Smallville/Characters/Luthor Corp

• Main
• Characters
  • Apokiliptians
  • Clarks Allies
  • Daily Planet
  • Earth 2
  • Government
  • High
  • Kents
  • Kryptonians
  • Lanes
  • Luthor Corp
  • Meteor Freaks
  • Other Major Villains
  • Phantom Zone
• Trivia
• YMMV
• Fridge
• Fanfic Recs
• Headscratchers
• Ho Yay
• WMG
• Crowners
  • Awesome
  • Funny
  • Heartwarming
  • Nightmare Fuel
  • Tear Jerker
• Wikipedia
• All Subpages
  • Drinking Game
  • Wall Banger
• Create New

Lex Luthor / Lx-0 (Michael Rosenbaum)

"I am the villain of the story."

The son of multi-billionaire Lionel Luthor, Lex befriends Clark after the latter saves him from drowning following a plunge off a bridge in the pilot episode. He is initially Clark's best friend and goes out of his way to protect him, eventually deposing his father and seizing control of LuthorCorp. However, Clark's refusal to trust him -- combined with Lex's inability to overcome his own upbringing and their rivalry over both Lana and how to best protect Smallville -- cause Lex to slide into villainy, ending in a Face Heel Turn of epic proportions when he murders his reformed father and attempts to do the same to Clark in the Season 7 finale.

Lex returns in Season 8 and despite being reduced to an Evil Cripple, manages blow up the LuthorCorp Board of Directors, nearly nuke half the city with a kryptonite bomb, and ruin Clark and Lana's future together before apparently being killed by Oliver Queen. Doctor Fate confirmed Lex was alive in Season 9's "Absolute Justice", and in the Season 10 finale, he finally makes his triumphant return, having been restored to life by harvesting organs from clones and a pact between Earth-2 Lionel Luthor and Darkseid sealing the deal.

Defined by his obsessions and need for control, Lex can be vengeful, spiteful and, at times, downright petty, but also has flashes of pure Machiavellian brilliance. He is a fitting Arch Enemy for a Superman.

It has repeatedly been suggested that he will seek the U.S. Presidency at some point in the future. And he succeeds in the future of the Grand Finale, though since he had his memories erased, there was no telling if he was good or bad.

• Abusive Parents: Oh boy, is Lex ever the mother-lode of this trope. Lionel's abusive way of raising Lex is a big part of what led to his Start of Darkness. His mother, being a needy, submissive Control Freak, wasn't much better, although Lex tries to pretend she was.
• Affably Evil --> Faux Affably Evil: Lex always appears to be a pleasant young man, but how real that is fades with time. By the end of the show, it's nothing more than a facade.
• Alliterative Name
• Alternate Universe: In Clark's It's a Wonderful Plot episode "Apocalypse", we meet President Evil Lex who, as usual, is a Man in White with a Red Right Hand, but adds Social Darwinist and Omnicidal Maniac to his resume, via a plan to Nuke'Em all and re-build the world in his own image.
• Antagonistic Offspring: To Lionel, following the latter's Heel Face Turn and his own subsequent Face Heel Turn.
• Anti-Hero --> Anti-Villain: Lex started the series as a Type-IV Anti-Hero. His methods were badly flawed, but he was genuinely out to stop his father Lionel, and be a better person and a good friend to Clark. By Seasons 4 and 5, he was in Anti-Villain territory, becoming antagonistic but remaining sympathetic, before finally diving into full-on villainy.
• Arch Enemy: Well on his way to being Clark's.
• Asshole Victim: In the later seasons.
• Back From the Dead: Thanks to Chloe's healing powers in Season 7's "Fracture".
  • And again in "Finale" by way of a cloned body and Earth-2 Lionel's deal with Darkseid.
• Badass: He fought Green Arrow, the biggest Badass Normal in the series, one-on-one and acquitted himself well. And that's just one example.
  • Badass Boast: The page quote.
  • Badass in A Nice Suit: Especially in the Bad Futures where he's a very intimidating Man in White.
  • Badass Longcoat: Lex's trenchcoat is every bit as iconic as his nice suit.
  • Badass Normal: Both physically and mentally.
  • Handicapped Badass: Season 8, in both the literal and metaphorical sense. Bereft of his company, money, connections and his very mobility, a quadrapalegic Lex keeps the superhero community quaking in their boots (even the mere mention of his name terrifies them) and proves that, even trapped in the back of a truck on life support and breathing through a respirator, he's still one of the most dangerous villains out there.
• Bad Boss: After his turn to villainy.
• Bad Future: Is President Evil in many of them.
• Bald of Awesome --> Bald of Evil: Courtesy of his Face Heel Turn.
• Big Bad: Competes with Brainiac for this title in Season 7. Considered by some to have held it since Season 6.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: Spends much of Seasons 5 & 7 trying to be The Big Bad, but gets upstaged by Brainiac.
• Big Brother Mentor: He often had a tendency to slip into this trope during the first two seasons with Clark.
• Broken Ace: Very much so. He's rich, successful, handsome, self-loathing and caught up in a desire for parental approval all at the same time.
• Byronic Hero: A villainous example.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Announces his intention to become one of these in the Grand Finale. Tess' mind-wipe may have forestalled this.
• Cain and Abel: With Clark (whom he viewed as a brother) and later with Tess, resulting in the latter's death and his own memory loss.
• The Chessmaster
• Classic Villain: Displays the sins of Pride, Envy and Wrath.
• Control Freak: Lex's need to control everyone and everything around him is the chief cause of his downfall.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: After he turns evil.
• Corrupt the Cutie: Lionel was determined to teach Lex about how to be ruthless and Machiavellian... even when Lex was still just a child. For one of his birthdays when Lex was young, Lionel bought a replica of the Battle of Troy and used it to try to teach Lex about ruthless strategy. It's also been mentioned that Lionel once gave Lex a copy of Sun Tzu's The Art of War on another childhood birthday.
  • Arguably Corrupt the Cutie can also be used to describe how Lex affected Lana's personality after they got together, although to be fair, she wasn't exactly a saint beforehand, either.
• Dangerously Genre Savvy: Lex's machinations in Season 8 indisputably earn him this title.
• Deadpan Snarker: Ahh, who forget his witty comeback to Victoria when he finds out that she was bedding him just to get close enough to spy on him for her father's corporation:

Victoria: "It was just business." Lex: *without missing a beat* "If you call sleeping with me 'business,' then I'd hate to think what that makes you."

• Disc One Final Boss: Season 8. His return is a much anticipated and feared thing, to the point where one expects him to take over as the Big Bad... only for him to be blown up and replaced by Doomsday.
• The Dreaded: As of Season 8. He drove Oliver to violate Thou Shalt Not Kill, other characters treat him as though he were a Hero Killer (even though he's really not), and the possibility of his return is always spoken of as though it were a prophecy regarding The End of the World As We Know It. Not bad for a Badass Normal who hasn't appeared for two-and-a-half seasons.
• Dropped a Bridge On Him --> Not Quite Dead
• Envy: Of Clark, whose life -- and later powers -- he desperately wants.
  • Driven By Envy: Outdoing Clark eventually becomes his primary motivation.
• Evil Cripple: In Season 8. He's parapalegic, on a respirator and barely able to breathe... and more dangerous than ever, now that he's got the element of surprise on his side.
• Evil Is Petty: His incredibly petty and vicious plan in Season 8 revolves around breaking up Clark and Lana through the nastiest way possible.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Season 8, complete with Vader Breath.
• Eyepatch of Power: Season 8, as part of his Evil Cripple status.
• Face Heel Turn: Pretty much a Foregone Conclusion, but still heartbreaking to watch.
• Foil: To Clark, with his journey from Designated Villain to narcissistic monster progressing in-time with Clark's journey from Designated Hero to The Messiah & The Cape.
• Freudian Excuse: Courtesy of his dad.
• Friendly Enemy: Until the events of "Arctic".
• Genius Cripple: Season 8.
• Guile Hero: Pre-Face Heel Turn.
• Guns Akimbo: Against Green Arrow and Black Canary in "Siren". Complete with...
  • Gun Kata
• Hard Head: Held Smallville's record for being knocked unconscious.
• The Heavy: Seasons 6 and 7.
• Hypocrite: Keeping secrets is bad Clark, but don't ask Lex about the army of skeletons in his closet.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex
• It's All About Me: Even early on, Lex had trouble seeing beyond his own needs. By the end of the show, he's completely obsessed with himself, suffers from bad cases of Lack of Empathy and Never My Fault, and more or less believes that the universe revolves around him.
• Joker Immunity: How many times has Lex been killed only to suddenly return with no explanation?
• Karma Houdini: He avoids punishment for all of his crimes, and at the end of the series is resurrected and ready to become the President Evil we always knew he could be.
• Klingon Promotion
• Lack of Empathy: Has a severe and developing case of it. By Season 7 or so, it's all-consuming.
• Large Ham
• Lonely Rich Kid
• Mad Dictators Handsome Son --> Overlord, Jr.: He never loses his hatred for his father, but he gets a whole lot more evil himself; rather than seeking to stop his father, he now wants to replace him.
• Made of Iron: Courtesy of his low-level Healing Factor.
• Manipulative Bastard
• The Man Behind the Man: To Tess and Winslow Schott in Season 8.
• Man in White: In the various Bad Futures where he's President Evil. During Clark's trips inside his head, bad!Lex wears the same suit. He dons it in real life during the 2018 Distant Finale, after he's elected President.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: In the later seasons, and the Bad Futures.
• Mr. Fanservice: Just ask the fangirls.
• Moral Myopia: No one may do unto Lex as he does unto them. It wouldn't be right.
• Narcissist: From the start of the show, Lex has difficulty seeing others problems. This only gets worse as time goes by; by Season 7 he's essentially become a sociopath.
• Never My Fault: Lex blames his father, Clark, Lana and anyone else he can set his sights on for his problems. You've got a Freudian Excuse, Lex, but it doesn't mean you don't have to take responsibility sometimes.
• Nuke'Em: In "Apocalypse"'s Bad Future, President Evil Lex has conspired with Brainiac to wipe out the world in a nuclear war, so that he can unite the survivors under his rule and create a new Social Darwinistic paradise.
• The Other Darrin: In Season 8, a body double is portraying him, with his face obscured so that the door is still open for Michael Rosenbaum to possibly return.
• President Evil: In several Bad Futures. He's elected for real in 2018 during the Distant Finale.
• Poisonous Friend: To Clark, pre-Face Heel Turn. Clark was arguably one for him as well.
• Redheaded Hero: In his childhood, he sported a thick head of bright red hair. Then he made that fateful trip to Smallville...
• Red Right Hand: In every one of the Bad Future episodes, President Evil Lex is shown as a Man in White with a single black-gloved hand. Bad!Lex also sports this look during Clark's trip inside his head in "Fracture". It finally happens for real following his resurrection in the Grand Finale. One of his hands is mangled, prompting him to don the trademark glove. Might be a Shout Out to the comics where constantly wearing a Kryptonite ring caused Luthor to develop cancer in one of his hands and have it replaced with a mechanical one.
• Revenge: Season 8.
• Sadistic Choice: Gives Clark and Lana the option of staying together and watching thousands die, or sacrificing their love in order to save Metropolis. They pick the latter.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money
• Self Made Orphan: "Descent". Seen by many as his Moral Event Horizon.
• Shipper On Deck: During the early seasons for Clark and Lana. All the while developing feelings for Lana himself.
• Social Darwinist: Picks up many tennants of his father's philosophy as his life goes on. The President Evil Lex seen in "Apocalypse"'s Bad Future actually intends to end the world in nuclear holocaust so that he can rule over the survivors (whom he believes will be the strongest that humanity has to offer).
• The Unfavorite: Subverted. Lex thinks he's this, but given Lionel's treatment of Lucas and Tess, it's clear that he's actually the favorite. It's just that this is Lionel we're talking about, so it doesn't really matter.
• Unwitting Pawn: Of Brainiac. Twice.
• Used to Be A Sweet Kid: As the flashbacks reveal, he really did.
• Vader Breath: Season 8.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Lionel withheld affection from Lex so much that not only does he desperately seek Lionel's approval in the early seasons, but also the approval of Clark's dad!
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Begins his slide into villainy this way, as he himself states in "Descent":

Lex: "Come on, Clark! This is Smallville! Meteor freaks, alien ships, cryptic symbols... somebody HAD to take control to ensure people's safety!"

• • It doesn't last; by Seasons 7 and 8, he no longer cares about anyone but himself.
• Wicked Cultured
• Would Hit a Girl
• Wrath: The boy has anger management problems to say the least.
• Xanatos Gambit: His Sadistic Choice in Season 8. Either Lana absorbs the Kryptonite radiation and can't go near Clark again, or they let the bomb go off, thus proving they aren't the heroes they claim to be. One could also add the very creation of the Prometheus skin graft here: either he puts it on, recovers and uses it to kill Clark, or Lana puts it on and the above plan goes into action.
• Xanatos Roulette: Unbeknownst to Clark and his friends, the entire first half of Season 8 was slowly turning out to be a Xanatos Roulette set up by Lex (who is crippled, and presumed dead, but still alive and Dangerously Genre Savvy) to manipulate them all into being his unwitting pawns and facilitating his revenge. It culminates in the situation with the Prometheus suit described above: either A: Clark and Lana don't discover, and Lex dons it himself and uses it to murder Clark, or B: Lana steals it, puts it on, and Lex forces her to chooses between letting the city blow up or absorbing the kryptonite and never being able to be with Clark again). Like we said, Lex is truly a Manipulative Bastard.

Lionel Luthor (John Glover)

"If you're going to take me on, son, you're going to have to bring your game up to a whole different level."

Lex's father and the founder of LuthorCorp, Lionel rose from poverty to become one of the wealthiest men in the world. Claiming to be descended from Scottish nobility, he raised his son with little warmth and less love, believing that such things only bred weakness. He is the chief culprit behind his son's shattered psyche and need for approval, and is the main antagonist in Seasons 1-3.

Imprisoned at the end of Season 3 when Lex and Chloe reveal that he murdered his parents, Lionel is freed by Genevieve Teague and undergoes the beginnings of a Heel Face Turn. Failing to re-connect with Lex despite his best efforts, Lionel grows closer to Clark, eventually learning his secret and becoming his ally, while at the same time serving as the host body for Jor-El (and nursing an enormous crush on Clark's mother Martha). He's killed by Lex in Season 7's "Descent" when he refuses to reveal Clark's secret to him.

Affable, sarcastic and always capable of coming out on top, Lionel is one of the few agreed upon examples of a Magnificent Bastard.

For his Earth-2 counterpart, see Earth-2.

• Abusive Dad: Though much, much more sympathetic than most television ones. Season 3 implies that he had one himself, meaning that the cycle of abuse is in full swing.
• Affably Evil: Definitely. If you weren't in his way or related to him, Lionel could be a downright pleasant guy, even before his Heel Face Turn.
• Alliterative Name
• Anti-Villain --> Anti-Hero: In the later seasons. He ends up as a Type IV Anti-Hero, right at around the same time that Lex becomes the full-on Big Bad.
• Archnemesis Dad: To Lex, remaining so even after his Heel Face Turn.
• Ascended Extra: A recurring villain in Season 1, he received his Promotion to Opening Titles in Season 2.
• Asshole Victim: Frequently in the earlier seasons.
• Badass: On the merits of both his physical prowess and sheer presence.
  • Badass Beard
  • Badass in A Nice Suit
  • Badass Long Hair: One almost thinks it's in deliberate contrast to Lex.
  • Badass Longcoat: Frequently.
  • Badass Normal
  • Cultured Badass
• Beard of Evil
• Big Bad: Seasons 1-3; start of Season 4.
• Breakout Character: Lionel was originally intended to appear a few times in Season 1. He became the Big Bad in Season 2 and 3, a Mentor to Clark from Season 4 onwards and, following his Season 7 death, his Evil Twin from Earth-2 was brought in to be The Heavy of Season 10, which was suffering from a lack of physical presence on the part of Big Bad Darkseid. To many, many people, he is the definitive Smallville villain.
  • Breakout Villain
• Broken Ace: A villainous example. Lionel's obsession with wealth, power and material success cover up a great deal of self-hatred, an inability to identify with other people, and a childhood he's still running away from.
• Canon Foreigner --> Canon Immigrant
• The Chessmaster
• The City Narrows/Wrong Side of the Tracks: Suicide Slum has its moniker for a reason. Lionel grew up there, and despite his best efforts, it has indelibly marked him.
• Cool Old Guy: A villainous example.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive
• Deadpan Snarker: Where do you think Lex got it from?
• Disc One Final Boss: In the first half of Season 4, doing his utmost to hurt Chloe, Clark, and Lex from behind bars. Following his release and subsequent possession by Jor-El, however, he begins trying to turn over a new leaf, Big Bad duties are assumed by his Evil Distaff Counterpart, Genevieve Teague.
• Disney Villain Death
• Even Evil Has Standards
• Expy: In the first few seasons, Lionel was an expy of Comics!Lex, his role being partly to foreshadow what Lex would grow up to be, and partly to push him towards this fate. In Season 3, Lionel even gets the John Byrne-era backstory (growing up in Suicide Slums and becoming a Self Made Orphan in order to reap his parent's insurance money to start his company) that was still canonical for Comics!Lex during the time period that the early seasons were on air.
• Fan Nickname: The Magnificent Bastard, the MB, the Magnificent You-Know-What. Following his possession by Jor-El, some forums began referring to him as Lion-El.
• Foil: To Jonathan Kent--everything from their histories to their parenting styles are diametrically opposed.
• Freaky Friday Flip: With Clark in one episode. He comes onto Lana, Chloe, and Martha in rapid succession, and more or less goes out of his way to make Clark look like as big a bastard as possible. Props to John Glover and Tom Welling for doing a very good impression of one another.
• Freudian Excuse: His parents were abusive and alcoholic.
• Grand Theft Me: Pulls it on Clark early in Season 4 and later receives it courtesy of Jor-El.
• The Heavy: Seasons 1-3. Overlaps with his time as The Big Bad.
• Heel Face Turn: Slowly. He shifts from Big Bad (Seasons 1-3) to Anti-Villain (Seasons 4 and 5) to a Type III or IV Anti-Hero (Seasons 6 and 7).
• Important Haircut: At the end of Season 3, when he goes to prison. He grows it back, but keeps it short. It's worth noting that the longer and greasier Lionel's hair is, the more evil he is. In Season 3, when he's at his worst, it hangs down past his shoulders.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Lionel's entire life is built upon running away from his past in Metropolis' Suicide Slum.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Eventually forms one with Clark and Chloe.
• Killed Off for Real
• Knight Templar Parent: He's determined to raise his son to be as strong as possible. Oh, and if you happen to hurt Lex or Clark after Season 4, Lionel will come down on you like the wrath of God.
• Large Ham
• Manipulative Bastard
• Mad Oracle: His possession by Jor-El leads to several breaks from reality, during which he merely sits in a corner and sketches Kryptonian symbols. He's not actually insane, but he certainly looks this way from the outside.
• Man of Wealth and Taste
• Messy Hair: And the longer it gets, the messier (and greasier) it is.
• Might As Well Not Be in Prison At All: During the first half of Season 4 where he's able to send an assassin after Chloe, bodyjack Clark, and launch several other plots against the main cast from behind bars. It's not an extreme example--he's certainly inconvenienced by doing hard time, but he is still very, very dangerous.
• Narcissist: Particularly during Seasons 1-3, wherein he has a great deal of trouble seeing his family and company as anything more than extensions of himself. Possession by Jor-El rids him of the worst of these traits in Season 4 though he remains grandiose and manipulative, viewing himself as a prophet and savior.
• Papa Wolf: Starts showing this trait towards Lex and then Clark after Season 4.
  • Horribly and cruelly subverted in his treatment of Tess. He abandoned her at Granny Goodness' orphanage. The moment is even more heartbreaking when a poor, confused young Tess cries "Daddy, I love you!" at Lionel, who heartlessly walks away to his limo without responding and drives off. Later, we learn that Earth-2 Lionel, while apparently still interacting with Earth-2 Tess during her adult years, treats her like garbage, and shows no love for her whatsoever.
• Parental Substitute: Tries hard to be one for Clark.
• Pride: Unlike his envious, angry son, Lionel favors the root of all sin. He's arrogant, grandiose, and utterly convinced of his own superiority. In a show filled of people with superpowers, Lionel still managed to feel like the most powerful person around.
• Prophet Eyes: When possessed by Jor-El.
• Rags to Riches: In the Backstory.
• Really Gets Around / Your Cheating Heart: He's had affairs with other women in the past, resulting in two illegitimate children, Lucas and Tess.
• Redemption Equals Death
• Reformed but Rejected: For most of Seasons 4 & 5.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money
• Secret Keeper: For Clark after Season 5.
• Self-Made Man: One of the rare evil ones.
• Self Made Orphan: He and Morgan Edge conspired to kill his alcoholic parents, Lachlan and Eliza.
• So Proud of You: Leaves a message like this for Clark to listen to following his death. Sniff...
• Villainous Crush: On Martha Kent. He never really acts on it though.
• Villains Want Redheads: Had a serious crush on Martha. To the bastard's credit, he never did much about it. His late wife Lillian was a also a redhead, as was Pamela Jenkins, Lex's childhood nanny and Tess' biological mother.
  • As was Lucas Luthor's mother.
• Wicked Cultured
• Xanatos Speed Chess: A master of it.
• Zen Survivor: A badly burned-out one.

Victoria Hardwick (Kelly Brook)

The daughter of one of Lionel's business rivals, she attempts to play Lionel and Lex against one another.

---

• Break the Haughty: Her ultimate fate, along with her equally-haughty father.
• British Accents
• The Chessmaster: Unfortunately for her, Lex is an even craftier Chessmaster.
• Distaff Counterpart: To Lex, with the caveat that Victoria is loyal to her father.
• Gold Digger: Already extremely wealthy, but she and her father want to get even richer, and plot to have her infiltrate Luthor Corp by seducing Lex.

Lex: If you call sleeping with me 'business,' then I'd hate to think what that makes you.

• Love Interest: For Lex in Season 1.
• Out Gambitted: By Lionel and Lex.
• Rich Bitch: Particularly in her treatment of Lex's staff members. This ended up coming back to bite her when one of them turned out to be psychotically obsessed with Lex, and decided to try and remove Victoria from the mansion. Victoria survived, thanks to Clark.
• Riches to Rags: It's heavily implied that this is going to happen to her and her father after they are Out Gambitted by Lex and Lionel. The last episode of their story arc ends with them apparently losing their fortune in a terrible stock deal over Cadmus Labs (they were tricked into this by Lex in retaliation for Victoria trying to trick him into helping the Hardwicks take over Luthor Corp). The last we see of them, they are sitting dejected and in utter shock, and Lex informs them that he and Lionel will be buying away their company and absorbing it into Luthor Corp the following morning.
• The Vamp: Tries to play both of the Luthor men against each other. It doesn't end well for her.

Lucas Luthor (Paul Wesley)

• Alliterative Name
• Long Lost Sibling
• Shoo Out the New Guy: Appeared in just one episode, where he had a major role and it was implied would continue to have a major role in the Luthor family dynamic. Was Put On a Bus at the end of the episode and was never seen or heard from again.
• The Sociopath: At least according to Lionel.

Lillian Luthor (Alisen Down)

The deceased wife of Lionel, and the mother of Lex and Julian (also deceased). It is eventually revealed in Season 3's "Memoria" that she smothered baby Julian in his crib, creating the beginnings of the Lex/Lionel feud that persists throughout the show.

• Abusive Mom: She killed Julian and let Lex take the rap. What a bitch!
• Alliterative Name
• Hot Mom
• Missing Mom
• Offing the Offspring: Julian
• Posthumous Character

Regan Matthews (Ari Cohen)

Lex's right-hand man, before and after the events of "Arctic". He initially takes over the company after Lex's disappearance, only to be replaced by Tess Mercer. He then vanishes off the radar so that he can serve Lex in a personal capacity, running the Prometheus project for him. He eventually tries to kill Tess for betraying Lex, and is killed by her in turn.

• Corrupt Corporate Executive
• The Dragon: To Lex. He may well be the man's one competent employee.
• Man of Wealth and Taste
• My Master Right or Wrong: He firmly believed that Lex's plans in "Quest" and "Arctic" were nuts. This doesn't prevent him from staying loyal, before and after.
• Playing With Syringes: Uses a drug derived from Chloe's mother's spinal fluid to mind-control first Chloe and then Green Arrow.
• Properly Paranoid: As it turns out, his suspicions about Tess' loyalty were right; she jumps ship as soon as she finds out how badly Lex has violated her trust.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: To Tess.
• Smug Snake: Condescending, and just generally unpleasant.
• Undying Loyalty: To Lex.

Tess Mercer / Lutessa Lena Luthor (Cassidy Freeman)

Lex's protégé and his successor as CEO of LuthorCorp, Tess has a complicated history with Oliver Queen. Domineering, calculating and extremely broken, Tess is a force to be reckoned with, though whether it's for good or evil is often up in the air.

First appearing in Season 8, Tess is a secondary antagonist throughout, trying to uncover the truth about Lex's disappearance, discover Clark's secret and eliminate both Doomsday and his host body Davis Bloome. At the Orb's instruction, Tess releases the Kandorians at the end of Season 8 and spends most of Season 9 alternately allying with and opposing Zod's designs. She is apparently killed at the end of Season 9, but is resurrected by Granny Goodness and pulls a Heel Face Turn, becoming Watchtower II. She is eventually revealed to be Lutessa Lena Luthor, the illegitimate daughter of Lionel Luthor and Pamela Jenkins, as well as a candidate Female Fury. In the Grand Finale she kills Earth-2 Lionel Luthor (who was attempting to cut out her heart at the time) and is subsequently murdered by the resurrected Lex. In the process, she exposes him to a neurotoxin, wiping his memory, and finally achieving redemption.

For her Earth-2 counterpart, see Earth-2

• Alliterative Name: Lutessa Lena Luthor.
• Abusive Parents: Her adoptive father broke her arm and damaged her eardrums.
• The Atoner: In Season 10.
• Back From the Dead
• Badass Normal: Confirms this by taking on Zod and later Harriet.
• The Baroness: An interesting mix of the two versions -- she's very attractive, but her cold, bitter personality is closer to the Rosa Klebb variant.
• Because Destiny Says So: Is like this towards Clark. She's determined to make sure he turns into the Traveler that the prophecies have promised her, no matter how many times she has to manipulate, sabotage, or betray him.
• Big Bad: One could make a case for her being Season 8's. While Doomsday is the Final Boss, he spends most of the show trying to stay undercover, while Tess' manipulations drive the plot forwards and provides most of the season's conflict.
• Broken Ace: Along much the same lines as Lionel and Lex. She's rich, attractive, powerful, has no faith in humanity or herself, and is desperately searching for a Messiah-figure.
• Broken Bird: Life in general, and her interactions with the Luthors in particular, have left her very, very damaged. This shows more and more with each season after her introduction.
• Character Development: She turns out to be one of the most complex characters on the show.
• Composite Character / Expy: Eve Teschmacher and Mercy Graves.
  • Possibly of the Contessa as well, who was Luthor's ex-wife in the comics.
  • It turns out she's also Lena Luthor.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Although in a different way from most.
• The Cracker: Put her skills at this to work for Clark post Heel Face Turn.
• Cute Bruiser: Pretty girl. Will beat your face in without the need for Waif Fu, thanks all the same. And oh yeah--she cheats.
• Dark Action Girl: She's lost some of the evil lately, but none of the edge.
• Designated Girl Fight: Against Lana, Lois, Chloe and, most recently, Harriet.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Distaff Counterpart: To Lex.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: As she lies dying from the knife wound Lex just gave her, she exposes Lex to a toxin that wipes his memory of everything that's happened since he came to Smallville, thus limiting the threat he'll be to Clark in the future.
• Electronic Eyes: Implanted by Lex. It's revealed that he is actually spying on her through them, which prompts her Heel Face Turn.
• Evil Genius
• Evil Redhead
• Evil Sounds Deep: Has the deepest voice in the female cast and, what a shocker, is one of the bad guys until her Heel Face Turn in Season 10.
• The Fatalist: When it comes to Clark. She fully believes that he cannot fight fate.
• Femme Fatale
• Fiery Redhead
• Green Eyed Red Head
• Heel Face Revolving Door: Although it seems to have settled on Face for the moment.
• Home Porn Movie: Filmed one with Emil.
• In the Blood: Her being Lionel's daughter explains both her manipulative nature and her Heel Face Revolving Door.
• Killed Off for Real: In "Finale" by a revived Lex, ironically enough. Though she takes his memories with her.
• Kissing Under the Influence: With Emil in "Fortune".
• Manipulative Bitch
• Mercy Kill: As she lies dying, Lex tries to justify it as this, saying that he's saving her from becoming like him.

Tess: "Clark already did that."

• Misanthrope Supreme: She sides with the cloned Kryptonians over humanity, believing that they will be better stewards of the planet than humans.
  • In the alternate future, she even becomes Zod's Dragon. However, in her dying moment, she admits she made a terrible mistake and she was desperately trying to save the world.
• Mission Control: Becomes Watchtower II in Season 10, due to Chloe's absence.
• Pair the Smart Ones: With the equally bright (if in a different sort of way) Emil.
• Parental Abandonment
• Promotion to Parent: Seemed to be going this route with Alexander Luthor prior to his Face Heel Turn.
• Redemption Equals Death
• The Reveal: In Season 10's "Abandoned", she's revealed to actually be a Luthor.
• Rich Bitch
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money
• Shoot the Dog: Goes out of her way to try and force Clark to kill Davis in Season 8.
• The Smart Guy: She and Emil split this role after her Heel Face Turn, Emil as The Medic and Gadgeteer Genius, and Tess as The Cracker, Manipulative Bastard, and financial backer.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: She's pretty much Lex in drag, at least initially. She later develops her own personality.
  • Which kinda makes sense since it's recently been revealed that she's Lex's half-sister.
• Villainous Crush: Sometimes appears to manifest one on Clark.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist

Injustice League -- Bette Sans Souci / Plastique (Jessica Parker Kennedy), Rudy Jones / Parasite (Brendan Fletcher), Eva Greer (Anna Williams/Allison Mack), Leslie Willis / Livewire (Anna Mae Routledge), Neutron (Jae Lee)

A team of super-powered operatives assembled by Tess in Season 8 to track down Doomsday. After the deaths of Livewire, Neutron and Eva, Parasite and Plastique turn on Tess, but are stopped by Clark.

For more on Plastique, see "Suicide Squad".

• Axe Crazy: Parasite
• Blond Guys Are Evil: Neutron
• Brought Down to Normal: Parasite does this to Livewire.
• Energy Absorption: Parasite
• Flying Brick: Parasite when he steals Clark's powers. Luckily, he also steals his Kryptonite Factor.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: All four of them.
• I Love Nuclear Power: Presumably Neutron.
• Killed Off for Real: Eva and Neutron.
• Mad Bomber: Plastique
• Psycho Electro: Livewire and then Parasite.
• Shape Shifter: Eva
• Shock and Awe: Livewire
• Vampiric Draining: Parasite's power drains both your powers, and some of your Life Energy.
• Why Am I Ticking: The chip in their heads that keeps them loyal doubles as a bomb.
• You Have Failed Me: Tess does this to Livewire and Eva.

Alexander Luthor / Lx-15 (Jakob Davies, Connor Stanhope, Lucas Grabeel)

"I'm the last Lex Luthor. After I die, there is no coming back."

A clone of Lex created sometime after Season 7, Alexander was part of the mad billionaire's plan to save himself from the injuries he sustained at the end of "Arctic" following his face-off with Clark at the Fortress of Solitude. He is released from Cadmus Labs by Tess in the Season 10 opening, and at first appears to be a relatively normal child. However, his accelerated aging and possession of Lex's memories eventually drive him to begin imitating his namesake, to the point of abandoning Tess and declaring himself to be the real Lex.

Tess has Alexander locked away, but he escapes and hides out in Suicide Slums. He attempts to assassinate Martha Kent to draw out Clark, but fails and is found by Earth-2 Lionel, who begins grooming Alexander to be his heir. However, Alexander turns on Lionel as well and tries to kill both Lionel and Martha by burning down the Luthor Mansion with them inside (Clark saves them both, don't worry). He gets ready to kill Clark until Tess talks him down and takes him in again. Tess tries to put Alexander out of his misery, only to find that he is now invulnerable. He also begins to lose his memories, leading to the creation of a new persona...

The tropes below pertain to him as "Alexander". For his post-amnesia persona of "Conner" see The Kents:

• Bald of Evil: As of the end of "Harvest". But his hair grows back.
• Big Bad Wannabe: He talks a good game, but is far too shattered mentally to fill Lex's shoes.
• Boring but Practical: His plan to kill Clark involves firing Kryptonite bullets at people he cares about, assuming that Clark will blur in front of the shots. Compared to Lex's complicated schemes, it's definitely this.
• Cheerful Child: At least, at first.
• Child Prodigy --> Teen Genius
• Cloning Blues: Complete with accelerated aging, until "Scion".
• Do Not Call Me Paul: "My name is Lex!"
• Enfante Terrible --> Teens Are Monsters: Given that he has Lex's mind in a child's body, this should surprise no one. He's creepy, manipulative and downright abusive towards Tess. And then there's his murderous agenda regarding Clark. "Born bad" is putting it mildly.
• Evil Genius
• Evil Orphan: Despite Tess's best efforts.
• Evil Redhead
• Face Heel Turn: In "Harvest". See Conner's entry for how that turns out.
• Important Haircut: Shaved himself in imitation of Lex in "Harvest". It grew back pretty quick.
• Kill It With Fire: Burned down the Luthor mansion. What is it with Lex's clones and pyromania?
• The Last Dance: He's fully aware of his aging problem. It's not doing healthy things to his mental stability.
• Last of His Kind: The last of the Lex clones.
• Nigh Invulnerability: Revealed at the very end of "Beacon".
• Parental Issues: With Tess, Earth-2 Lionel, and anyone else who tries to offer him guidance.
• Psychotic Smirk: Sports a beautiful copy of Lex's.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Ruthlessly deconstructs Tess' desire to help him, claiming that she's only trying to exorcise her own internal demons.
• Revenge: Previously expressed a desire to payback Clark for "his" death.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: Because you can load them with Kryptonite bullets.
• Sanity Slippage: Gets a whole lot crazier with every year he ages.
• Self Made Orphan: He sure as hell tries to send Earth-2 Lionel the way of his Earth-1 counterpart.
• Shadow Archetype: To Lex, of course.
• Sharp Dressed Man: Well, boy really.
  • Man of Wealth and Taste: As of his Face Heel Turn.
• Used to Be A Sweet Kid: Before Lex's memories screwed him up.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: "He's just as smart as Lex was. Maybe even smarter."
• You Are Number Six: Lx-15 is his "actual" name and number.
• Younger Than They Look: Not to the degree of Lx-3, but he's getting there.

Lx-3 (Mackenzie Gray)

"There can only be one Lex Luthor!"

Another one of Lex's clones, this one degenerated to the point where he resembles a much older, rather cadaverous-looking man. He is accidentally released by Tess in the Season 10 opening and goes on a killing spree that starts with the other clones, progresses through the entire staff at Cadmus Labs, and ends with separate attempts on Lois and the people of Metropolis. Utterly insane, he possesses all of Lex's memories and brains, but none of his suave demeanor.

• Ax Crazy: Lex himself had this guy locked up. There was a reason for that.
• Bald of Evil
• Big Bad Wannabe: He's menacing and dangerous, and Clark and Tess both react as though he really were the real Lex, but thanks to his Clone Degeneration, he doesn't really have time to do all that much.
• Cloning Blues: He's far older than the real Lex, and dying to boot.
• Clone Degeneration: The only real explanation for his positively Orlokian appearance.
• Evil Old Folks
• Expy: Of previous villain Adrian Cross, who was cloned from Lex's deceased younger brother Julian. Both have aging problems, identity issues and a lust for Revenge, as well as limited time to put their plans in motion.
• Kill It With Fire: Does it to the other clones; tries to do it to Lois.
• Large Ham: It's Mackenzie Gray playing an Ax Crazy clone of Lex Luthor. Were we expecting it to be subdued?
• The Last Dance: He's already dying when he gets loose. Trying to hurt Clark is just a final F-U before he goes.
• Looks Like Cesare: Rail skinny, with sunken, baggy eyes, a pale complexion, and a sickly cast to his features.
• Looks Like Orlok: He's not a vampire, but with the Bald of Evil, vaguely Pointy Ears and jutting teeth, he does a remarkable impression.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: Is dressed as such when he confronts Clark.
• Not So Different: Pulls this on Clark.
• Older and Wiser: Or so he claims.
• Pointy Ears: Slightly.
• Pride: Claims it's Clark's Fatal Flaw; one could argue that it's his.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives one to Clark in which he claims that Pride is his Fatal Flaw.
• Revenge: His motivation for attacking Clark.
  • Revenge By Proxy: The reason he attacks Lois. He believes her death will utterly shatter Clark.
• Sadistic Choice: Tries to force Clark to choose between saving Lois or the people of Metropolis.
• Shadow Archetype: To the real Lex. Lx-3 is what the real Luthor would by like if he lost the charisma, and his few remaining scruples, while turning up the Axe Crazy a notch or eleven. That darkness inside him Lex was constantly being warned about? It's more or less this guy.
• Smug Snake: Has all of Lex's cunning and evil and all of his Jerkass qualities with none of the sympathy or Magnificence.
• The Sociopath: Literally tries to kill every person he meets.
• There Can Be Only One: Lex Luthor, that is.
• Villain of the Week: And what an impression he makes.
• Would Hit a Girl: First Tess, then Lois.
• Would Hurt a Child: Would totally hurt a child as Alexander can attest to.
• You Are Number Six: Lx-3
• You Look Familiar: His actor, Mackenzie Gray, also portrayed Evil Brit Mad Scientist Dr. Alistair Kreig in Season 5's "Cyborg".
• Younger Than They Look: His Cloning Blues have left with the body of a much older man.