10 “Big Picture” Manipulators In Comics

There is probably no more purely manipulative person in the DC Universe than Alexander “Lex” Luthor. From a very young age, and despite his dirt poor upbringing, he began to judge people by what use they were to him. Luthor arranged to have his parents killed in an auto accident to collect the hefty insurance policy. With that money, he created LexCorp.

Lex had long seen Metropolis as his own personal fiefdom, having bought, taken, or built nearly every business in the city. Nearly every person in town owed their livelihood to Lex and he made sure that they knew it. He owned every media outlet in town - except The Daily Planet - and used that power to shape an image of a benevolent philanthropist. This came crashing down with the arrival of Superman. A deliberate attack on the Man of Steel led Luthor to be jailed for the first time and this humiliation was simply more than Lex could abide.

Lex Luthor is one of the most brilliant people on the planet and he uses his intellect as both a superpower and a weapon. It has made him an insanely wealthy man, given him the ability to design and create any weapon or machine virtually any situation might call for, and given him the leadership skills to head several villain teams, and once, achieve the Office of President of the United States.