- "We’re different than everyone else. We’re special. And good or bad, that means we don’t get to live normal lives. Here or anywhere."
- —Luther Hargreeves[src]
Luther Hargreeves (originally Number One) was a simple-minded, sensitive, and loyal member of the Umbrella Academy, and one of the superpowered children conceived from the Marigolds. He possessed superhuman strength, durability, and later an ape-like physiology and build. He was instrumental in saving the world from numerous apocalyptic threats across various timelines with his siblings.
Luther was the only Academy member to stay loyal to their father, Sir Reginald Hargreeves, into adulthood, and spent five years on the moon, unknowingly protecting the preserved body of Reginald's wife. He sank into a lonely depression on the moon, but his disposition became more cheerful and optimistic after reuniting with his siblings and meeting Sloane.
Biography
Early life
Like the rest of the Umbrella Academy members, "Number One" was born on October 1, 1989, to a woman named Monica and adopted by the billionaire inventor Sir Reginald Hargreeves. Raised by their robot mother Grace and run through brutal training by Reginald to be a child superhero, Luther wholeheartedly embraced their responsibilities and his role as leader of the team. Painfully loyal to their father figure, he was the only one who stayed behind after all of the others left and abandoned the Academy.
Reginald's secret
After Luther's inadvertent monstrous transformation to save his life, Reginald sent him away to the moon. During his four years alone on the moon, he wasted away in loneliness, depression, and social isolation.
When Luther returned back to Earth upon his father's death, he was shocked to find that Reginald had been ignoring all of the reports that Luther had sent back to Earth; he realized that the mission was nothing more than busywork to keep him out of the way, and this dealt a crippling blow to his self-esteem as a proud superhero and former leader of the team.[7]
Relationship with Allison
Luther and Allison have been best friends and extremely close since childhood. Viktor's memoir mentions them as children vanishing into a private world and communicating in their own secret language. It becomes visibly clear that there is a connection between them; neither of them can deny it, and the rest of the Academy is aware of it, but the pair never acted on their feelings.
After their father's death, however, their reunion brings them closer again. When Allison finds Luther distraught over his recent discovery surrounding his father and the pointlessness of his mission, she comforts him. The two later dance and in the midst of the moment, share a kiss. Allison invites Luther to catch the flight home to California with her to meet her daughter Claire, and he accepts.[7]
After this timeline is redone, however, Klaus finds Luther in his time of need instead of Allison, so they never experience this moment, and Luther's descent into turmoil begins.[8]
The First Apocalypse
The Academy eventually learned that Viktor would be responsible for the impending apocalypse that Number Five time jumped back from the future to prevent. In an attempt to avert that disaster, Luther knocked out Viktor and placed him in a sound isolation chamber while the Academy tried to decide what to do.
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to Luther, this isolation chamber was a particular trigger for Viktor. He fully became the White Violin, destroyed the Hargreeves mansion, killed Pogo and Grace, and escaped. By not trusting Viktor, Luther inadvertently caused the exact apocalypse they were trying to stop, and the Academy barely escaped by jumping through time with Five's powers, which left them accidentally stranded in the 1960s.
Dallas and the second apocalypse
After Five failed to protect the Umbrella Academy from the apocalypse, Luther found himself transported to Dallas in 1962, where he built up a life working for the gangster Jack Ruby. He fought regularly for him in an underground boxing ring and took to the man as a mentor and replacement father figure.
Luther quickly became dissatisfied with his life; however, when he bumped into Viktor, he realized that all of his family was not dead as he had initially believed. He apologized to Viktor despite his amnesia, then asked Jack to find Allison for him, and he successfully did so. This didn't end well for Luther; however, when he visited Allison's house, he met Raymond Chestnut, Allison's husband, and learned all about the life she had built for herself without him.
Luther later bumped into Number Five, who told him about the second apocalypse they had caused by encroaching on the timeline in which they do not belong—as a result, they needed to find a way back home. Still deflated about his own status as a failed superhero and feeling cynical about the Academy, Luther was initially reluctant to go along with Five's plans to reunite the family.
Luther's mind was changed, however, when he bumped into Allison on the street. The two got talking about the lives they'd built for themselves. Luther told Allison about the apocalypse, and the two agreed that they must try to help Five restore the timeline.
After a while, Luther reunited his family with Five's help, and the Umbrella Academy agreed to return to their own time and restore the timeline. When he arrived back in 2019 with the rest of his family, however, he was faced with a shocking discovery: the Umbrella Academy no longer existed, having been replaced with the Sparrow Academy, and Luther was no longer "Number One".[5]
Personality
Luther is a loving, protective, and righteous individual. He is shown to immediately throw himself in harm's way, act as a shield in dangerous situations, and have a firm belief in right and wrong. He was the only one of his siblings to stay at the academy and continue his work as a superhero, trusting his father's commands implicitly. Luther is shown to define himself as the leader of the Umbrella Academy and as his father's "Number One", taking his role very seriously and devoting his life to his father's cause. As a result, he never left the Umbrella Academy or developed a life outside of it, becoming isolated and sheltered. He notably mentions that he never even had friends due to his dedication. As a result, he has a somewhat naive, almost childlike aspect to him. When he discovers his father has never read his reports from the moon, he is devastated and lost, feeling he wasted his life and causing him to spiral out of control and lash out by going to a rave, taking drugs and getting drunk.
Appearance
Luther is a tall Caucasian man, standing at 6'5".[citation needed] He generally keeps his dark blonde hair cut short, accompanied by a five-o-clock shadow.
After being administered an experimental serum to treat a life-threatening injury, Luther's body took on a more simian appearance. While his legs grew a thick coating of dark fur, the effects of the serum were most apparent on his upper body: his torso and arms became broader and bulkier, with leathery hairy skin akin to that of a gorilla. Luther wore high-necked shirts and fingerless gloves to hide his ape-like appearance.
In the reset timeline, Luther's body has been restored to its original state, being muscular but with more human proportions.[9]
Powers and Abilities
After inadvertently consuming Marigold due to Ben spiking his drink, Luther regained his immense strength, endurance, and even ape-like body.
Powers
- Superhuman Strength: Luther possesses immense strength, which was further amplified by his ape-like physiology. He could easily lift and throw a fully grown adult across a room and through a window as a child. His strength was enough to raise a 1000lb farm truck off Diego's trapped leg. Upon returning to life in the reset universe, Luther was shocked to find that not only was his body back to normal, but he no longer possessed his super strength.
- Superhuman Durability: Luther possesses an extremely resilient body, which was further amplified by his ape-like physiology. He could shrug off most physical impacts during combat and even take the full weight of a falling chandelier without injury. Luther is not invulnerable, however, as Diego managed to cut him with a knife and draw blood. In the 1963 apocalypse timeline, his body is able to survive a direct blast from a missile/bazooka. He withstood a barrage of high-caliber bullets from several people with assault rifles while shielding Viktor, Allison, and Five.
- Artificially Enhanced Physiology: After being fatally wounded on mission, he was about to die when Sir Reginald Hargreeves gave him a serum that healed him, however this also gave him a ape-like appearance.
Abilities
- Expert Leadership: Although he later suffers a crippling lack of self-confidence and gives up on his role as a leader, Luther does have expertise in strategy, tactics, and leadership. He can strategize the group's abilities, give orders to execute a mission, and often throw himself into danger to protect his teammates.
- Expert Combatant: Although he’s not as skilled as Diego or Five, Luther has shown to have expertise in unarmed combat throughout both seasons and mostly uses his super strength to battle his opponents.
Relationships
See also: Diego and Luther, Luther and Allison, and Luther and Viktor
Differences Between Comics
- In the show, Luther has super strength (high-level superhuman strength) and enhanced resilience. In the comics, Luther has enhanced strength (low-level superhuman strength) and enhanced durability.
- In the comics, Luther and Five are twin brothers. In the show, during Season Three, Luther and Five are confirmed to have different mothers, as revealed by the newspaper clippings regarding their mothers' deaths.
- Luther's appearance quite differs from his comic book counterpart. Luther has light/dark blonde hair and blue eyes; in the comics, he has white hair and often uses a space gun.
Trivia
- Luther's scars were caused by his attempts to remove his skin or to patch it with other skin, which didn't work.[10]
- Luther once fell for a 419 scam email.[11]
Appearances
Appearances of Luther Hargreeves |
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Gallery
Concept Art
Promotional Images
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Other
Season 1
Season 2
References
- ↑ "We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Right Back Where We Started"
- ↑ "The White Violin"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Run Boy Run"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "The End of Something"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Seven Bells"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "The Day That Wasn't"
- ↑ "The Day That Was"
- ↑ "Oblivion"
- ↑ Meslow, Scott (2019-02-26). "How The Umbrella Academy’s Swole Gorilla Man Got So Absurdly Swole". Vulture. Archived from the original on 2019-02-28. Retrieved on 2022-07-20.
- ↑ "Kugelblitz"
The Umbrella Academy Characters on Netflix | |||
---|---|---|---|
Umbrella Academy | Luther • Diego • Allison • Klaus • Five • Ben • Viktor • Lila • Sir Reginald • Grace • Pogo | ||
Sparrow Academy | Marcus • Ben • Fei • Alphonso • Sloane • Jayme • Christopher • Sir Reginald • Pogo | ||
Temps Commission | Hazel • Cha Cha • The Handler • The Swedes • A.J. Carmichael | ||
Other villains | Leonard Peabody • Carl Cooper • Cleanse • Jean Thibedeau • Gene Thibedeau | ||