- Sometimes I think a good fight accomplishes more than all the learning in the world.
- — Kent Nelson src
Kent Nelson is Doctor Fate, a powerful sorcerer and agent for the Lords of Order who fights evil alongside his wife Inza. His amulet, cloak and helmet are creations of the ancient Nabu who acts as his mentor and spiritual guide. He is a founding member of the Justice Society of America.
History
Origins
Main article: Doctor Fate Origins
Kent Nelson was the son of archaeologist Sven Nelson and, around the year 1920, the two of them were exploring the Valley of Ur in Mesopotamia when they discovered an underground pyramid. It contained Nabu, an ancient immortal from the planet Cilia who had been held in suspended animation for thousands of years.
Kent released him, but the lever accidentally unleashed a poisonous gas that killed his father. It would later be revealed that Nabu engineered this situation to gain a new host. Nabu decided to mentor the young boy in the secrets of the universe, giving him incredible powers through total molecular control and taking his grief away from him. He would serve as an agent of the Lords of Order in their never-ending battle against the Lords of Chaos. Having finished his training, Nabu gave him an amulet, cloak and helmet to become a champion of good as Doctor Fate.[1][2][3] Kent would go on adventures as Fate, although Nabu's spirit would always guide him through the helmet and he would awaken with little memory of his own exploits.[4] He would go on to meet a beautiful college student named Inza Cramer while traveling through Alexandria, and she would become his long-time romantic partner and confidante. His first battle was against the evil sorcerer Wotan, who struck at him through Inza using an agent named Thomas Frawley.[5][6][7]
Early Career
Doctor Fate went on to fight evil threats with his powers along with Inza. Having locked Wotan for good,[8] Fate stopped Magno the Mighty,[9] he recovered and destroyed the Lost Book of Toth,[10] defeated two species of evil space men,[11][12] and stopped the Norns.[13]
Like this, Fate accomplished many feats against supernatural threats.[14] Eventually, Doctor Fate was challenged by the evil genius Karkull[15] who later joined forces with Wotan to defeat Fate, without success.[16] Afterwards, Doctor Fate was challenged by the evil Mister Who on more than one occasion.[17][18][19][20] Fate later encountered other villains like Clock[21][22] and the Red Sage.[23]
Kent Nelson became dissatisfied with his current situation and he decided to become a real medical doctor in order to save more lives.[24] Shortly afterwards, Kent became engaged to his faithful companion, Inza and they spent more time together.[25]
Justice Society
Early in his career, Dr. Fate's first encounter with a hero of that era was the Spectre, the wrath of God. Together they destroyed a military gateway to a netherworld of demons.[26] It was World War II and America was pulled into the war, Dr. Fate and many other mystery men help defeat an assassination attempt of President Roosevelt's life. At Roosevelt's request, they formed the Justice Society of America.[27]
During this time, Kent found the helmet becoming more and more possessive of him, so rather than abandoning his battle against chaos, Kent created the half helm. Although Kent's powers were severely limited, he still had the ability of flight, invulnerability and super strength.[28][29] However, Kent donned the helmet one last time in order to find the missing Spectre. Dr. Fate discovered that the Spectre was under the control of Kulak and in a titanic battle with the Spectre, he was defeated and the Helmet of Nabu was lost somewhere in the netherverse. It would not be until the early 1960s that Kent Nelson would somehow recover the helmet of Nabu and become Dr. Fate again. In the early 1950s Kent Nelson had retired his fate persona and became a physician, but some time later he had recovered the Helmet of Nabu under never explained events, and in 1955 he fought Khalis, the mad Egyptian priest who once used his Amulet of Anubis.[4] It was not until the 1963 that Kent would rejoin the Justice Society of America[30]. As their Justice Society comrades aged, Kent and Inza seemed immortal. The magic fate held over them, virtually stopped their aging process. Inza and Kent also received a small portion of Ian Karkull's power which gave them even more vitality.
Little is known of Fate's adventures during this period save for the JSA's annual gatherings with the Justice League of America from the parallel world of Earth-One (the JSA being on Earth-Two), and a pair of adventures he shared with fellow JSA member Hourman facing the monstrous Solomon Grundy and the villainous Psycho-Pirate.[31]
Chaos and Death
After an encounter with both Flashes from Earth-One and Two,[32] Doctor Fate tried to stop the threat of a Lord of Chaos released upon Earth.[33][34] Unfortunately, the Lord of Chaos took hold of Inza and used her against Fate, to weaken his powers and eliminate his resistance.[35] Although Fate was almost beaten, he managed to defeat the Lord of Chaos and restored the damage created, all thanks to his drive and determination to save Inza.[36] This wouldn't be Fate's last encounter with Lords of Chaos, as he was soon sent to a strange dimension, where he had to confront Vandaemeon.[37][38] Unable to beat the Lord of Chaos, Fate returned defeated, only to find that Inza had left him. Fate soon understood that this was all a plan to break him and the mastermind behind it all was a renegade Lord of Order called Ynar,[39] who allied himself with Vandaemon in order to take over the universe. Fate was helpless against their combined forces, but thanks to Inza's sudden return, he merged the consciousness of the Kents together inside the Helmet of Nabu, giving him enough power to defeat the Lords of Order and Chaos. After a successful battle, Kent and Inza realized their deep love for each other and started working to improve their relationship.[40]
Later, Dr. Fate became a founding member of the new Justice League and the heroes foiled the plans of Darkseid to turn the people of earth against heroes.[41] Kent's last adventure with the League was against the Gray Man.[42] At the end of that case, Fate retired into space to meditate on the situation.[43]
During the late 1980s chaos and order were at breaking point. It was the Kali Yuga, the final age of man. Order had pulled out of battle, waiting for Chaos to engulf itself to create the new Golden Age. The strain of the Kali Yuga on Kent and Inza had caused them both to age rapidly. The strain on Inza was unbearable, in 1987, Inza committed suicide which left Kent devastated and on the verge of suicide.[44] Nabu had become more dominant in the relationship and would not allow Kent to die until he could find a new host body.
Kent reluctantly helped Nabu find Eric Strauss as his protegee as the new Fate. It was only during this short time that Kent discovered that Doctor Fate was meant to be the result of the merging of two humans with a mystical bond, much like his bond with Inza. Kent convinced Nabu to allow Eric Strauss and his human bond, Linda to become the new Doctor Fate. Afterwards, Kent requested to die and Nabu allowed Kent to pass away.[45]
Afterlife and Return
The Nelsons enjoyed an afterlife in which they lived normal lives unknowingly in the Amulet of Anubis. They raised a child called Kent and once again Fate would play a role in their lives again.
In desperation, Nabu travels to the Tower of Fate in Salem, to prepare the way for the TRUE Dr. Fate, Kent and Inza Nelson. As the they look into the amulet of Anubis, they see the souls of Kent and Inza Nelson. Jack C. Small and Petey venture into the amulet to find the Nelsons while Linda and Nabu prepare to fight Benjamin Stoner. With Nabu's help, Linda can touch the items and become Fate with Nabu. Nabu and Linda create a four armed Dr. Fate to battle the Anti-Fate. However, they fail and the Anti-Fate rejects the Lords of Chaos. Within the amulet, Jack C. Small and Petey discover that Hesse is inside the amulet. With his help they find the Nelsons and try to persuade them to come back to earth. Inza called this world heaven as the Nelson's could live the life they wanted to live. In this world, they even had a son called Kent junior. Inza does not want to leave this so-called heaven but eventually agrees that they could make this life happen on Earth.
Linda dies from her wounds from the battle with the Anti-Fate as her soul goes into Wendy, a woman who just recently died. There she is rejoined with her husband Eugene (Eric) and their daughter Raina where they will become the new seeds of humanity. Nabu is given the choice between humanity and being an immortal Lord of Order, he chooses humanity and his soul goes into Wendy's unborn child. Kent Nelson & Inza Nelson become the new Doctor Fate.
Zero Hour
Main article: Zero Hour
In 1994, Dr. Fate was once again formed into the male Dr. Fate but under the control of Kent and Inza. During Zero Hour, Dr. Fate led the Justice Society on its last battle against Extant, a minion of Parallax. Extant defeated the JSA and as he had the power of both a Lord of Order and Chaos, he forced the split of Dr. Fate, flinging the helmet and amulet through the netherverse which would eventually return to Egypt, a nexus of Fate's power.[46] Kent and Inza tried to recover the items of Fate from Jared Stevens, a mercenary who would later become the new Fate. The items rejected Kent and Inza and the Nelsons chose Jared Stevens as the new holder of Fate.[47] After a deadly battle with the servants of the demon Kingdom, the Nelsons were killed and were eventually allowed into the afterlife yet again.[48] Kent and Inza did not die after giving the items to Jared Stevens but became disembodied spirits seemingly existing in a pocket universe inside Fate's amulet.[49]
Blackest Night
Main article: Blackest Night
His current fate was unknown until Kent was re-animated as a Black Lantern, and then being destroyed in New York City as the JSA's bomb went off.[50]
A Last Sign of Life
When Hal Jordan was injured on a distant planet, and the energy of his ring is almost exhausted, it is revealed that a fraction of the original Doctor Fate was inside his ring. When Fate and Jordan shaken hands years ago, Fate set a fraction of himself, traveling through time, within the ring in the current times. Fate had only enough power to sustain him and Jordan, then return to his body in his own time, passing along what he had learned there. The two begin to discuss whether Fate should use his energy to save Jordan. Because it was never known the cause of Fate losing his immortality, maybe this very spell Fate used was the real reason. Even having the chance to be able to change his own destiny, Fate chooses to help Jordan to escape from that planet.[43]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
In their initial years of publication, the Fate's abilities were described as "the secret of the conversion of energy in matter and matter in energy". In the current continuity, the greater part of Doctor Fate's powers come from the mystical Helmet of Fate. However, Kent Nelson has trained throughout his career to become an accomplished adventurer as well as amassing his own personal sorcery skills.
- Magic: inside this power is this great array of abilities:
- Magic Sense: He can feel the presence of magic in his surroundings.
- Awareness: He can be tuned in with the cosmos and feel incoming mystical events.
- Aura Detection: He can sense other people's aura and determine if they are aligned with good, evil or none.
- Astral Projection
- Clairvoyance: He knows a ritual to see through a brasier what is happening in a far place.[10]
- Chronokinesis
- Dimensional Travel
- Divination
- Eldritch Blast: Ankh-shaped blasts.
- Energy Construct Creation: At the beginning of his career, Fate transported various JSA members through the Atlantic with energy generated tentacles.[51]
- Energy Negation: He destroyed the creative power of the Norns.[13]
- Energy Resistance
- Flame Spell: In his early career, it was Fate's primary spell.[5] Fate learned this ability in the Lost Book of Thoth.[52]
- Force Field: one of his fields could withstand the attacks from Aquarius during one full week.
- Healing
- Illusion Casting
- Invisibility
- Magnetic Manipulation
- Hypnosis
- Molecular Reconstruction: This affects organic matter.[9]
- Necromancy [citation needed]
- Phasing: Kent wore this spell to enter in his Tower of Salem.
- Resurrection [citation needed]
- Telepathy
- Teleportation: Both regular teleportation and ankh-shaped warps.
- Bio-Fission[43]
- Divine Empowerment: Nabu knows the true name of Ra, and can use his divine power to momentarily increase his own magic (or others).
- Dr. Fate could make Superman immune to magic if he wanted.
- No emotions: With the helmet, Fate feels no emotion, and is completely immune to Psycho-Pirate's powers.
Without his helm, Kent Nelson has only the following magical abilities:
- Immortality
- Invulnerability: Dr. Fate could withstand military weapons and a explosion which could destroy a mansion.
- Telekinesis: when used in conjunction with his helmet, this ability was powerful enough to move a planet. Without it, Fate could be strong enough only to lift cars.
- Flight
- Superhuman Strength: Fate's strength is transferable while he wears the Helmet.[5]
Abilities
- Archaeology
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic)
- Occultism
- Medicine: In his adventures in More Fun Comics, Kent was a physician.
- Multilingualism: He speaks Portuguese and Spanish[53] and ancient languages as an archaeologist/occultist.
Weaknesses
- Separation From Helmet: Although Kent Nelson is an accomplished magician and crime fighter, without his helm he is significantly weakened.
- His invulnerability does not protect him against gas-attacks.
- After long mystical battles or casting powerful spells, Fate's power would be depleted and needs to restore his mystical energy.[51]
- In the early days, Doctor Fate would be invulnerable to almost everything except gas of any kind or he could also be completely paralyzed if he was deprived from air to breathe.[54]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Amulet of Anubis
- Cloak of Destiny
- Helmet of Fate
- Orb of Nabu: This artifact was stored inside his Tower of Salem.
Notes
- Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-Two era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and no longer apply.
Golden Age Dr. Fate Chronology:
Full Helmet Era
- Events of More Fun Comics #67 (May 1941) and Secret Origins (Volume 2) #24, origin story, published out of sequence, took place at or before May 1940, as did the events of Dr. Fate's flashback story in All-Star Squadron #47.
- Events of More Fun Comics #55 (May 1940) through #68 (June 1941), plus DC Special #29 and Secret Origins (Volume 2) #31 and All-Star Comics #3 through #7, took place before Dec 1940.
- Doctor Fate's first and second battles with Ian Karkull, in More Fun Comics #69 and #70 (July & Aug 1941), took place in 1940-Dec.
- These conflicts had already happened last year in late June 1941, the time of Karkull's third and most elaborate attack, per Green Lantern's remark in All-Star Squadron Annual #3.
- More Fun Comics #71 (Sep 1941), is an ambiguous case. These events may have taken place any time from Late Dec 1940 to 30 June 1941. Fate wore the full helmet while dealing with a planetary destruction level threat. The Earth had stopped rotating. This was Dr. Fate's last Golden Age solo appearance in the full helmet.
- At the end of June 1941, after that third battle with Karkull, Dr. Fate had just started to realize that Nabu was taking control of him, whenever he donned the Helm of Nabu, and he withdrew from JSA activity, to address this problem.
Half Helmet Era
- All-Star Comics #8 (Dec.41/Jan.42) was Fate's first JSA appearance in the new helmet. The JSA story is set in June 1941.
- Per Roy Thomas's text page in All-Star Squadron #2, events of All-Star Comics #7, through All-Star Comics #10, including the retrieval of the Bomb Defense Formula from the future, and Degaton's subsequent sabotage thereof, took place a few short weeks before 7 Dec 1941.
- More Fun Comics #72 (Oct 1941) was Dr. Fate's first golden age solo appearance in the half helmet, and may have taken place as early as June 1941. Events of More Fun Comics #73 (Oct 1941) and More Fun Comics #74 (Nov 1941) took place between June 1941 and Dec 1941.
- Events of Justice League of America #193 through All-Star Squadron #9 took place in Dec 1941. In All-Star Comics #11, the JSA disbanded and the members joined the armed forces.
- Roy Thomas, in ASQ#2: "The events of ALL-STAR #11 spanned a period which, at a conservative estimate, covered the first several weeks after December 7, 1941 – but by the end of the issue, America's military leaders had seen the folly of allowing the JSA to fight individually against the enemy hordes."
- In All-Star Comics #12 (Aug/Sep 1942) and All-Star Squadron #30, the team soon reorganized itself as the Justice Battalion, and called itself that until, at least, All-Star Comics #16. By early Feb 1942, most or all of the JBA members had resumed their civilian secret identities.
- In All-Star Squadron #23, during a dire emergency in early Feb 1942, Dr. Fate again briefly reverted to wearing the full helmet while searching for the missing Spectre. In All-Star Squadron #28, the Helm of Nabu, along with Kulak the High Priest of Brztl, were sent hurtling through an infinity of dimensions.
- Events of All-Star Squadron #48 and #49 took place in March 1942, as did the events of More Fun Comics #75 (Jan 1942) through More Fun Comics #77 (Mar 1942).
- Events of All-Star Comics #13 (Oct/Nov 1942), of All-Star Squadron #50 through #59, took place during April 1942.
- Events of More Fun Comics #78 (Apr 1942) through #84 (Oct 1942) had all taken place, and been documented in Miss America's JSA archives, prior to June 1942, per Young All-Stars #27. That same month in All-Star Comics #14, Dr. Fate and the Spectre went on a humanitarian mission behind enemy lines in occupied Europe, and were able to avoid being corrupted onto the Nazi side, despite the unholy sorcery of the Spear of Destiny's Sphere of Influence.
- In More Fun Comics #85 (Nov 1942), Kent Nelson entered, attended, and finished medical school, with supernatural speed and ease. At this time, he stopped wearing the Cloak of Destiny.
- In All-Star Comics #21 (Summer 1944), Dr. Fate participated in the Justice Society's deathbed rehabilitation of "The Man Who Re-Lived His Life", as his final golden age JSA adventure. In More Fun Comics #98 (Jul/Aug 1944), Dr. Fate defeated "The Bashful King of Crime," as his last golden age solo adventure. And in Wonder Woman #242 (Apr 1978) Fate had his last WWII-era adventure.
- Prior to his appearances in 1st Issue Special #9 (via retcon) and Justice League of America #21 (historical), Dr. Fate recovered the Helm of Nabu, sometime between 1945 and 1955, under circumstances which remain untold. Last Days of the Justice Society Special #1 shown Dr. Fate wearing the half-helmet in the past, during FDR's funeral (April 15, 1945).
Trivia
- At his most potent, Doctor Fate is an accomplished sorcerer, able to match most other wizards in the Universe. He has been credited as being one of the top 12 most powerful heroes in the Universe.[citation needed]
- Kent cast his spells using the "Eastern Way" by use of internal balance and internal focus as opposed to the "Western Way" by use of symbols and incantations.[citation needed]
- It is also revealed that Dr. Fate was not meant to be either male or female, but both united as one, and that unless this is realized Dr. Fate can never reach his full potential.[citation needed]
Recommended Reading
- Doctor Fate Recommended Reading
- The Book of Fate (Volume 1)
- Countdown to Mystery (Volume 1)
- Doctor Fate (Volume 1)
- Doctor Fate (Volume 2)
- Doctor Fate (Volume 3)
- Doctor Fate (Volume 4)
- Fate (Volume 1)
- The Flash (Volume 1): The Flash #306– #313
- Helmet of Fate (Volume 1)
- Immortal Doctor Fate (Volume 1)
- JSA (Volume 1)
- More Fun Comics (Volume 1)
Related
- 518 Appearances of Kent Nelson (New Earth)
- 124 Images featuring Kent Nelson (New Earth)
- 21 Quotations by or about Kent Nelson (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Kent Nelson (New Earth)
Footnotes
- ↑ More Fun Comics #67
- ↑ DC Special Series #10
- ↑ Doctor Fate #1
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 1st Issue Special #9
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 More Fun Comics #55
- ↑ All-Star Squadron #47
- ↑ Secret Origins (Volume 2) #24
- ↑ More Fun Comics #56
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 More Fun Comics #57
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 More Fun Comics #58
- ↑ More Fun Comics #59
- ↑ More Fun Comics #61
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 More Fun Comics #60
- ↑ From More Fun Comics #61–68
- ↑ More Fun Comics #69
- ↑ More Fun Comics #70
- ↑ More Fun Comics #73
- ↑ More Fun Comics #74
- ↑ More Fun Comics #79
- ↑ More Fun Comics #91
- ↑ More Fun Comics #81
- ↑ More Fun Comics #92
- ↑ More Fun Comics #82
- ↑ More Fun Comics #85
- ↑ More Fun Comics #90
- ↑ Spectre Annual (Volume 3) #1
- ↑ All-Star Comics #3
- ↑ More Fun Comics #72
- ↑ All-Star Squadron #23
- ↑ Justice League of America #21
- ↑ Showcase #55-56
- ↑ The Flash #305
- ↑ The Flash #306
- ↑ The Flash #307
- ↑ The Flash #308
- ↑ The Flash #309
- ↑ The Flash #310
- ↑ The Flash #311
- ↑ The Flash #312
- ↑ The Flash #313
- ↑ Legends (Volume 1)
- ↑ Justice League #1–Justice League International #7
- ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 The Brave and the Bold (Volume 3) #30
- ↑ Doctor Fate #2
- ↑ Doctor Fate (Volume 1)
- ↑ Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #3
- ↑ Fate #1
- ↑ The Book of Fate #1
- ↑ JSA #3
- ↑ Blackest Night: JSA (Volume 1)
- ↑ 51.0 51.1 DC Special #29
- ↑ Justice League of America #22
- ↑ All-Star Comics #9
- ↑ More Fun Comics #80
Justice Society of America member |
Justice League member 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. |
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