Lucy Coe is a fictional character from the ABC Daytime soap operas General Hospital and Port Charles. Portrayed by Lynn Herring, she first appeared in April 1986 on General Hospital, introduced as an alibi in a murder plot. In 1997, she made her second departure from the show and joined its now defunct spin-off Port Charles. There, she was involved in storylines revolving around vampires, where it was revealed that Lucy was a vampire slayer. The character stayed on Port Charles until October 2003, when the series was cancelled, and she made a brief guest appearance on General Hospital in July 2004. In November 2012, after more than eight years off-screen, it was confirmed that Herring was to return to General Hospital. She returned that December for the revival of the infamous Nurses' Ball, which she founded in the 1990s, as well as a continuation of Port Charles' vampire story arc.

Over the years, Lucy is known for having developed from a "mousy librarian" to a villainous liar, schemer and vixen to ultimately an unlikely heroine. She has been noted by critics for her manipulative yet eccentric personality. Herring's portrayal has received critical acclaim, for which she garnered two Daytime Emmy Award nominations and numerous wins and nominations for the Soap Opera Digest Awards.

Lynn Herring, a former beauty queen who placed fourth in the 1977 Miss USA pageant, originated the role of Lucy Coe in 1986. She was introduced as a "pivotal witness" in the Brownstone Murder Mystery storyline arc. The character was to be quickly written out, but executive producer Gloria Monty kept Herring on due to popular demand. This caused Herring to dramatically alter her career path. She was studying for her master's degree to become a psychiatrist at Loyola College. However, once she signed a contract for General Hospital, she quit her studies. Herring said, "Acting comes first. I thought I wanted to do counselling. But Lucy turns out to be more fun". She remained a regular cast member until 1991. She briefly departed General Hospital to pursue the role of Lisanne Gardner on Days of Our Lives, before returning in November 1992.

Upon her debut on the series, Lucy Coe was described as the show's latest "bad girl". She was penned by The Vancouver Sun as being either a "drab social worker, admitted liar" and "sexy schemer" or a "clever youngster" who was cutting corners for money. Initially, Lucy was a guest character who was a "mousy librarian" that quickly lies for a friend, Kevin O'Connor, on the stand, and is caught. Lucy was planned to be written off. General Hospital fans, however, were intrigued by the character, prompting the show's executive producer Gloria Monty to keep Herring as part of the cast. The actress said, "No one knows what to make of Lucy. She's smart and shift, very good at manipulating people. I want to know more about her". Lilana Novakovich of the Toronto Star characterized Lucy as a "sexy villain", who fans loved to hate. Lucy is always at odds against "just about everyone else in town."

Herring admittedly enjoys playing "sleazebag" and "seductress" Lucy. Considered one of "daytime's most manipulative witches", Herring has stated that she is very different from her character. "The hardest thing I have to deal with in public is that a lot of times, people want me to be Lucy with them, even if it means being cruel", she said. The actress told Calhoun Times that she was "basically not that way" at all, having been raised to be mannered and polite; "I get the feeling that everyone's very disappointed that I'm not trying to get something from them". However, Herring also said, "I wouldn't trade places with anybody. All her badness is a magnification of qualities we all have—greed and selfishness."

Lucy celebrates her birthday on May 22.

In 1997, Herring left the series to permanently migrate the character of Lucy to ABC Daytime's new soap opera Port Charles, which was a spin-off to General Hospital. Herring was assisted by two other characters, Kevin Collins and Scott Baldwin, in their move to the new soap. Initially, Herring was doubtful about starring in a new spin-off. She said: "I was a part of the decision. I got a phone call from a friend who said, 'I think they’re going to spin General Hospital off,' and I thought it was a prank, like an April Fool’s. Because I thought it really wasn’t possible to separate core characters out of a show. And then Wendy Riche who was the producer at the time called pretty quickly after that, and said, 'We have this great idea, and it’s your character, we’re bringing Kin back, and we’ll have GH people flopping back and forth. And Doc [Kevin] will be there and we’ll create this whole other world.'" Herring explained, "part of me was so fearful because I know how hard it is to be successful in daytime, and also I fought hard to stay viable all those years before we did that. So it was really scary". She remained on Port Charles, which experienced low ratings, until its 2003 cancellation.

Port Charles explored "very dark" plots, which revolved around vampires, an unusual storyline for daytime television. A seductive evil vampire named Caleb Morley (Michael Easton) sires Livvie Locke (Kelly Monaco). Lucy, Port Charles' "resident eccentric", was then revealed to be a vampire slayer, making her a pivotal character in the storyline. Nancy Reichardt of Star-News described making Lucy a central in this "genius". Reichardt wrote, "Midst all this high-camp drama, comes Herring's characterization, always filled with humor and heightened drama. This character would make a hangnail into a crisis, so she is in her element in this atmosphere.