Lionel also helped the Kent family in their adoption of a young Clark Kent. This is the amount Lionel attempts to transfer from a foreign account in, Lionel was shown striking Lex to the ground in. In Season Two's, Lionel seems to drift away from his Christian upbringing in his adult life, relying upon the teachings of, Because of Lionel's Protestant upbringing, it is entirely possible that Lex was brought up with the same sense of religious rearing. 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. Lionel's drinking became a problem for his family, as Lena thought it was something Lex would want to bond with her over. Deceased (Descent) He also is well versed in, Lionel almost always addressed Chloe as "Miss Sullivan". Executive producer Greg Beeman said the character development failed, and as a result Lionel returned to his normal self. [33], The relationship between Lionel and his son Lex is strained; it has been likened to the relationship between Norman and Harry Osborn in the Spider-Man movie. Lionel appears to have an attraction to redheads as his wife. For most of his appearances, he was obsessed with obtaining power and control over everything he encountered. What Lionel didn't count on was the friendship that grew between Alex and J'onn, and when the time came to kill J'onn, Lex sabotaged the machine in order to send him home. [31], John Glover characterizes Lionel as a businessman who is disappointed with his son. Lionel's distrust of Lex partially arises because he believes Lex is a coward. After becoming Jor-El's oracle, he obtained many powerful and ancient Kryptonian artifacts, like a Kryptonian flashlight, the Mirror box, Green kryptonite, Black kryptonite, Kara's bracelet, and some expensive necklaces and jewelery, and stored them all in a library vault located inside LuthorCorp Plaza planted outside Metropolis. He is characterized as a sinister character who tried hard to further his own ambitions. [38] 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. Lionel found Lex in the cornfield, completely bald, and was helped by the Kents to get him to the hospital. Lionel speaks the first line of dialogue in the series in the, A trademark feature concerning Lionel's appearance is his ungroomed lion's mane of hair. [3], Sometime after Lex's birth, Lionel started having an affair with an unnamed woman. In that reality Lionel Luthor took his young son, Lex, and they tour General Sam Lane's facility. Wanting to rebuild things with his wife, Lionel chose to send his lover, now pregnant, away after they paid her to keep the affair a secret.[1]. [10] Lionel also learns that he has a terminal liver disease,[11] which he divulges to Lex while awaiting arraignment. After Julian's death, Lionel fathered Lex harshly. Towards the end of his life, Lionel revealed he truly had changed to a caring, loyal man. [13] 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. 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". [7] When Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) discovers the truth,[8] that evidence is used to assist Lex have Lionel arrested for his parents' murder. [19] Clark unintentionally visits a parallel universe 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. Lionel is a wine connoisseur and has a genuine passion for piano, orchestra and opera music. He used to have connections with the criminal underworld through his childhood best friend Morgan Edge. [15] Lionel recovers in season five when the Kryptonian artificial intelligence Jor-El takes over his body to speak with Clark. After his son Lex gets possessed by General Zod, Lionel gets disconnected from Jor-El but retains some connection with the entity, as Zor-El was able to locate him through crystals in the Fortress of Solitude. [16] With Jor-El guiding him, Lionel begins helping Clark by making excuses for Clark's behavior and unexplained disappearances throughout seasons five and six. While studying Martians, Lionel captured J'onn J'onzz and had his own son, Lex befriend him to gain more trust and information. 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.