Lucious Lyon (born Dwight Walker) is a fictional character from the Fox drama series Empire, portrayed by Terrence Howard. Lucious is the main protagonist and anti-hero of the series. Created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, Lucious is the founder and CEO of Empire Entertainment, a world-famous and renowned 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. Gray), against one another. The story has parallels to William Shakespeare's King Lear and James Goldman's The Lion in Winter. Lyon is married to former drug dealer and ex-con Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson).
