The 5 Most Shocking Green Lantern Plot Twists

The Green Lantern has been a prominent hero in the DC Universe ever since way back in the Golden Age, although most people are more familiar with the Silver Age reinvention with the Green Lantern Corps. The once magic-powered hero of Gotham City was transformed into an entire army of spacefaring guardians of order, and ever since then, the shifts and changes haven’t stopped coming. The Green Lantern mythos is one of the deepest and most expansive ones in all of DC, with histories of immortal beings and heroes stationed all across the universe. In creating and expanding that gargantuan mythology, it’s only natural that there be plenty of twists and turns along the way.

There have been plenty of shocking moments and revelations, from surprise betrayals to villainous plans we never would have seen coming. Today, we’re going to look at five of the craziest, most shocking plot twists that have ever been penned within a Green Lantern comic. There are so many that we could have chosen from, but these five are without a doubt the ones that made our breaths catch the most.

5) Jessica Becoming a Green Lantern

When Jessica Cruz was first introduced, she wasn’t a Green Lantern, but rather the newest unwilling host of the Earth 3’s Ring of Volthoom. The ring fed on its host’s fears, making the anxiety-ridden Jessica the perfect person to control, or so it thought. With help from Batman and Hal Jordan, Jessica managed to conquer her terror and make the ring work for her, rather than the other way around. She found strength in her past trauma, and joined the Justice League as Power Ring. During the climax of the “Darkseid War” event, Jessica sacrificed herself to save the Flash from the Black Racer. Having completed her character arc and overcome her greatest fears, it seemed like a tragic but fitting end for Jessica’s story, only for it to be revealed that the god of death had actually taken the spirit inside the Ring, freeing her. Even better, she was chosen as a new Green Lantern for her courage. This was an awesome twist, as Jessica was the first GL chosen that very plainly struggled with crippling fear, and set her on a path to being an even cooler hero in the Corps.

4) The Death of Alex DeWitt

Out of all the moments on this list, this is easily the most out of left field. While new Green Lantern Kyle Rayner is out and about, forgettable villain Major Force kills his girlfriend Alex and shoves her in the fridge for Kyle to find. The sheer barbarity of this scene floors you when you read it for the first time, and leaves a nasty impression. Worst of all, it had no purpose to it. Major Force decided to go after Green Lantern literally that issue, and yet this assault feels ten times beyond personal. I mean, heck, it wasn’t even the cliffhanger of the issue! This death was so nonsensical and meaningless, done for no other reason than to drum up drama and make Kyle angsty, that the term fridging was coined to describe when female characters were killed or maimed for the advancement of the male hero. This moment is a slap in the face to readers, and as horrible as it is, at least some good came of it as an example of what not to do.

3) The Emotional Spectrum

Originally, it was thought that the only emotion that power rings could channel was willpower, but it was proved to very much not be the case. The Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum was brought into being during Geoff Johns’s legendary stint as the writer for Green Lantern, introducing the idea of the different wavelengths of light that each correspond to a different emotion. This blew open the door of possibilities, and brought countless beloved characters into existence, from Atrocitus to Sinestro’s entire self-named Corps. The revelation that there are not one, but seven entire groups of Lanterns out there is mind-boggling when you learn it for the first time, and that’s why this amazing twist deserves its spot on this list.

2) Parallax and His Real Identity

This twist is technically two in one, but one can’t exist without the other, so I lumped them together here. After the destruction of Coast City, Hal Jordan supposedly went crazy and wiped out the rest of the Green Lantern Corps, becoming the villain Parallax. This heel turn was crazy enough given how out of character it was, but the real shock came much later, when it was revealed that Parallax was actually the living embodiment of fear, and the reason Hal was corrupted and even the yellow weakness the GL’s rings had was due to him. It was a massive change that completely recontextualized everything, restoring Hal’s character while creating one of the best villains the DC Universe has ever seen, and setting up for plenty of awesome stories to come. Everyone thought Hal had left Parallax behind when he sacrificed himself in Final Night and became the Spectre, but bringing him back to show us what he really was shocked everyone.

1) Nekron Letting Heroes Come Back

Nekron is the embodiment of death in the DC Universe, the one prophesized to bring about the Blackest Night and the end of all life. When he was finally unleashed, his first act was to send Black Lantern rings to turn all of the dead heroes and villains into his zombie army. The army was terrifying, but not unstoppable, as Earth still had countless heroes to defend it, but that was when Nekron revealed his biggest secret; just about every hero had died and come back at some point, and Nekron allowed them to return so his army could grow even bigger and the Earth would be even less prepared. It was a mind-boggling revelation, turning what is one of comics’ biggest tropes into an insane plot point that sends shivers down people’s spines. This twist is so amazing because it plays with the meat expectations of the genre and turns them into an advantage, which is never, ever expected, but always hits extra hard when it’s done.

So there are the top five most insane, craziest, most shocking plot twists in all of the Green Lantern mythos so far. These are the ones that stuck out to me the most, but this list could easily include plenty more, from the revelation about Volthoom to John Stewart finding the bomb on Xanshi was yellow. Which twist did you find most shocking? Let us know in the comments below!

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