In Green Lantern, every Lantern has an oath they swear when recharging their ring.
- The different oaths.
- The original, Alan Scott, had a rather pithy and poetic oath:"... And I shall shed my light over dark evil,
For the dark things cannot stand the light,
The light of the Green Lantern!" - The 1959 Retool established the somewhat more impressive and much better-known oath, used by most of the Green Lantern Corps:"In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight!
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power, Green Lantern’s light!"- This one has a number of known variants
- Rot Lop Fan, whose species has no eyes and thus no concept of light or colour, chants an oath based around sounds and tones:"In loudest din or hush profound,
My ears catch evil's slightest sound.
Let those who toll out evil's knell,
Beware my power: the F-Sharp Bell!" - Medphyll, a veteran Lantern and member of a species of sapient vegetation, has his own oath:"In forest dark or glade beferned,
No blade of grass shall go unturned.
Let those that have the daylight spurned,
Tread not where this green lamp has burned." - Jack T. Chance, the Green Lantern in charge of Hellhole, a planet containing some of the worst criminals in the universe:
- Kho Kharni, member of a genocidal race turned good:
- Penelops, an aquatic Green Lantern whose species fears and is harmed by light:"In brightest light, in darkest sea,
All dangers will be seen by me!
While others from these dangers flee,
I shall always a Green Lantern be!" - Barin, a Green Lantern who hallucinated that he was at the gates of Hell:"In this place of black and grey and dark...
The Green shall be my light, my hope, my strength.
All that is good is all I defend.
I shall not falter." - Flodo Span, a Lantern made of sentient gas:"Once there was but darkness, full and forever—
But then came the light of the Green Lantern—
And then myself—
To do it justice!" - Sodam Yat, a Daxamite (who are like Kryptonians, but with a weakness to lead instead of Kryptonite) combines the Green Lantern and Sinestro oaths as the last surviving Green Lantern (and from the sounds of it, the last surviving Lantern of any colour) in the 30th century:"In brightest day through blackest night!
No other Corps shall spread its light!
Let those who try to stop what's right
Burn like my power — Green Lantern's light!" - Duck Dodgers (no, really):"In blackest day or brightest night
Watermelon, cantaloupe, yadda yadda
Erm... superstitious and cowardly lot
With liberty and justice for all!" - Hal Jordan is the Green Carebear
- Before the Corps was a thing, there was the ominous creed of the Manhunters:"Our enemies fear the face of steel
The will to this cold visage anneals
Ours is the face of justice revealed
No man escapes the Manhunters!" - When taken over by Atrocitus, this was changed to:"No Guardian escapes the Manhunters!"
- The Alpha Lanterns, who police the rank and file members:"In days of peace, in nights of war,
Obey the laws forevermore,
Misconduct must be answered for,
Swear us the chosen... the Alpha Corps!" - And the Alpha Lanterns also have a motto that combines that of the Corps and the Manhunters:"No Lantern escapes the Alpha Lanterns!"
- Bruce Wayne, the Bat-Lantern of Earth 32, has an oath that references the Batman mythos."With signal green come darkest night
That superstitious fearful might
Beware the creature of the night—
The weird avenger, blazing bright!" - Flashlight, the Green Lantern from the Big Bang Comics-based Earth 36, has this oath:"When all is dark and in despair,
The night's made bright by Flashlight’s glare!
All evil things had best beware,
By seven lights this oath I swear!" - Magic Lantern, an alternate universe Green Lantern from Dreamworld and Earth 47, uses this oath:"When it's groovy, when it's grim,
We hum the Living Guru's hymn.
When other Lanterns lose their shi-
We keep the Magic Lantern lit!" - In Infinite Crisis, the Green Lantern from the Arcane universe of Earth 13 has a unique oath."In forests deep where darkness dwells,
In dungeons dank beneath ancient fells,
Let those who seek to rule the night
Beware my power, the Emerald Light!"
- The fear-powered Yellow Lantern/Sinestro Corps' oath:"In blackest day, in brightest night,
Beware your fears made into light.
Let those who try to stop what's right
Burn like his power — Sinestro's might!"- Naturally enough, Sinestro himself ends with "Burn like my power..." Later on, when Arkillo takes command, he replaces the last part with "Arkillo's might!"
- The oath of the Red Lanterns, who use the red light of rage:"With blood and rage of crimson red,
Ripped from a corpse so freshly dead,
Together with our hellish hate,
We'll burn you all, that is your fate!"- Green Lantern: The Animated Series tweaks it:"With blood and rage of crimson red,
We fill men’s souls with darkest dread,
And twist your minds to pain and hate.
We'll burn you all, that is your fate!"- Aya later tries to modify it so Razer won’t feel bad about having to use the oath to recharge his ring. It doesn’t work, but it’s a good try.
- After removing Atrocitus as the leader of the Red Lanterns, Guy Gardner criticizes the oath and comes up with a different one."We're red, you're dead!"
- Green Lantern: The Animated Series tweaks it:
- The Power of Love becomes somewhat more impressive with the Star Sapphire/Violet Lantern Corps:
- The hope-powered Blue Lanterns:
- The Indigo Tribe's is in Fictionary but it still sounds poetically badassnote :
- And with the Blackest Night, the undead Black Lanterns have a creed:
- During Blackest Night, Larfleeze (the Orange Lantern of Avarice) looks surprised when the other Lantern Corps are saying their oaths, as he hadn't thought of using one. So he creates his own oath:
- He later came up with a better one:
- The oath of the White Lanterns, who use the white light of life:"In Brightest Day, and Blackest Night.
All darkness will dread my might.
Virtuous energy of life ignite.
Shine forth my power White Lantern's light."- Or alternatively:
- The oath of the Ultraviolet Corps, whose rings tap into suppressed emotions such as shame:
- In Dark Nights: Metal, an evil alternate Bruce Wayne who became a Green Lantern and calls himself Dawnbreaker has this.
- The Phantom Ring allows its wearer to use all seven lights of the Emotional Spectrum, and can be used by whoever puts it on.
- The Green Lantern introduces Zundernell, the Golden Lantern who guards the Cosmic Grail on the destroyed Earth 15."I serve the fallen, broken light
That glows yet dimmer with the night.
The flame burns low that's bright in Hell...
Beware my fate — lost Zundernell!"
