Alan Scott - Powers and Abilities

Powers and Abilities

Alan Scott wields a powerful ring that can produce a variety of powerful effects. The extent of the ring's ability has never been rigorously defined, but three consistent traits are that it allows him to fly, that its effects are accompanied by a green light, and that it cannot directly affect anything made of wood.

In Scott's earlier appearances, he would project a beam of green light from his ring that could do variety of things such as move objects, melt metal, shrink objects, or put out fires. He rarely used it as an actual weapon and often resorted to fisticuffs when engaging his foes like any other pulp adventure hero. In later years, he started conjuring solid objects. These objects could be of any shape and size—a sword to cut a rope, chains to bind a prisoner, a parachute to break his fall, a disembodied fist to beat his foe—but they were always pure green in color and would vanish as soon as he stopped concentrating on them. Alan controlled these objects telekinetically. These conjured objects, later referred to as "constructs", would become the signature power of Green Lanterns in later decades.

At the start of many stories, Alan charged his ring from a powerful green lantern, which would give him 24 hours of power (regardless of how heavily he used it).

Alan's ring cannot affect anything made of wood or plant matter. He can conjure a green shield to block bullets, but a wooden club will pass right through it effortlessly. Solomon Grundy, a zombie whose body is partially made from swamp matter, is highly resistant to Alan's powers.

In the mid 1980s, DC merged Alan Scott and Hal Jordan into a shared setting and eliminated parallel universes from the narrative. Because these two characters were unrelated, the writers altered Alan's powers to differentiate him from Hal. Alan's constructs were now wreathed in green flame, highlighting a magical (and not technological) nature. He physically merged with his lantern, meaning he no longer needed to recharge as Hal needed to. In 1995, he lost his magical ring but learned to manifest his power through his glowing hands instead (this change was reversed in JSA #50).