Arkade here.  Round two with the Lantern Corps.  We’ll now tackle the Violet and Red (RJ must be itching to comment) Lantern Corps.  So, without further ado, here we go.

Violet Lantern Corps:

Emotion Based Power Source:

Love

Color:

Violet

Guardian/s:

The Zamarons

Living Embodiment of Power:

The Predator

Oath:

For Hearts long lost And full of fright,

For those alone In the Blackest Night,

Accept our Ring and join our Fight

Love Conquers all with a Violet Light!

Overview:

Although this corps is one of the newly formed ones, the violet lantern’s influence in the DC Multiverse is as old as the green lantern’s.  Their guardians, the Zamarons, are a splinter group of the guardians of the universe.  They chose to leave the circle of guardians when it was suggested that all emotion is to be abandoned.

Originally, they sought to spread the light of love using the Star Sapphire Crystals they found on Zamaron.  But they were unable to understand that the crystal’s influence on the wearer was too strong, to the point of overriding the user’s decision making.  Thus, whenever a Star Sapphire is born, she relentlessly goes for a mate, regardless of the chaos that may ensue.

After finally understanding this problem, the Zamarons decided to copy the Guardians of the Universe by converting the crystals into rings.  Then, they started recruitment, forming their corps with women who have lost love in one way or another, all to prepare for the coming of the Blackest Night.

In terms of abilities, the violet lantern’s love tracking ability allows them a quick response to trouble.  Also, the crystal constructs created by the rings have the ability of “converting” the prisoners they have encased (as seen with the successful conversion of Fatality).

The corps itself is made up of women, willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of love.  And their pseudo corps leader and prospective embodiment vessel, Carol Ferris, is willing to do anything for the sake of Hal Jordan (her love), even going to the point of taking up the ring and the burden of being a star sapphire (not to mention going one on one with Sinestro himself).  She also exhibits a level of resistance to the controlling power of the ring (being in the end of a spectrum, the control over the wearer is enormous).

Personal Opinions:

Ok… I have one statement here that can pretty much sum up the violet lanterns…. The Kinky Feminist Lonely Hearts Corps.  Amongst all the corps, this is the one I had most trouble with.  For one thing, the notion of love given by the original star sapphire is more inclined to lust than actual love.  Secondly, the fact that this corps is purely made out of women, begs the question: What do they have against men?  And if so, why the outfits, which can only be meant to attract men? (I mean, come on… Look at that damn cleavage…)

Anyways, enough of the rant.  Let’s be a little more objective.  Being one of the youngest corps, the Violet Lanterns have a lot of room to grow.  Not to mention, their powers were not yet fully explored.  However, the current attack of the Sinestro Corps will probably weaken them substantially, not to mention the fact that the black rings just entered the fray.  Hopefully, they can pick themselves up and continue fighting, because as of now, the future looks bleak.

Red Lantern Corps:

Emotion Based Power Source:

Rage

Color:

Red

Guardian/s:

Uncertain

Living Embodiment of Power:

Unknown

Oath:

With Blood and Rage of Crimson Red,

Ripped from a corpse, so freshly Dead

Together with our Hellish Hate,

We’ll burn you all, that is Your Fate!

Overview:

The other end of the emotional spectrum brings about the emotion that is responsible for most of actual crime, rage.  The head of the corps is the inversion called Atrocitus.  His rage was built on the fact that the Manhunters massacred everyone is his sector.  And in extension, his rage extends to the Guardians of the Universe (who created the Manhunters) and the Green Lantern Corps (Sinestro in particular since, as a Green Lantern, he was the one who took Atrocitus into custody).

Now, after harnessing the power of Rage, Atrocitus also began recruiting his corps, which is built up of beings with hearts full of rage.  But then comes the thing that makes the Red Lanterns different from any other.  The rings of the Red Lanterns act like parasites, bonding with the host by replacing the blood of the host with liquid flame (similar to Napalm) with the ring itself replacing the heart.  Thus, the ring’s removal from the host results in the death of the host.

Another trait that is unique to the Red Lanterns is that all, with the exception of Atrocitus, have no will of their own.  The only drive they have is rage, with Atrocitus acting as the actual will of the group.  So, it becomes a twisted version of follow the leader.  Also, the only Red Lantern thus far that was able to create an actual construct was Hal Jordan, in his stint as a Red Lantern.  Otherwise, the other Red Lanterns just burn (via spewing their liquid fire), kick and punch their way through any situation.

Personal Opinions:

“RAGE! MAD! ANGRY! PISSED! RAGE!”, that just about sums up what’s in the brain of a Red Lantern.   It’s similar to a psychopathic need to be pissed at just about everything.  In short, these guys… have issues…

Anyway, now to the objective portions.  The Red Lanterns are strong and scary bastards.  Fighting one is bad enough… but a horde of them?  Not to mention, recruitment is easy since all beings experience rage every day.  It’s just a matter of gauging how pissed someone is.

Also, they are pretty much stand-alone.  They don’t complement any other corps in any way since they tend to hate and attack everything that Atrocitus aims them at.  So, it all boils down to Atrocitus and who he considers as friend or foe.  The foe part is easy enough.  The friend part is a definitely more complicated.

So, in the end, all the members of the corps are simply tools of Atrocitus, to be used to exact revenge on those who he feels has wronged him, whether they really did or not.

Added Notes to the Post:

Being both the extremes of the emotional spectrum, I think it’s time I made a more thorough explanation of what the emotional spectrum is, so as we can understand the meaning of being the extreme side of the emotional spectrum (for this, I apologize.  I this should have been on the first post.)

The emotional spectrum is made up of 7 colors:

Red – Orange – Yellow – Green – Blue – Indigo – Violet

|             |               |           |             |             |               |

Rage – Avarice – Fear – Will – Hope – Compassion – Love

I have always been on the assumption that green willpower (which is labelled as the purest of the energies) was placed in the middle of the spectrum since all the other color based emotions need a percentage of will.  In other words, for all the other emotions to actually take effect, one must will themselves in alignment to the particular emotion; one must will himself to rage, avarice, fear, hope, compassion and/or love.

Also, one must understand a few things about the different positions of the colors;  For one, the farther the color from the centre, the more susceptible the host to the emotion, meaning that the emotion will most likely govern the host, not the other way around.  Also, as of now, the only color not yet known is that of the Indego.  They were showcased, but still not much is known.  And finally, the Black Lanterns are not in the emotional spectrum as far as I can tell.  I believe it is something like the anti-thesis of Will, since the dead have no will of their own anymore.

Anyways, that ends the second post.  Will start working on the third, which will showcase the Orange and the Blue Lanterns (Fiel will love this one).  Till next time!

p.s. READ! COMMENT!! And ARGUE!!!

magnusarkade

Website - More Posts

Related posts:

1. Lantern Corps part 1
2. Lantern Corps Part 3
3. (Leaked?) Green Lantern Corps #59 Cover
4. Green Lantern #65, Green Lantern Corps #59, Wolverine #8, Avengers Academy #12, Super Dinosaur #1
5. Blackest Night #2 & Green Lantern Corps #39