The Most Obscure Bits Of Green Lantern Mythology Explained
The First Green Lantern Was A Flamboyant Magic Man With A Weakness To Wood
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Alan Scott was the first hero to bear the name "Green Lantern," debuting in a flashy red-purple-yellow-green ensemble in All-American Comics #16 (July 1940), just two years after Superman was introduced in Action Comics #1 and changed the comic book business forever.
Scott's powers came from a mystical meteor and the green flame that trailed it to Earth thousands of years ago. The metal of the meteor was fashioned into a lamp and eventually a lantern that came into the possession of young railroad engineer Alan Scott.
The lantern instructed Scott to make a ring to harness the power of the lantern. He did so and used its incredible powers – flight, intangibility, energy rays, force fields, mental projections, and time travel – to fight crime. The ring was, however, weak against wood, which Scott realized after he was hit over the head with a wooden club.
Hal Jordan Was The First Modern Green Lantern Because He Was Slightly Closer To A Crash Site
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10 years after the original Alan Scott-led Green Lantern titled was canceled, DC Comics decided to capitalize on the burgeoning popularity of science fiction and resurrect the character. Rather than return to the magic-based Alan Scott incarnation, the new Green Lantern was an emerald-hued intergalactic space cop with a new secret identity, new costume, and new origin story.
In Showcase #22 (1959), we were introduced to Harold "Hal" Jordan, a cocky test pilot without peer drawn to the remains of a crashed alien spaceship by its dying pilot, Abin Sur. Sur was the Green Lantern assigned to patrol the area of space in which Earth resides, Sector 2814. Jordan was chosen because he was a man "utterly honest and born without fear."
It was later revealed that Hal was actually one of two people chosen by the ring to be worthy of the mantle of Green Lantern. The other was a former social worker with anger issues named Guy Gardner. Hal was chosen because he was closer to Abin Sur's crashed spaceship and because of the high probability that the hot-headed Gardner would die early in his career if given the ring.
The Green Lantern Corps Was The Guardians' Second Attempt To Police Space
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One of the oldest intelligent forms of life in the universe, the Guardians of the Galaxy – initially only male, but now both male and female – are diminutive blue-skinned humanoids who made a terrible mistake billions of years ago and decided to commit themselves to bringing order and harmony to the universe as penance. They divided the universe into 3600 sectors and sent out self-aware androids called Manhunters to keep the peace.
Eventually, the Manhunters decided that organic life was the cause of all strife in the universe and started wiping out entire civilizations, starting with Sector 666. After putting down the rebellious Manhunters, the Guardians realized that they needed living beings to protect the universe. Fearless, honorable people with free will, empowered by rings with the ability to create anything the user can imagine as long as they had the willpower to back it up.
The Green Lantern Corps' Headquarters Is At The Center Of The Universe
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Though the Guardians are from a planet called Maltus, they left (well, some of them anyway) to find a new base of operations for the Green Lantern Corps. The Guardians chose the desert-like planet Oa because of its location at the center of the known universe.
The Guardians created a Central Power Battery on Oa to power all of the Green Lantern rings and personal power batteries, as well as various halls, training centers, a prison, and a ring foundry. They also put the sacred Book of Oa in the Hall of Great Service on Oa, a collection of the history of the universe and prophecies for the future.
The Green Lanterns Had A Weakness To Yellow (Which Was Actually A Fear Parasite)
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Like the original Green Lantern Alan Scott and his wood vulnerability, the modern Green Lanterns had one rather strange weakness which rendered their rings useless: the color yellow. Due to a "yellow impurity" in the original Central Power Battery on Oa, the most powerful weapon in the universe could be stopped with a dandelion or a small canary.
It was later revealed that the impurity was actually a giant sentient yellow space parasite from the dawn of time that the Guardians imprisoned in the Central Power Battery (in order to contain it from spreading fear throughout the universe). When the creature, called Parallax, escaped from the battery, the yellow weakness in all subsequently created rings disappeared.
Everyone's Favorite Green Lantern From The DCAU Once Killed Billions Of People
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While Hal Jordan is the most popular Green Lantern in comic book circles, there's an entire generation of Green Lantern fans who grew up with John Stewart as their favorite space cop. It's mostly thanks to his starring role on the animated series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.
Stewart's origin in the animated universe differs from his comic book origin in many ways – he was a founding member of the Justice League instead of Hal, for example – but his core personality is the same. One key difference occurs in the now-classic Cosmic Odyssey storyline. A team of superheroes and a team of New Gods joined forces to stop the mysterious and powerful Anti-Life Equation from destroying four key planets. If any two of the planets were destroyed, the universe would collapse and Anti-Life would win.
Overconfident in his own abilities, Stewart rushed off to stop the Anti-Life Equation by himself, only to discover that it created a yellow bomb to destroy the planet Xanshi. Unable to impact the yellow object, the bomb went off, destroying the planet and killing billions of sentient beings.
Stewart later contemplated suicide because of his failure, giving us one of the darkest moments in Green Lantern history.
There's An Entire Rainbow Of Lantern Rings Powered By Different Emotions
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Initially, there were only Green Lantern rings, powered by the Central Power Battery on Oa and used to create energy constructs through the willpower of their users. Later, a Yellow Lantern ring popped up, powered by fear. During the events in Blackest Night, however, it was revealed that there are seven different types of Power Rings, each a different color and each powered by an entity who embodies a different emotion.
Just as green is in the center of the ROYGBIV mnemonic color scale, so does the Green Light of Willpower serve as the balance between the three negative emotional colors (red, orange, and yellow) and the three positive emotional colors (blue, indigo, and violet).
Red Lanterns are powered by rage, the solitary Orange Lantern by avarice, Yellow Lanterns by fear, Blue Lanterns by hope, Indigo Lanterns by compassion, and Violet Lanterns by love.
The Tragic Story Of Sinestro
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After being chosen by the Guardians to protect his native planet of Korugar and Sector 1417, Thaal Sinestro quickly became a shining example of how to broker peace and maintain order. He was heralded as "the greatest Green Lantern." However, Sinestro's desire for control turned him into a ruthless dictator. He ended up conquering his home planet and subjugating his entire sector.
It was new recruit Hal Jordan, the first human Green Lantern, who discovered Sinestro's method of surreptitious control and alerted the Guardians. The Guardians exiled Sinestro from the Corps and later banished him to the Antimatter Universe. There, on the planet Qward, Sinestro first fashioned a yellow Power Ring that harnessed fear.
After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Sinestro was imprisoned in the Central Power Battery, where he encountered the fear entity Parallax. Empowered by the Light of Fear, Sinestro created a new yellow ring and eventually an entire army – the Sinestro Corps – of yellow ring-wielding monsters with the goal of bringing order to the universe by spreading fear. Inevitably defeated, Sinestro rose up to battle the Guardians and the Green Lantern Corps again and again, proving himself as their greatest enemy.
The Most Famous Green Lantern Killed His Friends And Destroyed The Corps
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After the fall of Sinestro, Hal Jordan of Earth became the greatest Green Lantern. It wasn't just due to his fearless nature, but because he was frequently willing to follow his own ideals, rather than bow to the (sometimes oblique) will of the Guardians. Hal's belief that he was always right, however, led him down a dark path of madness and murder.
When the alien villain Mongul destroyed Hal's home of Coast City and killed his entire family, Hal's grasp on reality began to slip. He became obsessed with the thought that he could bring back Coast City and all of his loved ones if he had more power. When the Guardians and the other Green Lanterns wouldn't give Hal the power he required, he killed his friends in the Corps and took their rings, then destroyed the Central Power Battery. He wiped out all of the Guardians (except one), and effectively destroyed the Green Lantern Corps.
Later, it was revealed that Hal wasn't entirely responsible for his actions. The yellow fear entity Parallax, freshly freed by Sinestro, targeted Jordan and secretly influenced him for years, subverting his will. Hal eventually defeated Parallax and sacrificed himself to save the Earth (and the entire solar system) from destruction during the Zero Hour event, redeeming himself in death.
Green Lanterns Go To A Green Lantern Planet For Rest And Relaxation
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There are many, many strange Green Lanterns, from Leezle Pon, a sentient smallpox virus, to Amanita, an intelligent mushroom, but Mogo is probably one of the weirdest. See, "he" is a sentient planet. It may seem crazy, but the entire planet is a Green Lantern, complete with a giant green band across its equator and a Green Lantern symbol made of foliage the size of Africa in the center. The character first appeared in Green Lantern (vol. 2) #188 back in 1985 as a one-off character, but Mogo has since become one of the most important Lanterns over the years.
Mogo used to wander the universe, careful not to stray too close to other planets for fear its gravitational field would damage them. When the Central Power Battery was destroyed by the Parallax-possessed Hal Jordan, Mogo nearly "died" because it sustained itself through Power Ring energy.
Mogo was eventually revived by Kyle Rayner, and took on a more active role in the Corps. It became a temporary base of operations for the Corps, a place for members to take a vacation, and a rehabilitation center for injured Lanterns. Mogo also creates new Power Rings that go off to find new recruits.
An Artist Was The "Last" Green Lantern For Many Years
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After Hal Jordan went insane and destroyed the Green Lantern Corps, the remaining Guardian, Ganthet, fled to Earth and bestowed the last Green Lantern Power Ring to a struggling young artist named Kyle Rayner. Unlike Hal and the previous Green Lanterns, Rayner was not especially fearless and essentially chosen because he was in the right place at the right time.
An artist, Rayner designed his own costume, rather than wear the standard Green Lantern uniform created when a being dons a Power Ring. Rayner did not initially want to dedicate himself to life as a superhero. When the supervillain Major Force murdered his girlfriend, however, he felt compelled to dedicate his powers to good in her memory.
For years, Kyle was the only Green Lantern in comics. He even took Hal Jordan's spot in the Justice League and fought alongside Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Eventually, he felt that it was his duty to restart the Green Lantern Corps and he journeyed into space to do just that. He was ultimately unsuccessful.
Hal Jordan Became God's Living Vengeance
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Although Hal Jordan died, his days as a superhero were far from over. When the forces of Hell were unleashed on the world, a group of mystics journeyed to limbo to entreat Jordan's spirit to continue the fight against evil. Jordan was chosen by The Spectre, a spiritual aspect of God who has dished out "Divine Vengeance" since the days of the Old Testament, to be its guide and anchor.
Jordan took on the mantle of The Spectre, but he refused the mission of vengeance in favor of redemption. He succeeded in subverting The Spectre's power to his will for a while, but eventually became indecisive and lost control as The Spectre took over. The Spectre, it turned out, was less interested in Hal's heroic nature and more in the opportunity to burn the influence of the fear entity Parallax from his soul.
Hal eventually became aware of Parallax himself and was able to fight its influence on him. Jordan and The Spectre were ultimately able to separate all three entities (Jordan, Spectre, and Parallax) from one another. Jordan returned to Earth, alive and well, and once again donned the ring of a Green Lantern.
There Are Also Lanterns Of Life And Death
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In addition to the full color spectrum of Lanterns with power rings, there are also Black Lanterns of Death and White Lanterns of Life. One of Hal Jordan's oldest enemies, Black Hand, was revealed to be far more than just an evil inventor, but an actual conduit to the black energies of death and the embodiment of the Black Lantern Corps.
Hand made Black Lantern Power Rings and sent them out in search of recruits. The rings basically resurrected the dead as zombies for his army, and his recruits include then-dead heroes like Batman, Superman (Earth-2), Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Aquaman, and even Hal Jordan.
To combat the Black Lanterns, Sinestro attempted to bond with the Life Entity, the physical embodiment of life itself (just as Parallax was the embodiment of fear). Life rejected Sinestro, but Hal Jordan managed to harness its power and, with the help of the Flash, rescue a number of zombie heroes by giving them White Lantern power rings. In the end, the Black Lantern Corps was destroyed and the last remaining White Lantern ring transferred its remaining power to Swamp Thing.
Using Power Rings May Speed Up The End Of The Universe
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Green Lantern Kyle Rayner accidentally awoke a giant alien scientist named Relic, a being born in the universe that existed prior to this one. Relic's universe was destroyed in a conflict between Lightsmiths, his universe's equivalent of the Lantern Corps. Relic's studies led him to believe that there is a finite amount of energy in the universe that can be used by the Emotional Spectrum, and that the universe will die when the reservoir is used up.
Under the belief that the Lanterns were reckless with their rings and thus accelerating the end of the universe, Relic destroyed the Green Lantern's Central Power Battery on Oa and then the entire Blue Lantern Corps (save for one member). Relic was eventually stopped and returned to suspended animation, but Hal Jordan freed him once again to aid against the Black Lantern Corps.
Relic gave up his quest to discover the source of the Emotional Spectrum reservoir, but many alien species – and several Green Lanterns, including Hal – began to question whether the Lanterns were doing more harm than good by using their Power Rings.
The Guardians Planned To Replace Green Lanterns With Space Zombies
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Just as the Green Lantern Corps was created by the Guardians of the Universe to replace the Manhunters, the Guardians had plans for a Third Army to replace the Lanterns. While the failure of the mechanical Manhunters was due to their lack of sentience, the Guardians believed that the Lanterns' emotions and free will would eventually be their downfall and thus created the Third Army as mindless servants they could control via a mental link.
The Guardians unleashed the Third Army on the various Lantern Corps and, after each conflict, the Third Army grew as the creatures transmuted anyone they came into contact with into Third Army zombie drones. The Third Army eventually descended upon Oa with plans to assimilate the Green Lantern Corps, but they were finally defeated by Volthoom, the First Lantern.
The original Guardians, the ones who created the Green Lantern Corps and unleashed the Third Army, became considered the enemies of all Lanterns and were murdered by Sinestro. A group of Malthusians – the race of beings that became the Guardians – who were tricked and imprisoned by the original Guardians millennia ago, then took over as the New Guardians and appointed Hal Jordan the leader of the Green Lantern Corps.
