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Prince Khufu lived during the reign of Ramesses II in the 19th dynasty of ancient Egypt. Khufu believed that his ka, or soul, would not journey on to the land of the afterlife. Rather, his soul and that of his betrothed, Chay-Ara, were fated to remain in the mortal world.
As prophesied by the wizard Nabu, a space ship landed in Egypt. Prince Khufu, Nabu, and the champion Teth-Adam search the desert, finally coming across the remains of a Thanagarian ship styled with a hawk-like motif. Nabu casts a spell translating the strange language of the female space traveler. Just before dying, she whispers the words, "Nth Metal", the name of the substance that powered the downed ship.
Teth-Adam lifted the ship back to Khufu's palace, where it was studied inside the Temple of Horus at Erdu. The remaining Nth metal was examined, and its most obvious property proves to be its ability to negate gravity. The remaining sample from the ship is melted and used to create several remarkable devices, including a scarab which allows Khufu to fly, a deadly knife, and a battle glove referred to as the Claw of Horus. However, the metal also strengthens the souls of Khufu and Chay-Ara, binding them together in their love and imprinting them with the collective knowledge of Thanagar. Although the villainous priest Hath-Set murders the two with the knife of Nth metal, their souls live on in the mortal plane. They are reincarnated over many lifetimes, always finding true love in each other. However, they are cursed to be repeatedly killed at the hands of a reincarnated Hath-Set.
After his death, Khufu's soul is reincarnated countless times in markedly different eras and locations. Some of his known reincarnated identities have included:
Eventually, the soul of Prince Khufu is reborn as Carter Hall, an archaeologist active during the 1940s. After regaining the memories of his first life in Egypt, Hall uses the hawk motif of the Egyptian God Horus to inspire his role as the original Hawkman.
During the same period, his love Chay-Ara is reborn as archaeologist Shiera Saunders. After the two meet and marry, she becomes Hawkgirl, fighting at Carter's side. They become founding members of the Justice Society of America, and Hawkman takes the role of chairman. The pair reduce their activities in the early 1950s but became fully active again in the early 1980s when Hall briefly joins the Justice League of America as a mentor. The two have a son, Hector Hall, who later becomes an incarnation of Doctor Fate. Just following the Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series, Hawkman and the JSA become trapped in a battle in an ever-repeating Ragnarok. Odin tries unsuccessfully to give this repeating Ragnarok to Dream as a trade, knowing that Dream had by this time selected Carter's grandson, Daniel Hall, as his successor.
Years after they vanish, Hawkman and the JSA return to the modern day when a primitive but superpowered tribe volunteer to substitute themselves in the Ragnarok cycle. Soon after, however, death finds Carter once again during the events of Zero Hour. He and his wife Shiera merge with Katar Hol in a new version of Hawkman, which briefly creates the "hawk god" creature. This individual is active for a brief time but soon loses his sanity and is banished to limbo.
Years later, JSA member Kendra Saunders is transported to a ravaged Thanagar by the High Priests of the Downsiders. Seeking a champion to stop the evil Onimar Synn from enslaving the planet, the priests use Kendra's centuries-old connection to Carter to bring him back to the mortal plain. Following this unorthodox resurrection, Hall retains all the memories of his past lives, as well as those of Katar Hol, the Thanagarian Hawkman.
After defeating Onimar Synn, Hall once again becomes a member of the JSA. Operating both with the JSA as well as with Hawkgirl, Hall embarks on a wide variety of exotic adventures. His quest as a hero takes him from the streets of St. Roch to exotic dimensions and even into outer space as he fights in the Rann-Thanagar War. Following this event Carter stays in space to help mediate the truce on Rann and avenge the murder of Hawkwoman.
As a result, Hawkman is absent during DC Comics' "One Year Later" event. Hawkgirl is left by herself to patrol and protect St. Roch.
Hawkman is currently a member of the Justice Society of America.
Since then, it has been stated that Katar Hol's soul has passed on from the realm of limbo, as have his memories that existed in Carter's mind. Despite this, Carter still exists in a reconstructed version of Katar Hol's body.
To add a further matter of confusion, Carter, returning to space to help during the Rann-Thanagar Holy War, is approached by the Demiurge, a nameless god who inspired Plato into describing his namesake. The Demiurge denounces the cycle of incarnation and rebirths of Khufu and Chay-Ara as lies, simple grafts of the alternate version of Carter and Shiera residing in the different worlds of the multiverse that existed before the Crisis on Infinite Earths. He tells Carter that there are "Six Aberrations" in total, including Hawkman, whose origins are muddled and damaged by the the destruction and recreation of the universe. Carter is moderately impressed, until the Demiurge starts addressing to him as Katar Hol, turning his suspicions into fear: maybe Katar is the core personality, and Carter only an echo from the former Earth-Two.
Blessing: Carter Hall was a priest in a past life, and still possesses the ability to bless mundane objects. For example: By muttering a prayer in front of a building's sprinkler system, he was once able to convert the water into Holy Water in order to destroy a vampire.
Reincarnation: the nth metal knife which murdered Hawkman in his original incarnation as Khufu had an unusual effect upon his soul and that of his lover Chay-Ara(Hawkgirl). The pair are locked in a seemingly endless cycle of death and rebirth throughout the centuries. While not a superhuman power per se, this propensity for reincarnation has allowed Hawkman to cheat death and return to active duty in his current incarnation.Weapons Master: Due to his multiple incarnations, Khufu/Hall has become proficient in many types of weaponry. As a result, he is an expert with a wide array of archaic weapons from his past lives, including battle axes, maces, swords, spears and shields. As Nighthawk, he was a marksman with a pistol. In addition, Carter Hall is sometimes depicted handling futuristic technology. He has used a Thanagarian ship called "The Brontadon", and during the Rann-Thanagar War used Rannian hard-light armor. Hawkman is even depicted using technologically advanced laser weaponry in a possible future.
Reincarnated Knowledge: Due to his many lives and vast amount of experience, Hall is a brilliant tactician, fierce warrior, and strong leader. At the same time, however, he is extremely intelligent (considered a leader in his field of history and archeology) and expresses a deeply romantic side in relation to his beloved soul-mate. Often, Carter finds it difficult to balance between the "barbarian" of his past lives and the "gentleman" of his current incarnation.
Curse: every time he is born again he must wander the earth till he meets again with his eternal soul mate. But as soon as they form a deep bond, they are destined to be murdered again.
Artificial Feathered Wings: His wings, which are laced with Nth metal, allow him to control navigation and guidance during flight, though they can be "flapped" through use of shoulder motions.
Nth Metal Belt & Boots: Hawkman flies by way of an anti-gravity Belt & boots constructed from Thanagarian Nth Metal its abilities are controlled mentally.
Flight
Hawkman has access to an entire arsenal of medeivel weaponry. His favored weapons are the mace and flail.
  Justice Society of America member |
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