(I know it's been a year at this point, but I'm still gonna throw up a SPOILER WARNING for anyone who has not seen Volume 9 of RWBY yet.)
The Death Lantern Corps seems like an easy pick. Just take any of the dozens of dead characters and plop them right in, right? I did think about doing that, but I think I have a better idea in mind. You see, dead people do make up the majority of the Lantern Corps, and many prominent dead characters make a return thanks to the ring like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Barry Allen, Victor Sage and many others, but the reason the Black Lantern Corps even exists is thanks to one man: William Hand.
William, going by the name Black Hand, was an enemy of the Green Lantern Corps, as he used a device, the Cosmic Divining Rod, that drained the green light from their rings and allowed him to use them for himself. After being subjected to alien experimentation, he instead gained the power to completely drain away the life force of any person around him. This is because he was chosen by the Scarred Guardian, a former Guardian of the Universe who betrayed her own kind, to be the vessel for Nekron, the embodiment of death. After realizing the dark power within him, Black Hand killed himself and was reanimated as the first Black Lantern.
What made Black Hand such a powerful villain and the perfect herald for Nekron was not his life-stealing power, but instead his obsession with death. William's parents had owned a funeral home, and ever since his young childhood William had been obsessed with the idea of death. He tinkered with his obsession a bit when he murdered and taxidermied his family's dog, but for the most part he attempted to keep up appearances and pretend he was normal. William becomes the Black Hand after Atrocitus, the Red Lantern Corps leader, seeks him out and William is able to steal the Cosmic Divining Rod from him. Just before he unleashes the Blackest Night, Hand gets to live out his lifelong fantasy and kill his entire family before killing himself. Then when he is resurrected, he first travels to Gotham City and digs up Batman's skull. This man is utterly obsessed with killing and the idea of death to the point where he will sit in empty graves and talk to skeletons.
Now, finding a character who worships death in RWBY is very challenging, as there aren't many. My first thought was of Tyrian Callows, but I've already used him for the Yellow Lantern Corps. However, I think I've found a character that fits in even more than him. A character that actually worships the concept of death in his world and goes so far as to manipulate and kill people to get to it. I speak, of course, of the Curious Cat.
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Now, the Curious Cat may not be the first character that comes to mind when you think of death-worshipping psychopaths, but I would argue that was intentional from the start. Their entire character revolves around the fact that they're just a cute little talking cat until they're not. THEN they're a death-worshipping psychopath. The reason I keep calling them "death-worshipping" and the reason I see them fitting in with the Black Lantern Corps is because they are obsessed with the Great Tree and its ability known as Ascension.
Ascension is a process that one can go through in the Ever After that essentially kills and reincarnates them into new bodies. They are assigned new roles and even given new personalities and their memories are erased, although the previous life's most defining moments are still retained. Originally, the Gods of Light and Darkness were tasked with maintaining the Ever After, but in their quest to build new worlds they could no longer hold those positions, so they instead created creatures to hold those positions for them. One amongst these creatures was the Curious Cat, who was tasked with fixing the broken parts of the Ever After and putting them through Ascension.
There are multiple ways to go through Ascension, one of which being the Great Tree's leaves. By inhaling the smoke of the leaves, one is confronted with a person or former self who questions their beliefs and desires in an attempt to make them turn back. If they do not, then they can Ascend. Neopolitan even manages to make a special tea from the Great Tree's leaves that instantly Ascends the drinker. Another way to Ascend is when the Curious Cat offers a piece of their heart to someone. When someone in the Ever After questions themselves or falters in their role, the Cat can offer the person a piece of their heart. If the person accepts the piece, they are dragged into the Great Tree's roots to be Ascended. The final way to Ascend is to DIE in the Ever After. Little was known to have gone through Ascension after they were crushed by Neo, being reincarnated as Somewhat. This can also be argued to be what happens when one drinks the tea made from the Great Tree's leaves. Many people have speculated that when Ruby Rose drank the tea, she essentially committed suicide and allowed the Tree to take her.
Due to Ascension's parallels with the Black Light's power of both providing death and reincarnation to serve a greater purpose, and with Curious Cat being the arbiter of Ascension, I believe they are a good fit for the Black Lantern Corps.
