Real name: Harold "Hal" Jordan
Occupation: Test Pilot
Base of Operations: Formerly Coast City, California
Marital Status: Single
Height: 6'
Weight: 186
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
First Appearance: SHOWCASE #22 (September/October, 1959)

Young Harold Jordan grew up in a military family. Hal idolized his father, who was a pilot at Edwards Airforce Base. His mother discouraged him from taking the same path, but every morning before school, Hal would sneak off to the airfield and watch his father fly overhead. Eventually, Hal too joined the air force and began his own career as a pilot.

This led him to a job as a test pilot for Ferris Aircraft in Coast City, California, and a love interest in Carol Ferris, who ran the company for her father. Carol shared Hal's love for that sense of speed and danger. (Green Lantern Secret Files 2005) During one of his test flights, a bizarre event changed his life forever. Hal was summoned by Abin Sur, the alien Green Lantern charged with protecting Earth's Space Sector (2814). Abin Sur's spaceship had crash-landed deep in the Sierra Madre Mountains. And with his dying breath, he commanded his "power ring" to search out a fearless and worthy successor to replace him within the ranks of the legendary Green Lantern Corps. The power ring located Jordan nearby and transported Hal to the site of the downed spacecraft, where Sur quickly explained the situation, passed on his ring and uniform, then died. (Showcase #22, Emerald Dawn #1) Hal would later learn that another man, Guy Gardner, was deemed equally worthy. Hal was chosen simply because he was closer to Abin Sur.

In the months that followed, Hal proved a natural-born hero. In no time at all, he was traveling into the anti-matter universe of Qward and battling bizarre alien arch-villains in the best tradition of the Green Lantern Corps — while still holding down a full time job at the Ferris. These enemies sometimes included Carol who, as Star Sapphire, was occasionally overtaken by an alien race of women called the Zamarons. His arch nemesis was Sinestro of Korugar, who had once been the greatest Green Lantern. Sinestro went rogue and was banished by his masters, the Guardians of the Universe. Lacking a weapon, Sinestro found the Weaponers of Qward, in the antimatter universe. The Weaponers made Sinestro a ring that tapped into an ancient evil force within the Guardians' very power battery.

Millennia before, the Guardians had battled a cosmic beast called Parallax. This entity was borne from fear itself and became sentient, threatening to overtake the universe with panic. The Guardians triumphed and imprisoned Parallax within the very heart of their own power, the central power battery on the planet Oa. Because Parallax's essence was yellow, its presence in the battery gave their power a weakness to the color yellow. The most successful Green Lanterns would always be those who were the most fearless, those whose will power was strong enough to weild the green energy without succumbing to fear.

Just a few months after he became a Green Lantern, Hal helped quell an Appellaxian invasion and became one of the founding members of the Justice League of America. (JLA: Year One #2, Secret Origins #32) Jordan served with the League for many years, until Aquaman disbanded the original formation. (JLofA Annual #2) During his seven years of service, Hal met some of his very best friends: Barry Allen, the Flash; Oliver Queen, Green Arrow; and Dinah Lance, Black Canary. He took two extended leaves of absence from the JLA. The first was with Green Arrow, and one of the Guardians, Ganthet. They set out to explore the country coast-to-coast for a more human persepective on America. (Green Lantern v.2 #76)

Jordan's second extended absence came when the Guardians exiled him into deep space for a period of one year. (#152) Just after Aquaman disbanded the original Justice League, Hal Jordan passed his power ring on to Detroit architect John Stewart and resigned his position as a Green Lantern so he and Carol could marry. (#181) Before the marriage could take place, however, Carol again became the evil Star Sapphire and the wedding was off. (#191) Later, Hal returned to active duty and helped defend Earth against the universal Crisis. (Green Lantern #198) The Crisis left the Green Lantern Corps decimated and for a brief time, Hal led the remaining members, who migrated to Earth. (#201-234) This band were key players when the Guardians' original police force — the Manhunters — set about universal conquest. (Millennium #1-8, Green Lantern v.3 #3) Hal refused a number of invitations to rejoin the new Justice League International before agreeing to a brief stint as the leader of the European branch.

Hal's hardest days began when his home, Coast City, was destroyed by the alien warlord, Mongul. (Superman #80) In his grief and rage, Hal became susceptible to the fearsome power of Parallax inside the Guardians' power battery. Not long before, Sinestro had also been banished into the battery, where he made contact with Parallax. The two plotted against Jordan and seized his moment of weakness. Hal became a vengeful madman; he destroyed the Guardians of the Universe, the central power battery on Oa, and the remainder of the Green Lantern Corps, claiming all their power. This resulted in the deaths of his friend, Kilowog and the Guardians themselves (save one, Ganthet).

Hal was unaware of his possession by the entity Parallax but took its name and attempted to alter the history of the universe. (Zero Hour #1) Earth's heroes were able to stop him, but to atone for his wrongful acts, Hal sacrificed his life to save Earth's sun from the Sun-Eater. (Final Night #4) Jordan's (or perhaps Parallax's) will to live was strong, though. Whether fortunate or not, Hal got the chance to redeem himself when he was chosen to be the newest host for the powerful Spectre. (Day of Judgment #5)

Apparently the Spectre's god (the Presence) chose Hal because only the Spectre's power of the could hope to continue to contain Parallax. But the Spectre was by nature the spirit God's vengeance on Earth. Hal's will was so strong that for a time, he was able to sublimate the Spectre and wage his own crusade as a spirit of redemption. (Spectre v.4)

After Hal went mad, Ganthet, bestowed a power ring on the unsuspecting Kyle Rayner. Because Parallax was free, Kyle's ring did not have a weakness to yellow. (Green Lantern #50)

The Spectre coerced Hal's old friend Tom Kalamaku into righting his wrongs against the Green Lantern Corps. Tom used Hal's old power ring to rebuild the planet Oa. This also allowed the vengeful spirit of Kilowog to rest. (Green Lantern: Legacy) Soon after this, Kyle gave up his own recently acquired omnipotent powers to rebirth the fallen Guardians as children (this time, both male and female). (G.L. #150) Kyle and Ganthet also helped restore Kilowog to life. (#169)

Hal continued to struggle against the will of the Spectre, not realizing that the Spectre was trying to containing the evil of Parallax. Eventually Parallax's power was too strong and it began a new quest for universal domination. (GL: Rebirth #1) It infected the central power battery on Oa, and the other Green Lanterns along with it. But Hal's own soul was cleaved from the Spectre and Parallax and coaxed back into his resting body. From there, his will triumphed over terror and he led his fellow GLs to beat Parallax into submission. Their rings opened a portal to the central power battery on Oa, and Parallax was imprisoned there once again. (#6)

Now with a truly new lease on life, Hal has set out to continue his career as Earth's primary representative from the Green Lantern Corps. Earth's other Green Lanterns have kept their rings as well, but taken on slightly different duties.

Although Hal is a competent, sensitive, and experienced hero, his ego can be considerable. While most of his fellow Justice Leaguers were rather modest and low-key when it came to publicizing and promoting their heroic activities, Jordan actually encouraged press coverage and attention. At one point, he even went so far as to establish an official Green Lantern Fan Club, (Green Lantern #3) a step that most of the other Justice Leaguers would have found unthinkable. For a time, Hal mellowed a bit with age and abandoned the brashness of his youth.