Rip Hunter was an ordinary man who used his Time Sphere to travel through time.
History
Aided by his friend Jeff Smith, girlfriend Bonnie Baxter, and Bonnie's kid brother Corky, they had many adventures in time.
After falling from the public consciousness, Hunter and his team traveled to the dawn of time where they encountered a mysterious yellow pyramid. It aged them many years before returning them to the present. Shortly thereafter, Hunter was recruited by the Immortal Man as part of his team of "Forgotten Heroes." With Superman's help, they were able to destroy the mysterious pyramids and stave off an alien invasion.[1]
The Forgotten Heroes stayed together as a group until the Immortal Man was killed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. During that event, Hunter helped the heroes of the Multiverse again travel to the dawn of time where they faced off against the Anti-Monitor. The battle effectively destroyed the Multiverse, creating the single reality of New Earth.
Hunter reunited with some of his Forgotten Heroes teammates, as well as cosmic heroes Adam Strange and Captain Comet, in a quest to defeat the Anti-Monitor once and for all. With the help of Brainiac, they journeyed to Apokolips, where the tyrant Darkseid used his advanced science to peer into the Anti-Matter universe and aid Alex Luthor, Superman, and Superboy-Prime in the ultimate destruction of the Anti-Monitor. With the Anti-Monitor dead, Luthor, Superman, and Superboy-Prime sealed themselves in a protective "heaven" dimension, and Darkseid sent the heroes back to earth.[2]
As the final effects of the Crisis took hold, Hunter discovered that he was now a man out of time without a home. No one remembered that he had existed. Even his old time traveling teammates had no memory of the Pre-Crisis world. Rip himself had been replaced with a new Post-Crisis doppelganger, also a master of time travel.
Determined to find a link to the alternate realities and timelines he had experienced in the Pre-Crisis universe, Hunter began recklessly traveling back and forth through time, seeking a break in the barrier that sealed this universe from all the others. His travels drew the attention of the Linear Men, a team of time cops from the future, charged with the preservation of the integrity of the timestream.[3]
Impressed by Hunter, the Linear Men recruited him into their ranks. Now with white hair and bionic implants, to protect him from the stress of time travel, Hunter observed the timestream along with the other Linear Men. He appeared to take up their mission, interfering with outside events only when necessary to prevent changes to the timestream, most notably during the Zero Hour event.
However, Hunter was just biding his time. In the mini-series The Kingdom, Hunter defied the other Linear Men and joined forces with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, as well as some young heroes from the future, to defeat the time-traveling villain Gog. As a result of the battle, he finally broke down the barrier to Hypertime.[4] In Hypertime, all timelines that have ever existed continue to exist, and by breaking the barrier, Hunter was opening the door to infinite possibilities for adventure by traveling between multiple timelines.
However, Hunter would not have much opportunity to explore these possibilities. Shortly thereafter, the Linear Men, including Hunter, were destroyed during the Imperiex onslaught.[5] Although their consciousnesses survived and they eventually constructed new bodies for themselves, they had been driven insane by the experience. The Quintessence disbanded the Linear Men and Hunter vanished in a whirlwind.[6] Whether or not this is the final fate of the Pre-Crisis Rip Hunter is unknown.
Whatever his fate, his actions would have far-reaching consequences. As a result of breaking of the Hypertime barrier, Hunter had unwittingly opened the door for Alex Luthor, Superman and Superboy-Prime to escape from their "heaven" dimension.[4]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Science
- Historiography
- Temporal Mechanics: Rip Hunter is an expert in the field of temporal mechanics, quantum theory and the relationship between energy and matter as it pertains to the Space/Time continuum.
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic): Although Rip prefers the solitude of a laboratory, he has also trained himself in martial combat.
Paraphernalia
Transportation
Notes
- This version of Rip Hunter, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series. Even though versions of the character may have since appeared, this information does not apply to those versions. Despite that, he still survived, because he was traveling through time when the original Multiverse collapsed.
Related
- 57 Appearances of Ripley Hunter (Earth-One)
- 10 Images featuring Ripley Hunter (Earth-One)
- Quotations by or about Ripley Hunter (Earth-One)
- Character Gallery: Ripley Hunter (Earth-One)
Footnotes
  This is an in-universe article with out-of-universe material. |
