Arrowverse: Lex Luthor / Characters

Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lex_4.jpg

"Humanity needs a firm hand to guide it. To lead it. And not some arrogant alien. It needs to be human."

^{Click here to see Lex in the Lexosuit.}

Species: Human ^note

Known Aliases: "Alex", The Paragon of Truth

Portrayed By: Jon Cryer, Aidan Fink (young, Season 2), Koby Holvik (young, Season 4)

First Appearance: "Luthors" (Supergirl 2x12)

Appearances: Supergirl | Crisis on Infinite Earths^note

"You'll see. Everyone will see. And then, they're gonna thank me."

Previous head of LuthorCorp and Superman's renowned Arch-Enemy.

see Titans (2018): Villains for info about the Earth-9 character who bears his name and background

see Arrowverse: Other Earths for info about his Earth-75 counterpart.

see Superman Film Series for more info about two Earth-96 characters; one who bears his name and background, and Lenny Luthor who bears his physical likeness

see Smallville Lex Luthor for the Earth-167 character who bears his name and background

see Smallville: Earth-2 for the Mirror Universe of the Earth-167 character who bears his name and background

see DCEU: Lex Luthor page for the character in an undesignated Earth who bears his name and background

see Superman & Lois page for his counterpart in the Superman & Lois universe

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A-G

Adaptation Dye-Job: Lex is usually depicted as a redhead before losing his hair. Here, he is raven-haired.
Adaptational Badass: Season 4 alone depicts him as one of the most terrifyingly competent adaptations of the character yet. Even after being exposed as a villain and imprisoned, he successfully schemes his way out of it all, only being stopped by his (temporary) death.
Adaptational Dumbass / Jerkass: Most versions of Lex Luthor are Pragmatic enough to put their egos aside and work with the heroes when facing a bigger threat. This Lex proved in Crisis on Infinite Earths to be far too petty and childish to be of any help to anyone (even himself) in even the most dire of circumstances, until literally the last second. See Stupid Evil below.
Adaptational Wimp: Downplayed. He's not entirely weak physically, able to hold his own in combat, but isn't quite as physically capable or intimidating as other versions of Lex Luthor.
All According to Plan: Despite his mother's attempts to dissuade him, Lex manipulates events throughout the second half of Season 5 to ensure that Lena and Supergirl remain enemies. After he succeeds in "Deus Lex Machina", he gets a call from Lillian and tells her this trope word for word.
Lex: Mother! Hate to say I told you so, but it all went according to plan.
Alliterative Name: Another contender for being the most prominent person with the L.L. initials in the entire Superman mythos, being the Man of Steel's Arch-Enemy.
All Your Powers Combined: In the first episode of season 6, Lex gains the combined powers of all the Leviathan members (except for Gamemnae, as Brainy didn't manage to shrink her into his capsule).
- During the fight against the Superfriends, Lex is able to create a powerful force-field to protect himself from their attacks.
- Much like Rama Khan, he has some control over earth, as seen when he lifts and crushes a huge rock with his mind.
- One of the powers he obtained is the ability to fly.
- His powers include telekinesis, as seen when he draws the Phantom Zone projector to himself from a distance.
- Lex can generate lightning bolts from his hands, similar to Sela.
- The first thing he does after finishing absorbing Leviathan's powers is to punch steel with enough force to bend it.
Arch-Enemy:
- For Superman. Lex's hatred and envy for the Man of Steel drives virtually everything he does. In Crisis on Infinite Earths, this extends to every Superman in The Multiverse and he goes on a killing spree to eradicate them using the Book of Destiny. He later seems to transfer part of his hatred to his cousin Kara/Supergirl.
- He's also this to his half-sister Lena, who just so happens to be a friend of Kara/Supergirl. As with Clark/Superman, they initially started out on good terms and still absolutely respect each other's intellect, but now want each other dead due to their polar-opposite moral compasses. Whether they are actually willing to kill each other or demonstrate genuine Even Evil Has Loved Ones seems to constantly vary depending on the situation.
- Eventually to Supergirl. Lex has had a constant presence in menacing Kara ever since he first appeared, and his actions continue making Kara hate him more and more, especially following Crisis on Infinite Earths.
- Brainy also comes to absolutely despise him, after Lex plays him like a fiddle and leaves him for dead.
Arm Cannon: His Lexosuits can shoot green energy beams from the gauntlets. Sometimes, Lex uses the gauntlets without the rest of the suit.
Back from the Dead: He's killed by Lena in the Season 4 finale, but Mar Novu resurrects him just in time for the following year's Crisis Crossover.
Bad Boss: He is perfectly willing to kill his own men, best demonstrated when he tests the powers of his Lexosuit's gauntlets by disintegrating one of his guards in the Season 4 finale.
The Bad Guy Wins: Downplayed in the Season 6 premiere. While his main plan was foiled, he still succeeded in sending Supergirl to the Phantom Zone, prompting him to claim victory.
Lex: I won.
Bad People Abuse Animals:
- According to Lena, he used to set ants on fire when he was a kid.
- When experimenting with Q-waves during Season 5, he uses two mice as test subjects and disintegrates one of them, much to Eve Teschmacher's horror.
Bald of Evil: While he has a full head of hair in his youth, snide comments from other characters during The Present Day reveal that he no longer has hair by the time he's a renowned criminal. It's confirmed when we meet him in Season 4.
Beam-O-War:
- During their final fight at the end of season 4, Lex shoots at Supergirl with the energy beams from his gauntlets while she uses her heat vision to counter it. In the end, Supergirl manages to overpower Lex's attack thanks to having absorbed the Red Daughter's energy just before.
- Happens again when he uses his light powers against Supergirl's Eye Beams during their fight in Hour Four of Crisis On Infinite Earths.
Beard of Evil: One of the rare versions of Lex Luthor to have a beard, but he's just as evil as the others, if not moreso.
Beat Them at Their Own Game: In Season 5, Lex tells Brainy he needs Toyman's codes to become immortal so that he can beat Leviathan at their own game.
Berserk Button: He's usually quite calm and collected, but even mild attacks on his ego can knock him off-balance and cause his temper to explode. Point out flaws in his plans, or make him feel inferior to anyone else in any way, and he'll immediately start screaming in anger.
Big Bad:
- He's the true villain of Supergirl Season 4, having masterminded everything behind the scenes, including bringing Ben Lockwood into power, as well as manipulating Red Daughter. He even gets appointed the new Director of Alien Affairs for a brief time.
- In Season 5, his revealing of Supergirl's identity to Lena causes her to become a major antagonist in the first half of the season, and once he's resurrected in the second half he manipulates both her and Leviathan so that he can steal the latter's powers and become the next Anti-Monitor.
- In Season 6, he once again returns to the spot of the main villain, though this time sharing the limelight with Nyxly.
Big Bad Duumvirate: Lex tricks Gamemnae into bringing him into Leviathan, though he successfully betrays them.
Big Bad Ensemble:
- He seems to be part of this in Season 4 after J'onn kills Manchester Black. In truth, he's been the Big Bad all along and Lockwood is just his oblivious pawn.
- After his resurrection in Season 5, he is still obviously up to no good, but he opposes Leviathan, playing all sides.
Big Brother Bully: To Lena, of course. Although they had a better relationship when they were younger, he could already be hard on her. According to her, he mocked her relentlessly for enjoying the movie Titanic (1997).
Blasphemous Praise: In "The Bodyguard", Lex praises Lena for using Non Nocere to do what God "couldn't"—that is, suppress the violent impulses of an otherwise vicious animal.
Brainy Brunette: He is described as having a brilliant mind by other characters and is a brunette in his youth.
Breakout Villain: He's resurrected after his demise at the end of Season 4, plays a pivotal role in Crisis on Infinite Earths and returns to Season 5 as the new boss of the DEO.
Brought Down to Normal:
- Lena de-powers him shortly before killing him.
- He no longer has Hard Light after the multiverse is recreated.
- After he absorbed Leviathan's powers, the Superfriends use Jarhanpurium to depower him in the Season 6 premiere.
Cain and Abel: He's the Evil Counterpart (the Cain) to his half-sister Lena (the Abel). Ironically, even though he's the more evil of the two, Lena is the one who ends up killing him (at least temporarily)
Card-Carrying Villain: Like most versions of the character, Luthor usually deludes himself into thinking he's doing good, but his reaction to Ryan Choi stopping him from manipulating Mar Novu is to complain that he foiled "a perfectly good bad guy scheme".
Casting Gag: This isn't the first time Jon Cryer has played a member of the Luthor family. In fact, he specifically said he took this role to atone for Lenny Luthor.
Catch and Return: During the attack of Kaznia at the end of season 4, Lex catches one of their missiles and sends it back to the aircraft carrier from which it was fired.
The Chessmaster: He wouldn't be Lex Luthor if he wasn't this. It's revealed that, despite being in prison for four years, Lex has been slowly biding his time until opportunity knocks so he can get his revenge. When that opportunity comes in the form of Red Daughter, he deliberately sets up patsies in the east and west (Kaznia and Lockwood, respectively), manipulates Red Daughter, and even poisons himself with radiation, all to achieve his goals. Bonus points for the episode where all this is revealed having Lex play multiple chess games at once and checkmating all at the same time.
Collapsible Helmet: The Lexosuit's helmet can fully retract into the suit.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Lex is a consummate backstabber who'd screw over just about anyone to get his way. By the end of Season Five of Supergirl, Lena, Lillian, Eve, Red Daughter, Brainy, and Leviathan can all attest to that.
Supergirl: Mar Novu, do not trust this man! Give him a knife to cut his food, and no matter how much he thanks you for the dinner, he will stab you in the back with it.
Lex: Or the front. I'm not choosy.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Head of LuthorCorp and uses his company's money to fund his shenanigans, at least until he's imprisoned for life.
The Corrupter: Under Lex's influence, Eve went from a mere Loony Fan to accessory to treason and murder, while Red Daughter became a living weapon for Kaznia and a pawn for Lex's plots for world domination. He also managed to corrupt Lena by revealing the truth about Supergirl and manipulate her.
Crazy-Prepared: He made several bunkers around the world, all of which contain weapons and tools (both man-made and intergalactic) to combat Superman.
Darker and Edgier: One of the darkest iterations of the character ever seen.
Dark Is Evil: His Lexosuits are darkly colored and scary-looking.
Dark Lord on Life Support: In Season 4, he is wheelchair-bound, dependent on respiratory equipment, and constantly coughing up blood as a result of his Kryptonite poisoning, which is slowly killing him. He later uses the Harun-El serum to cure himself. Then it turns out it wasn't Kryptonite poisoning; he gave himself cancer by exposing himself to radiation in order to manipulate Lena.
Dark Messiah: Lex is a raging narcissist with a messiah complex, obsessed with proving himself the superior to Messianic Archetypes like Superman and Supergirl. Even in his more well-meaning moments (few and far between as they are), he uses cruel and underhanded methods and always has an ulterior, self-serving motive.
Deadpan Snarker: He generally has a darkly witty demeanor and often makes droll remarks.
Defiant to the End:
- Lena mentions that he gave the authorities a hard time arresting him despite being bloodied and beaten.
- This is also how he dies. With his last breath, he gloats that Lena is now exactly like him and also reveals that Kara is Supergirl, meaning that her closest friends have been lying to her all along.
Deliberate Injury Gambit: The radiation poisoning that Lex is suffering from and is slowly killing him? It's not from overexposure to Kryptonite; Lex poisoned himself with radiation so that he could play on Lena's sympathies and inject himself with the Harun-El in order to heal a dying Red Daughter with his blood.
Did You Actually Believe...?: When Supergirl offers to surrender to him in exchange for a way to disable his satellites in the Season 6 premiere, Lex goes to meet her with the satellites' remote controller but rather than give it to her he tries to kill her and says this:
Lex: You didn't actually think I was gonna give you the real key codes, did you?
Dies Wide Open: After being shot by Lena in the Season 4 finale, he doesn't close his eyes when he finally expires. He still has them open when the Monitor comes to find his corpse a few moments later.
Disappeared Dad: His mother and sister talk about Lionel in past tense.
Disney Villain Death: Subverted. At the end of Season 4, Lex's Powered Armor malfunctions while he's in the air and he falls a long way to the ground. However, it later turns out that he survived by teleporting himself to his hideout before the impact. And then he's shot to death by Lena.
Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: He gets painfully electrocuted by a very angry Gamemnae for killing her fellow Leviathan member Margot in "Deus Lex Machina".
Drunk on the Dark Side: He truly enjoys doing evil. A good example is when he destroys Kaznia's forces while singing and laughing hysterically.
Empowered Badass Normal: Gains superpowers after the Harun-El injection. He also gives himself superpowers after rewriting the Book of Destiny and naming himself a Paragon. And it happens again when he absorbs the powers of Leviathan.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- His sister is his Morality Pet, as was the case in the comics. Strangely enough, he later hires the ruthless international assassin John Corben to kill her after she takes over LuthorCorp and tries to reform it, but in Season 4, he seems to be back at genuinely caring for her, despite manipulating her. He also made a deal with the Monitor after his resurrection to allow Lena to retain her Pre-Crisis memories and personality in return for doing what he asked. This is no longer the case when Lena rejected him at the end of Season 5.
- He also speaks fondly of Lena's mother, who was there for him more than his actual mother.
- Lillian, since she's a Mama Bear and Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal. Subverted, as it's revealed that Lex actually despises his mother for her abusive treatment. He's even perfectly willing to kill her just to tie up loose ends. However, in the Season 4 finale, it gets Double Subverted, as he indeed seems to cherish her somewhat, not even being willing to kill her after she tries to poison him.
- To the surprise of everyone, not least himself, he does eventually fall in love. Unfortunately for everyone else, it's with the mad fifth-dimensional imp Nyxlygsptlnz, the only being he's ever found to be his equal in both intelligence and ruthless ambition. Having returned from a future where her plans for revenge and conquest ended in her death, he is determined to ensure that she succeeds. It ultimately falls apart, however, as Lex's first love will always be himself.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Lex Luthor lives and breathes this trope, for example:
- Sending Red Daughter to learn about America almost backfired on him, as she started to see that the people there weren't as bad as she had been told.
- In "The Quest for Peace", he firmly believes that the truth is meaningless, and that using "spin" to manipulate the people will gain him their everlasting trust. For added karma, he gives this speech while a montage of people reading an article that exposes his crimes and ruins his plans is shown to the audience.
- In Crisis On Infinite Earths, Lex is utterly dumbfounded to discover Earth-167 Superman gave up his powers to raise his family as a normal man. The idea of giving up all that power to be happy is impossible for Lex to comprehend. He also assumes that only Earth-167 Clark is Superman, refusing to believe it's the same for his Clark Kent.
- In "Deus Lex Machina", he genuinely didn't consider that arranging for the death of Jeremiah Danvers would cause Lena to have sympathy for Kara, and lead her to try and mend fences.
- In "The Missing Link", he believed the failure of Lena's project would convince her that taking over the world would be the only sane option. He turned out to be very wrong on that.
Eviler than Thou:
- It’s saying something when an extremely despicable xenophobe like Lockwood doesn’t want anything to do with you. Needless to say, Lockwood is livid when he finds out that Luthor has been manipulating him all along.
- When she realizes how cruel Lex truly is, Post-Crisis Eve Teschmacher accuses him of being even worse than Leviathan.
Evil Former Friend: It's not specified if he's this for Clark, for his superhero identity, or for both, but it is confirmed through dialogues that they were once the best of friends.
Evil Is Hammy: He can become rather dramatic when provoked.
Evil Is Not a Toy: The Monitor revives him to assist the heroes in the Crisis on Infinite Earths. While they do ultimately defeat the Anti-Monitor and restore the world, Lex's revival—while reshaping the world to be more in his favour—ultimately causes a lot of problems and near-extinction level events that Supergirl and friends have to take care of time and time again.
Evil Is Petty: Oooh, boy! "Petty" barely begins to describe Lex Luthor:
- The reason he became a domestic terrorist at all was to kill one man just for being more popular than him.
- In a flashback to his days of supervillain glory, he has police helicopters shot down just because they interrupted his Evil Gloating to Lena. He also poisoned the entire courtroom after his sentence was passed.
- Exposing Kara's secret to Lena as he lies dying is nothing but an act of raw spite towards his killer; with his last breaths, Lex sneers that Lena will be alone in the world after he's gone.
- This is taken further in Crisis on Infinite Earths. What does he view as his first priority, knowing that there is a multiversal threat out there, killing billions of people? He steals the Book of Destiny and scours The Multiverse, trying to kill off all possible versions of Superman, just because he can. He then one-ups that by rewriting reality so he becomes the the Paragon of Truth, killing Earth-96 Superman in the process.
- And then, post-crisis, he not only manipulates Eve, who has just been forced to be an assassin by Leviathan, to help him manipulate everyone else in his favour, he also has her kill Jeremiah Danvers, lying to her about him being her father's killer, then later gloats to her about it in her face while also holding her mother hostage. And he did all that as payback for her manipulating him in the previous timeline (which she now never did).
Evil Mentor: To Red Daughter, manipulating her into hating the United States in general and Supergirl in particular and becoming his loyal lackey.
Evil Plan: Turns out all of his schemes were to abduct aliens to power a Kill Sat to destroy Argo City and kill his Arch-Enemy Superman once and for all.
Evil Versus Oblivion: Lex serves as the evil when he finally decides to help the heroes against the oblivion that is the Anti-Monitor in Crisis On Infinite Earths.
Fake Ultimate Hero:
- He is hailed as a hero at the end of season 4 for having defeated the Kaznian army and the evil Supergirl, but in reality it was he who manipulated them into attacking the United States.
- Post-Crisis, Lex is considered one of the greatest heroes on Earth, despite the fact that he is still as evil as ever.
Faking the Dead: At the end of season 4, Lex's Powered Armor malfunctions, so he teleports to his hideout while it crashes to the ground, leaving everyone to assume that he died in the crash. However, this doesn't last long as Lena is waiting for him in the hideout with a loaded gun.
False Friend: To Red Daughter; he pretends to be her friend "Alex" and teaches her his own philosophy in order to gain his coveted pet Kryptonian.
- Also to Eve Teschmacher Post Crisis. He claims to want to help her escape Leviathan and avenge her father's death, but in reality he is just manipulating her for his own purposes.
Fantastic Racism: He is infamous for his anti-alien stance, which is most likely the reason for his beef with Superman. He got it from his mother.
Fatal Flaw: He has two.
- He's convinced he's the smartest man in the world, and deserves to be worshipped as such. Not only did this lead to his vendetta against Kryptonians over Superman upstaging him, it also blinded him to the fact that Leviathan was manipulating him in the pre-Crisis universe. His insistence on doing things his own way also drives to ignore sound advice from others, simply because he believes he's already thought of everything. When his attempt to kill Esme in "The Last Gauntlet" inadvertently leads to Nyxly gaining the Love Totem (via protecting the child), Lex insists to the outraged Nyxly that his plan still worked out in the end. His callousness drives Nyxly to end their alliance.
- His hatred for anyone who crosses him, especially Kryptonians, drives him to unnecessary extremes which often backfire on him. He ended up in jail when he nearly destroyed the world in an attempt to make the sun red. In the post-Crisis world, despite Lillian's advice to the contrary, he just couldn't let go of his hatred for Kryptonians. He tricked Eve into killing Jeremiah Danvers to spite Supergirl, which almost caused Lena to reconcile with Kara. In "Truth or Consequences", he murders William over the leaking of his journal. Unknown to Lex, William had the whole thing recorded and sent to Andrea, who releases the footage to the world. This naturally leads to Lex becoming a wanted fugitive, destroying his reputation for good.
Faux Affably Evil: Most of the time, Lex sounds calm, rational, and even philosophical. Even ignoring his many crimes and Insufferable Genius tendencies, all it takes is someone paying Superman a minor compliment for Lex to go completely berserk.
Final Boss: He shares this role with Nyxly as one of Supergirl's final opponents in the Grand Finale.
Flying Firepower:
- When wearing his Lexosuit, he can fly and fire energy beams.
- After absorbing the Leviathan's powers, he becomes capable of flying on his own and shooting lightning with his hands.
Freudian Excuse: Was taught that Love Is a Weakness by his mother from a very young age. As an explicit example, Lex recounts how Lillian forced him to go on a business trip with his father when his beloved pet dog Ignatius had to be put down.
Getting Sick Deliberately: In his first appearance, he's suffering from cancer, supposedly the result of kryptonite radiation poisoning, and the only thing that can potentially cure him is his estranged sister Lena's research into Harun-El, which she grudgingly agrees to let him help with. As it turns out, though, he actually gave himself cancer on purpose by walking into a radiation chamber in order to manipulate Lena into letting him work with her, as he needs access to her research for his own purposes.
The Ghost: He doesn't appear in the flesh until Supergirl's fourth season, with him only appearing as a child in a Season 2 flashback.
Giving Them the Strip: At the end of season 4, Kara grabs him by the arm in an attempt to save him when his Lexosuit malfunctions while he's in the air, but he unhooks his gauntlet and lets himself fall as he refuses to be saved by a Kryptonian.
Glass Cannon: Even when he comes into possession of extremely powerful weaponry or magic, like the Book of Destiny, it’s still remarkably easy for any Badass Normal to incapacitate him or knock him out.
A God Am I: He claims to be a god after absorbing Leviathan's powers.
Gotta Kill Them All: During Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019), Lex uses the Book of Destiny to try to kill every alternate version of Superman.
Got Volunteered: In Hour Four of Crisis. When the Paragons build a device that could possibly get them out of the Vanishing Point, Supergirl insists that Lex be the one to test it, thanking him for "volunteering".
Green and Mean: Similar to the comics, his Powered Armor is mostly colored in dark green.
Green-Eyed Monster: The reason he hates Superman so much. If Metropolis were a high school, Lex would be the ex-Big Man on Campus dethroned by Superman.

H-P

Hard Light: He has light powers during his stance with the other Paragons, since he rewrote the Book of Destiny to have such powers.
Heads-Up Display: Every Lexosuit is controlled by a a HUD.
Heart Light: All the Lexosuits have three glowing pentagons forming some kind of triangle on their chestplate.
Hero Killer: In Crisis On Infinite Earths, he steals the Book of Destiny and uses it to travel The Multiverse, killing the Superman on each Earth, until he comes across Earth-167 Superman who had given up his powers.
- He also causes the deaths of Red Daughter and Jeremiah Danvers.
- He actually manages to kill Kara herself in the Season 6 premiere, though she's revived shortly after.
Hijacked by Ganon: Near the end of season 4, it was revealed that Lex was behind all the villains of the season. He does this again Post-Crisis in season 5, gradually taking prominence over Lena and Leviathian before emerging as the story arcs Final Boss in the season 6 premiere.^note He does it again in season 6 by becoming The Dragon to Nxly for the final part of the season before it becomes Evil Verses Evil in the Grand Finale.
Hoist by His Own Petard: In the Grand Finale, Lex attempts to attack Kara and her allies by unleashing Phantoms from the Phantom Zone, but since the Phantoms target fear, when Kara and her allies face them with courage, the Phantoms take Lex and Nyxly back into the Zone as their hubris is just a cover for their own fear.
Hypocrite:
- Lex talks a big game about how Superman's very existence detracts from humanity, yet by James' testimony, he tried to recruit the Man of Steel as an ally early in their rivalry.
- Lex invalidates his own humanist rhetoric with such speed that it's almost funny; during his trial, after giving a speech about his noble goals in defending humanity from aliens like Superman, he poisons the entire courtroom out of spite over the guilty verdict, showing how little human life really means to him.
- In his childhood diary, Lex derided Lena as "pathetic" for seeking his approval. Yet as an adult, his entire motivation is to be approved as a "hero" by the entire world.
- In "The Quest for Peace", he claims to be hurt that Lena thinks so little of him, despite the fact that he thinks even less of her.
- He uses (what he thinks are) his last words to call Lena a fool for not realizing Kara is Supergirl. When Crisis rolls around, it turns out he has an even worse blindspot when it comes to Clark and Superman: Even after learning they're the same person on Earth-167, he assumes that can't possibly be true where he comes from, or he would have figured it out by now.
- In Hour Four of Crisis, he claims that Kryptonians always take things so personally. His reason for hating Kryptonians is entirely personal, being based on his outrage at being overshadowed by Superman.
Iconic Sequel Character: Doesn't appear in the show until its fourth season (and in the Arrowverse until the seventh year).
I Did What I Had to Do: When Kara accuses him of being the same as Leviathan (and what he believes her and her cousin are) in his attempts to subjugate humanity to his will in the season 6 premiere, he retorts that he is doing what is necessary for the common good.
Kara: You're a man with alien DNA coursing through him, thinking he knows what's best for this world. Sound familiar?
Lex: Sounds like someone willing to do whatever it takes to save humanity.
If I Wanted You Dead...: After inviting Lena and Lillian to the White House at the end of Season 4, he tries to reassure them that they have nothing to fear from him by saying this trope.
Lex: I mean, look. We all know if I wanted you two dead, you wouldn't be treading on the presidential seal having a tea party.
I Lied: He does this all the time. He promises Kaznia to help them take over the United States, but he betrays them. He promises Eve Teschmacher to help her find her father's killer, but he betrays her. He promises Leviathan to help them subjugate humanity, but he betrays them. You'd think people would stop trusting him by now...
Improbably Predictable: At least, Lena seems to think so.
- At the end of Season 4, Lena guesses that Lex is going to fake his death and take refuge in his hideout, so she waits for him there and takes away his powers as soon as he arrives, accusing him of being predictable.
  Lena: What can I say, Lex? You've become predictable.
- During the exchange in the Season 6 premiere, Supergirl knows that Lex is planning to betray her and use Kryptonite to kill her, so she and Lena take a few precautions.
  Supergirl: You're predictable. You can thank your sister for proving that.
Informed Attribute: Justified. He is only the Paragon of Truth due to stealing that role from Earth-96 Clark, which he did through serious deception and manipulation.
In Love with Your Carnage: He falls for Nyxly, an imp from the 5th dimension because she's as brilliant and cruel as himself.
Instant Armor: His Lexosuits can assemble around his body in an instant, coming seemingly out of nowhere.
Irony:
- He became the Paragon of Truth through a cheap trick and a lie.
- He despises aliens, yet he ended up falling in love with Nyxly.
It's All About Me: As always, nothing means more to Lex Luthor than Lex Luthor. His hatred for Superman is driven by Lex's own feelings of inferiority towards the Man of Steel, and everything he does in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is part of an elaborate gambit to cure his cancer. During Crisis on Infinite Earths, he steals the Book of Destiny just to murder alternate versions of Superman, writes himself as the Paragon of Truth in Earth-96 Superman's place and attempts to get all versions of Superman Ret-Gone.
It's Personal: In a letter he leaves for Lena after chloroforming her during his debut episode, he admits that his actions against her were very much personal, since she testified against him during his trial.
Lex: Dear Lena, I wish I could say it wasn't personal -planting a spy, stealing your research- but it is. What'd you expect? You betrayed me first.
Jerkass: Almost without fail, Lex is an arrogant, self-righteous, insufferable, and condescending prick who can't resist any opportunity to put other people down or praise his own bloated ego.
Ryan Choi: "Narcissist", "sociopath", "evil genius"... there are a lot of ways to describe Lex Luthor. But I find "douchebag" to be the most descriptive.
Jerkass Has a Point: During Crisis, Lex points out to Kara that he did what she never bothered to do: be honest with Lena about Supergirl's identity. For all of Lex's villainy and Kara's rage at him, he's not wrong.
Joker Immunity: Just like in the comics, there's simply no way to get rid of Lex Luthor permanently. This guy will always make it through whatever he has to endure, whether it's prison, cancer, or even death, as proven when he gets murdered by Lena and is resurrected by the Monitor shortly after.
Karma Houdini:
- At the end of season 4, Lex's plans are ruined and he is murdered by Lena, but the Monitor arrives and resurrects him to be of service during Crisis, allowing Lex to cheat the reaper.
- Thanks to making himself a Paragon Lex is able to survive the Crisis and in the Post-Crisis world he gains a new life, one where his crimes are unexposed, L-Corp has turned back into Lex Corp, and the world sees him as a hero.
- Season 5 ends with Lex still free and clear, even if he's lost his partnership with Lena. This is a case of Real Life Writes the Plot, as the coronavirus pandemic forced production of the show to halt before the finale could be filmed.
- Despite losing the powers he gained from absorbing the abilities of Leviathan and having his crimes exposed to the public by Eve in the Season 6 premiere, Lex uses Eve and Lena's involvement in his schemes to discredit them during his trial and is exonerated by the next episode.
Lack of Empathy: Human life means nothing at all to Lex; in the space of two episodes and a flashback, he endangers millions of lives just to hurt Superman, kills over a dozen people in person, and has James shot so Lex can callously manipulate his own sister in order to save himself from dying.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: In the Season 6 premiere Lena uses Myriad to remove Lex's knowledge of Supergirl's identity from his mind once he's in jail in order to keep Kara save.
Leitmotif: My Way.
The Man Behind the Man:
- He's the "consult" to Kaznia on how to train and condition Red Daughter. In short, he's the brains of the program and the Defense Minister does everything he recommends.
- To Ben Lockwood and the Children of Liberty. Lex wanted a patsy, specially one who was charismatic and would stir up trouble. Otis showed Lex one of Ben's brochures, then Lex ordered Otis and Mercy to provide Ben with the resources to take the movement off.
Manipulative Bastard: Quite an impressive one at that; over the course of Season 4, Lex manages to manipulate Lena, the police, Eve, the Kaznian and American governments; Lockwood and the Children of Liberty; and especially Red Daughter, to further his goals.
Mad Scientist: Brilliant? Yes. Unhinged and driven by his desire to kill Superman? Double yes!
Make It Look Like an Accident:
- When Red Daughter attacks an American ship against his orders, Lex goes to help her and says he'll try to make it look like an accident, sabotage or friendly fire.
- When he sends Eve to kill Jeremiah Danvers in season 5, he tells her not to shoot him but to use a untraceable poison instead to pass it off as an accident.
Mask of Sanity: He is pretty unhinged and narcissistic, but prior to him trying to kill Superman by turning the sun red, he was a Villain with Good Publicity in the eye of most people. After Crisis Of Infinite Earths he once against convinces the public to be a benevolent man, while only his enemies who remember what happened before the crisis see through it. It's implied his mother is well aware of Lex' psychopathic tendencies and helps covering it from the public.
Master of Disguise: Lex is surprisingly good when it comes to disguise. Despite being a pretty well-known figure, he manages to use a disguise to walk around National City alongside Red Daughter without anyone noticing, and to pass himself off as a bartender to manipulate Richard Bates in Season 5.
Might as Well Not Be in Prison at All: When he was incarcerated at Stryker's Island Penitentiary, he pretty much ran the place, having the warden in his pocket and being able to leave for at least three days at frequent intervals without anyone noticing.
Monster Protection Racket: Throughout season 4, he manipulates the Red Daughter and Kaznia's army into attacking the United States so that he can defeat them himself and win the trust of the American people.
Moral Myopia: He's convinced that the world will one day thank him for his actions, actions that include mass destruction and the murder of innocents.
Narcissist: In "Back From the Future - Part 1", he is annoyed that no-one is buying his action figure, stating that he expected it to be "a collector's item".
A Nazi by Any Other Name: As if his genocidal plans against aliens weren't enough indication, during the Season 4 finale, he actually quotes Hitler.
Never My Fault: Just before being sentenced for his crimes, he had the nerve to claim "Superman made me do it".
Noodle Incident: Currently imprisoned for causing a massive earthquake, as in the first Superman movie. During Episode 15 of Season 4, we get a glimpse of it. He also somehow caused the sun to turn red.
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Lex claims to be a humanist, freeing humanity from the false god that is Superman. It takes all of seven words from Lena for Lex to start raving, revealing his true motives to be nothing more than racism, envy, and narcissism.
Lena: [about Superman] At least he was a good man.
Lex: HE IS NOT A MAN! I WAS THE MAN OF TOMORROW! NOT HIM! NOT! HIM!
Nothing Can Stop Me Now:
- He declares this in the finale of season 4 when he thinks that Supergirl is dead and he has total control of the United States.
  Lex: I am the leader of this nation now, and nothing can stop me.
- He boasts about being invincible when he faces the Superfriends while possessing the powers of Leviathan during the season 6 premiere.
  Lex: You still think you can beat me? I'm invincible!
  Dreamer: Not if we have anything to say about it.
Nothing Personal: During his fight with Kara in Hour Four of Crisis, he tells her not to take personally the fact that he revealed her secret identity to Lena.
Lex: All I did was tell her the truth, something you never had the courage to do! Don't take it personally.
Not Me This Time: In "Alex In Wonderland", William suspects that Lex is responsible for the Obsidian users being trapped in the VR, but it's actually the Leviathan's doing. Subverted, as the following episode reveals that Lex was indeed behind it.
Offhand Backhand: When he reveals to Red Daughter that he betrayed Kaznia at the end of season 4, he casually blows a Kaznian jet out of the sky without even turning to look.
Offscreen Villainy: All his asshole credentials are exclusive to his confrontations with Superman, at least until Season 4, where he racks up an impressively long list of onscreen villainy.
Oh, Crap!: Lex has his reaction during Crisis On Infinite Earths when his piece of Kryptonite has no effect on Earth-167 Clark Kent.
Omnicidal Maniac: In the season 6 premiere, Lex plans to kill everyone on Earth aside from his brainwashed followers, and then do the same to every planet in the universe.
Omniglot: Lex was taught at a young age to speak several languages fluently, including English, Russian, Latin and Kaznian. He's also one of the few human beings capable of understanding Kryptonese.
One-Man Army:
- Lex manages to single-handedly defeat the entire Kaznian forces at the end of season 4 with the help of his Lexosuit.
- The light powers he gave himself via the Book of Destiny allow him to slay a large number of enemies during the battle against the Anti-Monitor's army in Hour Four of Crisis On Infinite Earths.
- After absorbing the powers of Leviathan in the season 6 premiere, Lex becomes so powerful that he is able to overcome Supergirl, J'onn J'onzz, Dreamer, Miss Martian and Alex combined, and would have have gotten rid of them for good if Alex hadn't managed to depower him.
One-Steve Limit: Averted. The fact that he has a similar first name as main character Alex Danvers is what allows him to manipulate Red Daughter in the first place.
The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Even knowing every Superman in the Multiverse was about to be killed in the Crisis wasn't enough for him, he had to go around killing them all himself.
Out of Focus: Becomes this in season 6 after being Brought Down to Normal, exonerated for his crimes, and back to running L-Corp once Lena abdicates her position. He's still presumably in the background running the company, but the main focus of the heroes is on getting Kara back from the Phantom Zone and then stopping Nyxly. Though he does return for the last few episodes, allying himself with Nyxly.
Playing Both Sides:
- In Season 4, Lex pretends to support both the Kaznians and the President of the United States.
- In Season 5. Brainy, Eve, Lena, Supergirl and Leviathan are all his pawns.
Powered Armor: He still uses his Lexosuit, even after gaining powers.
Pragmatic Villainy: At the end of season 5, Gamemnae wants to kill all the Obsidian VR users before Supergirl can convince them to return to reality, but Lex talks her out of it because they haven't reached at least 50% saturation yet, so the remaining human population might turn against them, plus her boss won't be happy.
Present Absence:
- Lex doesn't appear in the flesh until Season 4 of Supergirl, but his influence is very evident, particularly where Lena is concerned.
- Despite being the season's Big Bad, Lex only appears directly in two mid-season episodes, then disappears for several subsequent episodes. Despite this, he still manages to dominate the plot as the heroes struggle to decipher and dismantle his plans.
Punch Catch:
- Lex manages to do this to Kara in their first encounter, showing how strong the Harun-El has made him.
- He's on the receiving hand of this trope when he tries to fight Earth-167 Clark Kent during Crisis On Infinite Earths.

Q-Z

Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Flashbacks reveal that, unlike his typically redheaded counterpart in the comics, this version of Lex has very dark brown hair and pale skin, just like his biological half-sister Lena.
Real Award, Fictional Character: After the new Earth is rebuilt Post-Crisis, one of the first things Lex does is to go receive a Nobel Peace Prize.
Rogues' Gallery Transplant: In-universe, he was a Superman villain before becoming a Supergirl villain.
Sanity Slippage: Lena flat-out says that he went insane. Lillian, on the other hand, firmly believes that he's just "the victim of the situation he was in".
Sarcastic Clapping: When he shows up in the Fortress of Solitude while Kara is recording her Video Wills in the season 6 premiere, he claps his hands before starting to taunt her.
Say My Name: Much like his counterpart from the Richard Donner's films (or Cat Grant for that matter), he has the habit of angrily yelling "Miss Teschmacher" whenever he needs Eve to do something.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Supergirl wins their Beam-O-War during the final battle of Season 4, Lex promptly puts on his Lexosuit and tries to escape by flying away. However, he doesn't get very far due to his suit being damaged.
Selective Obliviousness: While he deduces Supergirl's identity with ease, Lex is hilariously oblivious to Superman's; even meeting a Clark Kent from another world who was Superman, Lex doesn't believe for a second that the Clark Kent he knows (despite the fact that they've known each other for years and were once friends) could ever be Superman.
Shame If Something Happened: When captured by the Superfriends in the Season 6 premiere, he threatens to reveal Supergirl's secret identity if they send him to jail and reminds them that she has enemies that could go after her family and friends.
Lex: It would be tragic if Mama Danvers or your lovely Kelly Olsen were to become the target of one of... [gets punched by Lena]
Shout-Out: The way he uses his Lexosuits is very reminiscent of the MCU version of Iron Man.
Sibling Yin-Yang: He is positively malevolent; his sister is much more benevolent.
Smart People Know Latin: When he was a kid, Lex's tutor punished him by forcing him to repeat "I don't like myself" in Latin^note"Ego me non placebo".
Smart People Play Chess: Lex is one of the smartest person on Earth and he naturally has a fondness for playing chess. He was taught to play as a child by a Russian chess grandmaster named Anatoly Karpov, and he often played chess with Lena when they were younger. During his time in prison, he even taught some of his fellow inmates how to play so he could compete with several of them at the same time.
Smug Snake: Lex arrogantly believes he's one step ahead of everyone, and will always win in the end. As such, he does not take the times he doesn't win (or gets outsmarted) well at all.
So Proud of You:
- In his first appearance, he tells Lena that he's proud of her for having succeeded in creating synthetic Kryptonite, something that even he has never been able to do. While he was manipulating her at the time and trying to gain her sympathy, it's possible that he was actually being sincere about this.
- He also tells Lena that her big brother is proud of her after she conned Andrea to obtain her technology in season 5.
Stupid Evil: Infuriatingly so in "Crisis on Infinite Earths". Even with literally all of existence on the brink of complete oblivion he couldn't put aside his ego and be helpful for just five minutes, instead devoting what little time he had left to killing every Superman in the multiverse who would have died in the crisis anyway. Of course this is what The Monitor was counting on but after his part in the plan was over the heroes were still stuck with him.
Suddenly Shouting: He's prone to this if his Berserk Button is pushed. He's normally fairly soft-spoken... until he isn't. The switch between normal conversing tone and angry screaming is always sudden and with no build-up whatsoever.
Super-Strength:
- He's able to catch a punch from Supergirl and pick up the giant Daily Planet statue after injecting himself with the Harun-El.
- He becomes strong enough to bend steel with one punch after absorbing Leviathan's powers.
Sure, Let's Go with That: When he meets the Red Daughter for the first time and introduces himself as Lex, she asks him if he's "Alex", the only person whose name she remembers. He goes along with it, seeing this as an opportunity to manipulate her more easily.
Lex: My name is Lex.
Red Daughter: Alex?
Lex: ...Sure. Alex.
Tainted Veins: Large veins become visible on his body after he uses the Harun-El to become super strong.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: During Crisis, Lex is part of the group of champions assembled by the Monitor. No one, not even Novu himself, is happy to have him around, and both Kara and Kate show active hostility towards him.
This Cannot Be!:
- He can hardly believe his eyes when he sees that Supergirl has survived her fight with Red Daughter at the end of season 4.
  Lex: How are you alive? How did you do it?
- In the Season 6 premiere, Lex is dumbfounded when Supergirl, who was poisoned by Kryptonite moments ago, turns out to still be alive, and the other heroes have managed to foil his plan by destroying his satellites. All he can do is utter a little "How?".
Time-Shifted Actor: He was portrayed by a different actor when he was a kid in the flashback scenes of season 2.
Token Evil Teammate: He serves as this for the Crisis team assembled by Mar Novu, and for the Paragons after replacing Superman of Earth-96. Exactly no one, not even the Monitor himself, is pleased with his presence.
Troll: During a talk with Kara in "Back From the Future - Part 1". Lex smugly says "Kara Danvers is Supergirl" directly into Kara's recorder, driving her to crush it seconds later.
The Unfavorite: Whereas Lena was this for Lillian, Lex was apparently this for Lionel, who was much closer to Lena and treated her a lot better than him.
The Unfettered: After losing his freedom, company, and reputation, Lex only cares about getting revenge on Superman or whatever Kryptonian he can reach and literally nothing else. He even gave himself cancer just to get a working Harun-El serum so he could cure Red Daughter.
The Unfought: He is already in jail by Season 2. Before that, his fights are mostly with Superman. Averted in Season 4 where he goes toe-to-toe with Supergirl.
Unholy Matrimony: During his time in the future, he met and fell in love with Nyxly, the two practically ruling the universe together. He attempts to recreate this union with the present-day version, but ultimately fails.
Unseen No More: He and his past crimes are referenced frequently, and some of his weapons (including his Powered Armor) and even one of his security houses are used by his family, but, aside from some childhood flashbacks, he doesn't appear properly until Season 4 as the Big Bad.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: In the flashbacks, he seems quite far from the world-renowned criminal he becomes in the modern day. However, even back then, he wasn't quite right in the head as he, according to Lena, would often carefully build an elaborate anthill, lure the ants into it with a false sense of security, and incinerate them on an open flame.
Villain Has a Point:
- In "The Quest for Peace". While mocking Red Daughter for naively trusting him, he points out that she could have found out everything about him via a quick search on the Internet, if she had only thought to do so.
- When Supergirl protests Lex joining her and Ryan on the mission to keep Mar Novu from travelling to the dawn of time, Lex points out that she wouldn't want him out of her sight for even a millisecond. He proves this statement right moments after they arrive on Maltus, attacking Supergirl and attempting to enact his own plans.
Villain of Another Story: His confrontations are mostly with Superman off-screen, though he did eventually square-off against Kara.
Villain Reveals the Secret: He's the one who reveals to Lena that Kara Danvers is Supergirl at the end of Season 4. While he's dying, no less.
Villain with Good Publicity: While he was an infamous terrorist Pre-Crisis, the Post-Crisis Earth resets things so that his villainy is in the dark to those not aware of events from the original multiverse.
- He loses this in the Supergirl finale "Kara". But by that point, he doesn't really care anymore.
Villainous Legacy: Although he's defeated in the Season 4 finale, his actions leave a profound impact on the following season. His Dying Curse to Lena is the reveal that Supergirl and Kara are one and the same and have been playing her this whole time which, combined with the act of her shooting him to begin with, ultimately spurs her path to villainy in Season 5. She also continues to make use of his notes and technology on her villainous path.
Villainous Valor: Whatever else can be said about him, Lex is a normal man who puts himself up against Physical Gods like Superman, Supergirl, and Leviathan's leadership. He's even willing to endure great pain and suffering to see his plans through. What Lex lacks in morality, he clearly makes up for in raw nerve.
Villain Song:
- He sings "My Way" by Frank Sinatra while fighting Kaznian's forces at the end of season 4.
- He also sings "We are the Champion" by Queen when stealing weapons from the Fortress of Solitude in the season 6 premiere
We Used to Be Friends: Both Lillian and James mention that he and Clark/Superman were best friends once, likely a Mythology Gag to Smallville.
What Is One Man's Life In Comparison?: When Red Daughter endangers their work by attacking an American ship to avenge the death of Mikhail, Lex berates her by saying this trope.
Lex: You could have compromised all of our work!
Red Daughter: They killed Mikhail!
Lex: What is one life? One life is nothing next to the world!
Why Won't You Die?: Lex angrily asks Kara how she can still be alive after her fight with Red Daughter at the end of Season 4, and then complains about the fact that Superman and her always finds a way to survive his assassination attempts.
Lex: How are you alive? How did you do it?
Supergirl: How do you think I did it? I'm Supergirl!
Lex: Just like your cousin. No matter how many times I stamp you out, you miraculously resurface with your glossy cape and your perfect hair.
Wicked Cultured: Lex is highly educated, quoting philosophers to illustrate the depths of his loathing for Superman.
World's Smartest Man: As per the norm with Lex, he is typically considered the smartest man in the world, or at the very least on Earth-38/Prime.
Would Harm a Senior: He's not above killing old people, as shown in Season 5 when he kills Margot Morrison, the old woman working for Leviathan.
Would Hit a Girl: Obviously, he has no problem with killing women, having tried to kill Supergirl countless times. He also killed Red Daughter, and tried to kill other women such as Alex, and even Lena on occasions.
Would Hurt a Child:
- Ordered Otis to murder Mikhail, a young Kaznian boy with whom Red Daughter is close, in order to fuel her hatred against America.
- He is perfectly willing to "cut" the Love Totem out of Esme, not caring whether or not she survives. This quickly puts him at odds with Nyxly.
Would Rather Suffer: When Supergirl tries to save him in the season 4 finale, he tells her that he would rather die than be saved by a Kryptonian.
You Are Not Ready: When Red Daughter asks to go to America in "The House of L", Lex tells her she's not ready for that yet.
You Are Too Late:
- At the end of "The House of L", Lena realizes that Lex was manipulating her all along to get the Harun-El so she tells him that she'll never let him have it. However, Lex then reveals that he already had someone give it to him ten minutes ago...
- During the Season 6 premiere, Lex goes to the Fortress of Solitude and poisons Supergirl with Kryptonite before leaving her for dead. When J'onn J'onzz shows up shortly after, he tells her that he arrived too late since his friend is already dead.
  Lex: Well, if you're here to save the Girl of Steel, you're one glam rock hit too late.
You Can't Make an Omelette...: Says this to Brainiac in Season 5 when trying to convince him that they should allow Leviathan to kill Supergirl and the other heroes.
Lex: I don't want your friends to die either, but sometimes, for the greater good, you have to break a few super-eggs.
You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: His reaction when he realizes that Earth-167 Clark Kent has given up his powers in order to become a family man.
Lex: You're kidding me...
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He's quick to eliminate those who are no longer necessary to his plans.
Younger Than They Look: The years have certainly not been kind to him, as he looks far older than a man in his thirties ^note. This is later actually brought up, as Lillian tells him that cancer aged him prematurely, despite the fact that he already looked that way before the cancer.
You See, I'm Dying: After giving himself cancer, he contacts Lena to inform her that he is dying from Kryptonite poisoning and needs her help. Apparently, he mentioned the fact that he's dying at least twice in all of his phone call for six weeks.
You Will Be Spared: In the Season 6 premiere, Lex's plan is to brainwash half the world's population into loving him and kill the other half, but he tells his mother that he made sure she would be safe from either of those two outcomes. On the other hand, he has no intention of doing the same for his sister, until Lillian insists that he change his mind.
You Won't Feel a Thing!: Says this to an alien prisoner before putting him in a draining battery on Shelley Island.
Lex: Don't worry, it won't hurt.
(The prisoner screams in pain)
Lex: Guess I was wrong.
You Wouldn't Shoot Me: When Lena pulls a gun on him at the end of season 4, Lex scoffs at her and says that she'll never actually shoot him. She proves him wrong.
Lex: Come on, Lena. This is no time for teatrics. We both know, no matter how much you despise me, you're not ruthless enough to pull that trigger.

Characters / Arrowverse: Lex Luthor

Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor

Species: Human ^note

Known Aliases: "Alex", The Paragon of Truth

Portrayed By: Jon Cryer, Aidan Fink (young, Season 2), Koby Holvik (young, Season 4)

First Appearance: "Luthors" (Supergirl 2x12)

Appearances: Supergirl | Crisis on Infinite Earths^note

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Characters / Arrowverse: Lex Luthor

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Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor

Species: Human note Enhanced via Harun-El from March to May 2019, briefly empowered via Book of Destiny in January 2020

Known Aliases: "Alex", The Paragon of Truth

Portrayed By: Jon Cryer, Aidan Fink (young, Season 2), Koby Holvik (young, Season 4)

First Appearance: "Luthors" (Supergirl 2x12)

Appearances: Supergirl | Crisis on Infinite Earthsnote (Batwoman | The Flash | Arrow | Legends of Tomorrow)

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Species: Human ^note

Appearances: Supergirl | Crisis on Infinite Earths^note