As most to the Power Ring on his finger, but trouble always seems to find Hal no matter where he goes.

To his credit, Hal is a good hero and probably one of Green Lantern also has a tumultuous history, both in the Prime DC Universe and in the worlds beyond. But how much bad luck has Green Lantern really had over the years, and why does Hal attract trouble like a magnet?

Green Lantern Just Can't Help But Find Himself in Bad (or Worse) Situations

From Being Ejected from the Corps to Being Possessed by a Space Bug

Hal didn't just luck into becoming Green Lantern. He was sought out when Abin Sur was fatally injured on Earth and his Power Ring determined Hal was a being of great willpower. Though he was the first human being inducted into the Green Lantern Corps, Hal proved that he was indeed a perfect fit for the interstellar peacekeeping force. That being said, his bad luck started from the beginning when he put his trust in the wrong person, Green Lantern's future nemesis, Thaal Sinestro.

...Jordan eventually faced one of the darkest moments of his life when Mongul and Cyborg Superman wiped out Coast City...

Hal got over the fact that his mentor was actually a fascist enforcer and did his best to be a good Corps member and a great superhero. But Jordan eventually faced one of the darkest moments of his life when Mongul and Cyborg Superman wiped out Coast City, Green Lantern’s home town. Hal was devastated by this loss and during this stressful time, Sinestro used Hal’s fragile emotional state to infect him with the fear entity, Parallax. This caused Green Lantern to go insane and actually destroy the Green Lantern Corps, which stayed dead for years.

Check out the "Emerald Twilight" storyline to see Hal plunge into him hit rock bottom.

Thankfully, Hal was able to find redemption after serving as the Spectre and even reed the Corps when it was finally rebuilt. However, few Lanterns trusted Hal and rumors of him being a danger were validated to the Guardians of the Universe when Hal killed Krona during the “War of the Green Lanterns” storyline. Hal was booted from the Corps, and was forced to fight on the sidelines (though he eventually got back in). To this day, Green Lantern continues to have bad luck, both in the mainline universe and its neighboring Earths.

Even in Other Worlds, Green Lantern Can't Catch a Break

Zombification, Vamprism, Infection, Nothing's Off Limits

Yeah, Hal has it bad in the Prime DC Universe, but he got off light compared to some of his counterparts across the DC multiverse. Take Power Ring, his evil counterpart from Earth-3. Rather than gain a powerful artifact to use for good, his iconic weapon is a parasitic entity that took control of Power Ring and turned the weak-willed man into a terrifying killer. While Earth-3’s Power Ring has his own issues, what happened to him is nothing compared to what happened to Green Lantern in two other horrific universes.

Worse, the energy won’t let Hal die, forcing him to keep the deadly energy alive and affixed to Jordan.

The series DCeased introduced a new take on the Anti-Life Equation, turning it into a deadly virus that zombified anyone exposed to it. One of the earliest heroes to fall to it was Green Lantern, nearly causing him to kill his friends Black Canary and Green Arrow (though the former killed Hal thanks to her canary cry). Similarly, DC vs. Vampires saw heroes fall to a wave of vampirism and Hal was turned almost immediately, spying on the Justice League for the Vampire King. But this undead Green Lantern was put out of his misery thanks to Green Arrow.

Granted, Hal’s not the only superhero whose variants have had a hard go of things. But even the Absolute Universe, a world built on adversity, seems to have thrown him the worst challenge of all. In Absolute Green Lantern #1, Hal is granted a ‘gift’ by his world’s version of Abin Sur that actually seems more like a curse. He’s got black energy emanating from his hand that completely annihilates anyone who threatens Hal. Worse, the energy won’t let Hal die, forcing him to keep the deadly energy alive and affixed to Jordan.

Absolute Green Lantern #1 is on sale now!

What is it That Makes Green Lantern a Magnet for Trouble?

Is it His Cockiness, His Planning Without Thinking or Something Else?

It’s not like there’s anything wrong with Hal or that people want to make him suffer more than anyone else. But something has to for his troubles, right? He is the kind of person who runs into things without thinking. And while that does demonstrate his fearlessness, it also lands him in to trouble (at least, that’s how things seem to be shaking out in Absolute Green Lantern #1). And sure, Green Lantern can be cocky, maybe more so than other heroes, and that tends to rub villains (namely Sinestro) the wrong way.

What establishes a threat or shows how high the stakes are more than when a hero who has the greatest willpower in the DC Universe gets knocked down a few pegs?

Maybe it’s not anything to do with Jordan specifically, but rather what he represents. Think about it. Hal Jordan is the best of the best when it comes to Green Lanterns. What establishes a threat or shows how high the stakes are more than when a hero who has the greatest willpower in the DC Universe gets knocked down a few pegs? Green Lantern losing Coast City and going made or turning out to be a double agent for vampires immediately communicates how screwed up things really are if Hal has been taken down in some way.

There’s nothing wrong with Hal Jordan, necessarily. He’s not done anything deserving of the bad luck that seems to find him. He’s just a great hero and the truth is, stories are more entertaining when a powerful hero struggles. While it’s hard to speak for alternate Earths, the good thing about Hal in the Prime Universe is that no matter what trouble finds him, he always ends up okay. Green Lantern may not be the luckiest hero around, but he’s got the willpower to overcome anything thrown his way.