Green Lantern's Ring Didn't Originally Have Its Greatest Weakness
A Green Lantern’s power ring has been shown to have a handful of weaknesses over the years, but one of its most obvious ones wasn’t originally a problem to begin with. Capable of harnessing their immense willpower stemming from the Emotional Spectrum only to then concentrate that same energy into the very ring fit snug on their fingers, the Green Lantern Corps are a group of galactic space cops that need every advantage they can get, and are only ever rendered useless when their rings aren’t fully charged – or in this instance – even on their hand to begin with.
Well known to fans, a Green Lantern power ring is the lifeline of all members of the Green Lantern Corps, and for a time, their greatest weakness was their susceptibility to the color yellow. Using its power to unleash wildly imaginative energy constructs to either swiftly take down their foes or to simply help their fellow comrades in a pinch, Green Lanterns rely on the combined power of their rings and the willpower fueling them to overcome any and all odds, with the only exception to this rule usually occurring when they don’t have physical access to their rings at all.
Though an unfathomable device of great power, the limits of a Green Lantern’s power ring can still become a huge issue when trying to thwart the newest universal threat – like the fear-based Sinestro Corps or the teeming with rage Red Lanterns – to a point that members of the Corps are often left powerless should their ring ever slip from their fingers, forcibly or otherwise. And although Green Lanterns aren’t the steadfast heroes they’ve become simply because they command what basically amounts to a magic ring that responds to their every thought and whim, the willpower needed to succeed at the job is also an imperative tool that shouldn’t be taken for granted, and is a huge reason for overcoming this particular weakness in question.
As seen in a few standout comics in the past – such as Action Comics #617 by Peter David and Richard Howell, and JLA Classified #48 by Mike W. Barr and Randy Green – Green Lantern Hal Jordan has the uncanny ability to flip his ring’s most glaring weakness on its head. Usually depowered entirely after his ring is snatched from his finger, Hal shows that when the amount of willpower is right, anything is possible, ring on his finger or not.
Seen in both examples when his ring is straight up stolen or utilized by the enemy, Hal is still able to control his weapon and its ability to make power constructs simply because he has the immense willpower to do so. And even though this idea hasn’t exactly been utilized in more recent Green Lantern stories, the thought that not wearing a power ring immediately makes a Lantern useless is one that wasn’t always an issue, speaking volumes to the strength and the willpower of beings that should be rendered inert without their shiny green jewelry on hand.
So while many fans are aware of a Green Lantern’s dated weakness to the color yellow, the idea that a Lantern can’t use their ring when they aren’t physically wearing one is a huge problem for a group of heroes who, depending on the situation at hand, don’t always have immediate access to their weapon of choice. But as seen in numerous instances long since past, that wasn’t always the case, and if Green Lanterns live and die by their ability to channel the power of will of the Emotional Spectrum, it makes sense that they can still control their rings while not wearing them; as long as their will is strong enough, that is.
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