# Green Lantern Ring? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2003, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245 "2003-05-29T13:03:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tyler\_Do\_Urden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tyler\_Do\_Urden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyler_Do_Urden)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/1 "2003-05-29T13:03:57Z")
I have a question for all the DC-heads out there. I keep hearing about how the Green Lantern’s ring is “The Most Powerful Weapon in the Universe” but I don’t understand how this is true. I’ll be the first to admit that my knowledge and experience of GL is limited to brief comic exposure and the Cartoon Network Justice League (which I know is massively depowered). And besides, I’ve always been more of a Marvel fan (hey, I like Spiderman 😃 ). So fight my ignorance! As far as I can tell it looks like focused telekinetics by means of a green ray. It can create force blasts, shapes, and move things around. But does it really compare to my ultra-mega-turbo-planet-charring plasma cannon? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/2 "2003-05-29T13:16:47Z")
My basic understanding is that the power of the ring is only limited by the willpower of the person wielding it. A person with godlike willpower would be a god. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/3 "2003-05-29T13:20:52Z")
With enough willpower, it could shield against your weapon o’ doom. The ring is nigh-infinitely powerful, limited only by the user’s will. That’s what makes it The Most Powerful Weapon in the Universe." Imagine, for example, if a Thanos-type character got hold of it…bad things, man…bad things… Dang, **Ethilrist** beat me…but the point stands. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/4 "2003-05-29T13:26:40Z")
I’m very much the GL novice, but aren’t there others with rings, other Green Somethings (not counting Sinestro, of course)? And if they do, are any of the others’ rings as powerful as their willpower, too? And if that’s true, wouldn’t that mean there was more than one Most Powerful Weapon in the Universe? And if that’s true… well how could it be? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/5 "2003-05-29T13:28:11Z")
A nuclear bomb is probably the most powerful weapon on earth, but there’s more than one. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/6 "2003-05-29T13:30:51Z")
Well, sure, but I guess I always thought these rings were more unique than your everyday nuclear bomb. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/7 "2003-05-29T13:38:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*Well, sure, but I guess I always thought these rings were more unique than your everyday nuclear bomb. \*\* And they are! Thank you for further proof that “unique” can actually be a comparative. In any case, the power of the ring depended on your will power and concentration (it also helped that Hal Jordan was without fear, though the phrase was trademarked for another). And, of course, it was powerless against wood (Alan Scott) or the color yellow (Hal Jordan). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/8 "2003-05-29T13:49:25Z")
There was a storyline in which the new GL, Kyle, has to go up against somebody with a ring and lots of willpower. The villain was a figment of his own subconscious whom he willed into being through the power of the ring. The villain was powerful enough to create galaxies or universes. I read the graphic novel compilation a while back so my memory is obviously fuzzy. But it spoiled GL for me thoroughly. The ring has _that_ kind of power and the GLs hit people with giant boxing gloves? ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/9 "2003-05-29T13:50:28Z")
The new rings no longer have the weakness against Yellow and Alan Scott doesn’t need the ring anymore, he is the ‘ring’. One more thing, the weakness against the color yellow was a matter of intelligence, that is the ‘old’ ring couldn’t DIRECTLY affect anything yellow. A smart tactician(sp) could easily figure out a way to attack a yellow clad foe. The problem was always the will of the writers… I mean, when GL (Hal Jordon) went insane, he defeated and KILLED dozens of other Green Lanterns, who had the same weapon, but not the will. ---
**Author:** ![Tyler\_Do\_Urden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tyler\_Do\_Urden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyler_Do_Urden)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/10 "2003-05-29T14:49:33Z")
Ah, that makes much more sense now. Thanks guys. So really it has the potential to be “The Most Powerful Weapon in the Universerse ™” but only with enough will power. Gotchya ya. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/11 "2003-05-29T15:07:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > **Thank you for further proof that “unique” can actually be a comparative.** Not properly it can’t. “Unique” means one of a kind. If there’s more of one of something it by definition is not unique. It also make no sense to state that something is more one-of-a-kind than something else. Now, if you said that something was “more _nearly_ unique” that’s fine but a one-of-a-kind thing can’t be more one-of-a-kind than another one-of-a-kind thing. Back to the topic, it may be useful to the OP to know that Alan Scott’s ring was actually unique. It was fashioned from the metal of a “magic meteorite.” God, how dumb do I feel typing “magic meteorite”? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/12 "2003-05-29T15:16:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > Not properly it can’t. “Unique” means one of a kind. If there’s more of one of something it by definition is not unique. It also make no sense to state that something is more one-of-a-kind than something else. Now, if you said that something was “more _nearly_ unique” that’s fine but a one-of-a-kind thing can’t be more one-of-a-kind than another one-of-a-kind thing. From M-W: > [@](#): > > Many commentators have objected to the comparison or modification (as by somewhat or very) of unique; the statement that a thing is either unique or it is not has often been repeated by them. **Objections are based chiefly on the assumption that unique has but a single absolute sense, an assumption contradicted by information readily available in a dictionary.** Unique dates back to the 17th century but was little used until the end of the 18th when, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, it was reacquired from French. H. J. Todd entered it as a foreign word in his edition (1818) of Johnson’s Dictionary, characterizing it as “affected and useless.” Around the middle of the 19th century it ceased to be considered foreign and came into considerable popular use. With popular use came a broadening of application beyond the original two meanings (here numbered 1 and 2a). In modern use both comparison and modification are widespread and standard but are confined to the extended senses 2b and 3. When sense 1 or sense 2a is intended, unique is used without qualifying modifiers. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/13 "2003-05-29T15:22:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > Not properly it can’t. “Unique” means one of a kind. If there’s more of one of something it by definition is not unique. It also make no sense to state that something is more one-of-a-kind than something else. Now, if you said that something was “more _nearly_ unique” that’s fine but a one-of-a-kind thing can’t be more one-of-a-kind than another one-of-a-kind thing. [From M-W: > [@](#): > > Many commentators have objected to the comparison or modification (as by somewhat or very) of unique; the statement that a thing is either unique or it is not has often been repeated by them. **Objections are based chiefly on the assumption that unique has but a single absolute sense, an assumption contradicted by information readily available in a dictionary.** ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/14 "2003-05-29T15:24:04Z")
Sorry about the double post AND the hijack. Where were we? Oh yeah. I’m more uniquer than all of ya. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/15 "2003-05-29T20:11:36Z")
Whatever, I’m not going to fight about it and I’m going to take the word of every English teacher with whom I’ve ever spoken rather than [M-W.com](http://M-W.com). Besides, dictionaries don’t determine meaning; they define usage. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/16 "2003-05-29T20:32:28Z")
I just wanted to commend the OP on his excellent user name. Welcome to the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Sock\_Munkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/17 "2003-05-29T20:44:05Z")
One memorable issue was when Hal was able to defeat 2 other Green Lanterns by retreating at nearly the speed of light as he attacked so his power would go through a doppler shift. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/18 "2003-05-29T20:58:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\*Whatever, I’m not going to fight about it and I’m going to take the word of every English teacher with whom I’ve ever spoken rather than [M-W.com](http://M-W.com). Besides, dictionaries don’t determine meaning; they define usage. \*\* Just the opposite. Dictionaries don’t determine usage, they define meaning. In other words, the subtleties with which words are used in everyday speech are impossible to capture in a few overarching meanings. ---
**Author:** ![Tyler\_Do\_Urden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tyler\_Do\_Urden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyler_Do_Urden)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/19 "2003-05-29T21:56:51Z")
Thanks Miller. It came to me in an epiphany. I said to myself, “Self, you must use that as a username at the SDMB. You’ve been lurking long enough.” I knew there were people on this board who’d get the Salvatore reference. You’ve just reconfirmed my faith in humanity. ---
**Author:** ![cletus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@cletus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cletus)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245/20 "2003-05-29T22:55:29Z")
Here’s some stuff Kyle Raynor could do with his ring, just off the top of my head. -contain the energy from a star going nova with a giant green safe (looked like his brain was about to explode though). -split atoms -lift New York to protect it from a tsunami -shield himself along with 3 million people from a nuclear explosion with a force field -create armies of green monkeys/dinosaurs/sumo wrestlers to battle opposing army -somehow create a green time machine/treadmill for the Flash -encase moon in force field to make it into a prison -create green aura around himself to synthesize oxygen from sunlight (for travel in space) -potentially unlimited energy (for weapon or as power source) -overcome malovent cosmic entity with just his willpower -contain souls I’m sure I can think of more stuff later on. These were just some abilities I particularly liked. Basically, his only limited by the writer’s imagination. I’m just glad he doesn’t use basic geometric shapes as weapons anymore (triangle! cube! attack!). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-lantern-ring/178245.md?page=2)