Lucious Lyon (born Dwight Walker) is a fictional character from the Fox drama series Empire, portrayed by Terrence Howard.

[1] Created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, Lucious is the founder and CEO of Empire Entertainment, a record company that he runs with his family.

Realizing he will need a successor after he is diagnosed with ALS, Lucious pits his three sons: the college-educated executive Andre Lyon (Trai Byers), the talented and gay singer-songwriter Jamal (Jussie Smollett), and youngest, rapper Hakeem (Bryshere Y.

He grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,[7] and began selling drugs to support himself at age nine as an orphan,[8] after his father was "killed" by the Nation of Islam, the details of which have yet to be revealed.

[9] He met his future wife, Loretha Holloway (whom he named Cookie), who helped him sell drugs to finance his rap music career.

Lucious then divorces her and raises their three young sons with the help of Vernon Turner (Malik Yoba) and Cookie's cousin, Bunkie Williams (Antoine McKay).

His position in his company is threatened when Cookie returns from prison after having served her 17-year sentence, which was reduced due to her becoming an FBI informant (unbeknownst to Lucious).

[10] Cookie demands that Lucious give her half of Empire and the A&R position with the knowledge that he used drug money to finance the company.

[11] He refuses her demands, but nonetheless hires her on the company board and allows her to be the manager of their son Jamal, claiming that he "never wanted" him anyway due to his homosexuality.

Lucious and Cookie have a brief affair, which causes Anika to leave him and go to the company of his detested rival, Billy Berretti (Judd Nelson).

The head of security, Malcolm DeVeaux (Derek Luke), is a former Navy SEAL, whom Cookie flirts with to make Lucious jealous.

Andre, in turn, stops taking his medication for his bipolar disorder and angrily lashes out at his father during a board meeting, accusing him of being a murderer.

During a family dinner, Olivia's jealous boyfriend Reg breaks into Lucious' house and pulls a gun on Jamal and then Cookie when she intervenes.

Daniels also drew inspiration from several well respected men in the music industry including "Berry Gordy to Gamble and Huff to Jay Z to Puffy to Quincy Jones.

"[22] On February 19, 2014, it was announced that Academy Award-nominated actor Terrence Howard had been in cast in the role of Lucious Lyon, the head of Empire Entertainment, which he is about to take public.

[19] He later admitted that the other actor was Wesley Snipes, but Taraji P. Henson, who had already been in talks with the producers to play Cookie, suggested her former co-star Howard for the role.

"[30] "What we're doing is telling a little bit of the story of Lee growing up in that way," Terrence Howard said, referring to the scene in which Lucious throws his 4-year-old son Jamal in a trash bin when the boy puts on his mother's heels.

Lucious starts showing symptoms much earlier than the doctor predicts which makes it seems like his life expectancy could be shorter.

[42] Brian Moylan of The Guardian found Lucious' misdiagnosis to be a mistake on the part of the writers and creators, saying that it made the plot of the show "meaningless."

Chaiken praised the chemistry between Howard and Henson but also gave credit to Daniels and Strong for creating the "extraordinary connection" between the two characters.

"So when he has this one son who's shown some homosexual tendencies as a child – [as a father] you're always kind of watchful, [wondering] why is Timmy over here playing with the dolls for so long?"

Howard explained and Lee Daniels agreed that had Lucious not been so harsh with his son at home, "Jamal may not have survived" where they grew up.

[47] Clover Hope of The Muse viewed Lucious in the pilot as a "straight-up villain" that would have to overcome very "tragic flaws" to be deemed "likable."

"Helped by his doleful visage, tender voice, and soulful air, Howard keeps us caring about Lucious even as he reveals his monstrous shades.

Blankenstop said, "while the show doesn't forget this man is a villain – he did kill his best friend, remember – it also allows him to be a romantic who can actually love at least one person."

[53][54] Scott Mendelson of Forbes said of the character, "Like the classic television anti-heroes of TV's so-called "golden age," Mr. Lyon operates as both the show's would-be hero and its most obvious villain.

Zack O'Malley Greenburg said that Lucious' "intolerance" and "deep prejudice" inhibit him from making good decisions for the betterment of his company.

"[59] However, Arienne Thompson disagreed, and found Lucious interesting as a "love-to-hate" character who embodied the best and worst qualities of all of TV's past anti-heroes and villains.

[53] Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly proclaimed that although "Lucious was forced to be the single parent, he did it badly, wounding his three sons in myriad ways while he chased worldly significance."

Howard effortlessly embodies the character's hypocrisies and imbues him with a palpable emotional life without sanding off his alienating edge.