DC‘s heroes have a tall order in front of them. While these heroic paragons are known for their high power levels, their dangerous and intimidating foes are often just as powerful. Sometimes, these villains didn’t start out that way, though. Oftentimes, they were rather normal people until they found an object that gave them great power. The problem with great power is that it can corrupt those who aren’t ready for it.
Over the years, many weapons in the DC Universe have given their bearer great powers but doomed them to a life of evil. Sometimes, it’s even the last thing anyone would suspect.
10 Sinestro’s Green Lantern Ring Led Him Down The Path To Fascism
Green Lantern rings aren’t usually objects of corruption, but there was one case where being a Green Lantern actually made someone worse. Sinestro was the greatest Green Lantern for years and his sector was considered the safest in the universe. The reason for that was simple: he used the power of the ring to make his fascist beliefs a reality.
While Sinestro wasn’t exactly a good person before he became a Green Lantern, the power of the ring drove him further down his path and allowed him to enslave an entire sector of space. His time as a Green Lantern would be the beginning of his years of atrocities.
9 Too Much Nth Metal Turned Onimar Synn Into A Monster
Nth metal is known as the metal that allows Hawkman to fly, enhances his strength, and gives him a healing factor, but too much Nth metal has proven catastrophic to its bearer. Nowhere is that more apparent than with the former Thanagarian dictator, Onimar Synn. The power of Nth metal kept driving him to gain more and more, giving him greater power.
Synn and Hawkman have tangled several times over the years, with Synn’s Nth metal psychosis and amazing power making him a match for not only Hawkman but also the entire Justice Society.
8 The Power Of The Worlogog Drives Mortals To Madness
There are many objects of great power in the DC Universe and few of them are greater than the Worlogog. Known on Earth as the Philosopher Stone, it grants its user great power. For those who aren’t ready for it, they use that power in terrible ways, such as when Lex Luthor used it against the Justice League.
While it was prophesied to help the heroes of the universe resist Darkseid at some point, its power is just too great for just anyone to just use. It demands a mind who is nigh incorruptible to use its power correctly, otherwise, terrible things can unfold.
7 Venom Gives Great Strength But Drives Its Users Insane With Addiction
Venom is well known to fans of Batman as the steroid that gives Bane his amazing strength. Bane isn’t the only one who has used it, as it’s often used as a strength-enhancing drug for henchmen as well. Batman himself fell victim to it before he ever met Bane, as his addiction-related psychosis made him do things he wouldn’t otherwise.
Batman and Bane have both been able to kick it, but when one is using Venom to enhance their strength, they are completely under the drug’s hold. They become powerful berzerkers and the higher the dose, the more uncontrollable they are.
6 The Orange Lantern Devours Its Bearer With Greed
The emotional spectrum is full of powers that can corrupt, but the Orange Lantern’s power is one of the greatest corrupters. Unlike the other Lantern Corps, there is only one Orange Lantern at a time and they will kill anyone to keep their power. They then create constructs based on those people, so there is technically a Corps.
The orange light of Avarice consumes its user with greed and the Orange Lantern is an embodiment of that. It works a hundred percent of the time and no one has been able to resist its pull, only giving it up after death.
5 The Bow Of Ra Is A Great Weapon If The User Can Resist Its Corrupting Influence
Magical weapons often extract a steep price from their users and the Bow of Ra is no different. A weapon of the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall, it lets its user fire arrows of any kind, from classic bladed ones to energy-based ones. It also exacts a terrible cost from those who fire it, as it can take control of the weak-willed and turn them into relentless killing machines.
It also enhances the native power of the user, making them greater and greater. While some have been able to use it without falling to its corrupting influence, others haven’t. It’s a powerful weapon but it exacts a terrible cost.
4 Red Lantern Rings Turn Their Users Into Blood Spitting Rage Monsters
The red light of Rage is one of the greatest powers of the emotional spectrum. When one is capable of great anger, a Red Lantern ring seeks them out and transforms them. The red light is overpowering and it transforms its user into rage monsters. While Atrocitus, the leader of the Red Lantern Corps, can use the red light to form constructs, most cannot because of their overpowering anger.
This uncontrollable power has led Red Lanterns to do some terrible things. Few have been able to overcome its power and those that have usually end up giving their ring, as its rage-powered energies are too much for them.
3 Sinestro Corps Rings Transform Their Users Into Brutal Killers
The Sinestro Corps War is one of the definitive Green Lantern stories of the last twenty years, as it introduced the first of the new Lantern Corps, the Sinestro Corps. Powered by the yellow light of fear, the rings sought out those who could master fear. While most members of the Corps weren’t the best beings, to begin with, the rings made them that much worse.
It didn’t help that Sinestro set up an entire system to further corrupt those who used the rings as well. While some have used their rings for a semblance of good, most don’t and their powers have produced a Corps of murderers.
2 Black Lantern Rings Turned Even Heroic Dead Into Ravening Zombies
Blackest Night was a very DC zombie story, with Black Hand, Scar, and Nekron unleashing the Black Lantern rings on the universe. They sought out the dead and resurrected them, transforming even great heroes like Earth-2 Superman, the Hawks, and Aquaman into flesh-eating ghouls. They made their users pretty much invincible as well, only able to be destroyed when two types of emotional energy were combined against them.
Only two were able to resist the corrupting influence of the Black Lantern ring and that’s Batman and Roy Harper. Otherwise, all who used them became monsters.
1 The Heart Of Darkness Diamond Holds The Power Of Eclipso
Eclipso is one of the most dangerous villains in the DC Universe and his home is the Heart of Darkness diamond. Many have sought out the power of the black diamond, thinking they could master Eclipso. That task has proven impossible for all who have tried, as Eclipso’s influence is too much for those who try to take his powers.
Eclipso will fool people into thinking they can use his power for themselves but that’s all a trick. He just wants to get out of the diamond and is willing to corrupt anyone to accomplish his aims.
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