The Yellow Lantern Corps is an intergalactic force, using rings powered by fear as their weapons. They were formed by the Guardians of the Universe, as shock troops against the Manhunters.
Former Members[]
- Hal Jordan
- John Stewart
- Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze
- Bane
- Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy
- Garfield Lynns/Firefly
- Kirk Langstrom/Man-Bat
- Various henchmen
Early History[]
In order to battle the Manhunters, the Guardians took extreme measures, as the rings powered by the emerald energy of will were not enough so they created the yellow rings, that are powered by fear. Every time the Manhunters seized a planet and started to exterminate its population, the new Yellow Lantern Corps arrived and powered by the fear of the population, became much stronger. Unfortunately, the yellow light also drew something from the darkness, Parallax. This caused the Parallax War, where Hal Jordan (Earth's first Lantern Corps member) became possessed by Parallax, and almost entirely wiped out the different Lantern Corps.
Season Eleven[]
Parallax sends his yellow rings to find new hosts on Earth.
When the two Green Lanterns, Superman and John Stewart, find Parallax, the entity says that he could feel John's fear from miles away. Parallax says that the Guardians offered themselves to him as part of a treaty, their fear as eternal fuel for his hunger for the power they siphoned from his domain with the promise of never hunting him again. Threatening Clark, Parallax says that the Guardians have lost their luster and the Manhunters have failed so he seeks to feed from the population of Earth. He starts vomiting yellow rings and sends them across the galaxy to find recruits for his own Corps.
The rings arrive on Earth.
The yellow rings dispatched by Parallax enter Earth's atmosphere.
A yellow ring detects Megan as a potential "harvester".
In San Francisco, the rings approach the Titans' base and one of them identify one of the Titans, Megan Morse, as a potential harvester but she is deemed incompatible by the ring, which then moves on in search of another host.
Superman, Batman and Nightwing are ready to face the Yellow Lanterns.
In Gotham City, the rings head to Arkham Asylum. There, Batman and Nightwing are doing their best to contain the newly powered inmates of Arkham, who have already been transformed into Yellow Lanterns. Mr. Freeze, who is one of the inmates, initially doesn't want to hurt anyone but the ring that has chosen him takes the form of his wife, Nora, as well as overrides the emotion of love, that he feels for her, to that of fear so he begins to cause chaos along with the others and harvest fear for their master, Parallax. Luckily, Superman arrives just in time to offer assistance to Batman and Nightwing.
In space, Parallax lures John Stewart to give in to fear and become a Yellow Lantern.
In San Francisco, the Teen Titans try to contain the newly en-powered Yellow Lanterns.
Superman fights with Man-Bat.
At Watchtower, the team is monitoring the yellow rings and the subsequent mayhem they're causing. They communicate with Superman, who is fighting with Man-Bat in Gotham and tells them to focus on threats that are unrelated to the rings. Before taking him down, Superman says to Man-Bat that if there is more man than bat inside of him then he takes no joy in this.
Firefly and Bane attack Superman while he is trying to save the doctors.
The Yellow Lanterns have the upper hand in their battle with the heroes.
In Arkham Asylum, Batman and Nightwing find it difficult to defeat the super-powered inmates, as Poison Ivy has captured them in her vines. Superman tries to control the situation but his inexperience with his power ring doesn't help at all, so Bane and Firefly attack him, while he is protecting the doctors. After been attacked by Bane, Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze, Batman tells Superman that the ring is not doing either of them any bit of good so he manages to break free of his Green Lantern armor and operate in his own suit once more, saying that he is more than just the ring. After this, the Yellow Lanterns stand still and kneel before him. Superman is impressed and cannot believe that was all he had to do but he soon realizes that isn't the case. Parallax suddenly appears behind him, having John Stewart under his control.
In Washington, D.C., the rings focused on the U.S. Congress, with half the Senate and half the White House becoming the new carriers and starting attacking each other.
Superman gets impaled by John Stewart, while the Yellow Lanterns take over Gotham.
In Gotham, Batman fights with Firefly, when suddenly he gets a call from Tess Mercer and Chloe Sullivan in Watchtower, who ask him to secure a single yellow ring for them.
Meanwhile, Superman tries to convince John Stewart, who is possessed by Parallax, that it's okay to experience fear, that it's not an emotion anyone should repress or ignore. Superman's words about a soldier having the right to ask questions seem to have an impact on John, but surprisingly Stewart responds by impaling Superman with a sword constructed by his yellow ring.
Batman fights with Firefly.
Batman takes Firefly's ring.
Batman fights with Firefly and during the battle Batman tricks him into colliding to a building. There Batman finds the chance and takes the yellow ring, which tempts him to become his new bearer, from Firefly and then puts it on his analyzer on the Batplane and sends the data to Watchtower and S.T.A.R. Labs, who verify that they can't turn the rings off but they can reboot them.
The yellow rings get rebooted and their bearers lose their powers.
Watchtower informs Superman, who is pierced by a sword constructed of yellow energy, about their plan, while Parallax leaves John's body intending to take over Superman's but he tells to his teammates to reset the rings. When they do the sword on Superman's chest disappears, he gets his strength back and all the Yellow Lanterns are released from the influence of fear and lose their powers with the rings turning black.
The criminals fall to their deaths.
After their rings get rebooted and they lose their powers, the inmates of Arkham fall from the sky unable to do anything to escape from their eventual death but fortunately Superman manages to save them all.
Lex wants to assemble a team with the rings he has in his possession.
After Parallax's defeat, all the now depowered criminals return to Arkham Asylum.
Later, Lex Luthor orders Otis to get a list of all the individuals who wore Yellow Lantern rings but Otis tells him that all of them are already in prison. Lex says that something about them was compatible with the rings, which are now on his possession, and he needs them to assemble a team in order to save the world.
Lex reveals his new security force.
Lex's security force has taken over the super collider.
In Antarctica, Otis informs him that the Monitor's device has already started to lose charge and Lex says that he was hoping not to reveal his new security force so early but now he doesn't have a choice. Holt says that he doesn't need any security force as their own private security, Booster Gold, can escort his plane back to domestic airspace but Lex reveals that he lied to them and that he intends to buy Holt and Kord out. Kord says they are not selling but suddenly Lex's private security, which is revealed to be powered by rings of the Yellow Lanterns, fires at them and Lex then says they should consider it more of a hostile takeover.
Lex demands from Kort and Holt to give him the access codes for the equipment but they refuse. Lex insists his actions are to save the world and commands his security force to shoot both men when they refuse him again. Then he orders his henchmen to find Booster Gold and eliminate him.
The Yellow Lanterns fire against Booster Gold.
Lex Luthor continues his hostile takeover of the Antarctica facility, convinced his actions are for the greater good of the universe. Under the surveillance of two of his men the wounded Kord and Holt work on the equipment and try to put it back on track.
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The henchmen torture Booster Gold.
Meanwhile somewhere else in the facility, Booster Gold tries to escape from two of Lex's security force members, who are firing at him, and then he succeeds to overcome them and escapes to the outside. Unfortunately, he's ambushed by two others waiting for him, while a shocked Skeets observes them taking his master to Luthor.
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A Yellow Lantern murders one of his partners.
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The Yellow Lanterns decide to take control of the situation.
Lex orders his Yellow Lanterns to torture Booster Gold and then remove all of his gadgets so they can study them later. After that, Lex's Lanterns imprison Holt and Kord once again along with Booster Gold, and Lex orders Otis to activate the machine so they can make some history.
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The Lanterns are ready to execute the three men.
In the room where Kord, Holt and Booster Gold are held, the Yellow Lanterns are eager to start offing prisoners, ditch their boss, and relish their newfound power. One of them insists to follow Luthor's orders but another one kills him saying, that Lex knows what kind of men he hired. They intend to kill the prisoners, then the rest of the people there and then use the facility as their own stronghold.
Lex's Yellow Lanterns are killed.
The Yellow Lanterns prepare to execute Ted Kord, Michael Holt, and Booster Gold, saying to them that it's not personal. Luckily, Skeets arrives just in time and attacks them with a set of cables that spring from its "body", distracting the Lanterns. Kord and Holt use the opportunity to incapacitate the men and then Skeets takes their rings.
Lex's Yellow Lanterns decide to turn against their employer. However, Lex reveals his contingency plan, that his subordinates' rings were slaved to his own ring and programmed to self destruct on command, and that command is given. After the corpses of the henchmen fall to the ground, Lex and Otis make their exit.
Appearances[]
In the Comics[]
The Sinestro Corps as they appear in the comics.
After Thaal Sinestro, once one of the greatest Green Lanterns, went rogue, he was banished by the Guardians of the Universe to Qward in the antimatter universe. When he returned, he wielded a power ring which used yellow energy. After various encounters with Earth's Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, he was imprisoned within the Central Power Battery. There he was able to use his ring, which uses fear, as opposed to willpower, as a power source, to awaken Parallax from hibernation. From there, Parallax and Sinestro were able to influence the fall of Hal Jordan and instigate the fall of the Green Lantern Corps.
After the Green Lantern Corps was restarted with the return of Hal Jordan, the Sinestro Corps began actively recruiting members, offering yellow power rings and a role in the Corps to those who can "instill great fear". Members of the Corps are immediately taken to Qward to "...be subjected to psychological and physical reconditioning". The members of the Sinestro Corps work in sectors, like the Green Lantern Corps. Qward also has a huge yellow Central Battery on its surface like the one used on Oa. Although the Sinestro Corps uses fear and opposes the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians, Sinestro has stated their goal is to bring order to the universe, which he claims the Guardians have failed to do.
Arkillo, a large and muscular vicious alien, is enslaving all the Qwardian Weaponers and forcing them to continuously build new yellow rings which are programmed to breach the barrier between the antimatter and matter universes to find and recruit new ring-wielders. Arkillo also serves as the Sinestro Corps' drill sergeant. During this time, the Sinestro Corps attempted to recruit Batman, known even to some alien races for his formidable ability to instill fear in others. However, Batman's willpower combined with his previous brief exposure to a power ring allowed him to reject the yellow ring before it took him to be properly trained and molded into one of Sinestro's soldiers. The yellow ring then sought a replacement and selected Amon Sur, the disgruntled son of Abin Sur, who was on Earth attempting to steal Hal Jordan's ring.
The Sinestro Corps versus the Green Lantern Corps.
Following his defeat in Green Lantern: Rebirth, Sinestro retreats to the planet Qward in the antimatter universe. There he amasses an army, the Sinestro Corps, that he selects based upon their ability to "inspire great fear". Each member is armed with a yellow power ring, mirroring the green ones of the Green Lantern Corps. Amongst Sinestro's allies are Parallax and the resurrected Anti-Monitor. The Sinestro Corps then launches an all-out assault against the Green Lantern Corps and the universe itself. During the assault on Oa, the Sinestro Corps manages to inflict heavy casualties and free Superman-Prime and the Cyborg Superman from their imprisonment. Kyle Rayner is captured and transported to Qward, where Sinestro manages to separate Rayner from the symbiote Ion allowing Parallax to possess him. As the Sinestro Corps spreads out to ambush Green Lanterns across the universe, the Guardians decide to rewrite their sacred text, the Book of Oa and they add 10 new laws, the first of which authorizes the use of lethal force against the Sinestro Corps. As the Green Lanterns gather on Oa in preparation for a Sinestro Corps assault, the Sinestro Corps teleport themselves and their Central Power Battery instead to a new Warworld, their objective revealed to be Earth. After a lengthy struggle in New York, the Sinestro Corps are defeated by the overwhelming numbers against them. Moreover, Hal and Kyle subdue and arrest Sinestro in Coast City.
In Blackest Night, the Green Lantern Corps tracked down the abandoned Sinestro rings and prevented them from finding new bearers. Among these is Amon Sur's ring, which attempts to recruit the self-proclaimed "Master of Fear", Jonathan Crane a.k.a Scarecrow. The surviving members of the Sinestro Corps continue to try to bring fear to the Green Lanterns, in part by murdering the family members of Green Lanterns. Meanwhile, Mongul, who had since obtained a yellow ring in the aftermath of the war, begins his quest to take command of the Sinestro Corps in their namesake's absence. After obtaining an additional five rings by killing corpsmen who refused to follow him, Mongul takes over the planet Daxam and then a large contingent of the Sinestro Corps, after besting Arkillo in one-on-one combat. In Rage of the Red Lanterns #1, a group of Sinestro Corps members still loyal to Sinestro release him from Green Lantern custody as he is being transferred for execution. Their rescue attempt is temporarily spoiled by an attack from Atrocitus and his newly formed Red Lantern Corps. Sinestro is abducted by Atrocitus' forces and brought to the Red Lantern base planet: Ysmault. Planning to use Sinestro's blood for their own means, the Sinestro Corps eventually arrive and liberate him from the Red Lanterns. After their escape, Sinestro and the Sinestro Corps return to Qward, revealing that there is a backup main power battery. Sinestro orders his men to free the Sinestro Corps members imprisoned on Zamaron by the Star Sapphires and meet him on the darkside of Daxam's moon. After Sinestro attends to "family business", they will retake the Sinestro Corps from Mongul. In addition to those members imprisoned on Zamaron, Sinestro Corps members are also being held prisoner on Oa. Their power rings are held in containment along with other rings, abandoned due to casualty in war, that were prevented from finding new bearers. During a jail break, Scar frees the yellow power rings and they find their bearers in the sciencells. Now armed with their rings the Sinestro Corps join in the battle with the Green Lanterns and Vice. The faction of the Sinestro Corps led by Sinestro are planning an invasion of Zamaron, homeworld of the Star Sapphires, in order to retake the female Corps members being held prisoner there. After being repelled from Daxam, Mongul's faction invades Korugar. After a fierce battle, Sinestro overrides Mongul's rings, using them to imprison him within the yellow central power battery, thus regaining control of his Corps. When he departs with Hal Jordan's group of light-wielders, he commands his Corps to gather at Korugar and protect it while he is away.
In the New 52, Sinestro creates a new Green Lantern ring for Hal Jordan albeit one that he can shut off at will so that Jordan can help him retake control of the Sinestro Corps, who now want him dead in the belief that his killer will become the new Sinestro Corps leader. After turning various Korugarian prisoners into a temporary Green Lantern Corps using short-lived duplicates of Sinestro's ring, Sinestro and Hal are able to hold off the Sinestro Corps long enough to drain the power away from the Central Power Battery of the Sinestro Corps, de-powering all of the Corps members on Korugar, although those more distant from the battery will still have access to their own power supplies. Later all Lanterns' rings registered that the Sinestro Corps have disbanded with 98% of all known Corpsmen dead or incarcerated. It has since been revealed that the Guardians were responsible for Sinestro acquiring a Green Lantern ring in an attempt to undermine the Sinestro Corps as part of their future plans to destroy all seven Corps.
During the conclusion of the Wrath of the First Lantern storyline, Sinestro becomes once again a member of the Sinestro Corps and after bonding with Parallax, he reactivates the yellow rings and releases all the Sinestro Corps members who were incarcerated on Oa.