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Fictional character from Smallville

Lionel Luthor is a fictional character portrayed by John Glover in the television series Smallville. The character was initially a special guest in season one, and became a series regular in season two and continued until being written out of the show in season seven. The character returned to the show in season ten again in a special guest role as a parallel universe (Earth 2) version of the character. In Smallville, Lionel Luthor is the father of Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), and founder and CEO of LuthorCorp. Lex Luthor's father was first introduced in Superman comics by Jerry Siegel in 1961 and has since appeared in other Superman related media under different names. Smallville is the first appearance in which the character has been an intricate part of a Superman adaptation. Series developers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar created Lionel Luthor for Smallville to provide an antithesis to the parenting style of Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) and Martha Kent (Annette O'Toole). In the DC Comics, Lex Luthor's father was originally named Jules Luthor, but later was renamed Lionel Luthor some time after Smallville. He debuted in Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #23 (February 1961) and was created by Jerry Siegel and Kurt Schaffenberger. During the story of Smallville, Lionel evolves from being a nemesis of Clark Kent (Tom Welling) who develops multiple schemes to uncover Clark's secrets, to becoming an ally who eventually dies to protect Clark's secret from his own son. Lionel has a strained relationship with Lex and regularly tries to test him. He attempts to develop a romantic relationship with Martha Kent following the death of Jonathan Kent, helping her advance toward the United States Senate. A parallel universe version of the character is later introduced in the show's final season, who serves as Clark and his allies' adversary and plays a pivotal role in bringing Lex back from his presumed death. Lionel's development from a main antagonist to an ally was difficult for the writers, who felt the character's arc failed to achieve the status they wanted. Although they continued with the story arc, Lionel returned to using deception to protect Clark rather than exploit him. He is characterized as a sinister character who tried hard to further his own ambitions. Lionel's relationship with his son has been likened to that of Harry Osborn and Norman Osborn from Spider Man comics. When Lex makes a profit for the first time in years, Lionel closes the plant and blames Lex's poor managerial skills. Lionel later confronts his son at the Luthor mansion when Lex tries to orchestrate an employee buyout to save the fertilizer plant. When strong winds force debris to smash through the mansion, Lionel is pinned under a fallen support beam and Lex hesitates to save his father. In Season two, Lex saves Lionel but loses his sight because of Lex's judgment to rush into surgery. Lionel is initially shown as blind. Lex and Lucas Luthor (Paul Wasilewski)—Lionel's illegitimate son—devise a plan to uncover Lionel's deception; it is revealed that Lionel was blind but that his eyes healed and he intentionally neglected to tell anyone so he could watch how they acted around him. Lionel is later aware of the Kawatche caves and tries to unlock the mysterious symbols there, to the dismay of Clark Kent (Tom Welling). Season three revealed that Lionel conspired with Morgan Edge (Rutger Hauer) to murder Lionel's parents and use the insurance money to fund LuthorCorp. Lionel has Lex committed to a mental institution, when his son discovers what Lionel did. When Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) discovers the truth, that evidence is used to assist Lex have Lionel arrested for his parents' murder. It's also revealed why Lionel is angry with Lex; he blames his son for the death of his youngest son Julian Luthor, although Lex took the blame to protect the true killer: Lillian (Alisen Down), Lionel's mentally unwell wife. Lionel also learns that he has a terminal liver disease, which he divulges to Lex while awaiting arraignment. Lionel is sentenced to prison for his parents' murder in season four. Lionel attempts to switch bodies with Lex using a stone from Clark's homeworld of Krypton but Clark intervenes and Lionel switches bodies with Clark instead. When he and Clark switch back, Lionel discovers his terminal liver disease is healed. Lionel is released from prison by Genevieve Teague (Jane Seymour), and begins searching for three stones of knowledge. During this quest, Lionel falls into a catatonic state after being uploaded with Kryptonian knowledge. Lionel recovers in season five when the Kryptonian artificial intelligence Jor El takes over his body to speak with Clark. With Jor El guiding him, Lionel begins helping Clark by making excuses for Clark's behavior and unexplained disappearances throughout seasons five and six. Season seven revealed that Lionel and three other wealthy families formed the secret society Veritas to protect an alien visitor known as the Traveler (Clark). When the secret is uncovered, Lex murders his father, realizing he has been covering up the Traveler's existence. Season ten reveals that Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman) is Lionel's illegitimate daughter fathered with Pamela Jenkins (Donna Bullock). Clark unintentionally visits the parallel universe of Earth 2 in season ten where Lionel found and adopted Clark's doppelgänger to be a murderer, and going by the alias of Ultraman who kills anyone including that universe's Lex, escaping back to his own reality but is followed by Lionel. Posing as his own doppelgänger, the alternate Lionel tries to make amends when he attempts twice to bring "Alexander Luthor"/Conner Kent (Lucas Grabeel), a hybrid clone of Clark and Lex that develops Clark's powers, to his side but fails. Lionel also assumes control of LuthorCorp from Tess but loses the company when his doppelgänger's daughter proves he is an imposter. However, he has already embezzled a large amount of money from LuthorCorp. At his nadir, Lionel is approached by the evil alien entity Darkseid. In the series finale, it is revealed that the alternate Lionel discovers a clone of Lex, created from the pieces of others, hidden away. He then founded the genetic research company PreClox to assist Lex's scientists. A compatible heart could not be found among Lex's replicates and Lionel tries to give Tess's heart to Lex, but Tess shoots Lionel and escapes. Lionel then surrenders his soul to Darkseid, giving Lionel's heart to the clone, effectively resurrecting Lex. Afterward, Darkseid possesses Lionel's corpse to attack Clark, but Clark destroys Lionel's body, dispelling Darkseid's threat.

Lionel Luthor was created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar specifically for "Smallville" to provide a parallel to the Kents as an "experiment in extreme parenting". The character Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) was also created for the show. Lex's father has previously been depicted in other media. Lionel Luthor is portrayed in the program by John Glover; Glover said he appreciates the "clear canvas" he had to work with when developing his portrayal of Lionel. In season one, Glover traveled from New York to Vancouver every week while filming his scenes because he was already committed to stage appearances in New York at the time. During season three, Lionel becomes the villain of the show when he tries to discover Clark's secret and drives Lex into a psychotic breakdown. This allows Lionel to use electroshock therapy on Lex to erase his knowledge of Lionel's co opting of Morgan Edge to kill Lionel's parents for their life insurance. The creative team experimented with Lionel's character in season four, creating a storyline in which Lionel is reformed. Executive producer Greg Beeman said the character development failed, and as a result Lionel returned to his normal self. John Glover found playing Lionel as a straight arrow was "boring". Season five explores the relationship between Martha and Lionel. Both Annette O'Toole and Al Gough said Lionel was slightly attracted to Martha, but that she would never act on that feeling. The producers had no intentions to create a romantic relationship between the two characters. Most of Lionel's motivations in season five are shrouded in mystery. Glover said he could not determine whether his character is good or bad, so when he is portraying him in season five he tried to present everything as if it was "good".

John Glover characterizes Lionel as a businessman who is disappointed with his son. To Glover, Lionel is this "rich and powerful businessman" who sees his son as a "wuss" and "fraidy cat". It was important to Glover that Lionel appear as human as possible; Glover said he does not want to simply "twirl [his] mustache". Lionel is also often portrayed in front of a white or "clinical blue" background. Lionel's signature mane of hair is used to symbolize his power—by growing it out and refusing to style it, Lionel attempts to show he is so powerful that he can do whatever he wants without any backlash.

For his portrayal of Lionel Luthor on Smallville, John Glover was nominated for two Saturn Awards in the category of Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series. The first came in 2003, following his upgrade to series regular status, and the second in 2004. By season four, one reviewer said Lionel should have left the show after succumbing to his terminal liver disease in season three. Maurice Cobbs of DVD Verdict said Lionel was taking away from the primary characters' screen time in season four, and the producers should have killed him at the end of season three.

Lionel makes his first appearance outside the television series in the Aspect book Smallville: Strange Visitors. In this title, Lionel is concerned that confidence trickster Donald Jacobi will draw too much attention to the meteor rocks in Smallville and ruin his plans to use the rocks for experiments. Lionel has the life of Jacobi's partner put in jeopardy when he threatens to alert some mobsters who are looking for Lionel. He makes a brief appearance in Smallville: Dragon, in which he tells Lex he used Lex's ex girlfriend Renata to get close to Lex to test him for unknown reasons. The Smallville version of Lionel makes a brief appearance in the second volume of the internet series Smallville: Chloe Chronicles; he threatens Chloe after she discovers he is involved with the deaths of several people.

In the television series' comic book continuation written by the show's writer Bryan Q. Miller, it is revealed that Lionel had tried to recruit Bruce Wayne's father Thomas Wayne into the secret society Veritas with Virgil Swann, months prior to Wayne and his wife's mugging and murder by Joe Chill.

In Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie and Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, Lex briefly mentions his father—but not his father's name—as the inspiration of Lex's real estate schemes. Lex also says that his father was a harsh man who ejected him from the family home. In Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Lex is named after his father, Alexander Luthor Sr., an oil and machinery tycoon immigrant from Germany who died in 2000. When confronting Superman, Lex mentions his father's abusive behavior in his childhood. A newspaper article in the film erroneously refers to him as Lionel Luther, like in Smallville, though it is unknown if this was a mistake or an intentional nod to Smallville.

In the 1988–1992 television series Superboy, Lex's father appears in season four's "Know Thine Enemy" (Part 1), in which Superboy becomes Lex Luthor in a virtual reality and watches Lex grow up with an abusive father; Lex's father is unnamed and is portrayed by Edgar Allan Poe IV. Lionel Luthor appears in a flashback of the Supergirl episode "Luthors", portrayed by Ian Butcher. He is a billionaire and the founder of his family's company LuthorCorp as well as resembling the future Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) with his baldness. It's revealed that sometime after marrying Lillian (Brenda Strong) and having Lex, Lionel began an affair with a woman named Elizabeth Walsh that would lead to the conception of Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath). Once Lillian discovered the affair, he ultimately chooses to remain with his family. After the death of Lena's mother, Lionel takes in his illegitimate daughter but lies to her and the public that his second child is adopted. Lionel favors Lena over Lex due to his love for her mother, leading to tension with his wife and son, especially due to his emotional distance from Lex growing up. Lionel also became an alcoholic later in his life, contributing to his family's dysfunction. Lionel died sometime afterwards due to unknown circumstances and Lex inherited his father's fortune to lead LuthorCorp for years until his imprisonment. Lena then takes over leadership of LuthorCorp, relocates the company's headquarters from Metropolis to National City, and renames it L Corp, attempting to redeem her family name from Lex's actions. When Lena learns her true paternity from Lillian, she becomes determined to restore the Luthor name for both her father and herself. Lionel Luthor appears in the Titans episode "Conner", portrayed by Peter MacNeill. This version is almost blind and was a former scientist. Conner and Krypto arrive at Lionel's Kansas house upon a memory drawing him to it. He told Conner everything about his son and Clark before Conner is ambushed by Mercy Graves' Cadmus team. Conner works to protect Lionel from the Cadmus team after he gets attacked by one of the soldiers. The next day, Mercy gives Lex a status report while also mentioning that his father is doing alright.

Before Smallville, Lex's father either made brief appearances in the Superman comics or was mentioned. Lex's father first appears in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #23 (1961), in the story "The Curse of Lena Thorul! ", written by Superman co creator Jerry Siegel. In this story, he is named Jules, has disowned his criminal son Lex, and changed the family name to "Thorul". Jules Thorul and his wife Arlene are later killed in a car accident. In the 2004 miniseries Superman: Birthright, Lex's father is not a billionaire but immediately puts Lex to work making millions for him after he discovers his son's astronomical IQ. Lex's father dies in a fire caused accidentally by Lex in an experiment that causes Lex's permanent hair loss. In Adventure Comics #6 (March 2010), Lex's father (not named) terrorizes Lex and his sister Lena. He dies of a heart attack, leaving Lena in the care of an aunt and causes Lex to leave Smallville. It is later revealed that Lex had caused his father's heart attack to cash in a sizable life insurance policy, which he would use as the basis for his fortune, the same plot Lionel Luthor used on his own parents in the Smallville backstory. In Blackest Night #6, Lionel Luthor is revived as a member of the Black Lantern Corps. Lionel Luthor appears with Lex Luthor in the Flashpoint reality where they tour General Sam Lane's facility of aliens. The character was mentioned several times by Lex, though unnamed, in many titles seen in The New 52. He officially appeared as Lionel Luthor in a flashback scene during DC Rebirth, along with his wife, Leticia.