Hiram P. Lodge is a

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to Theoph ...

in the

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply as Archie Comics) is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the village of Pelham, New York. The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jug ...

series. He is a father to the series' protagonist,

Veronica Lodge Veronica Cecilia Lodge is one of the main characters in the Archie Comics franchise, and is the keyboardist and one of the three vocalists of rock band The Archies. She is from New York but currently resides in the town of Riverdale, with her p ...

and a husband to her mother,

Hermione Lodge The following is a list of members of the families of Archie's Gang appearing in Archie Comics. Primarily featured are the parents of Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge and Jughead Jones. The Andrews family Fred Andrews Frederick "F ...

. He is the owner and CEO of his own multi-billion dollar conglomerate, Lodge Industries. As the richest man in Riverdale, he has risen to becoming a successful businessman who has presided as the town's most prominent industrialist. The family name was inspired by the Lodges, a Massachusetts

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

political family that previously commissioned a mural from Archie Comics creator

Bob Montana Robert William Montana (October 23, 1920 – January 4, 1975) was an American comic strip artist who created the original likenesses for characters published by Archie Comics and in the newspaper strip '' Archie''. Early life He was born in Stoc ...

. Hiram is portrayed by

Mark Consuelos Mark Andrew Consuelos (; born March 30, 1971) is an American actor and talk show host. He rose to prominence as a television actor on the ABC soap opera ''All My Children'' for his portrayal of Mateo Santos (1995–2002, 2010), and subsequently ...

in the television series '' Riverdale'' and ''

Katy Keene Katy Keene is a character created by Bill Woggon that has appeared in several comic book series published by Archie Comics since 1945. She is a model/actress/singer marketed by the publisher as "America's Queen of Pin-Ups and Fashions". In the b ...

''.

Background

Hiram Lodge dislikes

Archie Andrews Archibald "Archie" Andrews, created in 1941 by publisher John L. Goldwater and artist Bob Montana in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom,

especially for Veronica, leading him to disapprove the idea of the two dating. Hiram tries to avoid Archie from visiting their household, because every time he does, something goes wrong, such as Archie accidentally breaking something valuable in the household or injuring him. He allows the pair to continue dating, however, as he understands how well Archie treats Veronica. In multiple stories, Archie saves Mr. Lodge from thieves, blackmailers, and underhanded business rivals, causing Hiram to begin softening up to Archie. On one occasion, he asks Archie and Jughead to act like they are his sons in order to secure a business deal with clients, which are from a culture that do not respect a person without sons. Taking advantage, the teens drive away in Lodge's new car and boss around Veronica and Smithers. However, a typhoon breaks out just in time when the clients attempt to leave, causing a tree to break and almost fall. Archie and Jughead save the day, enabling Lodge to secure the deal, and in his joy says, "You did great, ''sons''!", much to Veronica and Smithers' chagrin. In one story, Veronica claims that his "Daddy has billions", despite Hiram Lodge only being a multimillionaire. This is likely due to the extreme rise of wealth in the real world since the introduction of the Archie Comics, which means that Hiram would have to be a billionaire to keep up the pretense that he is one of the richest men in the world. In the comics, this is explicated by the take-over of the Blossom corporation, owned by Cheryl Blossom's father. Lodge is usually portrayed as a successful and wealthy businessman, rather than a financier or banker, who is frequently involved in international business ventures. He has a keen eye for unusual business opportunities that others overlook. In one story, a rival businessman thought that he had outmaneuvered Mr. Lodge by selling him a

garbage dump A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

for $2,000, yet Lodge easily retorted that he had covered the dump with

artificial snow Snowmaking is the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a "snow gun", also known as a "snow cannon". Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliabilit ...

and turned it into a ski resort, which made him realize a windfall profit of over $2 million USD in its initial year of operation. The stories about his childhood are contradictory as some suggest he was born into old money and is descended from the founders of Riverdale, while others state that he built his fortune from that of his in-laws. Lodge had also served in the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

at some point in his life. Although political matters in the Archie comics are rarely mentioned, one storyline hinted that Hiram was a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

. In the storyline, Archie had been shrunken and was forced to use a paper airplane to fly to the other side of the room. When it was suggested that they lean to the left, Veronica quipped that her dad hated anyone who leaned to the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

. Note: In some 'Archie' stories dating from the 1960s, he is referred to as J. P. Lodge, and in his first appearance in ''

Pep Comics ''Pep Comics'' is an American comic book anthology series published by the Archie Comics predecessor Archie Comics, MLJ Magazines Inc. (commonly known as MLJ Comics) during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. The ti ...

'' #31, he is referred to as Burton K. Lodge. One story gives his name as Mark. Despite his old age, he remains physically fit and healthy, which in one story, Lodge attributes his strong physical fitness in having successfully chased Archie away.

In other media

Animation

* Hiram appears sporadically in ''

Archie's Weird Mysteries ''Archie's Weird Mysteries'' ( French: ''Archie, mystères et compagnie'') is an animated television series based on the characters by Archie Comics. The series premise revolves around a Riverdale High physics lab gone awry, making the town of ...

'' (1999–2000), voiced by John Michael Lee. His dislike of Archie is notably toned down, as they don't interact much on-screen. In the episode "Teen Out of Time", it is revealed that Mr. Lodge was the one who gave Pop Tate a bank loan to open his diner. * Hiram appears briefly in the direct-to-video film, ''The Archies in JugMan'' (2002), with Lee reprising his role. Notably, his wife appears in the film too despite not being present in the TV series.

Live action

* Hiram appears in the 1990 television film, '' Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again'', portrayed by James Noble. He is the main antagonist and anti-hero who wants to evict Pop Tate from his soda shop, under the pretext of expanding

Reggie Mantle Reginald "Reggie" Mantle is a fictional teenager in stories published by Archie Comics; he is introduced by writer-artist Bob Montana and John L. Goldwater in ''Jackpot Comics'' #5 (cover-dated Spring 1942). He also appears in CW's '' Riverdale'' ...

's gym. Just like in the comic books, he doesn't want Veronica dating Archie, as he finds them incompatible, and seeing his daughter flirt with him only emboldens him to go through with his plans. * Hiram appears as a major antagonist on the CW series '' Riverdale'', portrayed by

. The pilot episode establishes that he is in New York City on trial for

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

and

embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

, leading Hermione and Veronica to move to Riverdale to escape his notoriety. He and Fred Andrews were rivals in school, as Hiram stole Hermione from Fred and later married her. Hermione continues to help Hiram run his business and criminal empire from behind bars. In the second season, Hiram is released and returns to Riverdale, establishing himself as a threatening and powerful presence in the town. Just like the comic books and animated series, he hates Archie and doesn't want him to date Veronica. In the fourth season, he reveals he was born Jaime Luna but changed his name due to the bad reputation of the Luna family. In the fifth season episode "Chapter Eighty-Eight: Citizen Lodge", he tells Reggie Mantle about his father Javier Luna, who moved to Riverdale to work in

palladium Palladium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1802 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas (formally 2 Pallas), ...

mines but ended up shining shoes. Hiram got tired of living in poverty and went to work for the gangster Vittorio "Vito" Alto, eventually taking over Vito's business when Vito disappeared. * Consuelos reprises the role in the episode "Chapter Thirteen: Come Together" from the first season of ''

'', a spin-off of ''Riverdale''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lodge, Hiram Animated human characters Archie Comics characters Characters created by Bob Montana Comics characters introduced in 1942 Fictional businesspeople Fictional socialites Male characters in animation Male characters in comics Male characters in television