Monday, September 19, 2011

28




Hawkman

Origin - Prince Khufu lived during the reign of Ramesses II in the 19th dynasty of ancient Egypt. Khufu believed that his ka, or soul, would not journey on to the land of the afterlife. Rather, his soul and that of his betrothed, Chay-Ara, were fated to remain in the mortal world. After his death, Khufu's soul was reincarnated as Carter Hall, an archaeologist active during the 1940s. After regaining the memories of his first life in Egypt, Hall used the hawk motif of the Egyptian God Horus to inspire his role as the original Hawkman. During the same period, his love Chay-Ara was reborn as archaeologist Shiera Sanders. After the two met and married, she became Hawkgirl. They became founding members of the Justice Society of America and Hawkman took the role of chairman. The two had a son, Hector Hall, who eventually became a founding member of Infinity Inc. as the Silver Scarab, and later adopted the identity of the Sandman before becoming an incarnation of Doctor Fate. Death found Carter once again as he and his wife were killed during the Zero Hour storyline. His soul merged with Katar Hol, a Thanagarian police officer who had succeeded Carter as Hawkman. Following this unorthodox resurrection, Hall retained all the memories of his past lives, as well as those of Katar Hol, the Thanagarian Hawkman. It has since been stated that the soul of Katar Hol has passed on and that Carter no longer retains his memories, though his current form still retains some of Hol's physical characteristics (notably his dark hair). Hall once again became a member of the JSA. JSA member Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders) was transported to a ravaged Thanagar where she was merged with the spirit of Shiera. At first Kendra denied the connection she felt with Carter as she was still in control of her own thoughts and had both memories of her own life as well as the memories of Shiera. Eventually the two would reunite their bond which was to be short lived. During the Blackest Night storyline they both had their hearts ripped out of their bodies by Ralph and Sue Dibney. By the end of the story, though, they were brought back to Earth by the power of the White Lantern.

Powers and Abilities - Carter Hall was a priest in a past life, and still possesses the ability to bless mundane objects. The Nth metal knife which murdered Hawkman in his original incarnation as Khufu had an unusual effect upon his soul and that of his lover Chay-Ara(Hawkgirl). The pair are locked in a seemingly endless cycle of death and rebirth throughout the centuries. While not a superhuman power per se, this propensity for reincarnation has allowed Hawkman to cheat death and return to active duty in his current incarnation. Due to his multiple incarnations and having memories of all of his past lives, Hall has become proficient in many types of weaponry. As a result, he is an expert with a wide array of archaic weapons from his past lives, including battle axes, maces, swords, spears and shields. Hawkman has access to an entire arsenal of medieval weaponry. His favored weapons are the mace and flail. Carter Hall is sometimes depicted handling futuristic technology. He has used a Thanagarian ship called "The Brontadon", and during the Rann-Thanagar War used Rannian hard-light armor. Hall is a brilliant tactician, fierce warrior, and strong leader. At the same time, however, he is extremely intelligent and expresses a deeply romantic side in relation to his beloved soul-mate. Often, Carter finds it difficult to balance between the "barbarian" of his past lives and the "gentleman" of his current incarnation. He is able to speak English, German, and Japanese but it is possible he knows more that those. His wings, which are laced with Nth metal, allow him to control navigation and guidance during flight, though they can be "flapped" through use of shoulder motions. He is able to fly up to speeds of 200 mph. Due to the Nth metal Carter has enhanced strength, durability, vision, and healing.

Weaknesses and Limitations - Every time he is born again he must wander the earth till he meets again with his eternal soul mate. But as soon as they form a deep bond, they are destined to be murdered again.

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