Green Lantern is one of the DC Universe’s first lines of defense against all manners of foes, so it makes perfect sense for one of the ring bearers to be a member of the Justice League. The various Green Lanterns of Earth have been through a lot of changes over the years but one thing that hasn’t changed is their dedication to saving the universe. Every human Green Lantern has served with the League at one point or another, always there to help out.
However, as useful as a Green Lantern can be to the team, it’s difficult to say whether one is really crucial to the League. Like any other hero, they have their strengths and weaknesses.
10 Is Integral To The Team: The Green Lantern Ring Is Extremely Versatile
One of the biggest pros to having a Green Lantern on the Justice League is just how useful they can be. The Green Lantern ring is the Swiss Army knife of the superhero world. While it’s known for being able to create amazing constructs, that’s not all it can do.
The rings are connected to the Green Lantern database on Oa, giving them access to information as old as the universe itself, are excellent communication devices, and have all kinds of sensor systems that can analyze just about anything. All these abilities make a Green Lantern useful to the League in all kinds of ways.
9 Is Not Integral To The Team: They Can Run Out Of Charge At Inopportune Times
As powerful as a Green Lantern is, they do have some drawbacks. While the yellow impurity, which made them useless against things that are yellow, is gone, they still need to be charged and this can be a problem. While they can maintain their charge for long periods, when they run out of charge in pitched battles, bad things can happen.
A Green Lantern has to stop fighting and recite their oath to charge the ring, putting themselves and their teammates in danger. Anything can happen in the time it takes to charge the ring, which isn’t good when one deals with threats on the Justice League’s level.
8 Is Integral To The League: Different Lanterns Bring Different Things To The Team
The Earth boasts seven (counting Teen Lantern) Green Lanterns, which is more than any other species has. All of them (except Teen Lantern) have been a member of the League at various times over the years and each of them have brought something different to the table. John Stewart’s pragmatic skill, Guy Gardner’s unpredictability, Kyle Rayner’s amazing imagination, and Hal Jordan’s unparalleled heroism are just some of what they and other Lanterns bring to the League.
Each Lantern brings something unique with them and that can help the team in the long run.
7 Is Not Integral To The Team: They Bring A Lot Of Villainous Baggage
The Green Lantern Corps has existed for a very long time and built up a pretty impressive list of enemies. This makes sense for an intergalactic law enforcement group but where it gets really tricky, especially vis-à-vis League membership for Lanterns, is how many foes exist specifically because of the Corps.
This is a problem for the League because whenever one of the rogue Lantern Corps or some other massively powerful villainous force gets it into its head to attack, they’ll get sucked into it. While defending the universe is in the League’s mandate, they don’t need to be cleaning up Green Lantern problems as well.
6 Is Integral To The Team: They’re Prepared For Anything
One of the great things about any of the Green Lanterns on the team is that regardless of the situation, they’re ready for it. Being a Green Lantern is a tough job, one that often has the fate of the universe on the line. This makes Green Lanterns perfect League members- they face the same kind of situations that the League does on the regular.
Being a member of the League takes a special kind of hero, someone who can handle just about anything and that’s every single member of the Green Lantern Corps in a nutshell, especially the human ones, who are always on the frontlines.
5 Is Not Integral To The Team: They May Have To Choose What Role Is More Important
Green Lanterns have a lot of responsibility. They are responsible for wide swathes of space and ones like John Stewart and Guy Gardner also have other duties in the Corps. All of this makes being a Lantern a difficult proposition for anyone and on top of that, they have to balance their League duties with their Lantern ones.
There may come a point when they have to choose between fulfilling their Green Lantern duties or helping the League or be pulled away from the League when a huge event happens and they can’t help because they’re dealing with Lantern stuff.
4 Is Integral To The Team: They’re Experts At Teamwork
While Green Lanterns used to mostly work alone, they now frequently have partners, like any other law enforcement agency. On top of that, rookie Lanterns all train together and when things get dire enough, the Corps is known for summoning everyone and working together. One of the hallmarks of the Corps is teamwork and this makes for great League members.
Green Lanterns are great at working with others, even hot headed ones like Guy Gardner. Teamwork is very important to the League, as not standing together can make the difference between life and death.
3 Is Not Integral To The League: Their Difference In Skills Makes Tactics Hard To Plan
While each Lantern does bring something different to the table, that isn’t always the best thing. Guy Gardner has different skills than Kyle Rayner and Kyle has different ones than Hal. While this can work to the League’s advantage at times, the problem comes in trying to make tactics with people with different skills.
One Green Lantern isn’t the same as another and can’t be trusted to do the same things. This can be a problem when making plans for the League. Even though each Lantern is a known factor, the fact that each one uses their rings differently can be a problem.
2 Is Integral To The Team: Green Lanterns Have Almost Always Been A Part Of The League
Hal Jordan was a founding member of the Justice League and since then, there have been few League rosters without a member of the Corps on the team. From John Stewart to Guy Gardner to Kyle Rayner to Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz, Lanterns are a venerable part of the Justice League.
They’re powerful, skilled, and work well with others but on top of that, the Justice League just doesn’t feel like the Justice League without a Green Lantern. They bring so much to the team and have been clutch in some of the most desperate situations.
1 Is Not Integral To The Team: There’s A Lot Of Blood On Their Hands
Green Lanterns have a hard time and since the prohibition on killing has been taken off the rings, they’ve gotten more extreme in their enforcement of intergalactic law. However, even before that Green Lanterns got up to some pretty bad stuff— whether it be because of mind control like Hal Jordan with Parallax or circumstance like John Stewart with Xanshi.
The Justice League is made up of the greatest heroes on the planet, heroes everyone can look up to and the various Lanterns who have been a part of the Justice League have all done things they aren’t proud of. The members of the Justice League are the shining example and the Green Lanterns don’t always live up to that.
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