Lex Luthor (Smallville)

Alexander Luthor is a character in the television series Smallville, portrayed by Michael Rosenbaum. Based on the DC Comics character of the same name, Lex was adapted to television in 2001 by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar - this is only the third time the character has been adapted to a live-action television series. The character has also appeared in various literature based on the Smallville television series, none of which directly continues from or into the television episodes. Rosenbaum played the character as a series regular from the pilot episode until the seventh season finale, but returned as a guest star for the two-hour series finale. Lucas Grabeel portrayed Lex as a teenager in the sixth season episode "Reunion". Following Rosenbaum's departure, Lex was played by stand-in actors in seasons eight and nine: Kevin Miller portrayed the character in the season eight episodes "Bride" and "Requiem", the latter where he was voiced by Matt Adler, while Ayron Howey appears as an hallucination of Lex in the season nine episode "Echo". Mackenzie Gray also portrayed a clone of Lex, known as "LX-13", in the season ten premiere "Lazarus".

In the series, Lex is sent to Smallville by his father Lionel Luthor to run the local LuthorCorp fertilizer plant. After driving his car off a bridge, he is saved by Clark Kent and quickly develops a new friendship with him. As the series unfolds, Lex's curiosity about Clark and all things connected to Clark ultimately destroys their friendship. Lex's relationship with his father is tension-filled from the start of the series, and eventually comes to an end when Lex murders his father in an effort to discover Clark's secret.

The Smallville incarnation of the character is first introduced as a morally ambiguous character, who walks a fine line between good and evil. Lex is an inquisitive person, and it is that curiosity that drives him to attain as much power as possible as the series progresses—it will ultimately lead him to being Clark's greatest enemy. Rosenbaum has been nominated for and won a Saturn Award and a Teen Choice Award for his portrayal of Lex on Smallville.