Power Ring (weapon)

A power ring is an object featured in American comic books published by DC Comics. The power ring first appeared in ''All-American Comics'' #16 on July 14, 1940.

Green Lantern Corps

The first appearance of a power ring was in ''All-American Comics'' #16 on July 14, 1940, the flagship title of comic book publisher All-American Publications, which featured the first appearance of Alan Scott. Creator Martin Nodell has cited Richard Wagner's opera cycle ''The Ring of the Nibelung'' and the sight of a trainman's green railway lantern as inspirations for the combination of a magical ring and lantern.

Alan Scott's ring is powered by the Green Flame, a magically empowered flame contained within a metallic alien orb that was found and forged into a lantern and ring by a lampmaker named Chang.''All-American Comics'' #16 (July 1940) Later writers revised this to be a fragment of an object called the Starheart, the result of the Guardians of the Universe collecting and isolating most of the magic forces in the universe. This early version of the ring is shown as being powerless against wooden objects.

When the Green Lantern character was reinvented, beginning with the introduction of Hal Jordan, the magic ring concept was replaced with a scientifically-based one.''Showcase'' #22 (October 1959) The new version of the ring is created by the Guardians of the Universe, who also create the Green Lantern Corps.

Capabilities

No hard upper limit to the power ring's capabilities has yet been demonstrated; it is often referred to as the most powerful weapon in the DC universe.

The power ring's most distinctive effect is the generation of green, solid-light constructs, mainly weapons, the precise physical nature of which has never been specified. The size, complexity, and strength of these constructs is limited only by the ring-bearer's willpower; whatever the wearer imagines, the ring will create.

When active, a power ring will encase its user in a protective, life-supporting force field. This force field allows the user to fly, travel through inhospitable environments (outer space, underwater, etc.), and enter hyperspace to move vast distances quickly. The ring also generates its wearer's Green Lantern uniform, which appears over their normal attire and can be removed at will.''Green Lantern Corps'' (vol. 2) #19 (February 2008) The uniform varies from Lantern to Lantern, based on anatomy, personal preference, and the social norms of their race.

Power rings are able to give off electromagnetic radiation of various frequencies. This radiation can be focused by the wearer into a beam, similar in appearance and effect to a powerful laser. They also allow real-time communication between the different alien species of the Corps, translating all languages in the universe.

Limitations

Originally, Green Lantern power rings typically held a limited charge. In earlier appearances, they required recharging every 24 hours, but more recently they possess a fixed amount of regular charge: that is, the charge is good for 24 hours of 'typical' use, but extended or extensive use will drain the charge more quickly. Green Lantern rings typically reserve a small portion of their power for a passive force field that protects its wielder from mortal harm. In dire emergencies, that energy reserve can be tapped at the expense of that protection. Power rings are usually recharged by a Green Lantern's personal battery, which resembles an old-fashioned lantern made of dark green metal. The user typically points the ring towards the lantern and usually gives the Green Lantern oath (below) while recharging the ring. These batteries are directly linked to the Central Power Battery on Oa and do not themselves need recharging.

Various devices and abilities can drain the ring of its power against the will of its wearer, or absorb or store its energies for later use. Doctor Polaris constructed "power absorbers", both man-sized and in the form of a fortress, that drained Hal Jordan's ring's charge and transferred it to Polaris for his own use. A Manhunter robot drained most of the charge from Hal Jordan's ring using devices hidden under its face-plate and Hal later recharged his ring from the severed head of the destroyed Manhunter. Alpha Lanterns used technology similar to the Manhunters' to drain power rings. The device used by recurring Green Lantern foe, Black Hand, drains power ring energies from rings themselves, their constructs or objects that have been affected by them, for later reuse by the device's wielder. In the Marvel Comics/DC Comics crossover '' JLA/Avengers'', Marvel superhero Photon, following an initial encounter with Kyle Rayner, successfully prepared herself to absorb the charge from his power ring when he attacked her with it, later reusing the energy to attack others.'' JLA/Avengers'' (the issue titled ''Avengers/JLA'' #2) (October 2003)

Others may be able to track a ring's user by the energy trail it leaves behind. In the revised Post-''Infinite Crisis'' origin of Green-Lantern nemesis, Black Hand, Black Hand's ring-draining device was originally constructed as a "cosmic divining rod" by Atrocitus to track Green Lanterns on Earth.

Originally, power rings were unable to affect objects colored yellow, though Lanterns have typically found ways around the limitation by indirect manipulation. The reason why the rings were unable to affect yellow objects has changed significantly from writer to writer. In early stories, it was because of a necessary design flaw. Gerard Jones revised this, in a story that revealed that the Guardians could change the weakness randomly and at will. After the destruction of the central battery, Ganthet revealed to Kyle Rayner that an "imperfection" in the central battery was responsible for the yellow weakness (which his ring did not share as there was no Central Battery at the time it was created). In '' Green Lantern: Rebirth'', writer Geoff Johns revealed that the "yellow impurity" was the result of Parallax, a yellow-energy being made of pure fear, being imprisoned in the Central Power Battery. This change also allowed characters to overcome the yellow weakness by recognizing and facing the fear behind it.

By far, the most significant limitation of the power ring is the willpower of the wielder. The requirements needed to wield a power ring have changed sporadically during the history of ''Green Lantern'' titles, often creating continuity confusions. Allowing power rings to fall into the wrong hands has been a common plot device in many previous Green Lantern stories. However, only people with exceptional willpower can use a power ring, a restriction which makes use of the rings by average individuals incredibly difficult.''Green Lantern: Rebirth'' #1–6 (December 2004 – May 2005) For instance, when Green Arrow used a power ring to attack Sinestro, it pushed the hero's body to the point of exhaustion (and for all his effort he was only able to generate a single arrow, which did little to Sinestro other than annoy him).''Green Lantern: Rebirth'' #4 (March 2005) Mind control, hallucinogens, psychic attacks, "neural chaff" and other phenomena that disrupt thought processes will all in