Parallax is a parasitic cosmic entity that appears in both the Green Lantern mythos and the DC Universe as a prominent foe. Fear is represented by the Yellow Light on the emotional spectrum.
Parallax, like a parasite, needs a host to take control. A person’s vulnerability to become Parallax’s host might be triggered by even the tiniest dread. It then instills terror in everyone, resulting in horror.
Ron Marz and Darryl Banks created this supervillain for Green Lantern Volume 3 Issue 48 in 1994. It was designed to be an adversary of Hal Jordan. Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern comics, on the other hand, were not performing as well as the others. As a result, the writers decided to alter the plot.
As Parallax’s host, Hal Jordan was made into a villain. Kyle Rayner was then established as the Green Lantern by DC, who was later possessed by Parallax in a different plot.
The backstory of Parallax was revealed in pieces over the course of several issues, which added to the mystery surrounding the monster. We will get right down to business in this video.
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Parallax: Backstory
Parallax has a very complex history in the comics because the order is a little bit iffy. To make things simple, let’s jump to 2004 where we got to know the history behind how Parallax came to be.
In 2004, Geoff Johns created Green Lantern: Rebirth, which popularized Parallax. A fear-inducing space insect, Parallax is an energy and a demonic parasite. Its energy works by instilling fear so terribly that it causes societies to destroy themselves. It attacks by causing horror and paranoia as it feeds on the despair of its opponents.
When the first sentient life form began in the universe, the Emotional Spectrum was created. This spectrum branched out into the seven colors of the rainbow where each color represented an emotion.
Violet was Love, Indigo – Compassion, Blue – Hope, Green – Will, Yellow – Fear, Orange – Avarice, and Red – Rage.
The yellow light which embodied fear was the one that eventually came to be known as Parallax. The fear began when Earth’s first instinct instilled fear among its prey.
Parallax was originally trapped in a container by the Guardians Of The Universe. It was safely kept on a planet called the planet Maltus. However, the containment unit was stolen by a band of thieves led by Larfleeze.
The unit also contained a map. Using this map, the thieves reached planet Okaara. They went to the Orange Lantern Central Power Battery. Larfleeze and his former guildmates Turpa and Bloch found themselves at odds as they all tried to possess the Orange Power Battery. The Manhunters and the Guardians wanted to possess Parallax. However, the intense power from the Orange Power Battery killed everyone in the process.
Eventually, the Guardians struck up a deal where the person who would win the Orange Light of Avarice would also be able to gain total control of the Vega System, provided they did not breach its borders. All in exchange for Parallax.
After Larfreeze won Avarice and transformed into Agent Orange, he handed over the Parallax containment unit to the Guardians. It was eventually imprisoned in the Green Lantern Central Power Battery. This made Parallax or yellow to be immune to the Green Lantern rings. On the other hand, the rings grew weak to the color yellow.
Now that the beginning is out of the way, let’s talk about Hal Jordan’s journey with this entity.
Coast City was the hometown of Hal Jordan. Its destruction caused him to succumb to grief as all the inhabitants died while he managed to survive. Naturally, this resulted in an enormous amount of survivor’s guilt in Hal. So, he wanted to make things right and remake existence.
Hal decided that to rewrite history, he needed to steal the power of Oa’s Battery which is the gigantic lantern that powers the Green Lantern Corps.
If he wanted to attain this objective, he had to go against the Green Lantern Corps which meant fighting his friends. He actually killed his good friend Kilowog as he was driven insane by his pain. He even killed the Guardians, minus Ganthet.
Hal wanted to use the battery’s power to turn into Parallax, as Parallax, the yellow impurity, was imprisoned there. He managed to steal it but not all of it. The remaining energy from the power battery was used to create a ring for Kyle Rayner, the last Green Lantern back then. Meanwhile, with Parallax, Hal Jordan turned into a supervillain.
In the Zero Hour: Crisis in Time storyline, Parallax tried to recreate the DC Universe, which was released as a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Here, Hal Jordan wanted to combine the power of the rings. It would help him use chronal energy to manipulate time and recreate a world where Coast City has not been destroyed. The destruction caused by Cyborg Superman also meant that Hal Jordan wanted the Cyborg to pay for his atrocious act.
In this arc, he fought Superman, Kyle Rayner’s Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Batgirl and in the end, was defeated.
Emphasis on the word ‘defeated’ as Parallax did not die. He died later during the Final Night arc where Hal Jordan sacrificed his own life to save the galaxy by reigniting the sun. Deceased, he became the Spectre or The Spirit Of Vengeance.
When Hal Jordan was Parallax, his emotions and actions were influenced by it. Parallax was the thing that turn Hal into a genocidal megalomaniac. Eventually, Hal Jordan, Kilowog, the Guardians, and the Green Lantern Corps were resurrected and Parallax was defeated. However, Parallax would return from time to time, most notably in the 2006 Sinestro Corps War.
Parallax In Various Story Arcs
As a prominent antagonist, Parallax has appeared in and influenced several major story arcs.
Emerald Twilight
So, the Green Lanterns have a code where they cannot use their powers for personal benefits. Following the destruction of Coast City, Hal Jordan broke this very code. We’ve already spoken about this as it is a key storyline for the character’s origin. It revolves around him breaking in for the Oa’s Central Power Battery and eventually being possessed by the Fear entity called Parallax.
The Final Night And The Spectre
After sacrificing himself for the reignition of the Sun, Hal Jordan became the Spectre. However, Parallax was still bound to him. During this time, the Spectre told Hal Jordan the truth about the Fear entity. At the same time, Kyle Rayner explained the same thing to Green Arrow as he told him about a yellow demonic parasite called Parallax which was born during the beginning of sentience.
Green Lantern: Rebirth
Here, Kyle Rayner explains the colors of the emotional spectrum and refers to the green willpower of the Green Lanterns as being the purest. Parallax had been kept dormant for billions of years while the Guardians tried to safeguard the truth about the entity that caused immense paranoia. It went on to be known as the ‘yellow impurity’. As the Green Lantern rings were weak against Parallax, only those who could overcome great fear were allowed to become Green Lanterns.
America’s Justice League and Justice Society reached Coast City to go against Parallax. However, their efforts were foiled when Parallax fought back by causing them to grow paranoid. However, the Spirit Of Vengeance within Jordan finally managed to overpower Parallax and pulled the yellow impurity out of his soul.
But, Parallax is a demonic parasite. So, it needed a new host. It attacked Ganthet while Jordan’s soul was being pulled away from the mortal realm to the afterlife. Ganthet managed to successfully guide back Jordan’s soul into his body on the Moon. Finally, Hal Jordan rose once again, resurrected, as his mortal human body came out of the coffin. For the first time in a while, he had clear thoughts and feelings, thanks to the removal of the parasite.
Restored, Hal Jordan took back his position as a Green Lantern. On the moon, he battled Sinestro. He later returned to Coast City where he freed Ganthet from Parallax’s possession (with the help of their friends) and imprisoned the parasite back in Oa’s Central Power Battery.
Sinestro Corps War
Parallax is released from the power battery again during the Sinestro Corps War. At the behest of Sinestro, it possesses Kyle Rayner. While the Green Lantern Corps tries to rescue Rayner, Parallax goes against Hal Jordan, his previous host.
Kyle Rayner is captured by Sinestro. He explains the existence of Ion to him, an energy that needs to possess a host similar to Parallax. Unlike Parallax, Ion embodies willpower but Sinestro wishes to make Rayner the new host for Parallax. So the moment Sinestro removes Ion from Rayner, Parallax takes over him. He then returns to Qward, the antimatter universe.
In the war, several Green Lanterns are massacred. Parallax, who is now a herald of the reborn Anti-Monitor, leads an assault against Rayner’s friends John Stewart, Hal Jordan, and Guy Gardner. They are brought to Qward where the Lost Lanterns arrive to rescue them. Another battle ensues where Parallax attacks Jack T. Chance by making him experience the fear of his abusive family, which ends up killing Chance.
Rayner witnesses Parallax’s heinous actions against his allies while being his host. He transforms into Ion to fight Parallax, who was attacking Rayner by tormenting him with memories of the people he lost such as Donna Troy, Alex, his mother, and Jade. However, thanks to his plot armor, Rayner manages to find hope.
Rayner sees a picture his mother had painted years ago which gives him the power to fight back. He walks into the painting and finds himself in a field where he walks towards a green, shining star.
On Earth, Parallax tries to kill Hal Jordan’s family. Hal’s ring runs out of power so he resorts to aiding Rayner in his fight to subdue Parallax. However, Parallax absorbs Hal and becomes twice as powerful.
Soon, Guy Gardner arrives with Rayner’s mother’s painting. The image and Hal’s aid help Rayner in fighting against Parallax and finally, they free themselves from the parasite.
In its original form, Parallax attacks everyone but Ganthet and Syd imprisons it within the power batteries of the Earth Lanterns.
Blackest Night
During the Blackest Night, Hal Jordan fights a black ring possessed by Spectre. Unable to win, he seeks aid from Parallax and frees it. He becomes the host for Parallax once again and manages to free Spectre from the imprisonment of the black ring. In the end, Spectre also manages to free Hal Jordan from Parallax. Parallax tries to fuse with Sinestro but an unknown source sends him away into another dimension.
Brightest Day/New Guardians
In this arc, Parallax is chained to a pillar. Underneath the pillar is a symbol of the Corps. Ion is also chained to a pillar with the symbol underneath it.
Krona uses Parallax to go to Earth. Later, Parallax possesses Barry Allen with the objective of tormenting Hal. However, Krona rips Parallax out of Barry and takes him to some unknown place.
Wrath Of The First Lantern
Volthoom, the First Lantern, had tried to bring the Universe under his control. The Green Lanterns tried their best to stop him but couldn’t do so.
Volthoom took control over Hal Jordan and tortured him. To fight back, Sinestro allowed himself to become the host of Parallax. Unlike the previous hosts, Sinestro realized that he could control the entity instead of letting it control him.
Sinestro fought back against Volthoom with his new power and yet found himself in a tough spot. Thankfully, Nekron arrived and used Hal as its lifeline. Together, they were able to defeat Volthoom.
As the host for Parallax, Sinestro killed the Guardians of the Universe and disappeared. He eventually lost his control over the fear-mongering entity and set it free.
What Makes Parallax So Dangerous?
The energy of Parallax is vile. This antagonistic entity can monger a fear so terrible that even brave heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman can fall to it. Technically, if it just uses its powers to bring out Superman’s fear of losing control over his own powers, the Man of Steel is toast.
So here are some of the things that this entity can do:
Fear-Induced Manipulation
Parallax embodies Fear. It can generate and manipulate energy. It has all the powers of a Guardian Power Ring which is the type of ring that powers the Green Lantern Corps.
It can control energy to create solid energy. Unlike the Green Lanterns which have green energy, Parallax has yellow projection abilities.
Mongering Fear and Immense Mind Control
Of course, this is what Parallax does best as it instills fears over its enemies and hosts. The only way to subdue this power is by conquering inner fear, making Batman Parallax’s worst nightmare. Its mind-controlling abilities as a parasite allow it to take over the psyche of its hosts.
Parallax possesses people when they feel fear. It can induce hypnosis in people. It can alter time, reality, and fly. What makes the entity more dangerous is that it cannot be killed. Since it embodies an emotional concept, it is not exactly mortal or a being so it cannot die.
Parallax is extremely potent against the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians because they derive their powers from the emotional spectrum. So Parallax’s counter is perfect and more suited to harm them compared to those who derive their powers from other places. That is not to say that Parallax cannot harm others because when it possessed Alan Scott, Scott was exponentially weakened and down with a fever. It just could not control him.
Insane Versions Of Parallax In Various Forms Of Media
The Green Lantern franchise is not nearly as widespread as that of the other DC heroes such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash. But it exists. Today, the Green Lantern movie is better remembered as the movie Ryan Reynolds publicly regrets starring in. But, it had its moments.
In the 2011 Green Lantern movie, Parallax appeared as the main antagonist as he used Hector Hammond as a pawn in destroying Hal Jordan.
Parallax also appeared in the DC Universe Online video game. There, he was the final boss of S.T.A.R. Labs Alert.
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