Alpha Lantern
The Alpha Lanterns are a group that featured in Green Lantern.
Contents |
History
Origin
The Alpha Lanterns were cybernetic beings that were created by the Guardians of the Universe who saw the need for an internal affairs division for their Green Lantern Corps. This came in light after the Sinestro Corps War when the Book of Oa had been changed to include new rules which allowed the Green Lanterns to use lethal force against their enemies. To better control the use of this new power, the Oans selected a number of Green Lanterns with the honor of being bonded with cybernetic technology derived from the Manhunters in order to better their functionality. At least six officers were chosen for this new duty which included Boodikka, Chaselon, the Green Man, Krakken, Varix and John Stewart. Stewart, however, was uncomfortable with the idea of enforcing the new laws and rejected the offer much to the disapproval of the Guardians. Despite this setback, the other five agreed to take part in the cosmic surgery needed to transform them into cybernetic Alpha Lanterns where they had enhanced abilities such as the power to drain the energy from a Green Lantern. Their first official mission saw them being deployed against Laira after she had killed Amon Sur for the murder of Ke'Haan's family. Her actions were deemed unacceptable to the Corps law and she was apprehended where she was tried on Oa. Ultimately, it was decided that she was to be expelled from the ranks of the Green Lanterns where she was to be returned to her home planet of Jayd. Another deployment of the Alpha Lantern saw Boodikka being sent to investigate Harvid in order to determine his loyalty to the Corps after it was learnt that his brother Haasp the Hunter was a member of the Sinestro Corps. She later encountered her former comrades in the Blood-Sisters of Bellatrix who were responsible for a number of criminal acts and delivered them to the Guardians for judgment. During the Final Crisis, the Alpha Lanterns were sent to Earth to investigate the death of the New God Orion. Unknown to anyone, Krakken had fallen under the influence of Granny Goodness where she attempted to frame Hal Jordan for the murder. However, her possession was discovered which saw Granny Goodness using Krakken to access the Central Power Battery as well as injuring an Oan in the process until she was defeated by Jordan.
The New 52
In the shadows, the Guardians had secretly decided that their attempts at policing the cosmos had failed and intended to destroy the Green Lantern Corps in order to replace them with the Third Army. To partly achieve this goal, they allowed the Alpha Lanterns to gain access to footage to show that John Stewart had killed fellow Lantern Kirrt during the Keepers invasion. This led to them arresting Stewart and creating a public trial to determine his sentence. The act, however, alienated the Alpha Lanterns from the Green Lantern Corps who had come to resent the actions of the cyborgs. This trial was allowed to continue with John Stewart being held guilty with him being kept at a Sciencell but Guy Gardner rescued him with the aid of fellow Green Lanterns. Together, they battled the Alpha Lanterns who were single minded in their pursuit of punishing the guilty. As a result, the two Lanterns used scavenged Manhunter parts to create a force to battle the Alpha Lanterns with the rest of the Corps attacking the cyborgs. This led to the Alpha Lanterns using their control over the power batteries to drain them of their energy. However, one of their number known as Varix did not believe in the harsh punishments of his comrades and turned against them. Whilst disabled, the newly freed Stewart and Gardner proceeded to destroy the Alpha Lanterns with Varix terminating himself as he believed he along with his comrades had disgraced the Green Lantern Corps. Despite their actions in the Alpha War, the bodies of the Alpha Lanterns were interned within the Crypts of the Green Lanterns but were shown prior to their transformation in order for them to be remembered what they used to be instead of what they had become. The destruction of the Alpha Lanterns had pleased the Guardians as it removed another impediment to their plans at unleashing the Third Army.
Overview
Creation of one of these cyborgs required cosmic surgery whereby the body of the subject was turned into a mechanical being with the technology derived from the Manhunters. The core of an Alpha Lantern included a Power Battery with a direct link to the Central Power Battery. This meant that they required no Power Ring and their power was far greater than that of an ordinary Green Lantern. Beneath their faceplates was also a device commonly seen amongst Manhunters which was used to drain the Emotional Spectrum energy from a Lantern. Thus, Alpha Lanterns were able to drain the energy from any Lantern as well as cut a Green Lantern from the green light.
Their greater connection to the Power Rings allowed them to consult visual logs stored within the rings of the entirety of the Corps. This allowed them to replay events in order to determine guilt of an offender and the Alpha Lanterns were able to gather data from all 7200 rings which were able to be projected onto viewscreen constructs. An added ability was the capacity to remotely shut down Manhunters within range of an Alpha Lantern.
The Alpha Lanterns were based within their own structure on the planet Oa that served as their headquarters as well as a detention facility. This was the Chamber of the Alpha Lanterns that was a tall tower where the cyborgs gathered in order to consult and determine their next course of action. Should any Green Lantern be detained, they were kept in this tower for added security in order to prevent any rescue from their comrades.
Members
- Chaselon :
- Varix : male member who participated in the Alpha War where he turned against his comrades which allowed the Green Lantern Corps to destroy the cyborgs. As the last Alpha Lantern, he terminated himself as he saw that he along with his cybernetic brethren had disgraced the Green Lanterns with their actions.
Notes
- The Alpha Lanterns were created by Geoff Johns and made their first appearance in Green Lantern v4 #27 (March 2008).
In other media
Videogames
- In DC Universe Online, the Alpha Lanterns made an appearance where they served as allies of the heroes and Green Lantern Corps.
Appearances
- Green Lantern:
- Green Lantern Corps:
External Link
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