Starhawk (comics)

:"For the second Starhawk, see Aleta Ogord

Superherobox|

caption=Starhawk.
Art by Clint Langley.
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Starhawk
real_name=Stakar Vaughn Ogord
species=human/enhanced humanoid (raised as Arcturan)
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut= The Defenders #27 (Sep 1975)
creators=Steve Gerber
Sal Buscema
alliance_color=background:#ffc0c0
alliances=Guardians of the Galaxy
aliases="One Who Knows," "Giver of Light"
powers=
*Invulnerability
*Energy manipulation
*Flight
*Precognition|

Starhawk (Stakar Vaughn Ogord) is a fictional character, a superhero in a future of the Marvel Comics universe created by Steve Gerber (writer) and Sal Buscema (artist).

Fictional character biography

Stakar Vaughn was born to the superheroes Quasar and Kismet in the Guardians of the Galaxy alternate timeline (Earth-691) around the year 2002 (in that time-line). As such, he is half human and half-artificially created being. Just as soon as he is born on the planet Vesper, he is kidnapped and deposited on the planet Arcturus IV. The baby is first discovered by an Arcturan couple who are among the last of their planet's mutants; for much of his life, Stakar would believe that these mutants were his birth parents. The mutants were then found and slain by the Reavers of Arcturus, military cadres of humans dedicated to eradicating the mutants of their race. The Reaver Ogord discovered the infant and, assuming him to be a normal Arcturan, adopted the child and raised it as his own, naming him Stakar.

Stakar cultivates an interest in science and archaeology and explores ruins containing the Hawk God. Around the year 2020, he and his adoptive sister Aleta Ogord reanimate the dormant deity and are physically transformed. They take turns occupying the same physical space, while the other stays in a type of "limbo." They are given extraordinary power and leave Arcturus for the stars; when dominant, Stakar adopts the costumed identity of Starhawk.

Developing romantic feelings for one another, Stakar and Aleta petition the Hawk God to temporarily separate them. During this time, they have three children together: Sita, John and Tara. The three children are later changed into energy vampires by Aleta's father and sent to kill Stakar. They soon die of accelerated old age. Aleta always blamed Stakar (rather than her father) for the deaths of their children and although she has yet to truly forgive him, she does realize he was not at fault.

His transformation to Starhawk awakened Stakar to the realization that he is fated to eventually re-inhabit his infant body, reliving his life over countless times. Because of the knowledge of things to come, he manipulates events to affect what he feels is the most desirable outcome. He makes many enemies in doing so, but his tampering and guidance also leads to the formation of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

During his time with the Guardians, Stakar would be separated from and re-merged with Aleta on several occasions, eventually separating for good. He eventually discovers the truth about his heritage, and finds his mother Kismet, alive and living in a secluded religious retreat. He convinces her to break her vow of non-violence. They learn of Era, the evil son of Eon, who had kidnapped Stakar in the first place. It is revealed Era had sent Quasar to his death and entrapped Eon.

With the encouragement of the Hawk-God, the deity Stakar worships, the two dedicate themselves to stopping Era.

Powers and abilities

The true extent of Starhawk’s powers is unknown, but they are said to be immense in nature. He has an incredibly long lifespan, possibly inherited from his mother or due to his empowerment by the Hawk God.

Starhawk can fire blasts of photonic energy, fly at the speed of light, and survive in the vacuum of space. By tapping into Aleta's powers (when merged with her), he can also generate solid constructs of light; it is unknown if he can do so since their separation. His natural senses, especially eyesight, are enhanced to a superhuman degree; in addition, his powers give him a sensitivity to energy in his environment, and he can track energy trails across intergalactic distances.

He has superhuman strength (able to lift up to 2 tons) and durability, and he can enhance these further by reinforcing his body with light energy; on one occasion, he was able to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the thunder god Thor.

He seemingly has precognition, designating himself as "One-Who-Knows", but this is actually an effect of remembering what happened in his previous life cycle. However, due to Starhawk's efforts to change events for the better in each cycle, as well as the manipulations of beings with greater understanding of the universe (such as Mephisto), these memories can become unreliable; the overall thrust of events may be the same, but vital details might differ from his previous incarnation.

When he forced Aleta to re-merge with him after their second separation, Starhawk's power changed from light to dark, and he was able to create constructs out of solid darkness, and fire blasts of shadowy force. Valentino had initially decided to call him Shadowhawk, but Tom DeFalco convinced him to save the name for a brand new character. [ [http://www.imagecomics.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=144&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15&sid=fd50fa9bc46f3072e79db765589e9e5a Image Comics :: View topic - Guardians thread ] ]

References