The Psychology Of Supervillains Club..Novmber 2020 - President Luthor

The Psychology Of Supervillains Club…November 2020 - President Luthor

Welcome to The Psychology Of Supervillians Club. This month we will delve and dissect President Luthor . Step into his mind and determine what makes him tick

WARNING :
This club will be discussing darker aspects and elements within the DC Universe. These aspects and elements could be viewed as overtly violent, malevolent and possibly offensive to some.

  • We acknowledge that we are not mental health professionals, and are not able to provide any diagnosis or guidance in this regard.
  • This thread does not suggest or support any mental health diagnosis or any guidance of or for people in the real world. We are dealing with purely fictional characters within fictional worlds.
  • Supervillains are potentially driven by deep seated and often dark or disturbing concepts of what they feel is the right thing to do and why the villain is the hero of their own story.
  • We will explore if the supervillain is actually correct in their views and actions, are they justified in what they do and potentially would their fictional worlds be better off if they actually did win and defeat the hero.

The club gives this warning because some may find such discussions disturbing, distasteful, and/or possibly immoral and we want the community to be well aware of what the contents of these discussions can involve.

The Ground Rules: ( Yes…even villiany has to follow a few rules . Don’t take my word for it…Go ask The Legion Of Doom or The Crime Syndicate, they have rules too.)

  • Posts must follow DC Universe Community Guidelines
  • This is a “ safe space ” to explore a sometimes taboo topic…villainy. Why it’s necessary and possibly why villains are often more interesting than the heroes that oppose them.
  • Be respectful of the opinions of others. Did I mention thatPosts must follow DC Universe Community Guidelines
  • There is no such thing as a “right” or “wrong” opinion here.
  • The views expressed are the opinions of the poster and deserve to be acknowledged as a valid opinion, even if you might disagree and debate items. What does that mean? Posts must follow DC Universe Community Guidelines
  • We are dealing with the intricacies of the mind. The one thing we do know is that we can never be ultimately sure what is actually going on in the mind of a supervillian.
  • However, we can conjecture based on what we do know about them and form our own points of view on what makes them tick and have blast while doing it.
  • In case you missed it the 3 times earlier…Posts must follow DC Universe Community Guidelines

Don’t be afraid to be bold, to challenge the status quo, to think in unique ways and be outspoken. Their is no “right” or “wrong” point of view here. There is what we each find in delving beneath the surface and into the mind of our Supervillian Of The Month.

Most importantly, have fun. Enjoy your process. Revel in it. Don’t be afraid to let some of your “evil” out. We’ve all got a bit of it in us somewhere. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t find villains interesting, now would we. :smiling_imp:

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Reminder: Posts must follow DC Universe Community Guidelines

Our November 2020 Supervillian of the month - President Luthor
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There have been so many incarnations of Lex Luthor, they are often difficult to keep track of. Sure, in most of them, he hate the Big Blue Boy Scout, but beyond that, there are many different incarnations of Lex Luthor. So in this election month, we are going to focus on President Luthor

From his unauthorized biography to his downfall. Just what happens when a supervillian turns his brilliant mind and sizable resources to politics? And more importunely…why? Or in his own words: President…Do you know how much power I’d have to give up to be President? - Lex Luthor

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Below are some comic book and video resources for President Luthor available on DCU.

This is by no means a definitive list.

Reading the entirety of the resources below is not expected.

Comic Resources:
Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography

Superman - 162 (1986-2006)

Adventures of Superman - 586 (1987-2006)

Superman: The Man of Steel - 110 (1991 -)

Adventures of Superman - 590 (1987-2006)

Adventures of Superman - 594 (1987-2006)

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies Storyline (6 issues)

Video Resources
Justice League: A Better World - Part 1 - Justice League - s2e11

Justice League: A Better World - Part 2 - Justice League - s2e12

Justice League Unlimited: Question Authority - Justice League Unlimited - s1e22

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What resources you use or don’t use is up to you. The only limit is your imagination and deduction.

Use whatever materials you like in building up your case for the psychology. Although noting what you’re basing it on could be helpful as resources for the club and our members.

I know with the current pandemic circumstances, some folks may have more or less time on their hands than normal.

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What do you think of the character of President Luthor?

Does political power strengthen or weaken Luthor as a villain?

Is Luthor, in his President Luthor incarnation, always doomed to let his animosity for Superman be his undoing?
or
Was becoming President Luthor the best chance he’s ever had at taking Superman “out of play”. Making himself better and greater than Superman?
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Without further ado, we delve into the mind of President Luthor.
Let the adventure begin!!!

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I might just pop in for this. It sounds right up my alley.

Friendly advice @DeSade-acolyte: Check out your spelling of November in the thread title. :slight_smile:

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I didn’t think we’d get to Luthor so soon.

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All are welcome here. Please do join in. Looking forward to your “hot take” on President Luthor.

p.s.
Title fixed. Many thanks :pray:

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Hot take: President Luthor is President Douche. :grin:

I’ll do a re-read on some of your selected books and offer a more thorough analysis when time allows.

Re: title fix, you’re welcome. :+1:t2:

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I thought this would be cool. Trying to cover a villain as prolific as Lex in his entirety would be tough to do in a month. If this works out, we can take on some other really prolific villains in a similar way. (Darkseid, The Joker, Catwoman & Deathstroke all pop immediately pop to mind.)

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Oh, so specifically POTUS Luthor. That works. And taking a slice of life from the bigger bads would give us time to research and discuss without contemplating the entire history of the character.

I like this pattern: October::Dracula, November::President Luthor. I hope December will have something or other holidaze related

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I’m wondering how many “evil Santa stories” DCU has. :smiling_imp:
Or maybe a collection of holiday themed stories and their associated villains.

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President Luthor is my favorite iteration of my favorite villain. Far more interesting than just ‘evil genius’ And will some hot takes consider President Luthor a ‘douche’ the truth is Luthor has a point. We’ve seen in Injustice and elsewhere what happens when an unchecked Superman loses it. Luthor has a whole lot wrong too, but he’s right not to entirely trust big blue.

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Lobo has at least one story featuring Kris Kringle.

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Prez Lex has a point…at the top of his head. rimshot

Seriously though, looking out for humanity to safeguard it from The Man of Steel (should he go rogue) is fine and good. Even Superman needs checks and balances, afterall.

It’s just how Luthor goes about it (as a businessman and ultimately Commander-in-Chief) that makes him the Springtime Fresh President.

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We can cop out with Calendar Man

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:clap::clap:
Perhaps. :thinking::thinking::thinking: Although, maybe we should save CM for January.

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Luthor = Nixon

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However you like, Dear Leader. Of the Psychology of Supervillains Club.

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Although, Nixon had a long service as a public official. In the end, sure. He served as VP under Eisenhower just to start with. His rising lust for and to keep power and personal grudges, much like Lex, were his ultimate undoing. Same hell, different scenery as the as goes.

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All that and particularly on foreign policy Nixon was one of the smartest most insightful presidents we’ve ever had. Pragmatic on domestic issues, and a hole where his soul should be.

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Yeah, I’m interested in seeing how Kex handles foreign policy. I kinda have always wondered if some of the ideas for this iteration of Lex has conscious or subconscious tones of Nixon.

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I have a soul shaped hole! But that’s because i sold mine. I forgot until a station at work became soul crushing. but instead it just crushed the hole inside me.

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