Written by GL
This blog has been a labor of love for me. It’s a place for me to write about those things I'm interested in, to watch for new action figures that have just been released, to fuel my passion for all things comic-related and to promote my own personal favourite superhero – namely, the Green Lantern.
Most people know that the human Green Lanterns weren't and aren't the only holders of the GL power ring. There are other more weird and wonderful races, whom are also considered Green Lanterns, that also bear the GL power ring. We could talk about the GL Corp. all day (meaning to say, I could talk about the GL Corp. all day), yet many readers have been more perplexed and a little more curious about the nature of the power ring itself – the signature weapon of the Green Lanterns.
Let's start with the basics.
When you join the Green Lantern Corp., you must undergo all the power ring training that is required by the Corp. before you may be considered a Green Lantern. The power ring was an original creation of the Guardians of the Universe, perhaps the oldest race in the DC Universe. However (and check this out), you cannot be chosen by the Guardians or the Corp. to be a Green Lantern, it's the ring that chooses who is to be the next Green Lantern. This means, the original bearer of the ring must die first - then the ring will seek out the next worthy bearer (see: Abin Sur's role in the origins of Hal Jordan). Even after you have been chosen by a ring, you must attend the Corp. training. It’s something like going for driving lessons before getting behind the wheel.
So what can the GL power ring do? I think a better question might be: what can't the ring do?
The DC comic world has managed to promote two popular sayings about the ring; that it is considered 'the most powerful weapon in the Universe' and that it is 'only limited by the imagination of the user'. This means to say, the bearer can create practically anything using the power of the ring as long as he can imagine it and focus his thinking on the subject or object.
Therefore, the power ring can accomplish anything.
The power ring allows users to fly and to cover themselves with a protective force field - this allows the Lanterns to travel from underwater to outer space. The power ring also generates the Lantern uniform - and when they go off-duty, it regenerates their regular street clothes as well.
Using solid light technology, the ring can create cages, platforms, cuffs, weapons such as axes and swords, animals, walls, vehicles and more. The funny thing is that, in the DC Universe, the creations of the rings are based on the mindsets of the users. Hal Jordan tends to create workman tools such as hammers and such; Kyle Rayner, being a graphic designer and comic book artist, may use the ring to create drawings and characters; Guy Gardner's ring creates hard light objects that are simple in design and usually blurred by the excess energy of his own willpower. Interestingly enough, according to Hal Jordan, Kilowog's ring is the only one that emits a sound when in use. The sound is usually a loud sonic boom.
The ring can also search of energy signatures and may sometimes be used as a translator of languages. Apart from that, the ring can even simulate different forms of radiation (even Kryptonite) and create other new, fully-functional power rings.
At times, the power ring has been shown to be a sentient thing. Like a computer, it can respond with scientific analysis and advise about different courses of action - like when the ring goes out on it's own to search for a new bearer after it's previous one is killed. In at least one episode of Justice League Unlimited, Jon Stewart could actually summon the ring to him without having to wear it.
The requirements to be a valid user of the power ring have changed over the years. It has been said that the ring searches for an owner that is totally fearless and is completely honest and true. It also takes alot of willpower to be able to use these rings, which doesn't make them much of a tool in the hands of average individuals. However, the ring can be used by anyone who is wielding it at the time. At present, following the storyline of Kyle Rayner, his ring is locked only to his own genetic coding.
But the power ring does have its own weaknesses as well.
Original Green Lantern storylines have shown that the power ring usually requires recharging every 24 hours. Power rings usually need to be recharged at a personal power battery, that each Green Lantern is given. These batteries are directly linked to the Central Power Battery on the planet of Oa.
For quite a while, the power rings could not affect anything of the color yellow. Many thought that the inability to affect the color yellow was because of an impurity within the Central Power Battery – an impurity that was put there by the Guardians themselves to act as a control. Later on, this impurity was revealed to have been a creature imprisoned in the Central Power Battery – a creature that came to be known as Parallax.
After the defeat of Parallax, the color yellow is no longer a problem if the user has enough willpower.
The only problem left with the ring lies not in the mechanics of the ring itself but in the users. Because the effectiveness of the ring is based on the willpower and mind of the bearer; if you can affect the mind of the user, the power will not be accurate. Using things such as psychic attacks and poisons, the power of a Green Lantern can be messed with.
However, following the Green Lantern: Rebirth storyline, only a certain type of willpower is able to effectively use the ring – a willpower that is pure.
Every superhero power has its limitations. But as far as these limitations go, whether they may be in the brightest day or darkest night, let those villains always beware, the Green Lantern’s light.
Most people know that the human Green Lanterns weren't and aren't the only holders of the GL power ring. There are other more weird and wonderful races, whom are also considered Green Lanterns, that also bear the GL power ring. We could talk about the GL Corp. all day (meaning to say, I could talk about the GL Corp. all day), yet many readers have been more perplexed and a little more curious about the nature of the power ring itself – the signature weapon of the Green Lanterns.
Let's start with the basics.
When you join the Green Lantern Corp., you must undergo all the power ring training that is required by the Corp. before you may be considered a Green Lantern. The power ring was an original creation of the Guardians of the Universe, perhaps the oldest race in the DC Universe. However (and check this out), you cannot be chosen by the Guardians or the Corp. to be a Green Lantern, it's the ring that chooses who is to be the next Green Lantern. This means, the original bearer of the ring must die first - then the ring will seek out the next worthy bearer (see: Abin Sur's role in the origins of Hal Jordan). Even after you have been chosen by a ring, you must attend the Corp. training. It’s something like going for driving lessons before getting behind the wheel.
So what can the GL power ring do? I think a better question might be: what can't the ring do?
The DC comic world has managed to promote two popular sayings about the ring; that it is considered 'the most powerful weapon in the Universe' and that it is 'only limited by the imagination of the user'. This means to say, the bearer can create practically anything using the power of the ring as long as he can imagine it and focus his thinking on the subject or object.
Therefore, the power ring can accomplish anything.
The power ring allows users to fly and to cover themselves with a protective force field - this allows the Lanterns to travel from underwater to outer space. The power ring also generates the Lantern uniform - and when they go off-duty, it regenerates their regular street clothes as well.
Using solid light technology, the ring can create cages, platforms, cuffs, weapons such as axes and swords, animals, walls, vehicles and more. The funny thing is that, in the DC Universe, the creations of the rings are based on the mindsets of the users. Hal Jordan tends to create workman tools such as hammers and such; Kyle Rayner, being a graphic designer and comic book artist, may use the ring to create drawings and characters; Guy Gardner's ring creates hard light objects that are simple in design and usually blurred by the excess energy of his own willpower. Interestingly enough, according to Hal Jordan, Kilowog's ring is the only one that emits a sound when in use. The sound is usually a loud sonic boom.
The ring can also search of energy signatures and may sometimes be used as a translator of languages. Apart from that, the ring can even simulate different forms of radiation (even Kryptonite) and create other new, fully-functional power rings.
At times, the power ring has been shown to be a sentient thing. Like a computer, it can respond with scientific analysis and advise about different courses of action - like when the ring goes out on it's own to search for a new bearer after it's previous one is killed. In at least one episode of Justice League Unlimited, Jon Stewart could actually summon the ring to him without having to wear it.
The requirements to be a valid user of the power ring have changed over the years. It has been said that the ring searches for an owner that is totally fearless and is completely honest and true. It also takes alot of willpower to be able to use these rings, which doesn't make them much of a tool in the hands of average individuals. However, the ring can be used by anyone who is wielding it at the time. At present, following the storyline of Kyle Rayner, his ring is locked only to his own genetic coding.
But the power ring does have its own weaknesses as well.
Original Green Lantern storylines have shown that the power ring usually requires recharging every 24 hours. Power rings usually need to be recharged at a personal power battery, that each Green Lantern is given. These batteries are directly linked to the Central Power Battery on the planet of Oa.
For quite a while, the power rings could not affect anything of the color yellow. Many thought that the inability to affect the color yellow was because of an impurity within the Central Power Battery – an impurity that was put there by the Guardians themselves to act as a control. Later on, this impurity was revealed to have been a creature imprisoned in the Central Power Battery – a creature that came to be known as Parallax.
After the defeat of Parallax, the color yellow is no longer a problem if the user has enough willpower.
The only problem left with the ring lies not in the mechanics of the ring itself but in the users. Because the effectiveness of the ring is based on the willpower and mind of the bearer; if you can affect the mind of the user, the power will not be accurate. Using things such as psychic attacks and poisons, the power of a Green Lantern can be messed with.
However, following the Green Lantern: Rebirth storyline, only a certain type of willpower is able to effectively use the ring – a willpower that is pure.
Every superhero power has its limitations. But as far as these limitations go, whether they may be in the brightest day or darkest night, let those villains always beware, the Green Lantern’s light.
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