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Last Updated on
Saturday, July 17, 2004
| Personal Data: |
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Click here to view a
gallery of Dr. Fate graphics.
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Real Name: |
Kent Nelson |
| Status: |
Deceased |
Versions of the JLA: |
The Justice
League |
Known Aliases: |
None |
Nicknames: |
None |
Occupation: |
Archeologist,
briefly a clinician |
Other Group Affiliations: |
Justice
Society of America, The All-Star Squadron during World War II, briefly with The Justice
League |
First Appearance: |
More Fun
Comics #55 |
Base of Operations: |
Salem,
Massachusetts |
Age: |
Unknown |
| Height: |
6' 2" |
| Weight: |
197 lbs. |
| Eyes: |
Blue |
| Hair: |
Blond |
Known Relatives: |
Son of Sven
and Celestine Babcock Nelson. Husband of Inza Kramer Nelson. Nephew of Aaron Babcock |
Known Allies: |
The
Justice Society of America, The Justice League of America, Zatanna, Madame Xanadu, Spectre,
Deadman,
The surviving members of
The
All-Star Squadron, Nabu the Wise, The Lords of Order. |
Known Enemies: |
Wotan,
The Grey Man, The Lords of Chaos,
Wizard, Ian Karkull, Psycho Pirate |
Powers and Abilities: |
Fate's
magical powers are broad. These powers are primarily derived from the possession of Kent
Nelson by Nabu, a lord of Order. Nabu, or Fate, resides in the Helm of Nabu. Those who
wear the helmet can have access to the power/possession of Fate. The experience, however,
is not for everybody. |
Weaknesses/Limitations: |
Without the
helmet, Kent and Inza Nelson are vastly limited. Kent at least still has some rudimentary
spell casting abilities, super-strength, limited invulnerability and the power of flight.
Without a mortal host, Nabu cannot sustain on the earthly plane. |
| Background: |
Kent Nelson was born in 1928, the son
of Sven Nelson, a noted archaeologist and Celestine Babcock Nelson, a spiritual medium.
Celestine Nelson died under unknown circumstances shortly after Kent's birth and Kent
became a tagalong for his globe-trotting father. In 1940, Sven and Kent Nelson were
conducting a dig in the Valley of Ur in Mesopotamia. Young Kent stumbled upon an ancient
sarcophagus containing the giant body of a stately being, Nabu the Wise. Upon opening the
sarcophagus, Kent released poison gas which immediately slew his father. Nabu, a mystical
Lord of Order originally from the planet Cilia, took pity on the boy and used his magic to
block the grief from the young boy's mind. Over the intervening months, Nabu schooled Kent
Nelson in the ways of mysticism, teaching him to cast spells and fly. During this time,
Kent Nelson aged years instead of weeks so that he had grown to adult hood by late summer.
Nelson had grown fond of Nabu, but the Lord of Order required one last act of Kent Nelson:
the death of his own body. Nelson hesitated but Nabu removed the inhibitions he had placed
on Nelson's grief and in a rage, Nelson slew the old wizard. With his body destroyed, Nabu
was revealed as an energy being, a millennia-old Lord of Order. He revealed his true
nature to Nelson and present him with 2 gifts, a helm and an amulet. When Nelson wore the
Helm, he was joined with Nabu who used his body as an agent against the Lords of Chaos
(More Fun #67, Secret Origins vol. 2 #23). Nelson then adopted the nom de guerre of Doctor
Fate.
Fate's first encounter upon his christening was the sorcerer Wotan. Wotan is an ancient
wizard who had battled Nabu in a previous physical incarnation (All-Star Squadron #47).
Wotan used both medieval magics combined with advanced technology to accomplish his goals
of earthly conquest. In 1940, Wotan planned to destroy the Earth and had captured Inza
Kramer, a student of Columbia University, in Egypt. Fate rescued Kramer and defeated
Wotan. When the two returned to America, Wotan assaulted them again, but was again
defeated. To protect the world from Wotan, Fate put the ancient mage in a deep trance and
buried him beneath the ground (More Fun #56). Afterwards, Fate and Kramer become lovers
and Fate shared the knowledge of his dual identity with her (More Fun #66). Fate set up a
base of operations in Salem, Massachusetts, residing in a doorless, windowless tower that
only he could enter or leave. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Fate encountered The Spectre,
another powerful magically based hero and the two defeated a effort to subvert military
"magic" research into a gateway for otherworldly demons. (Spectre Annual #1).
Later in 1940, Fate watched the unfolding events in Nazi Germany from his tower in Salem.
Three American mystery-men, Batman The Flash and the Green Lantern, lay captured by Adolph
Hitler and his summoned Valkyries. Using the powerful magics at his command, Fate summoned
4 other mystery men and with them lay siege to the Nazi fleet invading England. The heroes
then freed the captured comrades and pursued Hitler's forces to America. There, with the
aide of Superman, they thwarted Hitler's attempted assassination of Franklin Roosevelt. At
the President's behest, the heroes formed the Justice Society of America and Fate became a
charter member (DC Special #29).
Early in 1941, Fate encountered a powerful scientist named Ian Karkull. Karkull had
invented a device that allowed him to become a living shadow, immune to Fate's magic. When
Fate destroyed the device that allowed the transformations, Karkull was defeated, trapped
in his shadow form (More Fun #69). Shortly thereafter, Wotan used his powerful magics to
summon Karkull to free him from his trance. Together the two established a base in the
Arctic, building weaponry to wage war on Earth. Fate tracked them to Arctic, destroying
the city but the two villains escaped (More Fun #70).
In July 1941, Karkull gained a powerful view of the future, allowing him to identify the
next 8 successive Presidents of the United States. Selecting an elite cadre of
super-villains to assist him, Karkull moved to assassinate each of these future statesmen,
thereby disrupting American history. The Justice Society, including Dr. Fate, intervened
and only one of Karkull's associates, Wotan, was successful in killing his target. The
identity of the youth has never been revealed. In a final confrontation with the Karkull,
the Spectre destroyed the villains shadow form, bathing the assembled heroes in a bizarre
radiation. This radiation, in time, serve to extend the lives and vitality of the
assembled heroes well into their advanced years (All-Star Squadron Annual #3) and Karkull
was never heard from again.
In 1942, Kent Nelson became more and more at odds with the sharing of his existence with
Nabu, the Lord of Order within the helmet. When the Spectre was captured by the
extra-dimensional sorcerer Kulak, Nelson allowed him to capture the Helm. When the villain
donned it and was confronted with Nabu and the loss of his own third eyesight, Kulak was
flung into limbo, taking Nabu and the helm with him. Kent Nelson then resumed the identity
of Dr. Fate with much more limited powers wearing a truncated helm (More Fun #72, All-Star
Squadron #28-29).
Shortly thereafter, Fate encounter Mr. Who, a powerful scientist who developed the
"Z" Solution that allowed him tremendous strength and the ability to grow to
gigantic proportions (More Fun #73). Who became a recurrent adversary for Fate, dogging
him individually and during his membership in the All-Star Squadron (More Fun #74, 79,
All-Star Squadron #51-55).
By 1943, Nelson grew weary of the War and left the Justice Society (last app, All-Star
Comics #21). Shortly thereafter, he sought a more human existence and entered medical
school, using his advanced knowledge from Nabu to accelerate his education (More Fun #85).
For some undisclosed period of time before the end of World War II, Fate interned with Dr.
Emmett Roland, a famous surgeon. To what extent Nelson pursued his medical career, if at
all beyond the level of intern, is unknown.
Virtually nothing is known of Dr. Fate's life in the years immediately following World War
II. At some point he married Inza Kramer and she took up residence in Fate's tower in
Salem. He abandoned the practice of medicine and returned to his father's field of study:
Archeology. At some point during these years, he also retrieved the Helm of Nabu and
resumed his co-existence with the Lord of Order.
When the Justice Society reformed in 1963, Fate returned to active membership (Justice
League of America #21). Privately, he supervised a series of archeological expeditions
funded by chemical magnate and colleague, Rex Tyler. The two worked together as
mystery-men as well, defeating Solomon Grundy (Showcase #55) and the new Psycho-Pirate
(Showcase #56). Throughout the next 20 years, Dr. Fate became a steadfast member of the
Justice Society, participating in virtually every case. Neither he nor Inza aged during
this time, held youthful by Fate's magic.
A key element in the successful generation of the true potential of Fate was the triad.
However, Nabu's desire to be the dominant force precluded him from allowing a third
person, notably Inza, into the joint entity formed by himself and Kent Nelson. In the
early 1980's, Earth entered the "Kali Yuga", a time of great flux in reality's
mystical forces said to herald the final Age of Man. This challenge put Fate directly into
play against the Lords of Chaos and forced Nabu, for the first time, to allow Inza into
the Fate entity. This combination allowed progress in pushing back the tide of Chaos
foretold in the ancient prophecies (Flash #305-313).
Shortly after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, life in Salem changed. In events yet untold,
the strain of the Chaos war and the Crisis let Inza to suicide and aged Kent Nelson to a
man more approximately his age. Nabu recognized the loss of his long-time host and allowed
Kent Nelson to die, choosing Eric Strauss as a new host (Dr. Fate LS #1-4). Overtime, the
new hosts proved unsuccessful as Eric Strauss was killed by Darkseid's forced (Dr. Fate
#12) and his co-host, Linda Strauss also succumbed to the strain. The Nelson's enjoyed an
afterlife existence in which they appeared to live out normal lives, even raising
children. They sacrificed this however and returned to the land of the living to again
join with Nabu as Dr. Fate. In their second incarnation, Inza became the dominant form,
giving Fate a feminine appearance. Ultimately, through mechanisms as yet undescribed, the
two began forming the joint male Fate again.
During the Zero Hour Crisis initiated by Parallax, Fate led the Justice Society in it's
initial strike on Extant. The resultant battled cleaving the Fate entity in two, flinging
the Helm and Amulet of Nabu to the far ends of the globe and aging Kent and Inza Nelson to
extreme senescence (Zero Hour #3). In the aftermath, the artifacts of Nabu were recovery
by Jared Stevens, who assumed the mantle of Fate and the Nelsons once again entered the
afterlife Fate #0). Whether the Nelsons are truly dead or will ever return again remains
unknown.Notes:
- Without the
helmet, Kent Nelson is an ordinary mortal. Without a mortal host, Fate
cannot visit the earthly plane.
- In an
unrecorded story, Inza and Kent Nelson learned how to form Dr. Fate
together. During Zero Hour, Dr. Fate led the Justice Society on its last
battle against Extant, who defeated them. 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.
- Although both
Kent and Inza Nelson are no longer on the mortal realm of man, Kent played
an important role in the birth of the new Dr. Fate
- Kent Nelson has
now become a mentor for Hector and can always be found in the Amulet of
Anubis, where he and Inza now reside.
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