Introduced in 2010 during Blackest Night, the White Lantern Corps is the most mysterious of all the Lantern Corps. Powered by life, it served as an opposite to Nekron and his Black Lanterns and was the edge that the heroes needed to defeat the undead. Twelve heroes were resurrected by it and given tasks they had to complete, ones that not everybody was willing or able to complete.
The power of White Lantern had been absent from the DC Universe for a while before recently being brought back in Brian Michael Bendis and Nick Darington's Batman: Universe. This list is going to take a look at some of the things fans need to know about the White Lantern.
10 It's Responsible For The Return Of Aquaman
In recent years, Aquaman has risen back to prominence in a big way. Even before his movie, the character had regained a lot of his popularity, thanks to a blockbuster run by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis reminding fans about just how awesome Arthur could be and how much of an integral part of the DC Universe he was.
All of this made possible by the White Lantern. Aquaman was resurrected at the end of Blackest Night and has been proving just how cool he could be ever since.
9 It Resurrected Villains As Well As Heroes
The White Light of Life which powers the White Lantern doesn't care about one's moral standing- it only cares about life in all its glory and power. While some of the other Lantern Corps, like the Sinestro Corps or the Red Lantern Corps, cater to individuals who are often less than heroic, the White Lantern will grant its power to anyone alive or dead as long they can serve its purposes.
This means it has resurrected villains as well as heroes. Life doesn't pick and choose.
8 It's Also Responsible For The New 52... Indirectly
Speaking of villains the White Lantern resurrected, the most prominent and powerful of them was Eobard Thawne, the Reverse Flash. Fans were surprised by this because Thawne had already returned in Flash: Rebirth, but it was revealed that he immediately went back in time and was able to pull Barry Allen out of the Speed Force so he could take his revenge on the Flash.
Because of this, Allen would go back in time and try to save his mother, which caused the events of comic Flashpoint, which caused the New 52. So..... thanks for that, White Lantern?
7 The First White Lantern Was Sinestro
Sinestro was once the greatest Green Lantern of them all before embracing the power of fear and starting the Sinestro Corps, becoming one of the greatest enemies the Green Lantern Corps had. During the battle against the Black Lanterns, all of the Lantern Corps put aside their differences and banded together, with Sinestro playing a big part.
When Nekron tried to destroy the White Entity of Life, Sinestro intervened and bonded with it, becoming the first White Lantern. He would gain tremendous power, but wouldn't be able to contain it and would never be able to use it again.
6 It's Able To Counteract The Powers Of The Black Lantern
During Blackest Night, Nekron was able to take control of a number of heroes who had died in the past, heroes like Superman, Wonder Woman, Superboy, and others, and pit them against the heroes.
The White Lantern was able to counteract this control, allowing the heroes to regain control of themselves and begin to battle Nekron again... but this time with the added power of the White Lantern.
5 It Giveth And It Taketh Away
Two of the heroes resurrected by the White Lantern were Hawkman and Hawkgirl. The two had been killed early in the battle against the Black Lanterns and became two of the most dangerous members of the deadly Corps. Much like the other twelve resurrected, they had labors to complete and did so, until presented with a second one by the White Entity of Life.
It told them that they had to live apart to make themselves stronger. They refused and the White Entity took away its gift, reducing them to dust.
4 Hal Jordan Wasn't The Best White Lantern
Hal Jordan would briefly become a member of the White Lantern Corps during the battle against Nekron. Although he is one of the most formidable members of any Lantern Corps, he didn't do anything special with the power of the White Lantern.
Sinestro was able to use the White Light better than Hal, as would another Lantern....
3 Kyle Raynor Would Become The Leader Of The Second Incarnation
After the initial twelve members of the Corps finished their labors, the White Lantern disappeared for a while. However, during the War Against The Third Army, Kyle Raynor would rediscover the power of the White Lantern and use it to turn the tide of the battle.
After this, he would form a new Corps that would battle the entity Oblivion before trying to use the power of the White Lantern to resurrect the Blue Lantern Corps. However, he was prevented from doing so by a mysterious entity and downgraded back to a Green Lantern.
2 The Most Powerful Ring
Wielders of the White Lantern ring were able to tap into all of the powers of the Emotional Spectrum. They could use the mind control abilities of the Star Sapphires, the power enhancement of the Blue Lanterns, the teleportation of the Indigo Tribe, and the burning plasma of the Red Lanterns, as well as being able to create energy constructs.
Besides these powers, the ring also allowed its bearer to resurrect the dead, restore life to barren landscapes, and heal near instantly from even the most life threatening wounds. It's easily the most powerful ring of them all.
1 The Cradle Of Life
According to the Guardians of Universe, life originated on Oa, but it would be revealed that this was a lie. Nekron wouldn't bring the Black Lantern Corps to Oa in order to snuff out the White Entity of Life, but to Earth. This meant that life had originated on Earth and the Guardians had been lying about it all these years.
The Earth was so important to the power of the White Lantern, the Entity would charge its first Corps with saving the elemental powers of the planet from darkness in order to save the world of its origin.