Doctor Fate

Doctor Fate (also known as Fate) is the name of multiple superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, the original version of the character first created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Howard Sherman, debuting in More Fun Comics #55 (May 1940). The character has appeared in various incarnations, with Doctor Fate being the name of several different individuals in the DC Universe who are a succession of sorcerers, with several attempts to revitalize the character.

In the DC Universe continuity, Doctor Fate was originally conceived as a force fighting against the supernatural by Nabu, a cosmic being affiliated with the Lords of Order, Mesopotamia deities, and a chief enemy of his cosmic opposites, the Lords of Chaos. Over time, Nabu instead empowered mortal agents to act on his behalf and the Lords of Order, the first being Kent Nelson, the Strauss family, and various others. Other versions of the character differ, acting as solely supernatural-based heroes, affiliated with the Lords of Chaos, or demon hunters. Several years after the New 52 reboot, DC Comics introduced its latest and second-longest-running incarnation, Khalid Nassour, the grandnephew of Kent Nelson chosen by ancient Egyptian deities and archangels.

The Doctor Fate character has appeared in various incarnations across multiple forms of media based on both comic and original characters; The Kent Nelson incarnation has appeared in several media, such as the television series Smallville, in which he is portrayed by Brent Stait, and the upcoming DC Extended Universe film Black Adam, in which he will be portrayed by Pierce Brosnan. In animated media, several incarnations of Doctor Fate have appeared in the Young Justice animated series; Nabu, Khalid Nassour and Kent Nelson's versions of Doctor Fate have appeared in the animated series alongside other original incarnations based on pre-existing characters such as Zatara, Zatanna, and Traci 13.

Kent Nelson
The original Doctor Fate, Kent Nelson is a Swedish-American who discovered the tomb of Nabu with his father. Having accidentally killed his father due to a deadly gas released from his tomb, the Lord of Order felt pity for the child and trained him in the ways of magic for two decades, bequeathing him his mystical amulet, helmet, and cloak, as well as all of his knowledge before Nelson started his career as a mystic superhero. He was a founding member of the Justice Society of America.

Kent Nelson in the newly revised continuity is the first mortal host to be Doctor Fate. He retains his original origin from the previous continuity and some of his earlier adventures. This version of Nelson is treated more callously by Nabu overall, used initially as an unconscious host to materialize himself onto the physical plane due to no longer having a body to create for himself. Nelson eventually regains control of his body in an ensuing magical conflict involving one of Nabu's former allies. He would come to find his apprentice and successor in the form of his great nephew, Khalid Nassour, who was chosen by Nabu's allies, the Egyptian Gods, to become Doctor Fate.

Nabu
In recent continuities, Nabu's time on Earth with his own physical body is the first person to be called Doctor Fate. In the Blue Beetle series, he is depicted in the past having one battle the Blue Beetle's scarab, Khaji-Da and the demigod Arion, once a fellow Lord of Order corrupted due to Khaji-Da (later stories retconned this reasoning) and their promise to protect his beloved city. He defeats Arion but the scarab escapes his grasp. He would later resume using the name in the modern era in an ensuing conflict between himself, Jaime Reyes, and a resurrected Arion. During this time-frame, he had used his successor, Kent Nelson, to manifest on the physical plane due to his physical body having deteriorated long after the initial conflict between Arion and the scarab centuries ago.

Eric Strauss
Eric Strauss (later Eugene DiBellia) debuted in Doctor Fate #1 in July 1987. Created by J.M Dematteis and Keith Giffen, the character was created to replace the original Doctor Fate character, Kent Nelson. He is the second character to assume the Doctor Fate mantle.

Born to a wealthy billionaire Henry Strauss and Rebecca Stauss, the latter whom was abusive to his wife and Eric himself. Selected as a future agent of order, Eric grew up aware of the existence of the Lords of Order, giving him a level of enhanced mystical awareness although it resulted in him possessing an abnormal personality that made him unable to interact with children his own age. He also possessed a special connection to his step-mother Linda due to the both of them being selected as future agents of order.

At the age of ten, Eric was chosen as Nabu's next agent of order to inherit the Doctor Fate mantle, subquentionally aging up the boy in a similar manner to Nelson before although this time, Eric's mind did not mature. He would act as Doctor Fate alongside Linda, the two often merging in order to become Doctor Fate. Nabu goes on to possess Kent's corpse in order to personally advise them. The three of them are soon joined by a friendly demon called Petey and lawyer Jack C. Small.

Overtime, despite Eric's mind being similar to a child of ten years old, Linda developed romantic feelings for her step-son while Eric reciprocated such feelings. Eric is eventually killed on Apokolips during a battle with Desaad, forcing Linda to become Doctor Fate on her own. Linda is killed soon afterward by the Lords of Chaos. Eric and Linda's souls were reincarnated in the bodies of Eugene and Wendy DiBellia while Nabu reincarnates in Eugene and Wendy's unborn child.

Linda Strauss
Linda Strauss (later Wendy DiBellia) debuted in Doctor Fate #1 in July 1987.Created by J.M Dematteis and Keith Giffen, the character would eventually serve as the successor to Eric Strauss as Doctor Fate. She is the third character to assume the Doctor Fate mantle and the first female character to serve as Doctor Fate.

Husband to wealthy billionaire Henry Strauss, she would come to regret her marriage with Henry, having married him for his wealth despite the two having an age gap and was subjected to physical and emotional abuse by him prior to his death. She would also come to care for Eric Strauss, possessing a special connection with him due to being unknowingly selected as an agent of order. She eventually becomes Doctor Fate, often working alongside Eric in tandem while being guided by Nabu, whom possessed Kent Nelson's body, and are assisted by a friendly demon name Petey and Lawyer, Jack C. Small. Overtime, despite Eric's mind being similar to a child of ten years old, Linda developed romantic feelings for her step-son.

Eric is eventually killed on Apokolips during a battle with Desaad, forcing Linda to become Doctor Fate on her own. During her short tenure as Doctor Fate, she would become a member of the Justice League International. Linda is killed soon afterward by the Lords of Chaos. Eric and Linda's souls were reincarnated in the bodies of Eugene and Wendy DiBellia while Nabu reincarnates in Eugene and Wendy's unborn child.

Inza Cramer Nelson
Inza Cramer-Nelson (also Inza Saunders) debuted in More Fun Comics #55 in 1940, created by created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Howard Sherman. Originally, the character was created as a love interest for Kent Nelson, the original character to have starred as Doctor Fate. She would eventually become the fourth character to bear the Doctor Fate name and the second female character to become Doctor Fate.

In a scheme to lure in Doctor Fate, Inza was kidnapped by the scientific villain, Wotan. Inza and Doctor Fate meet, the woman enamoured with a life potentially filled with adventure and would accompany Doctor Fate as his partner. Eventually, Kent Nelson revealed his identity to her and she would support him when he became a medical doctor, accompanying him as a nurse.

Later, the two would marry, the magics of the Tower of Fate keeping them young. Overtime, their marriage became strained due to Nabu's influence on Doctor Fate and Inza coming to resent having to be in a passive role within the Tower of Fate, resulting in a loss of a social life. Despite later having some romantic feelings for another man, Inza ultimately remained faithful to Kent with intent on working through their martial problems. Eventually, Inza and Nelson would be killed in the wake of the cosmic event known as kali yuga, the Lords of Chaos empowered and weakening Nabu, rapidly aging both of them and the strain being too much for Inza to bear. Eventually, Nelson too was killed and in the aftermath, the two would live out their afterlfie within the Amulet of Anubis for a time, the pair creating the life they missed out in their lifetime in the dimension, including a child.

Eventually, the pair are resurrected into younger bodies and Inza becomes the sole Doctor Fate for a time, unable to merge with Nelson. As Doctor Fate, Inza's methods are more proactive although she becomes more reckless in their use, stemming a temporary separation from Kent. The two reconcile their differences upon learning Inza's patron as Doctor Fate originating from a Lord of Chaos, making her an agent of chaos. The Chaos Lord revealing himself to have subtly influenced some events enough to cause the two to have strife against one another and enjoyed having the Lords of Chaos be a force of good, reasoning that even Chaos Lords did not find evil as favorable. The Chaos Lord would relinquish the powers bestowed to Inza back to himself although she would replace her chaos magic with magics stemming from life and continued acting as Doctor Fate, with Nelson acting alongside her. When operating as separate Doctor Fates, Inza wears the helmet and Kent's original costume while Kent wears the half helmet and costume he used in the late 1940s. Sometime later, the Nelsons and the JSA face the supervillain Extant during Parallax's attempt to change the history of the universe. Extant uses his time manipulation powers to rapidly age Kent and Inza to their proper physical ages. Extant also scatters the helmet, amulet, and cloak. The aged and depowered Nelsons then retire.

After the New 52 reboot, Inza would make a minor appearace in a flashback, establishing her as Nelson's wife like the previous continuities. The flashback also implies her history being similar to her depiction in the Silver Age, Bronze Age, and Golden Age.

Jared Stevens
Jared Stevens debuted in Fate #0 in 1994, created by John Francis More and Anthony Williams. The character was created as the fifth incarnation of the Doctor Fate character. Unlike other depictions of the character, he is instead referred to as simply Fate. As opposed to being a traditional sorcerer and spell-caster, he is instead cast similarly to a demon hunter and has the most radical of designs compared to other incarnations of Doctor Fate. This incarnation was considered an unpopular reinvention of the character.

After retiring, the Nelsons hire smuggler Jared Stevens to recover the helmet, amulet, and cloak from an Egyptian tomb. When the Nelsons try to collect the artifacts, they are murdered by two demons. During the battle, Jared attempts to use the amulet as a weapon, which then explodes and imbues him with various magical abilities and a red ankh-shaped scar over his right eye. Jared's injuries force him to use the cloak as a wrap for his right arm and to melt the helmet into a set of ankh-shaped darts and a dagger for use as weapons. After defeating the demons, Jared is contacted by Nabu, who attempts to make Jared the new Doctor Fate. Jared refuses and escapes, becoming a demon hunter using the alias "Fate".

During his battles, he teams up with the supernaturally powered team of fugitives Scare Tactics, Etrigan the Demon and other forces to combat threats from the realm of Gemworld. Jared is later murdered by Mordru, who attempts to kill all the agents of the Lords of Chaos and Order and claim Fate's artifacts for himself. Jared's equipment reverts to its original forms and returns to the Tower of Fate upon his death.

During the Dark Nights: Death Metal storyline, Jared is briefly seen among the superheroes that were revived by Batman using a Black Lantern ring. His appearance implies he was involved as an incarnation of Doctor Fate after the New 52 reboot although the exact history has yet to be explained.

Hector Hall
After Jared's murder, the mantle of Doctor Fate, along with a restored helmet, amulet, and cloak, is passed to a reincarnated Hector Hall. The Justice Society is reformed to protect the newly reborn Hector, who is being sought by Mordru so that he can use the boy's body to unlock the magical potential of Doctor Fate's artifacts for his own benefit. Hector's new body is the biological son of Hawk and Dove, who are agents of Chaos and Order, respectively, which makes Hector an agent of balance instead of one side or the other. When the Spectre goes on a quest to extinguish magic, he banishes Hector and his wife to a snowy mountain landscape for all eternity, which they are only able to 'escape' by entering the Dream realm, although this essentially kills their bodies and means they can never return to Earth.

Kent V. Nelson
The latest incarnation of Doctor Fate prior to the New 52 reboot, the character debuted in the first issue of Countdown to Mystery in 2007 as an attempt to revitalize the character; unlike other Doctor Fates, the character lacks any connections to Nabu and either of the Lords of Order or Lords of Chaos, as the two factions were killed off in a previous storyline. In addition, the character's powers is not tied to any known mythology, making the Doctor Fate character exclusively a mystic superhero.

A psychiatrist and the grand-nephew of Kent Nelson, the character would lose his status following his infidelity leading to a divorce, leading to depression and losing his license following negligent practices in the workplace. Eventually, the Helm of Fate, seeking a new host, would choose him as the next incarnation of Doctor Fate. The character would become a member of the Justice Society of America, struggling with upholding the legacy of spell-casters with his initial lack of magical expertise.

Khalid Nassour
The newest and current incarnation of Doctor Fate, Khalid first appeared in June 2015, starring in a Doctor Fate solo series, created as another attempt to revilize the character, this time using the Egyptian-related background of the character. The character's journey & world would be inspired by Marvel Comics' Spider-Man and Doctor Strange and is notably one of DC Comics's first Muslim characters to healine a solo series. Unlike the other incarnations, the character's designation as Doctor Fate comes from both a cultural connection to Egyptian deities and a religious connection to Archangels instead of Nabu.

An Egyptian-American medical student, Khalid would be bestowed the Helmet of Fate by the Egyptian goddess Bastet masquerading as his pet cat. Initially, He was not as widely powerful as the other Doctor Fates of the previous reality though he retained some magical powers in spite of it. It was later revealed that Khalid's mother, Elizabeth, was the niece of Kent Nelson, making Khalid his grandnephew. Due to his inexperience, he is eventually taken in by Kent Nelson as his apprentice, the both of them being Doctor Fate. Khalid would become the sole Doctor Fate in the pages of Justice League Dark when Nelson perished in battle with Upside Down Man, having completed enough of his training to be considered one of the world's foremost magicians.