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Kendra Saunders is the winged super-heroine Hawkgirl, a member of the Justice League. She was formerly the leader of the Blackhawks, an anti-apocalyptic team.

Origin and Early Career

Kendra is the reincarnation of Shrra, an angelic herald cursed by God to reincarnate across space and time alongside Ktar Deathbringer, as she decided to save him by reaching out and making herself visible to him despite the great slaughter he committed.[2]

Together, the pair were reborn again and again across both space and time. In one such instance, they were born as Carter Hall and Shiera Sanders, also known as the golden age heroes Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Shiera's brother, Cyril "Speed" Saunders, was a globetrotting adventurer and eventually had a son, Michael Saunders, who married a woman named Trina. Together, they had a daughter- Kendra Saunders. In truth, Kendra was part of the same chain of reincarnation as her great aunt Shiera, though as a result of the Totality tearing backwards through the temporal fabric of reality, she actually shared this particular point in the chain with the Thanagarian Shayera Thal.

Through unknown circumstances, Kendra ended up in the care of her grandfather, Cyril, in Philadelphia. She sometimes struggled with feelings of being unwanted, though her grandfather tried his best to deal with the unexpected single parenthood thrust upon him despite his age. While in high school, Kendra became pregnant; it is unknown what became of the pregnancy.

Kendra attended college in El Paso, where she was a close friend of the shy 'churchmouse' Abeline. While studying, Kendra fell into a deep depression as she struggled to stay afloat, and ultimately attempted to commit suicide by overdosing on her grandfather's sleeping pills. In doing so, she inadvertently awoke her memories of her past lives and they overwhelmed her. Between the overwhelming experience and the pills, she soon passed out before being taken to the hospital by her grandfather. When she woke up, her mind largely suppressed her memories of her past lives, and the few that she had access to surfaced in odd ways, resulting in a degree of mistaken identity, much to her frustration. Kendra subsequently became the heroine Hawkgirl, fighting alongside her grandfather, Carter.

As a result of her superheroic career, Kendra was unable to attend Abeline's wedding. During this period, Kendra was an outspoken activist. Kendra eventually found herself unable to balance her superheroism and her collegiate studies, and dropped out of college.[3]

In her early time as Hawkgirl, Kendra ended up in what she would later describe as an 'intense' relationship with Carter Hall. Carter's influence was beneficial; Kendra often struggled with her own mental health and self-esteem, and his support allowed her to spread her metaphorical wings.

During this period, she spent time as a member of the Justice Society of America. During the Blackest Night, she was murdered by a member of the undead, though she was subsequently resurrected.[4] Eventually, however, her relationship with Carter ended, and he vanished into the Dark Multiverse.[5]

DC Rebirth

Dark Nights: Metal

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Kendra as Lady Blackhawk

Kendra eventually became the leader of the Blackhawks, a team that worked to prevent an upcoming apocalypse, as well as a member of the Council of Immortals, a group of the oldest beings on Earth. She warned the Justice League of the upcoming invasion of the Dark Multiverse and later worked with the League to help them defeat the Dark Knights.[6]

After Batman unleashed the Dark Knights unto the Multiverse, Kendra along with many other heroes of Earth reconvened at the Oblivion Bar. After coming up with battle strategies against the dark, she teamed up with Wonder Woman and Doctor Fate and traveled with them to the Rock of Eternity to search for the Nth Metal: the only weapon capable of hurting Barbatos, an ancient villain from the Dark Multiverse.[7] Kendra was entrusted by the Council of Immortals with the mission of using the Anti-Monitor's astral brain in the Rock of Eternity to destroy the Dark Multiverse.[8] However, when she tried to do so, she was interrupted by Barbatos who transformed her into a dark-hawk version of herself called Lady Blackhawk.[9] Kendra regained control of her body after Wonder Woman used the Lasso of Truth on her, deciding to work alongside Wonder Woman to hold back Barbatos's army of nightmares. After finding Hawkman's Nth Metal mace, Wonder Woman and Kendra traveled through a portal back to Earth, where they ended up fighting various corrupted versions of Wonder Woman and many of the League's respective villains.[10]

During their battle, Kendra encountered Hawkman who was possessed by the darkness of Barbatos. She was able to release him from the villain's command after encouraging Carter to remember all their past lives together, while Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman returned from the World Forge brandishing armor made of Tenth Metal. The Amazon champion handed Kendra a metamorphic brace with which to strike down Barbatos as he attempted to end Carter for betraying him. By channeling the Tenth Metal in all living beings across the Multiverse, the heroes successfully prevented the positive Multiverse from sinking into the dark.[11]

The Totality

After assisting in the defeat of Barbatos and the Dark Knights, Kendra was recruited to join the new Justice League as Hawkgirl.[12] The newly-christened Hawkgirl became a core member of the newest incarnation of the team, led by Martian Manhunter.[13] As the League had to investigate on the mysterious Totality, which fell on Earth after they decided to allow it, Martian Manhunter selected Kendra to be his guardian while inside the Totality's energy field. Shrinking herself to be put inside the Martian's body on a ship, she entered the Totality with J'onn, Superman and Batman, acting as Clark's guardian.

Once there, they discovered that someway both Lex Luthor and Joker infiltrated themselves in the bodies of the Leaguers, with Joker attacking Kendra on her ship, taking the control of J'onn's body. As Batman, Superman and Martian Manhunter were sent to the Hall of Justice by Lex's attack, Kendra was able to stay nearby the Totality, as the object was connected with her wings. Due to this mysterious link, she was also able to defeat Lex and take the Totality, which she brought then to the Hall of Justice. As she wanted to understand why her wings were linked to the Totality, she accepted to go on a mission on Thanagar Prime, together with Martian Manhunter and John Stewart.

Doomsday Clock

 Main article: Doomsday Clock Vol 1

After Superman is framed and rendered comatose, Hawkgirl 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.[14]

Mission on Thanagar

Justice League Vol 4 15 Textless

Kendra faces another incarnation of herself, Shayera Thal

Reaching Thanagar Prime, Kendra met there Shayera Thal, another incarnation of Chay-Ara. This confused her, as this woman and herself should have been the same person, but lived as two separate beings. Still, they asked Shayera for information about what they wanted to know, but the empress of the Thanagarian empire told them she could not help them. But due to the fact they were part of the Justice League, the Thanagarians offered them hospitality for a festival which was going to be celebrated in the night. As they decided to stay, Kendra convinced her comrades to push through, as she clearly felt her counterpart, Shayera, was lying.

During the festival, Kendra offered J'onn to dance, so that they might observe what the soldiers were doing while unnoticed. The Martian looked happy to dance, but then flinched after remembering dancing with his long lost wife. Seeing what was happening, Shayera addressed Kendra, which brought to a direct confrontation between the two: touching Shayera, Kendra saw that the empress clearly lied to them, as the Keep, the Martian elder J'onn wanted to meet, was alive and imprisoned, and not dead as Shayera sustained. Understanding that the League knew of her lies, Shayera tried to kill them, but they were able to escape and hide.

After developing a plan to infiltrate Thanagar Prime's vault, where the Keep was held, Kendra fought against Shayera while J'onn learned the truth about his destiny and Perpetua. Shayera then explained to them that what they were doing, trying to discover the meaning of their lives and powers, could be the key to unlock a powerful secret and a dreadful fate for the entire Multiverse, and that's why she acted to stop them. After this, Starman and the other Leaguers teleported to Thanagar Prime, and Payton explained why Kendra and Shayera were separated: it was because of Perpetua herself, who did not want Hawkgirl to awaken and discover her true power, the one of the Cosmic Raptor. Giving back the power of the Raptor to Kendra, Starman explained her that the Raptor was the one who built the Source Wall, Perpetua's prison.

Sixth Dimension and Justice/Doom War

Back from Thanagar, the League discovered that on Kendra's wings was engraved a map for the Sixth Dimension and, with the help of Mr. Mxyzptlk, they were able to travel there. Once inside this dimension, they found out they were part of an utopian future where Justice won, and reigned supreme. There, Kendra and J'onn were married, and had a son together named Shayne. This embarrassed them, but also made both of them think about their relationship and role in the conflict against Perpetua. Bonding with their future son Shayne, Kendra and J'onn discovered this world was not a future, but an entire new Multiverse remade by the World Forger.

The Forger's plan was to overwrite the current Multiverse with this one, so that Doom would disappear and maybe the Hands of the Source would let it live, after their judgement. But Shayne showed Kendra that this was a Multiverse without freedom, as anyone who wanted to side against Justice was either imprisoned or killed. As the Forger revealed himself, Batman accepted to follow his plan while the other Leaguers did not: they were all sent to a maxi-prison while Bruce and Alpheus worked towards the overwriting of reality. While there, they were helped by Shayne and the Legion of Doom, and in the end, with Batman revealing he was double playing, they were able to defeat the forger, and convince him to come back with them as active member of the roster.

Back on Earth, the League discovered Luthor was inches away from awakening Perpetua. As J'onn started to hunt Luthor down, Kendra tried to stop him, and then rescued him when he was ambushed by Ivo and his Amazo constructs. Kendra was then put asleep by the Martian's powers, who accepted to meet Lex Luthor alone for a final confrontation. Waking up, Kendra had to witness to Lex absorbing J'onn's entre body unto himself, becoming the Apex Predator, without the possibility of acting. Swearing to Lex she would get revenge for what he did, Kendra got back to the Hall of Justice, as Luthor promised J'onn to not hurt Kendra.

Back with the League, Kendra was tasked with a vital role in Starman's plan to defeat Perpetua: as the three sons of the evil goddess united to form the Ultra-Monitor, and the rest of the League completed their mission of creating a Justice Totality, Kendra would have used her Cosmic Raptor powers to seal Perpetua once again. Reaching the edge of the Multiverse for the final battle, Kendra failed in her task, as her bloodlust and desire of revenge towards Lex distracted her, allowing Perpetua to corrupt the Anti-Monitor and kill Starman. As most Leaguers were transported back to the Hall, Kendra and Shayne remained trapped in space, with Hawkgirl severely damaged by Luthor's attacks.

Soon after, Perpetua sent the Anti-Monitor to kill Kendra, but thanks to the intervention of John Stewart, and Shayne's connection with the Sixth Dimension, they were able not only to defeat him, but also to separate him from his brothers, who were trapped inside due to the actions of Perpetua. Getting back to Earth with John and Shayne, Kendra took part on the last conflict between Justice and Doom, and witnessed Shayne's sacrifice to make the Martian Manhunter come back. Still, they were not able to win, and Perpetua moved to kill all the core members of the League: saved by the Quintessence, Kendra and the others embarked on a quest to gather Anti-Crisis energy and defeat Perpetua once and for all, but again failed in their task. Coming back to Earth, they found it transformed into the Metalverse, the deranged creation of Perpetua's new right hand, the Batman who Laughs.

Death Metal

Roy Harper Cry for Justice
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Infinite Frontier

Dawn of DC


Powers


Abilities

Equipment

Weapons

  • Nth Metal Mace: Fashioned from Nth Metal, Hawkgirl's newest mace is a weapon that can change into whatever form desired.[21]
  • Archaic Weaponry: Hawkgirl has access to an entire arsenal of medieval weaponry, from maces to gauntlets and so on.[22]


Related

Footnotes


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Birds of Prey member
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Black Lantern Corps member
This character is or was a member of the Black Lantern Corps. Those who have died may wield the Black Power Ring, symbolizing their lack of both life and emotion.
This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Black Lantern Corps members category."

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Justice League member
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This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats.
This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice League of America members" category.

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Justice Society of America member
This character is or was a primary member of the Justice Society of America in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice Society of America members" category.

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Suicide Squad member
This character is or was a member of the Suicide Squad, a team of imprisoned super-villains who perform high-risk missions for the U.S. Government in exchange for commuted sentences, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Suicide Squad members" category.

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