How Powerful Is Doctor Fate? Compared to Other DC Characters

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In the recent Black Adam movie, we saw a lot of cameos, and the best one was Doctor Fate and his Justice Society of America. Pierce Brosnan was the one that portrayed the famous magician of the DC universe and kickstarted the conversation about the character’s powers. Kent Nelson already showed how powerful he could be in the DCEU, but in the comics, all versions of Doctor Fate are one of the most powerful characters; without exaggerating anything. In this article, we will examine comics, discuss how powerful Doctor Fate is, and compare him to other DC characters.

Doctor Fate is, without a doubt, one of the most powerful characters in DC comics. All versions of Doctor Fate are the agent of the Lords of Order and Earth’s chief defender against supernatural threats. Kent Nelson is powered by the God itself, Nabu, who is a member of the Lords of Order. Doctor Fate can definitely defeat the likes of Superman, Black Adam, and literal gods – in the DC comics, Doctor Fate managed to destroy the Sphere of Gods, beat the Lords of Chaos, and compete against the likes of Spectre, a literal God in the DC comics.

We will discuss this topic more by mentioning Doctor Fate’s abilities and greatest feats and comparing him to other DC characters. We will include only “the worthy” opponents with godly powers in the DC universe and explain if Doctor Fate would beat them. We will mostly use Kent Nelson and Khalid Nassour, the most recent Doctor Fate in the comics. If you are interested in our analysis of Doctor Fate, stay with us until the end of the article.

How powerful is Doctor Fate?

Doctor Fate is one of the oldest superheroes in the DC universe, and from his first appearance, the magician presented us with unimaginable power that only a few could match.

The origin of Doctor Fate is really interesting, and it starts with Kent Nelson and his father going to Egypt for an archaeological expedition. Kent accidentally awakens Nabu, and God kills Nelson’s father. Seeing that the boy has lost his father and is alone, Nabu decides to take Kent in and train him to be the agent of Lords of Order. 

How Powerful Is Doctor Fate? Compared to Other DC Characters

Suddenly, Nelson becomes a crime fighter and is at the forefront of defending the world from supernatural forces. With the help of Nabu, Doctor Fate is one of the most powerful magicians in the DC Universe. Very few beings match his abilities, and that is because of the access to mystical artifacts such as the Helmet of Fate, Amulet of Anubis, and Cloak of Destiny, which grant him additional magical powers and enhance his sorcerous powers.

The abilities include spell-casting, flight, teleportation, necromancy, invisibility, and so much more. 

The Helmet of Fate is Doctor’s most important artifact, granting the bearer godly-level powers, including elemental manipulation, flight, healing, and sealing the beings in separate worlds. Amulet of Anubis grants psychic/astral probing, the ability to mind control, and talking with spirits. The Cloak of Destiny is a mystical cloak with mystic properties that include being fireproof and highly resistant to some forms of magic in the DC universe.

How Powerful Is Doctor Fate? Compared to Other DC Characters

Now, besides the mystical artifacts and the basic magic Nabu teaches its host, each character has been proficient in their own thing – for example, Kent Nelson is proficient in Jujutsu, a skilled physician and archaeologist. At the same time, Khalid Nassour is also skilled in combat but has vast knowledge in the medical field. 

Of course, peak human conditioning, mastery of magic, and immortality come with Nabu’s powers as well; however, after the New 52, it seems that Khalid Nassour’s version of the character is not immortal but has access to Nabu’s higher power.

Now that we established Doctor Fate’s characters and powers, we can compare him to a few formidable DC characters.

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How does Doctor Fate compare to other DC characters?

This section will be dedicated to comparing Doctor Fate’s powers to other DC characters. We will include superheroes who are actually close to Fate’s powers, so the likes of the Bat family, Joker, and other “ordinary humans” won’t feature here. 

Doctor Fate VS Superman

How Powerful Is Doctor Fate? Compared to Other DC Characters

How can we compare any character’s powers without including Superman, “the poster boy” of the DC universe? We all know Superman’s powers – invulnerability, speed, incredible superhuman strength, heat vision, and many more.

But the Kryptonian has one big weakness – magic. And not just vulnerable, because Superman is truly weak against the magical forces. Throughout the comics, Superman talks about how he is “not a fan of magic tricks” and that his encounters with magicians or magic do not end up well for him. 

There are a few examples of Doctor Fate being much stronger than Superman. Doctor Fate and Spectre, who has powers of the Voice/Presence, God’s Vengeance, one of the strongest entities in the DC Universe, fought against each other, and Dr. Fate stood his ground really well until Spectre defeated him.

When Spectre fought Superman, the Kryptonian folded almost immediately. Another example is the fight between Fate and Arion, the demigod who is part of the Lord of Order, where Fate stands as equal to the Atlantean-worshipping god. Superman lost miserably against depowered Arion in one comic book issue.

To end this debate, we analyzed the Doctor Fate VS Superman fight. We concluded that the member of The Lords of Order is much more powerful than the notable Kryptonian Superman. There were also fights in the DC comics where Superman just couldn’t defeat Doctor Fate.

Doctor Fate VS Shazam

How Powerful Is Doctor Fate? Compared to Other DC Characters

Let’s go a different route here, and compare two ultimate DC magicians against each other. Now, we know who Shazam is – he is a wizard who lends powers from mythical gods like Zeus, Achilles, and others. He is basically immortal and has a whole plethora of almost godlike powers – the key word here is “almost.” 

Debates between these insanely powerful beings from the DC Universe on the Internet are always hard. Still, we can safely say that DC established in the comics that Nabu, as a member of the Lords of Order, is stronger than Shazam and his powers. 

Don’t get us wrong, Captain Marvel is truly powerful, one of the most powerful entities in the universe. Still, Doctor Fate’s artifacts have their universes stored in them – specifically, the Helmet of Fate and the Amulet of Anubis. 

Everything Shazam has in his arsenal, Fate cancels with his ability of dimensional and time travel, telepathy, energy manipulation, energy construct manipulation, and so many more. 

Doctor Fate VS Spectre

How Powerful Is Doctor Fate? Compared to Other DC Characters

This fight was decided in the comics a few times, and technically, Spectre came out on top each time. Being the literal Wrath of God, Spectre is in the top five most powerful beings in the DC universe, and Doctor Fate actually stood his ground.

After Spectre managed to kill off the Lords of the Order and Chaos, he approached Nabu/Fate and spared him to be the last surviving guardian of the 9th age of magic – Fate told Spectre he was the most powerful one as well. Even though Doctor Fate lost that fight, we need to take into consideration that in that comic book storyline, Spectre was powered by all magic from the Multiverse. 

This event was a huge indicator of what and who Doctor Fate is and established him as almost an equal to the Wrath of God in the DC universe.

Doctor Fate VS Black Adam

How Powerful Is Doctor Fate? Compared to Other DC Characters

Considering everything mentioned in this article, we must say that Doctor Fate is stronger than Black Adam. We need to consider that Shazam and Black Adam have almost identical powers, and the only difference between them is that Black Adam is thousand years older and more experienced than his counterpart.

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He could fight against Doctor Fate, but the Nabu-powered superhero is almost unstoppable and barely unmatched in the DC universe. Comics change daily, and the narrative of the media and its characters are always flexible and interchangeable – the power levels are different in every era. Regardless, Doctor Fate would beat Black Adam in most fights.

Ultimately, we can conclude that Doctor Fate is one of the most powerful beings in the DC universe. Justice League Dark storyline comic book series established Doctor Fate as a powerful individual, and that’s without mentioning previous comic book issues before the Flashpoint and New 52. His power level is compared to the strongest beings in the universe, like New Gods and superheroes like Spectre. Doctor Fate’s powers changed over the years, and after the New 52, DC decided to “nerf” the superhero for narrative reasons and because he was insanely powerful – even by DC standards. 

Khalid Nassour’s version of Doctor Fate is much more inexperienced than Kent Nelson in the comics, which confirms the notion that experienced Doctor Fate is a colossal threat to any opponent standing across the battlefield.

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