Green Lantern Corps

Five members of the new Green Lantern Corps.

The Green Lantern Corps is an intergalactic police force that patrols the reaches of space at the behest of the Guardians of the Universe, a race of immortals as old as the universe. The Guardians created the Green Lantern Corps some three billion years ago and the force has survived multiple rebellions, murders and collapses from within and outside. The Guardians administer the Corps from the planet Oa at the center of the universe. The Guardians divided the universe into 3,600 “sectors” and choose two natives of each sector to serve as that sector's protectors. Thus the Corps holds 7,200 members, plus additional numbers serving in roles not linked to particular sectors (such as drill instructors and the Honor Guard). Each Green Lantern is given a power ring, a fantastic weapon and artifact granting the bearer incredible power limited only by their willpower.

History

The Guardians

The Guardians of the Universe.

In the early days of the universe, natives of the overpopulated planet Maltus evolved into immortals of great power. At this time they were tall grayish blue humanoids with black hair. They became scientists and thinkers, experimenting on the worlds around them. Eventually a renegade Maltusian scientist Krona performed a forbidden experiment that had terrible consequences for the universe at large.

The male Maltusians argued about how to deal with the situation. One group decided to dedicate their eternal existences to contain evil; this group fractured into the Guardians of the Universe and the Controllers. The females, however, saw no need to involve themselves and, since the Oans were by then immortal and had no more need to reproduce, left their mates and became known as the Zamarons. Relocating to the planet Oa at "the center of the Universe", the Guardians dedicated themselves to combatting evil and create an orderly universe. During this period they slowly evolved into their current appearance.

Manhunter failure

The Guardians of the Universe created the Manhunters over three billion years ago as their first attempt at protecting the cosmos, designing them to police any and all worlds that held sentient lifeforms. Lacking emotion or empathy, they rebelled against their programming and came to oppose the Guardians believing that the only way to achieve true order in the universe was to eliminate all life. After an unsuccessful attack on Oa, the Manhunters were banished to the far corners of the universe.

Creation of the Corps

Chastened by the failure of the Manhunters, the Guardians decided that their newest force of soldiers for good would consist of living beings, ones who had free will and strong moral character. To arm this new legion of celestial knights, the Guardians created the Power Rings, rings of inconceivably-advanced technology that allowed their wearers to project green beams of energy with which the bearer could conjure objects of any size or shape, limited only by their imagination and willpower.

Fall of the Corps

The Green Lantern Corps patrolled the universe for over three billion years. In that vast length of time, some Green Lanterns rebelled and turned against the Corps. Two of the most important fallen Lanterns were Sinestro, the rogue Green Lantern, and Hal Jordan, who would unknowingly become possessed by Parallax the ancient fear parasite trapped in the Battery. At the ruins of his home Coast City, Jordan was consumed by grief, which in turn allowed him to be overcome by fear... all the while not knowing that his fear was tainted by the creature Parallax.

The Green Lantern Corps ranks were decimated by the Parallax-possessed Jordan. The Corps' power source, the Central Power Battery, was extinguished; and Oa was destroyed, removing the original power source for the rings.

After the fall of the Corps, other organizations tried to fill in the power vacuum left by the Guardians. Two organizations had initial notable successes: the Darkstars and L.E.G.I.O.N. However, neither ever achieved the power and reach of the Green Lantern Corps.

Rebirth of the Corps

Sometime after the destruction of the Corps, Oa and the Central Power Battery were completely rebuilt. Shortly thereafter Kyle Rayner, the last Green Lantern, was instrumental in the restoration of the Guardians. The resurrections did not stop there. It was discovered that Hal Jordan had been possessed by the living embodiment of fear, an ancient parasite called Parallax. Parallax had been imprisoned within the Central Power Battery for billions of years and was the mysterious "Yellow Impurity" within the Corps' green light that leaves them vulnerable against yellow. Hal Jordan, upon learning the truth about Parallax, separated himself from it and was reborn as a Green Lantern once again. Jordan, with the help of John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner and Kilowog, re-imprisoned Parallax. Upon Parallax's return to the Central Power Battery, the Guardians continued the re-construction and expansion of the Green Lantern Corps. This new Corps, under the training of Kilowog, Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner and other veterans, was primarily composed of new recruits. Only a handful of veteran Lanterns remained in the ranks. Each sector has two Lanterns assigned to protect it (with Hal Jordan and John Stewart assigned as the protectors of Earth).

Sinestro Corps

Rogue Green Lantern Sinestro, working with the Anti-Monitor, created his own version of the Corps. Dubbed the "Sinestro Corps", it recruited beings capable of generating great fear. Armed with yellow Power Rings and Lanterns manufactured on Qward, the Sinestro Corps recently waged a war on the universe only to be beaten on Earth and sent fleeing into the cosmos.

The Green Lantern Corps in the 31st Century

COMING SOON

Structure

The 3600 sectors

The Corps is an organization of 7200+ Green Lanterns (the old Corps was comprised of 3600) who are chosen by the ring for being able to overcome great fear, with two assigned to each sector of space that require the protection of more than one Green Lantern. This goes against the previous Territorial Edict that prohibited only one Green Lantern per sector. Heavily-populated Sectors like 2814 can have several Lanterns.

The space sectors are a one-degree by eighteen-degree section of the sphere-shaped universe,with the origin points meeting at Oa, which is located at the center of the universe. Since the sectors all meet and begin on Oa, this means that Oa is in every lantern's sector, and while a Lantern is on Oa, he is technically still patrolling his home sector

Each member has a great deal of autonomy as to their methods in their jurisdiction, subject to review by the Guardians if they feel the Green Lantern in question has abused their assigned authority. The individual Lanterns are responsible for arranging their replacements (when possible) if they are near retirement or death. If a Lantern dies before that obligation is met, the ring will find and seek another to be trained on its own. In rare circumstances, Guardians will personally go out into the field to recruit a replacement.

Upon recruitment each Corpsman receives a Power Ring, a Power Battery, and a trainee uniform. The default trainee uniform design for humanoids was a green section covering the torso and shoulders, black arms and leggings, green boots, white gloves, green domino mask and a white circle on their chest. Upon receiving these, each recruit is then sent to Oa for mandatory training. After the completion of the training, each Lantern earns their "badge", which is placed in the middle of the white circle. Lanterns were allowed to customize their uniforms as long as the color scheme and the badge were present. When the nature of the being precludes a standard uniform, an equivalent arrangement is expected as a substitute. For instance, Mogo, a sentient planet, arranges his foliage to create a green circling band and lantern symbol on his body. Jack T. Chance, a humanoid, refused to wear a uniform, but conceded to wearing the badge on the lapel of his coat. Lanterns were also allowed the option of a secret identity as a security measure and it is implied that the Corps were instructed to honor that choice by taking care not to expose them. In addition, a senior Lantern can be assigned to coach a recruit while in the field in their sector.

Oa - Corps Headquarters

Green Lantern Corps headquarters are on the planet Oa, in the center of the universe. Oa was destroyed shortly after Hal Jordan became Parallax, but was later reconstituted. Formerly a natural if barren planet, the reconstructed Oa is now a vast labyrinthine planet-sized construct. Primary features include a great hall for the Guardians to meet in conference, training facilities for recruits, prisons called Sciencells for dangerous criminals, and tombs dedicated to honoring fallen lanterns. Oa's most prominent feature is the Central Power Battery, a gigantic version of the Lanterns' personal power batteries. The Central Battery channels the same green energy of the Guardians and amplifies it, broadcasting energy to the individual power batteries across the universe which can then be used to charge the Lanterns' power rings. Particularly dangerous beings, such as Sinestro or Parallax, are sometimes imprisoned within the central battery. Maintaining security on this device is vital as major damage to it would prevent individual Corpsmen throughout the universe from recharging their power rings, thus depowering the entire Corps in a single blow.

The Guardians recently increased the capabilities of Oa's defensive systems by creating an armored structure that protects the planet.

Green Lantern Honor Guard

The Green Lantern Honor Guard is an elite group of Green Lanterns, based on Oa but not restricted to one Sector, who serve as troubleshooters and special operatives. Green Lantern Guy Gardner] was promoted to primary membership in the Honor Guard as Lantern Number One (by contrast, Hal Jordan is 2814.1 and John Stewart is 2814.2). Guy also serves as field commander during battle. In the aftermath of the Sinestro Corps War, with the Ion entity removed from his body, Kyle Rayner has been added to the Green Lantern Honor Guard as Guy's partner.

The Corpse

The Corpse in action.

"The Corpse" is an elite, top-secret Black Ops division of the Green Lantern Corps. Members of The Corpse are not restricted by the same rules that regular Lanterns follow, and they perform the darkest, most dangerous missions. These members do not use Power Rings; instead, they swallow special coin-like disks that give them all of the powers of the standard ring for a limited time. These disks produce purple energy instead of the traditional green. Members of the "Corpse" do not wear Green Lantern uniforms, or display the Green Lantern symbol. Instead, they seem to prefer black uniforms that have no symbol. They are also not bound to rules such as the restriction of using lethal force like the main Green Lantern Corps, though since The Sinestro Corps War, the main Green Lantern Corps have been enabled use of lethal force against Sinestro Corps members, and later all enemies of the Green Lantern Corps.

Very few Lanterns are even aware of the existence of the "Corpse". Guy Gardner said that in all of his years in the Corps, he never heard of them and after participating in a mission with the Corpse, his memory of the them was erased.

The Alpha Lanterns

Boodikka as an Alpha Lantern.

After the Sinestro Corps War the Guardians create a new class of Green Lantern called the Alpha Lanterns. The Alpha Lanterns are seasoned Corpsmen who have been fused with their Power Rings and Batteries. Boodikka, Varix, Kraken, Green Man and Chaselon are all Alpha Lanterns; Hal Jordan was notably not chosen, and John Stewart was chosen but he declined the position. The Alpha Lanterns function as Internal Affairs for the Green Lanterns Corps. They have "the sentient drive and thought process of the Green Lanterns and the efficiency and logic of The Manhunters," as the Guardians turn them into cyborgs using Manhunter technology, and mainline their minds directly to The Book of Oa and the Central Battery. After the transformation, an Alpha Lantern would receive an additional power ring. Similarly to the most recent generation of Manhunters, Alpha Lanterns have a secondary face which can drain a Power Ring of its energy. The Alpha Lanterns tend to chant the Manhunter-like slogan "No Lantern escapes the Alpha Lanterns.".

Laira was the first Green Lantern to be punished by the Alpha Lanterns; for the crime of murder she was stripped of her powers and expelled from the Corps.

Weapons

Main article: Power ring

The power ring must be recharged regularly (though apparently not at the standard 24-hour period as was originally described) by touching it to its lantern shaped power battery for a period of several seconds. When recharging their weapons, Corps members recite an oath.

The Green Lantern Corps in the Suburban Senshi Universe

As of this moment, the status of the Green Lantern mythology in the Suburban Senshi universe follows as closely as possible the mainstream DC universe version.