Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Superman and first appeared in Action Comics #23 (Apr. 1940), and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Luthor is described as "a power-mad, evil scientist" of incredible technological prowess.[1] His goals typically center on killing Superman, usually as a stepping stone to world domination. Though he periodically wears a powered exoskeleton, Luthor has traditionally lacked superpowers or a dual identity.[2]

The character was originally depicted as a mad scientist who, in the vein of pulp novels, wreaks havoc on the world with his futuristic weaponry. In his earliest appearances, Luthor is shown with a full head of red hair; despite this, the character later became hairless as the result of an artist's mistake. A 1960 story by Jerry Siegel expanded upon Luthor's origin and motivations, revealing him to be a childhood friend of Superboy who lost his hair in a chemical spill.[3][4]

Following the 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths, the character was re-imagined as a Machiavellian industrialist and white-collar criminal, even briefly serving as President of the United States. In recent years, various writers have revived Luthor's mad scientist persona from the 1940s. The character was ranked as the eighth greatest villain by Wizard on its "100 Greatest Villains of All Time" list.[5] IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villians Of All Time List ranked Lex Luthor as #4.[6]