Manhunters
Ayahunters
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Real Identity: Not Applicable
Affiliation(s): Guardians of the Universe, Anti-Monitor, and Aya
Appearances: Regime Change, The New Guy, Reboot, Blue Hope, Loss, Cold Fury, Babel, Love is a Battlefield, Ranx, and Dark Matter
Powers/Skills: Armed Combat and Flight
Voiced By: Josh Keaton
Billions of years ago, the Guardians of the Universe created the Manhunters and powered them with Green Energy. Their creed was "No Man Escapes the Manhunters!" For a time, they were the perfect police force and were never swayed by emotion. However, the universe was not dictated by absolutes. The Manhunters were given faulty programming and their primary objective to eradicate all evil from the universe became corrupted. They determined evil originated from emotions and it should be eradicated along with those who tried to protect it, namely sentient lifeforms. The Manhunters were unable to understand and interact with living organisms.
The Manhunters deemed anyone with emotions to be criminals. They killed many and were responsible for the destruction of planets and sectors that came to be known as the Forgotten Zone. The Great Manhunter Incident was covered up by the Guardians and kept secret. The Green Lantern Corps were founded to replace the Manhunters. When Atrocitus founded the Red Lantern Corps, it was believed the Manhunters were sent to destroy because those in the Forgotten Zone refused to bow to the Guardians.
After Atrocitus was defeated on Oa, the Anti-Monitor arrived on the planet Biot and sent out a low level antimatter pulse that reactivated all Manhunters in the universe. They would aid the Anti-Monitor in its quest of destruction. On Earth, three Manhunters stationed in a hidden bunker on the Tegra Glacier activated and killed an archaeologist named Professor Chilton. The Manhunters then encountered Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner. When the battle spilled outside, their scanners detected a nearby town. With some effort, Jordan and Gardner were able to destroy them before they reached the town and obliterated it. Jordan and Tomar-Re encountered more Manhunters in Tomar's sector a week later. The Guardians concluded the sudden reappearances of Manhunters were only isolated incidents. Hal Jordan still felt an outside force was controlling them and voiced his concern. Appa Ali Apsa assigned Jordan to form a small team and map out Manhunter locations.
Tomar-Re, Hal Jordan, Kilowog, and Aya found another bunker factory on Biot and were forced to withdraw due to the large concentration of Manhunters. Aya targeted part of the factory with the Interceptor's weapons array and disabled several Manhunters but the Anti-Monitor attacked. Two dozen Manhunters ambushed Hal Jordan's group near Zeta Prime. They managed to salvage a deactivated Manhunter and brought it aboard the Interceptor. When Ganthet lit the flame of the Blue Lantern Central Power Battery, the Manhunter on the Interceptor repaired itself and attacked. Jordan and Kilowog managed to neutralize it once more. The resulting energy wave emitted from the battery reached three Manhunters in space and amplified their power output much like it did the Green Lanterns. They flew to Odym to procure the battery but were engaged by Hal Jordan, Kilowog, Saint Walker, and Brother Warth. The Manhunters managed to take hold of the battery but Razer had Walker summon a giant Odymese Worm. It rose up from the ground and snatched up the battery along with half a Manhunter. The other two lost their newfound powers and were destroyed by Jordan and Kilowog, who also lost their super charge.
The wave sent out by the Anti-Monitor eventually reached the Forgotten Zone and activated a malfunctioning Manhunter on Ysmault just as formal peace talks began between the Guardians of the Universe and Red Lantern Corps. Hal Jordan and Kilowog managed to disable it but Zilius Zox discovered them. Things became more complicated when the Anti-Monitor arrived in the Forgotten Zone with its army of Manhunters. Jordan, Kilowog, and Razer attempted to hold them for four minutes so Aya could prepare the emergency ultra warp but Razer was trapped and nearly killed if not for Aya's sacrifice. Aya managed to download herself into a disabled Manhunter's CPU but was unable to send out communications. The Science Director ordered the Manhunters to stop but their new programming superceded their obedience to the Guardians. She retaliated by sending out an energy pulse that disabled them. However, the Anti-Monitor reactivated them and they proceeded to invade Ysmault. The Red Lantern armada prepared an offensive and opposed the Manhunters.
The Manhunters once again went off-line when Aya charged into the Anti-Monitor and blew it up from the inside. She refused to help destroy the Manhunters as they were simply "foolish children" who did as they were told. Aya declared herself queen of the Manhunters, reactivated them, and they left to parts unknown. At some point, a Manhunter was destroyed by Mother. Its head was added to Mother's sash of trophies. When Hal Jordan, Kilowog, and Razer fought her, Jordan stole the Manhunter and recharged his ring with its Green Energy then tossed it to Kilowog. Razer tossed it at Mother's head just before she collapsed from Jordan and Kilowog's assault. Soon after, Aya and the Manhunters invaded Zamaron but left after Atrocitus was defeated by Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris. The Manhunters were all later dispatched to the planet Ranx. They were met with a planetary-wide force field. In addition, the Anti-Monitor sent out a signal to draw Hal Jordan to Ranx for protection.
Aya uploaded a copy of her program into every Manhunter and rechristened them Ayahunters. Appa Ali Apsa ordered a large contingent of Green Lanterns, led by Guy Gardner, to stop them. Hal Jordan, Kilowog, and Razer arrived shortly after their first offensive failed. Razer utilized one of Saint Walker's calming techniques on himself, Jordan, and Kilowog to elude the Manhunter's emotion detection. However, when one of the Manhunters spoke in Aya's voice, Razer lost his focus. Several Manhunters broke off from battle and pursued the trio past the field to Ranx. Planetary defenses utilized by the Anti-Monitor destroyed the Manhunters. Once Aya arrived, she dispatched the Green Lanterns and ordered the contingent of Manhunters to stand down while she went alone to Ranx to take the Time-Displacement Cylinder.
Aya, the Biot drones, and her Ayahunters gathered in orbit above Maltus. While Aya opened a window to the beginning of time, the Ayahunters took on the Green Lantern Corps. Once Aya used her powers to heal Razer, she no longer controlled the Ayahunters. To make matters worse, since they had her program, any one of them could discover how to destroy the universe. Aya uploaded a computer virus designed to eliminate every version of her program, including herself. All Ayahunters went offline once infected.