The Red Lantern Corps are first mentioned during the "
Sinestro Corps War" storyline. Former
Guardian Ganthet reveals the
Blackest Night prophecy to
Hal Jordan,
Guy Gardner,
John Stewart, and
Kyle Rayner, which describes a War of Light among the seven Corps powered by the emotional spectrum. Before recruiting sentient beings to the
Green Lantern Corps, the
Guardians of the Universe created the
Manhunters, a group of robotic peacekeepers. However, the Manhunters massacre the inhabitants of space sector 666, with the survivors forming the Five Inversions, a terrorist cell bent on destroying the Guardians. Inversions member
Atrocitus is consumed by rage, becomes the first Red Lantern, and kills the other members. As the power of rage consumes and drowns the intelligence of the users, the average Red Lantern is left in an animalistic, nearly mindless state. Atrocitus is able to restore his fellow Red Lanterns to their previous mental acuity with his shamanistic magic. The ritual, initially employed on
Bleez, restored her previous mindset and capacity for coherent thought without dimming her rage.
Rage of the Red Lanterns In
Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns, Atrocitus is shown in a flashback as having apparently formed a central power battery by using the blood of the other Inversions in blood magic rituals. The battery stands before a great lake of blood from which he forms his red power ring (crystallized by his anger), as well as other rings and batteries used to form the Red Lantern Corps. Harnessing the red light of rage, he sends his rings out into the universe; however, upon accepting the rings, his recruits' hearts are rendered useless. Their blood spoils from within, forcing them to expel the violently flammable and corrosive material from their mouths. Additionally, the Red Lanterns are reduced to an almost animalistic state, with only Atrocitus appearing to be in full control of himself. Once Atrocitus assembles a sufficient force, he leads them on a mission to capture Sinestro (who is being transferred to Korugar for his execution). Coincidentally, the
Sinestro Corps have similar plans and they launch an ambush on the Green Lantern escort to rescue their leader. In turn, both groups are then ambushed by the Red Lanterns, who are able to take Sinestro captive by killing Green Lanterns and Sinestro Corpsmen alike. After being tried and found guilty for the murder of
Amon Sur,
Laira is expelled from the Green Lantern Corps. While being escorted away from Oa, her ship is attacked by a red power ring. It attaches itself to her, and provides her with a vehicle to achieve the vengeance against Sinestro that she seeks. Separating from his companions, Jordan finds Sinestro but is captured by the Red Lantern Corps. Just as Atrocitus orders Laira to kill him, the Sinestro Corps also arrives on Ysmault to rescue their leader. Chaos ensues, but it is temporarily relieved upon the arrival of the Blue Lanterns. The two are able to keep the battling factions from destroying one another for a time until Sinestro is released from confinement and kills Laira. Furious, Jordan's anger attracts Laira's ring and he becomes a member of the Red Lantern Corps himself. With his green power ring now inactive, Jordan attacks the Blue Lanterns and Sinestro. Saint Walker gives his ring to Jordan, which causes the red ring to explode when combined with the power of his reawakened green ring. Drained of power by Jordan's Blue Lantern abilities, the Sinestro Corps escapes. Wounded and seemingly beaten for now, Atrocitus and his own Corps also flee.
Blackest Night During the
Blackest Night storyline, the Guardians are shown observing the War of Light unfolding among the various Corps of the emotional spectrum; one of the scenes depicting the Lost Lanterns confronting the Red Lantern Corps to retrieve Laira's body from Ysmault. As the seven Corps battle one another, a new eighth group powered by death is introduced to the
DC Universe: the
Black Lantern Corps.
Black Hand, the leader of the Black Lanterns, releases
black power rings that reanimate the deceased as Black Lanterns, including Laira and the four deceased Inversions. On Ysmault, the four Inversions attack Atrocitus and rip out his heart. However, the insatiable wrath contained within his ring prevents him from dying (having functionally replaced his heart), and temporarily destroys the Black Lantern Inversions. Later, Atrocitus is seen temporarily destroying the Black Lanterns in pursuit of
Larfleeze, and demands that he surrender the Orange Central Power Battery. After a brief conflict over the Orange Central Power Battery, the two are joined by Hal Jordan, Sinestro,
Carol Ferris,
Indigo-1, Saint Walker,
Ganthet, and
Sayd. The group needs Larfleeze and Atrocitus to represent their respective colored lights in the emotional spectrum in a group effort to create a collective white light that will destroy the Black Lantern Corps. Atrocitus initially refuses to cooperate, but after deciding that the Black Lanterns are as much a creation of the Guardians as the Manhunters responsible for destroying his world, he changes his mind and complies. During the fight on Earth,
Mera is temporarily inducted into the Red Lantern Corps as a 'deputy' to help hold the line against the Black Lanterns, but
Wonder Woman is able to use her Star Sapphire ring to hold back Mera's rage and grant her a degree of control, with the ring being removed completely when
Aquaman is resurrected. Mera's love for him compromises her rage. During the Black Lantern siege of the Green Central Power Battery, Kyle and Guy release the Red Lantern Vice from prison so he can help them battle the Red Lanterns. Believing that Vice has escaped rather than being released,
Chaselon kills him. Vice's ring later attaches to Guy, who has become full of rage following Kyle's supposed death.
The New 52 and solo title In September 2011,
The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, the Red Lantern backstory, despite having not been radically altered, was explained and expanded in the eponymous series written by
Peter Milligan. After the end of the
War of the Green Lanterns, disappointed at the fact that he was not the one who killed Krona, the culprit of the Ryut massacre, Atrocitus, feeling his rage dimming, is left without a purpose. He chooses
Bleez to be his equal and right hand and restores her mental faculties. The New Guardians investigate a mysterious Orrery in the
Vega system, traveling back to Earth with
Kyle Rayner to recover his power battery after he is officially discharged from the Green Lantern Corps – while retaining his ring and access to the Oan network – to protect him if the Guardians should try and capture him. Following the defeat of Volthoom, Hal Jordan sends Guy Gardner to join the Red Lanterns as an undercover operative to keep them in check, with Gardner swiftly defeating Atrocitus and taking command of the group. It is revealed that part of his decision to join with the Red Lanterns is feeling as if he has never fit in as a Green Lantern. As a Red Lantern, Gardner manages to keep his rage in check, successfully leading most of the Red Lanterns; Atrocitus leads a splinter group and allows new Red rings to cause murderous justice-based rampages to continue. After joining with the Green Lanterns to defeat the cosmic terrorist Relic, Hal promises to give the Red Lanterns a sector for them to watch over after Gardner rejects the initial offer of being released from his new role in the Corps. However, this sector becomes Sector 2814, where Earth resides, giving guardianship of Earth to the Red Lantern Corps.
DC Rebirth As part of
DC Rebirth, it is revealed that Atrocitus and Dex-Starr are Red Lanterns once again, with the former regaining his title as their leader, and Bleez is once again allied with Atrocitus. Atrocitus wishes to bring forth the Red Dawn and obtain a mysterious new power ring that has been recently discovered. Atrocitus begins to bring forth the Red Dawn by implanting a Hell Tower within Earth and converting humans into rage conduits, waiting until the Hell Tower is ready to insert a Rage Seed. The Red Lanterns head to Earth to make sure their plans proceed on schedule and Bleez heads off to deal with Green Lanterns
Simon Baz and
Jessica Cruz. Simon heals Bleez, restoring her to her original form. Bleez reveals Atrocitus' plan to Simon but when Jessica intervenes and attacks Bleez, she succumbs to rage once more and returns to her Red Lantern appearance, deciding to go into hiding from the Green Lanterns and Atrocitus. Jessica inadvertently becomes a rage conduit and attacks Simon. Simon is able to purify her in a similar way he did to Bleez, and the two are confronted by Atrocitus and a group of Red Lanterns. ==Prominent members==