Korugar

Korugar is a fictional planet in the DC Comics Universe. It first appeared in Green Lantern #7 (July/August 1961), and was created by writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane.

Fictional background

Korugar is located in Space Sector 1417, as designated by the Guardians of the Universe. It is the home planet of ex-Green Lantern, Sinestro, as well as Sinestro's replacement, Green Lantern Katma Tui, and her successor, Soranik Natu. The only other planets known to have had as many Green Lanterns are Earth and Graxos IV (Arisia's home planet). The capital of Korugar is Korugar City.^[1]

The natives of Korugar are humanoid in appearance, with bright "red" skin (although the exact color is inconsistently depicted). Their planet was a peaceful place until its original Green Lantern, Sinestro, became corrupt. Wanting to ensure that Korugar would be a place of order, Sinestro set himself up as the planet's dictator, and ruled it with an iron fist. When the Guardians learned of Sinestro's crimes, they stripped him of his ring and exiled him to the anti-matter universe of Qward (in the reboot of the Green Lantern series Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn, it is new Lantern Hal Jordan that uncovers Sinestro's crime). Katma Tui, the leader of the Korugaran resistance movement against Sinestro, was recruited as Sinestro's replacement. However, due to Sinestro's repressive reign, the Korugarans had come to view the Green Lantern symbol as a sign of tyranny—Earth Lanterns comparing it to modern perception of the swastika due to the actions of the Nazis—and rejected Katma, calling her "The Lost".^[2]

The Korugaran's distrust of the Guardians is still strong by the time Soranik Natu is recruited, as she is reviled by her associates when she receives the ring, and she ultimately ends up losing her job as a doctor and is forced onto the streets. However, after she begins using her ring to provide medical care to Korugar's lower class, she is (unwillingly) used as a symbol against the corrupt government ruling the planet. Sinestro tried to use this situation to get Natu to take control of Korugar and instill order during the Sinestro Corps War, but she defied him and aided her own Corps on Earth.

Korugar was slated to be the site of Sinestro's execution.^[3] However, he is captured en route by members of the Red Lantern Corps, whom he later escapes from. The Korugarians do not take kindly to this, berating the Green Lantern Corps for failing to deliver him.^[4]

Korugar is later invaded by the Mongul Corps, a splinter faction of the Sinestro Corps, led by their namesake, Mongul.^[5] The Korugarians are freed from Mongul's tyranny by Sinestro himself, who uses Mongul's own rings to imprison him inside their Corps' central power battery.^[6]

In the "Rise of the Third Army" and "Wrath of the First Lantern" storyline, the planet Korugar was attacked by the villain Volthoom. He drains off the emotions of the planet's population, killing them. Sinestro survives the encounter.^[7]

Notes