Alternative versions of Doctor Fate

Through the publication history of DC Comics, several alternative versions of Doctor Fate have been created with usage of the codename in DC Comics. Often defined as a legacy hero within the fictional DC Universe, the first character to adopt the codename, Kent Nelson, was created by Gardner Fox and Howard Sherman. Over the character's publication history, several other characters have adopted the name, such as Hector Hall and Khalid Nassour. Alternate versions of the character also exist within the DC Multiverse, such as Khalid Ben-Hassin and Doc Fate.

Eric and Linda Strauss are a pair of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Debuting in Doctor Fate #1 (July 1987) and created by J. M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen, both characters are the original successors of Doctor Fate and agents of order advised by Nabu in Kent's deceased body whom could merge as one entity known as "Doctor Fate".¹ When merged into a singular entity known as "Doctor Fate", the pair possess similar powers to Nelson's own, potentially surpassing the other in raw power. The pair could also split into two separate entities, although their complete power is halved.¹ Due to being novice sorcerer(s), the incarnation lacked knowledge in the supernatural compared to Kent and were considered unremarkable retroactively.²¹³⁴

Born to wealthy billionaire Henry Strauss and Rebecca Stauss, the former abusive to both his son and wife, ten year old Eric grew up with a keen awareness for the Lords of Order and exhibited a abnormal personality that made him incompattible with children at his age. Conversely, Linda was Henry's second wife (and Eric's step-mother) following Rebecca's suicide and married him for his wealth but comes to regret it upon finding his abusive tendencies but found herself fond of Eric. Nabu and an aged, reluctant Kent selects Eric as the next Doctor Fate, aging up the boy in a similar manner to Nelson before although his mind did not mature. Faced against Typhoon, a Lord of Chaos, the pair discovered they merged to form Doctor Fate and defeat the threat as Kent passes on. A merging pair to become Doctor Fate, Nabu would supplant Kent's corpse as his own to advise them.⁵ The three of them are soon joined by a friendly demon called Petey and lawyer Jack C. Small.⁶⁵In the Cosmic Odyssey miniseries, they assist Darkseid, Highfather, and other heroes and villains in battling a sentient being made up of Anti-Life energies.⁷

Over time, despite Eric's mind being similar to a child of ten years old, Linda developed romantic feelings for her stepson while Eric reciprocated such feelings. Eric is eventually killed on Apokolips during a battle with DeSaad (disguised as Darkseid), forcing Linda to become Doctor Fate on her own and Eric's spirit discovers his soul alongside Linda and his parents were part of a reincarnation cycle with varying dynamics, explaining their connection and attraction. Linda is killed soon afterward by the Lords of Chaos. Eric and Linda's souls are reincarnated in the bodies of Eugene and Wendy DiBellia while Nabu reincarnates in Eugene and Wendy's unborn child.⁸ In their place, Kent and Inza Nelson are revived in younger bodies.⁹

Kent Nelson's wife, Inza Cramer, later adopted. Succeeding Eric and Linda, Inza is inadvertently empowered by the Lords of Chaos.¹⁰ A spell-caster more talented than Kent and once a user of chaos magic from her patronage, she could also merge into a singular entity with Kent to gain more power.¹⁰ Due to having not undergone Nabu's training, Inza's mental state was at risk over time wshen performing magic.¹¹ Inza's magic also had limitations, unable to conventionally cure ailments such as cancer and revive others without reprocussions.¹⁰

As Doctor Fate, Inza's role in the 1988 Doctor Fate ongoing series has her a protector of an impoverish section in New York City with a focus on social class issues in addition to battling supernatural entities.¹⁰ She also appears in the War of the Gods storyline to aid Wonder Woman and other heroes to thwart Circe's efforts to destroy Earth.¹² During the "Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!" storyline in 1994, Kent and Inza merge to become Doctor Fate,¹³ but are defeated by Extant, and are rapidly aged with the loss of their artifacts, leaving the pair powerless.¹⁴ In the original Fate series, the married coupled are killed after having hired smuggler Jared Stevens to retrieve Fate's artifactsby demons. With the pair dead, circumstances also leads Stevens to claim the mantle, albeit in his own unique manner as "Fate".¹¹ When Stevens' origin was rebooted in 1997 by Keith Giffen, circumstances differ with Kent and Inza, the latter whose mental health were compromised in her brief time as Doctor Fate. Kent manages to trick Stevens into the role, allowing the both of them to ascend into the afterlife while Stevens is burdened with the mantle.¹⁵

Jared Stevens, also known as Fate, is a superhero appearing American comic books published by DC Comics created as the fifth incarnation of Doctor Fate, debuting in Fate #0 in 1994, and created by John Francis Moore and Anthony Williams. An often-thought unpopular revision,¹⁶ Fate is an unpopular (with both the superhero and mystic community alike) demon-hunter with no spell-casting powers and agent for the Lords of Balance investigating supernatural matters.¹⁷ Some revisions have omitted this versions' history in main continuity.¹⁷¹⁸

In his original Fate series, he is the son of an account and criminal mother raised in Boston by the former until he moves to Europe at sixteen but distances himself from his mother by going to law school as an adult. Wanting a more exciting life, he joins the Institute for Phenomenological Study as an adventurer and is caught in a race for a magical artifact, leading to his first supernatural experience he dismisses as a hallucination.¹⁹²⁰ Now a smuggler for artifacts, he finds himself seeking the artifacts of Doctor Fate but when the Nelsons are killed by demons led by Kingdom, his status as the next incarnation is revealed but resists Nabu's control with the Amulet of Anubis's power, causing a mystic explosion that brands an ankh tattoo over his eye and grants him powers and cripples his arm, held together by the Cloak of Destiny outfitted as a makeshift bandage. Becoming the demon hunter Fate, he works with Scare Tactics, Etrigan the Demon, and other forces to combat threats from the realm of Gemworld.

In the rebooted Book of Fate series, he is instead assisted by Arnold's sibling, Vera Burnsteel. Both Burnsteels are accomplished hackers and conspiracy theorists who seek to help him understand his role through occult research. 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. His tenure is defined later to have lasted at least over a year before he was succeeded by Hector Hall.²¹²²

Shortly after Jared Stevens's death, Hector Hall later undergoes a reincarnation cycle that enables him to return to life. Shortly after his birth, Mordru accelerates Hector's aging process to adulthood, intending to usurp his power as Doctor Fate.¹⁹ However, he succeeds in becoming Doctor Fate. As a member of the Justice Society, he is considered less aloof and potentially a greater Doctor Fate but struggles with continuing the Fate legacy and both he and his teammates question if he can balance his responsibilities while having an ordinary life.²³²⁴ Wielding a vast array of spells and "eldritch formulae", his source of power is from both Nabu's suggestions while his spirit inhabits the helm and the ability to cast spells verbally. He is considered potentially among the most powerful of incarnations.²³²⁴ Hall's spell-craft is borrowed from a variety of cultures such as those belonging to the Mayans, the Picts, and ancient Egyptians.²² His magical power can be derived from several forms of magic: white, dark, order, and chaos.²⁵

On a later adventure in Kahndaq, Hector and Nabu clash as the latter argues the legitimacy of Black Adam's current agenda and accuses him of blindly following his father. Nabu later takes control of Hector and imprisons his spirit in the Amulet of Anubis. Within the Amulet, he is reunited with the previous incarnations of Doctor Fate: Kent Nelson, Eric Strauss, and Linda Strauss, who help him trap Nabu inside the Amulet.²⁶ Lyta and Hector return to the Tower of Fate and live happily until they are trapped in Hell by the Spectre, who is on a rampage to destroy all magic.²⁷²⁸ Near death, Lyta and Hector enter a portal to the Dreaming as their physical bodies die.²⁹

Kent V. Nelson is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Justiniano, he first appeared in Countdown to Mystery #1 (November 2007) as the seventh character to use the Doctor Fate codename. Succeeding the Hector Hall incarnation, the character was created in order to simplify the Doctor Fate character, featuring several departures.³⁰³¹

The grand-nephew of Kent Nelson (his namesake), Kent V. Nelson is a former psychiatrist whose life falls apart when his wife learns of his infidelity and he loses his license to practice from malpractice stemming from his depression. Kent dons the Helmet of Fate and assumes the role prior to the Final Crisis.³²³³ During the Reign in Hell storyline, he battles Lady Blaze and assists other supernatural heroes in an intervention in Hell's affairs due to a civil war waged by Satanus and Blaze herself. Inexperienced, he manages to defeat Blaze but both siblings managed to secure the throne, ultimately going to Blaze.³⁴ Later joining the JSA, he helps the team battle Mordru.³⁵³⁶ the Starheart (although he is mind-controlled), the new threat known as Scythe while helping the Pierce family.³⁷

Similar to Marvel Comics' Doctor Strange, the helm provides spell-casting powers that allows the younger Nelson to utilize a consistent set of spells and charms.³¹ Among his spell-craft includes those within the helm, in which has a library of spells for Nelson to use and could utilize basic magical spells.³⁵ Unlike prior versions, however, Gerber imposed limitations such as the Helmet for this iteration no longer conferring a mastery of magic and being a novice sorcerer, making his knowledge limited.³⁴³¹ With his powers originating from the helm, Nelson was depowered without it.³⁵

Several other versions of the character exist in alternate versions of the DC Universe often to as the Multiverse. Within these fictional parallel universes, each of these characters appear within their own continuity and stories, often differing from versions depicted within the mainstream comic books. These versions of the character specifically are different characters and incarnations typically disassociated with the mainstream bearers (i.e. Strangefate) and/or possess varying different characteristics despite sharing aspects (i.e. Doc Fate).

An alternate version originating alternate future based upon the original version appearing in the 1958 Legion of Super-Heroes, this futuristic Doctor Fate of the 31st Century (or simply Doctor Fate), whose real name is Sofie, is a founding member of the 31st-century iteration of the Justice Society. She first appeared in New Golden Age #1 (November, 2022), created by Geoff Johns (writer), Steve Lieber, and Jerry Ordway (artists). Like Khalid Nassour, Sofie is a dark-skinned Egyptian-American and sports a similar helmet design.⁴³

She first appears as among Per Degaton's casualties as he seeks to kill Doctor Fate and the JSA across history, targeting the former due to the helm's ability to block his precognition and manages to kill her.⁴⁴ Sofie's existence is later saved by Nassour, who pulls her from her moment of death to help the past and 2020s JSA iteration seal away Degaton.⁴⁴ In her own distant future, it is stated that she would eventually be succeeded by her granddaughter as Doctor Fate.⁴⁴ A time-displaced version of the character would also as a member of the Mister Terrific's Terrific Ten team