DR FATE: Agent of Order

"My background is in western medicine and the scientific method. Lately, though, I've undergone certain experiences I can't explain." --DR FATE
With SMALLVILLE finally over, this week "Know Your CBM Characters" will feature heroes and villains that has a history with the show.

Who is DR FATE?
DR FATE is a legacy of heroes in the realm of magic who act as agents of the Lords of Order in the battle against chaos, using the powerful Amulet of Anubis, Cloak of Destiny and Helmet of Fate. DR FATE was created by Gardner Fox and Howard Sherman.

KENT NELSON
The first DR FATE was Kent Nelson who appeared in More Fun Comics #55 (May 1940). He was shown to be an archaeologists' son who had discovered the tomb of an ancient wizard named Nabu. Visually, the character was unusual in that he wore a full face helm in his earliest appearances.
early appearance

In More Fun Comics #72 (Oct. 1941), DR FATE's appearance was modified, exchanging the full helmet for a half-helmet so his lower face was exposed and later still he would lose the cape. He begin to spend a lot more time hitting people than he does casting magic spells, turning him into a more traditional superhero than a practitioner of the mystic arts.

DR FATE is one of the founding members of the Justice Society of America, where he remained active for several years. Through the years Kent Nelson and his wife Inza, were kept young by the helm of Nabu. And there was period that Kent and Inza needs to fuse to become DR FATE.

Later on Kent again was the sole wearer of the helm, and soon be a part of forming Justice League International. It was during his tenure with the group that the magics that kept him and his wife young failed, and their bodies deteriorated and then they passed away.

Eric Strauss
With the death of Kent Nelson, Nabu looked for a new host. The search took him to a young man named Eric Strauss (aged to an adult by Nabu's magic) and his stepmother Linda Strauss. Nabu bound them so that they had to merge to become DR FATE, but could live apart when Fate was not needed.

Linda Strauss
In a battle on Apokolips, Eric was killed, leaving Linda to take over the role of DR FATE.

Inza Nelson
Inza Nelson became DR FATE, when her and her husband's soul, which was revealed to be stored in the Amulet of Anubis, were resurrected in youthful bodies.

Later Kent and Inza were able to join again and form the male version of DR FATE. During the event called Zero Hour, they faced the supervillain Extant during Parallax's attempt to change the history of the universe. Extant, with seeming ease, caused most of the Justice Society to rapidly approach their proper physical ages. He also separated the Nelsons from the helm, amulet, and cloak. The separation greatly aged and depowered the Nelsons, they then decided to return to Salem and went into retirement.

Jared Stevens
Enter the 90s where everything should be "cool". Nabu found a new host in Jared Stevens who discovered DR FATE's raiments. He was so "cool" that he dropped the name Doctor and just went with "Fate" (come to think of it that sounded like a girl's name). He altered the helm into a knife, a set of throwing darts, and an armband (cool!). When he met the Nelsons, the previous DR FATE, they died and their souls returned to the amulet of Fate.Jared was killed at the hands of an evil wizard as part of the latter's attempt to claim the mantle and artifacts of DR FATE for himself.

Hector Hall
The previous Fate was killed. Nabu, aware that this would happen, had planned ahead to ensure that the helm and the mantle of DR FATE would pass to a reincarnated Hector Hall. Hector's new body was the son of Hank Hall and Dawn Granger, agents of both Chaos and Order, which made Hector an agent of balance instead of one side or the other.

Kent V. Nelson
Later the Helm of Nabu is without a host again. After passing through many hands, the helm finally came to the possession of the Original DR FATE's grand nephew, Kent V. Nelson, a homeless former psychiatrist. Nelson has a hard time believing in magic at all, but after a confrontation with a demon Negal, and help from two women named Maddy and Inca, he accepts his role as the new DR FATE.

Black Lantern
In the Blackest Night event, the Original DR FATE, Kent Nelson, was transformed into a Black Lantern, he faced-off with his grand newphew Kent V. Nelson, the present DR FATE

LIVE APPEARANCES
Brent Stait
Actor Brent Stait played Kent Nelson/DR FATE in the Smallville double episode, "Absolute Justice". This was the first live action appearance of the character. In the show, he was a member of the JSA who can teleport others, see the past and the future and see the "fate" of individuals except of his own.

JSA REBORN - SMALLVILLE by Massol_alain

Erica Carroll
Inza Nelson, wife of Kent Nelson can be seen in an episode of Smallville. Though in this version she was never shown to be a part of DR FATE.

POWERS & ABILITIES
Note: Due to the nature of comicbooks being an on-going tale, the character's powers along with his appearance, is in a constant state of flux.

Thought Sharing: He can share in someone's thoughts by looking directly into their eyes.DR FATE possesses a variety of mystical powers. In general, even without wearing the Helmet of Nabu, the host can fly, is highly resistant to injury, has minor telekinesis, and has greater-than-human strength.

DR FATE is an accomplished sorcerer, and at his most potent able to match most other wizards in the DC Universe.

Powers granted to him by Nabu:Phasing, Invisibility, Levitation Flight, Damage Resistance, Magnetic Control, Time travel, Telepathy, Super Speed, Super Strength, Memory erasing, Illusion Casting, Immortality, Mystical Bolts, Enhanced Intellect and more.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Fate : http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Kent_V._Nelson_(New_Earth) : http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Kent_V._Nelson_(New_Earth)/Quotes : http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Doctor_Fate/Covers : http://www.comicvine.com/doctor-fate-kent-v-nelson/29-5898/ : http://www.comicvine.com/doctor-fate-kent-v-nelson/29-5898/images/ : http://dccomicsartists.com/goldage/DrFate.htm

This is the 63rd article in my Know Your CBM Character series. Any requests and suggestions for an article for this series write it down in the comment section BELOW.

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Message to the CBM community:To those who are making requests, check first [here] because I might have done an article on the character already. If I have not please be patient, I will get on it as soon as possible (but consider the fact that I spend hours writing one of these articles). Try to limit your request to characters that already have been adapted to live media, so that the feature will at least be relevant to the site – Comic Book Movie(though I include TV characters). Characters in Manga or Anime’, I am not particularly familiar of, I am not discounting these characters but it will probably take some time before I write a feature on them because I have to read up on these characters. Thank you for reading these articles! If there are errors on the feature article above, blame it on my age, humanity and ignorance. Just be sure to check the comment section for the corrections, any error I made will surely be pointed out and corrected by much bigger geeks (because there will always be a bigger geek out there). -This has been PollMaster inviting you to the geekside. MABUHAY CBM and Godspeed!

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5/17/2011
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