One of the most frightening things to encounter within the cold reaches of space within the DC Universe has to be the yellow light of fear. Harnessed by the former Green Lantern Sinestro, the yellow light of fear is powered by the fear entity known as Parallax, which has controlled many heroes and villains alike over the years.
Later creating the Sinestro Corps, Sinestro led many attacks on his former allies the Green Lanterns. Over the years both heroes and foes alike have taken on a yellow fear ring for themselves, so let's look at the ten most powerful Sinestro Corps members.
10 Scarecrow
One of the first villains to talk about joining the Sinestro Corps (however brief it was) has to be the infamous Batman villain known as Scarecrow. Otherwise known as Dr. Jonathan Crane of Earth, the former psychologist turned Gotham City villain used a special fear gas to terrorize the world and fight the Caped Crusader.
During the events of Blackest Night, Scarecrow is sent a duplicate of Sinestro’s yellow fear ring to become the Sinestro Corps representative during the event. However, the power he has and the purpose he has are short-lived when Lex Luthor’s Orange ring of Avarice takes over and he steals the ring from Scarecrow.
9 Despotellis
One of the next ring bearers to join the Sinestro Corps and caused a lot of damage in the process has to be Despotellis. The unique thing about this villain is that he isn’t even a person, but a computer virus from sector 119 that became sentient on the planet Khondra in a medical lab.
Ending 85% of the life in the sector, the virus went on to take the life of Kyle Rayner’s mother as well, striking a devastating blow. It also infected the living planet and Green Lantern Mogo, driving Green Lanterns mad and framing Guy Gardner for a crime he didn’t commit.
8 Karu-Sil
The next Yellow Lantern that needs to be featured here is Karu-Sil, a woman from the planet Graxos III. After her parents lost their lives during a raid on their village, Karu-Sil found herself living in the nearby jungle, raised and living with a pack of animals.
After nearly taking the life of a young boy, she and the boy were taken to an institution on Graxos IV, where she proceeded to attack her doctors. She was saved and turned into a Yellow Lantern there, but later on was captured by the Zamarons and imprisoned in a conversion crystal.
7 Soranik Natu
The next powerful Yellow Lantern was another former Green Lantern and the daughter of Sinestro herself, Soranik Natu. Her mother was Sinestro’s late wife Arin Sur, making her the niece of Hal Jordan’s predecessor Abin Sur. Originally a Green Lantern, she soon began to fall under her father’s influence.
During the Rebirth era of the comics however, she decided to take the Yellow Lanterns in a new direction after Sinestro’s latest defeat by Hal Jordan, making a truce for a time with the Green Lantern Corps. She is also a primary love interest for Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, but have fallen out as of late.
6 Batman
One of the most unique heroes to ever become a Sinestro Corps member for even a brief moment was Batman. Otherwise known as Bruce Wayne, the greatest detective on Earth, Batman was once sent a yellow lantern ring during the events of the Sinestro Corps War, as he used fear against criminals on Earth.
After managing to take the ring off and reject it, he later reacquired the ring and used it during the Forever Evil storyline, using it to fight Power Ring during the event and making him Sector 2814’s Yellow Lantern for a brief time during the event.
5 Amon-Sur
This next member of the Sinestro Corps is very powerful and well known, as he is the son of the late and heroic Green Lantern Abin Sur. Blaming the Green Lanterns for taking his father away from his family to become a Green Lantern and later for getting his life taken away, Amon Sur became the leader of the Black Circle Crime Syndicate.
After a failed plot to take Hal Jordan’s ring (his father’s ring), a Yellow Lantern Ring showed up in the midst of battle and chose Amon Sur as its chosen warrior, making him a member of the Sinestro Corps.
4 Arkillo
One of the toughest recruits to the Sinestro Corps has to be the trainer and one of Sinestro’s closest allies, Arkillo. The former citizen of the planet Vorn was a feared and formidable warrior of his people, who was one of Sinestro’s first recruits into the Sinestro Corps.
After losing in battle to Mongo and being forced to wear his own tongue around his neck, he bonded with Saint Walker of the Blue Lanterns after he reattached Arkillo’s tongue. In the Rebirth era, Arkillo and Guy Gardner fight to form a friendship, helping to solidify the partnership between their respective Corps.
3 Mongul
One member who once led the Sinestro Corps for a time was Mongul, the son of the powerful Superman foe of the same name. After the Sinestro Corps War was finished, Mongul found one of the fallen yet still living Sinestro Corps members, ending his life and taking the power ring of the Sinestro Corps for himself.
After breaking free from another world after being defeated by Green Lantern Bzzd, Mongul took control of the Sinestro Corps, attempting to make Daxam and later Korugar into their homeworld. However, Sinestro confronted Mongul, destroying his ring and sending Mongul into the Yellow Central Power Battery.
2 Anti-Monitor
Probably the most notorious being to ever wield a Sinestro Corps Ring has to be the infamous Anti-Monitor. The classic foe of the DC Universe who launched Crisis on Infinite Earths and is slated to appear in the Arrowverse during the upcoming crossover of the same name once joined forces with Sinestro and gained his own ring.
After the events of Infinite Crisis and 52, He joined with Sinestro to form the Sinestro Corps entirely, hoping to use this to help his goal of becoming sole ruler of the Anti-Matter universe by destroy the DC multiverse. Sinestro later had him dispelled from the Corps.
1 Sinestro
The most powerful member of the Sinestro Corps has to be the group’s namesake, Thaal Sinestro. The former anthropologist turned Green Lantern hails from the planet Korugar, who specialized in the preservation and rebuilding of lost civilizations on his homeworld. He used the Green Lantern Ring to become one of the Corps greatest warriors alongside Abin Sur.
However Sinestro sought to gain power to become a dictator of his planet so that he could instill his rule and control over the populace. He was banished to the planet Qward after being discovered, where he worked with the Weaponers of Qward to create the Sinestro Corps rings.