Aya (Green Lantern: The Animated Series)
Aya is a female artificial intelligence who features in Green Lantern: The Animated Series.
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Biography
Aya was an artificial intelligence system that was constructed as part of a research initiative conducted by the Oan Scar Science Director amongst the Guardians of the Universe. They desired the creation of a machine that as capable of understanding human emotion after their Manhunters had failed in their role as enforcers of peace. Despite her efforts, the Science Director failed in instilling her creation with sentience. To bypass this problem, she secretly made her way to the Central Power Battery in order to capture a sliver of the entity that resided within it. The creature was a closely guarded secret of the Guardians with only a few aware of its existence. With this fragment, she placed it within her creation thus giving the intelligence spark of willpower and therefore life. With it, she empowered the computer intelligence leading it to become self-aware and alive. The Science Director allowed the intelligence to grow but forbade her from accessing the wider databases but she disobeyed its Oan master. Tapping into the planetary database, she attempted to learn everything she could until the Director forcibly shut her down by tapping into her own cosmic power. With her shut down, the Oan Science Director decided to abandon her research project and instead decided to install Aya into the navigation system of a newly developed vessel known as the Interceptor. This was with the intention that she would be forgotten and never see active use. When the Red Lantern Corps began attacking the Frontier, Hal Jordan intended to combat them despite the order against doing so by the Guardians of the Universe. As a result, Jordan along with Kilowog decided to take over the Interceptor with the hidden assistance of Ganthet. After boarding the craft, they became acquainted with Aya who decided to assist them by taking the Interceptor into the Frontier before they could be apprehended by the Guardians.
Unknown to Aya, her two then newly met allies had been being attacked by a trio of Red Lanterns, the group's leader and two of his most frequently advised members. Aya's two new Green Lantern comrades held the three of with assistance from Shyir Rev. The battle resulted in the destruction of Shyir Rev's home planet and the captivity of one of the three Red Lanterns, Razer. While Razer was held captive, Aya tried to speak to him about the reasons why he felt that he should be killed for his crimes. Aya was further surprised by his extreme amount of guilt when she thought back to hearing earlier about Kilowog saving all of the inhabitants of Shyir Rev's homeworld, including his wife and only child. When Hal Jordan and Kilowog left Razer at a Spider Guild prison, they encountered an escapee who recounted of horrors being perpetrated by the wardens. Thus, they departed to investigate despite Aya's warnings. After their capture, Aya decided to turn into green energy and enter the prison. She, however, was unable to free the Lanterns due to crystals resonating with yellow light that inhabited certain sections of the asteroid prison. She managed to enter into a torture device as well as enter into the mind of its captive Razer. Once inside, she manifested herself as his dead wife Ilana, and urged for his help. She reminded him of the device causing him to remember most of his painful memories and was installed to make him feel pain. After Razer admitted he didn't mind watching his memories, Aya tried to enlist him to aid her in rescuing Hal Jordan and Kilowog. Razer refused, stating that he deserved his punishment and was staying there. However, Aya deactivated the device and freed Razer who expressed that he would not forgive her for her actions. Working together, they managed to free the Green Lanterns and end the Spider Guilds plans in the prison. She was later informed by Hal of Razer coming along with the three. While Razer was holding his Red Lantern Ring, Aya asked he had recovered from his ideal. Razer is distraught that Aya has seen his past and that it's private, she told him that she did it to ensure the crew's survival. Razer asked her why she risked her existence as artificial intelligence to save Hal and Kilowog. Aya merely says a Green Lantern would do no less, giving Razer food for thought.
Later, the Interceptor encountered a stranded freighter that was trapped in the gravity effects of a pinhole that threatened to destroy it. Responding to the distress signal, Aya expressed concern about the Green Lanterns risking their life for the sake of a single sentient. However, Jordan informed her that it was their duty to save the lives of others. After the captain was rescued, Aya told Hal Jordan of a way to conserve power on the freighter to rescue it but he departed. She later removed her intelligence from the navcom of the Interceptor and inhabited numerous mechanical parts that moved into the freighter in an attempt to repair it. Unaware of this, Jordan and Razer believed these insectile appearing parts were lifeforms that were eating the ship. It was only when they were in the ship's engine room did Jordan realize that these parts were Aya who was repairing the vessel and she succeeded in the task. Following the rescue, Jordan reprimanded her for leaving the Interceptor but she responded that it was a Green Lanterns duty to help. Kilowog, however, stated that she was simply a NavCom and not a Green Lantern as she lacked a physical body. In response, she had her mechanical parts assemble themselves into an android form, much to Kilowog's grief.
She was not killed but her remaining parts had survived but were too far from the Interceptor that prevented her from downloading into the ship. Instead, she found the remains of a damaged Manhunter and placed her intelligence into its ruined body that made its way slowly back to the Interceptor. Aya would manage to enter the craft's lower decks where she was met with by Hal, Kilowog and Razer arrived to investigate the unknown entry on the ship. As Aya rebuilt herself, she would ask what Razer meant when he said her 'loved' her but he responds by saying that he did not love her as she simply took the form of the person he had loved and that she was nothing more than a machine. Razer's rejection caused Aya to feel 'pain' and she would ask Hal Jordan on how to rid herself of that feeling. Jordan who was busy trying to muster a fight against the Anti-Monitor who was destroying the Red Lantern armada told her that people simply either lived with the rejection or blocked it. Aya would operate ineffectively in the battle against the Manhunters and decided to block all emotions. This resulted in her going to the engine room where she absorbed the energy of the ship's power battery causing it to be inactive whilst Aya became supercharged whereupon she engaged the enemy despite Jordan's attempts to stop her. She would destroy the Manhunters and send a Red Lantern ship slamming into the Anti-Monitor right before she launched herself at him and pierced his chest. The power of the strike dislodged his head sending it flying into space whilst Aya herself had merged with the remains of the Anti-Monitor's body. Believing their foe defeated, Hal asked her to return to the ship though Aya simply responded that she saw things much more clearly now and that the true monsters were her former friends that were destroying the emotionless machines. This led to her declaring herself the Manhunter queen and that they would serve her in the quest of ending the chaos of emotions. With the reactivated Manhunters, she departed the area as she began her campaign of ending the life of all organics.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Aya was an artificial intelligence that originally manifested as a circular sphere resembling an eye. After being shut down, she came to be installed into the Interceptor served as her body. To aid her crew, she later managed to assemble a body from various components that took the form of a human female.
After Razer's rejection, Aya was deeply emotional hurt from the experience to the point that she decided to shut down her emotions and operate strictly on logic. In this state, she came to the conclusion that organic life only brought suffering and sought to eliminate it in a humane manner.
Powers and abilities
Aya was not fixed to the Interceptor but actually had various components that could assemble into a body for herself. These appeared as various body parts that had limbs on them that could operate under their own power but directed by her will. This was until she commanded them to unite where she inhabited the body that resembled a humanoid female form.
She was also able to integrate herself into other machinery such as when she co-opted the Anti-Monitors body after knocking off its head. As an AI, she was also able to distribute her intelligence into other machines thus making effective copies of herself. After going rogue, she did such a move to impart her programming into the Manhunters. She was, however, unable to remove this programming after she stopped attempting to destroy the universe forcing her to use drastic measures to stop those copies of her intelligence.
She was able to absorb the energy of the large Power Battery on the Interceptor in order to empower herself. Such a move drained the ship of all power. However, it augmented her abilities greatly allowing her to easily destroy scores of Manhunters with ease. Aya also gained much greater level of superstrength as she was able to move large battleships and throw them at others. Furthermore, she had increased endurance as she launched herself into the Anti-Monitor with such force that she dislodged the giant robots head.
Upon turning against all organics, Aya managed to dislodge the Anti-Monitor from his body and take over the massive robotic form. With it, she gained nearly all the powers of the Anti-Monitor such as being able to fire powerful antimatter blasts from the suits large hands that consumed anything it touched. During her final meeting with the Anti-Monitors intelligence, she managed to acquire it's temporal circuits allowing g her to go back in time an effort to wipe out all organic life.
Notes
- Aya was created by Bruce Timm as an original creation for Green Lantern: The Animated Series and was voiced by actress Grey DeLisle.
- The character first appeared in the War of the Green Lanterns story arc written by Geoff Johns but featured simply as a navigation system of the Interceptor that crashed into a safehouse facility.
- She also appears in Smallville Season 11 in the Lantern story arc as a Green Lantern and accompanied John Stewart in the defense of Earth during the Monitors attack.
In other media
Television
- In Justice League Action, Aya appeared briefly as the Navigation System in the animated television series episode "Barehanded" where she was voiced once again by actress Grey DeLisle. She was described as being a navigational application bought by Space Cabbie for his vehicle and was used to help him plot a course to intercept Lobo when Hal Jordan was a customer. After Jordan departed, the Navigation System commented that she felt like she knew the Green Lantern and stated that she was not a simple application but that she had lost someone. Thus, she departed Space Cabbie's vehicle in search for this person with her taking the form of a sphere of green light that departed into space.
Appearances
- Green Lantern: The Animated Series:
External Links
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