Today we’re talking about Agent
Orange, the one and only wielder of the Orange Light of the Emotional Spectrum.
The Orange Light is the Light of Avarice, or in simpler terms, the Light of
Greed. The very nature of the Orange Light pretty much makes it impossible for
there to be more than one. Larfleeze doesn’t like to share. Let’s get to it.
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| Can you guess what is on his mind? |
Larfleeze is a bit like Yoda, in
that almost nothing is known about his early history and his kind lives a very,
very long time. Some claim that Larfleeze himself is several billion years old.
Here’s a little about what we know about his early life, Larfleeze was taken
from his family and forced into slavery. This was the start of his obsession
with…well, stuff. As a slave, Larfleeze was denied the most basic wants and
needs of an intelligent lifeform. He was starved and worked beyond exhaustion,
a system his masters developed to weed out the weakest slaves. It seems that
because of this, Larfleeze went a little nuts. He started “hearing” materials
calling out to him, begging Larfleeze to take them and own them. Eventually
Larfleeze escaped and joined a small guild of intergalactic thieves.
Larfleeze’s guild eventually stole
something from Maltus, the original home world of the aliens that eventually
became the Guardians of the Universe. They stole several different artifacts,
but one of them was a box that was supposedly worth an entire star system. I’m
not talking just one planet or just one star, we’re talking a star and all the
planets circling around it. So yeah, it’s worth quite a bit. The Guardians were
understandably upset by this, and sent their Manhunter androids after them.
They got a few of Larfleeze’s guild, but some escape. Those that did discovered
a map among their stolen swag, which led them to the planet Okaara in the Vega
System. They followed the map, and found a temple, and inside the temple, a Power
Battery containing the Orange Light of Greed. The Light almost instantly effect
the crew, the Light “spoke” to the crew, and driving them all insane. They
turned on each other and started killing each other. By the time the Guardians
and the Manhunters caught up to them, there were only two beings left,
Larfleeze and a crewmate named Turpa. The Guardian’s had a problem, Larfleeze
and Turpa still had the box, and the overwhelming power of the Orange Light
incinerated anyone that got too close to it. The Guardians were eventually able
to offer the two a deal, in exchange for the box, they would allow them to keep
the Orange Light. They had two additional stipulations, one, that the Orange
Light remain in the Vega System, and so long that it did the Guardians wouldn’t
interfere with his actions. And two, only one of the two would be allowed to
keep the light, as one wielder greatly decreased the risks to the rest of the
universe. They agreed to the deal, Larfleeze killed Turpa, and became the sole
wielder of the Orange Light. What was in the box that made the Guardians so
desperate to get it back? Why it was Parallax, the living embodiment of Fear
itself. I can understand trying desperately to get that back.
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| Always surrounded, but always alone. How sad. |
I’ll explain this in more detail
farther down, but it’s important to note that while the only real Orange
Lantern is Larfleeze, he’s able to create hundreds of semi-sentient Orange
Light Constructs. Too Sci-Fi for you? I’ll try to simplify it. He can make Hard-Light
copies of anyone he kills. So if he blasted me into oblivion with his ring, he
could make a Michael Shaped copy of me with his ring. The Copy would look and
may even act like me, but it’s obviously made of the Orange Light. “He” would also
have his own Orange Ring and could use it to cause trouble. Pretty crazy,
right?
Several millennia pass, and things
remained quiet in Larfleeze’s sector of space. Sure, the occasional Alien
vanished from his home and became a part of Larfleeze’s glowing army, but other
than that things were fine. But, like all things, this had to come to an end. A
group known as The Controllers were trying to make their own intergalactic
police force to rival the Green Lantern Corps. The Controllers were another immortal
alien species that descended from the original Maltus, they’re essentially
cousins to the Guardians. The Controllers made it to Okaara and even into
Larfleeze’s temple. Once they try to take the Orange Central Power Battery,
they’re assaulted by Larfleeze and an army of Orange Lantern Constructs (OLC),
and destroyed. Larfleeze was enraged at the apparent violation of their agreement,
which is only exacerbated when a GL named Stel flew into the Vega system while
pursuing a member of the Sinestro Corps. The SCer is killed by an OLC, and Stel
is beaten within an inch of his life and branded with the Orange Lantern
Symbol. Upon returning to Oa, a construct of Larfleeze burst out of Stel’s new
scar, and it started screaming at the Guardians about the attempted thief of
his Lantern and the violation of their agreement. The Guardians tried to point
out that Larfleeze’s beef is with the Controllers, but have you tried reasoning
with a child throwing a temper tantrum? Yeah, it worked about as well as that. Larfleeze
started making demands, but his construct was destroyed by the Guardian called Scar.
She claims she did this because the Guardians don’t negotiate with terrorists.
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| It's his favorite word. |
Hal is finally able to subdue
Larfleeze by gaining full control over his Blue Power Ring. He brings Larfleeze
in and the Guardian’s ponder what to do next. They realize, that even if they can separate Larfleeze from the
Orange Light, someone else would inevitably find it and claim the Orange Light.
Choosing to stay with the foe they know, they renegotiate their deal with
Larfleeze, and peace is restored between the Green Lantern Corps and Agent
Orange. For now.
Larfleeze derives his power from
his Power Ring and the Orange Light of Avarice. It allows Larfleeze to fly,
create protective barriers, and create Hard Light Constructs. His most
dangerous ability is his power to create Hard Light clones of those he kills.
Every being he kills with his Power Ring, or by one of his constructs, is transformed
into an “energy clone” controlled by his ring. These clones retain some of the
original beings personality and intelligence, but are completely under Larfleeze’s
control. One major side effect of Larfleeze’s ring is that he is filled with an
insatiable hunger, something that can only be nullified while he’s in the
presence of a Blue Ring, hence his desire to have one. His ring is one of the
more parasitic Lantern Rings. It altered his personality, amplifying Larfleeze’s inherent greed from a pretty normal level to the Greediest being in the universe. On the
rare occasion that he’s been separated from his ring, he clearly becomes afraid
of it and begs to let someone else have it. But once it’s back on his finger,
he’s greedy all over again.
Once a day, Larfleeze needs to
recharge his ring by inserting it into his power battery and reciting the oath.
The Oath of the Orange Lantern is “What’s mine is mine / and mine and mine, /
And mine, and mine, and mine! / Not yours!” Simple, and to the point, I guess.
Like Atrocitus, Larfleeze is a
newer character, having only been made in 2007. But, like Atrocitus, he’s
gaining popularity.
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| Greed is very good. |
Larfleeze appeared in an episode of
Green Lantern: The Animated Series, entitled
“Larfleeze.” At this point in the series, our main heroes, Green Lanterns Hal
Jordan and Kilowag, and Red Lantern Razer are trying to find allies against the
new Anti-Monitor. Razer tells the other two of the legendary Orange Lanterns,
who were able to beat back the Red Lantern Corps from invading their territory.
They arrive on Okaara and get their hands on the Battery, just before being
jumped by an enraged Larfleeze. They’re able to escape with the Battery, but
Hal, who was the one to grab it, starts acting strange. He caresses the
Lantern, calling it his “beautiful thing.” When he’s called on it, he snaps and
succumbs to the Lantern’s power. He transforms into an Orange Lantern and takes
control of Okaara. Kilowag and Razer team-up with Larfleeze to free Hal from
the Orange Light. Hal easily over powers the three, but is snapped back to his
senses when he’s told to look skyward and see all the stars going out. Victims
of the Anti-Monitor sucking the stars dry of energy. They return the Battery to
Larfleeze, who is so overjoyed at being reunited with his shiny that he offers
them a reward. Or at least tries to. He attempts to give them some gold, but
decides he wants to keep it. He tries to give them other treasures, but changes
his mind. He starts handing them a fly, but then gobbles it up. He then tells
them that they can go.
Larfleeze is an interesting, and inherently
sad character. From what I’ve seen, the Orange Light has essentially made him a
grown up child. He wants everything, now, and he doesn’t care how it effects
other people. I think that his desire for a Blue Ring is also very interesting.
The Blue Lantern’s emotion is Hope, and it is the energy that can heal others.
That suggests that the one thing Larfleeze wants more than anything is Hope, but
as the ring said, hope is selfless. He wants the one thing that he can never
possibly have. Hm… I think he might actually get along well with Doctor Doom,
both have a hole in them that cannot be filled, no matter how much they try. Larfleeze seems even more... sad when you consider this. On Okaara, the only real being there is Larfleeze. Every other intelligent being there are Larfleeze's constructs. They have some personality, but they are still artificial. So in the end, Larfleeze is always alone with his imaginary friends. How sad is that? He’s
the Avatar of Avarice, the Master of Greed, Agent Orange, Larfleeze. Next time
Saint Walker, the shining example of Hope.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larfleeze#/media/File:Larfleeze01.jpg
http://greenlantern.wikia.com/wiki/File:LarfleezeagainstGuardians.jpg
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