Who is Dr. Fate?

[Mr_E_88]

Hi guys

Dr. Fate is one of my favorite characters in DC, but I still have some questions about him:

First of all, who actually is Dr. Fate? Is it Nabu or whoever wears the helmet?

And is Nabu a force of good?

Because there are times that he is, such as adding the heroes against Dr. Manhattan or being a founding member of the JSA, but there are times where his actions are questionable, like when he gathered the lords of order to do something that, from my understanding, is really bad.

[sifighter]

1.Dr. Fate is a symbiotic relationship. Nabu is the spirit in the helmet while the physical person who is dr.fate wears the helmet and utilizes the power. Occasionally the helmet will take over. Currently as off the pages of Justice League Dark there are two people who have been fate on the team but no one wearing the helmet for story based reasons, they are Kent Nelson(long time wearer of the helmet and who most people think of) and his grandnephew Khalid Nassour(he had his own ongoing series for a little while).

2. The odd part to your question is that Nabu is neither good nor evil, it serves the balance of order against the forces of chaos. Now, that does mean most of the time he’s on the side of good and wearer of Nabu has generally used it for good...however because it is a Lord of Order, it does on occasion go against the interest of superheroes and even the wearer to benefit its side at time. So it would be appropriate to say that Dr. Fate is the hero with Nabu helping out, but at times being not cooperative or even antagonistic.

[Ascended]

Yeah, keep in mind Nabu is a Lord of *Order* not a Lord of *Good.* If it maintains the balance, Fate will support things that we'd consider wrong or even evil.

For example, in the Injustice universe (the video game where Superman takes over the world as an iron-handed dictator) Fate supports Clark, because Superman's rule creates more order and less chaos. Or at least, I think that's how it went. Been a while since I played that game.

And sifighter is right about the rest. Whether Nabu is in control or just a really advanced co-pilot depends on the version and time. In the Young Justice cartoon, Nabu is in complete control; the person wearing the helmet can't even speak unless Nabu allows it. But in the comics Dr. Fate has been the guy in the helmet, with Nabu providing the magical knowledge (and sometimes not even that). And sometimes Nabu has been able to influence the helmet's wearer, or had full control.

Its comics; stuff changes all the time.

[DrNewGod]

It kind of depends.

If you first encountered him in one of his More Fun Comics appearances (or a reprint thereof), he is Kent Nelson, an orphan raised and trained by the sorcerer Nabu to defend our reality. Full disclosure, this is my favorite interpretation.

If you encountered him after his 1978 revision, he is The Lord Order Nabu, working thru the vehicle of Kent Nelson (a mortal child he aged to adulthood, and whose father he may have murdered). Nelson has some agency in this, but how much is unclear.

If you encountered him in or after Giffen's 1986 revision? Hit some acid. Whatever you hallucinate will be as reasonable as anything DC printed.

[Mr.B]

I like the one with boobs.