Green Lanterns are the champions of will. They are capable of overcoming every fear they face and use that courage to fight for a better tomorrow. More than simply not letting fear control them, these heroes use their unbreakable wills to stay on the right path no matter what horrors they face. Those with a strong sense of justice and willpower are chosen to be Green Lanterns, who act as the universe’s guardians and peacekeeping force. Of course, a desire to do the right thing and an unbreakable spirit can describe many more characters than just Green Lanterns. In fact, both of those aspects are practically requirements for being a superhero.
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Almost every superhero has an extremely powerful will that allows them to overcome all of the opposition that lies before them. After all, fighting strong opponents and defying impossible odds are just Tuesday for most of DC’s characters. Yet despite this, there are only a handful of Green Lanterns, and none were superheroes before being chosen to wield a ring. Obviously, this is to keep already overpowered characters from being downright unstoppable, but it raises the question of who else has the will required to be a Green Lantern. Today, we’re going to look at seven DC heroes who have wills just as strong as any Green Lantern, even without wearing a ring.
7) Power Girl
Few heroes have suffered half as much as Power Girl. She lost her home planet as a child and was then raised in a virtual reality environment until adulthood. Just when she learned to live a good life on Earth, her entire universe was destroyed by Crisis on Infinite Earths. Even though she’s lost everything again and again, she’s never let that tragedy darken her heart. She overcomes all of it every day to help people. She’s constantly terrified of losing everything again and never feels like she belongs, but she’s still fighting for the right reasons, and that’s a true mark of willpower. Most villains are people who have been broken by far less.
6) Martian Manhunter
Although he is criminally underrated, Martian Manhunter is another example of a tragic hero who has overcome every obstacle to be a true hero. He had a happy family life until a telepathic plague wiped out his entire race. Then he was transported to Earth, ripped thousands of years in the future. Despite all that pain and constantly being an outsider, he’s made this second planet his home. He, like all Martians, also suffers from a mental and physical vulnerability to fire. A single flame is enough to render him immobile and panicked. Fire is one of the most common things in any disaster area, but J’onn risks his life and mental stability to save lives, overcoming a fear ingrained in his DNA.
5) Black Canary
Black Canary is the definition of not knowing when to quit. She’s trained to become one of the best hand-to-hand fighters in the world, regularly proving she’s even better than legends like Batman and Lady Shiva. She has a strong heart that never wavers when there are lives on the line, and she’s been described as a hurricane of determination. Roy Harper even claims that she’s tougher than Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen. Black Canary never goes down, no matter how hard she’s hit. In the Elseworlds, DCeased, she was even chosen to be the next Green Lantern after Hal was killed. If that’s not a sign of unstoppable will, I don’t know what is.
4) Batman
I don’t need to convince anyone that Batman has one of the strongest wills known to man. He regularly proves that through his unyielding dedication to his mission, putting it above his health, and mastering a mind-boggling amount of skills. The only reason that Batman has not been chosen as a Green Lantern is his refusal to let go of his fear of losing his parents, which drives him to ensure it never happens to anyone else. Batman regularly pushes himself well past human limits. With nothing else but his will and resources, Batman has forged himself into a monolith of heroism. He’s one of the world’s greatest and best-respected superheroes, all without powers. That is a work of pure willpower.
3) Wonder Woman
Diana is a warrior of peace, raised to one day lead the Amazons, but she chooses to show mankind a way to peace. Wonder Woman left her home, expecting to never return, to save the world from the fires of Ares, even though she knew literally nothing of Man’s World. That is a true act of courage, and she repeats it every day when she fights. Instead of taking the easy way out when she faces villains, Wonder Woman always digs for the truth. She figures out the facts, especially when she does not want to face them. The choice to focus on all the darkness of the world and see it for what it is, not what she wants it to be, is a true showcase of determination like nothing else.
2) Mister Miracle
Scott Free had one of the worst childhoods imaginable. He was traded to Apokalips as part of a peace deal with New Genesis. Darkseid, naturally, was not a good father, and gave him to Granny Goodness, who tortured him in her Orphanage. Despite constantly being caught and ruined, Mister Miracle never stopped looking for a way to escape. He kept throwing himself against an impossible task that got harder every time, where each failure meant increased agony. When he finally made his unimaginable escape, he still chose to be a hero and fight for what’s right. He’s the epitome of determination, never giving up despite every possible thing telling him that it was useless.
1) Superman
The Man of Tomorrow has one of the strongest wills in the entire universe. Despite his incredible powers, he regularly goes up against threats that outclass him, yet he always forces himself to find a way to help everyone. Then there’s his incredible restraint. He’s always holding himself back, using the same hands that can crush coal into diamonds to hold another’s hand. He’s holding himself back every single day, which takes an unbelievable amount of willpower. He’s shown that he’s capable of overcoming impossible fear, as well. Once, he absorbed Parallax, the Entity of Fear, into himself, which once controlled Hal Jordan and the Spectre. He’s Superman, and that includes having a super will.
Which hero do you think has the strongest will? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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