Lex Luthor

A quick note for people who care about such things, when discussing LL I will be referencing many iterations of the character, including the television show Smallville. If such things matter to you, congratulations, you are the person who has less of a life than I do.

Imagine, you are a writer who is faced with the challenge of constructing a villain for Superman. This cannot be pleasant. So the enemy can't be faster that Supes. Or stronger. Or more indestructible. Essentially, it is off-limits to make this character more super, than the man himself. Fun. So the next step must be to examine the weaknesses that Superman does have, which appears to be one, kryptonite (a rock from Superman's homeworld, Krypton). Unfortunately, making a character that is completely made of kryptonite seems a little impractical and since it would look ridiculous, more than a little unprofitable. At this point your writer brain would probably be a little worn down, you might even be desperate enough to resort to making another Superman, who has his "S" backwards (oops, they did that one). If you are a really smart writer though, with a keen grasp on human nature, you would look at Superman's other "weakness", his morality.

Enter Lex Luthor, Superman's greatest foe.

Lex is not intimidating physically. He is bald. He is pudgy. He has NO powers. Not one. Ziltch. What he is though, is smart. Brilliant actually. He is a strategist, taking each challenge, be it in the boardroom or on the battlefield and treating it like the epic struggles he was raised learning about (Lex is short for Alexander, which Smallville portrays as the name given to him in honor of Alexander the Great). Oh, and his brilliance doesn't end with strategy though, he is also a scientist. The first portrayals of Lex are appropriate for the 1960's when they appeared, he was a mad scientist. Lex is not just some scientist general though, that would be to simple of a foe for Superman, he is a rich scientist general. Oh and he has been the President of the United States of America. And he loathes Superman.

Superman is an alien to earth. It doesn't really matter though, what he really is an idealized picture picture of man. He is big and strong. He has a strong sense of justice and of course he will fight for freedom. He is ethical beyond anyone's doubts. You can always trust Superman, he saves the day. Oh hell, we mine as well acknowledge that there is a clear (though I would argue poor) Christ analogy to him as well. His father sent him off from a different world in the sky. He arrives on earth and is raised by humans. He is fully Kryptonian and fully human. He has the power to move mountains, yet remains as American as apple pie. Everyone loves him.

Except of course Lex.

Lex can't bear Superman, because Superman is everything Lex is not. Superman is idealized humanity, Lex is fallen humanity. Superman is who we pretend to be when we are kids. Lex is who we are afraid we are becoming as adults.

In so many ways, Lex is all right. He went to the right schools. He is successful in THREE fields (science, politics and business). And to look at things with complete objectivity, he has been able to seriously challenge the most powerful man on earth with only his mind and his influence over people. Unfortunately, for all of his talents, relentless work and human power, he has lost his soul to his own pursuit to be the master of all that surrounds him (think I am being dramatic? He literally DID sell his soul in the funny books). His lust for power drives everything that he does and poisons every gift and talent that he has. Lex in Smallville is a perfect example of this, Lex battles his own lust for power every episode, every victory is shallow for the audience, because we know the eventual tragedy that his life will become.

Listing the evil acts of all of the Lex's that have graced comics and film would be too large of a task. The more interesting question, is what is the evil that drives him? The answer I would answer is that Lex worships himself. He wants to be lord over all that surrounds him and ultimately over his own life. But what does a modern day Alexander the Great do in the face of the power of a Superman? He must destroy it. He must destroy anything that assert more authority than he can. This is not just a theme of Lex and Superman though, this is the theme of good and evil that has plagued the world since the beginning. The Bible will tell us that Satan was thrown out of heaven after trying to overthrow God. The Bible will then tell us that Eve will eat the forbidden fruit, so that she can be like God. We will read history stories about world powers fighting over small chunks of land, simply to say that it is theirs. Tomorrow we will drive to work and get mad that someone would dare cut us off in traffic. Sooner than I would like to admit, I will get mad at my wife for an off hand comment, that will make me feel less intelligent than her. Lex is our own reflection. He is the dirty marriage of insecurity and desire for control that lives in all of us.

And he is the only enemy that worked for a Superman.