The Red Lantern Corps of Rage is a strange one among the emotional spectrum. They wield rage as their primary weapon, but their goal is not mass chaos or destruction (post-Blood and Rage, that is). The Red Lanterns' mission is to seek vengeance across the galaxy against injustice, but they do not take the Batman approach to dealing with criminals. A core philosophy among Red Lanterns seems to be "an eye for an eye", which is why many people confronted with a Red Lantern often end up dead. This is because the primary target for the Red Lanterns is serial killers and people who commit unforgivable atrocities.
The Red Lantern Corps leader, Atrocitus, was one of the five surviving members of the massacre of Sector 666, which saw the majority of the Sector purged of its living inhabitants, including Atrocitus's wife and children. Fueled by rage and grief, he teamed up with the other four survivors of the massacre and attacked the Guardians of the Universe, as they were the ones who created the Manhunter androids that caused the massacre. After an eons-long war against the Guardians, Atrocitus and his allies were defeated by the Green Lantern Corps and driven back to Ysmault, their base of operations. Fulfilling a prophecy he had learned of eons earlier, Atrocitus killed his four allies and used their blood to awaken the red light of rage, officially creating the Red Lantern Corps.
A fitting power for the Red Lanterns is that they are proficient in blood magic, as the red light merges with their blood when the Red Lantern Ring is placed on them. Their new boiling blood drives the Lantern into a mindless raging state until they bathe in the Blood Ocean on Ysmault, allowing them to regain their sanity.
Just as Atrocitus was born from the anger of personal tragedy, my choice for its new member also faced a similar tragedy that turned him into a raging maniac hellbent on revenge. My candidate for the Red Lantern Corps is... Adam Taurus.
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Adam's story revolves around personal tragedy and injustice that gave him an insatiable thirst for vengeance. During his childhood, he was forced to work in the Schnee Dust Company mines where he was scarred with an SDC logo brand on the left side of his face. Some time later, he joined the White Fang under Sienna Khan's leadership and began his descent into lunacy. He was a ruthless opponent, killing humans and taking unnecessary lives on missions. While his girlfriend at the time, Blake Belladonna, felt that Adam was taking things too far, his comrades in the White Fang praised his efficiency.
Most of Adam's actions throughout the series either were fueled by rage or strengthened his already existing rage. He and Sienna Khan transformed the White Fang from a peaceful protest group into a borderline terrorist group. He killed humans out of pure spite because he blamed them for what happened to him, and he goes so far as to aid attempts to destroy Huntsman Academies simply because they are a structure of power created by humans, despite the fact that many Faunus have become Huntsmen or are Huntsmen in training.
As the series progresses, Adam starts to become less big-picture in his ideals. He does not seem to know what he wants from humanity, only that he wants to make them pay. He tries his best to cling to his old sense of morality, but he finds it difficult to justify to others that this is truly his goal, such as when the White Fang abandons him after the Battle of Haven after they realize he's lost himself. After this, he is perfectly free to be as unhinged as possible, and he does so by going after Blake in Argus.
Blake made him especially angry after she abandoned him and the White Fang as a whole during a mission, especially since they were lovers at the time. As he took control of the White Fang and even beyond, all of his thoughts were on Blake. He believed that she had abandoned him for her own selfish gain, seeing her as a coward who only fights for herself. After she stopped his plan to destroy Haven Academy, he had been completely humiliated by Blake, so he decided to go after her personally. Adam was angry with Blake for abandoning his ideals and constantly standing in his way, but his anger reached newer heights when Yang Xiao Long interrupted their fight and protected Blake. Adam deduced this action to be out of love, igniting his rage and jealousy and clouding his judgement. This would eventually lead to his downfall, however, as he was stabbed by the girls and left to die in the sea below.
Adam's entire life has been a story of ambition and idealism warped into madness by unparalleled anger, which is why there can be no greater contender for the Red Light of Rage.
