We’re all well accustomed to the nerdy group of superheroes Guardians of the Galaxy, but ever heard of the ‘guardians of the universe’? To appraise you about the same, they are short, floating, blue guys and are known to be the most knowledgeable sentient beings, also responsible for creating the well known lantern corps, the green lanterns.
The inception of the original story could be traced back to the emotional electromagnetic spectrum. It’s an energy field fueled by the emotions of all sentient beings. Currently there are nine corps, each with their own distinct colour, oath. According to the DC universe, the information is recorded in the book of OA, but we will give you a glimpse of each corp as well as their functions.
The Green Lanterns
The Green Lanterns are known to be an intergalactic police force and each lantern has control of its own sector. They do work as a unit to battle evil by wielding the power of will. The original Green Lantern was Allan Scott (the Green Guardsman), later came the famous Hal Jordan, followed by Guy Gardner and finally a very composed John Stewart.
The oath of the corp is ‘In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil’s might, beware my power – Green Lantern’s light!’
The Red Lanterns
These are known for their rage, founded and owned by Atrocitus. He seeks revenge on the guardians for the destruction of the sector 666 that was administered by the Man Hunters. The memorable clash that occurred was in the Green Lantern animated series of 2012 between the red lanterns and the green lanterns.
The oath of the corp is ‘With blood and rage of crimson red, ripped from a corpse so freshly dead; together with our hellish hate, we’ll burn you all, that is your fate!’
The Violet Lanterns
These groups of lanterns forged their power from love. The original known lantern that first appeared was Carol Ferris. She is often flails between a friend, foe and sometimes Hal Jordan’s love interest, which tends to change from one comic book to another. In the Justice League: Doom, she is shown to be playing a trick on Hal Jordan making him loose his will and dismiss his ring. In recent years, the Violet lanterns are champions of love.
The oath of the corp is ‘For hearts long lost and full of fright, for those alone in blackest night; Accept our ring and join our fight, love conquers all with violet light!’
The Orange Lanterns
The Orange lantern forged from the power of greed. This corp has only one member called Larfleeze also known as ‘agent orange’. He was originally part of a thieve guild which had about five members after discovering the orange battery during one of their heists. A fight broke out between them and the last one remaining alive was Larfleeze.
The oath of the corp is ‘What are mine is mine and mine and mine. And mine and mine and mine! Not yours!’
The Blue Lanterns
This corp is forged by the power of hope. The founder and owner of this corp is Ganthet, he had once been part of the guardians. He decided to make a second police force to aid the green lantern. The first lantern of this corp is Saint Walker and the second is an elephant like alien. Apart from the white lanterns, the blue lantern is the most powerful.
The oath is: “In fearful day, in raging night, with strong hearts full, our souls ignite. When all seems lost in the war of Light, look to the stars, for hope burns bright!”
The Yellow Lanterns
The yellow lanterns are forged by the power of fear. Originally started by Sinestro and operate inversely from the green lanterns. The power of fear is derived from parallax known to be a space parasite and is the embodiment of fear.
The oath is:” In blackest day, in brightest night!, Beware your fears made into light, Let those who try to stop what’s right, Burn like my power… Sinestro’s might”
The Indigo Lanterns
The Indigo tribe is lanterns forged by the power of compassion originally founded by green lantern Abin Sur. The Ungara native forged the rings using the power and deliberately made criminals wear it, which changed the savage behaviour instantly and made them remorseful.
Primarily, the oath is another language but a translation is available: ‘In sorrowful day, in misfortunate night, we help those, who need our might; with the lantern power of Abin Sur, we rid your misery…, with compassionate might!
The Black Lanterns
The corporeal revenants are the slain and deceased, both superheroes and supervillains. They are the army of lord Nekron. Their purpose is to eliminate all life whilst their rings are forged by the power of death. The prophecy speaks about the ‘blackest night’ when the dead will rise.
The oath is “The blackest night falls from the skies; the darkness grows as all light dies. We crave your hearts and your demise, by my black hand, the dead shall rise!”
The White Lanterns
The white lantern corp. is a combination, a rainbow of all the colours. It contains the power and the abilities of each lantern. This corp was created solely to defeat the Black Lanterns. Thaal Sinestro was the original leader but Hal Jordan took over the helm later on. He managed to spread its light to other superheroes and converted them to join his cause. There hasn’t been a confirmed oath that DC released. This was the closest that was revealed to fans.
The oath is “In brightest day, there will be light; To cleanse the soul, and set wrongs right. When darkness falls, look to the sky; A new dawn comes, let there be light.”