the meantime, he was charged with satisfying the demands of his peers. Luthor devised a plan to steal millions of Euros being delivered to Kasnia, only to switch bodies with the Flash. He also hacked the Justice League communications links to provide a bankrupt Roulette with attractive fighters. In any case, Luthor's unstable behavior warrants the concern of many within the Legion. Tala tapped into the psychic memory of the piece of Brainiac and revealed to Luthor that it still existed in a distant galaxy. Luthor reconfigured the headquarters' cloaking field into a hyperspatial drive. However, Tala engineered a rebellion by freeing Grodd from his prison. Tala attempted to confront Luthor, but he possessed the Eye of Agamotto, an ancient artifact capable of amplifying the mind's eye and in turn, gifting its possessor with psychic abilities. After the short lived mutiny, Luthor captured Tala and used her as a mystic conduit to siphon Brainiac's essence and reconstitute it. Luthor was unaware that remnants of Darkseid were also present. Instead of Brainiac, Darkseid returned and destroyed the headquarters. Luthor and a small group of survivors made their way to the Justice League Metrotower on Earth to reveal what had happened.** Luthor desired to get revenge on Darkseid by temporarily allying with the JLU. During battle, Luthor re-encountered the New God, Metron. He managed to convince Metron to help him attain the one thing that could stop Darkseid, the Anti-Life Equation. Together, they journeyed to the Source Wall, at the edge of the universe, where the Equation lay. Luthor managed to survive breaching the Wall and returned to Earth to stop Darkseid. In an explosion, Luthor and Darkseid disappeared. Whether both survived or not is unknown.

## Bios - Lex L Luthor

**Voiced-By:** Clancy Brown

**Position:** CEO of LexCorp; Looking into politics. + Unknown.

**Bio:** Lex Luthor is the undisputed master of Metropolis and lord of all he surveys.

**Yes, there is a mayor, a governor and a President of the United States, but Luthor is a law unto himself. In his mind there is no good or bad, except what's good and bad for Lex Luthor. If he wants something, he'll have it, either buying it outright, bribing someone to get it for him or systematically removing all obstacles between him and his goal. In a world where the corporate web weaves through everything in ever-spreading strands, Lex Luthor is emperor.**

Although he started life as a poor kid in poverty-stricken Suicide Slum, young Luthor's dangerously brilliant mind was already working to find a way out. When, at age fourteen, his parents were killed in a mysterious auto accident, their sizable insurance policy (which conveniently named Lex as sole beneficiary) brought Lex his first quarter-million and the chance to be the youngest student to ever enter MIT. The aggressive young inventor amazed all his teachers and graduated three years later with a master's degree in science. The money he soon made from patenting his inventions made him a billionaire by age twenty. Through his late twenties and thirties Luthor's pace continued unabated.

**Anyone who got in his way was crushed and swept away. To keep up a benevolent front, Luthor donated millions to Metropolis, buying the city hospitals, parks, opera houses and art museums, all named for him. He brought industry and prosperity to Metropolis, eventually employing two-thirds of the city's work force among his many companies.**

Now in his late forties, Lex Luthor is generally regarded as a hero. Thanks to his battery of lawyers and "pet" city officials, it would be nearly impossible to connect him to any crime. He's careful to keep his hands clean, delegating the dirty work to subordinates. And yet, there's one thing he craves above all else: the death of Superman.

**Because he cannot control or own Superman, Luthor is obsessed with destroying him. To Lex, Superman represents free will. Inspired by Superman's selflessness and nobility, the people of Metropolis could begin to think for themselves and turn against a self-styled demigod like Luthor. And above all, what really galls Luthor is that he had to buy the city's love and loyalty, and Superman got it for free.**

Lex Luthor is many things: inventor, businessman, genius. Coming a long way from his early days of poverty in Suicide Slum, Luthor was determined to make a name for himself early on. A brilliant inventor, Luthor was a billionaire by the age of 20, thanks to his many patents. Tremendously gifted and extremely driven, Luthor was soon the head of Lexcorp, his own network of multinational companies. Headquartered in downtown Metropolis, Lexcorp brought a new level of prosperity to Metropolis. Over time, Luthor became a civic hero, donating millions to the city and erecting libraries, schools and hospitals in his name.

**Now meet the real Luthor.**

Devious and shrewd, Luthor is in fact a maniacal criminal mastermind. From his veiled position of absolute power, Luthor controls the inner-workings of Metropolis through Lexcorp's web of corruption and greed. That which he cannot control, he can buy. Luthor is Superman's sworn enemy and does whatever he can to bring about Superman's downfall. The fact that Luthor cannot simply buy Superman off, or control his endless supply of good deeds, angers Luthor all the more. Because Superman poses the only threat to Luthor's kingdom, Luthor will battle ceaselessly until he destroys his foe.

Years of carrying around kryptonite in his pocket gave Luthor something unexpected--a form of Kryptonite poisoning, something only those who're exposed it for extended periods of time get. Luthor was forced to go to prison after his attempted murder of Superman--something that was only foiled by an implication of his poisoning--a severe chest pain knocked him an unconscious state and crashed the plane. There, he teamed up with Ultra Humanite. The two escaped from prison but ultimately got thrown back in again, when their attempts to form an Injustice Gang were foiled.

Lex returned again to take sides with a super-soldier type of a being, called Amazo. After tricking Amazo into doing his dirty work and destroying the Justice League, Amazo copied all of the Justice League's powers, and when he fell onto J'onn J'onzz mind-reading capability, he was able to find out what Luthor's true intentions were. Amazo spared Luthor's life and flew off into space, and has yet to be seen again...

Luthor later got a pardon later on for helping the Justice League "power-down" their alternate selves, the Justice Lords, and said in a press conference that he's done with his ways of wrong-doing and was no longer excited by the day-to-day riggers of the business world, but was looking into a more challenging field, politics.

With the aid of a device that stops the spread of his kryptonite induced cancer for "another thirty years, or another thirty days; for all I know, it might only be another thirty minutes, however fate plays her hand. I want my remaining time to have meaning, to make a positive difference in the world."

**Though these words were said with honesty, one can never be too sure of Luthor's true intentions. When he was confronted with a quick death at the hands of Amazo, Luthor talked about where his name would be in two generations: gone. No matter how much good he can or would do, he would still be forgotten, as there is no way to win against time.**

Now running for President of the United States, Lex Luthor is funding the Cadmus project in order to protect the world against the Justice League, should they turn against it.

**In an attempt to give the Justice League some "bad press", Luthor staged the opening of his new donation "Lexor City" to easily dupe Superman into humiliating himself by jumping to conclusions. Superman overhears Luthor and Mercy about something "ready to go off", and upon immediately scanning the area, Superman finds a lead-shielded "bomb." In reality this "bomb" was the power source for the city. After getting in a tussle with Captain Marvel over the bomb (destroying half of Lexor City in the process), Superman eventually disables the bomb, but it turns out to be exactly what Luthor said it was. In the end, Luthor accomplished what he set out to do: humiliate Superman.**

After a battle with Amanda Blake Waller and the Justice League, Lex Luthor's true self was revealed: Brainiac.

**After realising that both his own mind and Brainiac lived inside him, which cured him of his Kryptonite induced cancer and gave him miraculous super strength, Lex made a deal with the Kryptonian robot, to live beyond his search for all data. Lex showed Brainiac the Dark Heart, a nanotech organism with the ability to absorb any substance and change it into whatever it chooses. The two of them used this technology to completely merge into one being with 2 minds.**

Attempting to create a machine that will give them every ounce of data they need from earth, they were stopped by the Justice League, despite creating Justice Lord duplicates to fend them off. Their efforts proved futile, after Wonder Woman threw the Javelin into the machine, and Flash tapped into the speed force and completely separated Brainiac from Luthor, leaving Lex human again.

**Lex Luthor later escaped from jail a few months after his separation from Brainiac. Despite this 'separation', a bit of Brainiac still lives within Luthor; whether it�s really Brainiac or simply a delusional state Luthor is in remains to be seen. With Grodd's help, Luthor escaped prison and joined a Legion of supervillains. Luthor stayed on board only because of Grodd's possession of a piece of Brainiac, who Luthor hopes to rebuild.**

Luthor assumed control of the Legion once Grodd's plan to turn all of Earth into apes. Finding his plans utterly rediculous, Luthor stood up and shot Grodd during a meeting of the Legion and took control, with not a single Legion member's objection.

**During an incident trying to extract information from Grodd's mind, Dr. Fate was trying to tap into Grodd's mind at the same time via The Flash. Luthor and Flash switched minds for a short time before being reversed back by Dr. Fate. Luthor learned nothing from his time on the Watchtower, nor did Wally about the location of the Legion's hideout.**

Luthor was never successful in finding how to unleash Brainiac until Tala found a vision inside the piece Grodd had. Projecting this vision to Lex, Tala was able to recreate Brainiac's last minutes and by this vision Luthor was able to plot a course to it. Traveling through space, Luthor found Brainiac's resting place, as-of resurrecting Brainiac like he intended, Luthor brought back a Kryptonian Android Brainiac, bonded with small remnants of An Pissed-Off Darkseid.

## Powers With Abilities

**Power/Skills:** Manipulation, Knowledge of Sciences and Technology, Photographic Memory and Enhanced Physical Attributes

## Gallery

Lex L Luthor from Superman-The Animated SeriesLex L Luthor from Justice League(-TV Series)Lex L Luthor from Justice League Unlimited

### Videos

Lex L Luthor and Kryptonian Android Brainiac are Finally Become One