Fictional character biography
Early life
Lex Luthor was born sometime after 1984 in Metropolis to billionaires Lionel and Lillian Luthor. From early childhood, he exhibited an extremely high intellect, as well as anti-social behavior. In 1997, the Luthor family adopted Lena, the illegitimate daughter of Lionel and Lex's half-sister, which angered him initially. However, over time, Lex and Lena became close friends.
During his teenage years, Lex showed signs of psychopathy. His father, Lionel, distanced himself from Lex, fueling Lex's resentment and hatred towards him. After Lionel's death, Lex inherited the family company, LuthorCorp. He also met Superman, and the two initially worked together to stop alien invasions. However, Lex's methods were too brutal for Superman's liking, leading to a falling out between them. Lex began to believe that Superman was responsible for the invasions, and his obsession with the superhero caused a fracture in his relationship with Lena.
Scheme to kill Supergirl
After years of encounters resulting in numerous fatalities, Luthor and Superman had a final confrontation in early 2016. Before the confrontation, Luthor turned Earth's yellow sun red in an attempt to depower Superman, causing destruction on a global scale. Luthor was found by the police but managed to escape, only to later be captured by Superman.
At his trial, Luthor killed the judge and jury. He was sentenced to thirty-one consecutive life terms and sent to Stryker's Island Penitentiary. While in prison, he hired an assassin, John Corben, to kill his sister Lena, who had taken over LuthorCorp (later renamed L-Corp). His plan failed when Superman and Supergirl intervened.
In 2018, the Minister of Defense of Kaznia informed Luthor about the existence of a copy of Supergirl. Luthor traveled with the minister to Kazakhstan to meet the duplicate and began her training. After months of training, he took her to National City to familiarize her with Supergirl's life. The Supergirl duplicate developed a sickness, and to save her, Luthor entered a radioactive chamber, giving him cancer. Luthor was granted a mercy furlough from prison and was transported to his mansion.
Luthor then orchestrated a plan in which his assassin and love interest, Eve Teschmacher, would shoot James Olsen and distract Lena. As Lena went to the hospital, Luthor cut the electricity, forcing her to inject James with an experimental vaccine to save his life, in the hope that it would also cure Luthor's cancer. The vaccine worked, curing Luthor and giving him superhuman powers. He battled Supergirl and later went to the White House to meet with the President, using his influence to arrange a Kaznian attack on the United States.
During the attack, Luthor manipulated the Supergirl duplicate, known as "Red Daughter," to kill Supergirl's mother. After the attack, Luthor seemingly killed Red Daughter and used her energy to power a special cell. He then supplied energy to the houses damaged by the Kaznian bombings, and, with the President's support, he became the Secretary of the United States Department of Alien Affairs, gaining control over America.
Luthor's ambitions extended further, and he invaded Argo City. A team led by Supergirl stopped his attack, and he battled Supergirl, ultimately losing. He went to a cabin where he and Lena had spent vacations, where Lena extracted the serum from his body, resulting in his death.
Joining the Crisis
At the beginning of the Anti-Monitor's invasion of the Multiverse, the Monitor brought Luthor back from the dead to assist the heroes. In return, Luthor asked him to ensure that Lena maintained her Pre-Crisis memories. The Monitor brought him to the Waverider, where he met a furious Kara Danvers and Kate Kane / Batwoman. He then found the Book of Destiny on the ship and left to kill as many versions of Superman as he could.
His first target was Earth-75's Superman, whom he killed. He then traveled to Earth-167 with the same intentions, but learned that Clark Kent had given up his powers. Next, Luthor went to Earth-96 and used the Book of Destiny to brainwash Clark Kent / Superman to fight the Superman from Luthor's universe. However, the Lois Lane from Luthor's universe intervened and knocked Luthor out, ending his control.
Luthor was locked up on the Waverider, but he managed to get the Book of Destiny again. He used it to save himself from the anti-matter wave that destroyed the Waverider and the whole Multiverse. By doing so, he became known as the Paragon of Truth and transported himself to the Vanishing Point.
At the Vanishing Point, Luthor attempted to open a portal to reality with the help of Ryan Choi, but failed. Barry Allen / The Flash later returned from the Speed Force, unable to find a way out of the point. Oliver Queen / Spectre appeared and helped Barry unlock his full potential, sending Luthor, Kara, and Ryan to the past, specifically to the planet Maltus, 10,000 years before the Monitor created the Anti-Monitor. There, Luthor tried to betray his team, but he failed to get the Monitor to side with him. The team was then transported to the Dawn of Time to fight the Anti-Monitor. Luthor and the other Paragons fought the Anti-Monitor's army, and Oliver sacrificed himself to recreate the Multiverse.
In the new Multiverse, Luthor's Earth merged with Earth-1 and Jefferson Pierce / Black Lightning's Earth. As a result, Luthor was seen by the public as a hero. In this new reality, he became the owner of LuthorCorp and the leader of the Department of Extranormal Operations, which was now a subsidiary of his company. Luthor also became a Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Manipulating Brainiac 5 and Obsidian Tech
At some point, Lex Luthor meets with his mother, Lillian, who is now the head of the Luthor Foundation, and they started scheming to destroy the Fortress of Solitude. To win Lena over, Lex used a truth-inducing organism on his arm to prove his honesty. At a "Man of Tomorrow" event held by the Luthor family, reporter William Dey privately talked to Kara, voicing his suspicion that the Luthors were involved in the disappearance of Russell Rogers after they bought out his company. Brainiac 5 later visited Luthor, expressing concern about Leviathan, and showed him a picture of a possible doppelganger that resembles Winn Schott.
Luthor visits Gamemnae / Gemma Cooper and persuades her to arrange a collaboration between LuthorCorp and Obsidian Tech. After Brainiac 5 becomes the new Director of the D.E.O. following Alex Danvers's resignation, he gives Luthor the information he needs from the alternate Winn Schott / Toyman's A.I. hacking. Luthor then tracks down Gemma and offers a partnership between LuthorCorp and Obsidian Tech. From the first day of Earth-Prime, Luthor had manipulated Eve Teschmacher into being his inside person in Leviathan. He tricks her into killing Jeremiah Danvers. While Supergirl is preventing a Sun-Eater from eating the Sun, Luthor goes to the scene where those who were trapped in virtual reality are being held and frees them, killing Margot Morrison. Gemma confronts Luthor about his actions, and he states that she should focus her anger on their mutual enemy, Supergirl. Later that night, Luthor reveals to Eve that the people who had protected her mother will dispose of her should she go against him. He also has footage of Eve killing Jeremiah. When Eve states that he is worse than Leviathan, Luthor disagrees. After a talk with his mother, Luthor uses Lena's transportation watch to go to the Fortress of Solitude.
Luthor visits Lena at Stryker's Island, noting that her project would fail, causing Lena to see that Kara was right about Luthor. After getting a call from Gemma that Rama Khan succeeded in his mission to obtain the Kryptonite from the D.E.O., Luthor informs Brainiac 5 that they now have access to Leviathan's ship. When he enters the ship, Luthor is given a special pin by Gemma to keep him safe from the ship's defenses. After Brainiac 5 enters a code that leads to the bottling of Rama Khan, Tezumak, and Sela, Gemma briefly shuts down, causing Luthor to go after Brainiac 5. He finds a weakened Brainiac 5 on Leviathan's ship and claims the bottle contains Rama Khan, Tezumak, and Sela. After getting away, he gives the bottle to Lillian to begin their next plot.
Final battle against Supergirl
Lex Luthor proceeds with the next phase of his plan, having Lillian copy the powers of the Leviathan members into him, despite her warning of the potential outcome. During the fight at the Fortress of Solitude with Supergirl, Luthor manages to use the Phantom Zone Projector to send Supergirl into the Phantom Zone. He is subsequently arrested and put on trial. While incarcerated at National City Prison, Luthor is visited by Lillian, who reminds him that she warned him. Lena then arrives and uses the brainwashing machine, Myriad, to erase the memory of Supergirl's identity from their minds. In the trial, Lena testifies against him, revealing that he used brainwashing technology to manipulate the jury. To his shock, the verdict is that he is innocent.
Afterward, Lex and Lena engage in a power struggle for control of LuthorCorp. Lex sends his bodyguard, Otis Graves, to sabotage the new children's wing at the hospital. When Lena confronts him, she tells him that killing him won't change anything, and she decides to leave LuthorCorp.
Luthor later visits the future, where he befriends and falls in love with a future version of Nyxlygsptlnz, known as "Nyxly." Together, they combine science and magic, but Nyxly makes a mistake with the Totems, resulting in her death. Luthor preserves Nyxly's mind in the form of an A.I. and places it in a Lexosuit, which he sends to the present Nyxly to prevent her death. However, the present Nyxly wants nothing to do with him. Undeterred, Luthor tries to win her back with Otis's advice, but Nyxly rejects him. Luthor devises a plan to get the Love Totem to her, but Nyxly is not pleased with his involvement, and the Superfriends end up with the totem.
Luthor saves Nyxly from being imprisoned, revealing their future romance and his attempts to save her. With the help of the Nyxly A.I., Nyxly obtains the dream totem, and Luthor assists in obtaining the remaining Totems. The Superfriends manage to retrieve the other pieces of the Totems, leading to a final battle between Luthor, Nyxly, and the Superfriends. Luthor and Nyxly create magical constructs resembling their enemies, such as Kara Danvers / Overgirl, Red Tornado, Metallo, and dragons. In the end, they are defeated, and Luthor opens a portal to the Phantom Zone, intending to unleash Phantoms on the Superfriends. However, due to their hubris, the Phantoms are instead attracted to Luthor and Nyxly, dragging them into the Phantom Zone. This is made possible because Supergirl and her allies rallied the people of National City to have courage, which counteracts the hubris emitted by Luthor and Nyxly, making them prime targets for the Phantoms.