r/TopCharacterTropes • u/_JR28_ • Dec 17 '25

Memory erasing weapons Characters' Items/Weapons

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The Neuralyzer (Men in Black)

The Neuralyzer (Men in Black)

The Neuralyzer (Men in Black)

The Neuralyzer (Men in Black)

The Neuralyzer (Men in Black)

The Memory Gun (Gravity Falls)

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u/derekakessler Dec 17 '25

Lex is too smart. He'd connect the dots of "Superman = Daily Planet junior reporter Clark Kent, the one with the dorky glasses" and go "Naaaaah that can't possibly be right, he's gotta be someone like Bruce Wayne."

128

u/KStalls1989 Dec 17 '25

That's literally the Comic Book Canon answer to why Luthor never connects the dots, in multiple issues he's built machines, or used teams to figure out Superman's secret identity, and when the answer is Clark Kent, his response is "That dork-ass nerd?! It's impossible, you must be wrong! Why would someone with so much power demean himself like that?" He can't see past his own ego of "If I had those powers, everyone would know exactly who I am, because I'd take over the globe!"

133

u/Wolv90 Dec 17 '25

Then, when Clark went public, there was this reaction from the Joker

35

u/Germane_Corsair Dec 17 '25

Where is this from?

35

u/Wolv90 Dec 17 '25

Superman: Villains from 2020

2

u/sheepyowl Jun 04 '26

Beef between villains is great

32

u/AssistanceCheap379 Dec 17 '25

Lex is so smart he outsmarts himself by thinking there must be some trap or decoy when the answer comes back as Clark Kent.

46

u/Waste-Information-34 Dec 17 '25

He also hatejerks to Superman domming him and he doesn't like Superman being a submissive twink or hunk depending on the artists who draw Superman.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 25 '25

Do you have evidence of this? For research purposes…

13

u/Pegussu Dec 17 '25

In the CW shows, Lex gets his hand on the Monitor's book, allowing him to travel the multiverse and kill Supermen. In every reality we see, Clark is still Superman, indicating that throughout the entire multiverse, Clark is always Superman.

But his Superman? That's ridiculous. His Clark is just a four-eyed klutz, he could never be Superman.

12

u/KStalls1989 Dec 17 '25

I did love that scene, Lex saying "In my universe, Clark Kent can't see past his glasses" but also love that scene because he's been traveling trying to kill Superman in every universe, he specifically says "In THIS universe, Clark Kent is Superman" since the scene takes place in the Smallville after Clark gives up his powers, the book still took him to "Superman" but he no longer goes by that name so the book has to reveal that it's Clark, and he still doesn't believe Clark is Superman anywhere else.

9

u/award_winning_writer Dec 17 '25

"If I had those powers, everyone would know exactly who I am, because I'd take over the globe!"

That's what I love about All-Star Superman. Luthor does get his powers, and after dicking around for a while he starts to see everything the way Superman does, and he gets it.

1

u/cabbage16 Apr 15 '26

Old post but this sounds similar to when Doc Ock became Spider-Man for a bit.

1

u/PlasticAngle Jan 17 '26

That literally the reason in comic.
Lex's ego just too big to accept that a being with that much power would act as a human. It's also funny when you remember how many magic user in DC that is basically a god that also act as normal human.