Atrocitus (Green Lantern: The Animated Series)

"I am Atrocitus, lord and master of the Red Lantern Corps. I'm the one who will destroy the Guardians and all they stand for. I am wrath! I am hate! I am righteous vengeance!"

- Atrocious to Hal Jordan

Atrocitus is one of the main antagonists of the DC cartoon Green Lantern the Animated Series, being the main antagonist of the first half of the show''. ''Like his mainstream counterpart he is the leader of the Red Lantern Corps and the sole survivor of his sector after the Manhunters eliminated all other life in it.

However, unlike the more tragic, well-intentioned, and at times anti-heroic Atrocitus from the comics, this version is much more unambiguously evil, brutal, and cruel, and in fact is the reason why his fellow Red Lantern Razer became a villain in the first place.

History
Following the loss of his sector to the Manhunters, Atrocitus' bottomless rage and hatred inspired him to create the first Red Lantern power battery. From there he went on to create the Red Lantern Corps, a deliberate twisted mirror image of the hated Guardian's Green Lantern Corps. However, Atrocitus soon became the very thing he so despised, callously destroying entire planets and on at least one occasion recruiting people into his Red Lantern Corps via trickery, deliberately starting a war on an innocent planet and killing it's inhabitants simply because he saw potential in one of them as a Red Lantern (Razer). So it was that he murdered Razer's wife after inciting conflict on his homeworld. A few years later, Atrocitus and his Red Lanterns (Razer among them) first came into contact with the Green Lantern Corps when they began killing Green Lanterns stationed in "Frontier Space", a place outside of Guardian Space where the Red Lanterns operated. However, after Atrocitus had an innocent planet obliterated simply for harboring Green Lanterns, a horrified and guilt-ridden Razer defected. He later attempted to kill Atrocitus on Shard but failed. During his time on Shard, Atrocitus revealed to Razer his part in his past tragedies. Enraged, Razer defeated Atrocitus and then stole his personal power battery, taking it as his own.

Atrocitus and his Red Lanterns later attempted to gain entry into Guardian Space via the Malestron, an asteroid belt separating it from Frontier Space. Atrocitus' own personal ship was able to get to Guardian Space ahead of his fleet, and using a reprogrammed Aya made his way to Oa on the Interceptor. Atrocitus confronted the Guardians with the intent to kill them at last, but Hal Jordan was able to arrive at that moment and though nearly beaten by the Red Lantern leader was at last able to turn the tide and defeat him. Afterwards Atrocitus was imprisoned.

Later however, after Aya's descent into madness and nihilism, she opted to see if Love was truly stronger than Hate by pitting Love's "champion" (a reluctant Carol Ferris) against Hate's champion, who just so happened to be Atrocitus. Though the brutal Red Lantern leader had little trouble overwhelming an inxerpienced Carol Ferris, she was able to use the Star Sapphire's power of love to call in help from Hal Jordan. Together, the two were able to beat Atrocitus, who was then sent back to his cell on Oa by a disappointed Aya.

Trivia

 * His voice actor, Jonathan Adams, has voiced several other villains, including Kang the Conqueror, Dormammu, and Vaatu.