Andre Martin Lyon is a main character in the television series Empire. The eldest son of Lucious and Cookie Lyon, he is the CFO of Empire Entertainment and the president of Empire's spin-off subsidiary label Gutter Life Records. A graduate of Wharton Business School, Andre oversees the financial aspects of Empire, working alongside his father to ensure the company’s fiscal strength. He is portrayed by actor Trai Byers, and he first appeared in Pilot.
Biography
Andre is the oldest and most educated of the three Lyon sons. He has shown signs of his advanced intelligence and cunning from an early age. When he was a child, he was playing with a pile of Lego while singing along with his father, right before the police raided their house. Seeing his father put his gun in an obvious hiding place, Andre took the gun and hid it under his Lego pile before the police arrived. Many years later, he graduated from the Wharton Business School.
While a student, he met and eventually dated Rhonda Lyon, who would later become his wife. It is revealed in "The Outspoken King" that he has bipolar disorder, but is more focused on gaining control of Empire and thus disregards his mental health. He is very jealous of the talent and attention his younger brothers receive, even though he gets Empire through so much things. He feels that were it not for him, there would not be an IPO and Empire would not have gone through going public so well. Andre has achieved a lot for Empire, but his lack of musical talent as well as Rhonda's presence have greatly strained his relations with his father.
Personality
| “ | They will accept your money, Dre, but they will never accept your black ass. THEY WILL NEVER ACCEPT YOU! | „ |
| ~ Lucious berating Andre for changing the lyric of a song without permission. |
Andre is brilliant, manipulative, devious, and determined to get Empire Enterprises at any cost. He is pushed to the side by his father due to his lack of musical ability and tries to make it up by winning his father's favor. Andre has a high opinion of himself, as he believes that he is the most qualified heir to the company through a business perspective, using the help of his equally-cunning wife to tear his family apart so that he is the last one left standing to inherit it.
Due to his mental illness, Andre sometimes behaves in stark contrast to his usual calm demeanor. During a possible manic episode in "The Outspoken King", he becomes very sexual with Deputy Mayor Alvarez in order to obtain information about Bunkie's murder case. Later, he reenacts the encounter with Rhonda. In "Out, Damned Spot", a while after Vernon Turner put Andre in a choke hold to force him to confess about him covering up for his dad, Andre threatens to slit his throat, only for Turner to coolly remind him to take his medication.