Everyone knows about the Green Lantern Corps and their Power Rings, but that is just one of many colors from the DC Universe. For many years, this was just the Green Power Rings, which originated with names like Alan Scott before the Corps was ever established in DC Comics, and then went on to include names such as Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, and others. However, soon, DC began to introduce new colors, with the most popular coming when Sinestro left the Green Lantern Corps to create his yellow-based Sinestro Corps. The most recent color is Grey, and that is just one of countless colors in the comics.
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From the heroic Green Lantern Corps to the evil Sinestro Corps and everyone in between, here is every color of Lantern Ring in DC Comics, ranked.
11) Grey Lanterns
There is only one known person who possessed the Grey Lantern Ring. This is Nathan Broome, also known by the name Sorrow. He was the former fiancé of Carol Ferris, but when Carol and he went to Vegas to get married, she quickly left him there when a Star Sapphire Ring reached her and she had to go save Hal Jordan. Nathan was heartbroken and felt abandoned. When he began to cry, holding the engagement ring, it was infused with sadness and transformed him into a Sorrow Lantern.
Nathan went off in revenge, but when Carol tried to give him closure, he left. He returned and made the ultimate sacrifice in Green Lantern Corps Vol. 4 #8. Starbreaker had created the Grey Power Battery, and that fed energy into Nathan. He realized that he was no longer filled with sorrow, but was empty. Seeing Carol and Hal together, he sacrificed his own life to destroy the Power Battery and stop Starbreaker, proving his power, but also ending the Grey Lanterns with his death.
10) Blue Lanterns
The Blue Lantern Corps is not a powerful color in the grand scheme of things, but they do serve an essential purpose. The blue color represents hope, and its most popular member was Saint Walker, who served as the first of their kind. They formed after the war with the Sinestro Corps, and their entire purpose was to offer hope for the future.
However, while many colors in the Lantern Corps are often at odds with one another, the Blue Lantern Corps was created for a different purpose. These warriors simply provide aid to the other Lantern Colors, as long as those they help are benevolent. Their main objective is to boost the power of other ring holders, so when they support the Green Lantern Corps, they increase their power. However, on their own, the Blue Lantern Corps are not as mighty in a battle.
9) Black Lanterns
The Black Lanterns are some of the most powerful in the known universe, but there are severe limitations, and they can’t survive without the entire world falling under their might. They debuted in 2008 in Green Lantern Vol. 4 #25 as the army of Nekron, the Lord of the Unliving. As it suggests, these Lanterns have no power of their own, and they exist to serve Nekron for his vile purposes, which limits their worth.
The Black Lanterns consist only of the deceased, and the color represents the entire absence of emotion and life, which was close to how the Grey Lantern Sorrow felt before his death. Their only goal in life is to take the hearts of the people most emotionally affected by their return from the dead, and this makes them the harbingers of a sort of zombie apocalypse. However, in Blackest Night, the Black Lanterns fell to the White Lantern Corps, ending the threat completely.
8) Ultraviolet Lanterns
The Ultraviolet Corps debuted in Justice League Vol. 4 #4 in 2018. They serve as the Lanterns of the unseen light, which is known as the “Invisible Emotional Spectrum.” Their power comes from a sentient sun named Umbrax, and this was initially something that scared even Sinestro, who had investigated it before his inauguration into the Green Lantern Corps.
When it escaped captivity, Umbvrax was powerful enough to corrupt Sinestro and led an attack on Earth, where it converted almost everyone on the planet into its own army. However, the Justice League was there to help stop it, revealing its limitations, although they never actually defeated the sun; instead, they only pushed it back. As for the Ultraviolet Corps, they have no control, similar to the Black Corps, and only exist to serve Umbrax. While Umbrax is extremely powerful, the Corps are primarily composed of enslaved individuals.
7) Star Sapphires
The Star Sapphire Corps has a violet Lantern Color, and the emotion of love charges their rings. They are primarily a heroic group, and they have worked alongside the Green Lantern Corps throughout their existence. One reason for this is that the original Star Sapphire was Carol Ferris, Hal Jordan’s former girlfriend and close ally. However, as a unit, they mostly have their own purposes for getting involved in conflicts.
Sadly, they fall lower on the list because they were almost all destroyed during Blackest Night, while only Carol’s powers seemed to remain intact. Their powers are nearly the same as the Green Lantern Corps Rings, although they are immune to the Orange Lanterns.
6) Orange Lanterns
The Orange Lantern Corps represent greed, but that is also why they are nowhere near as powerful or as important as most of the other colors. That is because the greed extends to inside the Corps as well. Larfleeze is the only member of the Orange Lantern Corps because he refuses to share the Power Rings with anyone else, thanks to his intense greed.
Everyone who weilds the Orange Power Ring is supposed to be an individual whose greed knows no bounds, and Larfleeze’s story was told in Agent Orange. This story shows that the Guardians and Green Lantern Corps were unable to beat Larfleeze and his Orange Lantern powers, but they were finally able to at least even the odds with aid from a Blue Lantern Ring. That is because it can’t absorb hope and is worthless against love (Violet).
5) Indigo Lanterns
The Indigo Tribe is a color that channels the emotion of compassion. However, there is also one big downfall to this color. The Indigo Tribe actively brings in the universe’s most despicable sociopaths, believing they can rehabilitate them with their rings’ power. This made them very controversial, since the members of this tribe consist of merciless murderers who end up forced to feel compassion when they wear the rings. This included Sinestro for a time.
Initially, it was the Green Lantern Abin Sur who found these killers to fill their ranks, but he had an ulterior motive. He didn’t care about rehabilitation. He was building an army. They served their initial purpose in helping to win the war during Blackest Light, but with Abin Sur dead, they still fear the Guardians of the Universe would one day take over, and they remain on duty if this time comes.
4) Yellow Lanterns
The Yellow Lanterns are known as the Sinestro Corps, and they were formed when Sinestro left the Green Lantern Corps. What makes the Yellow Lantern power so important is that it is one of the few things that can shut down a Green Lantern’s power. Sinestro had his ring forged after telling the Weaponers of Qward about the Green Lantern Rings’ inability to affect anything yellow in color.
At its base, the rings do the same things as the Green Lantern rings, with some terrifying exceptions. The Yellow Lantern color derives its energy from fear, and its power lies in inspiring fear in others. When an opponent’s fear level increases, the Yellow Rings become more powerful. They can also create a form of Kryotonite, which can harm people like Superman. On the downside, it is disrupted by Blue Lantern Rings and is easily defeated by Red Lantern Rings.
3) Red Lanterns
The Red Lantern Corps is one of the few villainous units that stands on its own without someone controlling their every move. They have long been enemies of the Green Lantern Corps, as their rings channel the emotion of “rage” and their members are chosen from the angriest beings in the universe. The Red Lantern Corps’ leader is the vicious and deadly Atrocitus.
However, there was also a second faction of the Red Lantern Corps, led by Guy Gardner, who sought to lead the unit in protecting the universe rather than terrorizing it, albeit with the same violence and murder to which they were accustomed. These are very powerful warriors, and thanks to their rage tendencies, they are one of the few Lantern Colors who are immune to the Black Lantern Corps, since they have no use for their hearts. They can also shoot plasma and napalm from their rings, one of the deadliest attacks of any of the Corps.
2) Green Lanterns
The Green Lantern Corps is the largest of all the Lantern Corps groups, and they have remained the peacekeeping force in the universe for ages. Alan Scott was the first Lantern on Earth, and this was before anyone, including himself, had ever heard of the Corps. Hal Jordan remains the most famous member, but names like John Stewart and Kyle Rayner are also powerful Earth-based members.
The Green Lanterns get their power by harnessing will, and only the strongest-willed warriors are chosen by the rings to become the Lanterns of their quadrants. This is also the Lantern Color that has the least influence over the person wearing it, as they must possess an indomitable will. These rings are among the most powerful weapons in the universe, although they can fail when faced with Yellow and Red Lantern Rings.
1) White Lanterns
The Black Lanterns seemed poised to destroy all life on Earth until they faced the force of the White Lanterns. While the Black Lanterns remain ranked very low in power thanks to the user’s lack of free will and the fact that they fell to the combined forces of other rings, the White Lanterns are the ones who finally shut it down. This is from the start of the universe, and it was from the White that all other colors of the Lanterns were formed.
Whoever possesses the White Lantern power can resurrect the dead, teleport, and even create constructs that last much longer than any other ring’s power. This is because the White Light comes from all living things, and all living things get their power from it. The one downfall is that the wearer has no control over the ring, and it does the bidding of the Life Entity. It also recharges automatically when the person wielding it performs actions that constitute “living.”
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