HISTORY

Before the dawn of man, the earliest sentient beings in the Universe were from the planet Cilia who evolved into the Lords of Order. These immortal beings pledged war on their brothers, the Lords of Chaos and vowed to rid the universe of them. For millions of years, they waged battle on each other, neither gaining an advantage over the other. In 3500 BC, an outspoken Lord of Order called Nabu challenged the way Order was enforced on Earth. Nabu felt that the Lords of Order had lost their way and their ignorance was just the heart of the matter. His punishment was banishment on Earth. Until Nabu learned to think as the Lords of Order did, he would not return to the realm of Order. Nabu took on the form of an Egyptian magician to help the Pharaohs of Egypt battle chaos. An Egyptian priest named Khalis (See 1st Issue Special #9) prayed to Anubis for magnificent power. The God Anubis, a Lord of Chaos, offered the priest the Amulet of Anubis to destroy Nabu. Nabu instead defeated the priest of Anubis and had him mummified alive as punishment for his crimes. Nabu recovered the Amulet and used it to increase his godly power on Earth. Over the centuries Nabu grew weak from battling Chaos and eventually entered suspended animation, where he waited for his next host body. (See Nabu)

Almost five millennia later a young boy named Kent Nelson was born in 1928 (post-Crisis) to Celestine Babcock Nelson, a spiritualist, and Sven Nelson, an archaeologist. Kent's mother died sometime after his birth under unknown circumstances. However, Kent's destiny was already written and at the age of 12, his sheltered life would soon change. It was 1940 and Sven Nelson had decided to take his son Kent on a dig to the Valley of Ur in Mesopotamia to an archaeological site. The natives were too scared of curses and the wrath of the gods to enter the temple, but Sven Nelson was unafraid. He and Kent ventured into the temple of Nabu the Wise, a feat that would soon change their lives. Kent wandered around the temple and stumbled upon an ancient sarcophagus containing the giant body of Nabu the Wise, an ancient Egyptian sorcerer. Kent felt that he had to pull the lever that was keeping Nabu asleep after thousands of years. After pulling the lever that kept Nabu in suspended animation, a poisonous gas swept through the temple and killed Sven Nelson but left Kent unharmed.

As gratitude for his release, Nabu offered to teach the boy magic. Kent only wanted his father back and refused, but with a wave of his hand, Nabu had removed all knowledge of Sven's death from the boy. Within that week, Nabu had transformed Kent into a full-grown man and taught him the ways of mysticism, order and power. Nabu's last wish was for Kent to release all his power on his master, but Kent could not kill Nabu, as he had grown attached to him. Nabu made a gesture of his hand and Kent remembered that the gas that freed Nabu had killed his father. In a rage, Kent summoned all his power to destroy the murderer of his father. At that instant, Nabu's true origin was revealed to Kent: Nabu was an energy being, a Lord of Order. Nabu explained the circumstances of his father's death and the never-ending battle between Order and Chaos. As a final gift, Nabu gave Kent a golden Helmet and an Amulet that would increase his powers. When Kent wore the Helmet, he was joined with Nabu and Earth would once again have a Lord of Order. (More Fun Comics #67, Secret Origins v2 #24 & All-Star Squadron #47)

During Kent's first adventure as Dr. Fate, he fought his first adversary, the evil sorcerer Wotan and rescued Inza Cramer from his evil clutches. (All-Star Squadron #47) Kent fell in love with Inza and they soon married. (The true power of Dr. Fate was for man and woman to be joined but Nabu had blocked the process so he could control Kent. Thus the trinity of Inza, Kent and Nabu could not be performed) Fate magically created a tower in Salem, Massachusetts as base of operations where he would become Earth's mystic defender. Dr. Fate's first encounter with a hero of that era was the Spectre, the wrath of God. Together they destroyed a military gateway to a netherworld of demons. (Spectre Annual #1) When America entered World War II, Dr. Fate and many other mystery men help defeat an assassination attempt of President Roosevelt's life. At Roosevelt's request, they formed the Justice Society of America. (See JSA).

During this time, Kent found the Helmet becoming more and more possessive of him, so rather than abandoning his battle against chaos, Kent created the half helm. Although Kent's powers were severely limited, he still had the ability of flight, invulnerability and super strength. However, Kent donned the Helmet one last time in order to find the missing Spectre. Dr. Fate discovered that the Spectre was under the control of Kulak and in a titanic battle with the Spectre, he was defeated and the Helmet of Nabu was lost somewhere in the netherverse. It would not be until the early 1960s that Kent Nelson would somehow recover the Helmet of Nabu and become Dr. Fate again. (All-Star Squadron #27-30) In the 1950s Kent Nelson had retired his Fate persona and became a physician. When the JSA came out of retirement during the modern heroic age, Kent rejoined them as Dr. Fate. Although their Justice Society comrades had aged slightly, Kent and Inza seemed immortal, as the magic Fate held over them virtually stopped their aging process. Inza and Kent had also received a portion of Ian Karkull's power (All-Star Squadron Annual #3), which gave them even more vitality.

Dr. Fate also co-founded the new Justice League (Legends #6) and helped foil the plans of Darkseid to turn Earth against its heroes. Kent's last JLA adventure was against the Gray Man. (JLI #7) This was the beginning of the Kali Yuga (Doctor Fate v1 #1-4), the final age of man in which Chaos would engulf itself to create the new Golden Age. The strain of the Kali Yuga caused both Kent and Inza to age rapidly. The strain on Inza caused her to lose her sanity and commit suicide, leaving Kent devastated. Nabu became more dominant in the relationship and would not allow Kent to die until he could find a new host body. Kent reluctantly helped Nabu find Eric Strauss as his protegee as the new Fate. It was only during these short few weeks that Kent discovered that Dr. Fate was meant to be a triad: Man, Woman and Fate. Kent broke Nabu's hold over Fate, allowing Eric and his stepmother Linda to become the new Dr. Fate. Nabu allowed Kent to die. (See Dr. Fate II)

When the Lords of Chaos brought back the Anti-Fate, Nabu traveled to the Tower of Fate in Salem to prepare the way for the TRUE Dr. Fate: Kent and Inza Nelson. As they looked into the Amulet of Anubis, they saw the souls of Kent and Inza Nelson. (Doctor Fate v2 #20) Jack C. Small and Petey ventured into the Amulet to find the Nelsons while Linda and Nabu prepare to fight Benjamin Stoner, the Anti-Fate. With Nabu's help, Linda found she could touch the items and become Fate with Nabu. Together, they created a four-armed Dr. Fate to battle the Anti-Fate, but failed and the Anti-Fate rejected the Lords of Chaos. Within the Amulet, Jack and Petey discovered Hesse, and with his help they found the Nelsons, who were enjoying normal lives in what they believed to be the afterlife, but was actually a dream world inside the Amulet. They had even had a son named Kent. Jack, Petey and Hesse tried to persuade them to return to Earth. Inza did not want to leave but eventually agreed that they could make this life happen on Earth.

Linda died from wounds inflicted during the battle with the Anti-Fate, and her soul entered the recently deceased Wendy DiBella. There she was reunited with her husband Eugene (Eric) and their daughter Raina. Nabu, given the choice between humanity and being an immortal Lord of Order, chose humanity and entered Wendy's unborn child. (Doctor Fate v2 #24) Inza Nelson became the new Doctor Fate. (See Dr. Fate III)

In an unrecorded story, Inza and Kent Nelson learned how to form Dr. Fate together. During Zero Hour, Dr. Fate led the Justice Society on its last battle against Extant, who defeated them. As he had the power of both a Lord of Order and Chaos, he forced the split of Dr. Fate, flinging the Helmet and Amulet through the netherverse, which would eventually return to Egypt, a nexus of Fate's power. Kent and Inza, who were aged rapidly by the separation, tried to recover the items of Fate from Jared Stevens, a mercenary who would later become the new Fate. The items rejected Kent and Inza and the Nelsons had to choose Jared Stevens as the new holder of Fate. After a deadly battle with Kingdom, the Nelsons were killed and were eventually allowed into the afterlife yet again. (See Fate I) During the quickest retcon in history (See Fate II), the history of Jared Stevens was rewritten again. Kent and Inza did not die after giving the items to Jared Stevens but became energy beings and went to explore the mysterious of the universe.

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