Doctor Fate's secret identity is Kent Nelson, son of an archaeologist who encounters a cosmic being named Nabu, a member of the Lords of Order, while accompanying his father in an archaeological expedition.

I always liked the supernatural; I read Lovecraft, Derleth, Sax Rohmer, Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Whitehead, all the others, Fate was a derivation from my imagination influenced by those writings".

[16] Beginning in 1981, DC's All-Star Squadron elaborated upon the adventures of many World War II-era heroes, including Doctor Fate and the JSA.

Doctor Fate made occasional modern-day appearances in Infinity, Inc. in 1984, the same year which witnessed the 22nd and final annual Justice Society/Justice League team-up.

event, which was used to reconcile continuity issues that emerged from Crisis on Ininite Earths, Kent and Inza would be killed off and replaced by Jared Stevens.

During the Doomsday Clock event, his previous history was restored, revealing Doctor Manhattan's role in altering it, including the exclusion of his Justice Society of America membership.

In a departure from his traditional heroic portrayal, Kent became a victim of Nabu, who possessed his body and acted as an antagonist in the early storylines of the series.

Additionally, Kent made appearances in the Curse of Brimstone comic series, which ran concurrently with the Justice League Dark storylines.

Towards the end of the series in 2021, Kent stepped down from his advisory position in the Justice League Dark and distanced himself from Khalid, feeling that he had imparted all he could and desiring to explore the world independently of the Doctor Fate persona.

Kent Nelson plays a significant role in the New Golden Age storyline and the initial story arc of the 2022 Justice Society of America comic book series.

These appearances reveal notable alterations to his history, such as the inclusion of his protege, Salem the Witch Girl, whose existence was erased from time, causing Kent to forget her.

[27][28] In his debut appearance in issue #55-56 for More Fun Comics (May–June 1940), Doctor Fate makes his first ecounter with archnemesis Wotan and love interest Inza Cramer, wherein he tries to kill her to defeat the hero.

[1] The character's origin was first revealed in All-Star Comics #3 (1940), written by Gardner Fox, wherein Doctor Fate states that he is not human nor had a childhood, created by elder gods and placed upon Earth to battle the forces of evil.

Nabu explains he is immortal alien being from the planet Cilia and pities the boy, taking him in to teach him the "secrets of the universe" and raises him into adulthood to become Doctor Fate.

The story also retroactively changes aspects of his origin, revealing Nabu altered young Kent's mind to erase his grief and pain, establishing him as twelve years old during the incident and would slowly possess him as Doctor Fate when he was an adult.

[1][32] Three years later in 1978, Paul Levitz's revisions alternatively depicting Nabu as a cosmic being of the Lords of Order and sought to use young Kent, whom he aged to adulthood and imparted into him his mystical knowledge in the process.

[28][3][1] In the late-1980s, an older Kent Nelson appears as a key member of the Justice League International but is killed off in 1987 within J. M. DeMatteis's Doctor Fate miniseries, which introduced the origin of his successors Eric and Linda Strauss.

[34][3][28] However, in 1991 during the second half of the Doctor Fate series after the deaths of Eric and Linda, Inza and Kent are revived in younger bodies and take residence in an apartment he inherited from Sven.

With Inza's focuses on heroism addressing social class issues and in equality alongside the supernatural, Kent advises her but clashes on her ethical use of her powers while he attempts to reconcile his own history in the eyes of the law and seeks a teaching position in archaeology, posing as his own grandson for a time.

[37] When Steven's origin was rebooted in 1997 by Keith Griffen, circumstances are different with Kent and Inza, the latter whose mental health were compromised in her brief time as Doctor Fate.

[44] This reality also establishes a different past, revealing Nelson to having an unnamed younger brother who fathered Elizabeth (Nassour's mother) and became a Christian preacher.

The pair would encounter both an Ifrit set to destroy New York and Osiris, who unleashes the undead and seeks retribution for Anubis's defeat by Nassour sometime prior to Nelson's revelation towards Khalid.

[44] Nelson eventually takes precedent within the role, with Nabu also briefly usurping it to battle Arion and assist the Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes),[45] and appears in crossovers such as 2017's Dark Nights: Metal.

Enlisting the power of chaos magic from Mordru, Kent is freed of Nabu's control and the team prevails in defeating the Lords of Order.

As Nassour sees his death as a personal failure, Detective Chimp asserts he made the sacrifice with high hopes in his grandnephew's abilities.

[48][49] In the "Knight Terrors" story arc, it is implied that in the past, Nelson knew about the Nightmare Stone before anyone else of the Justice Society did based on a conversation between Deadman and a recently resurrected zombified Wesley Dodds.

[57] As Doctor Fate, Nelson is an accomplished magic practitioner tasked with defending the supernatural from the forces of evil as an agent for the Lords of Order.

[47] Some depictions makes him attempt to relinquish the role to others, ranging from outright trickery[38] to being more supportive to the concept of heroes inheriting legacies of their predecessors.

[70][71] Granted various mystic enhancements by Nabu, Kent possess heightened invulnerability, an extended lifespan, and peak human mental and physical capabilities.

These include the power of mind control, offering protection against psychic or astral probing, and amplifying the wearer's magical capabilities,[79] necromancy,[80] and contains its own universe.