Blackhawk and the Sh'ianagar Empire
Sh'ianagarians: a humanoid species with avian features, whose culture is peaceful and protective on the galactic stage, but still internally competitive and achievement-driven.
Before it seeded life, Shi'anagar was impacted by a crystalline meteor of unknown origin. Radiating an unspecified, potentially mystic form of energy, the meteor seems to have imbued some of the planet's ores and minerals with unique properties.
One of these ores became their primary resource: a self-sustaining, shape-shifting form of liquid metal that controls gravity and bonds with users neuro-kinetically.
A single tree grows on the land now covering the ancient impact site. It's only "fruit" is a series of multi-hued, diamond-shaped amulets.
When bonded with a user of the so-called "Eleventh Metal", the amulets expand it to cover the entire body in a winged suit of armor, which then channels plasma and gravimetric energies via weapons and armaments manifested by the user.
Eons ago, a Sh'ianagarian warrior named
Q'tar Po'ell crash-landed on Earth in ancient Egypt. Despite being greeted as a god, he instead used his technology to help civilization advance and grow, removing himself from the ongoing conflicts of his home world. Word eventually reached them despite his efforts, and his superiors - deeming him a traitor for dereliction of duty and a war-criminal charged with "unnatural acceleration of inferior species for selfish gain" - enacted a "reset event" to eradicate everything he had built. Despite the devastation, various artifacts survived intact and were buried amid the ruins, including Q'tar's amulet.
During the late 20th century, the amulet was unearthed by Terran archaeologist
Carter Powell. The moment he touched it, his mind was flooded with knowledge of Sh'ianagar, its history and the life of the amulet's former owner; while his body was covered head-to-toe in Eleventh-Metal armor. Initially lashing out in shock, he soon gained control of himself, reverted to normal, and returned home.
Carter soon realized he could trigger the transformation at will, so he trained himself up on the gear and became a superhero. The media couldn't seem to agree on what to call him - "Hawkman", "Nighthawk", "Nightwing", "Darkwing" and "Darkhawk" were all tossed around. He soon remembered stories of his paternal grandmother,
Zinda Blake, and her wartime special-ops Air Force unit,
The Blackhawks. And thus...
(Basically a more fleshed-out version of what I posted above, with some tweaks)