Green Lantern

After a series of adventures on Earth, Hal was contacted by the founders of the Green Lantern Corps: the Guardians of the Universe. Immortal beings of great power, they established the Corps to keep peace throughout the universe, which they divided into 3,600 sectors. Deemed worthy of remaining in the Corps, Hal was assigned to be mentored by the respected veteran Green Lantern Sinestro of the planet Korugar. After witnessing Sinestro's ruthless, totalitarian ways of keeping order on Korugar, Hal disobeyed Sinestro's orders and requested help from other Lanterns to repel a hostile invasion. The backup lanterns arrived in time to observe Sinestro's dictatorial methods that violated the Green Lantern code. Sinestro was expelled from the Corps. Hal completed his training, but made a deadly arch-enemy.

Hal joined the Justice League and became respected among both superheroes and Green Lanterns. He found love with Carol Ferris, heir to Ferris Aircraft. But as his legend reached new heights, his world came crashing down. The alien conqueror Mongul annihilated Hal's hometown of Coast City, killing millions. Unable to cope, Hal suffered a mental breakdown. He went to the Guardians' world of Oa and demanded the power to restore Coast City. Refusing to believe the Guardians' insistence that this was not possible, he absorbed the power of the Central Power Battery, brutally defeated the Guardians and many fellow Lanterns, and adopted the identity of Parallax, vowing to "fix" the universe. Hal's misguided quest ended with his death when he sacrificed himself to save Earth.

Hal's soul merged with the divine spirit of justice known as The Spectre as a means of finding redemption. Eventually, he learned that he hadn't just had a mental breakdown; it was caused by an ancient, demonic, yellow fear entity called Parallax that the Guardians had imprisoned in the Central Power Battery. Parallax infected Hal's mind at his moment of greatest vulnerability and possessed him, causing his violent rampage, until his true self emerged at the end. Realizing the truth, and that Parallax and his servant Sinestro were plotting far greater crimes, Hal was resurrected to stop Parallax from conquering the universe. He succeeded, and both he and the Green Lantern Corps were reborn. With the help of his close friend Green Arrow, Hal set out to rebuild his life and his reputation.

Hal tried to pick up where he'd left off, but many mistrusted him, feeling that he might have been possessed by Parallax due to a hidden dark side that still existed. He knew he would have to earn people's trust. He sought to re-establish relationships, such as with his brother and his family, while allowing other Green Lanterns to take the lead, like John Stewart and Kyle Rayner, who had served prominently in his absence. Initially, Hal sometimes found his confidence shaken in difficult moments, but with the help and support of friends and allies, he returned to his former role, wiser and more mature.

Hal and the Green Lanterns faced perhaps their greatest challenge when other ring-wielders on the emotional spectrum arose, such as Sinestro's Yellow Lanterns, powered by fear; the rage-fueled Red Lanterns, led by Atrocitus; and the greed-motivated Orange Lantern, wielded by Larfleeze. But all of them had to fear the rise of the Black Lanterns, a corps of undead Lanterns led by the villain Black Hand. Hal gathered a team able to recreate the white light of creation and briefly established the White Lantern Corps, which defeated Black Hand and his demonic master Nekron, banishing the Black Lanterns back to the grave and ending the threat of the Blackest Night. With that feat, Hal's journey of redemption was complete in the view of most beings in the universe... and, most importantly, his own.