Editing Lex Luthor (section)

=== Relationships and family ===

==== Pre-''Crisis'' continuity ====
In pre-''Crisis'' continuity, Luthor is shown as having few personal attachments. Shamed by his crimes, his parents Jules and Arlene disown him, move away, cut off all ties to Smallville, and change their name to the [[anagram]] "Thorul". Jules and Arlene take their younger child Lena with them, who is only a toddler at the time and later does not remember her real last name. Lena Thorul is told her older brother died in a mountain climbing accident. Not long after their departure from Smallville, Jules and Arlene die in a car accident, leaving Lena to grow up alone. Like her brother, she attends Regis High School and then later becomes a librarian. Lena meets Lois Lane, who plans to mention the young woman in a story but is then warned not to by Lex Luthor. Superman and Lois discover the truth but agree to Lex's request that Lena not learn about their connection. Later on, Lena moves to Midvale and befriends Superman's cousin [[Supergirl]], who also winds up helping to make sure Lena doesn't learn the truth about her brother.

Exposure to one of Luthor's inventions later grants Lena ESP, making her an empath. Lena Thorul marries [[FBI]] agent Jeff Colby<ref>''Action Comics'' #317 (October 1964)</ref> (who had once arrested Lex) and they have a son, Val Colby.<ref>''Adventure Comics'' #387 (December 1969)</ref> Jeff Colby dies some time later.<ref>Revealed in ''Superman Family'' #211 (October 1981)</ref> After Lena has brain surgery, the decision is made to reveal the truth about Luthor to her. Luthor then discovers he was an unwitting party to a conspiracy against Lena masterminded by his own cellmate "Sam", who wanted revenge against Colby. Deeply remorseful about this, he apologizes to Lena and the two attempt to make amends with each other.<ref>''Superman Family'' #212–214 (November 1981 – January 1982)</ref>

The pre-''Crisis'' Luthor also has a niece named [[Nasthalthia Luthor]], the child of an older unnamed sister of Lex's who had run away and eloped in Europe when she was a teenager. Nasthalthia is an occasional thorn in Supergirl's side, at one point forming a gang called Nasty's Nasties.<ref>''Adventure Comics'' #397 (September 1970)</ref> Nasthalthia is removed from canon following the reboot of ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'', but does appear in the critically acclaimed ''[[All-Star Superman]]''.

Lex Luthor himself later marries Ardora of the planet Lexor and, in ''Action Comics'' #544 (June 1983), learns he has an infant son by Ardora, Lex Luthor, Jr.. Almost two months later, Luthor accidentally causes the destruction of Lexor, and Ardora and Lex, Jr. die as a direct result.

==== Post-''Crisis'' continuity ====
In the Post-''Crisis'' continuity, Lena is the name of Lex's adopted sister when he was living in a foster home. She is accidentally killed by their foster father when she refuses to try to trick Lex out of his inheritance. Lex later names his baby daughter after her.

Following the events of the ''Infinite Crisis'', Luthor's history was again altered, re-introducing Lena as his blood sister. Unlike the pre-''Crisis'' version, Lena is well aware of her history with Lex, having grown up alongside him, with only an abusive father. Lex and Lena's mother is named Letitia and is presumed deceased. She has no empathic abilities, and is a paraplegic with a teenaged daughter, Lori, both of whom still live in [[Smallville (comics)|Smallville]].<ref>''Adventure Comics'' (vol. 2) #5 (December 2009). DC Comics.</ref> Unlike his Pre-''Crisis'' version, Lex has little love for his sister, having abandoned her with an unnamed aunt after their father dies of a heart attack. Lex even goes so far as to cure Lena's illness, and then immediately undoes the process, leaving her completely catatonic, solely to make a mocking point to Superboy and Superman.<ref>''Adventure Comics'' (vol. 2) #6 (January 2009). DC Comics.</ref> Lena is currently under the care of the best doctors from Wayne Enterprises, hired by [[Tim Drake|Red Robin]].

In the post-''The Man of Steel'' continuity, Luthor is childhood friends with [[Perry White]] and it is revealed Luthor is the biological father of Perry's son Jerry White, conceived during a period when Perry was believed dead. Luthor, Perry and Alice only learned the truth shortly before Jerry was killed by a gang war that Luthor had triggered.<ref>''The World of Metropolis'' #1. DC Comics.</ref> Post-Crisis Lex Luthor has been married eight times, though the first seven marriages occurred off-panel in Luthor's past. His eighth marriage to Contessa Erica Alexandra Del Portenza (a.k.a. the "Contessa") is based on mutual greed;<ref>''Superman: The Man of Tomorrow'' #5. DC Comics.</ref> Contessa buys controlling interest in LexCorp after Luthor is indicted, compelling him to marry her in order to regain control of his company. Contessa becomes pregnant<ref>''Superman'' (vol. 2) #119. DC Comics.</ref> and starts using the [[Lena Luthor|unborn child]] to dominate Lex into doing her bidding. Luthor's response is to imprison her while she is drugged during childbirth, keeping her in a permanently unconscious state. Contessa later escapes to an island mansion,<ref>''Superman: The Man of Steel'' #77. DC Comics.</ref> but upon being elected president, Luthor targets her home with a barrage of missiles and destroys it.<ref>''President Luthor: Secret Files & Origins'' #1. DC Comics.</ref> Luthor's daughter Lena was the avatar of The Tech, the remnant cyberware of Metropolis after [[Brainiac 13]]'s advancing the city to a futuristic state was undone.

[[James D. Hudnall]]'s ''[[Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography]]'' further expands on Luthor's origin. The story details how Luthor was sent to live with a foster family following the sabotage of his parents' car. His foster parents, Casey and Emily Griggs, conspire to embezzle his insurance and coerce their daughter, Lena, into seducing Lex to learn the location of the money. Due to her genuine romantic feelings toward Lex, Lena refuses and is beaten to death by her father. Lex is absent from the home at the time of the murder, having been talked into going to a football game by his schoolmate [[Perry White]].<ref>''[[Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography]]'' (1989)</ref> Once he has established his preeminence in Metropolis, Luthor takes vengeance on Griggs, secretly hiring him to assassinate Frank Berkowitz, the city's popular four-term mayor, who refuses to knuckle under to Luthor's dominance, then personally killing him once the deed is done.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/who/who-intro.php?topic=griggs-casey|title=Who's Who in the Superman Comics|publisher=Superman Homepage|access-date=June 17, 2010}}</ref>

As an adult, Perry's unwitting 'role' in Lena's death motivates Luthor to have an affair with Perry's wife Alice during a period when Perry is missing and assumed dead. Alice becomes pregnant shortly afterward, though the timing of the conception means an equal possibility of either Luthor or White being the father. The child, Jerry White, later learns his true parentage during his late teens, shortly before being killed by a local street gang he is associated with. The loss of a potential heir weighs heavily on Luthor's mind, particularly when he is dying of cancer; while mulling over his fate, Luthor visits Jerry's gravesite.<ref>''Superman'' (vol. 2) #49. DC Comics.</ref>

Luthor has shown an unusual level of compassion for [[Superboy (Kon-El)|Conner Kent]], a [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] clone created from the DNA of Superman and Luthor himself. After Conner's death at the conclusion of the ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'', Luthor is shown visiting a memorial statue of Conner in Metropolis and placing flowers there.<ref>''Action Comics'' #837. DC Comics.</ref> More than once Luthor addresses Conner as his son. Following Conner's resurrection, Luthor is shocked and decides to locate him. When Brainiac accuses him of showing paternal feelings for Conner though, Luthor denies it, saying that he only wants his property back, and has no fatherly feelings towards Superboy. After Superboy and Luthor visit Lena, Luthor makes it clear he now sees Kon-El as an inherently "failed experiment" due to having 50% "wrong alien DNA." Luthor then works with Brainiac to create a binary clone with their own genetics, a possible threat to Superboy.

Lena Luthor was revealed to have mothered a daughter named [[Lori Luthor]], making her Lex Luthor's niece.<ref>''Adventure Comics'' Vol. 2 #1. DC Comics.</ref>

In the alternate future timeline of ''[[Titans Tomorrow]]'',<ref>''Teen Titans'' (vol. 3) #17–19 (2005)</ref> Conner becomes an uncompromising and dictatorial successor to Superman, while Luthor acts as a caring, father figure to him.<ref>''Teen Titans'' (vol. 3) #51 (2007). DC Comics.</ref>

In "[[Blackest Night]]", Lex Luthor's father [[Lionel Luthor]] is revealed to have died of an allergic reaction to his medicine during Clark Kent's days as Superboy. He is temporarily reanimated as a member of the [[Black Lantern Corps]] and attacks Lex. Following "Blackest Night'", Luthor creates a [[gynoid]] version of Lois Lane using Brainiac technology. His primary purpose for creating her was to have a companion who would voice honest opinions and provide an extra voice of reason to counsel him on his obsessive quest for the Black Lantern energy. Luthor also had a pseudo-romantic relationship with the "Loisbot".<ref>Superman: The Black Ring Vol. 1 2012</ref>