Red Lantern Corps

"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 Red Lantern Corps

The Red Lantern Corps are a major antagonistic organization, functioning as anti-heroes throughout much of the DC universe and they were enemies of the Green Lantern Corps. Their power is derived from the emotional spectrum, and particularly out of pure anger and rage. They are the inhabitants of a destroyed galaxy on the other side of the universe known as the Forgotten Zone, given with a red power ring and with the sole purpose of seeking vengeance and destruction against both the Guardians and the Green Lantern Corps alongside their vengeful Atrocitus.

Leader

 * Atrocitus (of Sector 666): Last survivor of the Five Inversions and of the massacre executed by the Manhunters on their corrupted mission. He is also the leader of the Corps and creator of the Red Lantern power battery. He was formerly the only Red Lantern that had complete control over himself (unlike the other feral members of the Red Lantern Corps).

Other Leaders

 * Bleez (of Sector 33): A woman who is tortured and raped by the members of the Sinestro Corps while imprisoned on Ranx the Sentient City; being chosen by a red power ring allows her to exact vengeance on those who kidnapped her. In early appearances, she is seen as only having one skeletal wing; the partner of which, Shane Davis suggests, was removed during her imprisonment. In Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #2, the power of her red ring reduces her two feathered wings to bone; her depictions with one wing are retconned. In her current backstory, both her wings were mutilated during her torture, thus having the ring "heal" them in their current, skeletal form. Bleez serves as the representative of the Red Lanterns Corps in the new Green Lantern: New Guardians ongoing series. Atrocitus also restores Bleez' intelligence to assist him in maintaining his control over the animalistic Red Lanterns.

Other Members

 * Abyssma: First identified by name by Ethan Van Sciver during an interview, Hal Jordan is shown fighting this Red Lantern during a battle between the Corps.
 * Antipathy: A favorite creation of Ethan Van Sciver, she is shown fighting Lantern Soranik during the epic battle between the Corps. She is distinguished as being one of the few Red Lanterns to create constructs using her ring, as she is depicted wielding scissor-like blades made of red light.
 * Dex-Starr (of Sector 2814): A blue house cat, described by Geoff Johns in an interview with Wizard as "the most sadistic and malicious" of the Red Lanterns. Originally intended as a joke by Shane Davis, he began being featured more prominently due to positive reception. It was revealed that Dex-Starr was an abandoned stray kitten adopted by a single woman in Brooklyn who names him Dexter. During a break-in, Dex-Starr bit the burglar before his owner was killed and he was evicted by police. Homeless, he was grabbed by two street thugs and thrown off Brooklyn Bridge, but the rage he felt caught the attention of a red power ring and it came to him before he hit the water. As a Red Lantern he killed two thugs and the burglar and slept on the three skulls, proclaiming himself to be a "good kitty" using thoughts expressed in simple sentences. Dex-Starr frequently travels with Atrocitus.
 * Fury-6: First identified by name in the promotional imagery contained inside Blackest Night #0, he was first seen as a participant in the abduction of Sinestro.
 * Haggor: First identified by name in the promotional imagery contained inside Blackest Night #0, he is similar in appearance to Abyssma.
 * Jack Moore (of Sector 2814): The most recent inductee in the Red Lantern Corps revised continuity, and the fourth human to bear a Red Lantern ring after Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner (the fifth terrestrial including Dex-Starr). Jack Moore is a milquetoast of a man, always repressing his growing feelings of rage, until he witnessed the brutal beating of his brother at the hands of the local police. Unable to repress his feelings anymore, he finally qualified as a proper replacement for Guy as the Red Lantern 2814.2. As with Hal and Guy, Jack Moore manages to hold on part of his rationality, and after giving to his grandfather's grave a last greeting, he decides to avenge him, and his brother, by slaying his killer, the man who holds responsible for the chain of events tearing his family apart, a feat that achieves by smashing him with his grandfather's tombstone. He then confronted by Guy, making the Green Lantern Corps aware of his existence, until he is called to Ryut to join Atrocitus in his fight towards Abysmus and the Abysmorphs. He also goes by the name "Rankorr".
 * Nite-Lik: Unique to the members of the Red Lantern Corps, Nite-Lik was designed specifically for Mattel’s series of Green Lantern figures by Four Horsemen Studios, and was named after Mattel's Scott Neitlich by Geoff Johns. The packaging for Nite-Lik's figure (which is a body that includes interchangeable heads for Nite-Like and Skallox) states that his first appearance is in Green Lantern (Volume 4) #61, however, he doesn't actually make his debut until the first issue of Red Lanterns.
 * Ratchet: A large floating brain with jellyfish-like features that is shown among the Red Lanterns during Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns and then named in Blackest Night #0. In Red Lanterns #4 and 5, his origin story is revealed after Atrocitus throws him in the blood ocean on Ysmault. First depicted as a small, alien life form not resembling his current jellyfish-like appearance, his body is mutilated and deformed by his society's law enforcement by defying their cultural rule of physical isolation.
 * Skallox: A humanoid alien whose head resembles a goat's skull that is shown among the Red Lanterns during Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns and then named in Blackest Night #0. Part of his origin story is shown in the Red Lantern series. After Atrocitus throws him into the blood ocean, it's revealed that prior to becoming a Red Lantern he is hired to commit acts of violence by a man named Lancer. Lancer wrongly accuses him of disloyalty and throws him in an oven; deforming his face and explaining his entry into the Red Lantern Corps.
 * Zilius Zox (of Sector 3544): First shown in Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns, he devours a Sinestro Corps member during Sinestro's abduction. He appears to be the same species as late Green Lantern Galius Zed . In Red Lanterns, Atrocitus throws him into the blood ocean in an attempt to restore his intelligence like Bleez.

Former members

 * Razer: Razer was forced to murder innocents. He had a strong dislike for Zilius Zox and often disagreed with Atrocitus's plans. After the Red Lanterns left Razer for death, he was sent to prison and later became ally of the Green Lanterns. After all of this, Razer came back to the Red Lanterns to kill Atrocitus. Razer also became a Blue Lantern at the end of the series, as a blue lantern glowed at him.
 * Guy Gardner (of Sector 2814): After Kyle Rayner's death in Green Lantern Corps (vol 2) #43, Guy is consumed by rage; attracting Vice's red power ring in the following issue. Like Hal Jordan, Guy is notable as one of the few Red Lanterns capable of creating red light constructs. Uniquely, Guy maintains control of his green power ring as well, and is capable of using both in conjunction with one another. Guy is able to overcome the red ring's influence with the aid of Mogo, however the planetary Green Lantern warns Guy that some influence of the red still remains, and that only a Blue Lantern's power ring could completely remove the influence of the red ring. During the "War of the Green Lantern Corps" story-arc, Guy is forced to remove his green power ring to avoid being contaminated by the yellow impurity. Later Hal Jordan gave him the choice of another power ring so they could fight against Krona, which he choose the red ring of Atrocitus. (due to his previous experience with a Red Power Ring) Afterwards, Kyle Rayner uses Saint Walker 's Ring to purify Guy from the effects of the ring.
 * Hal Jordan (of Sector 2814): During Hal's attempted rescue of Sinestro from the Red Lanterns, he tries to calm Laira's rage only to have Sinestro kill her just as he appears to be breaking through. Enraged, Laira's red power ring detects Hal's anger and forces itself onto his finger; temporarily transforming him into a member of the Red Lantern Corps. Hal is able to overcome the red ring's influence with the aid of the Blue Lantern Corps.
 * James Kim (of Sector 2814): A man whose daughter was cruelly murdered. Though not in possession of a red power ring, as the host of the Rage Entity, he has no need for one.
 * Krona (of Sector 0): During the War of the Green Lanterns, Krona was briefly able to take control of Atrocitus' ring and the other six rings, using them against the Green Lantern Corps, but the ring returned to its master after Hal Jordan killed Krona.
 *  Laira  (of Sector 112): Former Green Lantern who is chosen by a red power ring after being punished and expelled for killing Amon Sur . Her rage regresses her to a semi-feral state, where she is capable of saying little more than "Sinestro" . Hal Jordan meets her again on Ysmault and attempts to calm her rage. Just as Laira and her red power ring simultaneously utter "help me," she is killed by Sinestro.
 *  Mera  (of Sector 2814): The queen of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis . Mera is chosen as a deputy Red Lantern during the war against the Black Lantern Corps. When Aquaman is later resurrected by the White Entity, Mera's love for him severs the connection to her ring. Fortunately, she is spared from death through the combined efforts of Carol Ferris and Saint Walker.
 * The Spectre (of Sector 2814): After being freed of the possession of a black power ring by Parallax  during the Blackest Night event, Atrocitus attempts to recruit the Spectre to the Red Lantern Corps. After taking on the Red Lantern symbol and signature regurgitation of blood, The Spectre is able to shrug off the effects of the intrusion (explaining that he is God's rage, not Atrocitus').
 * Veon (of Sector 435): A purple alien with one eye, he is shown in Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns and named during Hal's attempted rescue of Sinestro when his ring says, "Veon rage" . In Green Lantern vol. 4 #45, he is killed by Boodikka  when the Green Lanterns retrieve Laira's body from Ysmault.
 * Vice (of Sector 13): The most ruthless of the Red Lanterns, his mate was murdered by the Sinestro Corps drill sergeant, Arkillo. His forehead and jaw contain spikes which he uses to decapitate his enemies. He is later captured and sent to the sciencells on Oa, but is freed by Scar . He starts a riot among the prisoners, attacking Green Lanterns and Sinestro Corpsmen alike. He is later killed by Alpha-Lantern Chaselon during an attack by the Black Lanterns.

Powers and Abilities
Red Lanterns use red power rings, fueled by the rage of their users and those around them. Like other power rings, the ring covers the user in a protective aura which shields them from harm and enables flight, and can create "Hard Light" constructs. The power ring fires blasts of rage energy. The user's blood is replaced by a form of corrosive, rage-energized blood. The user can regurgitate this blood. The blood has the effect of bursting into flames of rage; the flames are so potent that they will burn even in space. The blood can melt through the constructs of other ring wielders, penetrate their personal force fields (sometimes burning them to death in the process), and corrupt their rings, depleting their energy at an accelerated rate. The Red Rings' blood is one of the few known substances that can destroy a Black Lantern's corpse faster than even they can regenerate. Since the Red Ring completely takes over the circulatory processes of the wearer, removing the heart of a Red Lantern only temporarily incapacitates them.

A red power ring operates by expelling the blood of the wearer, replacing it with red light. As a result, removing a Red Lantern's ring will result in the wearer's death. However, a Blue Lantern's ring can reverse this process, freeing the wearer from the ring. The combined powers of blue and green rings can destroy a red ring. Also, if the heart of the wearer fills with love, which is the opposite emotion to rage in the Emotional Spectrum, the rage gets compromised and the connection with the ring breaks, instantly destroying the ring, but the light of a Blue Lantern is still needed to heal the former Red Lantern, because his/her heart goes into cardiac arrest by the lack of blood. To date, Mera is the only Red Lantern who was freed this way.

Though most red ring wielders are little more than beasts driven by rage, individuals with strong willpower are able to manipulate the energy to create constructs. The Red Lantern ring is unique in that the user can manipulate its base of power, rage. A Red Lantern can detect the rage in the heart of others and, by connection, the blood that pumps that rage. Those who face a Red Lantern already in a state of anger are even more vulnerable to a red power ring's attack, as their anger only feeds the attack and increases its destructive power.

The red power ring has also displayed a number of weaknesses as well. To wear a red power ring is to be overtaken by the red light of rage, reducing the wearer to act on pure instinct, driven to kill and destroy with little reason or forethought. To date, Atrocitus has shown to be the only Red Lantern still fully in control of his mental faculties, though a Blue Lantern can, at least partially, restore a Red Lantern's cognitive functions while retaining their Red Lantern abilities. Atrocitus intentionally set the rings to select beings who cannot control their rage, and the rings have attempted to leave wielders who gain control of their rage on a few occasions (although as all of these were with members of the Green Lantern Corps, they may be set instead to leave those whose willpower is too strong to be influenced).

Much like a specific type of willpower is needed to use a Green Lantern Ring, a Red Lantern Ring requires a specific type of rage (e.g. the rage gained through a personal loss).