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The Main Character
Darkhawk
Darkhawk
Alter Ego: Christopher "Chris" Powell
Notable Aliases: The Powell, Falconer, Edge-Man
First Appearance: Darkhawk #1 (March, 1991)
In The '90s, Marvel Comics wanted to create a batch of fresh, hip superheroes to ring in the new decade. More often than not, this resulted in 90's anti-heroes. This included heroes such as Sleepwalker, Cable, and more. Darkhawk was part of this batch and while his costume and name might suggest an Anti-Hero, his personality was more down to Earth, bringing a lot of realism to his character.
The character first appeared in Darkhawk #1 (March, 1991), created by Tom DeFalco and Mike Manley. Chris Powell was an ordinary high school student who found a mysterious amulet which turned him into an armored hero. Darkhawk was original for its time in that the nature of his origin was planned out ahead of time but was kept secret until well into the series, resulting in a very gradual storyarc that lasted for years. The armor (as well as others just like it) were created by a Space Pirate named Dargin Bokk. The alien scientists who created the technology turned on Bokk and sent one of the last amulets to Earth to keep it out of the wrong hands. Chris found the amulet in an abandoned Amusement Park moments after finding out his father was a Dirty Cop. It transported Chris' body to a dimension called Null Space and replaced it with an android body which used the amulet as a sort of Gem Heart. Years later, Chris found that there were many more users of this technology and was separated from the Darkhawk armor.
Darkhawk's series lasted for 50 issues (March, 1991- April, 1995), most of them written by Danny Fingeroth. During this time, Darkhawk joined the New Warriors and The Avengers. Despite his early popularity, once his series was cancelled, he languished in Comic-Book Limbo for years. He returned in various books including The Loners (a spinoff of a team that appeared in the pages of Runaways), Marvel events such as Secret Invasion and more prominently War of Kings. He most recently appeared in Avengers Arena and Infinity Countdown tie-in.
Not to be confused with Image Comics' Shadowhawk, which had a similar nature and motif, but was an actual Nineties Antihero.
Tropes:
- '90s Anti-Hero: He has the name and look of one, but not the personality.
- This is actually addressed a couple times. In his first issue, one of the gangsters who attacks him briefly after gaining his powers dies accidentally and terribly; Chris reflects on this a lot over the course of his series.
- When he muses in a very early issue that he should have killed Hobgoblin, Spider-Man punches him in the face.
- He finds his father's journal a while later, wherein he talks about the time he and his partner saw a woman struck by a hit-and-run driver, and he decides to pursue the driver rather than get the woman to medical care. He takes this to heart for a while, attempting to follow in his footsteps to capture and punish criminals above and beyond taking care of their victims. Roughly midway through the series, he finds the page was stuck together, conveniently hiding the conclusion of the story: Chris's father calmed down, and they called an ambulance to save the victim's life. They lost the driver, but saved her.
- This is actually addressed a couple times. In his first issue, one of the gangsters who attacks him briefly after gaining his powers dies accidentally and terribly; Chris reflects on this a lot over the course of his series.
- Alien Blood: Darkhawk's is green.
- Ancient Conspiracy: The origin of the amulet is that it belongs to the Fraternity of Raptors, who were this for the Shi'ar Empire, until they were sealed away sixty-one thousand years ago, until the events of War of Kings started to wake them up.
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: He fits under the Animal Alias type since there isn't a lot of hawklike things about him.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Chris's little twin brothers, Jason and Jon, are sometimes this to him, though in general they tend to get along more-or-less decently, when Chris isn't being an Aloof Big Brother to them.
- Appropriated Appellation: Darkhawk got his name from a nearby hobo since he liked the name a lot better than his attempt at naming himself (Edge Man).
- Artifact of Doom: The amulets that give the users armor.
- Brought Down to Normal: When we catch up to Chris in Darkhawk #51, his amulet no longer worked due to the events of War of Kings. He kept the amulet, but decided to become a cop like his dad.
- Canon Discontinuity: In his final issues, Darkhawk acquired a new suit of armor and new powers (including finally being able to fly on his own). The series was cancelled, Darkhawk disappeared for a few years and when he came back, he was back to his older design with none of his fancy new powers. Also, War of Kings sheds a new light as to the nature of Darkhawk's origins. However, knowing that Talon was simply manipulating Chris now makes the canon even more uncertain than it was before.
- Canon Welding: Done in the Infinity Countdown tie-in with the original Guardians of the Galaxy. It's revealed that the Raptors were styled after Ratha'kon, a god with a similar appearance to the Hawk God that empowered Starhawk.
- Cerebus Retcon: Not that Darkhawk was ever light and fluffy, but the revelation that Evilhawk—and by implication, Overhawk—were the armor taking temporary control for a brief period casts a darker pall over the appearances of both.
- Chest Blaster: He can fire forcefields and lasers from his Chest Insignia.
- Clothes Make the Superman: Darkhawk is different from typical armored heroes in that his entire body is replaced by an android that is connected to the armor.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Darkhawk's costume and name invokes this.
- Disappeared Dad: Mike Powell disappeared the night Chris found the amulet, apparently out of shame for taking a bribe.
- Don't Tell Mama: The night Chris found the amulet was also the night that he witnessed his police officer father taking a bribe from mob bosses. He tried to keep this information from his mother for years.
- Evil Counterpart: Since many suits were made, Darkhawk has encountered a few evil armor-users.
- As mentioned above, Dargin Bokk was the original commisioner of the suits and wore a version himself, complete with plenty of spikes.
- There was a dimension-hopping mutant named Portal who used the destroyed remains of a suit of armor. Since the suit was in pieces, he couldn't use any of its powers but it didn't stop him from looking like an evil Darkhawk.
- As revealed in War of Kings, the entire Fraternity of Raptors is this to Chris. Given that their numbers rank in the thousands, let's hope they don't all wake up at once.
- The Faceless: Darkhawk himself. He once took off his helmet to see what his android body looked like. It was pretty traumatic for him although the reader was spared. This scene turned into a mild Nothing Is Scarier moment. When he does this again in the Marvel Legacy one-shot, he can only muster an annoyed "Damn". We still don't get to see what he sees.
- In War of Kings, it is stated that taking off his helmet and looking at what was beneath was his first step into the suit-induced insanity.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Chris has a nasty scar on his chest, most likely from where Chase ripped the amulet out during Avengers Arena.
- Good Thing You Can Heal: Chris later found out that if he was wounded as Darkhawk, all he had to do was change back to his human form and the next time he used the armor, he was healed. This came in handy when the villain Tombstone tore his amulet/heart from his chest.
- Grappling-Hook Gun: His suit came equipped with a grappling hook launcher, allowing him to send himself into the air and glide with his wings. He later gained the ability to fly.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Chris, thanks to the events of War of Kings, is believed to be responsible for the assassination of Empress Lilandra.
- How Do I Shot Web?: Early issues centered around Darkhawk trying to discover how his suit worked. By the time of War of Kings, he has a general idea of how to work it. Then he meets Talon.
- Humans Are Special: In War of Kings, it is revealed that Chris's anger issues and psychotic episodes were the result of his suit. Because the humans are a young race, none of the suits can effectively integrate with them. Talon says this is a weakness, but a Skrull, stuck in the same position as Chris, says that it makes him special, allowing him not only to permanently resist the control of the Darkhawk armor, but to use the suit in ways Talon and Razor never could.
- Magitek: The true origin of the amulet and the armor. Technology powered by magic draining the life-force of anyone unfortunate enough to touch them.
- The Man Behind the Man: A line in an issue of Nova implies the Fraternity of Raptors have one, but so far it hasn't been elaborated on.
- Organic Technology: There is synthetic flesh under that suit, as well as blood. As mentioned, the amulet served as the android's heart as well.
- Powered Armor: Darkhawk, though interestingly it's not actually placed on his body. Rather, his human body is stored in an alternate dimension and replaced with the Darkhawk body.
- Power-Up: As Chris understood more about his armor, the more powers he discovered. As mentioned in the Canon Discontinuity section above, these powers were quickly forgotten but the War of Kings gave him a different set of upgrades any way.
- Specifically, he gained the ability to switch between different armor modes, each of which had their own unique powers. And it's also hinted by both Talon and a Skrull that he hasn't even begun to unleash his full potential.
- Retcon: This happened HARD in War of Kings. While previously his armor had been the result of an alien crimelord's weapons development, War retconned pretty much everything about the Darkhawk amulet into being the result of his own mind's delusions wrestling with the mind control mechanisms in the amulet.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Mild examples. Both the Hobgoblin and Tombstone showed up in early issues as reoccurring villains. In fact, the Hobgoblin was the first super villain he faced. Later, The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants showed up quite a bit despite editors for X-Men comics being very picky about that sort of thing. Even later, Venom, of all people, developed a recurring feud with Darkhawk. Ironically, Darkhawk typically tended to have an easier time against Venom than Spider-Man did, possibly because Darkhawk wasn't psyched out by Venom the way Spidey was.
- Shapeshifter Mode Lock: This happens if his amulet is removed while he is in his Darkhawk form.
- Superheroes in Space: Eventually, the action went to space.
- Super-Strength: Darkhawk was initially around as strong as guys like Spider-Man but has had a significant increase in power.
- Tame His Anger: Due to incompatibility, the armor increases Chris's rage, meaning he often has to struggle to control it.
- Took a Level in Badass: The War of Kings crossover showed Chris holding his own, without most of his armor powers, against the entire Starjammers crew, and a pissed off Gladiator.
- Where It All Began: The Marvel Legacy one-shot has Chris return to the Happyland Amusement Park and regain control of his armor.
The Powell Family
Mike Powell
Grace Powell
Grace Powell
Chris's mom.
Jason and Jonathan Powell
Jason and Jonathan Powell
Chris's little twin brothers.
Miranda Cruz
Miranda "Miri" Cruz
Chris' fiancée introduced in Darkhawk #51 (2017)
- My Girl Back Home: Chris leaves her behind on Earth to fight the Fraternity of Raptors.
Criminals and Aliens
Phillipe Bazin
Phillip Bazin
A local mob boss.
Dargin Bokk
St. Johnny
St. Johnny
Savage Steel
James Zafar
An identity used by several members of the Cabal, a corrupt group of police officers who prefer to kill criminals than catch them.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Savage Steel armor had so many weapons that it could tear ordinary criminals to shreds. When it was targeted by Iron Man because it was based on his stolen designs, the Savage Steel pilot was the one who got curbstomped.
- Evil Knockoff: The Cabal hired Stane International to construct the Savage Steel suit as their main weapon. Stane International based the Savage Steel armor on the Iron Man designs stolen from Tony Stark. When Tony tried to destroy all the armors based on his plagiarized designs during the Armor Wars saga, Savage Steel was one of his targets.
- Plagiarism in Fiction: The Savage Steel armor was constructed based on designs that were originally stolen from Tony Stark. As Iron Man, Stark targeted Savage Steel along with all the other armors that were based on his designs.
- Powered Armor: Used by several different people.
- Vigilante Man: The original idea behind Savage Steel, a vigilante in powered armor sponsored by The Cabal, a group of vigilante cops wanting to use lethal force against criminals. It didnt work out.
Lodestone
Lodestone
Alter Ego: Andrea Haggard
First Appearance: Darkhawk #7, (September, 1991)
Hired by Phillipe Bazin to undergo an experiment, Andrea gained magnetic powers which she used as an operative against Darkhawk.
- Bald of Evil: Appears to be bald beneath her helmet.
- Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!
- Dark Action Girl
- I Believe I Can Fly: With electromagnetism.
- Magnetism Manipulation: possesses the ability to manipulate magnetic force. She has proven able to levitate metallic-based objects, hurl such objects with great force, and bend or twist them into desired shapes.
- Most Common Super Power: Is noticeably well-endowed.
- Mysterious Past: Nothing is known about her past and how she obtained her powers.
- Secondary Color Nemesis: Her costume is green and purple.
- Selective Magnetism: Lodestone has the ability to magnetically manipulate the metal in the world around her including iron molecules that course through the human bloodstream.
Fraternity of Raptors
In general
An ancient conspiracy of the Shi'ar Empire, dedicated to protecting the imperium via their own methods. Long dormant, they begin to awaken in the aftermath of Secret Invasion.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Each Raptor introduced between Secret Invasion and Realm of Kings has a different color. Think an evil Super Sentai team.
- Deflector Shields: They can generate energy barriers strong enough to shrug off Vulcan, an Omega level Mutant, the same way someone would deflect a paper ball thrown at their head.
- Evil Versus Oblivion: They do want to protect the Shi'ar Empire, but their methods of doing so are horrific and evil, such as assassinating Lilandra as she's trying to restore some sense of sanity. They're willing to fight against the forces of the Cancerverse in the name of keeping the imperium safe.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Take a nap for a few thousand years, and find everything's gone to crap.
- Holographic Disguise: Their armor can also disguise them as people.
- Human Resources: Fueled by some poor sap finding their gemstone and getting sucked into null space, to be used as a living battery until they expire, at which point the battery temporarily returns to null space.
- The Kingmaker: During War of Kings, they initially decided to back Vulcan by killing Lilandra, but after doing so realized he was the wrong choice for a Puppet King, and left him to his own demise.
- Retcon: Gerry Duggan's run on Guardians of the Galaxy futzes a lot about them, their operations and recruitment methods. Chris Sim's Infinity Countdown: Darkhawk tried explaining this as being a bunch of wannabes the real Fraternity weren't happy with, only for Duggan to ignore that and continue as portraying the Fraternity as he had.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Long dormant, the various destructive cosmic events of Cosmic Marvel start opening up the dimensions, allowing them to operate again.
- Theme Naming: Appropriately, all named after things to do with birds (Talon, Razor, Gyre)
Talon
Talon
The first of the Fraternity to appear to Chris, when an alien robot crash lands in his backyard. Initially appearing as a mentor to the human, it soon turns out Talon's motives are not remotely what they seem.
- Deadpan Snarker: He's got a dry wit, even in the face of Vulcan losing his temper at him.Vulcan: I've killed men for saying less to me!
Talon: That may well explain the situation you're in, then. - Fish out of Temporal Water: Talon's not impressed by the current state of the Shi'ar, or by how some of their enemies have turned out. He remembers the insect lords of the Negative Zone being a lot more formidable.
- Trickster Mentor: Starts by apparently helping Chris get a better handle on his armor, only for it to turn out this was so he could restore Razor and give Chris the boot.
