WhileGreen Lanternisn’t usually seen as powerful a hero asSupermanis, his most powerful villains tell a different story. Over the years, Hal Jordan and his allies inthe Green Lantern Corpshave taken on some of the most terrifying villains around and saved the DC Universe from total annihilation.
The Man of Steel might have Kryptonian physiology on his side, but the only limit for a Green Lantern is their imagination and willpower. And thanks to the bravery of people like Hal and John Stewart, they’ve been able to take on tenpowerful villains that prove Green Lanternis a Superman-level hero.
10Black Hand Became an Avatar of Death
Created by: John Broome and Gil Kane
Black Hand is the death-obsessed foe who became a run-of-the-mill villain thanks to an alien device that allowed him to absorb Green Lantern’s energy. But William Hand got a major upgrade when the Lord of the Unliving, Nekron summoned him to fulfill his dark destiny as avatar ofthe Black Lantern Corps. After killing himself, Hand was revived as an undead monstrosity and became tethered to Nekron’s dark energy,giving him powers on par with Green Lantern.
With a Black Lantern Power Ring on his finger, Black Hand was able to raise the dead and plunge the DC Universe into the “Blackest Night”, an event that even caused Superman a humongous headache. ButGreen Lantern severed Hand’s connection to Nekron by using the power of the White Lantern Corpsand revived him, ending Black Hand’s brief foray with godhood.
9Krona Mastered the Emotional Spectrum to Defeat the Guardians
Krona was once a respected Maltusian scientist whose determination to discover the universe’s origins sent him down a path of madness and villainy. Not only did Krona endanger both the Marvel and DC Universe inJLA/Avengers, Krona sought revenge on his former allies, the Guardians,by taking control of the Emotional Spectrum.After kidnapping the entities of the Emotional Spectrum, Krona took control of them with a gauntlet and headed for Oa.
Krona had the entities possess the Guardians and seized the Green Lantern Corps for himself, forcing Hal, John, Kyle, and Guy to liberate the Guardians and the entities. Despite the odds,Green Lantern Hal managed to end Krona’s reign of terror by killing him(only to be rewarded for his efforts by being kicked out of the Corps).
8Atrocitus is Rage Incarnate (But Nothing Compared to Hal)
Created by: Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver
Of all the lights in the Emotional Spectrum, the most dangerous and uncontrollable one is the Red Light of Rage. Leading the feral Red Lanterns is Atrocitus who desired revenge on everyone who wronged him. The rage-fueled alien kidnapped Sinestro and Hal Jordan and prepared to murder them both. However, after being betrayed by Sinestro, Hal gave into rage and was targeted by a Red Lantern Power Ringturning him into a full-fledged Red Lantern.
But rather than submit like so many Red Lanterns, Hal retained a small piece of himself and actually managed to generate constructs out of Red Lantern energy (something even Atrocitus couldn’t do). Atrocitus might be the most powerful Red Lantern to wear a ring, but Jordan’s brief experience as a Red one showed thathis power was nothing compared to Green Lantern’s incredible willpower.
7Larfleeze Has the Power of a Corps All to Himself
Whoever possesses the Orange Light of Avarice is undoubtedly one of the most powerful Lanterns in the DC Universe. But that’s only because they won’t share the light with anyone else. Larfleeze, aka Agent Orange, is the sole Orange Lantern and rather than allow anyone else to use his power, Larfleeze took to killing intruders in his territory, then fashioning constructs modeled after them to serve as a makeshift Orange Lantern Corps. He’s even‘converted’ Green Lanterns to become his soldiers.
Despite the power at his fingers, even Larfleeze has weaknesses that Green Lantern managed to exploit. The greed instilled by the Orange Light can be reduced by the presence of Blue Light, which Hal Jordan used when a Blue Lantern Power Ring was temporarily attached to him. But even without it,Green Lantern fought Larfleeze’s insidious constructs and lived to tell the tale (which few can say).
6Mongul is a Warlord That Almost Stole the Sinestro Corps
Created by: Len Wein and Jim Starlin
Both Green Lantern and Superman have had their run-ins with this brutal warlord. Mongul is a Warzoon conqueror who fought and killed his own people for the right to rule them. He has murdered species all over the galaxy and has enslaved the survivors to fight in the gladiator pits on his home planet, Warworld. Mongul is an incredibly durable and powerful fighterwho has easily gone toe-to-toe against Superman.
Mongul’s pursuit of power has helped him gain a lot in life, including the Sinestro Corps, which he nearly usurped. However, during the Blackest Night, Hal and Sinestro managed to take the powerful despot down thanks to a hidden protocol inside the Yellow Power Rings Sinestro had forged. Mongul might be powerful enough to take on the Man of Steel,but a Green (or Yellow) Lantern are also strong enough to bring Mongul down.
5Relic Was a Practically a God Determined to Destroy the Corps
Created by: Robert Venditti and Billy Tan
Relic comes from a timeline that preceded the DC Universe and was once a respected scientist who warned of the danger of exploiting the Emotional Spectrum. Relic proved to be right, as the lightsmiths who drew from the spectrum ushered in their universe’s destruction. The scientist survived and as the universe re-shaped,Relic was born a giant with powers like that of a New God, powers he intended to use to save the Emotional Spectrum from being drained.
Relic has tech that can absorb the Emotional Spectrum’s light, making him a threat to every single Corps around. However, an upgraded White Lantern Kyle Rayner used his newfound abilities to imprison Relic in the Source Wall, temporarily ending his crusade. Relic was powerful, indeed,but even he was no match for the strongest Lantern around.
4Parallax Can (And Has) Corrupted the Best Green Lanterns
Each of the lights in the Emotional Spectrum have one entity that embodies that particular emotion, and nothing captures the terror of the Sinestro Corps better than Parallax, the fear entity. Fans may recall that Hal became Parallax after shedding his heroic persona after the destruction of Coast City. But that was because he was secretly under the influence of this cosmic terror,who nearly turned Green Lantern to the dark side for good.
Thankfully, Green Lantern overcame the bug’s possession. But Parallax lived on and later corrupted other heroes like Kyle Rayner during “Sinestro Corps War” and the Flash in “Brightest Day”. Every time it takes on another host, Parallax imbues them with phenomenal cosmic power. However,Green Lantern’s time under Parallax’s control helped Hal save othersfrom spending years under the evil entity’s control.
3Anti-Monitor is Powerful Enough to Wipe Away Entire Universes
Created by: Marv Wolfman and George Pérez
The entire DC multiverse trembled under the threat of the Anti-Monitor duringCrisis on Infinite Earths. This colossal foe was able to send out waves of antimatter across the various earths and eliminate them as if they were nothing. It took the concentrated efforts of the entire DCU to defeat him, but even then, he still managed to return following the rebirth of the multiverse inInfinite Crisis.
Worse yet, the Anti-Monitor became the ‘Guardian’ of the Sinestro Corps and bolstered Sinestro’s army with the power of villains such as Cyborg Superman, Parallax, and Superboy-Prime. The Anti-Monitor nearly helped Sinestro succeed in his attack during “Sinestro Corps War”. But he was severely weakened after Guy Gardner and John Stewart brought down Warworld on him and detonated the Yellow Lantern Central Power Battery next to the cosmic villain. It didn’t kill him, butit was a solid effort by two powerful Green Lanterns.
2Nekron Nearly Wiped Out All Life in the DC Universe
Created by: Mike W. Barr, Len Wein, and Joe Staton
Nekron is the absolute lord of the dead in the DC Universe, and he took extreme measures to eliminate all life during the “Blackest Night” saga. Nekron fashioned Black Lantern Rings and used them to reanimate the bodies of deceased heroes and villains, who consumed the hearts of thousands of people across the galaxy. Nekron nearly succeeded, but he was shoved back into the darknessafter Green Lantern severed Nekron’s connection with Black Hand.
However, Green Lantern’s true victory over Nekron occurred in the epic “Wrath of the First Lantern” storyline. In order to defeat the powerful Volthoom, Hal Jordan kills himself and travels to Nekron’s realm, where he actually manages to take control of Nekron’s power and uses it to return to life and defeat the First Lantern. Superman may have come back from death, butGreen Lantern did it by taking control of a powerful death avatar.
1Olgrun is an Old God That Only Green Lantern Could Hold Back
Created by: Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Riccardo Federici, and Will Conrad
Olgrun is a new, but extremely powerful force lurking somewhere in the DC Universe. Superman heard about the legend of the Old God and discovered that after going mad, Olgrun was split into several aspects that were scattered across the multiverse. However, the closest Superman ever came to seeing Olgrun was facing down one of his tests to reclaim the fabled ‘Fire of Olgrun’ (which Clark succeeded at).
However, Green Lantern John Stewart was targeted directly by Olgrun, who’s lingering spirit desired to take control of the powerful hero. John took the fight directly to Olgrun and traveled to his realm, where he recovered the Dark Star Ring, aka the Will of Olgrun. With this powerful aspect,Green Lantern took control of what remained of Olgrunand banished him to his realm where what remains of the Old God lies waiting.
Green Lantern
Green Lantern is the name given to multiple enforcers of intergalactic justice in the DC Universe. Green Lanterns can harness the cosmic energy of willpower, and create unique spectral objects to face off against their enemies. Though some Green Lanterns have assisted with the Justice League, they primarily belong to the Green Lantern Corps.
