Dove

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Background

Powers and Abilities

When in the presence of danger, whether to herself or others, Dawn Granger can call out the word “Dove” and be transformed into her Dove form.

She does not need to be aware of the danger for the transformation to take place. Thus, if she happened to say the word while unknowingly being in danger, the transformation would take place. The transformation only reacts to actual danger. So if Dawn incorrectly believed that she was in danger (such as when Barter abducted her) she would be unable to transform into Dove.

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The transformation wears off a short time after the danger has passed. An exception to that rule is if Dove has received serious injuries which would kill Dawn. In such a case she would remain as Dove until the danger from the injuries has passed. Also, on high magic worlds she can remain as Dove for extended periods regardless of whether there is any danger present.

Following her battle with Mordru, alongside the JSA, she did not seem to change back to Dawn Granger after the danger had passed. It is unknown if this was due to her no longer being restricted to only being in Dove form when danger is present, or if she can no longer change back.

It is unknown how close to the danger she needs to be to transform (GM’s discretion). Hank once went around a number of warehouses to find which was being used as a hideout for some criminals, saying “Hawk” outside each, until he changed.

Peace is tough

The transformation changes Granger into a minor force of Order. She gains some brilliant avian physical characteristics, which are usually hidden under her costume.

The costume is normally irremovable while on Earth, but if it receives sufficient damage, it can tear and reveal part of her true form, which shines with the light of order, emitting a constant golden glow. Within realms with higher levels of magic, Dove can easily remove the costume and show her true form.

As Dove her natural aptitudes are enhanced, such as her ability as a good judge of people and situations. At the enhanced level it allows her to read people and objects in a situation, within seconds, and know how they will act and react (Precognition).

She can also:

• Fly.
• Move with inhuman agility.
• Withstand a great deal of physical punishment.
• Heal quickly.

On high magic worlds her powers are enhanced. There she can concentrate her radiance into a blinding beam of light. Furthermore, her perception becomes so great that she becomes aware of most things within the realm.

History

During the Crisis, Dawn Granger was in London with her mother. Her mother, a diplomatic courier, was at the American embassy when terrorists took it over, and threatened to blow it up. Unable to get help from the police, who were too busy with the panic caused by the Crisis, Dawn was contacted by voices that offered her the power to deal with the problem herself.

She agreed, was transformed into Dove, and easily subdued the terrorists.

While she initially assumed she was one of a number of Doves, she later learned that the other Dove had died during the Crisis.

Hawk

Dawn became concerned that he had died because she had taken his power. She traveled to the memorial service for the fallen heroes, where she managed to identify Hawk in his civilian identity. Then, she shadowed him to try and discover who he was. She followed him for a while, seeing him become increasingly unstable, but lost him when she had to go into action as Dove.

She eventually tracked him down in Washington, where both she and Hank Hall (Hawk), were students at the Georgetown University . She deduced that the original Dove had been Hank’s brother Don. While Dawn became part of Hank’s circle of friends, Dove approached Hawk. But he was aggressively opposed to working with her.

Nevertheless, she helped him against Kestrel. Kestrel was an agent of the Lords of Chaos who was trying to turn the increasingly erratic Hawk into their agent before the new Dove could act as a calming influence.

Dove managed to calm Hawk down before he was completely transformed. The Lords of Chaos, disappointed by this, destroyed Kestrel for his failure. Hawk accepted Dove as his new partner.

The blue and the red

They took part in the resistance to the Invasion , where Dove first came into contact with other members of the superhuman community. THe pair then settled down to fighting crime mainly in the Washington area. They fought such foes as Gauntlet, Azure, the Untouchables, Shellshock, Copperhead, Sudden Death, the Madmen, Velvet Tiger, and the Female Furies.

Dawn also began a relationship with Detective Brian Arsalla, head of the Washington Special Crimes Unit, both as Dove and as Dawn.

They were contacted by Barter, a very old trader. He offered them the identities of the mystic benefactors, if they would retrieve an old Bible for them. They acquired it from the Count St. Germaine, an old adversary of Barter’s. The trader then met his side of the bargain, by giving them the names of their benefactors, Terataya and T’Charr, Lords of Order and Chaos, respectively.

When asked for more information, Barter insisted that a further service would be required for the additional information. The duo declined.

Worlds of magic

Kestrel was recreated, and managed to gain possession of Hank’s girlfriend Ren. It attacked Hawk and Dove before traveling to another dimension , challenging them to follow. They contacted Barter, who agreed to arrange passage in exchange for the True Name of the dimension, which Kestrel had told them.

When they arrived on Druspa Tau, Hawk and Dove found their powers increased by the greater amount of magic on the plane. Furthermore, their costumes could now be removed. Dove’s form looked faintly avian, constantly emitting a calming light.

Dove joined the forces of Order, who peacefully ruled the world. Meanwhile Hawk was convinced to join the forces of Chaos, led by the Lord of Chaos M’shulla. They were seeking to overthrow Order.

The two came into conflict. They battled to a standstill as the forces of Chaos overthrew the existing Order. T’Chaar and Terataya, who had been worshiped on this world before M’shulla had used magic to obscure the residents memory of their names, were eventually summoned.They fought M’shulla.

The creators have a master plan

M’shulla won. T’Chaar and Terataya retreated to a nearby cave to die, summoning Hawk and Dove to them.

T’Chaar had been a Lord of Chaos, and Terataya a Lord of Order. They had fallen in love and become outcasts from both their houses. They had combined into a unity, to prove the potential of Order and Chaos working together. Their creation of Hawk and Dove had been a part of this experiment.

In turn the Hawk and Dove pair was to result in a child. The offspring would be extremely powerful, a child of both Order and Chaos. As they died, T’Chaar and Terataya transferred their essences into Hawk and Dove. This made the spells that empowered them permanent, and increasing their powers.

Do the limbo

Responding to a mysterious message that her father was in trouble, Dove, along with Hawk and other former members of Titans West, went to his S.T.A.R. Labs workplace. She discovered that researchers had opened a portal to a Limbo where dead souls waited before going to the hereafter. However, they had lost a research team inside it.

The group went in. They discovered a group of dead villains, including the Iron Major, the Top, and the Icicle, trying to escape. With the help of the reformed Icicle, and General Jeb Stuart, they stopped the villains.

Before leaving, Hawk had considered trying to find his brother, and return him to life. But Hank was convinced that Don was in a better place, and had left nothing undone that he would need to come back for.

Back to life, back to reality

Hank was contacted by someone he was convinced was his dead brother, asking his help to return. Hawk agreed, and followed the instructions of his “brother”. He even stole a gemstone from a museum. Then he went so far as to abduct an already dead body from an accident, that of a family friend Senator Tommy O’Neill.

When the ceremony was completed, Hank discovered that the soul brought back from the dead was that of Roscoe Dillon, The Top. Dillon claimed to the police that Hawk had tried to kill him. Realizing his mistake, Hawk went after O’Neill again, only to be stopped by Dove and Uncle Sam.

While Uncle Sam convinced O’Neill to give up his seat in the Senate, Hawk gave himself up to the police. He was released into his parents’ custody until trial, and barred from becoming Hawk.

No fate

Shortly before this, they had been visited by the being known as Waverider. They had sensed him reading their futures, although they could not see him or view the futures he saw. Waverider had come from a future time, where the world was under the domination of the hero-turned-dictator Monarch.

Waverider had the abilities to travel through time, and to read the futures of others. When reading the futures of Hawk & Dove, he found that in all their futures he could see, they ended up opposing Monarch. They were the only one so scanned that did survive to oppose him.

Before Hawk’s trial could take place, while she was camping with Det. Arsalla, both Dawn and Hawk were abducted by Monarch. The tyrant had traveled back from the future following Waverider, and killed Arsalla while abducting Granger. Monarch seemingly executed Dove, and revealed himself to be an older Hank Hall.

The younger Hank slew the older, took his armour, and became Monarch.

The sound of her wings

Dove had not actually been killed by Monarch. Mordru had used his magic to make it appear as though she had died. Mordru, a being of energy, needed a body capable of handling the powers of both Order and Chaos. And so he drove Hank insane, turned him into Extant, then possessed him, and got Dove pregnant.

Before Mordru could inhabit the body of their child however, the soul of Hector Hall was drawn to it.

Mordru disguised Dove as the comatose Lyta Hall, in an attempt to weaken Hector’s psyche. She was only awakened from this as Mordru gained control of the body again. She helped the JSA defeat Mordru, allowing Hector to regain control of the body.

Dove then departed, claiming that there was a new Hawk out there that she needed to find.

Personality

Dove is calm and clear-headed, always approaching situations rationally. She tends to fight defensively, and prefers to avoid conflict if possible.

When she must fight, she does not go running thoughtlessly into battle. Dawn carefully chooses the best plan of attack, using her opponent’s weaknesses against them. She rarely attacks directly, preferring to use trick shots to subdue her opponent.

She saw Hank only as a brother figure. When they absorbed the essences of their creators, they began to feel the Lords’ love for each other. Yet they shied away from exploring this.

When she initially learned about Don’s death, Dawn felt guilty that her accepting the power of Dove may have caused it. But she later came to accept that she was not to blame.

Quotes

“It’s hard to describe what happens when I become Dove. I’ve always been a good judge of people, but as Dove — It’s like I’m working on a supernatural level. Each gesture reveals a thousand clues about a person. In seconds, I know how everyone in a room will act and react. But it’s not limited to people. For instance, if I see a chair I can sense its weight, its potential. I know precisely where to strike it to most effectively trip up my attacker. I can sense exactly where a gun is pointed, feel when it is about to be fired. Everything is in sharp focus. I absorb every detail around me. I’m in control, ready for anything. It’s as if someone handed me life’s rulebook-Everything suddenly makes sense and falls into place. It becomes a neat and ordered little world. And since I know the rules, and most other people don’t, I can usually win the game.”

DC Universe History

To fix the continuity problem of one of the only heroes seen to oppose Monarch in the future turning out to be Monarch, Monarch’s armour is a later version of the Construct, which controls its inhabitant. It created Waverider, knowing what his powers would be, to try and hunt down any potential resistance. It also left an implant in him that would report his viewings back to it.

It then sent a duplicate armour back in time, where it disguised it’s inhabitant as Hank Hall, killed one of the heroes that could still oppose it, and took control of the other.

By Gareth Lewis.

Source of Character: DC Comics, v1.0 is in the 2^nd edition Roster Book and v2.0 is in the Who’s Who vol. 2.

Helper(s): Phil Dixon, Danielle Mendus, Craig, Roy Cowan, Dan, rapsheet.co.uk , Shemmah, Darci.