DOVE

Name: Dawn Granger
Group: Teen Titans
Origin: US
First appearance: Hawk and Dove #1 (vol. 2)
Known Relatives:
Marie and Russ Granger (parents)

There have been several different heroes who have used the names Hawk & Dove. The first two were Hank and Don Hall, two brothers who received their powers from an unnamed Voice. When they said the words "hawk" and "dove" respectively, they would transform into superheroes. Hank and Don were created by Steve Ditko in the 1960s and were basically a vehicle to examine the then-relevant Vietnam War. Hank was a hot-blooded all-American who hated commies and who rushed into battle without proper thought. Don was a diehard pacifist who always fought defensively. Hawk and Dove were allies of the Teen Titans and served a brief tenure in Titans West.

In the Crisis on Infinite Earths series, Don Hall was killed in action. This drove Hank over the edge and he nearly killed a man while aiding the Titans on a post-Crisis mission. Without a Dove to temper his anger, he was on a one-way path to self-destruction.

Enter Dawn Granger, aka Dove II. Gaining the powers of Dove at the instant of Don Hall's death, she was drawn to Hawk and aided him in defeating an agent of Chaos called Kestrel. This led to a partnership and an exploration of their origins. It turns out that a Lord of Order named Terataya and a Lord of Chaos named T'Charr had created Hawk & Dove as an experiment to prove that the war between Order and Chaos should be put to an end. They hoped that Dawn and Hank would produce a child, part Order and part Chaos.

This was not to be, however. After T'Charr and Terataya died, merging their spirits with those of Hawk and Dove, things began to fall apart.

When the time-travelling villain called Monarch arrived in the 20th Century, he was unmasked as the future Hank Hall. Monarch killed Dove II, driving Hank over the edge. He slew Monarch, donned the armor, and become Monarch himself -- thus creating one heck of a time paradox. Hank later became Extant, another time-travelling villain who was responsible for the deaths of many of the Justice Society.

Later, a slacker named Wiley Wolverman and a military brat named Sasha Martens adopted the identities of Hawk and Dove. They had no connection to the Lords of Order or Chaos. These two adventured for a time and appeared alongside the Titans at one point, but are generally regarded with disdain.

More recently, a Lord of Order named Kor and a Lord of Chaos named S'chak decided to revive the old experiment for reasons of their own. Granting powers to Sara and Jake Morrison, a newlywed couple, the Lords have created a new Hawk & Dove. This duo's powers are still undefined, but they have already bested Major Disaster and Kestrel. Like the previous Hawk and Dove pairings, this one has an idealogical bent : Sara is a social-worker by trade and is a diehard liberal while Jake is a former Marine who leans to the conservative side of the spectrum. Only by overcoming their differences can they ever hope to succeed.

The current Hawk and Dove, when in their heroic forms, appear identical to the Hank Hall/Dawn Granger versions. In their true identities, however, they look nothing like their predecessors. There seem to be other strange connections to Hank and Dawn, as well -- shared memories, for instance. The full story behind their relationship with Hank and Dawn was revealed in issue six of the fanfiction series.

BRIEF HISTORY
Like the original Dove, Dove II was created by Terataya, a Lord of Order. When Don Hall died during the Crisis, Dawn Granger received his powers. Years later, she would torment herself after she realized that it had been just before he died that she received his powers, though, because Hawk and Dove had always been meant to be male and female. Dawn was glad to receive those powers then, though. Her mother, a diplomat, was being held hostage by terrorists in London. Dawn, who had been studying in Oxford, felt helpless until she turned into Dawn and rescued her. She realized that not only she had received enhanced senses and skills, but also an increased mind capability that made her capable of analysing and solving any problem in seconds.
Part of a duo, Dawn felt attracted to her counterpart Hawk. She had the chance to meet him when her parent, a STAR scientist, was transferred to Washington DC, but she did not know how to tell him about her identity. Her fears were justified, for at first he took it really bad that someone was impersonating his dead brother. However, they soon hit it off and became good friends. Despite everyone's opinion, they were not romantically involved and Dawn was just a sort of sister to Hank. Dawn was in fact attracted to Captain Arsala, but they did not have the chance to develop a real relationship.
Eventually, the duo was transported to their creators home world, where they learnt that Terataya had fallen in love with Hawk's creator, a dragon. The Lords decided to work together and experimented with humans, creating Hawk and Dove. To grant their coperation, their powers will only be triggered in cases of danger. After Don died, they decided to give a new turn to their experiment and chose a woman to be the new Dove, expecting that they would eventually become involved and give birth to a child of Order and Chaos. The other Lords were against this conciliation and decided to create an agent of themselves: Krestrel. First, he fought the duo as a male and, eventually, it returned as a woman to seduce Hawk. Before leaving this world, Hawk and Dove merged with their creators, becoming themselves Lords of Chaos and Order and giving them powers levelled to Nabu's.
Amazingly, the duo was destroyed when an extremely powerful creature known as Monarch appeared and showed them their future: Monarch was Hank himself. Monarch then killed Dawn for no apparent reason and, enraged, Hank killed his future self. Deciding that the Hawk and Dove's experiment should not die with Dove, he decided to align with Order and named himself Monarch. Apparently, Dove's spirit inhabited him and, thus, both the Lords of Chaos and Order were now inside him. Unfortunately, using those powers he fulfilled his destiny, defeated all heroes and became the evil Monarch he had killed himself.

Dawn to Dove

From an early age, Dawn Granger traveled the globe, thanks to her mother's career in the State Department, and learned smatterings of many languages and an appreciation for diverse cultures. During her high-school years, Dawn's family settled in Washington, D.C. when her father, a highly regarded physical technician, was offered a job at me Arlington S.T.A.R. Labs. Surrounded by diplomacy, Dawn came to believe in me power of reason over force: mat all riddles have answers, all problems have solutions, and all conflicts are resolvable. She is an exemplary student, showing leadership abilities and a natural talent for order and organization. She is also a sly and secret prankster and has engineered a number of ingenious (although harmless) stunts which were totally untraceable to the quiet "bookworm."

Hawk resents the new Dove - at first - in HAWK & DOVE mini series [1988].

After high school, Dawn returned to Europe to attend England's Oxford University. While mere, an inter-dimensional Crisis occurred that required the services of nearly every country's super-heroes, military, and police forces. During this time, Dawn's mother, in London to deliver a diplomatic pouch, was taken hostage along with me staff of me American embassy by a band of terrorists who announced they would blow up me embassy. Desperate, Dawn's pleas for help were answered by a mysterious mingling of voices, belonging to Lords of Chaos and Order, who promised Dawn the power to make order of this chaos if she would only "say the word." The word was "Dove." She agreed.

Whenever danger is present, Dawn can say "Dove" and trigger the change in which Dove's costume swirls across her body, appearing from nowhere to replace whatever she is wearing. This costume cannot be removed on low-magic worlds like Earth and hides the fact that Dove is not truly human, but a conduit for and the living essence of a Lord of Order's mystical energy. When the danger is over, Dove reverts to Dawn.

Captain Arsala in enraptured with Dove in HAWK & DOVE mini series [1988].

Meeting Hawk

Dawn meets the ghost of Don Hall in HAWK & DOVE (second series) #5 [1989].

Dawn knew about the first Hawk and Dove team, but assumed she was just "another" Dove, just as there are many Green Lanterns. She was shocked when she discovered the first Dove had died while rescuing people during the Crisis. She also noticed a change in Hawk as news resources reported his escalating destructive and chaotic behavior.

Increasingly convinced that it was intended for her to become Hawk's new partner and that Hawk needed the balancing effect of Dove's presence, Dawn returned to the United States, tracking Hawk's moves and charting his appearances. She deduced that Hawk was Hank Hall, a Georgetown University student, and transferred herself to the same school, to her parents' delight. When confronted by the new Dove, Hawk's initial reaction was angry and violent, but he came to accept and appreciate his new partner.

The true origin of Hawk & Dove is revealed at last in HAWK & DOVE (second series) #17 [1990]. And Dawn and Hank see their true selves.

During this first adventure, Dove learned that Hawk and Dove were linked to Chaos and Order and that the first Dove actually died and Dawn had accepted the powers, meaning she may have been partly responsible for his death. Guilt and curiosity eventually led Dove, with Hawk, to meet Terataya, the Lord of Order who gave Dove her powers, and T'Charr, the Lord of Chaos who gave Hawk his. These two Lords had fallen in love and revealed that Hawk and Dove were experimental spells cast by the pair to prove that the two conflicting mystic houses could work together fatally injured during that adventure, the two Lords of Order and Chaos gave the remainder of their essences to make me Hawk and Dove spells permanent. This merging gave both Hawk and Dove enhanced powers, but it means there will be no new Hawk or Dove if either of the current heroes die. It also left Dawn wondering if Hawk and Dove were meant to fall in love as their creators had.

The End of Dove?

Hawk discovers Dove dead in ARMAGEDDON 2001 #2 [1991]... or does he?

Fifty years in the future, life was a nightmare. Monarch ruled all and everyone obeyed his every whim. Monarch traveled back in time to insure he would be 'created.' During the battle against Earth's heroes Monarch managed to escape, stopping along the way to pick up Dawn Granger, otherwise known as Dove.

During the next few hours, Monarch used his teleportational ability to steal an odd array of equipment. Standing atop a hilly glen, Monarch proceeded to build a powerful device that would subjugate the Earth of 'the present' to his will.

By this time, Hawk tracked them down and when Dove tried to stop Monarch, the villain killed her. Hawk and Dove were always destined to be two sides of the same force, and they needed each other to maintain stability. With Dove dead, there was no one who could keep Hawk's mind in check no one to stop him from slipping into chaos. And in a rage, Hawk killed Monarch-learning that he himself was the Monarch of the future.

Dove's apparent death, however, was actually part of a larger plan by the evil sorcerer, Mordru.

Reborn

Dawn Granger was thought to be dead, but that was not so; The evil mage known as Mordru saved Dawn from death and created a concealment spell so she would appear dead. Mordru knew the offspring of Hawk and Dove would create a being of perfect balance between Order and Chaos - and Mordru planned to use that vessel for his own evil ends. Dawn was impregnated by Hank Hall, who had become the villianous Monarch. Dawn gave birth to Hector Hall - who later assumed the mantle of Dr. Fate.

When Doctor Fate returned from his journey to Gemworld, he finally discovered the true identity of the woman who gave birth to him; He discovered that the woman he believed to be Lyta Hall was in fact Dawn Granger (Dove II) - and broke through Mordu's concealment spell. Shortly afterward, Mordru enacted his plan and possessed the body of Dr. Fate. He was defeated with the help of the JSA. After that adventure, Dove left to search for a new Hawk.

Dove explains her returns in JSA #46 [2003].

Dove has greater-than-average strength and dexterity, faster-than-human speed, the ability to fly, and expanded mental capabilities. She also heals incredibly quickly and cannot revert to Dawn if her wounds or some other condition would be fatal to Dawn. Dove fights mostly defensively, preferring to out-think and remain in control of her opponent.

MORE INFO
Hank and Don Hall were raised together by a court judge. As such, they learned very early on about justice and the like. But while they were brothers, they were very different in their attitudes. Hank was a very physical guy, doing sports and always ready to raise his fists to defend his views. Don on the other hand was a more studious sort, preferring diplomacy to battle.

When the two were teenagers, a criminal named Dargo wanted revenge against Judge Hall. He ended up kidnapping Hank and Don and locked them in a room at his HQ. All their efforts to escape were futile. Hank shouted about how much he wanted power to stop injustice like this. Then, they heard the voices of a Lord of Order and Lord of Chaos. The Lords said:

"You wish power? Your wish shall be granted. Whenever injustice strikes you need only speak your names – ‘HAWK’ and ‘DOVE’-- and you shall be transformed! Whatever you could do moments ago, now in costume, you can do infinitely better. You will become extensions of your inner selves. The transformations will not occur if there is no injustice present. And when your powers are no longer needed, you will revert to your ordinary selves."

And so was born the duo of Hawk and Dove. Going into action, they destroyed Dargo’s crime syndicate and freed their captured father. They then began a successful career of crime-fighting and soon afterwards even joined the Teen Titans.

During the so-called "Crisis on the Infinite Earths", Dove was killed while rescuing children from a falling wall. The death of his brother drove Hawk to be more wrathful and violent. Don’s calming presence had always held him in check and now the balance had been upset.

However, the instant the original Dove died, the Lord of Order named Terataya sought to restore the balance by transferring his power to a woman named Dawn Granger. Soon afterwards, Hawk and Dove II were transported to their creators home world, a world were magic was in abundance. Dove’s creator, a knight, had fallen in love with Hawk's creator, a dragon, and they had decided to try to work together.

It order to prove this, they began the Hawk and Dove experiment, creating Agents that would work together. The Agents powers, Order and Chaos, would only work in times of danger to ensure that they would have to put aside their difference. Realizing that Don and Hank were together because of blood, they decided the new Dove would be female in order that a child could be born of them, thus imbued with both Chaos and Order mixed.

However, the other Lords preferred the battle between Order and Chaos and opposed the experiment. The Lords of Chaos made the villain Kestrel to fight them and then they used a female host to lure away Hawk from Dove, who was falling for Hawk.

Before Hawk and Dove left magic world, their creators joined with their respective agents, thus making Hawk and Dove into full Lord of Chaos and Lord of Order. Hawk and Dove’s power were now on the same level as Nabu, although they were ignorant of this. Hawk's and Dove's powers were available always now, rather than merely during times of danger.

In a possible future, Dawn died and Hawk was finally driven insane. He became the villain Monarch and killed all the heroes of Earth in order to instill a new perverted order on the planet. When the hero Waverider journeyed to the present to stop this, Monarch jumpstarted events by killing Dawn earlier. Hawk was forced to witness this and killed his future-self as a result. Realizing this was how he was in the future, and now traumatized by being unable to save his love, Hawk did indeed become Monarch. Later, during a battle with Waverider, he regained full knowledge as to the truths of his origins. He also realized that the spiritual essence of Dove had entered his body when she’d died. Thus, he was now both of Order and Chaos.

Renaming himself Extant, Hank tapped into his full potential and leeched power from the timestream itself. Extant attempted to help Parallax restart reality later on, aging the JSA in the process and killing three of their members: Dr. Mid-Nite I, Atom I and Hourman I.

Extant escaped justice several times over but recently battled the newly formed JSA. During the battle, Metron and the JSA forced Extant to be temporarily cut off from his time powers and then transported him onto a plane seconds before it crashed. Thus, it appears that Extant is finally dead.


DOVE POWERS:
Dove was empowered by the Lords of Order. To activate the powers of Dove, Dawn and Don had to speak the name "Dove". Dove was supposed to have spatial awareness: knowing the qualities of all objects in an area (weight, location, etc), as well as minor regeneration, slightly higher than normal strength & excellent dexterity.

Other powers that Dove possessed was intuition, agility and the ability detect danger. Later, the Lord of Order that helped create Dove II gave her the ability fly.

HAWK POWERS:
Hawk was empowered by the Lords of Chaos. To activate the powers of Hawk, Hank must say the word "Hawk". Hawk's strength, endurance and resistance to injury was greatly increased and was excellent at combat. Later, the Lord of Chaos gave additional powers to Hawk which made him stronger and bulletproof. Hawk also has enhanced healing and his powers greatly increase if in a realm of chaos. He also had extensive knowledge of military weaponry and tactics.

As Monarch, Hank employed armor of fantastic technology, allowing teleportation, massive energy weapons, as well as some other features