DC Database
Advertisement

Lena Luthor was the daughter of Lex Luthor, taken over by Brainiac 13.

During a period when Lex Luthor was on the run from the law, the CEO of LexCorp was the Contessa Erica Alexandra del Portenza, a nearly immortal woman who was many centuries old, unbeknownst to everyone else (including Lex). Luthor and the Contessa had apparently met years earlier, but they did not get together until this period.[1] The Contessa helps to hide Luthor from the law and they soon become engaged.[2] Lois Lane uncovers this secret, but Jimmy Olsen--then working for GBS--steals her scoop.[3] Luthor marries the Contessa on a yacht while keeping Superman distracted.[4] Not long after the wedding, the Contessa learns that she is pregnant.[5]

The Contessa gives birth at LexCorp while Luthor is away arranging the assassination of Mayor Berkowitz. Luthor has the Contessa drugged and taken away, because he does not want to compete with anyone for his child's affections. He names her Lena, after a girl he knew in his youth who was killed by his foster father.[6]

When the Contessa escapes from Luthor's henchmen, she orchestrates a kidnapping of her child--not to have her back, but just to goad Lex. Luthor confides to Superman that the child is now the only thing he truly cares about.[7]

It doesn't take long for Luthor's evil to come back full swing, however. During the Y2K Crisis, Brainiac causes all of the world's computers to shut down. What he did not intend, however, was for the arrival of a future version of himself, Brainiac 13, who attempts to absorb his past self. Brainiac manages to download his mind into Lena Luthor. When B13's defeat is imminent, he makes a bargain with Lex--hand over Brainiac and the vessel he is in (Lena) and thereby allow him to escape, and in return B13 will keep Metropolis upgraded as its distant futuristic self, allowing Lex Luthor to be triumphant once again. Luthor accepts this deal, handing over his daughter. When Superman confronts him about what he did, Luthor coldly replies "I have my city, my kingdom on the edge of tomorrow. As for my princess...I can always make another."[8]

Lena would return after Lex wins the presidency. A thrall of B13, she has been aged to adulthood and given incredible powers. She visits Luthor in the White House, warning him about the coming of Imperiex and cautioning him that Superman will be needed as never before.[9] B13 sits in the shadows until the moment Imperiex is seemingly destroyed, then reveals himself and absorbs Imperiex's energy for his own, using the upgraded Metropolis as part of his plan. Lena laughs at Luthor for trusting her and her master.[10] Lena nevertheless ends up betraying B13 and siding with her father, proving she's a Luthor after all.[11] After Imperiex and Brainiac 13 are ultimately defeated, Lena reverts back to an infant no older than the day she was given up by Lex. Superman returns the child to her father, warning him to stop being a God and try just being a man.[12]

Powers

Related

Footnotes


Advertisement