 | GREEN LANTERN POWER BATTERIES | BIOGRAPHY |
| Created by John Broome and Gil Kane |
 |
TECHNICAL DATA
Name: Green Lantern Power Batteries
DCU Creator(s): Guardians of the Universe
Height: 1' 2" (generally)
Weight: 1 lb. 4 oz.
First Appearance: Showcase #22 (September-October 1959): "SOS Green Lantern"
Creators: John Broome and Gil Kane
HISTORY
Legends tell of the first intelligent life in the galaxy emerging in a world of fog. When they developed police, they were therefore the first police in the galaxy. They identified themselves by carrying, on a long pole, a lantern, lit green by a chemical flame. It is said that the lantern was adopted by the Guardians of the Universe as a symbol of justice.
As part of their plan to bring order to the cosmos, the immortals of Oa, the Guardians of the Universe, collected their energies in a massive Central Power Battery and created a warrior corps of androids known as the Manhunters. The Manhunters were internally powered but their weaponry, an energy gun, was powered by a smaller, separate battery with which they would charge the gun at designated intervals. This personal battery drew power from the Central Power Battery on Oa. The Manhunters ultimately rebelled and seized the battery, but when one of their number attempted to charge his weapon from in an act of defiance, their weaponry and batteries which led to their defeat. - Justice League of America #141, Secret Origins Vol. 2 #22
Next, the energy guns and batteries were given to living agents, known as the Halla's then to other species, such as represented by Kendotha Kr'nek of Binitrix. Starting with Rori Dag of Rojira in sector 1234, the best known version of the power batteries was introduced. Wielding the power ring, Rori Dag and countless others who followed would each carry their battery of power as the Green Lantern Corps. - Green Lantern Vol. 2 #90, Green Lantern 80-Page Giant #3, Green Lantern Vol. 2# 67
Over the next three billion years, other versions of power batteries would appear, but for the purpose of this text they will be discussed later.
FUNCTION The primary function of the battery of power is to serve as the conduit to the Central Power Battery on Oa. This enables a ring wielder to recharge his/her/its ring for a period of twenty four hours, but recently that limitation has been altered from a strict time limit to a limit based on energy expenditure. The recharging takes approximately ten seconds and during that time, many of the Green Lantern Corps have taken to reciting oaths. It should be noted that the oath is not a requirement to recharging the ring, but it is necessary for the ring wielder to focus his/her/its will on the task, whether an oath is spoken or not.
At times, the Guardians of the Universe would communicate with their ring wielders through the battery. This communication would generally be in the form of their voice, but at times visual projections of the Guardians would appear. Historically, there does not appear to be any need for the battery to be present for the Guardians to project either voice or appearance, so the battery may be a more formal or private means of communication. - Green Lantern Vol. 2 #2
The battery of power can be willed into invisibility to safeguard it from discovery by forces hostile to the Corps. Alternately, it can be willed into an alternate dimensional plane so it is easily accessible to the ring wielder, but inaccessible to an enemy. A dimension dampener may cause interference, preventing the ring wielder from retrieving the lantern battery. - Green Lantern Emerald Dawn #1, Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #3
DESIGN The individual batteries were said to be carved from the remnants of the giant crystal which became the Central Power Battery. Though the standard design of the Green Lantern Corps’ batteries resembled the form of the Central Battery on Oa, many other designs have been seen over the years, most appearing after the post-Crisis withdrawal of the Guardians from their home universe. A number of these batteries fell into the hands of Fatality, after her murders of the previous owners.
Despite the physical appearance of the batteries, there are no functional differences. Apparently, a Green Lantern may be able to alter the shape of his/her/its battery, though this has not yet been witnessed. The Guardians obviously made some allowances for the physical differences of the Green Lantern Corps. Due to the myriad species across the universe, for example, size, some Green Lanterns need a smaller sized battery by necessity, as exemplified by the Earth insect sized Xax of Xaos, as compared to the much larger Kilowog of Bolovax Vik.
The shell casing of the power battery contains and transports the power essence, a glowing sphere of emerald energy which focuses the power across the great distances of space and itself is linked to the energies of the Central Power Battery. The battery’s power essence can be accessed by twisting off the top of the power battery. -Action Comics #624
Each battery features at least one opening, to allow the member of the Corps contact with the power essence. Physical contact from the ring to the power essence is not required, as long as there is a close proximity between the two and a strong will to initiate the recharging. The act of recharging the power ring causes the battery to glow brilliantly. Multiple Green Lanterns can simultaneously charge their rings at one, individual battery. When charged as a group, the rings can be a further distance from the battery and still be successfully recharged. Green Lantern Vol. 2 # 19
The power battery gives off light, but there have been no reports of it giving off heat.
LIMITATIONS The power batteries may lose their effectiveness in some alternate dimensions or universes. In the anti-matter universe of Qward, a Green Lantern is unable to use the battery to recharge his/her/its power ring. On the world of Apokolips, the Green Lantern Corps found their batteries’ links to the Central Power Battery on Oa severely strained. In either occurance, it has not been established if this is due to environmental factors or a dimensional dampener. Green Lantern Vol. 2 # 126, [[|Green Lantern 80-Page Giant 3 | Green Lantern 80-Page Giant # 3]]
Though the power ring itself is said to be virtually indestructible, the power batteries themselves do not appear to be. It should be noted that Hal Jordan has lost four power batteries as a Green Lantern. His first loss was during basic training on Oa. The details of this adventure are not currently available. - Green Lantern Vol. 4 #
Intense, focused magnetic waves can disrupt the shell of the power battery. Minute cracks in the shell casing allow the battery to leak energy. The leaking energy may warp time, then, when the battery ultimately explodes, the unleashed energy has the potential to disrupt dimensional barriers. Such was the case when the Crumbler came near the power battery of Hal Jordan. The blast threw Guy Gardner into the Phantom Zone. -Green Lantern Vol. 2 # 114-#116
Some years later, an alien race, the Laroo, had sent an advance team to locate the Green Lantern of Earth's power battery and seize it. They planned to use it as a bargaining chip in their war with the Lasma. Hal Jordan's friend, Itty, was of the Lasma species. The Laroo had planned to keep Green Lantern at bay by threatening to crush his power battery with their magnetic powers. A tug-of-war ensued that caused the power battery to burst. The wild energy consumed everything it came in contact with. Jordan entered the maelstrom of energy. His tremendous will bent the power to his design. The power flowed around Jordan, creating an enormous simulacrum of himself. Jordan could scarcely hold the energy, he had to leave Earth to release it in outer space. Green Lantern Vol. 3 # 43
Hal Jordan lost his fourth power battery in battle with the Shark as the mutated creature crushed the battery in its massive jaws. Though a blast of energy ensued, there was no time warping or destructive radiation. Jordan’s power ring did go offline momentarily, causing it to reboot. It is not known if the battery had design improvements over the years to prevent local or dimensional damage, or if Jordan used the power ring to quickly establish safeguards against the expected energy blast. Returning to Oa to get a replacement battery, Jordan was not welcomed by Lantern Shorm, the Corps’ quartermaster. - Green Lantern Vol. 4# 4
In an unusual event, the power battery was used to move a planet. In space sector 47, the population of the planet Zintha had believed, erroneously, that their sun was about to go nova. They funneled their collective willpower through the power battery of their Green Lantern, Lysandra. To prevent catastrophe, Lysandra broke the connection to the battery by charging her power ring. Green Lantern Vol. 2 # 168-169
During the Sinestro Corps War, the defeat and imprisonment of Parallax saw the fear entity torn in four by the Guardian Ganthet. The essence of Parallax was then put in four separate power batteries belonging to the Green Lanterns of Earth Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart and Kyle Rayner. Presumably, Parallax was too weak to travel to the Central Power Battery or attempt another escape. He was released to fight the Black Lantern Spectre.
ALAN SCOTT - GOLDEN AGE POWER BATTERY Altered by the magic of the Starheart, the power battery of fallen Green Lantern Yalan Gur was fused into the green mass with his lifeforce, and over the centuries was shaped into the battery which came into the possession of Alan Scott. After carving a power ring from the battery Scott became the Golden Age Green Lantern. The Green Flame of Life spoke to Alan Scott though the power battery, and also gave him the ability to see into variations of the timestream. This battery was taken by Hal Jordan as Parallax and with the energy of a standard Corps issued battery enabled Parallax and Kyle Rayner to somehow switch lives and places in time. The Golden Age power battery was eventually recovered but was later reabsorbed into the Starheart. Green Lantern Vol. 3 # 19, ALL-AMERICAN # 16, Green Lantern ANNUAL # 5, Green Lantern/SENTINEL: HEART OF DARKNESS # 1-3
It had been revealed that another power battery, a duplicate of Alan Scott's, had been discovered in Berlin, Germany in 1949 by Chop Chop, a member of the World War II era heroes, the Blackhawks. The lantern was found amidst the rubble of a Nazi bunker, undisturbed since 1945. Strewn around the lantern were the mortal remains of Nazi soldiers and, inexplicably, the remains of Hawkman, Sandman, and Hourman, members of the Justice Society of America. In theory, the events which occurred in the bunker back in 1945 may be the result of an alternate timeline crossing into the main timeline. This discovery has yet to be fully investigated as some of the aforementioned heroes survived into the late 20th and early 21st century.
The lantern was later seen by Hal Jordan at the turn of the 21st century. At the time, the Green Lantern Corps had been all but disbanded, with only a few ring wielders across the universe. Jordan had hoped to use the battery to help restore the Corps. Instead,
It was then taken into the possession of the Phantom Stranger. Its current status has yet to be revealed. Green Lantern / Superman: Legend of the Green Flame
KYLE RAYNER's POWER BATTERY Following Hal Jordan’s destruction of the Central Power Battery and his transformation into Parallax, a piece of the Central Power Battery taken to Earth by the Ganthet, the last of the Guardians. Ganthet gave a modified power ring to Kyle Rayner but for reasons not fully explained quickly departed before giving the new ring wielder a power battery. Green Lantern Vol. 3 # 50
Unbeknownst to Rayner, Ganthet had left behind a glowing green rock which was a piece of the destroyed Central Power Battery. It was found by a vagrant that was in the same alleyway as Rayner when Ganthet appeared. The vagrant quickly brought the rock to the Quorum.
While the Quorum were unable to discover the secrets of the rock, they realized it was something important and therefore sent their operative, the superhuman Major Force, to learn all he could, by whatever means necessary. In his hunt for the newest Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, Major Force killed Rayner's girlfriend, Alex DeWitt. Rayner's power ring ran out of energy during his fight with Major Force but when it came in proximity to the rock held by Major Force, the rock morphed into a power battery. Rayner found his ring’s energy returned and easily defeated his mortal enemy. Rayner took the battery with him after the battle. Green Lantern Vol. 3 # 54-55
Aside from the design, Rayner's battery appeared to be the same as the standard Corps issued power batteries. The major difference is Rayner's power ring, which does not have a time limit on its energy charge as does the standard Corps power rings. Due to the nature of Rayner's power ring, the recharge process is not needed every twenty four hours, however, the recharge process takes significantly longer, approximately three minutes.
Kyle Rayner's battery proved to be a conduit to a world believed created from the emerald energy by Hal Jordan when he was possessed by Parallax. Within the battery existed a reproduction of Oa and the Green Lantern Corps constructed from the light of the power battery. Of particular note was the absence of the Guardians of the Universe, due to Jordan's Parallax influence. The world within the battery was destroyed during a battle with Doctor Light. - Green Lantern 3-D # 1
In his efforts to create a new Green Lantern Corps, Kyle Rayner had taken off pieces of his own power battery to create new batteries for a smaller version of the Corps. It is assumed these batteries were absorbed back into his battery after the short-lived Corps was disbanded. - Green Lantern: The New Corps #1-#2
POWER RING OF EARTH-3 / QWARD Before the so-called Crisis on Infinite Earths, a multiverse existed in which the Guardians of the Universe and their Green Lantern Corps were said to exist in the “Earth One universe”, Alan Scott the Golden Age Green Lantern existed on “Earth Two” and the deadly Crime Syndicate of America lived on “Earth Three”. On this Earth, the mystic Volthoom gave a power ring and battery to a man who would take the name “Power Ring” and join fellow criminals Ultraman, Owlman, Super Woman, and Johnny Quick in the Crime Syndicate of America. Secret Society of Super-Villains # ??
Presently, an anti-matter version of Earth exists which has had a succession of beings known as Power Ring. In the 52 universes that compose the current multiverse, the Earth Three reality’s Power Ring as well as other universes have Green Lanterns, presumably with their own batteries. JLA: Earth Two, 52 #
OTHER BATTERIES In recent years, an attempt was made to create a power source similar to the Green Lantern power batteries. Dubbed "Project Coleman" by the Department of Extranormal Operations, research was moved to Earth orbit for safety precautions. No further information is available. Chase #1
Power batteries have been seen for representatives of other colors in the emotional spectrum. [Red Lantern Corps Power Batteries
CHRONOLOGY
For a definitive list of appearances of Green Lantern Power Batteries in chronological order click here
PROFILE REFERENCES
Green Lantern Secret Files #2 (September 1999)
JLA-Z #3 (January 2004)
Green Lantern/Sinestro Corps Secret Files #1 (February 2008)