Power ring (weapon)
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- For other uses, see Power ring.
A power ring is a fictional weapon in the DC Universe, most notably used by the Green Lantern Corps. Due to its versatility, it is considered to be the most powerful weapon of its respective universe, effectively limited only by the imagination of its wielder.
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[edit] Green Lantern Corps
[edit] Origins
The self-appointed Guardians of the Universe, possibly the oldest sentient race in the DC universe, have held several campaigns over their enormously long existence in an attempt to police and bring order to the universe. Their most successful and enduring campaign so far has been the Green Lantern Corps. Dividing space into 3600 sectors, they have currently assigned two Green Lanterns to patrol each sector. To help perform his, her or its duties, each member of the Green Lantern Corps is armed with a power ring. Power rings are staggeringly advanced technological artifacts capable of generating a variety of effects and energy constructs, sustained by the ring wearer's strength of will.
Normally, an individual will only receive a power ring upon the death of the previous wielder, and then only if they pass the criteria for membership in the Corps.
It is extremely unusual for someone to wield more than one power ring at once.
[edit] Capabilities
Across the years, the ring has been shown capable of accomplishing anything within the imagination of the ring bearer; the greater the user's willpower, the more effective the ring. No hard upper limit to the power ring's capabilities has yet been demonstrated and it is often referred to as "the most powerful weapon in the universe".
Power rings allow the user to fly and to cover themselves and others with a protective life-support force field, suitable for travelling through outer space, underwater and so on. The ring also generates its wearer's Green Lantern uniform - and, when they go "off duty", regenerates their regular clothes.
The most frequently-used function apart from this is the generation of solid-light constructs, the size, complexity and strength of which are limited only by the ring-bearer's willpower. Thus Green Lanterns are often seen creating cages, transportation platforms, restraints, weapons, creatures, walls, battering rams, vehicles, tools, boxing gloves etc. etc. The style of construct varies with the character and mindset of the Green Lantern wielding the ring. Hal Jordan tends to create solid, workmanlike constructs; John Stewart's constructs are almost like three-dimensional blueprints, with carefully-designed internal workings, as he is an architect by trade; Kyle Rayner, a comic book artist, uses the ring as an imaginative outlet, envisioning cartoonish and often highly detailed constructs.
The ring can also search for energy signatures or particular objects and often serves as a universal translator. Less frequently used capabilities include splitting atoms and manipulating sub-atomic particles (effectively producing new elements), simulating forms of radiation (such as that emitted by green Kryptonite, which is harmful to Superman), and creating brand new, fully functional duplicate power rings.
Power rings usually have to be worn to be effective. However, it is occasionally shown to be possible to wield (or at least summon) the ring without touching it, or while somebody else is wearing it, or to order it to carry out commands automatically after being removed. Power rings also appear to be semi-sentient computers, able to talk to and advise the wearer as to various courses of action, and sometimes capable of independent action - in particular, the ring of a killed Green Lantern will automatically seek out a suitable replacement Lantern.
The requirements needed to wield a power ring have changed sporadically across the years, often creating continuity errors. Allowing power rings to fall into the wrong hands has been a favorite plot device in many previous Green Lantern stories, since in general, power rings can be wielded by whoever wears them. However, as as of Green Lantern: Rebirth (2004), it seems that only people with exceptional wills can use power rings, a restriction which makes uses of the rings by average individuals improbable. It remains to be seen whether or not power rings will be kept out of the hands of average people in the future.
In some incarnations, a power ring can only be used by someone who literally has no concept of fear and is completely honest. Sometimes this is treated as just a recommendation.
Some power rings have been shown to have genetic locks allowing use only by their designated owner.
[edit] Limitations
Power rings typically hold a limited charge. Originally, they required recharging every 24 hours, but more recently it seems that they possess a fixed amount of regular charge.[1] Power rings are usually recharged by a Green Lantern's personal power battery, which looks like an old fashioned lantern made of dark green metal. The user typically points the ring towards the lantern, and usually gives a Green Lantern oath (below) while recharging the ring. These batteries are directly linked to the Central Power Battery on Oa and do not themselves need recharging.
Green Lantern Corps rings typically reserve a small portion of their power for a passive force field that "protects the wielder from mortal harm". In dire emergency, that energy reserve can be tapped, at the expense of said protection, until it too is exhausted.
For a very long time, power rings were unable to affect objects colored yellow. Lanterns have typically found ways to get around these limitations by affecting objects indirectly. For example, if the Lantern is faced with a yellow gas approaching him, a fan can be created to blow it away since the fan only directly affects the normal air around it, not the gas. Originally, it was believed that the "yellow impurity" was implanted deliberately because the Guardians wanted the rings to have a weakness to prevent a Green Lantern from becoming all-powerful. More recent events have revealed that the "yellow impurity" was in fact caused by a yellow energy being made of pure fear imprisoned in the Central Power Battery. Following the defeat of this creature during Green Lantern: Rebirth (2004), an experienced wielder of a power ring can, with effort, overcome the yellow weakness by recognizing the fear behind it, and facing that fear.[2]
By far, the most significant limitation of the power ring is the willpower of the wielder. Mind control, hallucinogens, psychic attacks, "neural chaff" and other phenomena that disrupt thought processes will all indirectly impair a power ring's effectiveness. More abstractly, so can a weakening of resolve and will. For example, during the Millennium crossover, Hal Jordan fights a Manhunter who psychologically attacks him, to make him doubt that the people he is protecting value the principles he is fighting for. Jordan's resolve begins to weaken and his ring loses effectiveness until one of his charges strikes the Manhunter, declaring that she does deeply value Jordan's principles as well. With this dramatic affirmation, Jordan's faith in his cause is restored and the ring instantly returns to full power.
[edit] Oaths
All power rings need periodic recharging. The process is not instantaneous, so many Green Lanterns recite an oath while the ring charges. The Oath is not required to charge the Ring, but is recited to reaffirm the person's commitment to the Green Lantern Corps, and to measure the time it takes the Ring to charge.
While many Green Lanterns create their own oath, the majority use Hal Jordan's oath as a sign of respect:
- In brightest day, in blackest night,
- no evil shall escape my sight!
- Let those who worship evil's might,
- beware my power... Green Lantern's light!
In the interests of political correctness on the part of DC (or, in context, Hal Jordan), the word "Blackest" is often replaced by "Darkest", especially in more recent comics.
[edit] Blue Beetle Scarab
When in close proximity of the new Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes, the power rings of both John Stewart and Guy Gardner spark uncontrollably. Later exposure to Blue Beetle drove Guy into a berserker rage, nearly killing Jaime before realizing he is a teenager ("I don't hurt kids.") Hal Jordan's ring is not affected like this, and it has yet to be seen how the scarab affects other rings.[3]
[edit] Power ring variants
[edit] The Qwardian power ring
[edit] Sinestro
Upon his banishment to the anti-matter universe of Qward, Sinestro acquired a yellow power ring. This power ring could only be recharged by fighting a Green Lantern. The ring was later acquired by Guy Gardner, but as he found out, it only spoke in Sinestro's native language. He last appeared with it in the JLA: Classified. Sinestro had the ring upon his return in Green Lantern: Rebirth but the details of his acquisition of it are unknown.
Sinestro has been activelly recruiting members for the "Sinestro Corps", and specifically looking for those who can "instill great fear."[4]
[edit] Alex Nero
Due to the death of Sinestro, the Qward felt that they needed another agent of Chaos and made a second yellow ring. This ring was first given to the assassin Fatality, but she failed them and they took the ring from her (along with her right hand). The ring was then given to mental patient Alex Nero. Nero was a paranoid schizophrenic who suffered from severe delusions and several bi-polar issues. He was a great artist, but unlike Kyle Rayner, the Green Lantern he would face, he mostly drew horribly vivid scenes of demons and hell. With his severely warped psyche, the ring was incredibly dangerous in his hands. Every demon and monster that he thought was there became real. He was last seen when he faced off against Rayner to claim the power of Ion.
Alex Nero has recently been seen in the new Ion comics impersonating Kyle Rayner.
[edit] Power Ring
Power Ring is also the name of several supervillains from Earth-Three and the anti-matter universe, usually associated with the Crime Syndicate of America. He has had several incarnations and all have been evil versions of current Green Lanterns, including Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner[5], and John Stewart.[6] Their power rings are cursed with the entity Volthoom, who communicates much like the AI of Corps power rings. Other than that, their powers are mostly similar to the positive-matter power rings.
[edit] Starheart
Alan Scott uses a power ring, which uses energy from the Starheart. Before the creation of the corps, the Guardians gathered all the magic they could and imprisoned it in the Starheart. The power of this ring cannot affect wood. The limits of this ring's power are currently unknown. Residual effects from wearing it were however passed down to Scott's children, both Alpha-class metahumans, Jade and Obsidian.
Jade was able to tap into the Starheart naturally, instead of through the ring. For a time, Alan Scott absorbed the Starheart, and he was able to use the power without a ring as the conduit as well. When Jade died, Kyle Rayner absorbed her energy. Rayner can now tap into the Starheart and the Central Power Battery as Ion.
