# Lets list "power rings" from books, comics, movies, etc **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208 "2005-01-28T23:49:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/21 "2005-01-29T03:20:14Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m pretty sure they had rings, and they’d touch them together activate the powers. The power may not have been from the rings, but I’m pretty sure they had rings. I don’t think so. They touched their fists together to transform, but that’s just because they had to touch to transform. I’m pretty sure their powers just came from the fact that they were aliens. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/22 "2005-01-29T03:48:49Z")
The Wonder Twins didn’t use rings. You might be thinking of the kids from that old _Shazzan_ cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/23 "2005-01-29T03:49:27Z")
There’s one more type of Green Lantern ring: The Poglacci were a race of (for want of a better term) space gypsies who made and issued counterfeit GL rings, which were a fraction as powerful as the real ones (which is still pretty damned substantial). G’nort used one of these, until the Guardians of Oa gave him a real one (IIRC, G’nort was the last GL inducted before Emerald Sunset). Also, in the **Green Lantern: Mosaic** series, John Stewart made some watered-down copies of his ring and gave them to “worthy” teenagers on the Mosaic world. The Shadow had a Girasol ring, which he used to “cloud men’s minds.” This was a prominent feature in the comics and the movie, less so in the radio show; I think it was absent from the novels. All members of the Legion of Superheroes have a Flight Ring, one of which wound up in the possession of Booster Gold. Some characters from the **Sandman** comic had rings with mystical significance, like Rose Walker’s “annulet” and Despair’s barbed hook ring. I think Desire had one, too. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/24 "2005-01-29T03:54:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The members of the Legion of Superheroes (or at least, the ones who can’t fly inherently) all have flight rings, enabling them to keep up with their less gravity-challenged comrades (and how much would it suck, if flight was your only inherent power?). Slight nitpick. All legionaires have flight rings, not just the ones that can’t fly. They’re also used for communication and to allow entry into security areas of Legion HQ. (at least that was true pre-boot, I don’t know about the new kids) > [@Otto](#): > > Now if you want obscure, Dynamite magazine from the 70s (anyone else remember Dynamite? I’ve been meaning to start a thread) had a feature called IIRC “The Dynamite Duo.” A brother and sister won a pair of rings at a mysterious carnival which, when touched together, transformed them into superheroes (they were the embodiments of a space alien prince and princess I think). Embarrassingly, one of them had living in their ring a black genie-type entity called, I kid you not, Jive Turkey. I remember Dynamite (in fact, I have a friend who used FoxyFiddler as an Email account) and I remember the Dynamite Duo. But Jive Turky escapes me. Probably for the better. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/25 "2005-01-29T04:03:04Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > The Wonder Twins didn’t use rings. You might be thinking of the kids from that old _Shazzan_ cartoon. I don’t remember Shazzan, I guess it was before my time, I was born in 1969. I certainly could be thinking of something else though, it’s been quite a long time. I wonder also if they simply sometimes used rings and sometimes didn’t. The show wasn’t exactly known for its consistancy, like letting The Flash [fly](http://www.seanbaby.com/superfriends/flashb.htm) occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/26 "2005-01-29T04:03:39Z")
Underdog had a ring with a secret compartment that he would fill with an Underdog super energy pill\*. \*Or sometimes, with an Underdog energy vitamin pill. ---
**Author:** ![Flipstrip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f6c823/32.png) [@Flipstrip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flipstrip)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/27 "2005-01-29T05:00:33Z")
Sning, the snake ring from Piers Anthony’s “Incarnations of Immortality” series. It could answer yes or no questions for whoever happened to be wearing it at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/28 "2005-01-29T05:00:37Z")
Oldest: the ring of Gyges from Plato? ---
**Author:** ![Headspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8491ac/32.png) [@Headspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Headspace)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/29 "2005-01-29T05:09:03Z")
What about the Phantom’s ring (not sure it had any powers as such but he did wear one) I too thought the wonder twins had rings but stand corrected. Didn’t Shazzam involve two rings being touched together to activate powers? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/30 "2005-01-29T05:16:22Z")
Wasn’t there a “Wish Ring” in one of the Xanth novels? The character could talk to inanimate objects, and the ring claimed to be a wish ring. Invariably, after wishing, the character would do something to solve the problem and the ring would claim credit. OK, I admit it, I read a Xanth novel. I was young. There were also the rings from the RPG video game “Rings of Power”. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/31 "2005-01-29T08:04:28Z")
Anyone remember the old Hercules animated series? [http://www.toonopedia.com/m-herc.htm](http://www.toonopedia.com/m-herc.htm) Hercules had a magic ring that gave him, wait for it… the powers of Hercules. Even as a kid that made no sense. And I thought the Wonder Twins had rings too. For some reason I have an image of two kind of fractured half circles that fit together. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/32 "2005-01-29T08:21:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Wasn’t there a “Wish Ring” in one of the Xanth novels? The character could talk to inanimate objects, and the ring claimed to be a wish ring. Invariably, after wishing, the character would do something to solve the problem and the ring would claim credit. > > OK, I admit it, I read a Xanth novel. I was young. That would be _Castle Roogna_, and the character was named Dor. I read about two dozen Xanth novels, I’ll admit it. And dangit, I should have remembered _The Magician’s Nephew_! ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/33 "2005-01-29T10:58:16Z")
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to remember a short-lived cartoon series based on the Thing, from the Fantastic Four. Other than the Thing himself, there was no relation to the comic books. If my memory serves me correctly, a teenage boy (who may or may not have been named Ben Grimm) would put his fists together, making a ring on each hand touch. He would then say, “Ring ring, do your thing!” and orange rocks would fly in from off screen… …I also seem to recall that I thought it was cool, for maybe one episode. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/34 "2005-01-29T13:13:04Z")
> [@Headspace](#): > > Didn’t Shazzam involve two rings being touched together to activate powers? It’s actually _Shazzan_, and I did mention them earlier. People keep confusing them with the Wonder Twins, for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/35 "2005-01-29T13:59:31Z")
I’m telling you, the Wonder Twins did not have rings. They generally just banged their fists together (while chanting “Wonder Twin powers…_activate!_” and how exactly as kids do you figure out that you have that particular ability anyway? Do you sit around all day banging your fists together nattering random phrases just to see what happens?) but there were episodes where they made fingertip contact only and even one where they used Gleek’s tail as a bridge when they couldn’t quite reach. I’ve heard several dozen Shadow radio broadcasts and don’t recall ever hearing a ring mentioned. Is there a cite on that? In the movie he did give rings to his agents but they had no mystical power, instead just being identifiers. The Phantom’s ring had no powers other than instant tattooing; he’d sock you and you’d have “the mark of the Phantom” on your face for the rest of your life. The Beastmaster movie included a ring with an eye inside that was used for spying on the rebels. In some versions of the Aladdin story, isn’t there a ring with a genie associated with it? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/36 "2005-01-29T14:06:05Z")
The Legion flight rings can also become invisible if the member lives on a planet “where rings are symbolic or not worn.” Or when the artist forgets to draw one. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/37 "2005-01-29T14:09:50Z")
> [@RobuSensei](#): > > Correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to remember a short-lived cartoon series based on the Thing, from the Fantastic Four. Other than the Thing himself, there was no relation to the comic books. > > If my memory serves me correctly, a teenage boy (who may or may not have been named Ben Grimm) would put his fists together, making a ring on each hand touch. He would then say, “Ring ring, do your thing!” and orange rocks would fly in from off screen… That’s actually “Thing ring, do your thing!” (Or so I’ve read. I’ve never actually seen the show.) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/38 "2005-01-29T18:32:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The members of the Legion of Superheroes (or at least, the ones who can’t fly inherently) all have flight rings, enabling them to keep up with their less gravity-challenged comrades (and how much would it suck, if flight was your only inherent power?). In the 1980’s Legion Of Superheroes Brainiac 5 had a ring that created a shield that protected the wearer from all harm. For some reason he was the only member who wore one. 😕 (Although later on he gave it to Duo Damsel after her “twin” was killed) The Shadow did wear a ring. I don’t recall if it actually granted him powers or not. Perhaps it was similar to a hypnotists watch? BTW a “girosol” is just another name for a type of gem. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/39 "2005-01-29T18:58:40Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I’m telling you, the Wonder Twins did not have rings. They generally just banged their fists together (while chanting “Wonder Twin powers…_activate!_” **Family Guy** had an episode where Peter and Brian linked their two ‘power rings’ together, shouting “Wonder twin powers – activate!” Peter said, “Form of… steam!” Of course, nothing happens. I’ve never seen Wonder Twins myself. If you folks are right and the rings weren’t in the series, the misconception is pretty common. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208/40 "2005-01-29T19:33:23Z")
Thomas Covenant’s platinum ring in Donaldson’s series. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-power-rings-from-books-comics-movies-etc/287208.md?page=3)