Since the amazing Justice League Dark Apocalypse War movie dropped, DC mystics and sorcerers have stepped into the spotlight in a big way, and I am all about it. And with the introduction of the Black Adam movie, Dr. Fate has become more and more popular. So, today we’re taking a look at arguably the strongest sorcerer in all of the DC universe, of course, I’m talking about Dr. Fate.
Dr. Fate used his magic to fight criminals while wearing a gold cape and helmet. The magic abilities of Fate were essentially unmatched. He had the ability to create illusions, fly, astral project, shoot magical energy bolts, teleport, use super strength, use telekinesis, telepathy, and every other form of pyrokinesis you could think of. There was hardly anything he couldn’t do using all of these skills thanks to his spell-casting skills.
First will dive into the powerful moments of Dr. Fate. Then we will also dig into his comic origins and history to better understand the character.
How Strong Is Dr. Fate?
Dr. Fate is just about as powerful as heroes come and here’s why. He possesses Super-strength, Super-Speed, telepathy, flight, levitation of objects, invulnerability, mystical scents, and vast knowledge of magic, and he never ages. Oh, and did I mention that’s just Nelson’s powers without the Helmet, Amulet, and Cloak? With the Helmet and everything on, he is capable of phasing, invisibility, time travel, magnetic control, illusion casting, mystical bolts, damage resistance, immortality and so much more.
He has the ability to recognize the presence of magic in his surroundings thanks to his Magic Sense. He also possesses cosmic awareness, which enables him to tune into the cosmos, foresee impending mystical events, detect the auras of others, and identify if they are linked with good, evil, or neither.
He is renowned for his proficiency with Molecular Reconstruction on organic materials. Although it might seem like we will be talking forever about him, he actually has a lot more skills and abilities. He is referred to as the supreme sorcerer for a reason.
Believe it or not, he’s actually one of the most powerful heroes in all of comics. To see how Strong Dr. Fate is, we will not include a list of every powerful moment Dr. Fate has had over the years, instead, we choose several prime examples of the character’s power on display to drive home how crazy strong Dr. Fate really is.
In the current continuity, a large portion of Doctor Fate’s abilities come from the spectral Helmet of Fate. On the other hand, Kent Nelson has dedicated his life to developing his abilities as a skilled explorer and acquiring his own unique set of magical powers.
Dr. Fate’s Power Against Superman – Can He Beat Superman?
Let’s start by comparing Dr. Fate to the superhero to whom all superheroes are compared in terms of strength, which of course is Superman. Dr. Fate once avoided a simultaneous attack from not only Superman but also Martian Manhunter, who was arguably just as strong, if not stronger in some ways than Superman. In this instance, these two titans of DC were being brainwashed by Darkseid to attack Dr. Fate.
But as they started to charge Fate, Fate says “forgive me for what I must do my friends, but I am confident you will soon thank me”. He then jumps out of the way, causing Manhunter and Superman to collide, and then does a spell to break their mind control. This instance shows that Dr. Fate has incredible speed, being able to dodge Superman and Martian Manhunter.
Dr. Fate has also knocked out an evil version of Superman. The comic even says only a wizard fist could hit Superman with such a telling effect. And Dr. Fate says, while throwing a left hook, “I know magic is a weakness of his, so I’ll dish out a really big helping of it”. Fate was also able to get right back up after getting backhanded by Superman. Getting backhanded is just so disrespectful, it’s like the most insulting thing ever.
Now, this next one is where things start getting a little crazy, like when Dr. Fate conjured up mystical chains to help Superman pull the earth’s continents back together. Because aliens, legitimately because of aliens, the continents on earth were converging on each other. So Dr. Fate conjured up magical chains that were so powerful, he was able to anchor them to said continents So that Superman could pull the continents back where they needed to be.
And the last Superman instance I’ll give you guys is when Dr. Fate told Superman that he could make him immune to the effects of magic. That’s right the helm of Naboo is so dang powerful, he can get rid of vulnerabilities from the strongest beings in the universe, Superman obviously being one of them.
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Dr. Fate Is Durable And Can Withstand Anything
Moving on Dr. Fate is so durable, he was once thrown through infinite dimensions by The Spectre and lived. As always I’m gonna be 100 percent honest with you guys, I have no idea how the physics or mathematics of that work, but I do know that is impressive either way. Specter literally says, “farewell, Fate as you hurdle helplessly through an infinity of dimensions, to the end of unrecorded time. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that not just anyone could survive the effects that I would have on one’s body and mind.
But even more impressive than that is the time he survived the place where nothing was real and reality itself was nothingness. If that sounds trippy, you’d be right, because sorcerers deal with all kinds of funky stuff. And in this instance, Dr. Fate even says, a place where strange powerful snake-like shapes can appear literally from nowhere. To coil a grip tight enough to permit no human breath. A place where no human truth holds, no physical law obtains”. Think about that, this is a place where nothing and anything can happen, and the rules of physics and reality do not apply. Yet Fate was not only to survive but escape.
Dr. Fate Can Reconstruct Things, Even Beings
Next up we have the time that Dr. Fate stopped Spector’s curse and literally repaired Hal Jordan’s soul after specter turned him into stained glass and shattered him on the pavement below. He then proceeds to say, “Is there anyone else you would like to pin your hopes on”. But out of nowhere, Hal Jordan’s shattered pieces start to levitate off the ground and ultimately bring Hal Jordan back to life. To which he says, “Whom do I have to thank”, and Dr. Fate shows up out of nowhere with the JSA saying, “My helmet just whispered a small spell of reversal from the book of wise, allowing me to stop the Spectre’s curse before your soul was shattered beyond repair”.
Dr. Fate was also shown to be able to reassemble broken Green Lantern constructs. He even says when talking about Alan Scott’s broken construct, “By reassembling its atoms, I can reconstruct its original form”. So this dude is so in tune with the magical forces, he essentially can reconstruct someone’s willpower. As a Green Lantern’s construct is the physical manifestation of said Lantern’s willpower. Not to get too much in the weebs, but with his ability of matter manipulation, he can reconstruct or deconstruct any physical object.
His telekinesis and telepathy are also some of the best in all of the comic books. So much so that he doesn’t need cerebral like Professor X does to find someone from across the world. Case in point, he was able to find Bruce Wayne’s consciousness a world away all on his own. He could also do stuff, like move planets with his mind, you heard me right, move planets with his mind. Like when he moved one into the sun, don’t worry he had a good reason.
Dr. Fate’s Helmet Has And Entire Universe Inside Of It
Fate could also do things as you know, bring the Justice League to an entirely different universe at will. And here’s one which is super crazy, the helmet of Fate once outran the Big Bang. Again I don’t know the max speed of that, but I do know that’s super impressive. And here’s a mind F, continuing talking about just the helmet itself, Dr. Fate’s helmet contains its own universe, as told to us by The Specter.
That is some Men in Black stuff right there like we can’t even comprehend with our feeble brains, how something as small as a helmet can contain an entire universe. But does that mean that Dr. Fate is a universe himself, kinda, sorta, maybe, but probably not?
But it doesn’t stop there, Fate’s amulet of Anubis also has a universe inside it, because why the hell not? Now some of you may be saying, having a universe in your helmet or amulet is cool and all, but how does that make you powerful? To this I say, any dude who could shove an entire universe in a helmet or necklace is someone you do not want to mess with.
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Most Powerful Among Lords Of Order
Now for those of you who don’t know the Lords of Order are higher beings of great mystical power that represent the order in the DC universe and when Fate was fighting Specter, the embodiment of god’s wrath Spectre told Fate, “I’ve destroyed all the Lords of Order and chaos, you’re the last surviving guardian of the ninth age of magic”. And like a boss Fate reveals, “And the most powerful”. So powerful in fact, he was able to stalemate the multiversal Specter who was amped up by all the magic in the multiverse.
In the end, Dr. Fate finally lost the battle, on purpose, saying, “Without my death, the current age will linger and the destruction you’ve begun will continue to build and feed upon itself. Wild magic will continue to run free so it’s clear the best course of action is to simply let you kill me”. This is borderline a christ-like action in the sense that he sacrificed himself for the good of the universe and then resurrected because this is comics and you know we can not have a Dr. Fate. Now you might think that’s it but you’d be wrong.
Again Dr. Fate is basically a god, which definitely explains this last instance. Dr. Fate was able to tap into the springs of creation itself in order to destroy a ship of unspeakable evil. Fate then proceeds to say, “I must tap into the wellsprings of creation itself, focus them through my person, and annihilate this unspeakable evil”. The comic then say tremors reach into the farthest corners of earth 1 and earth 2 because of this.
This magician, sorcerer, god, whatever you want to call him, tapped into the springs of creation itself to destroy an unspeakable evil, that’s insane and he’s a beast. There are many more demonstrations of his power that we didn’t get into, but all in all these examples should give you a much better understanding of just how strong Dr. Fate is. In the DC universe, he should never be underestimated.
Dr. Fate Comic Book History
If you’re not a die-hard DC fan, you most likely don’t know much about Dr. Fate beyond what the show in The Black Adam movie is. And that’s where I come in because here we’re going to take a gander at its Comic book history and origins.
Now before getting into Dr. Fate’s history, I just want to let you all know that many different people have worn the mantle of Dr. Fate over the years. Such as Kent Nelson, Eric and Linda Strauss, Inza Cramer Nelson, Jared Steven, Hector Hall, Kat V Nelson, and Khalid Ben.
Now I may briefly talk about each of them later but this section will mainly be focusing on one of them and that is Kent Nelson. He’s the original Dr. Fate from the Golden Age of comics and is easily the most popular version of the character. Hence Kent Nelson’s Dr. Fate is the one used for Superman the Animated Series and the Justice League Unlimited cartoon. Kent Nelson was also the version used for Smallville, Batman The Brave, and The Bold and Young Justice. I also believe that Kent Nelson is the Dr. Fate that is used in the Injustice 2 game
Dr. Fate Over The Years
Kent Nelson first appeared in More Fun Comics issue 55 in 1940. That’s right, he was created only two years after Superman and one year after Batman, meaning Dr. Fate is an OG DC character. Just several months after his creation Dr. Fate became a founding member of the Justice Society of America in All-star Comics Issue 3 in the winter of 1940. This lasted for years until he made his last appearance in the book in all-star comics issue 21 in 1944. Around the same time, his solo strip came to an end as well in More Fun Comics issue 98 in 1944.
But don’t feel too bad for Dr. Fate because when one door closes, another one opens. He would go on to appear in several other comic book titles like the World’s Finest, DC Presents, The Brave and The Bold and the lists go. He would go on to appear in different DC titles for years and even get his own miniseries now and then. But after 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths, good old Dr. Fate joined the Justice League. In 1988 DC also launched an ongoing Dr. Fate series written by J M DeMatteis and Shawn McManus. Then in 1999, the reemergence of the JSA allowed Dr. Fate to be reworked once again.
Then in 2005, the character was killed off as part of the days of vengeance limited series that led into the Infinite Crisis event. A few more things happened with Dr. Fate between 2005 and 2011, but in 2011 DC rebooted all of their books and continuity and made Dr. Fate part of the Earth 2 ongoing series. Finally, in 2015 we got a new Dr. Fate solo series that lasted 18 issues. And recently Dr. Fate briefly made an appearance in the DC Rebirth one-shot special. But let’s get into Dr. Fate’s origin
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Dr. Fate Origins
Kent Nelson was born in 1928, that’s right this dude is as old as dirt. His father Sven Nelson was an archeologist and his mom Celestine Nelson died shortly after his birth for an unknown cause. Flash forward to 1940, while on a dig with his father, Kent came across a temple and of course decided to explore it. While exploring the temple Kent spotted a sarcophagus that contained the body of Noboo The Wise. Next to it, he saw a lever that would open the sarcophagus. And what do you do when you see a lever that opens the Sarcophagus? You pull it off course.
Once the sarcophagus is open, white gas started pouring out, like some kind of old sci-fi movie, and Naboo awoke from its slumber. Naboo then thanks Kent for releasing him from his suspended animation, but this is a comic origin so tragedy must occur in one way or another. And here it is, we then find out that Kent’s dad Sven died in the chambers of the temple, because the chambers were built to release poisonous gas on anyone who didn’t know its secrets.
Once out of the temple they bury Sven and Naboo says, “I will try to repay you for your loss by teaching you the scripts of the universe”. So over the next several years, Naboo taught him many things, two of which being the secrets of levitation and how to move things with his mind. Naboo then tells Kent, “these shall be your garments, Kent Nelson, from this day on you shall be Dr. Fate”. And boom just like that with a Naboo handy Kent the helmet of fate, the amulet of Anubis, and the cloak of destiny, became Dr. Fate.
Who are the Lords of Order you ask? Well, the Lords of Order are a group of god-like supernatural beings who dedicated themselves and their near-infinite power to being the Force of Order in the universe, while also maintaining a cosmic balance across the entire universe. But let me also elaborate a little bit more on Naboo. He’s one of the Lords of Order who took human form and settled in ancient Egypt, where he was known as an incredibly powerful sorcerer slash magician.
Naboo’s soul actually resides within the Helmet of Fate, giving the wearer great magical power over the forces of order and chaos. And as many of you know from the Young Justice cartoons, Naboo is pretty unsympathetic to the mortals that become his hosts.
Three Objects That Make Dr. Fate
Let’s move on to the three objects that make up Dr. Fate. Most famously you have the Helmet of Fate also known as the Helmet of Naboo, then you have the Cloak of Destiny and Ambulate of Anubis.
Let’s start with the helmet. The helmet of fate is the link between those acting in the role and Naboo himself. As I just mentioned before, Kent Nelson had several abilities taught to him by Naboo, but only gained full power when wearing the Helmet of Fate. For this reason, a crap ton of people have sought the Helmet for themselves.
Then you have the Amulet of Anubis which gives the wearer magical abilities. It also has a magical void that can hold people inside it. Basically, it’s like a portable prison around your neck. And lastly, you have the Cloak of Destiny, in short, it grants where flight, super strength, and invulnerability. It’s essentially the coolest cape ever.
Different People Who Have Been Dr. Fate
Besides the most popular Dr. Fate, Kent Nelson, you also have Eric and Linda Strauss. After Kent’s death, because everyone eventually dies in comics, Naboo chose Eric Strauss and his wife Linda to become the next Dr. Fate. That’s right, it’s a two-for-one, Eric and Linda had to actually merge into one being in order to become Dr. Fate. That also explains why this Dr. Fate has boobs, but that’s slightly beside the point.
Kent Nelson’s wife Inza also dons Dr. Fate’s mantle. Kent and Inza’s souls had been residing in a fantasy world within Dr. Fate’s Amulet, but when they were resurrected in new younger bodies, Inza realized only she can become Dr. Fate. But as Dr. Fate, she became reckless in the use of her power. You may be saying wait, what, how can she become Dr. Fate? While at a certain point in Kent Nelson’s career, he had some fused with his wife in order to come to Dr. Fate, but after they died and were brought back to life, only she could become Dr. Fate
Moving along we have Jared Stevens, he was originally hired to retrieve the artifacts of Dr. Fate. Long story short, when he came into possession of the Helmet of the Naboo, Naboo was all like “yo, I want you to be the new Dr. Fate”. Jared turned him down but was eventually reluctantly drawn into the role, operating under the name Fate. If you’re wondering why he doesn’t have the Helmet, Amulet, and Cape.
Well, that’s because he tore the cape up and wrapped it around his arm to heal it after it was hurt. The Amulet blew up when he tried to use it against demons, which also gave him the tattoo on his eye and the Helmet he melted down to make a dagger and throw stars. Needless to say, this is a very different version of Dr. Fate, which is probably why he’s also just called Fate.
Then we have the son of Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Hector Hall. He was originally the Silver Scarab before his first death. Yes, I meant to say first death, again comic books. He then briefly took over the role of Sandman and finally was a reincarnation of Dr. Fate until dying a second time.
There’s also the grandnephew of the first Dr. Fate, Kent V Nelson. He succeeded Hector Hall as the new Dr. Fate after coming into possession of the Helmet. Then we have the New 52 Dr. Fate from Earth 2, Khalid Ben. Not a whole lot is known about him, except that he gained his powers at the same time Hawkgirl of Earth 2 gain her powers.
Next, we have Khalid Nassour, he’s a Brooklyn medical student and the last year of the Helmet of Fate. He has an American mother and an Egyptian father and is a descendant of the Pharaohs from long ago. He also just wears a blue hoodie, unlike your traditional Dr. Fate. As for the future of the character, it looks like Kent Nelson will be back as Dr. Fate once again as he briefly appeared in the DC Rebirth one-shot special. At least I could only assume that’s Kent Nelson’s Dr. Fate, as rebirth is all about going back to DC’s roots.
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