The Green Lanterns have famously been protecting the farthest reaches of space for decades. It’s a massive job, explaining why there are so many heroes stepping into the role of a Green Lantern. However, there’s no denying the many challenges they’ve faced along the way. Our favorite heroes, from Hal Jordan to Kyle Rayner, and every Lantern hero in between, face down dangerous enemies every day. It’s what makes their stories so compelling. However, we all know that not all villains are created equal. Some villains are terrifying and memorable, such as Sinestro. Meanwhile, just as many heroes fall under the weird label, and while that isn’t bad, it certainly opens a different sort of door.
The beauty of a Green Lantern story is that the creators behind these projects are generally given a bit more freedom than many of their counterparts in DC Comics. As such, they’re allowed to take more risks, including the introduction of new heroes and villains. Sometimes, those risks pay off. Sometimes, those risks simply create something fun but admittedly quite strange. It’s this variety that makes the Green Lantern Universe come to life, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
10) Hector Hammond
Hector Hammond may be a familiar face in the Green Lantern universe, but that doesn’t negate his weirdness. This villain was once a petty criminal, and thus shouldn’t have ever been a major problem for the likes of the Green Lanterns. However, a meteor changed all of that, giving this villain one heck of a power boost. More importantly, it gave him a massive intelligence boost (and a big head to go with it).
To put it another way, Hector Hammond is another victim of the classic comic trope that forces intelligent villains to showcase this ability by having a massive head. The unrealistic scale of his head is actually a problem for Hammond, making it impossible to move as he had before his transformation. On the bright side, it came with a side of telepathic and psychic powers, which he utilizes not just to move but to follow through on his grand schemes. Hector Hammond is easily one of the more dangerous Green Lantern villains. He’s even transcended that statement, becoming a problem for the likes of Superman and The Flash.
9) Yellow Peril
It’s hard to believe that criminals running under the title of Yellow Peril would ever pose a threat to the Green Lanterns, yet here we are. The Yellow Peril hails from a time in DC Comics when the Green Lanterns were vulnerable to the color yellow. We’re not simply talking about the fear that yellow is meant to represent or the power behind it. Simply the color as a representation was enough to be problematic for these heroes.
Enter Yellow Peril, a group that dressed all in yellow as a way of circumventing the Green Lanterns. It’s a creative strategy, assuming that the Green Lanterns would be the organization responding. The Yellow Peril famously hijacked a plane while wearing their iconic yellow bodysuits. Unfortunately for them, it didn’t take long for other heroes to catch on to their scheme. The final time this group appeared, it wasn’t the Green Lanterns who showed up for battle, but Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Airwave. It’s safe to say that things did not go well for Yellow Peril.
8) Javelin
Javelin is another villain who hails from another era. On the bright side, his gimmick didn’t rely on a retconned weakness (mostly) for the Green Lanterns. Instead, Javelin was all about sports, as he is a villain who specialized in, you guessed it, throwing Javelins. It may seem like a strange choice, willing to go up against any Green Lantern (or any superhero, for that matter) with nothing more than a set of Javelins, yet that is the story at hand.
Of course, there’s more going on with Javelin. While his theme didn’t play with the color yellow, he wasn’t above using yellow Javelins. By using exclusively yellow Javelins, he was able to strike through any construct Hal Jordan created, which was quite the problem for the hero. This explains why this criminal lasted for years within the world of DC Comics.
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7) Sonar
Bito Wladon, aka Sonar, is an interesting character in that he reminds readers that DC Comics is a different universe. As such, the world isn’t set up the way we’re used to, and that includes dozens of different locations (Gotham and Metropolis are similar examples). Sonar is from a country called Modora, and while there’s a lot we can say about Sonar, there’s no denying his passion for his country. All Sonar ever wanted in life was to make his country a world power. However, since his attempts were horrible and unethical, it’s hard to sympathize with him.
In case his name didn’t give him away, this supervillain’s gimmick is all about sound. Sonar quickly threw himself into the world of supervillains, harnessing sonar equipment for evil. When that wasn’t enough, he tried to build a nucleo-sonic bomb. Naturally, the Green Lanterns had zero intention of allowing him to use that bomb, putting a stop to all of those plans. For anybody else wondering, Sonar is really the only noteworthy mention of Modora, and they’re probably not super proud of him.
6) The Shark
There’s no shortage of aquatic-themed heroes and villains. DC Comics alone has dozens of such heroes, so it may be a little too easy to forget about the likes of The Shark, also known as Karshon. Even his name is pretty generic. In his defense, The Shark was once nothing more than a tiger shark, so coming up with a fantastic and memorable name was probably not a top priority.
Thanks to comic book magic, this tiger shark was exposed to massive amounts of radiation due to an explosion. Rather than killing the poor shark, it gave him many abilities, including enhanced intelligence and a more humanoid appearance. Notably, these changes did not remove The Shark’s heavy prey drive, which explains how he came to battle some of the most famous heroes in DC Comics. His enemy list includes Hal Jordan and Aquaman, though the latter was probably pretty obvious.
5) The Aerialist
Otto Fisher is another old-school villain, which may explain his somewhat weird backstory. Otto was once a circus clown, but he feared that others (including the woman he loved) looked down on him for this career. So he began training in acrobatics and engineering. Those two combined sound strange, but Otto created a suit with some magnetic motors, allowing him to throw himself across larger areas. In other words, it let him survive some pretty spectacular aerial stunts.
Naturally, Otto Fisher’s life went off the rails shortly after this. The love of his life was killed, and he blamed Ferris Aircraft for that. He turned his skills to a life of villainy, picking up the name The Aerialist. As a villain, he forced Hal Jordan to stand between him and Ferris. All things said and done, this villain may have a tragic backstory, but his insistence and themes are a bit weird.
4) Goldface
Admittedly, there is a bit of a theme with some supervillains and their names, as many tend to be a little too obvious. We can add Goldface’s name to that list, as this villain is most famous for his literal gold face. It’s a whole thing. Once upon a time, Keith Kenyon was a political science student when an accident changed his life. Sound familiar? It’s a pretty common formula in comics. He was exposed to radioactive gold (which sounds awful), giving him super strength, invulnerability, and most notably, his famous golden face/looks.
Goldface became obsessed with his namesake and began stealing all the gold he could get his shiny hands on. Unsurprisingly, this caught Hal Jordan’s attention, but there’s a problem. Goldface appeared in the era when the color yellow was a weakness for Green Lanterns, so Hal was pretty limited in his ability to fight back. Goldface continued being a problem in DC Comics for many years, reappearing in Green Lantern stories and even The Flash’s tale. The latter somehow convinced Keith to give up his life of crime.
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3) The Made of Wood Killer
The Made of Wood Killer is another Earth-based villain, and boy, is that name a long and clunky one. However, his story shows how ordinary people can be pushed to an extreme reaction when they’ve lost everything. Samual Sullivan was just an ordinary Gothamite, trying to get by in life. He ran a grocery store in Gotham, so you can all probably guess what happened next.
During a battle between Alan Scott and Sportsmaster, Samuel’s store was utterly destroyed. Now, Alan had two choices when this happened. He could stop and try to help Samuel (somehow), or he could follow the threat and chase down Sportsmaster. He chose the latter. Being abandoned and forced to face everything he lost, Samuel picked up Sportsmaster’s baseball bat, becoming inspired by the weapon and grains. Thus, he became the Made of Wood killer. A tragic story for a strange name. He also started a legacy, as his grandson would later pick up the mantle.
2) Myrwhydden
The Green Lanterns have accumulated all kinds of antagonists over the years, ranging from weirdly themed villains to cosmic entities and everything in between. Myrwhydden is one of those villains who falls in between. He’s a magic-based villain, and it’s safe to say his story gets pretty weird. Myrwhydden’s story begins with Abin Sur, the first Green Lantern he faced. As an evil wizard, he was plenty threatening to the Green Lantern.
Naturally, Abin Sur won, but that’s when things got really weird. Instead of doing any of the normal Green Lantern things with a defeated foe, Abin Sur shrank Myrwhydden down, trapping him within the Green Lantern ring. This is the same ring Hal Jordan wields, setting up a repeating problem in the future. This wizard has never gotten over the offense done to him, and it’s tempting to agree.
1) Parallax
Parallax proves that a villain can be both threatening and weird. Parallax is the living embodiment of fear, which is equal parts cool (terrifying) and incredibly strange. He’s the entity that resides inside the Yellow Lantern Central Power Battery, but he’s not an energy construct. He’s actually more like a demon parasite.
Part of what makes Parallax so strange is how his story progresses. As a parasite, he’s possessed more than one character over the years, including the famous Hal Jordan. Meanwhile, the all-yellow carapace design is equally unsettling.
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