Dr. Fate

Origin:  Kent Nelson was the twelve year old son of archaeologist Sven Nelson. Kent had accompanied his father on a excavation in the Valley of Ur in Mesopotamia. While wandering around the ruins, Kent discovered a sarcophagus containing the body of a gigantic sorcerer called Nabu the Wise. When the sarcophagus was opened it released a toxic gas which killed Kent's father, but spared Kent. Nabu took Kent as his apprentice and matured him to adulthood. Once he had finished training Kent in the mystic arts, Nabu requested that his apprentice direct a spell towards him. Kent did so, killing Nabu and releasing his life essence. Nabu told Kent that he was a space god from the planet Cilia, whose race had advanced to such a state that they knew the "secrets of the universe"). Nabu's parting gift to Kent was a helmet and an amulet which would increase his power.

In his first significant battle, Dr. Fate fought the wizard Wotan. Wotan had captured Inza Kramer, a college student then in Egypt, as part of his plot to conquer the world. Dr. Fate rescued Inza from Wotan and soon became lovers. Eventually Kent even revealed his secret identity to her.

Powers: Even though Dr. Fate's power is not limitless, it sometimes seems so. In fact, he is probably second only to The Spectre as the most powerful Justice Society of America member of all time. Dr. Fate is capable of such diverse talents as flight, teleportation, clairvoyance, the projection of energy blasts, and the creation of objects out of thin air, among other things. Without the helmet Kent Nelson is not nearly so formidable, although he still has the ability to cast the most basic of spells.

History: Dr. Fate was entirely the creation of Garder Fox, who even designed his costume. Fox had been inspired by H. P. Lovecraft in creating the hero and originally wanted to call him "Dr. Droon." Fortunately, the character was quickly renamed "Dr. Fate." Dr. Fate first appeared in More Fun Comics #55, June 1940, although his origin would not be told until issue 67, April 1941. Dr. Fate would be one of the charter members of the Justice Society of America, appearing at their first meeting in All-Star Comics #3, winter 1940.

Throughout the series' original run, Dr. Fate's powers were not always consistent. In some issues Dr. Fate appeared nearly all powerful, capable of nearly anything. In other issues,  Dr. Fate could do little more than fly. During the Golden Age no explanation was offered as to why Dr. Fate's powers varied so drastically.

Although a popular character today, Dr. Fate was not one of the more popular characters in the Golden Age. Dr. Fate's series in More Fun Comics ended with issue 98, December 1943. He made his final Golden Age appearance in All-Star Comics #21, summer 1944.
 
 

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