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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. |
Shayera Thal, also known as the superhero Hawkwoman, is a Thanagarian reincarnation of Shrra, the Empress of her people, and the wife of Katar Hol. She is a reserve member of the Justice League.
Shayera would later reincarnate into the human Shiera Sanders, also known as the superhero Hawkgirl, the wife of Carter Hall. She was a member of the original Justice Society of America as well as the All-Star Squadron.
History
Lives before Shayera
Shayera 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.[1]
Shiera and Carter Hall
On the planet Earth, she was incarnated as Shiera Hall, with Ktar as her husband Carter Hall,[2] in the early 20th Century. Together, they worked both as archaeologists in the city of St. Roch and as the superheroes Hawkman and Hawkgirl.[3] In 1940, she and her husband uncovered the bodies of Chay-Ara and Prince Khufu, their own past lives, in Egypt's Valley of Kings.[4] As members of the wartime super-team the All-Star Squadron,[5] Hawkgirl and Hawkman fought on behalf of the United States of America in World War II,[6] and as a duo faced the undead villain the Gentleman Ghost.[7] Through the decades, they formed a number of organizations—the Council of Immortals, Blackhawks, and Challengers of the Unknown—to investigate their own origins,[3] and had a son, Hector Hall.[8]
Origins
New 52 Origin
When her father (the emperor of Thanagar) died, her brother Corsar took over and began mining for Nth Metal so his people could use the material to fly again. However he became drunk with power and attacked Katar for opposing him, this led to Corsar accidentally shocking himself to death. Shayera entered the room and ordered her men to arrest Katar for killing her brother, however, Katar managed to escape using a stolen shuttle.
Shayera put a bounty on Katar Hol's head and he was soon tracked to Earth. Shayera was able to capture Katar and his human friend Emma and was preparing to take them both off world, when Corsar revealed to her that he had survived his encounter with Katar.
A short time later Corsar's ship was orbiting a star, and the Emperor was beginning to extract the Nth Metal from Katar so it could be his own. However, Shayera freed Katar before the process could be completed and managed to get him and Emma to an escape pod. She gave Katar one last goodbye kiss before apologizing to him for accusing him of murdering her brother. She then decided to stay behind and fight Corsar as the ship exploded, seemingly killing both her and her brother.[9]
She survived, however, but was stranded on Earth and cut off from her people. In addition to the costumed identity of "Hawkgirl," she took the human name "Hall" and found work as a detective for the Chicago Police Department, keeping her true nature from her coworkers, including her partner Will Cariad. As a member of her department's "Weird Weapons Squad," Hall collected a number of Thanagarian weapons found at Chicago crime scenes and attempted to trace them to their source, a Great Old One of Thanagar. With the Nth metal weapons distributed among the people driving them into a violent frenzy, the Old One revealed their machinations against Earth and attacked Thal as Hawkgirl.[10]
Following the cosmic upheavals of the Rebirth period, this character's history was revised. While some of these events may have occurred in current continuity, there are a number of contradictions.
Current Origin
The daughter of Emperor Thal Provis,[11] Shayera Thal became a law enforcement officer on Thanagar, with Carter Hall's reincarnation Katar Hol as her partner,[12] and later, husband.[13] Eventually, they came into contact with the superheroes of Earth; Thal served as a teammate to Batman,[14]
DC Rebirth
Hawkworld
Hawkwoman vs Hawkgirl.
Following the havoc wrought on Thanagar by Despero, Shayera became the Empress of Thanagar Prime, the redoubt-world used as a last refuge by the people of Thanagar, and was very protective of the planet's secrets. She was using the Absorbascon's power fueled by the Martian Keep's mind to hide Thanagar's weakness and desolation after her battle with Onimar Synn. After Martian Manhunter discovered this, he and Kendra Saunders stopped her, giving her a second chance to rebuild her planet without the mischievous weapon.[13][15][16]
She led the Last Fleet of Thanagar in bringing the Omega Titan Mystery to the Source Wall, contributing to the Justice League's effort to repair it that inadvertently freed the malevolent demiurge Perpetua.[17] Later, she and the fleet launched an assault on Perpetua's ship the Godhead, but, unable to breach its defenses, were forced to cut their losses and withdraw, broadcasting a warning to the Justice League.[18] When the balance of the universe tipped in Perpetua's favor, Thal watched her Sigil of Doom appear in the skies over her world.[19]
New lives
Shayera and Carter.
After Shayera and Carter released the power of their thousands of lives, they overloaded and destroyed the Lord Beyond the Void, while also killing themselves. They awake in the Sphere of the Gods, reverted to Ktar and Shrra. The Presence explains that Ktar's debt is repaid and offers to allow him to pass on and to restore Shrra, however, they do not wish to be parted. So the Presence offers them another reward, to be reincarnated a final time in their favourite lives. They agree and are restored to life in the 1940s as the Golden Age mortals Hawkman and Hawkgirl, with Shayera now reborn as Shiera Sanders, reuniting with the Justice Society of America. There, they faced the Injustice Society and Anton Hastor (an reincaranation of Hath-Set. Shiera survived the following centuries alongside Carter, into the 40th Century.[20][2][21][22]
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She discovered a spaceship on course to collide with the Earth, and led Hawkman out to investigate. She held off the ship's robot defenses while Hall found its occupants, an alien couple whose consciousnesses had been exposed to ten thousand years of isolation due to a sensor malfunction, and fed them his own memories of his many lives with his wife, prompting them to change course and averting disaster.[4] She and Hall served with the Justice Society during the Dark Crisis, protecting civilians[23] and fighting Deathstroke's Dark Army in Europe.[24] Their team was sent out into the Multiverse to halt the darkness spreading through it,[25] and once it had been purged, Hawkwoman and the JSA were returned to their own world.[26]
Following a distress call, she and Hall came across a ship carrying a psychic alien child, whose fear of abandonment drove her to create imaginary worlds in which the Hawks would stay with her—but apart from each other. Thal found herself back on Thanagar Prime as empress, but the intrusion of the Earth holiday Christmas and her lingering memories of Hall allowed her to break free of the fantasy and reunite with him, promising to return the child to her people.[11]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Decelerated Aging: As the final reincarnation of Shrra, Shiera's lifespan, along with Carter Hall's, has been greatly extended. It is shown in a possible future that both Hawks' lives might extend into the 40th century.[22]
- Thanagarian Physiology: Thanagarians possess several gifts that are common to members of their race, but sets them apart from normal humans.
- Enhanced Senses: Thanagarians also possess enhanced senses.
- Enhanced Hearing: A Thanagarian's auditory senses are also particularly acute and they can perceive sounds with greater clarity than the average human.
- Enhanced Vision: A Thanagarians's eyesight is more acute than a normal human and their range of vision is similar to that of a bird.
- Enhanced Durability: A Thanagarian is also physically more endurable than the average Earth human.
- Enhanced Stamina: Thanagarians have greater stamina and a greater resistance to pain.
- Enhanced Strength: Thanagarian strength is far beyond the range of a normal human.
- Longevity: A Thanagarian's life span is significantly greater than that of a normal human being. At one-hundred years of age, a Thanagarian physically resembles a thirty-year-old Earth human.
- Enhanced Senses: Thanagarians also possess enhanced senses.
Abilities
Paraphernalia
Transportation
Notes
- Shayera Thal was created by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert, first appearing in The Brave and the Bold #34. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Shayera Thal first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Savage Hawkman #9 by Rob Liefeld, Mark Poulton, and Joe Bennett.
- Shiera Sanders was created by Gardner Fox and Dennis Neville, first appearing in Flash Comics #1. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Shiera Sanders first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Dark Days: The Forge #1 by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, and Greg Capullo.
Related
- 54 Appearances of Shayera Thal (Prime Earth)
- 30 Images featuring Shayera Thal (Prime Earth)
- 2 Quotations by or about Shayera Thal (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Shayera Thal (Prime Earth)
Footnotes
- ↑ Hawkman (Volume 5) #25
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hawkman (Volume 5) #27
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Dark Days: The Casting #1
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 DC Love Is a Battlefield #1
- ↑ DC Power: A Celebration #1
- ↑ Dark Nights: Death Metal #7
- ↑ Justice Society of America (Volume 4) #1
- ↑ Justice Society of America (Volume 4) #6
- ↑ Savage Hawkman #16
- ↑ New Talent Showcase (Volume 2) #1
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 DC's Grifter Got Run Over by a Reindeer #1
- ↑ Hawkman (Volume 5) #4
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Justice League (Volume 4) #14
- ↑ Batman: Universe #3
- ↑ Justice League (Volume 4) #15
- ↑ Justice League (Volume 4) #16
- ↑ Justice League Annual (Volume 4) #1
- ↑ Justice League (Volume 4) #32
- ↑ Justice League (Volume 4) #35
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Hawkman (Volume 5) #26
- ↑ Hawkman (Volume 5) #28
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Hawkman (Volume 5) #29
- ↑ Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #4
- ↑ The Flash #786
- ↑ Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #5
- ↑ Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #7
  This character is or was a member of the All-Star Squadron in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "All-Star Squadron members" category. |
 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. |
 Justice Society of America member |