Green Lantern - Hal Jordan / Characters

Green Lantern 2814.1: Harold "Hal" Jordan/Parallax/The Spectre II

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The Other Man Without Fear

^{Hal Jordan as Parallax}

Species: Human

First appearance: Showcase #22 (October 1959)

Both the most famed and most infamous Green Lantern, Hal Jordan was a California test pilot who was summoned to the site where Green Lantern Abin Sur had crashed. Abin bequeathed his ring and power battery to Jordan before dying. Training under both Kilowog and Sinestro, Jordan went on to become a famed hero on Earth and beyond, helped found the Justice League of America, and rose to the top of the Green Lantern Corps. Sinestro, his traitorous former mentor, became his archnemesis.

Despite common belief, Hal Jordan was not the first human being ever recruited into the Green Lantern Corps. Earth's original Green Lantern originated in China, and was recruited in 814 B.C. Coincidentally, in Post-Crisis continuity, Alan Scott wielded this unnamed Chinese man's ring.

Hal's halcyon days ended when the fear entity Parallax, trapped within the Central Power Battery, reached out its psychic tendrils to taint his mind. The destruction of his native Coast City at the hands of Mongul and Cyborg-Superman was enough to push him over the edge—Jordan rushed to Oa, killed every Lantern that got in his way, and entered the Central Power Battery to gain the power necessary to rebuild Coast City, but was instead possessed by Parallax. Killing all the Guardians save one, Jordan/Parallax went on a rampage across the universe. Jordan's own nobility shone through, however, when Earth's Sun was being devoured by a Sun-Eater, and he gave his life to save his homeworld.

After his death, Jordan's soul was offered a chance at redemption: he was bound to the near-omnipotent Spectre, the Spirit of Vengeance. Jordan tried to change the Spectre's mission from vengeance to redemption, but to no avail: Parallax still remained bound to his soul, and the Eldritch Abomination tried to steal the Spectre's power for itself. But Jordan's successor, Kyle Rayner—with the help of all his surviving friends from the Corps and the League—defeated the monstrosity and restored Jordan to life. Now Hal Jordan is a Green Lantern once more, protecting Space Sector 2814 while seeking atonement for his actions under Parallax's influence.

After Krona's attempt to take over the Corps using the enslaved emotional entities, Hal managed to kill him. However, the Guardians were deeply freaked out (though they won't admit it) by the fact that he overcame his ring's restrictions against killing Guardians, deeming him as a dangerous renegade and ejecting him from the Corps. However, Sinestro of all people recruited his help, making a replica power ring for him to use. After an uneasy alliance, and a brief case of deadness, Hal and Sinestro managed to stop the Guardians' scheme. Though Hal found himself briefly placed in charge of the Green Lantern Corps, currently he serves in the Honor Guard.

Hal currently stars in the series Green Lantern (2023).

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A - F

The Ace: Upon joining the Green Lantern Corps and unmasking Sinestro as a fascist, Hal quickly became known as the greatest Green Lantern, that is, until he was possessed by Parallax.
Ace Pilot: Hal was a flying ace in the U.S. Air Force, quite simply the best at his job.
Alliterative Family: His mother Jessica in a group with his brothers Jack and Jim.
Alliterative Name: Not Hal himself, but his mother Jessica, brothers Jack and Jim, and niece Jane all fit this trope.
Aesop Enforcer: In Green Lantern: The Lost Army, While Hal's motivations for trapping the entire Lantern Corps in another dimension are not touched on in this series the oft alluded to Aesop and his actions mean that this story presents him as forcing the Lanterns to face a terrible truth at a very high price about the consequences of their mode of operation.
Affirmative-Action Legacy: Played With. He's widely considered as Alan Scott's successor as Green Lantern and is revealed to be Jewish but his powers are different than Scott's in origin and his Judaism wasn’t revealed until 2015.
Age-Down Romance: He is bought into one by fellow Green Lantern member, Arisia, whom Hal felt that she was too young for romance, so she decided to use her powers to appear older and more mature in an effort to get Hal into being romantically attracted to her.
All a Part of the Job: Hal loves being a GL despite his problems with the Guardians' rule and the obvious life-complicating consequences being a GL has.
Always Save the Girl: Or rather, Always Save the First Girl, but one of Hal's most recurring heroic acts is to try to save his love interest in harm's way, usually Carol (discounting the times she is Star Sapphire).
- This is Reconstructed in The Green Lantern; While something of a vagabond tomcat, Hal always prioritizes the safety of his various lovers over more pragmatic ways of resolving his missions, and this is never depicted as anything less than a virtue.
Anguished Outburst: He was devastated about the destruction of Coast City after the climax of Reign of the Supermen and in his grief, he tried to use his ring in order to restore the city back up again. When the Guardians denied and objected to Hal's attempts for being selfish via using the Green Lantern Ring for personal reasons, he angrily lashes out about his grief and how the Guardians are being uncaring about the whole situation. Unfortunately, this is the moment where Hal's loose trust with the Guardians finally breaks and he starts his dark path into becoming Parallax.
Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence:
- When resurrected during Rebirth Hal was in a state of this thanks to being possessed by the Spectre.
- At a later point he channeled so much green energy to defeat Sinestro he converted into pure willpower and went into the "Emerald Space", a kind of afterlife for green lanterns.
The Atoner: Hal seeks to undo the harm he did when he was possessed by Parallax.
Babies Ever After: In Geoff John's final outing in Green Lantern #20, which concludes Wrath of the First Lantern, a Distant Finale Framing Device is used to showcase that Hal ended up marrying Carol Ferris and the two had a son together named Martin, in memory of Hal's late father.
Back from the Dead: Hal Jordan's timely resurrection during the climax of Rebirth, thanks in no part to the Guardians preserving his corpse. Blackest Night serves as a huge lampshading and deconstruction of the whole thing.
Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: In Blackest Night, Hal tries to invoke this by letting Parallax take over his body again in an attempt to battle against the rampaging Spectre who was then resurrected as an undead sleeper agent for Nekron.
Badass Normal: Without his ring, Hal is a completely normal human. A completely normal human who is a member of the armed forces and who spent the Silver Age beating bears senseless bare-handed. Nowadays he's more tamed; he just likes to fight fellow Lantern, the superstrong Kilowog, ringless, for casual sport.
Batman Grabs a Gun:
- In Emerald Twilight, Hal is so angry that he warns Sinestro that, if he does not go away, he would kill him. And he really meant it.
- In Wrath of the First Lantern, he essentially summons Nekron to kill Volthoom in the finale. Absolutely no one objects to this, as Volthoom was a remorseless Reality Warper that could never be stopped or contained a second time.
Be All My Sins Remembered: Understandably, due to his becoming Parallax in the past.
Beyond the Impossible: Hal's current ring is not a typical Corps ring- it's one Hal forged from his very own willpower.
"The Guardians told me once only they held the knowledge and ability to forge a ring. Can't believe it took me this long to prove them wrong."
- Ganthet, amused, echoes this when Hal's self-forged ring (containing his life-force) turns up when he's Not Quite Dead, remarking that all he wonders is why it took him so long to prove them wrong.
- The Guardians of the Universe designed the Green Lantern Rings as such that they would not be able to harm their creators physically. Hal manages to defy this by killing Krona.
- Played darkly in "The Gift" timeline created by Booster Gold saving Bruce's parents. Hal is driven insane by some mysterious force in Gotham and demonstrates his immense will by overriding the safeties preventing self-harm by the ring to blast his own head off.
Big Bad: In stark contrast to being the most recurring example of The Hero for the Green Lantern storylines, Hal is the primary antagonist of Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!, where he's revealed to be in an alignment (and superior) of Extant and intends to destroy the multiverse to recreate it in his own guise, culminating his role in Emerald Twilight and firmly setting himself against the opposing heroes.
Big Damn Kiss: The very last page of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps's run was him sharing one of these with Carol.
Big, Screwed-Up Family: While his origin might imply otherwise, Hal has a family that extends far beyond his father. Much to his chagrin.
Big "WHY?!": Hal has a triple row of these in Issue 40 of the series's run in the Silver Age when the Guardians decide that Hal must foreit his position as a Green Lantern and give up his ring and suit to Alan Scott. In addition to screaming ''"Why?!", Hal argues bitterly that he had been one of the Corps' best members and one of the Guardians' most invaluable ally.
Bonding over Missing Parents: With Batman. Despite their differences, Hal and Bruce were able to find a common ground in this.
Bookends: Hal Jordan being rebirthed is this, if the Green Lantern run by Geoff Johns is taken to indication. His run began with Green Lantern: Rebirth which starts off with the character being reborn into existence and his run ends years later with Wrath of the First Lantern, where Hal is reborn a second time.
Boring, but Practical: Pretty much all of his constructs. A power ring he borrows from a fallen Green Lantern actually makes fun of him for wanting to make something as simple as a giant hand to hit criminals with. He can be more creative, and will if necessary, but with the amount of power he puts behind them, he generally doesn't need to overcomplicate things.
Break the Badass: Hal goes through a massive one, beginning with an Anguished Outburst upon seeing his city being destroyed by Mongul and Cyborg-Superman, and the lack of sympathy and grievance from the Guardians causing Hal to snap, denounce his ties to the Green Lantern Corps and become an attempted multiversal destroyer under the guise of Parallax.
Call-Back: During an early Silver Age storyline, Batman one-shots Guy Gardner for attempting to take up leadership of the Justice League. Upon becoming a Green Lantern again in Rebirth one of the first thing Hal does is one-shot Batman with a punch, just like the Caped Crusader did to Guy, who coincidentally paid witness to this with a smile.
Character Shilling: Other characters frequently declared Hal the greatest Green Lantern of all time - an impressive claim for an organization that has thousands of members at a time and has been in existence for three billion years. In actuality, while Hal was generally good at his job, he frequently got knocked around by foes nowhere near his league, and was infamously unimaginative, tending to default to giant boxing gloves. This was generally avoided when he returned, with writer Geoff Johns being careful to give all the human Lanterns moments in the sun, and requiring Hal to earn other people's respect, but occasionally someone like Batman will still revert to uncharacteristic gushing.
- Played straight later in Johns' run, when Hal was once again specifically called the Greatest Green Lantern. However, it should be noted that Hal does have the feats to back it up and it can hardly be argued to be considered a hollow statement. Hal, for his part, acknowledged it and agreed with it - at least as far as currently extant Green Lanterns went - but made plain that in his opinion, the greatest Lantern, not just Green, but Lantern full stop, was Kyle Rayner (who, after all, had mastered all Seven Rings and become the White Lantern).
Characterization Marches On: In the Silver Age stories, Hal was a calm and intelligent rationalist with a streak of cunning, a foil to Green Arrow's more Hot-Blooded characterization. In the modern era, Hal was brash and cocky at first, nearly two decades on he's clearly mellowed out and usually takes the role of Team Dad to the other Lanterns. He's still prone to reckless acts of heroism, however. In the '70s and '80s, Hal had a tendency to constantly question himself, quit the Corps at least once, and was at times a self-hating wreck. This came to a head with Emerald Dawn. Geoff Johns explained this away as Parallax's influence and eventually Retconned Emerald Dawn out of existence.
- That said, Johns did briefly bring back this aspect in the re-telling of his origin story, explaining it as being because of his father's death driving him to be reckless and push away the people who cared about him. He got over it when he became a Lantern, though.
- Additionally, in earlier stories Hal was, like most heroes of the time, very scientifically gifted, and would frequently use his scientific knowledge to great effect.
Chick Magnet: He has dated Carol Ferris (his principal love interest), Arisia (another Green Lantern) and Jillian "Cowgirl" Pearlman (another ace pilot).
Clark Kenting: During the The Silver Age of Comic Books.
Code Name: He has his own pilot code name: Highball, which was a call-sign used by old train operators which used to mean "Full speed ahead".
- Also an oblique reference to his history of drinking before it was retconned, and to the way he'd destroy expensive equipment rather than risk letting anyone die — if he's used, highball the losses instead of lowballing them.
Color-Coded Emotions: Like the rest of his Corps, Hal is associated with the color, Green, which symbolizes Willpower as Hal's greatest emotional trait and the source of his powers as a Lantern Corps member. To top things off, Hal is among the best of his Corps regarding his own Willpower, if being able to create his own ring wasn't any indication.
Combat Breakdown: In the Final Battle of the Sinestro Corps War, Hal, alongside Kyle Rayner, engage in a fistfight against Sinestro after all three of them have their rings run out of power.
Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: As Parallax, Hal is this to the Anti-Monitor. Both are immensely powerful figures who sought to destroy the multiverse and presented themselves as a grave threat to the heroes. Despite having the same goals, their reasons and motivations are diametrically different; the Anti-Monitor seeks to reduce the world until only antimatter remains for him to lord over and is largely impersonal to everyone else. Parallax is a Fallen Hero who was well-known by his peers and, after destroying the multiverse, wanted to create a universe where he and his loved ones and friends had joyous lives and always won against their adversaries.
Cultured Warrior: Despite modern interpretation of the character, and the Idiot Hero trope, Hal did once quote a passage from Shakespeare, specifically, Richard the II's Act V, scene 3, all the while beating the snot out of some villains without using his ring.
Curb-Stomp Battle:
- During his fall into villainy in Emerald Twilight, Hal, in his rage, ended up decimating and killing the Green Lanterns and the Guardians with little-to-no restraint being weighed onto him.
- In Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, his Pure-Willpower form completely dominates Sinestro, who at that time, was being powered by Parallax, to the point where his constructs have no effect on Hal, and he ends up blowing up Warworld and nearly killing Sinestro.
- Later in the same series, after being on the receiving end of one when surprised by General Zod, he hands one out in return while delivering a "Reason You Suck" Speech about Zod's god complex and lack of flying ability.
Custom Uniform: From their restoration in Rebirth onwards, the Lanterns, whilst retaining the same color scheme of green, black, and white, and the Green Lantern emblem, have distinct clothing styles and while Hal retains his original design, it still sticks out in comparison to what everyone else is wearing.
Danger Deadpan: Whilst in objectives and having to deal with dangerous situations in DC: The New Frontier, Hal is not above making a sarcastic quip or two in whatever circumstance that he's gotten himself involved in, emphasizing his deadpan nature, cocky attitude, and his enjoyment on being a member of the Green Lantern Corps.
Dark Is Not Evil: In ''Wrath of the First Lantern, Hal becomes a Black Lantern willingly, but remains heroic through his re-admission to the Green Lantern Corps.
Dating Catwoman: With Carol Ferris, when she's possessed by the Star Sapphire gem. Less so after she shakes its influence.
Deadly Upgrade: Hal's usage of Krona's Gauntlet has started turning him into a being of pure willpower. He's far more powerful like this, but if he stays in it for too long, he will fade into the emotional spectrum. By forging a ring, he gains the ability to turn it on or off^note, but he isn't sure how long that will last for. Plus, the power starts to creep in even when he's trying to avoid using it, resulting in Hal's loss to some Sinestro Corps Mooks, when he can't go all out for fear of killing nearby civilians. Eventually, his fight with Sinestro allows him to pull an Earth-Shattering Kaboom on Warworld, intending on taking Sinestro with him.
Deadpan Snarker: Quite so. Considering that he's a hotshot pilot, he tends to come up with some quips and witty banter. Especially around Batman.
Death Is Cheap: Has died (and “died”) and been brought back to life more times than quite possibly any other Lantern.
Demonic Possession: He was a victim of one and this was stated to be the reason why he became Parallax after Reign of the Supermen, causing a Retcon of an 11 year old characterization. It turns out that Hal's attempted omnicidal goals were the result of Parallax (as in the Emotional Entity of Fear) possessing him in his greatest moment of grief.
De-power: After Hal is finally freed from the Spectre he loses his immaterial status and becomes human again.
Despair Event Horizon: To say that Hal was devastated upon learning of the destruction of Coast City would be a MASSIVE understatement. It also didn't help that the Guardians were not sympathetic about Hal's loss, which led to him calling out and ranting at them for not understanding his loss and kick-starting his turn to villainy.
Determinator: Par on the course of being a Green Lantern after all. That said, one of the reasons why Hal is said to be among the best if the Corps is because his determination and drive is one of the strongest anyone could have mustered up. Tellingly, Hal's determination was such that he was able to commit to himself enough to create his own ring. That said, his determined nature is best shown during his fight against Parallax in Rebirth
Parallax: Give up. You failed once, you'll fail again. Lay down and die. You're weak. You're scared. Give up now. Give up.
Hal: I...
Parallax: Give up damn you.
Hal: I don't know how.
Do Not Adjust Your Set: Late in the Sinestro Corps War, Hal uses his ring to broadcast a message through every TV set and computer monitor in Coast City, warning its inhabitants to evacuate before the Sinestro Corps comes and razes the place to the ground.
Do You Trust Me?: As the Green Lanterns rush towards Parallax, John is somewhat concerned about Hal's lack of a plan, prompting Hal to ask if John trusts him. He does.
John Stewart: We can't just rush in without a plan, Hal.
Hal Jordan: I'll have one by the time we get there.
John Stewart: But—
Hal Jordan: Do you trust me, John?
John Stewart: ...Yeah. Yeah, I do.
Dressed in Layers: Hal used to wear his uniform under his clothes in the Silver Age, but he eventually realized he does not have to bother when he can simply use his power ring to change his clothes into that outfit.
The Drifter: Hal's life while he's stationed on Earth from GL business is characterized as this. Usually staying at friends' places at night and roaming the highways during the day.
Dysfunctional Family: After his father's death, the family became this - Hal's mother forbade him from even going near airfields in terror he'd Turn Out Like His Father and was repeatedly stressed out by Hal's a) total disregard of this, b) total disregard for his own safety, his older brother took that out on Hal, the youngest brother was unhappily caught in the middle, and Hal ran away to the Air Force the literal moment he turned 18, camping outside a recruiting office, whereupon his mother refused to see him until he left and it's implied the stress of his repeated crashes drove her to an early grave. It gets to the point where Hal's solution to the Jordan family being mind-controlled by a sentient alien radio wave? Set off a family argument where the Jordans bicker so much that the alien's attempt at returning them to his control completely fails and the Jordans don't even bat an eye at his presence, only displaying annoyance that Hal's Green Lanterning brought it to what was supposed to be a normal get-together.
Early-Installment Weirdness: In his original Silver Age stories, his uniform was not made of the ring's energy, but was instead taken from Abin Sur after Abin died. Hal himself came up with the Green Lantern moniker, naming himself after the power battery. Hal's ring didn't automatically translate alien languages, he had to figure out that the ring could translate and then make it happen. And he actually designed and built the flight simulator he was operating when Abin Sur's search beam found him, so he was a lot more technically adept than he's become in modern stories.
- Hal created the oath he recites when he recharges his ring, based on three early adventures he had as a rookie.
- The Green Lantern Corps is structured quite differently in early Silver Age issues. The first Green Lantern Hal ever meets apart from Abin Sur is Tomar-Re, who tells him that no one knows where the Guardians of the Universe live, and that most GLs work in isolation, receiving orders through the power batteries. A few issues later we see the first ever meeting of multiple Green Lanterns, and this time they do go to Oa in order to stop Sinestro. Every time the series deals with the Corps, the concept evolves just a little bit more.
  - The isolation part was retained in Secret Origin, where the Lanterns aren't allowed to go into another's sector without permission from the Guardians. Sinestro breaks the protocol under orders from Ganthet to find Abin Sur. On arriving at Oa, Hal asks why this rule even exists. The Guardians just yell at him not to question them.
- For those who only know the Guardians for their modern, emotionless characterization, the sight of Guardians crying at the death of Hal Jordan at the hands of Dr. Polaris in Green Lantern #46 would seem very strange. The Guardians are as overcome with emotion at Hal's death as the rest of the Lanterns are.
Easily Forgiven: Zigzagged, if not averted concerning his actions as Parallax. While the human Lanterns and some of the Justice League forgave Hal after he sacrificed himself to save the Earth, others only started to forgive him once it was revealed he was being influenced by Parallax the whole time. Others, most prominently Batman and the Lanterns Hal's rampage had directly affected, took much longer to fully trust him again. Hal himself has also admitted that he has yet to forgive himself for what he did.
Epic Fail:
- Amusingly, Hal has been punched by his ring more than◊ once◊
- He once blamed a yellow roadside sign for his friend getting paralyzed, preceded to fly right into it and knock himself unconscious.◊
The Exile: Hal Jordan was exiled from Earth for a year by the Guardians, as punishment for not responding to a distress call from Ungara because he was helping Carol Ferris with business problems. Normally such an offense would have meant expulsion from the Corps, but his exemplary record saved him from that fate.
- He was later expelled from the Corps much later due to his cavorting with "known enemies of the Corps" (read:the New Guardians) and managing to will his ring into killing Krona, who was then like a Guardian in all but name.
- And again, post-Convergence, Hal was on the run without his ring and having stealing Krona's Gauntlet, as part of a plan to take the fall for the rest of the Corps, whose reputation had suffered after the events of the Third Army and the Durlan war. Kilowog was in on the plan, so when Hal returned, he had someone to vouch for him. This particular scheme was widely felt to be both noble and completely idiotic - in other words, completely on brand for Hal, adding authenticity.
Face–Heel Turn: An infamous example: Back in the nineties, following the destruction of Coast City and a resulting mental breakdown, Hal completely lost his sanity and decided to fix his failure to save Coast City... by killing the Green Lantern Corps, killing Sinestro and then killing the universe... so he could remake reality "right". Fittingly he got better and went on to sacrifice himself to save the world in Final Night.
Fallen Hero: After being possessed by Parallax, Hal killed several of his former friends and comrades in the Green Lantern Corps, the Guardians and destroyed the Green Lantern Corps utterly, becoming a villain of immense power. He died redeeming himself, got revived and now seeks to make amends.
Fearless Fool: (In)famously considered to be without fear, even by other heroes. Hal reminisces that after his worst fear became real in front of him (his pilot father dying in a flying accident), he didn't have anything else to fear. Later he got wiser and realized it was not that he was fearless, but that he can overcome great fear.
Fighting Your Friend: Did this a lot as Parallax, somewhat overlapping with "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight (though, of course, they didn't know he was possessed at the time). More recently, Hal had to fend against the revival of the Darkstars meting out Knight Templar justice- led by Tomar-Tu, one of Hal's closest non-human Lantern friends.
Four-Temperament Ensemble: Melancholic.

G - L

Generation Xerox: His best friend is Barry Allen, the second Flash, with whom he has a close partnership. Just like Alan Scott had with Jay Garrick.
The Gods Must Be Lazy: In Emerald Twilight when the Guardains try (and somehow fail) to stop Hal from destroying the Green Lantern's Central Power Battery, Hal accuses the Guardians of being "impotent shams". That said, while the Guardians usually allow the Lanterns to take up the role of policing individual Space Sectors, the Guardians would act if cosmic destruction or similar large-scaled events were occurring, though in the case of Emerald Twilight, this wasn't the case.
Gondor Calls for Aid: To stop Relic, Hal suggests the Green Lantern Corps to go to the Red Lantern Corps for help because he has Guy Gardner there as a double agent.
Glowing Eyes of Doom: Hal has these when confronted by Carol Ferris in Rebirth. It's a telling sign that Hal is possessed by Spectre to be it's host around that point.
Godzilla Threshold: After seeing just how powerful and overwhelming Volthoom is, Hal kills himself willingly to become a Black Lantern and escape the Dead Zone as Nekron's anchor to the mortal realm, then summons the being himself to kill Volthoom. If this had gone badly, another Blackest Night could have occurred.
Good Colors, Evil Colors: If you look for it, you'll notice that whenever Hal Jordan is still under Parallax' influence, be it obvious or not, he wears yellow shirts under his old pilot jacket.
Handsome Lech: At his worst days (excluding his time as Parallax), Hal can be this, being an arrogant hotshot who attempts to talk in a suave fashion towards women with failing results.
Happily Married: Hal eventually ends up marrying Carol in the Distant Finale shown in Wrath of the First Lantern.
Hard Light: With the power of his Lantern Ring, Hal can create constructs using the light emitted from his ring, which take on a solid matter and can be used in whatever way the user intends for it as. It's shape and appearance can vary depending on Hal's imagination, which is impressive compared to the other Green Lantern members and somewhat lacking compared to the Earth Lanterns, especially Kyle Rayner.
Hated Home Town: Earth, his entire home planet. He doesn’t like it there because he’s seen so much out in the universe and knows there’s so much more to see.
Heartbroken Badass: Hal becomes this for a good chunk of the Post-Crisis timeline, grieving for the loss of Coast City after a planned invasion and takeover courtesy of Mongul and Cyborg-Superman. Even after coming back to becoming a full hero, Hal still feels guilty of being unable to save his city in time, as well as his actions as a villain, which he seeks to atone.
The Hero: Whenever the four Earth Lanterns unite, you can expect Hal to be the leader and/or the character with the most importance to the story.
Hero Killer: During the process of becoming Parallax, Hal stormed the Green Lantern's Central Power Battery and, in a fit of grief and rage, slaughtered all of the Green Lanterns before proceeding to take their rings for himself and going on to kill the less heroic Guardians of the Universe barring Ganthet.
Hero of Another Story: Hal serves as this in Green Lanterns, which starts Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz, with Hal only appearing in the opening "one-shot" for a few pages to give the two then-rookie Lantern Corps members a lesson before flying off to space. This is Justified in the sense that Green Lanterns takes place around the same time as Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps in which he has his own story and objective to deal with, namely where have all the other Green Lantern Corps members disappeared to, so he has a reason to leave Simon and Jessica to entrust them to protect Earth in his place.
Heroic Spirit: Comes in the territory of being a Green Lantern. Hal is steadfast, determined, and committed to his membership as a Green Lantern to the extent that even if beaten down and demoralized, he's not willing to stop until his objectives and needs are met.
Heroic Willpower: Brought to extremes on many occasions, and his will always comes out on top, even going as far as to control a Black Ring and Nekron himself. He is, in fact, considered to have the strongest willpower in the universe. Let's also not forget that time he was the Spectre — something that requires more than a little strength of spirit to do.
Hero with Bad Publicity: When he first returned to the Corps after Parallax, more than a few of the other Lanterns felt this way towards him (somewhat understandably). Hal has since worked hard to earn the trust of his fellow Lanterns back.
Heroism Incentive: To get the Red Lantern Corps to help fight Relic, Hal makes a deal to give them their space sector to protect; Space Sector 2814, the same one Ysmault and Earth are in.
He's Back!: At the end of Issue #4 of Rebirth, Hal is not only brought back to life in his own body, but restored to his place as a Green Lantern, and the first thing he does is confront his Arch-Enemy Sinestro in defense of his friends, proving he's back to his true self.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Barry Allen and Oliver Queen. Occasionally implied with the other Lanterns, but it's rarely held for long.
Hope Bringer: "Our rings could be out of power, we could be trapped in the edge of a black hole facing Evil Star, but if I looked Hal in the eyes, if he told me we were going to get out of it, I always believed him"- John Stewart on Hal Jordan.
Hot-Blooded: Not as much as Guy, but a good chunk of his characteristic recklessness is due to this. Though, since it's also what makes him such a good Lantern, it works in his favour as much as it puts him in danger... usually.
How Do I Shot Web?: Upon receiving the Ring from Abin Sur in Emerald Dawn, Hal struggles on how to properly wield it in his own preference. Hence he is taken under by Sinestro to be taught on how to effective utilize and control his Green Lantern ring. Eventually, Hal managed to control, and excel in his capability.
Hypocrite: He has issues with, and actively questions, the authority of his superiors, but he is put in unfortunate positions where he has to pull rank and exert his authority in very Because I Said So ways as a Green Lantern on "lesser" governing bodies to save the day. Such as grounding an entire experimental aircraft initiative of the American government because its vehicles kept breaching other dimensions, or putting the entirety of the human race in a planet-sized drunk tank when they were intoxicated by Gamma radiation that gave them superpowers. In the latter case, despite this move saving them from a Planet Eater who was going to devour them all a few generations down the line, the population of Earth outright called Hal a "fascist".
Idiot Hero: During the Silver Age, to keep the guy with the near-omnipotent ring from ending any story in two minutes, he was portrayed as a bumbling moron who kept screwing up in hilarious ways. The Weaksauce Weakness compounds this, as Hal often figured out ways around the color yellow, only to forget them the next time it came up. Modern stories tend to paint him with an abject inability to plan long-term or know when to not charge in, both in actual fights and social situations - though Sinestro considers this to be less of a bug than a feature, pointing out that he can squash a planner any day of the week, but Hal's maddening in his unpredictability. Later still, writers would give him a detachment from humanity and everyday life, with him lacking social skills and just not fitting in outside of his Green Lantern duties. While Hal can build and fly aircraft, that's the extent to which most writers are willing to take his intelligence.
If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!:
- Hal falls into the victim part of this trope; the Blackstars attempt to determine his loyalty to them by telling Hal to kill Adam Strange, one of his closest allies. He successfully fakes it.
- Earlier on, Belzebeth forces Hal to fend for himself in the poor district of her homeworld, which results in Hal reluctantly beating up hordes of dangerous (if rightfully indignant) space vampire homeless people.
In Name Only: What he was to Alan Scott. The two characters shared some common elements (the name, the power ring, the oath and the basic power set), but were otherwise conceptually very different. Alan's power came from a centuries-old magic lantern while Hal was a member of an intergalactic peace-keeping force. Later writers like Denny O'Neil would retcon Alan's power as being linked to the Guardians via the Starheart, which the Guardians had sent to another dimension where Earth 2 happened to be. DC finally just retconned Alan Scott's history altogether in New Fifty Two, making his power something linked to the Earth and green, growing things.
In Spite of a Nail: When Hal first became aware that Guy Gardner could've been chosen as Abin Sur's successor instead of him, he was shown a simulation that depicted what would have happened had Guy inherited Abin Sur's ring instead. Hal Jordan in this timeline becomes a Green Lantern anyway when Guy chooses Hal as his successor after succumbing to a lethal yellow plague from one of his adventures that wiped out a planet's adult population while leaving the children unharmed.
In Their Own Image: Hal's end-plan in destroying the multiverse in Zero Hour was to create a new multiverse in his place after the destruction was done. Unlike most examples, Hal as Parallax is a more sympathetic and tragic example of this trope; he wants to create a world where everyone, including himself, friends, and loved ones, led happy lives and did a good job as heroes defeating villains.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: Subtle, but it's there: while Hal is cocky and quick to boast, there are moments of Heroic Self-Deprecation and internal reflection that reveal he takes his mistakes very hard, blames himself often, and generally regards his own life as less important than that of those around him.
Insistent Terminology: In The Green Lantern, despite his reputation as a famed superhero on Earth, Hal ends up rejecting this title, only referring to himself as a cop who just so happens to hang out with other superheroes.
Interspecies Romance: For a time, he was in a relationship with Graxosian Green Lantern Arisia.
It Is Not Your Time: After his Heroic Sacrifice in Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, Hal finds himself in the mysterious Emerald Space. Abin Sur appears and tells him that it's the afterlife for the bravest of Green Lanterns, but also that Hal doesn't belong there. Sure enough, Ganthet and Sayd soon pull him out using Kyle Rayner's White Lantern powers, but not before Abin tells Hal to help restore the Blue Lanterns.
It's All My Fault: How he regards everything he did as Parallax. To the point where Hal blames himself for not realizing what was happening or having the willpower to stop himself, in spite of the fact it had been wearing down his psyche well before he hit the Despair Event Horizon with the destruction of Coast City.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Towards Carol when she was dating Kyle.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Can be extremely cocky to the point of outright arrogance, and often clashes with other heroes, but is ultimately a good man and genuinely believes in being a hero.
Jumped at the Call: He didn't hesitate a second before accepting the ring given to him by Abin Sur.
- In issue 4 of "The Road Back". He's spent the previous three and a half issues wandering around, taking odd jobs and trying to find some purpose in life in the absence of the Green Lantern Corps, which didn't exist at the time. When he finds out that an insane Guardian is taking cities from all over the universe and relocating them to Oa, he mans up, recites the GL Oath, and heads out into space to deal with the problem.
- Sinestro exploits this in the New 52 after the Guardians kick him out, giving him a subordinate duplicate ring and getting him to help because he knows perfectly well that Hal can't be anything other than a Lantern.
Kick The Son Of A Bitch: He was the one who managed to kill Volthoom. What makes it this trope is that Hal was one of the few Lanterns that still followed the Thou Shalt Not Kill policy from before the Sinestro Corps War, and went out of his way not to kill anyone in the time leading up to this event, exempting only Krona (who undoubtedly deserved it). In another other context this would be a grievous hypocrisy... except Volthoom really was that awful.
Last Dance: Hal searches the universe for the Green Lantern Corps, only to find the Sinestro Corps in control. Due to his Deadly Upgrade above, he decides that he can't risk waiting any longer to find the Green Lanterns. He storms Warworld to try and thwart Sinestro's scheme one last time, fully aware that, win or not, he's almost certainly going to die. Hal does manage to destroy Warworld and apparently kill Sinestro, but he doesn't survive. Though considering the title, it doesn't stick for long.
The Leader:
- Briefly, of the Green Lantern Corps following the defeat of the First Lantern and the death of Guardians of the Universe. Subsequent events, however, forced him to take the blame for the Corps' mistakes, so the universe didn't revolt against them. He's happy with John being the Leader, as he admits that while he can lead, being in command and organising stuff does not suit him - something that Sinestro (who, for all his faults, knows Hal very well) points out.
- Whenever the Earth Lanterns specifically are teaming up, the narrative tends to treat Hal as this too, probably by virtue of his greater experience/prominence compared to the others.
Like Father, Like Son: Hal grew up wanting to be a pilot just like his father. Even watching his father die didn’t deter him — something which put a strain on his relationship with his mother, who was worried that Hal would die the same way his father did, to the point of forbidding him from even stepping foot on an airfield.
Limited Wardrobe: Hal can always be seen wearing his father's brown pilot jacket when he's not in-uniform. He even forms an ethos around it, taken from a saying his father used to have: a real man wears his jacket proudly on his shoulders but keeps it unzipped, ready to be offered to anyone who might need it more.
Locked into Strangeness: The explanation for the distinctive gray of Hal Jordan's temples was Parallax, the Anthropomorphic Personification of Fear, exerting its influence over him. When it possessed him first, and every other time afterward, he has had the gray hair.
Love Cannot Overcome: He and Carol Ferris have done this to each other repeatedly over the years, since his identity as Green Lantern and hers as the domineering, villainous Star Sapphire frequently complicate their underlying mutual love.
Loveable Rogue: Despite being in the Air force and the GLC, Hal has some problems with authority and often goes explicitly against orders if he feels he's doing the right thing.

M - R

The Man Behind the Man: While Hal as Parallax is the Big Bad of Zero Hour, he doesn't show up until much later on, with the most active antagonist being Extant who is initially assumed to be the one behind the Crisis until Hal's appearance and involvement is revealed, quickly usurping the role of main threat away from Extant.
Military Maverick: Can be both in the U.S. military and the Green Lantern Corps.
Military Superhero: Hal's lifelong dream was to be a pilot like his dad. So he joined the U.S Air Force and became an Ace jet fighter pilot. He got himself dishonorably discharged so he could see his mother on her deathbed (she hated Hal being a pilot since Hal's dad died that way), but was given a second chance years later. At one point, he was even a POW. Unlike John, though, it's not a big aspect of Hal's background.
A Million Is a Statistic: How he ends up viewing Earth dying, at first. Although Kyle points out that losing the Earth would be like losing Coast City several times over, Hal doesn't commit to helping until after he reconnects with some of his loved ones and sits in Coast City's ashes.
Mistaken for Racist: When John Stewart was first appointed as his backup Lantern, Hal had misgivings due to John Stewart being temperamental. The Guardian accompanying Hal assumes that it is John Stewart being a black man that Hal takes issue with and calls him out on his seeming prejudice. Hal irritably corrected the Guardian, pointing out (not incorrectly) that his issues was nothing to do with that and everything to do with the massive chip on John (not unjustly) had on his shoulder.
The Mole: In The Green Lantern, the Guardians send him undercover with the Blackstars to find one of these within the Green Lantern Corps.
Mr. Fanservice: Less so than Kyle Rayner, but there's still a great deal of attention paid to Hal's ass, hair, and jawline - even in-universe.
Must Make Amends: Part of the reason why Hal sacrifices himself to save the Earth and it's sun was so that he could properly make up for his corruption into Parallax, killing the Green Lanterns in his moment of madness and his attempt in ending the multiverse.
My Greatest Failure: The destruction of Coast City and what eventually leads him into becoming Parallax, alongside the Guardians' apathy towards what Hal had lost.
Near-Villain Victory: As Parallax, he pretty much succeeds by the end of the story. The universe is wiped out, and the heroes can't stop him, since he's the only one with the power to fix it, even if it would be in his image. The heroes allow him to start the process, but stop him to let it play out naturally.
Never Got to Say Goodbye: With his mother. When Hal ran away to join the Air Force when he was eighteen, his mother was heartbroken and refused to speak to him unless he quit. When he heard she was dying, Hal got himself dishonorably discharged to see her, only to arrive too late.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In Blackest Night Hal and the other Lantern Corps leaders try to combine their powers to create the white light of life. Seems like a logical weakness to the Black Lanterns, who are powered by and are personifications of Death... except that this only made Nekron stronger. In response, Nekron uses this increased power to create Black Lantern Batman just long enough to turn the heroes who cheated death in the past into Black Lanterns.
- Speaking of Hal, his merging with the White Entity to trigger the creation of White Rings. Sure, it stops Nekron and brings back a lot of deceased characters. But one of those resurrected is Barry's arch-enemy, the Reverse-Flash. That means Hal's indirectly responsible for the events of The Flash: Rebirth and the murder of Barry's mom at Thawne's hands.
No Endor Holocaust: In Final Night, he explicitly states that he was going to repair the damage caused to the Earth's ecosystem during the crossover; Batman has to persuade him not to try resurrecting human casualties of the disaster since it would mean he was repeating the same folly of remaking reality to fit his wishes that got him in trouble in Zero Hour.
Omnicidal Maniac: As Parallax, Hal's perspective was so warped that he decided that that the only way to bring peace to the universe as well as making him and his loved ones happy was to destroy the current multiverse and then recreate it under his own vision. Incidentally, his dwindling mentality and his approach to annihilate everything ends up with him being in opposition against many of the heroes which he had been fighting alongside with for years.
The Only One: Hal ends up becoming the only Green Lantern left to oppose the main threat on two occasions...
- When he was still a rookie, the villain Legion had defeated the entire corps with its gigantic yellow suit of armor, but Hal figures out that if he covers Legion in mud, his ring will work on him. When cracking the armor open turns out not to have been the best idea, Hal flies into the central power battery and supercharges his ring, giving him the strength to defeat the villain on his own.
- In First Flight, Sinestro has destroyed Green Lantern battery, all of the remaining Green Lanterns are left powerless. Only Hal was able to get green elements power working again (by repeatedly punching through the discoloured outer layer) and fight Sinestro one on one.
The Paragon Always Rebels:
- This trope is pretty much the foundation of Emerald Twilight where Hal, after losing Coast City and being called out upon for being selfish for one moment by the Guardians whilst he was in grief, goes insane, takes matters into his own hands, and attacks his own Corps and the Guardians of the Universe, killing off most of them, taking the Green Lantern Rings and the Central Power Battery for himself and becoming Parallax.
- On a non-homicidal scale, this is the principal aggravation the Guardians have with Hal - he is the greatest of their Lanterns, but he frequently flouts their decrees and is basically impossible to control.
Physical God: During his time as Parallax and the Spectre he was capable of taking on (and being) immense cosmic threats and reality warping feats.
The Plan: To no one's surprise, Hal unites the seven corps, beaming the White Light of Creation at Nekron. Unfortunately for Hal and the Lantern Corps leaders, it makes him stronger. There is no way he did not plan this. In addition, the whole thing ends with Black Lantern Batman vomiting Black Power Rings that possessed the resurrected. So... Lampshading? Turns out Nekron allowed people to come Back from the Dead. All so that he could eventually use them for his own purposes.
The Power of Love: Hal ends the Ultrawar by coordinating a mass multiversal declaration of the Green Lantern oath, with the narration declaring that only by coming together can everything stop fighting each other.
Reassigned to Antarctica: Well he’s not, but in ''The Green Lantern, Hal feels so emotionally distant from Earth, his own home planet, that he treats being assigned there like this.
Redemption Equals Death/Death Equals Redemption: Hal's final outing as Parallax was a genuinely heroic act; sacrificing his life to reignite the sun. Later on, he would be resurrected by The Spectre to be used as a host, which would later lead to the events of Green Lantern: Rebirth, where Hal would be properly reintroduced and come back to being a true hero again, as well as bringing back the Green Lantern Corps in its entirety.
Reimagining the Artifact: Hal's greying temples, originally just meant to be a sign of Hal logically aging over time, are retconned as a result of Parallax's increasing influence.
Relationship Revolving Door: With Carol. Though the two of them do love each other, the circumstances and complications of life as a superhero along with Hal’s own problems with commitment get in the way of them having a stable relationship. They’ve tried several times despite this, but have never been able to make it work. Most flash forwards tend to show that they will indeed settle down and get married at some point, but given the nature of comic books, it’s anyone’s guess if that will actually happen - or if it will stick.
Relative Button: Hal is very protective of his brother Jim and his family, so villains that press this are the ones that truly get under Hal’s skin. During Sinestro Corps War, Parallax threatening his family was enough to make Hal tear off to fight it single-handedly, despite his ring running on fumes.
- Also extends to Carol, as the only time Hal has seriously threatened to kill Sinestro (without an outside force messing with his head) is when Sinestro put a gun to Carol’s head.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: When the Guardians refuse to give him the power to recreate Coast City (or even acknowledge his grief at all), Hal snaps. The Lanterns sent by the Guardians to intercept this rampage did not fare well.

S - Z

Sanity Slippage: Emerald Twilight hit Hal hard with this trope, given that the writers had to somehow justify his abrupt turn to supervillainy. Hence how Hal goes from kneeling alone in a crater where his home used to be, to talking to constructs like they were real people, to a blind psychotic rage-fuelled rampage against the Guardians, to hitting the Despair Event Horizon at full force after he murders Kilowog.
- Later retcons explained this sudden Jumping Off the Slippery Slope as the cosmic parasite Parallax taking advantage of Hal’s grief at the loss of Coast City to creep into his mind and break his will.
The Scapegoat: He takes on this role after the Guardians severely damaged the reputation of the Corps by trying to create the Third Army, and after the Durlans made things worse. He steals the gauntlet of Krona and "goes rogue", planning to take the fall for the rest of the Corps, so they can regain their reputation as stalwart and trustworthy lawmen.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The true underlying reason for Hal's constant problems with authority: it's not that he has a problem with authority as a concept- it's just that when it comes to choosing between his orders and his principles, he'll pick what he thinks is right over what other people are telling him is right.
Series Continuity Error: This trope is used deliberately in Emerald Twilight when Hal is on his rampage towards Oa, the Guardians are seemingly powerless to stop him. They send out the various other Green Lanterns to intercept him, and finally release Sinestro from the main power battery. In the end, they sit there and watch as Hal flies into the battery to steal all the power for himself. And yet, not that many issues earlier, one of the Guardians had completely depowered John Stewart's ring, and in the classic Green Lantern/Green Arrow run, the Guardians at one point weakened Hal Jordan's ring so his power was much more limited. The Guardians have long been shown to have near complete control over the rings when they choose, and should have been able to stop Jordan dead in space or on Earth, long before he ever got to Oa, a fact that was ignored so that the plot of Emerald Twilight could play out the way the editors wanted it to.
Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Hal's entire motivation once he starts towards Oa is to get enough power to undo the destruction of Coast City and all the deaths that Mongul caused. He's driven to change the past, and no one is going to stop him. Of course, once he actually gets the power he's looking for, he gets bigger ideas... Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!.
Parallax: In my universe, everything will be as it should... everybody wins!
"Shaggy Dog" Story: Hal become the leader of the Corps after the Guardians' deaths. However, during his tenure the Corps was repeatedly attacked and seemed powerless to defend itself. To stop the universe from losing faith in the Green Lanterns, Hal decided to take the blame by stealing Krona's Gauntlet and making it seem like the Corps' ineffectiveness was entirely his doing. The plan worked... and then the entire Corps vanished, making it pointless.
So Proud of You: In Wrath of the First Lantern, Hal runs into the spirit of his father Martin, who tells him that he and Hal's mother are proud of him.
Space Police: One of fiction's most seminal examples, considering that Hal was the first Green Lantern to be envisioned as someone working under the authority of a higher power, unlike Alan Scott. This is referenced in The Green Lantern where Hal personally doesn't see himself as a superhero, but as an intergalactic cop who just so happens to be friends with and hangs out with other superheroes.
Start of Darkness: Emerald Twilight is the introduction to Hal's turn of villainy into Parallax, setting the stage for Zero Hour.
Stranger in a Familiar Land: By the time of New 52, Hals personal life on Earth has pretty much fallen apart to the point that when he’s kicked out of the corps he finds he is this trope. He looses his job and his apartment and he overall feels stranded on Earth to the point that he jumps to the opportunity to work with Sinestro. A lot of stories since then have shown him leaving his responsibilities on earth and his position on the League to John, Simon or Jessica as he feels more at home on Mogo. In the first issue of “The Green Lantern: Season Two” John asks him when he’s coming back to say hi to his friends on Earth and he compares Earth to his childhood backyard when he didn’t know there was a whole world out there. Later on in that issue he shows a frown when he is given an assignment on Earth.
Strawman Political: In the "Hard-Travelling Heroes" arc of the '70s, Hal was portrayed as an unquestioning tool of the establishment for Green Arrow to knock down. Averted in the most famous story in that era; "Snowbirds Don't Fly", where Ollie is too disgusted at Roy's drug use to do more than punch him in the face and yell at him. Hal meanwhile helps him find a place to stay and aids him in kicking his heroin addiction. Averted in his first appearances, which were Fair for Its Day, where he worked for a woman in a military role, without ever questioning her suitability. Modern appearances usually cut down on any conservative traits he has, and instead paint him as very anti-authority.
Super Mode: In Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, thanks to wielding Krona’s Gauntlet for an extended amount of time, Hal was able to tap into the Green Light, allowing him to ‘become willpower’, giving him the appearance of a hard light construct and the ability to output immense (and explosive) amounts of willpower. This power boost was not without drawbacks, however; Hal noted that if he spent too long in that form, he would be absorbed into the emotional spectrum and lose his sense of identity, something that did indeed nearly happen when he used this temporary power up to stop a Parallax empowered Sinestro.
Superior Successor: In a sense, he can be seen as this for his predecessors, Abin Sur and Thaal Sinestro, given that not only did Hal become a reliable and trustworthy member of the Green Lantern Corps, but would also go on to become one of the premier heroes in the DC Universe as well as being a founding member of the Justice League. That said, Sinestro does have him beat in regards to experience and tactical use of a Lantern Ring.
Take a Third Option: Take a Third Option: The Zamarons capture Carol Ferris and Jill Pearlman, two of Hal's girlfriends, and try to make him choose which of the ladies will be his mate... which will make the chosen girl be possessed by the Star Sapphire symbiote (again). What does Hal do? He plants a kiss on the Zamaron Queen, which makes Star bond with her instead.
Team Killer: He kills the Green Lanterns and the Guardians during his lowest point. This furthers his descent into madness and becomes Parallax's host. He also tries to kill the Justice League, of whom he was a frequent member during Zero Hour, rationalizing that they would continue to live in a new universe where they were always happy and victorious. Of course, Hal comes to regret his actions after he properly comes back.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With the New Guardians during Blackest Night and Brightest Day, given that they were all members of different, conflicting Corps united against a common enemy.
- Also with Batman during the rockier parts of their relationship, though Depending on the Writer their dynamic can also be that of Fire-Forged Friends. They always butt heads, but there is usually some degree of mutual respect and appreciation between them.
10-Minute Retirement: Hal resigned from the Green Lantern Corps in Green Lantern (vol. 2) #181, after Carol forced him to choose her or the Corps, but he rejoined them at the end of the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Tries to invoke this whenever anything involving emotional entities comes up thanks to his experiences with Parallax. His fellow heroes usually have none of it.
Thou Shalt Not Kill: Up until the Sinestro Corps War, the Green Lantern Rings were coded to not operate for lethal uses, which meant that they were unable to be used for killing others. That said, despite this rule being revoked due to Sinestro's actions, Hal still abides to this rule by heart and refuses to kill others. The one time he personally gets to revoke it was to defeat Volthoom who, by that point, had proven himself to be too dangerous a threat to let go.
Thrill Seeker: Deliberately chooses to not wear his ring while testing highly dangerous experimental aircraft, because he “doesn’t want a safety net”. Though he claims that this is because his instincts wouldn’t be as reliable if he knows he can fall back on the ring, thus making him less effective as a test pilot, the fact that he has been shown to intentionally push jets beyond their testing limits (to sometimes literally explosive results) makes it pretty evident that he mainly does this because he finds the danger fun.
Tragic Villain: His tenure as Parallax was mainly because of the occurrences of actions that were way beyond Hal's control and his superiors being apathetic towards what he had lost. It's not hard to feel bad for him to a degree and his end-goal, while catastrophic, were tragic in the sense that he genuinely thought that everyone would be happy and suffer no losses in the new universe that he intended to create.
Troubled Fetal Position: This happens to him as Parallax in ''Green Lantern Volume 3 #62 after Ganthet allowed Hal to absorb him.
Two-Person Love Triangle: His Silver Age version is in love with Carol, who won't give him the time of day, but who loves Green Lantern... who is, of course, Hal Jordan. Hal constantly moans that he wants Carol to love him as himself, and yet he continues to make out with Carol while in his GL uniform, sabotaging his own efforts.
Undying Loyalty: To the Corps, but more so to his fellow Lanterns. Tellingly, now that John Stewart is serving as Corps Leader, Hal 'problem-with-authority' Jordan doesn't question him nearly as much as he did the Guardians.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Oliver Queen and Guy Gardner on occasion.
Walking the Earth: He embarks on this during the first half of The Road Back storyline. Guy Gardner can't take the fact that Hal is doing this and keeps antagonizing him. Hal eventually snaps out of it.
We Need a Distraction: Hal's single-handed assault on Warworld in Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps turns out to be this, buying time for Soranik and the good Yellow Lanterns to evacuate the Fear Engine captives. Once that's done, Hal pulls a Taking Youwith Me on Sinestro and the entire planet.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: As Parallax, at least prior to the retcon that revealed he was possessed the whole time. His goal was to bring back Coast City and all the people that had died in its destruction and to undo all the tragedy that had occurred due to the universe being ‘unfair’. The problem was the methods he went about achieving this involved wiping out all of reality...
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: It turns out that in The Green Lantern and in a complete contrast to what his character stands for, Hal hates and is afraid of spiders, best shown when he is forced to interrogate the spider pirate who. ironically, finds humans to be just as revolting to her.
Will They or Won't They?: With Carol. Constantly. They break up and get together so much that it's not even noteworthy anymore, to the point that Grant Morrison had it happen off-panel between their run and Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps.
Wingding Eyes: During his final bout with Parallax, Hal gets the Lantern symbol glowing in his eyes.
With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Jordan resurrecting Coast City as ring constructs is treated as a sign of his fading mental stability, despite Kilowog having done this exact trick with his entire race and being lauded as a hero. True enough, given that grief played a major role in this, Hal soon delves into madness, attacks Ng and killing the Green Lanterns, and taking their rings to power himself up, which further worsens his sanity until by the time he's Parallax, he's maddened himself into delusion.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: As Parallax, Hal is mainly this, given that despite what he intends to do, there is pity and sympathy to be had for him in that he is acting out of anguish, grief, and anger over not being good enough and not being given any sort of sympathy when his city was destroyed, his reasons for why he was lashing put in the first place.
You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
- In Final Night, Hal is on the receiving end of this speech from his longtime Love Interest, Carol Ferris and the guardian Ganthet. They both tell him that even though he made mistakes, he will always be a hero. It's part of what leads to his decision.
- In Rebirth, just before the big showdown with Parallax in Rebirth'', Hal gives Kyle one of these pep talks. According to Johns, the exchange was intended to resolve Kyle's long-established inferiority complex and allow the character to move in a new direction.
Kyle: I'm not like the other Lanterns, Jordan. I'm not...I'm not a guy that can overcome great fear or whatever."
Hal: "Fighting from one end of the universe to the other. Risking your life to help someone who everyone else wrote off. Facing Sinestro one-on-one and living to talk about it. What do you think you've been doing, Kyle? Hiding under your drawing board?"
You Can't Make an Omelette...: As Parallax, he uses this as a way to justify the erasure of the universe in order to create a new universe where, say, Superman's Krypton never blew up and Captain Atom never lost eighteen years of his life to become the hero.
You Just Ruined the Shot: The first arc of the New 52 era of Geoff Johns' run had him try to break up what he thought was an instance of domestic abuse, only to get in trouble for assaulting an actor when he didn't see the film crew.
Zero-Approval Gambit: After becoming in charge of the Corps, Hal attempted to invoke this on himself after the Universe has become disillusioned with the Corps by faking his abandoning of the Corps with the help of Kilowog so as to redirect the blame to himself.

Characters / Green Lantern - Hal Jordan

Green Lantern 2814.1: Harold "Hal" Jordan/Parallax/The Spectre II

Species: Human

First appearance: Showcase #22 (October 1959)

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Characters / Green Lantern - Hal Jordan

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Green Lantern 2814.1: Harold "Hal" Jordan/Parallax/The Spectre II

Species: Human

First appearance: Showcase #22 (October 1959)

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