Of all the members of the Green Lantern Corps, the most deadly officer is surprisingly the affable Kyle Rayner. However, there's a tragic twist on what makes the tenderhearted artist one of the Corps' deadliest Lanterns.
As the largest and most powerful peacekeeping force in the DC Universe, the Green Lantern Corps has made a concentrated effort to pick the worthiest beings to join their ranks. Only those with a great capacity for willpower and the ability to overcome great fear have a shot at wielding a Power Ring. Of course, the circumstances were a bit different for Kyle Rayner, who became a Lantern as a last-ditch effort to keep the Corps alive after its destruction by Parallax. That said, Rayner rose to the occasion and kept the green flame burning until the Corps was able to come back. Despite his inner doubts, Kyle proved himself to be a fine Green Lantern.
However, a part of Kyle may see himself as one of the deadliest Green Lanterns to ever join the Corps. In Tales Of The Sinestro Corps: Parallax #1 by Ron Marz and Adriana Melo, Kyle is trapped in a living hell. After being made the new host of Parallax, Kyle’s true self is contained deep within his own mind. Unfortunately, all he can do from his prison is watch his own body fight his friends and fellow Corpsmen. To make things worse, Kyle isn't alone as he’s visited by the fear entity, who mocks the Green Lantern’s predicament. Parallax observes a mural Kyle has been sketching to keep himself busy. Rayner has drawn his mother as well as several women that Kyle has dated such as Alexandra DeWitt, Donna Troy, and Jade, all of whom were close to Kyle when they died.
Is Green Lantern Kyle Rayner Cursed?
While it’d be a stretch to say Green Lantern Kyle Rayner was the cause of these women’s deaths, the truth is that Kyle has lost a lot of people in his time as a hero. Alexandra DeWitt was one of the most infamous cases of ‘fridging’ and she died almost as soon as Kyle got his Power Ring. Donna Troy and Jade were killed in the line of duty while Kyle’s mother was murdered by Sinestro in an attempt to weaken Kyle’s willpower.
Tragedy is common in the life of a hero. The members of the Green Lantern Corps have all lost people they’re close to, from Hal Jordan to Guy Gardner. But Kyle seems to have the most trouble with those he loves all meeting unfortunate ends. It’d be unfair to say Rayner is ‘cursed’, but he does appear to have a terribly high number of his family and romantic partners dying compared to the other members of the Corps. Sure, he isn’t directly causing the deaths himself. But with so many of Kyle Rayner’s loved ones dying, he might just be the most unintentionally deadly Green Lantern alive.