DC has a vast array of superheroes in its roster. It has many of the most famous superheroes in comics. Don’t even think about Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman when thinking up the list. I’m sure you’ll still be able to come up with at least ten heroes that everyone-or at least almost everyone would be familiar with them. The Green Lantern is one of DC’s greatest heroes. Though the character hasn’t been handled as well as possible neither in animation nor the comics. The comics show them at the top of their game, but we never get to see them live up to their full potential in anything outside comics. The only time we got to see a Green Lantern properly respected is in the Justice League animated series. It’s what made John Stewart the fan favourite character he is, with an updated and more exciting origin and backstory tailor-made for the show to go with it. The competition for the top dog of the Green Lantern mythos is tight between Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Deciding which one is to be the main one in the Justice League roster is always a contentious thing. Both of them have a very passionate fanbase. It is so difficult for the studio to decide which one of them to put in the forefront because while the source material dictates that Hal be shown first, and the comic sales show that Hal is the most popular, the fans of the Justice League cartoon who liked John Stewart will have a very big bone to pick with them. But where does that leave the other classics like Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner? It leaves them to join other Lantern Corps from time to time, to stay relevant, although the exploration of the many Corps was made possible through a storyline which was headed by Hal Jordan. This article will explore all the Lantern Corps and explain what they are and their powers.
1. Green Lantern
This is the most well-known Corps. They are the peacekeepers of the universe and watch over it like cops do different areas in the cities they are based in. They divided the universe into different sectors, and the one that Earth is located in is Sector 2814, which was protected by Abin Sur before he died and gave his ring to Hal Jordan. Now the Sector has more than a handful of Green Lanterns assigned to it. For some reason, they can’t be assigned to other Sectors in the universe. It’s almost as if there isn’t a need for them but they keep popping up anyway. The Green Lanterns use willpower in order to power their rings. The rings can construct virtually anything, as long as the wielder can think it and has enough willpower to generate it.
Notable user: Hal Jordan
2. Yellow Lantern
This is the second most well-known Corps, created by former Green Lantern Thaal Sinestro, who felt that the only way a peacekeeping force in the universe can only do so efficiently by using the power of fear. He also sought out to destroy the Green Lantern Corps so that they do not get in his way. Those who watched Green Lantern: First Flight, Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League: The Animated Series know who they are. The Yellow Lanterns use yellow energy, which is powered by the ability to instill fear. Those who instill fear and are masters of it are worthy of wielding the Yellow Lantern Rings. Their special trait is that they can read people’s fear and create constructs of them…not that the wielders can’t create constructs anyway.
Notable user: Sinestro
3. Blue Lantern
This one was a bit weird to find out about. They are not bad guys. They seem to be more neutral and orderly. They came to be when two of the Guardians of the Universe: Ganthet and Sayd, proclaimed that the Blackest Night prophecy from the Book of Oa is coming true, and they need to embrace emotions and the love they have for one another. This led them to being banished from the group. They then reappeared later and revealed to Hal and a few Green Lanterns that they had constructed a Blue Lantern Ring. The Blue Lanterns are powered by hope. Yes, hope. Superman would be a great candidate for this one. The rings provide special powers but cannot create constructs unless a Green Lantern is nearby. Weird, but, we don’t make the rules. We only read about them. When a Yellow Lantern is nearby, the yellow ring becomes weak. This goes in hand, as hope is the enemy of fear. The blue ring can heal people and reduce the age of things such as suns, as long as the people nearby have hope. It can also charge any ring.
Notable user: Barry Allen
4. Red Lantern
This one is a fan favourite. Red is known as the colour of power. It is also known as the colour that symbolizes blood because…well…blood is red...and that is also a representation of the history behind its creation. Before the Green Lanterns were sentient beings, the Guardians of the Universe created robots they named Manhunters, and used them to maintain order in the universe...until the rogue Guardian Krona reprogrammed them into killing machines. He programmed them to want to bring order by killing everyone and everything in the universe. They then ended up killing all but five people in an entire sector, and the survivors became terrorists, with the main one being Atrocitus, whose rage knew no bounds. His rage was so great that it led to the formation of the first red lantern battery. This is among the most dangerous Corps out there, not just to the potential victims, but to the ring wielders as well. Usage of the ring makes the wielders angrier and makes them lose concentration. They don’t often create constructs and they shoot out blood that acts like acid. On top of that, removing the rings can kill the wielders unless a Blue Lantern is nearby and helps with that. It’s very edgy.
Notable user: Guy Gardner
5. Orange Lantern
This one dials back the edginess a bit. It represents greed. There is only one member in the Corps, and that’s because he covets power so much that whenever a ring chooses a new wielder, he kills the wielder to keep the power to himself. This makes the rings, in some way, become alive, and they often take the form of whoever wore the rings. They are strong against Green Lanterns but weak against Violet and Blue Lanterns.
Notable user: Larfleeze
6. Star Sapphire
Formed billions of years ago by a tribe of women who did not agree with the Guardians of the Universe's beliefs of living a lilfe devoid of emotion, they are a group of people who have love that is powerful enough to be weaponized. This tribe of women scoured the universe for billions of years before finding a star sapphire gem between the embrace of a couple of crystallized skeletons inside a cave. They have the power to trap people in chambers, and convert them into Star Sapphires by keeping them in these chambers long enough. Weird power, but that’s just how it works in DC. They also have the power to bring back people they love from the dead. Sounds like the stories of old when true love’s kiss can bring people back from deathly statuses. They can also restore love to two broken hearts and create a connection between them.
Notable user: Wonder Woman
7. Indigo Tribe
Oh, this one’s a really strange one. It is a ring that is powered by compassion. It has the usual power of protection against different environments and translating almost any language. It can teleport people around the wielder and can heal people. It has the added feature of showing the pain that the individual has inflicted on others. When one wears the Indigo Tribe ring, it increases their compassion and when they remove it, they don’t remember what happened when they had it on. The memories only come back once one puts it back on.
Notable user: Ray Palmer (his case was interesting because he was chosen for having an abundance in compassion, rather than not having any at all.)
8. White Lantern
This looks to be the most powerful one of them all, and it may as well be. Regardless of what the Guardians of the Universe have to say, the White Lantern Corps being the most powerful in the emotional spectrum makes so much more sense than the Green Lantern Corps. The White Lanterns represent life. The rings have all of the powers of the other rings in the emotional spectrum. They can even heal Black Lanterns, as well as those who are close to death. It was an impromptu Corps created in order to fight the Black Lanterns, which were led by Nekron. As you might have guessed, the White Lantern Corps is powered by life itself. The more the user embraces life, the more powerful they become.
Notable user: Kyle Rayner
9. Black Lantern
This is another set of interesting individuals. They are not required to have anything at all in order for them to be able to join the Corps. In fact, one might say that they do not need anything at all…not even a life…literally. In fact, that last bit, the ‘no life’ part is the only thing that’s necessary. The Corps needs you to either be dead or to have died before. And since we know that that happens to pretty much every fan favourite superhero, that is a pretty dangerous Corps. Nekron is its master, and he used it to bring all dead people under his control, including heroes that were alive but had died at some point or another. The White Lanterns and obviously the Green Lanterns are the foils of the Black Lantern Corps. What works for this Corps is death. They can also bite people to recruit them…like zombies do. They can fly and even create constructs. The more you kill with it, the stronger you become.
Notable user: Aquaman
10. Ultra Violet
The list just gets weirder and weirder. The next one is the Ultra Violet spectrum and it is unlike any other one on this list. This Corps doesn’t have a ring. Instead, a ring shaped tattoo forms. It has the usual power of creating constructs and surviving all sorts of environments. This Corps is powered by negative emotions. The heart of this Corps is even more bizarre. It is a sentient sun. Yeah, that’s right. It’s a sentient sun called Umbrax. Umbrax goes through space and finds planets where there are very strong self-destructive tendencies. The most unique thing about this Corps is that Umbrax is the one in control of it, not the ring wielders.
Notable user: John Stewart (he was also the first recruit)
11. Gold
Oh, this one is a good one. After so many negative emotions in this list, there comes the Gold Lantern Corps. This Corps is introduced through a member of the Legion of Superheroes: a group of superheroes who come from the 31st Century. This Corps is powered by happiness and joy. The happier one is, the more powerful one becomes with the ring. There are not that many members in the Corps, as it holds the same prerequisite as the other Corps: an extraordinary amount of the powering emotion. One has to have known and expressed happiness and joy their whole lives in order to be able to use the Gold Lantern. Yeah, that’s not an easy feat. We know. But it’s comics. Bear with us. Its former leader went insane because of so much bliss and happiness. It does not exist in the present day.
Notable user: Sot’os
12. Phantom
This is the last entry in the list. Who knew that there would be so many of them. But, here we are. The Phantom Corps is one that encompasses pretty much all of the others in the emotional spectrum. This Corps was created by Rami. Rami was one of the Guardians of the Universe, and he created it in case the weakness the Green Lanterns had to the colour yellow would become a hindrance in their task of protecting the cosmos. Rami was also the one who created the first ever Green Lanterns, and these were meant to be used to stop a being called Volthoom, who was on a murderous rampage on an alien planet. This was 10 billion years ago. About 6 billion years ago, he created the Phantom Ring, but the other Lanterns did not approve of him having made it and excommunicated him. The Phantom Ring is an amazing one, and may just be the most practical one in this list, as it has all the powers of all the other rings, and draws on the emotion that the wielder is feeling at the moment. Remember when we said that it is the most practical one in this list and not the best option? Yeah, that’s because its weaknesses are insane. The ring has a very unstable power. Even the slightest emotion will power the ring, and one’s personality will be altered to match the ring’s power and its power source. If one keeps using it, one will explode. Not so much fun now, is it?
Notable user: Cyborg Superman
Did you like our list? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments:
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