The Flash vs. Green Lantern: Who Would Win in a Fight?

The Flash and Green Lantern are among the most iconic and powerful superheroes in the DC universe. Flash draws his power from the Speed-Force and is generally regarded as the fastest superhero in comics in general, and Green Lantern uses the Green Lantern ring and his own willpower to access unimaginable powers. But, if they ever come to battle one another, who between the Flash and Green Lantern would prove to be more powerful and would win in a fight? 

Flash is more powerful than Green Lantern and would likely win in a fight against him. Flash proved that his phasing powers are not limited to solid objects only. He is vastly more powerful, vastly faster, and more durable than Green Lantern. The two fought in the comics before, and Flash proved that he was too fast to be contained by the powers of Green Lantern. 

Now that we’ve brought you how the fight would go generally, it’s time to analyze it in more detail. We will compare both characters’ powers, abilities, strength, durability, and other attributes so you can see how we came to our conclusion. Both the mantles of Flash and Green Lantern have been carried by numerous characters over the years, but in this analysis, we will focus specifically on Hal Jordan and Barry Allen. 

Powers & abilities 

Barry Allen, aka The Flash, draws all of his powers from the Speed Force, a cosmic force that provides him with unimaginable speed and access to limited space-time manipulation powers.

With the connection to Speed Force, Flash gains access to aerokinesis, allowing him to generate strong gusts and vortexes of air with nothing but his speed. He also has access to limited electrokinesis, which allows him to generate lighting and focus on that same lighting with his hands. 

Flash can turn his body into a lightning rod with electrokinesis and generate an incredibly potent Electro-blast. Flash’s energy-manipulation powers also extended to the electromagnetic spectrum, photokinesis, and other effects related to Speed-Force siphoning. His senses are also greatly enhanced as Speed Force empathy, vision, awareness, and other related senses, allow him to perceive past, present space, and time differently. 

Among the most powerful Flash’s abilities still remain molecular acceleration-related abilities. He can phase through objects by vibrating his molecules fast enough. He can turn himself intangible and invisible. Flash’s powers likewise allow him to travel forward and backward through time. 

The main source of Green Lantern’s powers is the Green Lantern ring which is widely regarded to be among the most powerful weapons in the DC universe. The Green Lantern Ring uses the emotional electromagnetic spectrum to produce various effects and various constructs, and generally, the Ring is regarded to be as strong as the willpower of the person wielding it. With Green Lantern Ring, Green Lantern can generate incredible Force Fields for defense and offense.  

Green Lantern can create powerful Energy constructs ranging from weapons to everyday objects. The strength of the objects, however, depends on the willpower of the wearer. Just like Flash, Green Lanterns can phase through solid objects as well as turn themselves invisible. Green Lanterns also have access to “Emerald Sight,” which allows them precognition to some extent. It can also allow its wearer to manipulate various forms of energy, fly and travel through time and great distances by manipulating wormholes and spatial warps. 

Both Flash and Green Lantern are so powerful that it’s easier to list what they can’t do than put together a list of what they can do. At the end of the day, both Flash and Green Lantern have a plethora of both offensive and defensive abilities, and both have the powers to manipulate time and space around them. However, it’s been proven that Flash is too fast to be affected by the powers of the Emerald Ring, and due to that, the point goes to Barry. 

Points: Flash (1:0) Green Lantern 

Strength and stamina 

Flash can utilize his natural speed and connection to the Speed-Force to greatly enhance his lifting and hitting strength. His base strength is nothing special, but if he moves just slightly under the speed of light, he can perform the near infinite-mass punch that allows him to unleash powerful hits with all his increased mass behind it.

Due to the effects of the Speed Force on his physiology, Barry has nearly limitless amounts of stamina at his disposal and can run and use his powers for days before he feels the effects of fatigue settling in. 

Hal Jordan, just like Barry Allen, never had super strength in the conventional sense as his human physiology barred him from this prospect; however, with his connection to the Green Lantern Ring and its constructs, Hal can lift in excess of 100 tons, ranking him among the physically strongest superheroes in the DC universe. In terms of stamina, this isn’t as important as willpower, at least related to the use of the Green Lantern Ring. The Ring has to be recharged occasionally when power runs.

Flash is, in theory, stronger than Green Lantern, but he often avoids using his near-infinite-mass punch in fear of warping space-time with severe consequences, and because of this, the point goes to Green Lantern since he doesn’t have such limitations. 

Points: Flash (1:1) Green Lantern 

Speed

Barry Allen is not the fastest speedster in the comics, but he is certainly among them. Due to inconsistency regarding the character’s portrayal over the years, it’s hard to calculate or even have a general number on how fast he can move, but it’s generally regarded that Barry Allen’s Flash has massively faster-than-light speeds at his disposal. He has several incredible feats that show exactly how fast he is, like traversing the entire multiverse to check the vibrational frequency of each Earth. 

There’s really not much to say about his speed since most of his powers were covered in the first section, and that gives you a pretty good idea of what his speed is capable of. 

Hal Jordan can fly pretty fast, but does it really even make sense to compare his speed to Flash’s? This point goes to the Scarlet Speedster naturally. 

Points: Flash (2:1) Green Lantern 

Durability

The main source of Flash’s incredible durability is the Speed Force aura that cushions his body from significant damage that would be dealt to him while he runs at godlike speeds. The Speed Force aura protects him from friction, kinetic impacts, incredible pressures, and a plethora of other detrimental effects caused by high speeds.

Flash can likewise have accelerated healing. He heals at a rate that this unattainable to normal humans, and he is able to heal from severe damage in a matter of moments. If the situation calls for it, Flash can likewise turn to his intangibility, meaning it can be near-impossible to deal physical damage to him. 

The Green Lantern Ring is the main source of durability for Hal Jordan, as it provides him with a powerful force field that deflects most damage and allows him to survive in the harsh, inhospitable conditions of space. 

The Ring acts as a life support system due to various effects such as deflecting impacts, maintaining body temperature, providing them with oxygen, and other means to support life. The Ring also has a limited ability to heal the wielders and can turn them intangible and thus impervious to damage. 

Both Flash and Green Lantern are durable, but Flash seems to take this to another level. The point goes to Barry. 

Points: Flash (3:1) Green Lantern 

Intelligence

Barry Allen is notable for being among the comics’ best detectives and forensic investigators. He has an IQ between 130 and 160 and is generally ranked among the smartest characters in the DC comics. But all of this pales when you take Speed Force into account. Barry has access to the so-called Speed Mind. His mind works at incredible speed, providing him with an incredible rate at which information is processed. 

By tapping into the Speed Mind, Barry can envision every possible outcome of the situation and simulate various scenarios. 

Hal Jordan is among the most powerful Green Lanterns, and there is a good reason for that. His will is unbreakable and extremely strong, which in turn makes his constructs among the most powerful ones. Hal Jordan was never considered to be a super genius by the comics’ standards, but the Ring provides him with several powers that can boost his intellect. 

Emerald Ring can be used as an encyclopedia and universal translator and can offer Hal a replay of the events that took place in his general area but doesn’t provide him with the means to alter them. With everything taken into account, Hal is most certainly smart, but not as much as Barry Allen. 

Points: Flash (4:1) Green Lantern 

Combat Skills 

Barry is not exactly a synonym for brawlers in the DC universe, but he is highly skilled and highly trained by the best fighters in the DC comics, such as Wonder Woman and Batman. He managed to defeat Grodd, Supergirl, and Reverse-Flash with his impressive skills and is known to be quite proficient when it comes to boxing, judo, Krav Maga, and Muay Thai. 

Hal is highly proficient in hand-to-hand combat, demonstrating skills to defeat opponents even while blind. He has received training from the Justice League of America’s finest fighters, which further improved his fighting abilities. Additionally, Hal is skilled in boxing and judo, as well as archery and equestrianism.

With everything taken into account, Flash seems to be the better fighter between the two of them. 

Points: Flash (5:1) Green Lantern 

Flash vs. Green Lantern: Who Would Win? 

In theory, Green Lantern’s powers seem to trump Flash’s powers, but in practice, this is rarely so, and one of the greatest weaknesses to the functions of the Green Lantern Ring appears to be the Speed Force itself, which means that Hal struggles to operate his ring while Flash is accessing his powers.

Flash defeated Green Lantern in the comics several times, and there’s really not much to say about the outcomes. Flash is stronger, more durable, and intelligent, and his powers seem to negate the powers of the Emerald Ring. 

Who do you think would win in this fight? Let us know in the comments!

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