Top 30 villains in television history

Photo Credit: The CW

23. Lex Luthor 

Smallville is the only modern-day Superman series to air on network television, which introduced a whole new generation of comic book fans to iconic characters. While the series had a lot of interesting takes on some characters, the portrayal of Lex Luthor opened up a new realm of possibilities for the characters.

The show tells the origin story of Clark Kent as well as Lex  as the two grow up to become the arch enemies they’re destined to be. However, before they face off against one another as hero and villain, they’re just to best friends trying to get through high school.

Lex’s eventual departure into villainy is one of the saddest downfalls on television. He doesn’t initially start out as a bad guy, just someone who is incredibly curious about symbols that keep popping up over his town and interested in how he survived a car accident. Like Lex in the comics, his genius and curiosity ultimately get the best of him as he succumbs to his villainous side. Similar to classmate Lana Lang, he’s trying to fill the void left in his life by the loss of his mother making him an incredibly sympathetic villain.

From the beginning of the series, his relationship with Clark is doomed to fail but there’s a bit of hope that the two manage to overcome their differences to be the friends they need in each other. Unfortunately, the two accept their fate as enemies and Lex goes on to become the mad genius who gets elected President of the United States.