Former Aliases: Spectre II, Parallax I
First Appearance: Showcase #22
Cause of Death: Sacrificed himself in reigniting the Sun
Known Relatives: Martin Jordan (father), Jim Jordan (brother), Jack Jordan (brother), Jeremiah Jordan (uncle), Lawrence Jordan (cousin), Hal Jordan (cousin), Jason Jordan (nephew), Jennifer Jordan (niece), Jan Jordan (niece)
Group Affiliation: Sentinels of Magic, formerly Green Lantern Corps, Justice League America I, Justice League International, Justice League Europe, United States Air Force, Ferris International.
Known Allies: Green Arrow I, , Flash II, Tom Kalmaku, Carol Ferris, Kilowog, Tomar-Re, Green Lantern John Stewart, Appa Ali Apsa, Arisia, Katma Tui, Ganthet, Warrior
Major Enemies: Star Sapphire, Sinestro, Sonar, Dr Light III, Goldface, Mongul I, Cyborg II, Legacy, King of Tears
Height: Variable
Weight: Variable
Eyes: Variable
Hair:Variable
Hal Jordan was one of the country’s finest test pilots. He had previously served in the Air Force and after graduating in Aerospace Engineering took a job at Ferris Aircraft, based in Coast City. Hal was always working in the shadow of his father who was also a test pilot of legendary status. As well as this, Hal soon started up an on and off relationship with company owner, Carol Ferris. Hal excelled at his job and gained a reputation as someone that would never lose a plane, always managing to land it.
One such test flight changed Hal’s life forever. Hal was flying a new experimental plane over desert lands when it malfunctioned and he was forced to crash land. Unbeknownst to him, the plane had actually been directed by a dying alien by the name of Abin Sur. Hal escaped from the wrecked plane to find Abin Sur’s downed star ship. Sur had chosen him to be the next wielder of a ring which he held as a member of the Green Lantern Corps. Hal was chosen as he was the closest person who was pure in spirit and unquestionably brave. Hal put on the ring as Abin Sur died and instantly was told about the Green Lantern Corps and their work in the galaxy.
Using the ring, Hal managed to track down Tomar-Re who took him to Oa, the home of the Green Lantern Corps and their founders the Guardians of the Universe. Here Hal witnessed the Guardians coming out of a state of suspended animation. They assigned Hal to learn how to use his ring with Kilowog, another Green Lantern. After receiving this basic training, Hal returned to Oa where he managed to defeat the alien, Legion, where all the other Corps members failed. Using his trademark inventiveness Hal also became the first man to charge his ring directly from the central battery on Oa.
Hal then returned to Earth where he had to serve a 90 day prison sentence for a drink driving offence. While in prison Hal would be transported at night to receive further training from one of the Corps’ best, Sinestro. However, Sinestro would actually turn out to be a dictator, patrolling his sector highly unethically. Hal brought this to the attention of the Guardians and Sinestro was stripped of his rank. Hal was soon released from prison after quelling a riot there.
Hal began his career patrolling Earth’s sector against such menaces as Hector Hammond, Gold Face and a returned Sinestro who had garnered an alternate power ring that shot yellow energy from the Weaponers on Qward. Hal also joined the Justice League of America as a founder member and his outward personality led him to become a spokesperson of the group. He also forged very close friendships with the Flash and Green Arrow.
Other relationships didn’t fare as well though as Hal’s romance with Carol faltered and failed. Carol instead found love in the arms of Jason Belmore. This romance ended eventually and Carol returned to Hal, only for him to reveal that she had been taken over by a cosmic entity and had become the villainess Star Sapphire, one of Hal’s worst enemies. Carol was soon freed of the influence but Hal left Ferris Aircraft to take up a less stressful job as a door to door salesman.
Hal’s outlook on life soon changed when he spent sometime with Green Arrow in Star City. Hal was shocked to see that in the real world, his cosmic ideals of justice and peace weren’t always viable or correct. Hal started to question his suitability as a Green Lantern and went on a journey of discovery. Along with Green Arrow and a Guardian sent from Oa named Appa Ali Apsa, Hal went on a road trip across North America. Upon his return Hal reunited with Carol and set up his own truck firm. At this time Hal was involved in saving a school party’s bus that crashed. Among the passengers was Guy Gardner, Hal’s reserve as Green Lantern of Sector 2814. Forced to pick another reserve as Gardner had suffered intense injuries, Hal selected John Stewart.
The two had many adventures alongside each other as Hal trained Stewart. He also gave Guy a power ring in case he needed it as Hal himself had to return to Oa. Guy became an active Lantern when Hal left to try and get his own ring fixed. However, Hal’s ring was fine and he had in fact left Guy with a faulty battery which exploded, seriously injuring Guy physically and mentally. Hal was further troubled by his assignments from the Guardians. After having a lengthy argument with them he was exiled from Earth for a whole year. This left Ferris Aircraft in turmoil and Hal returned from his year away to find that Ferris Aircraft was subject to a hostile takeover from Jason Bloch. Hal managed to save the company but nearly failed when the Guardians forced him to deal with an off world issue.
Disgusted, Hal resigned from the Green Lantern Corps and instead tried to gain a new closeness with Carol. However, fate was against them as Carol started to again feel the influence of the Star Sapphire. Merging completely with the Star Sapphire entity, Carol left Hal after he rejected her villainous side. Carol was left with nothing but hate for Hal and returned to space. Hal was called back into action during a crisis that threatened all of reality. A rogue group of Guardians gave him a power ring with a new power source and he joined Guy Gardner in assaulting the Anti Monitor’s base. However, he was alerted by John Stewart that this was helping their adversary and so he managed to restrain Guy. With the culmination of the crisis, Hal was reinstated as a Corps member.
The major change with the new Corps was that all sector boundaries were removed and Lanterns were free to base themselves where they wished. Hal joined several other Lanterns on Earth as the Green Lanterns of Earth. One of the members of the group was a young Lantern named Arisia. Trouble started to brew within the group when Arisia aged herself using her ring into a more mature woman, seeking to gain Hal’s affection. The group was eventually forced to dissolve for a totally different reason. It involved the return of Sinestro.
The rogue Lantern had finally been captured after handily beating many of the Corps. Hal and the other Earth based Lanterns assisted in his capture and he was held to trial before the assembled Lanterns and the new Guardians. Deciding to execute Sinestro his soul was transported inside the Battery which then exploded due to a long time safe guard against any member of Sinestro’s race being killed by a Green Lantern. Hal entered the battery with Appa the Guardian and managed to pull together the strands of the battery, whilst beating Sinestro’s spirit. However, the repair job resulted in every Lantern losing their power ring except Hal, Ch’p and Guy.
Hal returned to Earth but his life as a roller coaster was continually disrupted by his increasing stress levels. He dropped out of his super hero life for a time and worked menial jobs around small towns. However, he was called back into action alongside Guy to defeat Appa. The Guardian had gone insane and was taking random cities and towns from different planets and making a mosaic of them for safekeeping. Hal, Guy and the rest of the Guardians managed to defeat Appa. After this it was decided that the Universe needed a Corps to police it effectively.
Hal was part of the reformed Corps whose number were far fewer than originally. Hal was especially annoyed that Guy was made the resident Lantern of Earth while he was left to be chief scout and recruiter, constantly roaming the Universe. Eventually the Corps grew in numbers and Hal convinced the Guardians that he should replace Guy in his position. The Guardians agreed but said that the two men would have to settle it themselves. Hal tried to reason with Guy but was met with aggression. Hal and Guy engaged in a straight fist fight which saw Guy dominant until the very end when Hal managed to turn the tables. Hal became Earth’s sole Lantern and threw himself back into his role, even joining the Justice League International and leading its European branch.
This return to heroism was stopped abruptly with the advent of Superman’s death. Hal was caught unawares as the Cyborg Superman joined forces with Mongul in order to transform Earth into a new WarWorld. To accomplish this they planned to destroy Metropolis and Coast City. While Superboy saved Metropolis, Hal was not fast enough to prevent all 7 million of Coast City’s inhabitants being killed along with all of the city’s structures. Hal attended a ceremony mourning the dead but soon went insane and created his own Coast City using his ring. The Guardians deemed this personal gain rather than a heroic pursuit and so they stripped Hal of his ring, giving him enough charge to head to Oa to stand before a tribunal. Hal went to Oa on a rampage and destroyed all of the Corps on his way, amassing their rings. When on Oa Hal finally killed Sinestro, and his old trainer Kilowog. He then entered the Power Battery, absorbing all of its energy and killing all but one of the Guardians. Hal was no longer a Green Lantern. Instead he was Parallax, wielding unimaginable amounts of power.
The remaining Guardian, Ganthet, managed to craft one final ring from the pieces of Hal’s own and gave it to a new Lantern named Kyle Rayner. Hal meantime had gone further into the depths of insanity. Tracking the Cyborg across the Universe he amassed more power, before finally having enough to totally remake the Universe in his image, making it so that Coast City was never destroyed. Using entropy fissures Hal started to slowly destroy the universe, intending to begin again from the very start. He was faced by every hero imaginable and many lost their lives. Eventually he fell to a combination of his old friend Green Arrow and his replacement, Kyle Rayner.
Hal lost much of his power through failing the feat and so targeted Kyle in order to gain his ring back. Battling the entire JLA, it was a powerless Kyle that humbled Hal into realising that there was no point in going back in time. Hal journeyed across the Universe and found the Source Wall where the Cyborg had been hiding. Battling the monster, Hal managed to defeat him, but it was the images of the dead of Coast City that killed the Cyborg. Hal returned to Earth where a creature called the Sun Eater had attached itself to the Earth’s Sun, stopping all light getting to the planet.
Every superhero failed in removing the Sun. Superman himself was powerless without the yellow light of Sol. Kyle managed to find Hal as a last resort and asked him for help. Hal returned to Earth with Kyle where he made peace with several friends. Healing John Stewart, resurrecting Green Arrow and sharing a beer with Guy Gardner, Hal made one final visit to Carol. He offered Carol the chance to leave Earth. Carol turned him down, making Hal realise that he had to do the right thing. Journeying to the Sun, Hal made one final sacrifice. By bombarding the Sun Eater with Emerald Energy and absorbing him on the opposite side he managed to destroy the Sun Eater at the cost of his own life.
However, Hal’s story didn’t end there. Instead he was chosen to become the new Spectre. However, unlike the previous Spectre, Hal wasn’t the Spirit of Vengeance but rather the Spirit of Redemption. With this power Hal first set about redeeming himself. By giving his old friend Tom Kalmaku his old power ring, he rebuilt Oa thus resting the spirit of Kilowog. He also passed on his blessing to Kyle and spent a lot of time merely carrying out the work of God.
Hal was brought into action alongside the JSA in battling Johnny Sorrow and the King of Tears. Hal went into battle fully expectant of victory but was left as a giant skeleton. After the King of Tears was defeated by the JSA, the Spectre reformed himself and healed Alan Scott. The Spectre again fought alongside the JSA against the Spirit King. The Spectre was paying the price for being the Spirit of Redemption as the souls that he should have condemned had started to escape, weakening him greatly. After the Spirit King was finally defeated the Spectre left, considering his new role.
Recently Hal has been seen as himself, first talking to Green Arrow about the spate of attempted murders within the super hero community and then even more recently he has shown a much more fragmented personality. Appearing in Green Arrow’s home to accost the Black Hand, one of his old adversaries, Hal showed a much more vicious side before disappearing again. It seems that Hal’s return as a human and a Green Lantern is imminent.
As the Spectre, Hal is the Spirit of Vengeance, acting on behalf of God. He has untold magical power and can do practically anything, though he is vulnerable to a strong enough magical attack. As Parallax, Hal was near god-like in his power, being able to change time and do virtually anything until his power was severely drained. Following that he was limited to expressions of Emerald energy, which were still more potent than those from a Green Lantern ring. As a Green Lantern, Hal wielded a ring that was commanded by his will power. It could do anything the wearer willed it to do apart from effect the colour yellow. The ring had to be recharged every 24 hours from a portable battery and gained its energy from the main power battery on Oa. Hal is also an incredibly gifted pilot and possesses an immensely strong will.
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