Carter Hall (Prime Earth)

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As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page.

Carter Hall is an archaeologist who has been reincarnated thousands of times. He operates as the hero Hawkman, a winged protector empowered by Nth Metal armor. He is the final reincarnation of Ktar Deathbringer and the reincarnation of the Thanagarian Katar Hol.

First Life as Ktar Deathbringer

Carter Hall's original incarnation was Ktar Deathbringer, general of the Deathbringers of Qgga, a group of winged aliens who slaughtered millions across the universe in the distant past. 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.^[1]

Carter Hall and Hawkman

Born in the early 20th Century in the United States of America,^[2] Carter Hall was an archaeologist who became aware of his reincarnated status after coming across a knife from his past life in ancient Egypt.^[3] In the city of St. Roch, he worked at a small museum alongside his wife Shiera Sanders, the latest incarnation of his perpetual paramour. With a set of wings harnessing the power of Nth Metal to allow him to fly, he became the superhero Hawkman,^[2] a founding member of the super-team the Justice Society of America.^[4]

Shortly after their formation, the Justice Society met time-lost hero of the future the Huntress^[5] who later summoned Hawkman and his team into the future to join her in battle with Per Degaton, a time-traveling villain who sought to wipe the JSA from history.^[6] With his teammates, Hawkman faced foes such as the mad scientist Doctor Element,^[7] the Soviet super-team the Crimson Host,^[8] and Solomon Grundy; in a crime-fighting duo with his wife, who donned similar equipment to his own as Hawkgirl, he fought the Gentleman Ghost,^[9] Hath-Set, and Anton Hastor—the latter two being incarnations of the Hawks' killer in a previous life.^[10]

During the Second World War, Hawkman and Hawkgirl were members of the All-Star Squadron,^[11] fighting in the frontlines on behalf of the United States of America.^[12] With his peers in the Justice Society of America, Hawkman kept Nazi cultists from stealing a mystical artifact from a Pennsylvania museum in 1944,^[13] and became involved in an adventure during which he and Shiera were secretly possessed by their modern-day counterparts and thwarted an attempt by the Injustice Society to establish a new headquarters in Austria.^[14] In 1951, he appeared with his teammates before the United States Government's Un-American Activities Committee and was ordered to reveal his secret identity, choosing, instead, to disband.^[4] Some time later, Hawkman had a son with his wife, Hector Hall, who would later become a superhero in his own right.^[15]

Hawkman and the JSA later had frequent team-ups with their successors the Justice League of America,^[16] with them being called to save the heroes Batman and Superman when they were possessed by the demon Eclipso. Carter's group freed Batman in his city, Gotham, and with the heroes back in control, the combined League and Society confronted Eclipso only to be transmuted into diamond.^[17] The demon's magic was quickly undone by Batman's sidekick Robin, however, and the massed heroes set off to stop Eclipso and mitigate the effects of his scheme to plunge the Earth into chaos. While intervening in a civil war in the Republic of Mustan, Hawkman and his teammates were made to turn on their Justice League allies by Eclipso, who preyed on their insecurities at being replaced by the younger League. Ultimately, the JSA shook off the demon's influence, and worked with the Justice League to foil his plot.^[18]

Eventually, his wife died and was reincarnated as Kendra Saunders, a new Hawkgirl.^[19] Carter Hall entered into a relationship with Saunders, which she found intense and transformative,^[20] but ultimately ended badly, leaving her feeling abandoned by and bitter towards him.^[21] Hawkman and the Justice Society fought Gog^[22] and attempted to keep Black Adam of Kahndaq from conquering his home nation. When they failed, he traveled to Gotham City and fought gunrunners at his side while advising him against targeting Black Adam. Unable to dissuade Batman, however, Hawkman revealed to him Adam's weakness: his need for the love of his people.^[23]

The Dark Multiverse

Due to alterations to history made—and ultimately reversed—by the immensely powerful Doctor Manhattan, the Justice Society of America, and many of its constituent members, were erased from existence,^[24] though Carter Hall's career as Hawkman was preserved. In this altered timeline, Carter Hall worked as an archaeologist trying to uncover the mystery behind Nth Metal and to understand why he was stuck in this loop of reincarnation. Carter suffered from nightmares of an alternate Earth, part of the Dark Multiverse, where all he saw was a giant statue of a man in bat armor.^[10]

To investigate their origins, he and Shiera Hall gathered a council of fellow immortals, from whom they learned that they had, in previous lives, been members of a prehistoric Bird Tribe, and had been murdered by one of their own on behalf of a Barbatos, a demon from the Dark Multiverse who had been brought to their world via Nth Metal. Over the following decades, the Halls formed organizations of adventurers such as the Blackhawks and Challengers of the Unknown to seek out the source of Nth Metal in hopes of understanding it.^[2]

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.^[25]

Doomsday Clock

 Main article: Doomsday Clock Vol 1

After Superman was framed and rendered comatose, Hawkman joined the group of heroes heading towards Mars to confront their mysterious enemy. The heroes met and engaged Doctor Manhattan, but they were easily defeated.^[26]

Infinite Frontier

Hawkman worked with the Justice League to keep a mass of super-villains from entering an interdimensional rift above the city of Metropolis,^[27] and provided security for a gala exhibition of an Ethiopian shaman staff sought by the United States Department of Defense as a weapon. When a botched attempt by criminals Harley Quinn and the Blue Snowman to steal the staff allowed federal agents to acquire it, he joined forces with them to retrieve the staff and allowed them to use it for their own, altruistic ends—healing Quinn's partner Poison Ivy of an illness.^[28]

In Egypt, he and other JSA members were among the heroes empowered with the Speed Force to fight off the invading alien Voidsong,^[29] and during the Dark Crisis, they were deployed to fight Deathstroke's Dark Army in Europe, but encountered Klarion, the Witchboy, an army of undead animated by him, and the Flash Family instead.^[30] He and Hawkwoman responded to a distress call in outer space, only to be trapped in separate illusory realities by a telepathic alien child. Hawkman's fantasy of Earth was disrupted by the Thanagarian cryptid Rok Rakata, and his partner's absence allowed him to escape to reality, while she did the same. Together, they confronted the child, offering to return them to their lost home.^[31]

The New Golden Age and Absolute Power

Hawkman was among the JSA team sent by the Huntress to recruit the Harlequin's Son, a member of the Justice Society of her native time, encountering another prospect in the process: the Legionnaire, a would-be villain seeking to change his future.^[32] Hawkman and his teammates were among the victims of Amanda Waller's campaign against superheroes; in New York City, he and other JSA members were attacked and depowered by her forces^[33] before being incarcerated at her prison for superhumans on Gamorra Island.^[34]

Later, during a confrontation with the Gentleman Ghost, the Legionnaire drained Hawkman's lifeforce to defeat the undead villain. Though the now-immortal Hawkman was quickly returned to life, he was forced to relive all of his—and Hawkwoman's—past deaths, and voted to expel the Legionnaire from the JSA before leaving to recover from the experience with his partner.^[35] He was quickly called back into action against the Legion of Super-Heroes, enemies of the Legionnaire's future self, a conflict engineered by Eclipso.^[36]

All In

Carter Hall gathered with much of the Justice League to view a televised mixed martial arts bout between their teammate the Black Canary and the assassin Lady Shiva,^[37] and in Dubai, he fought with his fellow heroes against a Kryptonian escapee of the extradimensional prison the Phantom Zone.^[38]

After the destruction of Thanagar, Hawkwoman left Earth to help her people rebuild,^[39] breaking off her relationship with with Hawkman in the process. Feeling lonely and nostalgic, he sought out a Thanagarian Memracon, a memory-preserving device, which they had buried outside Midway City in their past lives with the intention of reliving the experiences of their prior incarnations together. Activating the Memracon without her present, however, awakened a Nth Metal sentry dragon, which he fought and eventually destroyed, triggering a recording from her warning against dwelling in the past. Heeding her advice, he reburied the Memracon and dedicated himself to the future and new experiences.^[40]

Hawkman was present at the JSA brownstone when it came under attack by a new Injustice Society, seeking the Helmet of Fate. When its bearer Khalid Nassour, the current Doctor Fate, attempted to teleport them to the safety of the Tower of Fate, his spell interacted with that of Injustice Society sorcerer Wotan, stranding them and the tower in Hell, besieged by demons. He was wounded in battle with their attackers,^[41] and was taken captive by the Demons Three, servants of Wotan. They delivered him to their master, but he was freed from would-be-eternal bondage by Kid Eternity,^[42] a young ghost. With the help of Hawkgirl, who had ventured out to find him, they escaped the Demons Three and set off to rejoin their allies at the Tower of Fate.^[43]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Decelerated Aging: Hawkman's lifespan has been greatly extended,^[44] in a possible future, as far as into the 40th Century.^[45]
• Mace Manipulation: Hawkman recently acquired the ability to manipulate his signature mace telekinetically.^{[citation needed]}

Abilities

• Reincarnated Knowledge: Due to his many lives and vast amount of experience, Hall is a brilliant tactician, fierce warrior and strong leader. At the same time, however, he is extremely intelligent (considered a leader in his field of history and archaeology) 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 also has an extremely innovative approach to science and technology.
  • Archaeology: Carter is considered the greatest archaeologist in the Egyptian field.^[48]
    • Historiography
  • Investigation: Considered by Batman to be possibly the greatest detective in human history,^[49] he single-handedly unraveled the mystery of the Dark Multiverse's origin.
  • Multilingualism: Carter knows thousands of languages, existing or extinct.^[50]
  • Weaponry: Carter is a master with medieval weaponry due to centuries of utilizing such tools
    • Firearms: Carter keeps all the skills of his previous incarnation and as such is very efficient with firearms due to his tenure as Nighthawk.^[48]
• Multilingualism: Hawkman knows English, Greek,^[50] and Thanagarian, among others.

Weaknesses

• Curse: 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 and it continues. (Formerly)
  

Equipment

• Nth Metal Belt & Boots: Hawkman flies by way of an anti-gravity Belt & boots constructed from Nth Metal its abilities are controlled mentally.
  • Nth Metal Enhancement: The metal is psycho-reactive, responding to its bearer's thoughts and in its base form has a number of electromagnetic/gravitational properties. Among these is the ability to generate a heat aura, sufficient to keep a man alive under Arctic conditions.
    • Enhanced Strength: Carter's strength level is increased by the Nth metal. Carter is capable of ripping a car door of its hinges with little effort.
    • Enhanced Durability: Hawkman is able to withstand blows from superhuman opponents.
    • Enhanced Vision: Hawkman can observe objects at great distances or at speeds faster than can be perceived by the normal eye.
    • Accelerated Healing
    • Self-Sustenance

Transportation

• Artificial Feathered Wings: His wings, which are laced with Nth metal, allow him to control his navigation and guidance during flight, though they can be "flapped" through use of shoulder motions.
• Soarship: A technological marvel fabricated from the scientific crafting of various worlds. Procured by Carter whilst on a jaunt through the microverse and owned by prior incarnations of his.^[51]

Weapons

• Archaic Weaponry: Hawkman has access to an entire arsenal of medieval weaponry.
  • Hawkman's Mace

• Hawkman was created by Gardner Fox and Dennis Neville, first appearing in Flash Comics #1. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Hawkman first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Dark Days: The Forge #1 by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, and Jim Lee.
  

• The Atom considers Hawkman his best friend.^[52]

• 168 Appearances of Carter Hall (Prime Earth)
• 129 Images featuring Carter Hall (Prime Earth)
• 22 Quotations by or about Carter Hall (Prime Earth)
• Character Gallery: Carter Hall (Prime Earth)

Footnotes