Aliases : Harold 'Hal' Jordan, Parallax, 'Highball'.
Base of Operations : Coast City, CA, United States, Earth, Sector 2814.
Tag : green lantern hal jordan
Important Plots : None.
Journal(s) : beware_my_power
Status : Played

Powers and Abilities : Hal Jordan is a former Air Force pilot and current test pilot, and as such possesses basic training in martial arts and exceptional focus and skill in combat piloting. As a member of the Green Lantern Corps, he possesses a Green Lantern power ring. The power ring is capable of nearly any function the user can imagine, provided the user has the focus and willpower to direct the ring to enact it. Most commonly, it used to generate solid light constructs that can be used for offense or defense; to gather, record or retrieve data; or to enable the user to traverse hyperspace at faster than light velocities.

History : Hal Jordan was inducted into the Green Lantern Corps by the dying alien Abin Sur. Abin Sur had been the Lantern responsible for Sector 2814, which included Earth, and had crash-landed on the planet. Dying, he directed his ring to seek out a worthy replacement - Hal Jordan was the closest worthy recipient. His induction into the Corps was met with some skepticism from his fellow Green Lanterns - humanity was not a highly-regarded species in the universe. Still, Jordan perservered - forming some close friendships in the Corps, and making some enemies as well. The Green Lantern Sinestro, highly regarded in the Corps, was revealed by Jordan to have become the totalitarian ruler of his home planet, Korugar. He was expulsed from the Corps, and blamed Jordan.

Hal divided his time between Earth and the rest of his sector. He helped to found the JLA in the aftermath of the Appellaxian invasion, alongside The Flash, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman. He also adventured for a time with Green Arrow, roaming the United States by truck and doing good where they could. He briefly retired from the Green Lantern Corps, but after the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, he helped to re-form the organization.

The next turning point in Hal's career was the destruction of his home town, Coast City, at the hands of Mongul and the Cyborg Superman. Millions of people died that day, and the events shook Hal to his core - allowing the fear-entity known as Parallax to gain a foothold in his soul. Parallax's insidious influence grew within Jordan, ultimately leading him to a decision - he would use the power of the Green Lantern Corps to restore Coast City, no matter what the cost. Hal destroyed the Green Lantern Corps and absorbed the power of the Central Power Battery, taking on the name 'Parallax'. He used his power in a failed bid to re-write time in the events of Zero Hour.

Parallax could not completely snuff out Jordan's singular will, though. Regretting what he had become, Jordan resolved to try and turn his stolen power to good uses. When the Earth was menaced by the Sun-Eater, Jordan sacrificed his life to defeat the creature and save the lives of everyone on the planet. His story did not end there, however - when the rogue angel Asmodel attempted to usurp the power of a hostless Spectre, Jordan's spirit stepped forward to bear the burden of the Spirit of Vengeance. As Jordan tried to warp the Spectre's mission into one of redemption, so too did the Spectre try to redeem Jordan - for the Parallax entity still burned within him.

The power of the Spectre and the Guardian Ganthet created a unique set of circumstances - the Green Lantern Corps was reborn, and with the Corps, Jordan was also reborn. The Parallax entity was imprisoned within the Central Power Battery once more, and now that the Green Lanterns were aware of it, they could resist its whispers - and they could also overcome the power rings' traditional limitation against the color yellow. Hal resumed his career as a member of the Justice League and as one of the Green Lanterns of Sector 2814 - the reborn Corps typically assigns two Lanterns per sector.

Subsequent to his return, another Lantern seemingly returned from the dead. Hal's former flame, Arisia, was revealed to have survived her apparent murder - only to surface as a mind-controlled thrall of the rogue Lantern Sinestro. Hal and the other Lanterns of Earth, as well as JLA allies, lead the charge to defeat Sinestro and rescue Arisia. He and Arisia have since rekindled their romance, but circumstances have made it somewhat intermittent. Hal and the other Lanterns of Earth have become painfully aware of the growing threat of the Sinestro Corps recently - the Sinestro Corps member Mongul, son of the original Mongul who destroyed Coast City, used a Black Mercy plant to torment Jordan in an attempt to break the man whom some consider to be the greatest Green Lantern.

Other Sources :

• Hal Jordan at the Book of Oa
  
• Hal Jordan at the DC Database Project
• Hal Jordan at Wikipedia

Divergences : Diverges around Identity Crisis #1. The events of Green Lantern : Rebirth took place in much the same fashion as depicted in the DCU proper, though.

Disclaimer - unless otherwise noted, all characters are property of DC Comics, used here only for roleplaying purposes.