Fate
Created by John Francis Moore
NAME + ALIASES:
Jared Stevens
KNOWN RELATIVES:
Mr and Mrs. Stevens (parents), Holly Stevens (ex-wife), Gabrielle Marsh (father in-law, deceased)
GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
None
FIRST APPEARANCE:
Zero Hour #0 (Oct. 1994)
Rebooted: Book of Fate #1 (Feb. 1997)
The hero known as Fate was the inheritor of the artifacts used by Doctor Fate. This character went through a confusing reboot just three years after the character itself had been launched from a DC reboot called Zero Hour.
The writer of Fate, John Francis Moore, was never fully comfortable writing the new series of Fate and with the backlash against Zero Hour, Fate never really took off — until the end of the series. By then, it was too late and DC tried a new approach with writer Keith Giffen, under editor Dan Thorsland. They decided to rewrite the entire Fate history in a new series titled Book of Fate. Everything that John Francis Moore wrote was rendered out-of-continuity.
Fate I
During the Crisis in Time called Zero Hour, (Zero Hour #3) Extant mercilessly killed Hourman, Atom and Dr.Midnight while stripping Kent and Inza of their power. Extant aged the JSA back to their correct age, reversing any effects that Ian Karkull had bestowed upon them while the Nelsons lost the power of fate that had kept them young. The helmet of nabu was lost yet again and would soon be found by Jared Stevens a treasure hunter. Kent and Inza came looking for the helmet from Jared and summoned themselves and Jared to Tower of Nabu in Salem. Kingdom had sent two of his followers in search of the helmet, Bloodstain and Thunderspawn would soon arrive. Kent explained to Jared the story behind the helm of Nabu, the amulet of Anubis and the cloak of destiny but Jared ignored their warnings. The towers defences had failed and Bloodstain and Thunderspawn had entered the Tower in search of the helmet which contained much arcane power. The Nelsons fought valiantly but Bloodstain was absorbing their life energies and the Nelsons were vanishing rapidly. Before departing Inza said to Kent "Let go, dearest...whatever lies beyond...we will be together. Kent realized that it was Jared's turn to take on the mantle of Fate, "A dangerous future awaits you Jared Stevens" said Kent and in a bright light the Nelsons finally departed this plane.
Jared fought the creatures of the dreadlands and the amulet of nabu was crushed in his hand by Thuderspawn. The tower exploded in a white burst of light and Jared found himself having visions of his future self in the Dreadlands. Injured during the battle, Jared used the cloak of destiny as a bandage around his arm and was soon summoned by Nabu. Nabu wanted to use Jared the same way he used Kent, Jared the host and Nabu the controller but Jared refused. The amulet had become part of Jared and not even the Lord of Orders powers harm him. Nabu recognized defeat and left his plane to allow Jared to melt down the helmet of nabu into a blade and some throwing ankhs. Jared returned to Earth but had a strange mark on his right eye, a red ankh. Jared eventually defeated the hordes of Kingdoms and Kingdom himself while making other enemies such as Charnelle. Only recently has Charnelle realized that Jared is not tainted by Kingdom's legacy and she is considered an alley of Fate. Weeks after Jared became the new Fate, he came under criticism by the mystic heroes of the DCU such as Bloodwynd, Phantom Stranger and Alan Scott the original Green Lantern now called Sentinel. Jared Stevens is still quite active in the DCU, taking part in Underworld Unleashed while making strong alliances with the mystic heroes of the DCU such as Sentinel and Zatanna.
During the reign of the new Fate, Jared was unknowingly assisted by the spirits of the Nelsons. Kent and Inza possessed the following people; the bag lady, a bodyguard of L'Infern, a motorcycle cop, Teo and Eric & Linda Straus to assist Fate. (Hand of Fate storyline) The Cosmic balance was in danger and Kent and Inza possessed Eugene and Wendy to speak to Nabu the child. After escaping from Cantrip's men in black, Jared found himself in a dreamworld where he was reading the book of Fate that told that he was going to destroy the world. Pharoah asked Fate to choose between light or darkness, obdience or rebellion & life and death. Pharoah is an immortal, a god who has been helping man grow but needs Fate to work by his side as Nabu once did. The Nelsons talk to Nabu and Kent gives him the half helmet where he, Rainua (Eric & Linda's daughter) and Nabu touch the helmet and suddenly vanish in a bright light. Inza is outraged and seeks help from Sentinel. Fate eventually arrives at Pharoah's kingdom and tells Jared his story when the real Dr.Fate appears (Kent/Rainua and Nabu) seeking Fate's power.
As Fate became more and more distant from the DC Universe, it was discovered that Fate watches certain nexus' where demons and supernatural beings visit Earth. Although most of the time, these beings are harmless, sometimes they must be set straight. (JSA #1 Secret Files #1) However, recently, the Dark Lord called Mordru has been seeking out mystical artifacts on different worlds and killing agents of Order and Chaos. Jared Stevens was the first victim of the Dark Lords rampage and was killed with his own knife. (JSA #1)
PRINCIPLE ADVERSARIES:
- Cantrip (Fate #??) - Works for the government
- D'Vowr (Fate #14) - A being that feeds from peoples dreams and miseries.
- Grimoire (Fate #6) -
- Kingdom (Fate #0) - Lord of the Dreadlands, now deceased?
- L'Infern (Fate #7) - A God empowered by some unknown being
- Pharoah (Fate #8) - An Unknown being that controls L'Infern and perhaps Jared Stevens
- Nabu (Fate #20/21) - Former power holder of Fate
- Ricky Contrares (Fate #16/17) - Former friend of Jared
Fate II
Revamped by Keith Giffen
In Book of Fate, Jared Stevens' story was reworked from scratch. The original Doctor Fate Kent Nelson left clues about the effects of Zero Hour. Doctor Fate was forced to split by the power of Extant. Extant then used his chronal energy to revert the JSA to their correct ages. Thus Kent and Inza Nelson were in their 70s, and retreated to the Temple of Nabu. They waited for Jared Stevens to take the mantle of Nabu.
During the Crisis in Time called Zero Hour, (Zero Hour #3) Extant mercilessly killed Hourman, Atom and Dr.Midnight while stripping Kent and Inza of their power. Extant aged the JSA back to their correct age, reversing any effects that Ian Karkull had bestowed upon them while the Nelsons lost the power of fate that had kept them young. This increase in age made the Nelsons unable to become Doctor Fate again. A new fate was needed to chosen, and he was Jared Stevens, the Grave Robbing Adventurer who would be destined for greatness. After reluctantly accepting a contract from "old jackass Marsh", his father in-law to recover the artifacts of order, his life would soon change. Marsh told Stevens that these items of power once belonged to Nabu, the Lord of Order, the power behind Doctor Fate. Stevens took Marsh's words with a grain of salt and found it hard to believe in cosmic beings and Lords of Order. After searching the Sahara desert for the Temple of Nabu, Jared Stevens discovers the temple by mistake but little did he know that Fate had plans for him.
Jared is greeted by a "crazy" and old Kent Nelson who has been expecting him for three months, seven days and sixteen hours. Kent leads Jared into the Temple of Nabu where an old Inza Nelson sits near the artifacts of Doctor Fate. Inza is in her own little world, the pressure of Order has weighed upon her and the lack of training as Doctor Fate has caused her to shut away the world. Kent introduces himself to Jared Stevens as Jared cannot believe his luck as spies the artifacts of order. As he collects the items, Jared Stevens is instantly taken to the realm of Nabu where a huge statue of the Lord Order stands on an island, surrounded by a dark blue lake. The statue of Nabu tells Jared Stevens of Order and that he was chsen above all men to take the mantle of Doctor Fate. Jared finds himself engulfed in the giant hands of Nabu as he tries desperately to escape his hold. Jared "politely" asks Nabu to release him and he appears back in the temple of Nabu with Kent and Inza. The items of Doctor Fate have now changed into a cloak, knife and throwing ankhs.
During the last series of Fate, Nabu tried to regain the power that he gave to Jared Stevens, in his attempt to regain his former glory, Nabu became more like a Lord of Chaos. Banished from the plane of man again, Nabu was on trial by the Lords of Chaos and Order. Their verdict was that Nabu acted chaotically and was transformed into a Lord of Chaos and was given one final task, to find a replacement for the Lords of Order. Unfortunately, Kent Nelson denied the task of becoming a Lord of Order and Nabu cursed Kent and Inza to walk the earth as uneasy spirits, never finding eternal peace. However the Spectre allowed the Nelsons into heaven where they now await their return to earth. What happened to Nabu after this event is unclear but one day, Nabu shall return.
The items of Doctor Fate are no longer bound to the Nelsons and in a brilliant light, Kent and Inza are reborn into young energy beings and prepare to receive the wonders, promised to them. Inza is speechless and in an instant, they both disappear. Jared Stevens believes that he has been drugged by Kent and collects the items of order and prepares to leave the temple. However, he is intercepted by an unknown Lord of Chaos and Nabu. Nabu and the Lord of Chaos wish to battle for total control over Jared Stevens. Half his body is transformed into chaos and the other half into order. As the Lords calmly talk about the victor, Jared rejects them both and the Temple explodes with both the power of order and chaos. Jared Stevens is scarred from the awesome power, his body is totally burned and he now has a red ankh over his right eye. Jared recovers the cloak of destiny (cape of Doctor Fate) and uses it as a bandage. To his amazement, his body is healed but he feels different, he can sense the power dwelling inside him. Jared Stevens has become Fate!
Fate's magical powers are still vague at the moment as he is still discovering the powers he was given. Fate is immune to all magic due to the crushing of the Amulet of Anubis that transformed its power into Jared. The knife and throwing ankhs (crafted from the helmet of nabu) is capable of harming magical and non-magical creatures. The knife and the throwing ankhs will always return to Jared when called and possess magical powers that Jared has not yet fully grasped. Jared's right arm was damaged in Fate #0. Without any remorse to the original Dr.Fate, Jared used the cloak of destiny as a bandage to ease the pain. The magical bandage prevents his arm from deteriorating anymore and allows Jared to use his arm normally. It appears that this also gives Jared some magical abilities which is not yet known. If the bandages are removed his arm will deteriorate, however Fate's right arm in Fate #13 displayed some unusual properties when the bandages were removed.
Fate also has the ability to see into other peoples destinies and the ability to see the true self of beings. (When Kingdom and his men were cloaked in human form, Jared could see through their guises) Fate is marked with the Egyptian ankh on his right eye that allows him to use this power. Jared Stevens learned to throw knives from a seventy-five year-old Nicaraguan knifemaker. Hence Jared is an expert knife-thrower. Jared has also learned to use spatial tangents that allow him to go from one plane of existence to another. The essence of the Helmet has given Jared guidance to the deluge of darkness that approaches. Jared was also stronger and tougher then regular mortals and could even survive a 100 foot drop or maybe more (Fate #11) Without the magical Blade or Ankhs, Fate is powerless (perhaps?) to defend himself. However, he is still immune to all forms of magic and has the ability to use spatial tangents.
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FEATURED APPEARANCES: »
SERIES: Fate I: Fate II:
Powers
Appearances + References