Carter Hall (DC)
Carter Hall is a male comic superhero who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Pre-Crisis
Khufu was a male Prince in ancient Egypt where he came to fall in love with Shiera. (Flash Comics v1 #1)
He was betrayed by his priest Hath-Set who intended to murder him and Shiera. Khufu managed to escape Set's minion Kolar and fled to meet his love when he was outnumbered by the priest's soldiers. Ultimately, the prince was captured whereupon Hath-Set murdered him by stabbing a dagger into his chest. However, this did not kill Khufu but instead caused him and his love Shiera to go through cycles of reincarnation every time they had died. (Flash Comics v1 #1)
In the 20th century, he reincarnated in a new body where he grew up as Carter Hall. He grew up to be wealthy where he established a library of weapons and had experienced dreams of his past life as Khufu. During this time, he encountered the dagger that had killed Khufu and regained his memories whereupon he managed to encounter the reincarnated Shiera. At the time, an extraordinary electrician named Doctor Hastor sought to conquer the world with Carter taking the guise of the hawk-god in order to confront the villain. As Hawkman, he managed to destroy the villains equipment but Hastor escaped but used magic to hypnotise Shiera and attempted to sacrifice her. However, he was thwarted by Carter who shot an arrow in him seemingly killing Hath-Set but Hall believed he had not seen the end of the evil priest. (Flash Comics v1 #1) They later battled the rich physicist who named himself Alexander the Great after the historical figure. (Flash Comics v1 #2) Carter afterwards sought to save his friend Dick Blendon from Una Cathay when the female occultist sought to find he secrets of eternal life from him. (Flash Comics v1 v3) He later fought the criminal actions of the hypnotist known as the Thought Terror. (Flash Comics v1 #4) Carter afterwards encountered secret government agent Ione Craig where he saved her life and later of her journey to Araby in order to stop Hassan Ibn Sadah a descendant of the original man had revived the original Sect of Assassins that dated back to 1070 AD. The assassins had planned a worldwide murder plot against leading authorities on the planet with Hawkman volunteering to journey to the City of Alamut to stop them. (Flash Comics v1 #5) In the aftermath, agent Craig was abducted in the desert by slavers from Sheik Abdullah though Hawkman ends up similarly captured where they were taken to the city of Istanyulq. Once there, his presence attracts the attention of Sheba the self-proclaimed Queen of the Desert who had assembled an army to unite Araby under her rule who intended to claim Hawman for herself. However, Carter flees and managed to bring a British army unit to the area and rescue Ione Craig with him killing Sheik Abdullah as well as apprehending Sheba. (Flash Comics v1 #6) Later, the actions of Boris Nickaloff attracted his attention when the sculptor used a substance to craft a living golem called Czar the Unkillable Man. Nickaloff intended to make an army of such creatures with Czar abducting Shiera with Hawkman freeing her whereupon he killed the two villains. (Flash Comics v1 #7) He then encountered Professor Kitzoff who had taken the identity of the Sunspot Wizard who used his technology to terrorise the world but he was defeated by Hawkman. (Flash Comics v1 #8) Carter's friend George was responsible for inventing the Effulma that was 'the great fire that holds all power within it' with this attracting the attention of the underwater dwelling race of evil ape-creatures known as the Kogats. Hawkman was captured by them where he was brought before their leader King Jupo and learnt of their plans to conquer the surface. George was killed with Hawkman being left to die only for him to free himself and getting the aid of Poseidon whereupon he managed to bury the Kogat's thus defeating them. (Flash Comics v1 #9) At an auction, he placed a bid for a Spanish blunderbuss only to lose to John Denver. As Hawkman, he pursued the buyer to Colorado where he found a map to a gold mine within the blunderbuss. Denver sought to claim the gold but Hawkman stopped and handed the gold to the mine's owner. (Flash Comics v1 #10)
Carter and Shiera later were involved in stopping a real estate swindle by Edward Northrup in Suburbia. (Flash Comics v1 #11)
Carter and Shiera went to relax at a carnival when they encountered the odd Proboscis Jones. He had an overlarge and oversensitive nose that served him fine working in a perfumery, but when he was away from work, smells that agitated his nose caused his nose to take over his nervous system. The sweat from a boxing match at the carnival turned him in a a primal fighter, and he pummeled one of the fighters unconscious. When he walked near a lion cage he was ready to maul onlookers until Carter changed into Hawkman, flying him up into the air until his nose cleared and he calmed down. Criminal Slick and his gang decided to put the poor man’s nose to work for their crimes, and after having him smell sawdust Jones thought he was a termite and started tearing down the carnival office where they kept the ticked money. Hawkman had him smell flypaper, cayusing him to flit around and make buzzing sounds while Hawkman rounded up Slick and his thugs. Hawkman gave Jones some gasoline, telling him to inhale when other smells made his nose take over, because gas would deaden his sense of smell. (Flash Comics v1 #70) The Feitherans were an intelligent race of bird-men whose civilization had long been isolated from the rest of the world. A pilot who blew off-course spotted Feithera, and reports of what he’d seen were met with skepticism. Carter Hall’s explorer’s club heard the news, and wanted to investigate for themselves, intending to hunt the Feitherans for sport, because they’d make much more challenging game than ordinary animals. Carter Hall was disgusted, telling the explorers that they couldn’t invade a civilization and start killing people, but the club members brushed off his concern, saying birds were birds. Carter Hall changed into his mysteryman identity Hawkman and sent a hawk to Feitrhera to warn the Feitherans, while proclaiming that he’d act as their guardian. Hawkman met with Worla, the leader of the Feitherans, and he said that even though his people were a peaceful race dedicated to art and culture, they had a way to defend themselves, globlasses that disrupted the nervous system. Feitheran Trata, who sought to wrest control away from Worla, overheard the conversation, and decided to stage a coup with his few loyalists. He met the explorer’s club hunters, and used the globlass on them, but then provided them with absorbent lockets that counteracted the globlass in exchange for their loyalty. The hunters tried to hunt the Feitherans, but despite their immunity to the globlass, Hawkman made short work of them. Worla gave the hunters an overview of Feitheran advancements in culture, science and medicine, and they realized how wrong they’d been in wanting to hunt the Feitherans. They wanted the Feitherans to meet the learned men of the world, but Hawkman forbade it, saying other opportunists like the hunters would come along and try to exploit the Feitherans. Hawkman made the explorers swear secrecy about the Feitheran’s existence, but Trata, incensed that Hawkman had foiled his coup, chose that moment to attack. He shot Hawkman with the globlass, but Hawkman’s automated wings kept him on balance and he overpowered the traitor. Worla and the Feitherans feasted with Hawkman and the explorers in celebration of Feithera and the secret of its’ continued existence. (Flash Comics v1 #71)
Collector John Kelley showed Carter and Shiera his collection of historical relics from his beloved Ireland, including wonders made by the Tuatha De Dannann. The pride of his collection was the antique harp of the Kerry Kelleys, and he’d imported wood paneling from Ireland that had special acoustic properties so that when he played it he felt like he was home again. Kelley’s broke friend Pipe Carr was in a bar bemoaning how his friend had all the riches in the world while he had nothing, and crook Frenchy and his gang overheard him. They convinced him to get back at his friend by helping them rob him. They broke into his house as Carter and Shiera were leaving, and they changed into Hawkman and Hawkgirl. The crooks ambushed Hawkman, with Pipe hitting him with an Irish warhammer and made their escape. When he recovered he joined Hawkgirl and Kelley in trailing the crooks to a criminal antique dealer and made short work of them. Kelley couldn’t tell his beloved harp from the knockoffs the antique dealer had made for gullible customers, and he decided he’d been wasting his life by collecting things from the past. He decided to donate his collection to a museum, and sympathized with Carr for being so envious of him, and offered him a job. (Flash Comics v1 #72) Shiera attended a ball thrown by the Kingsleys, a family of millionaires. The ball was interrupted by Hugh the Black, a self-proclaimed highwayman who rode in on a horse, and robbed the guests. Shiera told Carter about what happened, and said she noticed Avery Kingsley slipped away before Hugh the Black appeared. After changing into Hawkman and Hawkgirl they returned to the Kingsley mansion, where Red Rory, a pirate, was setting sail with his gang to rob a houseboat. Hawkman and Hawkgirl engaged them in combat, but they got away when Hawkgirl’s flail snapped, with the flail head knocking Hawkman unconscious. Red Rory left behind a page from the Kingsley diaries, describing the Red Rory that had died centuries ago. Hawkgirl correctly deduced that Avery suffered from multiple personality disorder and was both Hugh the Black and Red Rory. They caught up to him at the Waster Aldorff Hotel, where, as the swashbuckling Red Blade he was robbing a jewelry expo. Hawkman knocked him for a loop with one punch, curing Avery’s personality disorder. Avery was thrilled to be free of the voices that haunted him all the time, and Hawkman offered to testify for him at his trial so he could be found not guilty due to temporary insanity. Before the police arrived Hawkman allowed Avery to return to the Kingsley mansion to burn the family diaries so they’d never harm anyone else. (Flash Comics v1 #73)
Whilst flying over the city, he found the police vacating a suburban home and found a woman that had been drowned. After investigating the crime scene, he found a note that referred to the Aztec deity Yum-Chac the Mighty. Upon learning about the rain god, he decided to consult with an Aztec specialist named Chet Norris. At the time, Chet's home had been attacked by an Aztec cult led by the priestess Nyola who had taken his sister Irene and intended to sacrifice her to Yum-Chac. She was thwarted by Hawkman and the villain seemingly died after she fled only to fall into a pool. (All-Star Comics v1 #2)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Prince Khufu Kha-taar who lived in Ancient Egypt during the time of the 19th century. (JSA v1 #21) At some point, his fathers wife had died from a plague that ravaged the city that also claimed the life of the Pharaohs younger brother. In the aftermath, his father who ruled Egypt married Khea Taramka where he was introduced to her daughter Chay-ara. The two had been in deep love for many years and their union was deemed inevitable. (Brightest Day v1 #13) Khufu was of the Theban Dynasty with among his allies and advisors being Nabu the Wise along with Teth-Adam. (JSA v1 #20) During the 15th dynasty, he came to oppose the reign of the ruling Pharaoh's in the age of oppression where Egypt's lands had long been under the tyranny of the descendants of the Hykos who had conquered the land ages ago. These rulers had adopted the customs and mannerisms of the natives but were seen as invaders by the Egyptians. To combat them, Prince Khufu decided to become a vigilante where he stylised himself on the god Horus where he had a mask and metal wings that allowed him the power of flight. Using myth and his actions, he managed to inspire rebels to target the men and supplies of the Pharaoh. In this time, he was aided by Princess Chay-ara who was a descendant of the Hykos but opposed their tyrannical ways. (Hawkman Annual v3 #2) On one night, he witnessed a meteor crash into the lands and with his allies he rushed to the site before his enemies to could reach the location. Once there, he encountered a sky chariot belonging to an alien race of beings who were rescued but they were mortally wounded from the crash. A female pilot spoke of the rare substance on her ship known as Nth Metal and of a danger that would come to pass in a thousand years. After the pilots death, the ship was kept in safety at a pyramid whilst the cache of Nth Metal was shaped into weapons for Khufu with one being used to forge the Claw of Horus. (JSA v1 #22) It was noted that during his grandfathers reign that worship of Set and Nepthys was banned but he came to find worshippers of those gods that rose against his rule. (Trinity v1 #22) The immortal warlord Vandar Adg arose to topple the rule of Khufu Ma-at Kha-taar during the reign of Rameses II whilst commanding the Metamorph Ahk-Ton. (JSA v1 #42) In the 15th century, Khufu's forces had assembled at Karnak to make a stand against Vandal the Savage's forces consisting of sand homunculi created through his theft of the Orb of Ra. (JSA v1 #43) When the Pharaoh refused to use Nth Metal for conquest, Khea murdered her husband and forged a suicide note to make it appear that he died in grief over the death of his previous wife. In the aftermath, she was declared Queen of Egypt and sought to rule the world. She then worked with Hath-Set where the sacrificed Khufu and Chay-ara where the were murdered where magic was used to make herself along with the evil priest immortal. (Brightest Day v1 #13)
Despite his death, his soul resided in the netherworld and lost where he was unable to reincarnate. A cult on Thanagar believed Carter Hall was a prophecised saviour of their world and sought to bring about his resurrection. Thus, they conducted a rite at the Well of Souls where they abducted Kendra Saunders and used her connection to him to bring about his return to the world of the living. (JSA v1 #23) Together, with the Justice Society, they attempted to defeat Synn but the heroes were beaten by the villain who attempted to execute both Carter and Kendra. (JSA v1 #24)
He was at the Stonechat Museum where he was in a conversation with his friend Ray Palmer over the telephone where the Atom was saddened by the imprisonment of his former love Jean Loring. This angered Carter who felt that Loring deserved no mercy as she was responsible for the death of Sue Dibny. Kendra arrived at the scene where she attempted to calm the situation but ended up in an argument with Carter as they discussed their own relationship. She stated that she had no memories of her past reincarnations and did not want to be beholden to a destiny holding them together in stating that they were to love each other forever. Furthermore, Kendra stated that she had grown worried about Carter due to his increased violence and said that she was aware that Shiera was able to calm them but she herself was unable to do so. Kendra attempted to calm Carter down and hinted that she did love him which was when she was speared from behind by a resurrected Sue Dibny accompanied by her husband Ralph with the two having been reanimated as members of the Black Lantern Corps. The Black Lantern Elongated Man attempted told Carter that Kendra hated him but with her dying breath she refuted that and said that she did love him before she died. Shortly afterwards, Carter himself was similarly killed by the two Black Lanterns who consumed the pairs hearts leading to them being chosen by black rings and turned into the latest members of the Black Lantern Corps. (Blackest Night v1 #1)
Meanwhile, the original remains of Khufu and Chay-ara were taken by the Zamarons to serve as the core for their Star Sapphires Central Power Battery. This came to be shattered when back Power Rings came to inhabit their corpses turning them also into Black Lanterns. (Green Lantern v4 #46)
In the battle against Nekron, Hal Jordan used the power of the life entity to restore a number of the Black Lanterns to living beings again with Hawkman being among their number. During this time, he discovered that Hawkgirl had been resurrected as Shiera with him thus being reunited with his age old love. (Blackest Night v1 #8)
However, he came to receive a mission from the Life Entity which was the reason he had been resurrected with thus being to stop Queen Khea from escaping. Around this time, Hath-Set was active once again where he collected the bones of Khufu and Chay-ara in order to use them to power a portal to Hawkworld. (Brightest Day v1 #7) Shiera came to be captured and taken to the royal palace of Queen Khea leading to a confrontation with Hawkman. Queen Shrike came to use the power of the Nth Metal along with Hawkman and Hawkwoman to power a gateway that opened a portal to the Zamaron homeworld. (Brightest Day v1 #13)
When the "Dark Avatar" makes his presence known, Hawkman and Hawkgirl are revealed to be part of the Elementals, guardians of the forest located in Star City. They were transformed by the Entity to become the element of air and protect the Star City forest from the "Dark Avatar", which appears to be the Black Lantern version of the Swamp Thing. (Brightest Day v1 #23) The Elementals are then fused with Alec Holland's body so he can be transformed by the Entity into the new Swamp Thing and battle against the Dark Avatar. After the Dark Avatar is defeated, Hawkman discovers Sheira was not resurrected. Swamp Thing tells him Shiera is everywhere, revealing that she is still the elemental of air. Afterward, Hawkman returns home yelling "Shiera!". (Brightest Day v1 #24)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Ktar Deathbringer was a general that commanded the Deathbringers that were an army of winged warriors that ravaged the universe on behalf of their master the Lord Beyond the Void. The Deathbringers worshipped a being known as the Lord Beyond the Void, who came from a rift between space. As Ktar murdered more and more victims, his guilt and self-loathing grew, and he began to have visions of an angelic woman. On Qgga, while preparing for a final sacrifice that would allow the Lord Beyond the Void to enter the universe, Ktar was again visited by the woman, an angelic herald named Shrra, and decided to turn on the Deathbringers, destroying Qgga and sending his army into the void. The Deathbringers' second in command, Idamm, killed Ktar in the process. Upon his death, Ktar faced God and was offered the chance to atone for his sins by endlessly reincarnating across space and time, only being allowed to finally pass on when he had saved as many lives as he had taken. He was also ordered to prepare for the return of the Deathbringers, who had survived under the leadership of Idamm. (Hawkman v5 #7)
As a young prince, he along with princess, advisor and guards spotted something crashing into ancient Egypt with this being an alien craft crashing to the surface. (Dark Days: The Forge v1 #1)
Carter's research into both archaeology and the properties of Nth Metal led him to lead an expedition into the Dark Multiverse. Before doing so, he discovered that it had been prophesied that the Son of the House of Wayne would be the one to unleash the Great Dragon Barbatos upon their world. (Dark Nights: Metal v1 #1)
Idamm orders the planet destroyed but Carter rallies the Hawkmen to attack the Deathbringer's ships, disabling their weapons. Meanwhile, Carter duels with Idamm again. Carter beats Idamm down. Idamm eventually yields and surrenders the role of general to Carter, who orders the Deathbringers to stand down. Before returning to their proper places in the timestream, the other Hawkmen transfer their memories to Hall, allowing him to remember his full history for the first time. (Hawkman v5 #12)
After Superman is framed and rendered comatose, Hawkman joined the group of heroes heading towards Mars to confront their mysterious enemy. The heroes meet and engage Doctor Manhattan, but they are easily defeated. (Doomsday Clock v1 #9)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Khufu was originally an Egyptian male until the time of his death. Upon his reincarnation, he came to be a young white male by the modern era. (Flash Comics v1 #1)
Across his life, he had reincarnated across multiple bodies across the universe with these including:
- Ktar : the first male incarnation who served as the general of the Deathbringers who murdered populations of entire worlds as sacrifice until his guilt caused him to turn against them where he succeeded in imprisoning them but was badly wounded as a result. Rather than die, he accepted a penance to reincarnate across time and space till he saved as many lives as he had allowed to be killed when he was part of the Deathbringers. (Hawkamn v5 #5)
- Khufu :
- Ki No Tamayoshi : a past life of Carter who died defending his emperor. (Trinity v1 #22)
- Koenrad Von Grimm : a past incarnation who lived in Germany in 1483 where he was the son of the blacksmith Niklas von Grimm. (Hawkman v4 #18)
- John Smith : a past incarnation who was born in 1519 where he rose to the rank of Captain. (Hawkman v4 #18)
- Carlo Salón : a past incarnation who was active in Spain in the year 1650 where he was a travelling doctor wearing a plague mask in Seville. (Hawkman v5 #23)
- Hannibal Hawkes :
- James Wright : (Hawkman v4 #27)
- Katar Hol : a male Thanagarian reincarnation who operated as a wingmen in the police force of Thanagar. (Hawkman v5 #4)
- Catar-Ol : a male Kryptonian reincarnation where he served as curator of a museum with him being a close friend to the House of El and had served as a tutor to Kara Zor-El. (Hawkman v5 #8)
- Katarthul :
- Avion : a hero that used anti-gravity boots in order to fly within the Microverse. (Hawkman v5 #6)
- Titan Sky : a male giant from another world who hid the Black Journal and charged its protection to his friend whose descendants maintained the tomb. (Hawkman v5 #20)
He loved Shiera where he resisted any attempt at betraying her. (Flash Comics v1 #1) During his life as Khufu, it was said that he was always better with Chay-ara at his side as she gave him clarity and sympathy. (Hawkman v4 #25)
It was said that the hawk possessed much ancient wisdom lost to the modern generations. Carter was stated to know much and was quite wise with him never entering a fight unless he could win. (Flash Comics v1 #2)
Carter was said to hold a deep love of history. (Hawkman Secret Files and Origins v1 #1)
Powers and abilities
He was fluent in over one thousand Earth-based languages due to living in various parts of the world in his many incarnations. (Hawkman v4 #22) As such, he knew thousands of languages, existing or extinct. (Hawkman v5 #1) He came to gradually remember all his past lives from the time as Prince Khufu with even Katar Hol’s memories residing in his mind. (JSA v1 #24)
He was considered the greatest archaeologist in the Egyptian field. (Hawkman v5 #2) Batman had considered Carter to be possibly the greatest detective in human history. (Dark Nights: Metal v1 #6)
In the guise of the hawk-god, Carter wore armour whose power was derived from extraordinary abilities discovered from the secrets of the Ninth Metal that defied the pull of gravity giving him the ability to fly. Ninth Metal was a non-conductive metal that repelled electricity that was the base force of gravity. (Flash Comics v1 #1) With the Nth Metal wing harness, the effects of gravity were negated allowing him to fly and carry twenty times the weight a human could normally carry. Control over the Nth Metal was only over a small level but it also prevented the wearer from feeling cold by regulating the body's temperature. (Hawkman v4 #1)
One weapon of his was a war gauntlet called the Claw of Horus that had been crafted thousands of years ago with it being made from Nth Metal. (JSA v1 #22) It drew power from the magnetic core of a world allowing him to strike targets with the force a planet. (Superman/Batman v1 #4) The claw could manipulate Nth Metal to a degree such as turning armor made of it into an inert state. It could absorb some of the energies from it and making it useless for the enemy. (JSA v1 #24)
As Carter Hall, he was a wealthy collector of weapons and research scientist with his own weapon-lined library. (Flash Comics v1 #1)
He was the keeper of a tome that was known as the Black Journal that he kept hidden from enemies as the contents within could help destroy worlds. (Hawkman v5 #20)
In one of his past lives, he constructed an advanced vessel capable of interstellar and interdimensional flight with it being equipped with a Zeta Drive allowing it to jump via Zeta Beams. The Soarship was a technological marvel fabricated from the scientific crafting of various worlds. (Hawkman v5 #6)
Due to Barbatos's influence, Hawkman was turned into a gigantic hawk creature version of himself holding a giant hammer and was incredibly strong, being the engine for the end of discovery and killing all possibilities according to Barbatos. (Hawkman: Found v1 #1)
As Khufu, he was noted to have had a palace at Tell Ed-Dab'a. (Trinity v1 #22)
Notes
- The Carter Hall Hawkman was created by Gardner Fox and Dennis Neville where he made his first appearance in Flash Comics v1 #1 (January, 1940).
- Flash Comics v1 #1 (1940) stated that he dressed in the garb resembling the ancient Egyptian hawk-god Anubis which contradicts the fact that the deity was a jackal headed god.
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In The Flash, Carter Hall was referenced in the 1990 live-action series in the episode "Watching The Detectives" when Tina McGee mentioned that she was expecting a call from him.
- In Justice League Unlimited, Carter Hall's backstory was partially mixed with that of Katar Hol in the DC Animated Universe in the episode "Shadow of the Hawk" where he was voiced by actor James Remar. This version was originally an ordinary human named Joseph Gardner who was an archaeologist from the Midway City Museum. During an expedition, he encountered a Thanagarian Absorbascon that imprinted the mind of the long deceased Thanagarian Katar Hol. In the aftermath, Gardner legally changed his named to Carter Hall and became obsessed with the legacy of Hawkman.
- In the Arrowverse, Carter Hall made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting.
- In Arrow, Carter Hall made his first guest appearance in the live-action series where he was portrayed by actor Falk Hentschel.
- In The Flash, Carter Hall returned in a cross over episode in the 2014 live-action series where he was portrayed by actor Falk Hentschel.
- In Legends of Tomorrow, Carter Hall was a semi-regular cast member of the live-action series with him once again portrayed by actor Falk Hentschel.
- In Stargirl, Hawkman appeared in the setting of the live-action DC Universe where he was portrayed by an uncredited actor.
Films
- In Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, the Carter Hall Hawkman appeared in the 2009 animated film where he was voiced by an uncredited actor Michael Gough.
- In Black Adam, the Carter Hall Hawkman appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Aldis Hodge.
Video games
- In DC Universe Online, the Carter Hall Hawkman appeared in the setting of the MMORPG where he was voiced by actor Robert Patrick.
Appearances
- Flash Comics v1: (1940)
- JSA v1:
- Hawkman v3:
- Hawkman Annual v3:
- Hawkman v4:
- Trinity v1:
- Blackest Night v1:
- Brightest Day v1:
- Hawkman: Found v1:
- Hawkman v5:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
