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* ShadowArchetype: To the real Lex. Lx-3 is what the real Luthor would by like if he lost the [[TheCharmer charisma]], and his few [[EvenEvilHasStandards remaining]] [[AffablyEvil scruples]], while turning up the AxCrazy a notch or [[UpToEleven eleven]]. That darkness inside him Lex was constantly being warned about? It's more or less this guy.
to:
* ShadowArchetype: To the real Lex. Lx-3 is what the real Luthor would by like if he lost the [[TheCharmer charisma]], and his few [[EvenEvilHasStandards remaining]] [[AffablyEvil scruples]], while turning up the AxCrazy a notch or [[UpToEleven eleven]].eleven. That darkness inside him Lex was constantly being warned about? It's more or less this guy.
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Hollywood Nerd is now a disambiguation page. Examples that don't fit the tropes listed on the disambig will be removed.
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* PairTheSmartOnes: With the equally bright (if in a [[GadgeteerGenius different]] [[OmnidisciplinaryScientist sort]] [[HollywoodNerd of]] [[TheSmartGuy way]]) Emil.
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* PairTheSmartOnes: With the equally bright (if in a [[GadgeteerGenius different]] [[OmnidisciplinaryScientist sort]] [[HollywoodNerd of]] of [[TheSmartGuy way]]) Emil.
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[[Characters/SmallvilleKents The Kents]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleHigh Smallville High Alumni]] | '''LuthorCorp''' | [[Characters/SmallvilleKryptonians Kryptonians]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleLanes The Lanes]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleDailyPlanet Daily Planet Staff]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleClarksAllies Clark's Allies]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleMeteorFreaks Meteor Freaks]] | [[Characters/SmallvillePhantomZone Phantom Zone Escapees]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleGovernment Government Agents and Rogues]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleApokiliptians Apokiliptians]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleOtherMajorVillains Other Major Villains]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleEarth2 Earth-2]]-]]]]]
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[[Characters/SmallvilleKents The Kents]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleHigh Smallville High Alumni]] | '''LuthorCorp''' '''[=LuthorCorp=]''' | [[Characters/SmallvilleKryptonians Kryptonians]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleLanes The Lanes]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleDailyPlanet Daily Planet Staff]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleClarksAllies Clark's Allies]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleMeteorFreaks Meteor Freaks]] | [[Characters/SmallvillePhantomZone Phantom Zone Escapees]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleGovernment Government Agents and Rogues]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleApokiliptians Apokiliptians]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleOtherMajorVillains Other Major Villains]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleEarth2 Earth-2]]-]]]]]
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[[WMG:[[center:[-'''[[Characters/{{Smallville}} Main Character Index]]'''\\
[[Characters/SmallvilleKents The Kents]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleHigh Smallville High Alumni]] | '''LuthorCorp''' | [[Characters/SmallvilleKryptonians Kryptonians]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleLanes The Lanes]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleDailyPlanet Daily Planet Staff]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleClarksAllies Clark's Allies]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleMeteorFreaks Meteor Freaks]] | [[Characters/SmallvillePhantomZone Phantom Zone Escapees]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleGovernment Government Agents and Rogues]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleApokiliptians Apokiliptians]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleOtherMajorVillains Other Major Villains]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleEarth2 Earth-2]]-]]]]]
[[Characters/SmallvilleKents The Kents]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleHigh Smallville High Alumni]] | '''LuthorCorp''' | [[Characters/SmallvilleKryptonians Kryptonians]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleLanes The Lanes]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleDailyPlanet Daily Planet Staff]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleClarksAllies Clark's Allies]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleMeteorFreaks Meteor Freaks]] | [[Characters/SmallvillePhantomZone Phantom Zone Escapees]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleGovernment Government Agents and Rogues]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleApokiliptians Apokiliptians]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleOtherMajorVillains Other Major Villains]] | [[Characters/SmallvilleEarth2 Earth-2]]-]]]]]
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* AlternateSelf: Including his Earth-2 counterpart, he has one on [[Series/{{Supergirl2015}} Earth-Prime]], one on [[Series/Titans2018 Earth-9]], one mentioned on [[Film/SupermanTheMovie Earth-96]], one on [[Film/BatmanAndRobin Earth-89]] as Floronic Man, one on [[Series/Lucifer2016 Earth-666]] as Peter Peterson, and two on an [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse unnamed Earth]] as [[{{Film/Shazam2019}} Mr. Sivana]] and [[Characters/DCEUSupermansRoguesGallery himself]].
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* AlternateSelf: Including his Earth-2 counterpart, he has one on [[Series/{{Supergirl2015}} Earth-Prime]], one on [[Series/Titans2018 Earth-9]], one mentioned on [[Film/SupermanTheMovie Earth-96]], one on [[Film/BatmanAndRobin Earth-89]] as Floronic Man, one on [[Series/Lucifer2016 Earth-666]] as Peter Peterson, and two on an [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse unnamed Earth]] as [[{{Film/Shazam2019}} Mr. Sivana]] and [[Characters/DCEUSupermansRoguesGallery himself]].
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** If one takes Cassandra's vision in [[Recap/SmallvilleS01E06Hourglass Hourglass]] as evidence, [[spoiler: this version of Lex is destined to one day kill Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern]].
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** If one takes Cassandra's vision in [[Recap/SmallvilleS01E06Hourglass Hourglass]] as evidence, [[spoiler: this version of Lex is destined to one day kill Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern]].Lantern.
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* BadassBoast: The section quote above.
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* ByronicHero: In the early seasons.
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* TheCharmer: When he wants to be.
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-->'''Impulse:''' I want a lawyer.
-->'''Lex:''' And I want a ponytail. Disappointment abounds.
-->'''Lex:''' And I want a ponytail. Disappointment abounds.
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-->'''Impulse:''' I want a lawyer.
-->'''Lex:'''lawyer.\\
'''Lex:''' And I want a ponytail. Disappointment abounds.
-->'''Lex:'''
'''Lex:''' And I want a ponytail. Disappointment abounds.
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* EvilSoundsDeep: Season 8, complete with VaderBreath.
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* FreudianExcuse: Courtesy of his dad.
* FriendlyEnemy: Until the events of "Arctic."
** Is this in the Finale as well. His conversation with Clark is unfailingly cordial, even as he's describing how they're destined to be each other's greatest enemy.
* FriendlyEnemy: Until the events of "Arctic."
** Is this in the Finale as well. His conversation with Clark is unfailingly cordial, even as he's describing how they're destined to be each other's greatest enemy.
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* GeniusCripple: Season 8.
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* GuileHero: Pre-FaceHeelTurn.
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* {{Jerkass}}: After his FaceHeelTurn.
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* LonelyRichKid: In Seasons 1-3.
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* RedheadsAreUncool: In the pilot, nine year-old Lex is being chastised by his father for being scared and keeping his eyes closed while on the helicopter ride. Once he opens them, he gets more scared and needs to use his inhaler because he has an asthma attack. That day, the meteor shower caused him to lose all his red hair.
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* RedheadsAreUncool: In the pilot, nine year-old nine-year-old Lex is being chastised by his father for being scared and keeping his eyes closed while on the helicopter ride. Once he opens them, he gets more scared and needs to use his inhaler because he has an asthma attack. That day, the meteor shower caused him to lose all his red hair.
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* {{Revenge}}: Season 8.
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* VaderBreath: Season 8.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tess_mercer.jpg https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flash_bart_allen_sv_s11_smallville_season_11_40_1364566178666.jpg https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/red_tornado_tess.jpg]]
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tess_mercer.jpg https://static.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see her in the comic]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flash_bart_allen_sv_s11_smallville_season_11_40_1364566178666.jpg https://static.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see her as Red Tornado]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/red_tornado_tess.jpg]]
jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see her in the comic]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flash_bart_allen_sv_s11_smallville_season_11_40_1364566178666.
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see her as Red Tornado]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/red_tornado_tess.
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* ReallyGetsAround: Implied, but never really shown. She sleeps with a grand total of three people over the course of her three seasons on the show, [[SexWithTheEx one an ex-boyfriend]] and another while under the influence of [[KissingUnderTheInfluence magically-spiked alcohol]].
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* ReallyGetsAround: Implied, {{Implied|Trope}}, but never really shown. She sleeps with a grand total of three people over the course of her three seasons on the show, [[SexWithTheEx one an ex-boyfriend]] and another while under the influence of [[KissingUnderTheInfluence magically-spiked alcohol]].
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* RelationshipUpgrade: With Emil at the end of Season 11
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* SelfMadeOrphan: Technically.Tess kills Lionel, though it's his AlternateUniverse counterpart. Regardless, he is still considered her father even by Tess herself, and she kills him [[OffingTheOffspring in self defense]].
* {{Sex God}}dess: Was able to impress a fully powered Zod with her sexual prowess, who claims she was able to "spar with him on an equal footing" and her ex Oliver comments on her being very passionate.
* {{Sex God}}dess: Was able to impress a fully powered Zod with her sexual prowess, who claims she was able to "spar with him on an equal footing" and her ex Oliver comments on her being very passionate.
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* SelfMadeOrphan: Technically.Tess kills Lionel, though it's his AlternateUniverse counterpart. Regardless, he is still considered her father even by Tess herself, and she kills him [[OffingTheOffspring in self defense]].
self-defense]].
*{{Sex God}}dess: SexGoddess: Was able to impress a fully powered Zod with her sexual prowess, who claims she was able to "spar with him on an equal footing" and her ex Oliver comments on her being very passionate.
*
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* UsedToBeASweetKid: Compare the flashbacks from "Toxic" to how she behaves in the present day timeline.
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* UsedToBeASweetKid: Compare the flashbacks {{flashback}}s from "Toxic" to how she behaves in the present day present-day timeline.
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* OutGambitted: By Lionel and Lex.
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* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: To Lex.
* BadBoss: After becoming owner of the Talon.
* BadBoss: After becoming owner of the Talon.
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* DeadpanSnarker: He is a Luthor, after all.
* LongLostSibling: To Lex.
* LongLostSibling: To Lex.
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* [[AbusiveParents Abusive Mom]]: Murdered her second son and wasn't all that great to Lex either.
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* [[AbusiveParents Abusive Mom]]: AbusiveParents: Murdered her second son and wasn't all that great to Lex either.
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* OffingTheOffspring: Julian.
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* WouldHurtAChild: Poor Julian.
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* IgnoredEnamoredUnderling: Also to Lex.
* KilledOffForReal: By Edward Teague.
* KilledOffForReal: By Edward Teague.
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* ObstructiveBureaucrat: To Tess.
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* TheReliableOne: To Lex.
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* AxCrazy: Parasite
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* EnergyAbsorption: Parasite
* FlyingBrick: Parasite when he steals Clark's powers. Luckily, he also steals his KryptoniteFactor.
* HellBentForLeather: All four of them.
* ILoveNuclearPower: Presumably Neutron.
* KilledOffForReal: Eva and Neutron.
* MadBomber: Plastique
* PsychoElectro: Livewire and then Parasite.
* ShapeShifting: Eva
* ShockAndAwe: Livewire
* FlyingBrick: Parasite when he steals Clark's powers. Luckily, he also steals his KryptoniteFactor.
* HellBentForLeather: All four of them.
* ILoveNuclearPower: Presumably Neutron.
* KilledOffForReal: Eva and Neutron.
* MadBomber: Plastique
* PsychoElectro: Livewire and then Parasite.
* ShapeShifting: Eva
* ShockAndAwe: Livewire
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* YouHaveFailedMe: Tess does this to Livewire and Eva.
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* BaldOfEvil: As of the end of "Harvest". But his hair grows back.
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* CheerfulChild: At least, at first.
* CloningBlues: Complete with accelerated aging, until "Scion".
* CloningBlues: Complete with accelerated aging, until "Scion".
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* EvilOrphan: Despite Tess' best efforts.
* FaceHeelTurn: In "Harvest." See Conner's entry for how that turns out.
* FaceHeelTurn: In "Harvest." See Conner's entry for how that turns out.
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* ManOfWealthAndTaste: As of his FaceHeelTurn.
* NighInvulnerability: Revealed at the very end of "Beacon."
* NighInvulnerability: Revealed at the very end of "Beacon."
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* ShadowArchetype: To Lex, of course.
* SharpDressedMan: Well, boy really.
* SharpDressedMan: Well, boy really.
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* AxCrazy: Lex himself had this guy locked up. There was a reason for that.
* BaldOfEvil: He ''is'' Lex's clone.
* BaldOfEvil: He ''is'' Lex's clone.
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* KilledOffForReal: At the end of his first episode.
* LargeHam: It's Mackenzie Gray playing an AxCrazy clone of ComicBook/LexLuthor. Were we expecting it to be subdued?
* LargeHam: It's Mackenzie Gray playing an AxCrazy clone of ComicBook/LexLuthor. Were we expecting it to be subdued?
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* OlderAndWiser: Or so he claims.
* PointyEars: Slightly.
* PointyEars: Slightly.
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* {{Revenge}}: His motivation for attacking Clark.
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* WouldHitAGirl: First Tess, then Lois.
* WouldHurtAChild: As Alexander can attest to.
* WouldHurtAChild: As Alexander can attest to.
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* YouLookFamiliar: His actor, Mackenzie Gray, also portrayed EvilBrit MadScientist Dr. Alistair Kreig in Season 5's "Cyborg."
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* YouLookFamiliar: His actor, Mackenzie Gray, Creator/MackenzieGray, also portrayed EvilBrit MadScientist Dr. Alistair Kreig in Season 5's "Cyborg."
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* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: It may be hard to believe but Lex genuienly cares for Clark, even admitting that he loves him like a brother in the season 7 finale while he's in the process of destroying the fortress and potentially killing them both.
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* BodyHorror: What's left of him in season eight. After having the Fortress dropped on him, he's permanently scarred and bloodied, his face completely covered with some sort of breathing apparatus, and tubes sticking out of him all over.
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** Is this in the Finale as well. His conversation with Clark is unfailingly cordial, even as he's describing how they're destined to be each other's greatest enemy.
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* GreenEyedMonster: Towards Clark. He had everything Lex ever wanted, a loving family, Lana, a close-knit group of friends, and super powers, the last one being a particularly sore spot for him after he finds out. When him and Clark meet up for their showdown in the Finale, Lex incredulously calls him out for "taking his powers for granted" by wanting to lead a normal life.
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* EvilIsPetty: A definining characteristic of his. For example, when Chloe refuses to provide him with any more information on the Kents, he personally fires and then blacklists her father, a loyal Luthorcorp employee as "punishment".
** In what is probably the pettiest of all petty moves, it's implied that Lionel started growing his hair long as a way to further antagonize Lex, given his baldness, and the insecurity that came along with it.
** In what is probably the pettiest of all petty moves, it's implied that Lionel started growing his hair long as a way to further antagonize Lex, given his baldness, and the insecurity that came along with it.
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* DaddysGirl: She played Lex ultimately to get he father's approval.
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* DaddysGirl: She played Lex ultimately to get he her father's approval.
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* {{Hypocrite}}: Was horrified at Lex for taking over he father's company when they were scheming to do the same to [=LuthorCorp=].
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* {{Hypocrite}}: Was horrified at Lex for taking over he her father's company when they were scheming to do the same to [=LuthorCorp=].
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* AlternateSelf: Has one on [[Characters/ArrowverseCentralCityIndependentCriminals Earth-Prime]] as the metahuman Russell Glosson/The Turtle.
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[[folder:Pierce]]
!!Pierce
!!! '''Species''': Human
!!! '''Played by''': Creator/AaronDouglas
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smallvillepierce.png]]
->''"The government wouldn't know what to do with you... [[ColdBloodedTorture but I do]]."''
The head of security for the secret [=LuthorCorp=] meta-prison 33.1 . After its shutdown, Lionel orders him to abduct Clark in a very ill-considered ploy to keep him safe.
----
* BadassNormal: He was able to ambush and capture a Kryptonian with a specialized team and the element of surprise.
* BodyguardBetrayal: He turns on Lionel when the elder Luthor tells him to stand down.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Relentlessly subjects Clark to kryptonite exposure in an attempt to cow him. When it doesn't work, he decides to just kill Clark, even if he's been given direct orders to keep him alive.
* {{Expy}}: To Lock-Up, a minor DC supervillain usually faced by Franchise/{{Batman}}. Both are {{WellIntentionedExtremist}}s who dress mostly in black act as TheJailer and have issues with being the {{Sadist}}.
* ItIsDehumanizing: Refers to Clark as "it" after deciding to kill him.
* TheJailer: His job after capturing Clark is to keep Clark captured. He's very good at it, so much so that it takes the intervention of his both Lionel and Kara to save Clark.
* KilledOffForReal: Lionel shoves him through a window to his death to stop Pierce from killing Clark with kryptonite. Ironically, Lionel himself would later experience a similar death.
* KneelBeforeZod: He first starts torturing Clark when Clark refuses to follow his orders and seems to be trying to break Clark's will. When Clark refuses to be broken, Pierce decides to kill him.
* KnightTemplar: When he first talks with Clark he marvels incredulously at the 'death and destruction' the town of Smallville has experienced and his desire to keep Clark imprisoned (and later to kill him) is because of Clark's immense power and the threat he could pose to national security.
* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: Takes Clark down with Kryptonite tasers, keeps him imprisoned in a Kryptonite cage, and at the end tries to shoot him with a Kryptonite gun.
* OneShotCharacter: Only appears personally in Season 7's "Traveler", though the 33.1 facility he was in charge of is a location that features as early as Season 3.
* OrderIsNotGood: He's not a criminal in the usual sense of the word, but his zeal to keep meteor infectees under control pushes him into villainy.
* RichInDollarsPoorInSense: Considers Lionel and Patricia Swann to be this for wanting to set Clark free. As he tells Lionel, "Your money makes you stupid".
* {{Sadist}}: His FatalFlaw. Like his comics expy Lock-Up, Pierce feels that rebellious meteor freaks deserve to be tortured and clearly enjoys doing it. Lionel even calls him out on his 'appetite for cruelty'.
* SociopathicSoldier: His takedown of Clark shows that at the very least he has military training and he has no reservations about killing meteor infectees he judges as TooPowerfulToLive.
* VillainHasAPoint: Pierce is a {{Sadist}} through and through, but he's not wrong about all the death and destruction the so-called 'meteor freaks' inflicted on Smallville.
* VillainOfTheWeek: He's formidable enough to take Smallville's resident Magnificent Bastard Lionel Luthor by surprise.
* VillainRespect: He expresses respect for Lex Luthor and compares Lionel unfavorably to his son, telling him that Lex never put a meteor freak's interests above the safety of the world.
* WardensAreEvil: He was head of security for the secret [=LuthorCorp=] metahuman prison 33.1 before Lionel sends him after Clark.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: He's willing to kill Clark because Clark isn't human. It's extreme and unwarranted, but technically he's not wrong.
* WouldHitAGirl: Knocks out Patricia Swann on Lionel's orders.
* YouLookFamiliar: His actor, Aaron Douglas, also portrayed Deputy Sheriff Michael Birdego in Season 1's "Obscura."
[[/folder]]
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* AlternateSelf: Including his Earth-2 counterpart, he has one on [[Series/{{Supergirl2015}} Earth-Prime]], one on [[Series/Titans2018 Earth-9]], one mentioned on [[Film/SupermanTheMovie Earth-96]], one on [[Film/BatmanAndRobin Earth-89]] as Floronic Man, one on [[Series/Lucifer2016 Earth-666]] as Peter Peterson, and two on an [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse unnamed Earth]] as [[{{Film/Shazam2019}} Mr. Sivana]] and [[Characters/DCEUSupermanRogues himself]].
to:
* AlternateSelf: Including his Earth-2 counterpart, he has one on [[Series/{{Supergirl2015}} Earth-Prime]], one on [[Series/Titans2018 Earth-9]], one mentioned on [[Film/SupermanTheMovie Earth-96]], one on [[Film/BatmanAndRobin Earth-89]] as Floronic Man, one on [[Series/Lucifer2016 Earth-666]] as Peter Peterson, and two on an [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse unnamed Earth]] as [[{{Film/Shazam2019}} Mr. Sivana]] and [[Characters/DCEUSupermanRogues [[Characters/DCEUSupermansRoguesGallery himself]].
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* AlternateSelf: Including his Earth-2 counterpart, he has one on [[Series/{{Supergirl2015}} Earth-Prime]], one on [[Series/Titans2018 Earth-9]], one mentioned on [[Film/SupermanTheMovie Earth-96]], one on [[Film/BatmanAndRobin Earth-89]] as Floronic Man, one on [[Series/Lucifer2016 Earth-666]] as Peter Peterson, and two on an [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse unnamed Earth]] as [[{{Film/Shazam2019}} Mr. Sivana]] and [[[[Characters/DCEUSupermanRogues himself]].
to:
* AlternateSelf: Including his Earth-2 counterpart, he has one on [[Series/{{Supergirl2015}} Earth-Prime]], one on [[Series/Titans2018 Earth-9]], one mentioned on [[Film/SupermanTheMovie Earth-96]], one on [[Film/BatmanAndRobin Earth-89]] as Floronic Man, one on [[Series/Lucifer2016 Earth-666]] as Peter Peterson, and two on an [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse unnamed Earth]] as [[{{Film/Shazam2019}} Mr. Sivana]] and [[[[Characters/DCEUSupermanRogues [[Characters/DCEUSupermanRogues himself]].
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* AlternateSelf: Including his Earth-2 counterpart, he has one on [[Series/{{Supergirl2015}} Earth-Prime]], one on [[Series/Titans2018 Earth-9]], one mentioned on [[Film/SupermanTheMovie Earth-96]], one on [[Film/BatmanAndRobin Earth-89]] as Floronic Man, one on [[Series/Lucifer2016 Earth-666]] as Peter Peterson, and two on an [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse unnamed Earth]] as [[{{Film/Shazam2019}} Mr. Sivana]] and [[Characters/DCEULexCorp himself]].
to:
* AlternateSelf: Including his Earth-2 counterpart, he has one on [[Series/{{Supergirl2015}} Earth-Prime]], one on [[Series/Titans2018 Earth-9]], one mentioned on [[Film/SupermanTheMovie Earth-96]], one on [[Film/BatmanAndRobin Earth-89]] as Floronic Man, one on [[Series/Lucifer2016 Earth-666]] as Peter Peterson, and two on an [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse unnamed Earth]] as [[{{Film/Shazam2019}} Mr. Sivana]] and [[Characters/DCEULexCorp [[[[Characters/DCEUSupermanRogues himself]].
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YMMV
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* {{Expy}}: Reverse example; Tess Mercer is this to her. Fans [[FanNickname called her]] "Maybe-Mercy" before her name was revealed, after Mercy Graves, and Tess filled much the same position as Gina once she arrived.
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* {{Expy}}: Reverse example; Tess Mercer is this to her. Fans [[FanNickname called her]] "Maybe-Mercy" before her name was revealed, after Mercy Graves, and Tess filled much the same position as Gina once she arrived.
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* {{Revenge}}: Previously expressed a desire to r:payback Clark for "his" death.
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* {{Revenge}}: Previously expressed a desire to r:payback pay back Clark for "his" death.
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[[folder:Helen Bryce]]
!!Helen Bryce
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/EmmanuelleVaugier
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/helen_bryce.jpg]]
A physician at the Smallville Medical Center and the second wife of Lex Luthor.
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* BadassBeard: Though also a BeardOfEvil until his HeelFaceTurn.
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* NotSoDifferent: Despite being EvilerThanThou, Lex-Prime's outraged rant over Clark renouncing his powers isn't really that different from his own Lex's own MotiveRant about his envy and contempt over Clark's RefusalOfTheCall in the GrandFinale. "Sure haven't missed these chats," indeed.
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* NotSoDifferent: The "evil" side of this for Chloe, {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Tess herself in "Sacrifice." They're both very smart, tough women with more than a little bit of [[BrokenBird damage]] and quickly-waning trust in humanity. This is also noticeable in that they both, at different points in time, run Watchtower.
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* NotSoDifferent: Pulls this on Clark.
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* InSpiteOfTheNail: Despite clearly living different lives from each other, he is a scientist like Silas Stone.
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* InSpiteOfTheNail: InSpiteOfANail: Despite clearly living different lives from each other, he is a scientist like Silas Stone.
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* InSpiteOfTheNail: Despite clearly living different lives from each other, he is a scientist like Silas Stone.
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* AlternateSelf: Has one on [[Characters/ArrowverseLeagueOfAssassins Earth-Prime]] as Talia al Ghul.
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* AlternateSelf: Has one on [[Characters/ArrowverseLeagueOfAssassins Earth-Prime]] as Talia al Ghul.Al-Ghul.
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!!!'''Species:''' Human
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[[folder:Christina Lamell]]
!!Christina Lamell
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/LexaDoig
A doctor who was helping Tess to find a cure for Alexander's rapid aging.
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* AlternateSelf: Has one on [[Characters/ArrowverseLeagueOfAssassins Earth-Prime]] as Talia al Ghul.
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** If one takes Cassandra's vision in [[Recap/SmallvilleS01E06Hourglass Hourglass]] as evidence, [[spoiler: this version of Lex is destined to one day kill Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern]].
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See Lex's character page [[Characters/SmallvilleLexLuthor here]].
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[[folder:Lionel Luthor]]
!!Lionel Luthor
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!!Lionel Luthor
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[[folder:Lionel Luthor]]
!!Lionel Luthor
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!!! '''Played by''': Creator/JohnGlover
->''"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 [[RagsToRiches 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 [[VirtueIsWeakness such things only bred weakness]]. He is the chief culprit behind his son's shattered psyche and [[WellDoneSonGuy need for approval]], and is the [[BigBad 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 [[EvilMatriarch Genevieve Teague]] and undergoes the beginnings of a HeelFaceTurn. Failing to re-connect with Lex despite his best efforts, he 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).
For his Earth-2 counterpart, see [[Characters/SmallvilleEarth2 Earth-2]].
->''"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 [[RagsToRiches 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 [[VirtueIsWeakness such things only bred weakness]]. He is the chief culprit behind his son's shattered psyche and [[WellDoneSonGuy need for approval]], and is the [[BigBad 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 [[EvilMatriarch Genevieve Teague]] and undergoes the beginnings of a HeelFaceTurn. Failing to re-connect with Lex despite his best efforts, he 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).
For his Earth-2 counterpart, see [[Characters/SmallvilleEarth2 Earth-2]].
to:
!!! '''Played by''': Creator/JohnGlover
->''"If you're going to take me on, son, you're going to have to bring your game up to a whole different level.Creator/MichaelRosenbaum | Matthew Munn (young)
->''"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'sfather inability to overcome his own upbringing and the founder [[LoveTriangle their rivalry over both Lana]] and how to best protect Smallville, cause Lex to slide into villainy, ending in a FaceHeelTurn of [=LuthorCorp=], Lionel [[RagsToRiches rose from poverty to become one of the wealthiest men in the world]]. Claiming to be descended from Scottish nobility, he raised epic proportions.
Defined by hisson with little warmth obsessions and less love, believing that [[VirtueIsWeakness such things only bred weakness]]. He is the chief culprit behind his son's shattered psyche and [[WellDoneSonGuy [[ControlFreak need for approval]], control]], Lex can be vengeful, spiteful and, at times, downright [[EvilIsPetty petty]], but also has flashes of pure Machiavellian brilliance. He is a fitting ArchEnemy for a Franchise/{{Superman}}.
Halfway through Season 8, Lex, who spent most of the season on life support due to injuries suffered after pulling the Fortress of Solitude on top of himself andis the [[BigBad main antagonist]] in Seasons 1-3.
ImprisonedClark at the end of Season 3 when Lex and Chloe reveal that he 7, was murdered by Oliver Queen. However, like any good [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]], he had backup plans put into motion. Namely, various clones, designed to essentially resurrect him. After failed models either went AxCrazy or rebelled against his parents, memories, his final clone was born in the GrandFinale with the heart of the Lionel is freed by [[EvilMatriarch Genevieve Teague]] Luthor from another Earth, properly bringing Lex back to life. After this resurrection, and undergoes the beginnings of a HeelFaceTurn. Failing to re-connect one final confrontation with Lex despite his best efforts, he grows closer to eternal enemy Clark, eventually learning his secret and becoming his ally, while Lex's memories are wiped thanks to a neural gel given to him via ArmorPiercingSlap at the same hands of his half-sister Tess, whom he was in the process of murdering at the time. This led to Season 11, where he becomes the primary BigBad, hating Superman, but having no idea why. By the time serving as of the host body for Jor-El (and nursing an enormous crush on Clark's mother Martha).
For his Earth-2 counterpart, see [[Characters/SmallvilleEarth2 Earth-2]].final episode's time jump in 2018, he has become President of the United States.
->''"If you're going to take me on, son, you're going to have to bring your game up to a whole different level.
->''"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
Defined by his
Halfway through Season 8, Lex, who spent most of the season on life support due to injuries suffered after pulling the Fortress of Solitude on top of himself and
Imprisoned
For his Earth-2 counterpart, see [[Characters/SmallvilleEarth2 Earth-2]].
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* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: This show's version of Lex Luthor has by far the most dysfunctional and miserable relationship with his father as portrayed in any medium. Also, while most versions of Lex are either a CardCarryingVillain or a man assured of his own righteousness, this version of Lex is greatly tortured by his capacity for evil... initially, at least.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Michael Rosenbaum is much more conventionally handsome than most depictions of the character, even with the bald head.
* AdaptationalBadass: How physically dangerous Comics!Luthor is can vary DependingOnTheWriter, but ''Smallville'''s portrayal of him as an exceptionally capable BadassNormal with the ability to fight ComicBook/GreenArrow to a draw outdoes all other portrayals in this regard.
* AffablyEvil: Has this vibe even back when he's a good guy, with an inimitable talent for making even the most harmless of good deeds sound vaguely evil, in a cool, polite, [[DeadpanSnarker and often snarky sort of way]]. In between bouts of EvilIsPetty and KickTheDog, he evolves into this in full in his descent into villainy, giving Clark what is actually an astoundingly good motivational speech in the finale, saying that every villain is only as good as their hero - and, arguably, giving Clark the push he needs to become Superman.
* AgentMulder: His belief in, and curiosity for, the paranormal is what starts his descent into villainy.
* AlliterativeName: '''L'''ex '''L'''uthor.
* AlternateSelf: Has four, one on [[Series/Supergirl2015 Earth-Prime]], one on [[Series/Titans2018 Earth-9]], one on [[Film/SupermanTheMovie Earth]][[Film/SupermanII -]][[Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace 9]][[Film/SupermanReturns 6]], and one on [[Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice an undesignated Earth]].
* AlternateUniverse: In Clark's ItsAWonderfulPlot episode "Apocalypse," we meet PresidentEvil Lex who, as usual, is a VillainInAWhiteSuit with a RedRightHand, but adds TheSocialDarwinist and OmnicidalManiac to his resume via a plan to NukeEm all and re-build the world in his own image.
* AlternateUniverseReedRichardsIsAwesome: Whether or not he's still evil, Lex is far more successful than the [[Series/Supergirl2015 Lex Luthor of Earth-Prime]], what with being President of the United States and all. Clark's reaction to Prime-Lex is just a casual "You're not Lex." (WordOfSaintPaul from Creator/JonCryer is he considers Rosenbaum's Lex his favorite take on the character and [[WhatCouldHaveBeen wishes he'd had the opportunity]] to have met this version and, probably, beat him.)
* AntagonisticOffspring: To Lionel, following the latter's HeelFaceTurn and his own subsequent FaceHeelTurn.
* AntiHero: Lex started the series as a PragmaticHero. His methods were badly flawed, but he was genuinely out to stop his [[ArchnemesisDad father]] [[BigBad Lionel]], and be a better person and a good friend to Clark. By Seasons 4 and 5, he was in AntiVillain territory, becoming antagonistic but remaining sympathetic, before finally [[FaceHeelTurn diving into full-on villainy]].
* ArchEnemy: Well on his way to being Clark's, with the entire show building up to their finally confronting one another.
* BackFromTheDead:
** Thanks to Chloe's healing powers in Season 7's "Fracture."
** And again in "[[GrandFinale Finale]]" by way of a cloned body and Earth-2 Lionel's [[DealWithTheDevil deal with Darkseid]].
* BadassBoast: The section quote above.
* BadassBookworm: He's very well-read and likes to quote great philosophers and relate it to himself.
* BadassInANiceSuit: Especially in the {{Bad Future}}s where he's a ''very'' intimidating VillainInAWhiteSuit.
* BadassLongcoat: Lex's trenchcoat is every bit as iconic as his [[BadassInANiceSuit nice]] [[ManOfWealthAndTaste suit]].
* BadassNormal: Both physically and mentally.
* BadBoss: After his [[FaceHeelTurn turn to villainy]].
* BadFuture: Is PresidentEvil in many of them.
* BaldOfEvil: Courtesy of his FaceHeelTurn.
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: Lex has stated once or twice that he doesn't want to become like his father. Sadly, that's what he ends up doing by Season 5.
* BigBad: [[BigBadEnsemble Competes]] with ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} for the title in Season 7. Considered by some to have held it since Season 6.
* BigBadSlippage: One for the series overall as he starts out as a friend to Clark only to become a villain in Seasons 4 and 5 before becoming the BigBad of Seasons 6 and 7.
* BigBadWannabe: Spends much of Seasons 5 and 7 trying to be the BigBad, but gets upstaged by Brainiac.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Towards Clark.
* BigBrotherMentor: He often had a tendency to slip into this trope during the first two seasons with Clark.
* BrilliantButLazy: He's possibly one of the smartest men in the world but is pretty unmotivated to do anything in the early seasons.
* BrokenAce: Very much so. He's rich, successful, brilliant, charming, handsome, self-loathing and caught up in a [[WellDoneSonGuy desire for parental approval]] all at the same time.
* ByronicHero: In the early seasons.
* CardCarryingVillain: While he is usually a VillainWithGoodPublicity, when he is split into good and evil sides, evil Lex utters the classic line:
-->'''Lex''': I am the villain of the story.
** Lex announces his intention to become one of these in the GrandFinale. Tess' mind-wipe may have forestalled this.
--->'''Lex:''' You and I... We will both be great men. Because of each other, we have a destiny together, Clark... [[ArchEnemy only on different sides]].\\
'''Clark:'''I'll always be there to stop you. Always.\\
'''Lex:''' Oh, I'm counting on it. Our story hasn't been written yet, Kal-El. And every villain is only as great as his hero.
* CainAndAbel: With Clark (whom he viewed as a brother) and later with Tess, resulting in the latter's death and his own memory loss.
* TheCasanova: Almost all of his girlfriends or love interests are stunningly beautiful women. This mostly due to Lex's good looks (even with the baldness) and his witty personality. Not to mention the fact that he is obscenely wealthy and cultured.
* TheCharmer: When he wants to be.
* TheChessmaster: Graduates into one, learning from his father how to manipulate and plot with the best of them.
* ChickMagnet: Attracts a bevy of women over the course of the show.
* ClassicVillain: Displays the [[SevenDeadlySins sins]] of {{Pride}}, [[GreenEyedMonster Envy]] and {{Wrath}}.
* CombatPragmatist: Often prefers to use simple defense moves and guns rather than engage in long battles.
* ControlFreak: Lex's need to control everyone and everything around him is the chief cause of his downfall. He came to the conclusion that the only way he could secure a happy existence for himself is if the people in his life are completely under his control (he himself would probably view it as "guidance," but that's a case of BelievingTheirOwnLies). He, like Lana, wants to know Clark's secret and is willing to go to life-threatening lengths to obtain it: sending super-powered murderers to hold Clark's family hostage in an attempt to force him to reveal any superpowers he may have (this ends up being what breaks his and Clark's friendship). He's willing to let his dad stick around, but only as long as he's subordinate to Lex. He also misses his deceased brother and clones him so that he can have him back...but gets insanely angry when the clone no longer wants to follow the script that Lex wants him to live by. Terrifyingly, it is implied that Lex has the clone killed, viewing him as a failed experiment. And, of course, there's the horrifying twist of late Season 6 where we learn that Lex chemically manipulated Lana's body with hormones to simulate a pregnancy in order to help push her into marrying him, and then letting her believe that she had miscarried afterwards, causing her to fall into a deep depression. Through it all, Lex maintains that this is all okay because he views it as simply carving out his world and the people in it to be the way he wants them to be, and he [[BelievingTheirOwnLies tells himself that it's for their own good anyway]].
** Lex's beliefs that influence his behavior this way are possibly best summed up at the end of Season 5's Christmas episode "Lexmas" where, after considering it all episode, he decides to use dirty tricks to try and win the election he's in, saying:
--->'''Lex''': What I want more than anything is to live {{happily ever after}}. And do you know what the secret to living happily ever after is? ([[{{Beat}} pause]]) ''Power''. Money and power. See, once you have those two things, you can secure everything else. And ''keep'' it that way. I want to be Senator. ''I want it all.''
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: After he turns evil.
* CorruptTheCutie: Lionel was determined to teach Lex 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 ''Literature/{{The Art of War|SunTzu}}'' on another childhood birthday. Arguably, this trope 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.
* DarkLordOnLifeSupport: In Season 8 when his injuries render him completely immobile, and leave him on an IV and a ventilator.
* DeadpanSnarker: Ahh, who forgets 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'') You call sleeping with me "business"? I hate to think what that makes you.
** Or this gem when he has [[Franchise/TheFlash Impulse]] imprisoned:
-->'''Impulse:''' I want a lawyer.
-->'''Lex:''' And I want a ponytail. Disappointment abounds.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of the whole idea of supervillains and how they are made, especially his own comics counterpart.
* {{Determinator}}: Lex never lets anything stop him, whether financial setbacks, political failures, or the near total destruction of his physical body.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: From seasons 1 through 7. The story of Smallville focuses on how Lex became a villain almost as much as it is about how Clark Kent became a hero.
* DeusAngstMachina: After losing his hair and being horribly bullied at school, Lex takes the blame for his mother murdering his infant brother, condemning himself to a future of abuse and hatred from his dad, whom he knows would kill her if he found out.
* {{Deuteragonist}}:
* DiscOneFinalBoss: Season 8. His return is a much anticipated and feared thing, to the point where one expects him to take over as the BigBad...only for him to be blown up and replaced by [[PersonOfMassDestruction Doomsday]].
* TheDreaded: As of Season 8. He drove Oliver to violate ThouShaltNotKill, other characters treat him as though he were a HeroKiller (even though he's really not) and the possibility of his return is always spoken of as though it were a prophecy regarding TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Not bad for a BadassNormal who hasn't appeared for two-and-a-half seasons.
* DrivenByEnvy: Outdoing Clark eventually becomes Lex's primary motivation. He's actually relieved when he finds out Clark is an alien and that the competition was never fair.
* {{Envy}}: Of Clark, whose life and later powers Lex desperately wants.
* EvilCounterpart: To Oliver Queen. Both are the sons of wealthy billionaires who strike an unusual friendship with Clark Kent and frequently struggle with their flaws. But while Oliver ultimately overcomes his inner demons, Lex succumbs to them.
* EvilCripple: In Season 8. He's paraplegic, 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.
* EvilFeelsGood: Decides this around Season 5.
* EvilGenius: Very smart and ''very'' nasty.
* EvilHasGoodTaste: Lex is well read and has a taste for fine dining.
* EvilIsPetty: His incredibly petty and vicious plan in Season 8 revolves around breaking up Clark and Lana through [[SadisticChoice the nastiest way possible]].
* EvilSoundsDeep: Season 8, complete with VaderBreath.
* EvilWearsBlack: Lex's attire includes lots of dark clothing, black included.
* EyepatchOfPower: Season 8, as part of his EvilCripple status.
* FaceHeelTurn: Pretty much a ForegoneConclusion. From Season 5-7 he was always tittering the line between the last amount of loyalty he has to his friends, and the monster he was destined to become, with the very final minutes of Season 7 securing his place as a villain.
-->'''Lex''': ''(Cradling a weakened Clark, while the Fortress of Solitude crumbles around them)'' I love you like a brother Clark, but it has to end like this. ''I'm sorry...''
* {{Foil}}: To Clark, with his journey to narcissistic monster progressing in time with Clark's journey to MessianicArchetype and TheCape.
* FreudianExcuse: Courtesy of his dad.
* FriendlyEnemy: Until the events of "Arctic."
* FromNobodyToNightmare: He might have stayed a spoiled, lonely rich kid forever had it not been for that trip to Kansas.
* GambitRoulette: Unbeknownst to Clark and his friends, the entire first half of Season 8 was slowly turning out to be set up by Lex (who is crippled and presumed dead, but still alive and scheming) to manipulate them all into being his {{Unwitting Pawn}}s and facilitating his revenge. It culminates in the situation with the Prometheus suit described above: either '''A:''' Clark and Lana don't discover it, and Lex dons it himself and uses it to murder Clark, or '''B:''' Lana steals it, puts it on, and Lex forces her to choose 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 ManipulativeBastard.
* GeniusCripple: Season 8.
* TheGhost: Never actually appears during the ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019'', since Rosenbaum turned the CW down. In-universe, Clark seems skeptical that he would have any reason to come back to Smallville.
* GoodCounterpart: Even at his worst, Lex wasn't ever nearly the CardCarryingVillain Earth-Prime Lex is. He still isn't, as evidenced by the fact that Clark gave up his powers and yet he and his family are alive and seem to be perfectly safe.
* GuileHero: Pre-FaceHeelTurn.
* GunsAkimbo: Against Green Arrow and Black Canary in "Siren." Complete with GunKata.
* HandicappedBadass: Season 8, in both the literal and metaphorical sense. Bereft of his [[CorruptCorporateExecutive company]], [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney money]], [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections connections]] and his very mobility, a paraplegic Lex keeps the superhero community quaking in their boots (even the [[TheDreaded 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.
* HardHead: Held ''Series/{{Smallville}}'''s record for being knocked unconscious.
* HasAType: Has a habit of hooking up with hot brunettes because they remind him of his mother.
* TheHeavy: Seasons 6 and 7.
* HeroicSacrifice: Took the blame for his mother murdering his brother, leading to his father's cold(er) treatment of him.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: In the first few seasons, he and Clark exemplified this trope, even if Lex seemed more enthusiastic about it. This was likely due to Clark probably being Lex's first real friend and one of the few who didn't judge him before knowing him.
* HotBlooded: The guy has anger management problems, to say the least.
* HumiliationConga: He's had more than his fair share. He'd be really sympathetic if he weren't such an asshole.
* {{Hypocrite}}: He constantly bitches about Clark keeping his secret from him, while simultaneously keeping an army of skeletons (all of them far, far darker than Clark's) in his own closet.
* IJustWantToBeLoved: It's painfully clear, especially in early seasons, that Lex is just starved for someone to care for him the way Lionel never did. It's why he's so keen on being friends with Clark and why he wants to be a part of the Kent family--they represent what he never had. In later seasons, he still wants love, but his [[{{Pride}} ego]] and [[{{Narcissist}} narcissism]] makes it impossible for him to accept anything less than total control over anyone who gets close to him.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Big time. No matter how brilliant or successful Lex is, it's not enough and he believes that he, not Clark, should be the one to save humanity. Clark, to him, serves as a reminder that Lex is still just a man.
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Lex's drive to be better than everyone is fueled by his [[WellDoneSonGuy desire for approval from his father]] as well as his jealousy of Clark (whom he subconsciously regards as his superior).
* ItsAllAboutMe: 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 LackOfEmpathy and NeverMyFault, and more or less believes that the universe revolves around him.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In the early seasons. He was a pleasant, friendly guy, but he acted like a jerk to anyone he disliked, such as his father or Dominic.
* {{Jerkass}}: After his FaceHeelTurn.
* KarmaHoudini: He avoids punishment for all of his crimes, and at the end of the series, is resurrected and ready to become the PresidentEvil we always knew he could be.
* KlingonPromotion: In order to truly become the BigBad, Lex has to kill off his father, whose presence in-universe more or less handicapped him.
* LackOfEmpathy: Has a severe and developing case of it. By Season 7 or so, it's all-consuming.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: His fate in the GrandFinale. Season 11 has a Lex who hates Superman, and has no idea why.
* LargeHam: Gets increasingly hammy as he becomes [[EvilIsHammy more evil]].
* LonelyRichKid: In Seasons 1-3.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: In the ItsAWonderfulPlot storyline when he decided to become good, Dream!Lana dies.
* MadeOfIron: Courtesy of his low-level HealingFactor.
* ManipulativeBastard: A master manipulator of others' emotions.
* TheManBehindTheMan: To [[TheBaroness Tess]] and [[MadBomber Winslow Schott]] in Season 8.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: In the later seasons, and the {{Bad Future}}s.
* MeaningfulName: ''Alexander'' means "defender/leader of mankind." Quite fitting for a guy who thinks he's protecting humanity from hostile aliens and meteor freaks, and believes that the best way to do so is for everyone to follow his lead (naturally).
* MoralityPet: Clark is his, while he's capable of doing devious acts, his friendship with Clark Kent usually keeps him from going too far. It's when an enraged Clark denounces his friendship with Lex, that Lex begins to slide down from a good-natured man with a dark side, to an evil maniacal villain.
* MrFanservice: Just ask the fangirls.
* MoralMyopia: No one may do unto Lex as he does unto them. It wouldn't be right.
* MotiveRant: Delivers one to Clark in the GrandFinale, explaining ''why'' [[IJustWantToBeSpecial he has been who he was]], before explaining [[CardCarryingVillain what he plans to be instead]].
-->'''Lex:''' No matter how meticulously I prepared, no matter how strategic I was... [[VillainousUnderdog If only I'd known I never stood a chance.]]\\
'''Clark:''' [[HumbleHero It wasn't a competition.]]\\
'''Lex:''' [[RightForTheWrongReasons Of course it wasn't.]] You were born to be {{the chosen one}}. You're simply better than us.\\
'''Clark:''' And that always killed you.\\
'''Lex:''' No. No, what killed me is that you didn't even ''[[ReluctantHero want]]'' it. You fought it. You ... you hid from it! I would have taken it and relished it, embraced it.
* {{Narcissist}}: From the start of the show, Lex has difficulty seeing others' problems and this only gets worse as time goes by. His narcissism becomes more and more pronounced and increasingly malignant until by Season 7, he's essentially become a [[TheSociopath sociopath]].
* NeverMyFault: Lex blames his father, Clark, Lana and anyone else he can set his sights on for his problems. You've got a FreudianExcuse, Lex, but it doesn't mean you don't have to take responsibility sometimes. To be fair, sometimes it really ''isn't'' his fault, but he gets blamed anyway.
* NiceGuy: 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 [[BitchInSheepsClothing a facade]].
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Things rarely go well for him when he honestly tries to do the right thing.
* NotSoDifferent: Despite being EvilerThanThou, Lex-Prime's outraged rant over Clark renouncing his powers isn't really that different from his own Lex's own MotiveRant about his envy and contempt over Clark's RefusalOfTheCall in the GrandFinale. "Sure haven't missed these chats," indeed.
* NukeEm: In the BadFuture shown in "Apocalypse," PresidentEvil Lex has conspired with Brainiac to [[OmnicidalManiac wipe out the world in a nuclear war]] so that he can unite the survivors under his rule and create a new [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinistic]] paradise.
* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: We don't really know anything about his personality after the MindWipe in the GrandFinale, but it's still Lex, meaning he's at least got to be President Scheming, President Iron and President Geek. It's ambiguous whether he's PresidentEvil, though Clark's relative unconcern over the fact that he is President makes it unlikely.
* PresidentEvil: In several {{Bad Future}}s. He's elected for real in 2018 during the DistantFinale.
* PoisonousFriend: To Clark, pre-FaceHeelTurn.
* PsychopathicManchild: Immeasurably brilliant, wealthy and powerful. He is also extremely [[EvilIsPetty petty]], [[ItsAllAboutMe incredibly self-involved]] and [[NeverMyFault incapable of accepting responsibility or blame]].
* PutOnABus: Yes & No. Michael Rosenbaum departed at the end of Season 7. Lex, through a mix of recycled footage, audio, and body doubles remained until the end of Season 8.
* ReallyGetsAround: More implied for the first few seasons than actually seen, except for Victoria where she slept with him for business, but seen in "Bound," he apparently has had many one-night stands with women where he gave them diamond earrings as a "thank you" gift, something he picked up from his father.
* RedheadsAreUncool: In the pilot, nine year-old Lex is being chastised by his father for being scared and keeping his eyes closed while on the helicopter ride. Once he opens them, he gets more scared and needs to use his inhaler because he has an asthma attack. That day, the meteor shower caused him to lose all his red hair.
* RedRightHand: In every one of the BadFuture episodes, PresidentEvil Lex is shown as a VillainInAWhiteSuit with a single black-gloved hand. Bad!Lex also sports this look during Clark's [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind trip inside his head]] in "Fracture." It finally happens for real following his resurrection in the GrandFinale. One of his hands is mangled, prompting him to don the trademark glove. Might be a ShoutOut 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.
* SadisticChoice: 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.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Increasingly comes to see this as the way the world should work.
* SelfMadeOrphan: He murders his ArchnemesisDad Lionel as his [[MoralEventHorizon final step]] into true villainy. Lionel himself was revealed to be one of these earlier in series, having had his friend Morgan Edge kill his [[TheAlcoholic Alcoholic]] AbusiveParents in a gas fire. One can only wonder what Lex's children will do, should he have any...
* ShipperOnDeck: During the early seasons for Clark and Lana. All the while developing feelings for Lana himself...
* SkywardScream: Does one at the end of "Persona" after having an assassin kill off Grant Gabriel, a clone of his dead younger brother Julian.
* TheSocialDarwinist: Picks up many tenets of his father's philosophy as his life goes on. The PresidentEvil Lex seen in "Apocalypse"'s BadFuture 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).
* TheSociopath: Lex doesn't start out this way, but as the show progresses, his narcissism slowly swallows up the rest of his personality until all that's left is a [[ControlFreak drive to control everybody around him]] and a [[ItsAllAboutMe belief that his needs come before those of everyone else]]. By Season 7, all that's left is a bitter, vengeful psychopath driven by the need to be superior to the rest of the world.
* SuperVillain: The opposite of Clark, who becomes a SuperHero.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: Originally, he was a genuinely good guy with good intentions, though [[AntiHero with questionable methods at times]]. However, his growing jealousy of Clark (for having good parents and friends, and Lana's love), combined with his resentment towards the world at large, fuel his growing selfishness until he dives into it outright.
* TragicVillain: Few modern villains fit this trope as well as Lex does.
* TraumaCongaLine: He may be a sociopathic bastard, but damn has Lex suffered in life.
* TheUnfavourite: Subverted. Lex thinks he's this, but given Lionel's treatment of [[BastardBastard Lucas]] and [[ParentalAbandonment Tess]], it's clear that he's actually the favorite. It's just that this is [[AbusiveParents Lionel]] we're talking about, so it doesn't really matter.
* UnwittingPawn: Of [[TheChessmaster Brainiac]]. ''Twice''. But by Season 8, he's become so cunning that it's unlikely this will be happening again, and indeed ''all the other characters'' turn out to be unwitting pawns of Lex in Season 8.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: As the flashbacks reveal, he really did. It's even present in the first four seasons at times.
* VaderBreath: Season 8.
* VillainInAWhiteSuit: In the various {{Bad Future}}s where he's PresidentEvil. During Clark's [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind trip inside Lex's head]] in Season 7's "Fracture," bad!Lex wears the same suit. He dons it in real life during the 2018 DistantFinale, after he's elected President.
* WellDoneSonGuy: 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!
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Begins his slide into villainy this way, as he himself states in "Descent":
-->'''Lex:''' 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.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: One of the premises of the show was asking the question "What if Clark Kent and Lex Luthor were best friends before becoming mortal enemies?"
* WickedCultured: Loves to quote great literature and is as bad as they come.
* WouldHitAGirl: As demonstrated in the Season 6 finale when Lana announces she's leaving him.
* XanatosGambit: His SadisticChoice 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 ''A.'' he puts it on, recovers and uses it to kill Clark and attain absolute power for himself ([[NightmareFuel just imagine the sociopathic Lex of the later seasons armed with ALL of Clark's powers]]), or ''B.'' Lana puts it on and the above plan goes into action.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Lionel Luthor]]
!!Lionel Luthor
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lionel_luthor.jpg]]
!!! '''Species''': Human
!!! '''Played by''': Creator/JohnGlover
->''"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 [[RagsToRiches 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 [[VirtueIsWeakness such things only bred weakness]]. He is the chief culprit behind his son's shattered psyche and [[WellDoneSonGuy need for approval]], and is the [[BigBad 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 [[EvilMatriarch Genevieve Teague]] and undergoes the beginnings of a HeelFaceTurn. Failing to re-connect with Lex despite his best efforts, he 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).
For his Earth-2 counterpart, see [[Characters/SmallvilleEarth2 Earth-2]].
----
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Michael Rosenbaum is much more conventionally handsome than most depictions of the character, even with the bald head.
* AdaptationalBadass: How physically dangerous Comics!Luthor is can vary DependingOnTheWriter, but ''Smallville'''s portrayal of him as an exceptionally capable BadassNormal with the ability to fight ComicBook/GreenArrow to a draw outdoes all other portrayals in this regard.
* AffablyEvil: Has this vibe even back when he's a good guy, with an inimitable talent for making even the most harmless of good deeds sound vaguely evil, in a cool, polite, [[DeadpanSnarker and often snarky sort of way]]. In between bouts of EvilIsPetty and KickTheDog, he evolves into this in full in his descent into villainy, giving Clark what is actually an astoundingly good motivational speech in the finale, saying that every villain is only as good as their hero - and, arguably, giving Clark the push he needs to become Superman.
* AgentMulder: His belief in, and curiosity for, the paranormal is what starts his descent into villainy.
* AlliterativeName: '''L'''ex '''L'''uthor.
* AlternateSelf: Has four, one on [[Series/Supergirl2015 Earth-Prime]], one on [[Series/Titans2018 Earth-9]], one on [[Film/SupermanTheMovie Earth]][[Film/SupermanII -]][[Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace 9]][[Film/SupermanReturns 6]], and one on [[Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice an undesignated Earth]].
* AlternateUniverse: In Clark's ItsAWonderfulPlot episode "Apocalypse," we meet PresidentEvil Lex who, as usual, is a VillainInAWhiteSuit with a RedRightHand, but adds TheSocialDarwinist and OmnicidalManiac to his resume via a plan to NukeEm all and re-build the world in his own image.
* AlternateUniverseReedRichardsIsAwesome: Whether or not he's still evil, Lex is far more successful than the [[Series/Supergirl2015 Lex Luthor of Earth-Prime]], what with being President of the United States and all. Clark's reaction to Prime-Lex is just a casual "You're not Lex." (WordOfSaintPaul from Creator/JonCryer is he considers Rosenbaum's Lex his favorite take on the character and [[WhatCouldHaveBeen wishes he'd had the opportunity]] to have met this version and, probably, beat him.)
* AntagonisticOffspring: To Lionel, following the latter's HeelFaceTurn and his own subsequent FaceHeelTurn.
* AntiHero: Lex started the series as a PragmaticHero. His methods were badly flawed, but he was genuinely out to stop his [[ArchnemesisDad father]] [[BigBad Lionel]], and be a better person and a good friend to Clark. By Seasons 4 and 5, he was in AntiVillain territory, becoming antagonistic but remaining sympathetic, before finally [[FaceHeelTurn diving into full-on villainy]].
* ArchEnemy: Well on his way to being Clark's, with the entire show building up to their finally confronting one another.
* BackFromTheDead:
** Thanks to Chloe's healing powers in Season 7's "Fracture."
** And again in "[[GrandFinale Finale]]" by way of a cloned body and Earth-2 Lionel's [[DealWithTheDevil deal with Darkseid]].
* BadassBoast: The section quote above.
* BadassBookworm: He's very well-read and likes to quote great philosophers and relate it to himself.
* BadassInANiceSuit: Especially in the {{Bad Future}}s where he's a ''very'' intimidating VillainInAWhiteSuit.
* BadassLongcoat: Lex's trenchcoat is every bit as iconic as his [[BadassInANiceSuit nice]] [[ManOfWealthAndTaste suit]].
* BadassNormal: Both physically and mentally.
* BadBoss: After his [[FaceHeelTurn turn to villainy]].
* BadFuture: Is PresidentEvil in many of them.
* BaldOfEvil: Courtesy of his FaceHeelTurn.
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: Lex has stated once or twice that he doesn't want to become like his father. Sadly, that's what he ends up doing by Season 5.
* BigBad: [[BigBadEnsemble Competes]] with ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} for the title in Season 7. Considered by some to have held it since Season 6.
* BigBadSlippage: One for the series overall as he starts out as a friend to Clark only to become a villain in Seasons 4 and 5 before becoming the BigBad of Seasons 6 and 7.
* BigBadWannabe: Spends much of Seasons 5 and 7 trying to be the BigBad, but gets upstaged by Brainiac.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Towards Clark.
* BigBrotherMentor: He often had a tendency to slip into this trope during the first two seasons with Clark.
* BrilliantButLazy: He's possibly one of the smartest men in the world but is pretty unmotivated to do anything in the early seasons.
* BrokenAce: Very much so. He's rich, successful, brilliant, charming, handsome, self-loathing and caught up in a [[WellDoneSonGuy desire for parental approval]] all at the same time.
* ByronicHero: In the early seasons.
* CardCarryingVillain: While he is usually a VillainWithGoodPublicity, when he is split into good and evil sides, evil Lex utters the classic line:
-->'''Lex''': I am the villain of the story.
** Lex announces his intention to become one of these in the GrandFinale. Tess' mind-wipe may have forestalled this.
--->'''Lex:''' You and I... We will both be great men. Because of each other, we have a destiny together, Clark... [[ArchEnemy only on different sides]].\\
'''Clark:'''I'll always be there to stop you. Always.\\
'''Lex:''' Oh, I'm counting on it. Our story hasn't been written yet, Kal-El. And every villain is only as great as his hero.
* CainAndAbel: With Clark (whom he viewed as a brother) and later with Tess, resulting in the latter's death and his own memory loss.
* TheCasanova: Almost all of his girlfriends or love interests are stunningly beautiful women. This mostly due to Lex's good looks (even with the baldness) and his witty personality. Not to mention the fact that he is obscenely wealthy and cultured.
* TheCharmer: When he wants to be.
* TheChessmaster: Graduates into one, learning from his father how to manipulate and plot with the best of them.
* ChickMagnet: Attracts a bevy of women over the course of the show.
* ClassicVillain: Displays the [[SevenDeadlySins sins]] of {{Pride}}, [[GreenEyedMonster Envy]] and {{Wrath}}.
* CombatPragmatist: Often prefers to use simple defense moves and guns rather than engage in long battles.
* ControlFreak: Lex's need to control everyone and everything around him is the chief cause of his downfall. He came to the conclusion that the only way he could secure a happy existence for himself is if the people in his life are completely under his control (he himself would probably view it as "guidance," but that's a case of BelievingTheirOwnLies). He, like Lana, wants to know Clark's secret and is willing to go to life-threatening lengths to obtain it: sending super-powered murderers to hold Clark's family hostage in an attempt to force him to reveal any superpowers he may have (this ends up being what breaks his and Clark's friendship). He's willing to let his dad stick around, but only as long as he's subordinate to Lex. He also misses his deceased brother and clones him so that he can have him back...but gets insanely angry when the clone no longer wants to follow the script that Lex wants him to live by. Terrifyingly, it is implied that Lex has the clone killed, viewing him as a failed experiment. And, of course, there's the horrifying twist of late Season 6 where we learn that Lex chemically manipulated Lana's body with hormones to simulate a pregnancy in order to help push her into marrying him, and then letting her believe that she had miscarried afterwards, causing her to fall into a deep depression. Through it all, Lex maintains that this is all okay because he views it as simply carving out his world and the people in it to be the way he wants them to be, and he [[BelievingTheirOwnLies tells himself that it's for their own good anyway]].
** Lex's beliefs that influence his behavior this way are possibly best summed up at the end of Season 5's Christmas episode "Lexmas" where, after considering it all episode, he decides to use dirty tricks to try and win the election he's in, saying:
--->'''Lex''': What I want more than anything is to live {{happily ever after}}. And do you know what the secret to living happily ever after is? ([[{{Beat}} pause]]) ''Power''. Money and power. See, once you have those two things, you can secure everything else. And ''keep'' it that way. I want to be Senator. ''I want it all.''
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: After he turns evil.
* CorruptTheCutie: Lionel was determined to teach Lex 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 ''Literature/{{The Art of War|SunTzu}}'' on another childhood birthday. Arguably, this trope 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.
* DarkLordOnLifeSupport: In Season 8 when his injuries render him completely immobile, and leave him on an IV and a ventilator.
* DeadpanSnarker: Ahh, who forgets 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'') You call sleeping with me "business"? I hate to think what that makes you.
** Or this gem when he has [[Franchise/TheFlash Impulse]] imprisoned:
-->'''Impulse:''' I want a lawyer.
-->'''Lex:''' And I want a ponytail. Disappointment abounds.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of the whole idea of supervillains and how they are made, especially his own comics counterpart.
* {{Determinator}}: Lex never lets anything stop him, whether financial setbacks, political failures, or the near total destruction of his physical body.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: From seasons 1 through 7. The story of Smallville focuses on how Lex became a villain almost as much as it is about how Clark Kent became a hero.
* DeusAngstMachina: After losing his hair and being horribly bullied at school, Lex takes the blame for his mother murdering his infant brother, condemning himself to a future of abuse and hatred from his dad, whom he knows would kill her if he found out.
* {{Deuteragonist}}:
* DiscOneFinalBoss: Season 8. His return is a much anticipated and feared thing, to the point where one expects him to take over as the BigBad...only for him to be blown up and replaced by [[PersonOfMassDestruction Doomsday]].
* TheDreaded: As of Season 8. He drove Oliver to violate ThouShaltNotKill, other characters treat him as though he were a HeroKiller (even though he's really not) and the possibility of his return is always spoken of as though it were a prophecy regarding TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Not bad for a BadassNormal who hasn't appeared for two-and-a-half seasons.
* DrivenByEnvy: Outdoing Clark eventually becomes Lex's primary motivation. He's actually relieved when he finds out Clark is an alien and that the competition was never fair.
* {{Envy}}: Of Clark, whose life and later powers Lex desperately wants.
* EvilCounterpart: To Oliver Queen. Both are the sons of wealthy billionaires who strike an unusual friendship with Clark Kent and frequently struggle with their flaws. But while Oliver ultimately overcomes his inner demons, Lex succumbs to them.
* EvilCripple: In Season 8. He's paraplegic, 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.
* EvilFeelsGood: Decides this around Season 5.
* EvilGenius: Very smart and ''very'' nasty.
* EvilHasGoodTaste: Lex is well read and has a taste for fine dining.
* EvilIsPetty: His incredibly petty and vicious plan in Season 8 revolves around breaking up Clark and Lana through [[SadisticChoice the nastiest way possible]].
* EvilSoundsDeep: Season 8, complete with VaderBreath.
* EvilWearsBlack: Lex's attire includes lots of dark clothing, black included.
* EyepatchOfPower: Season 8, as part of his EvilCripple status.
* FaceHeelTurn: Pretty much a ForegoneConclusion. From Season 5-7 he was always tittering the line between the last amount of loyalty he has to his friends, and the monster he was destined to become, with the very final minutes of Season 7 securing his place as a villain.
-->'''Lex''': ''(Cradling a weakened Clark, while the Fortress of Solitude crumbles around them)'' I love you like a brother Clark, but it has to end like this. ''I'm sorry...''
* {{Foil}}: To Clark, with his journey to narcissistic monster progressing in time with Clark's journey to MessianicArchetype and TheCape.
* FreudianExcuse: Courtesy of his dad.
* FriendlyEnemy: Until the events of "Arctic."
* FromNobodyToNightmare: He might have stayed a spoiled, lonely rich kid forever had it not been for that trip to Kansas.
* GambitRoulette: Unbeknownst to Clark and his friends, the entire first half of Season 8 was slowly turning out to be set up by Lex (who is crippled and presumed dead, but still alive and scheming) to manipulate them all into being his {{Unwitting Pawn}}s and facilitating his revenge. It culminates in the situation with the Prometheus suit described above: either '''A:''' Clark and Lana don't discover it, and Lex dons it himself and uses it to murder Clark, or '''B:''' Lana steals it, puts it on, and Lex forces her to choose 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 ManipulativeBastard.
* GeniusCripple: Season 8.
* TheGhost: Never actually appears during the ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019'', since Rosenbaum turned the CW down. In-universe, Clark seems skeptical that he would have any reason to come back to Smallville.
* GoodCounterpart: Even at his worst, Lex wasn't ever nearly the CardCarryingVillain Earth-Prime Lex is. He still isn't, as evidenced by the fact that Clark gave up his powers and yet he and his family are alive and seem to be perfectly safe.
* GuileHero: Pre-FaceHeelTurn.
* GunsAkimbo: Against Green Arrow and Black Canary in "Siren." Complete with GunKata.
* HandicappedBadass: Season 8, in both the literal and metaphorical sense. Bereft of his [[CorruptCorporateExecutive company]], [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney money]], [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections connections]] and his very mobility, a paraplegic Lex keeps the superhero community quaking in their boots (even the [[TheDreaded 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.
* HardHead: Held ''Series/{{Smallville}}'''s record for being knocked unconscious.
* HasAType: Has a habit of hooking up with hot brunettes because they remind him of his mother.
* TheHeavy: Seasons 6 and 7.
* HeroicSacrifice: Took the blame for his mother murdering his brother, leading to his father's cold(er) treatment of him.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: In the first few seasons, he and Clark exemplified this trope, even if Lex seemed more enthusiastic about it. This was likely due to Clark probably being Lex's first real friend and one of the few who didn't judge him before knowing him.
* HotBlooded: The guy has anger management problems, to say the least.
* HumiliationConga: He's had more than his fair share. He'd be really sympathetic if he weren't such an asshole.
* {{Hypocrite}}: He constantly bitches about Clark keeping his secret from him, while simultaneously keeping an army of skeletons (all of them far, far darker than Clark's) in his own closet.
* IJustWantToBeLoved: It's painfully clear, especially in early seasons, that Lex is just starved for someone to care for him the way Lionel never did. It's why he's so keen on being friends with Clark and why he wants to be a part of the Kent family--they represent what he never had. In later seasons, he still wants love, but his [[{{Pride}} ego]] and [[{{Narcissist}} narcissism]] makes it impossible for him to accept anything less than total control over anyone who gets close to him.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Big time. No matter how brilliant or successful Lex is, it's not enough and he believes that he, not Clark, should be the one to save humanity. Clark, to him, serves as a reminder that Lex is still just a man.
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Lex's drive to be better than everyone is fueled by his [[WellDoneSonGuy desire for approval from his father]] as well as his jealousy of Clark (whom he subconsciously regards as his superior).
* ItsAllAboutMe: 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 LackOfEmpathy and NeverMyFault, and more or less believes that the universe revolves around him.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In the early seasons. He was a pleasant, friendly guy, but he acted like a jerk to anyone he disliked, such as his father or Dominic.
* {{Jerkass}}: After his FaceHeelTurn.
* KarmaHoudini: He avoids punishment for all of his crimes, and at the end of the series, is resurrected and ready to become the PresidentEvil we always knew he could be.
* KlingonPromotion: In order to truly become the BigBad, Lex has to kill off his father, whose presence in-universe more or less handicapped him.
* LackOfEmpathy: Has a severe and developing case of it. By Season 7 or so, it's all-consuming.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: His fate in the GrandFinale. Season 11 has a Lex who hates Superman, and has no idea why.
* LargeHam: Gets increasingly hammy as he becomes [[EvilIsHammy more evil]].
* LonelyRichKid: In Seasons 1-3.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: In the ItsAWonderfulPlot storyline when he decided to become good, Dream!Lana dies.
* MadeOfIron: Courtesy of his low-level HealingFactor.
* ManipulativeBastard: A master manipulator of others' emotions.
* TheManBehindTheMan: To [[TheBaroness Tess]] and [[MadBomber Winslow Schott]] in Season 8.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: In the later seasons, and the {{Bad Future}}s.
* MeaningfulName: ''Alexander'' means "defender/leader of mankind." Quite fitting for a guy who thinks he's protecting humanity from hostile aliens and meteor freaks, and believes that the best way to do so is for everyone to follow his lead (naturally).
* MoralityPet: Clark is his, while he's capable of doing devious acts, his friendship with Clark Kent usually keeps him from going too far. It's when an enraged Clark denounces his friendship with Lex, that Lex begins to slide down from a good-natured man with a dark side, to an evil maniacal villain.
* MrFanservice: Just ask the fangirls.
* MoralMyopia: No one may do unto Lex as he does unto them. It wouldn't be right.
* MotiveRant: Delivers one to Clark in the GrandFinale, explaining ''why'' [[IJustWantToBeSpecial he has been who he was]], before explaining [[CardCarryingVillain what he plans to be instead]].
-->'''Lex:''' No matter how meticulously I prepared, no matter how strategic I was... [[VillainousUnderdog If only I'd known I never stood a chance.]]\\
'''Clark:''' [[HumbleHero It wasn't a competition.]]\\
'''Lex:''' [[RightForTheWrongReasons Of course it wasn't.]] You were born to be {{the chosen one}}. You're simply better than us.\\
'''Clark:''' And that always killed you.\\
'''Lex:''' No. No, what killed me is that you didn't even ''[[ReluctantHero want]]'' it. You fought it. You ... you hid from it! I would have taken it and relished it, embraced it.
* {{Narcissist}}: From the start of the show, Lex has difficulty seeing others' problems and this only gets worse as time goes by. His narcissism becomes more and more pronounced and increasingly malignant until by Season 7, he's essentially become a [[TheSociopath sociopath]].
* NeverMyFault: Lex blames his father, Clark, Lana and anyone else he can set his sights on for his problems. You've got a FreudianExcuse, Lex, but it doesn't mean you don't have to take responsibility sometimes. To be fair, sometimes it really ''isn't'' his fault, but he gets blamed anyway.
* NiceGuy: 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 [[BitchInSheepsClothing a facade]].
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Things rarely go well for him when he honestly tries to do the right thing.
* NotSoDifferent: Despite being EvilerThanThou, Lex-Prime's outraged rant over Clark renouncing his powers isn't really that different from his own Lex's own MotiveRant about his envy and contempt over Clark's RefusalOfTheCall in the GrandFinale. "Sure haven't missed these chats," indeed.
* NukeEm: In the BadFuture shown in "Apocalypse," PresidentEvil Lex has conspired with Brainiac to [[OmnicidalManiac wipe out the world in a nuclear war]] so that he can unite the survivors under his rule and create a new [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinistic]] paradise.
* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: We don't really know anything about his personality after the MindWipe in the GrandFinale, but it's still Lex, meaning he's at least got to be President Scheming, President Iron and President Geek. It's ambiguous whether he's PresidentEvil, though Clark's relative unconcern over the fact that he is President makes it unlikely.
* PresidentEvil: In several {{Bad Future}}s. He's elected for real in 2018 during the DistantFinale.
* PoisonousFriend: To Clark, pre-FaceHeelTurn.
* PsychopathicManchild: Immeasurably brilliant, wealthy and powerful. He is also extremely [[EvilIsPetty petty]], [[ItsAllAboutMe incredibly self-involved]] and [[NeverMyFault incapable of accepting responsibility or blame]].
* PutOnABus: Yes & No. Michael Rosenbaum departed at the end of Season 7. Lex, through a mix of recycled footage, audio, and body doubles remained until the end of Season 8.
* ReallyGetsAround: More implied for the first few seasons than actually seen, except for Victoria where she slept with him for business, but seen in "Bound," he apparently has had many one-night stands with women where he gave them diamond earrings as a "thank you" gift, something he picked up from his father.
* RedheadsAreUncool: In the pilot, nine year-old Lex is being chastised by his father for being scared and keeping his eyes closed while on the helicopter ride. Once he opens them, he gets more scared and needs to use his inhaler because he has an asthma attack. That day, the meteor shower caused him to lose all his red hair.
* RedRightHand: In every one of the BadFuture episodes, PresidentEvil Lex is shown as a VillainInAWhiteSuit with a single black-gloved hand. Bad!Lex also sports this look during Clark's [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind trip inside his head]] in "Fracture." It finally happens for real following his resurrection in the GrandFinale. One of his hands is mangled, prompting him to don the trademark glove. Might be a ShoutOut 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.
* SadisticChoice: 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.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Increasingly comes to see this as the way the world should work.
* SelfMadeOrphan: He murders his ArchnemesisDad Lionel as his [[MoralEventHorizon final step]] into true villainy. Lionel himself was revealed to be one of these earlier in series, having had his friend Morgan Edge kill his [[TheAlcoholic Alcoholic]] AbusiveParents in a gas fire. One can only wonder what Lex's children will do, should he have any...
* ShipperOnDeck: During the early seasons for Clark and Lana. All the while developing feelings for Lana himself...
* SkywardScream: Does one at the end of "Persona" after having an assassin kill off Grant Gabriel, a clone of his dead younger brother Julian.
* TheSocialDarwinist: Picks up many tenets of his father's philosophy as his life goes on. The PresidentEvil Lex seen in "Apocalypse"'s BadFuture 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).
* TheSociopath: Lex doesn't start out this way, but as the show progresses, his narcissism slowly swallows up the rest of his personality until all that's left is a [[ControlFreak drive to control everybody around him]] and a [[ItsAllAboutMe belief that his needs come before those of everyone else]]. By Season 7, all that's left is a bitter, vengeful psychopath driven by the need to be superior to the rest of the world.
* SuperVillain: The opposite of Clark, who becomes a SuperHero.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: Originally, he was a genuinely good guy with good intentions, though [[AntiHero with questionable methods at times]]. However, his growing jealousy of Clark (for having good parents and friends, and Lana's love), combined with his resentment towards the world at large, fuel his growing selfishness until he dives into it outright.
* TragicVillain: Few modern villains fit this trope as well as Lex does.
* TraumaCongaLine: He may be a sociopathic bastard, but damn has Lex suffered in life.
* TheUnfavourite: Subverted. Lex thinks he's this, but given Lionel's treatment of [[BastardBastard Lucas]] and [[ParentalAbandonment Tess]], it's clear that he's actually the favorite. It's just that this is [[AbusiveParents Lionel]] we're talking about, so it doesn't really matter.
* UnwittingPawn: Of [[TheChessmaster Brainiac]]. ''Twice''. But by Season 8, he's become so cunning that it's unlikely this will be happening again, and indeed ''all the other characters'' turn out to be unwitting pawns of Lex in Season 8.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: As the flashbacks reveal, he really did. It's even present in the first four seasons at times.
* VaderBreath: Season 8.
* VillainInAWhiteSuit: In the various {{Bad Future}}s where he's PresidentEvil. During Clark's [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind trip inside Lex's head]] in Season 7's "Fracture," bad!Lex wears the same suit. He dons it in real life during the 2018 DistantFinale, after he's elected President.
* WellDoneSonGuy: 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!
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Begins his slide into villainy this way, as he himself states in "Descent":
-->'''Lex:''' 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.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: One of the premises of the show was asking the question "What if Clark Kent and Lex Luthor were best friends before becoming mortal enemies?"
* WickedCultured: Loves to quote great literature and is as bad as they come.
* WouldHitAGirl: As demonstrated in the Season 6 finale when Lana announces she's leaving him.
* XanatosGambit: His SadisticChoice 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 ''A.'' he puts it on, recovers and uses it to kill Clark and attain absolute power for himself ([[NightmareFuel just imagine the sociopathic Lex of the later seasons armed with ALL of Clark's powers]]), or ''B.'' Lana puts it on and the above plan goes into action.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Lionel Luthor]]
!!Lionel Luthor
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lionel_luthor.jpg]]
!!! '''Species''': Human
!!! '''Played by''': Creator/JohnGlover
->''"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 [[RagsToRiches 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 [[VirtueIsWeakness such things only bred weakness]]. He is the chief culprit behind his son's shattered psyche and [[WellDoneSonGuy need for approval]], and is the [[BigBad 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 [[EvilMatriarch Genevieve Teague]] and undergoes the beginnings of a HeelFaceTurn. Failing to re-connect with Lex despite his best efforts, he 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).
For his Earth-2 counterpart, see [[Characters/SmallvilleEarth2 Earth-2]].
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* DeathInAdaptation: Unlike his film counterpart, Otis dies in the final story arc of the Season 11 comic.
* NamedInAdaptiion: Is given the last name Berg, likely in reference to the scene from Film/SupermanTheMovie where he tried to convince Lex to have a city named after him called Otisburg.
* NamedInAdaptiion: Is given the last name Berg, likely in reference to the scene from Film/SupermanTheMovie where he tried to convince Lex to have a city named after him called Otisburg.
to:
* DeathInAdaptation: DeathByAdaptation: Unlike his film counterpart, Otis dies in the final story arc of the Season 11 comic.
*NamedInAdaptiion: NamedByTheAdaptation: Is given the last name Berg, likely in reference to the scene from Film/SupermanTheMovie where he tried to convince Lex to have a city named after him called Otisburg.
*
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[[folder:Otis Berg]]
!!Otis Berg
Only appearing in the Season 11 comics, Otis is the personal assistant to Lex Luthor.
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* AlternateSelf: Has two, one on [[Characters/ArrowverseLuthorFamilyAndAssociates Earth-Prime]] and one on [[Characters/SupermanFilmSeries Earth-96]].
* DeathInAdaptation: Unlike his film counterpart, Otis dies in the final story arc of the Season 11 comic.
* NamedInAdaptiion: Is given the last name Berg, likely in reference to the scene from Film/SupermanTheMovie where he tried to convince Lex to have a city named after him called Otisburg.
[[/folder]]
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* AlternateSelf: On an [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse unnamed Earth]] as Silas Stone & J'onn J'onzz, one on [[Series/{{Titans2018}} Earth-21]] as Silas Stone, one on [[Series/{{Supergirl2015}} Earth-Prime]] as J'onn J'onzz, and technically one on Earth-167 itself, also as J'onn J'onzz.
to:
* AlternateSelf: On Has one on an [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse unnamed Earth]] as Silas Stone & J'onn J'onzz, one on [[Series/{{Titans2018}} Earth-21]] as Silas Stone, one on [[Series/{{Supergirl2015}} Earth-Prime]] as J'onn J'onzz, and technically one on Earth-167 itself, also as J'onn J'onzz.Stone.
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* AlternateSelf: On an [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse unnamed Earth]] as Silas Stone [[spoiler: & J'onn J'onzz]], one on [[Series/{{Titans2018}} Earth-21]] as Silas Stone[[spoiler:, one on [[Series/{{Supergirl2015}} Earth-Prime]] as J'onn J'onzz, and technically one on Earth-167 itself, also as J'onn J'onzz]].
to:
* AlternateSelf: On an [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse unnamed Earth]] as Silas Stone [[spoiler: & J'onn J'onzz]], J'onzz, one on [[Series/{{Titans2018}} Earth-21]] as Silas Stone[[spoiler:, Stone, one on [[Series/{{Supergirl2015}} Earth-Prime]] as J'onn J'onzz, and technically one on Earth-167 itself, also as J'onn J'onzz]].J'onzz.
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* AlternateSelf: Including his Earth-2 counterpart, he has one on [[Series/{{Supergirl2015}} Earth-Prime]], one on [[Series/Titans2018 Earth-9]], one mentioned on [[Film/SupermanTheMovie Earth-96]], one on [[Film/BatmanAndRobin Earth-89]] as Floronic Man, one on [[Series/Lucifer2016 Earth-666]] as Peter Peterson, and one on an [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse unnamed Earth]] as [[{{Film/Shazam2019}} Mr. Sivana]].
to:
* AlternateSelf: Including his Earth-2 counterpart, he has one on [[Series/{{Supergirl2015}} Earth-Prime]], one on [[Series/Titans2018 Earth-9]], one mentioned on [[Film/SupermanTheMovie Earth-96]], one on [[Film/BatmanAndRobin Earth-89]] as Floronic Man, one on [[Series/Lucifer2016 Earth-666]] as Peter Peterson, and one two on an [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse unnamed Earth]] as [[{{Film/Shazam2019}} Mr. Sivana]].Sivana]] and [[Characters/DCEULexCorp himself]].
