Jared Stevens (New Earth)

Jared Stevens was a reluctant agent of balance to the Lords of Order and Chaos as Fate, imbued with the powers of the Amulet of Anubis and using weapons forged from the Helmet of Nabu.

History

Earlier life

During his adolescent years, Jared lived in Boston and would do labor work for money.^[2] At some point during his adulthood, Jared also went to law school for a time before dropping out.^[3]

Seeking a new and more exciting line of work, Jared would eventually come to work in the Institue for Phenominlogical Study as an "adventuerer", tasked with picking up a mystical artifact in Mexico. While in Mexico, the inexperienced man found himself in between a race for the magical artifact located in the Temple of the Mist between a rival organization and natives. Siding with the natives and revolutionaries protecting the Temple, he escapes into the temple when they're ambushed. When cornered in the Temple and experienced what he believed to be hallucinations, Jared's life would be saved when he frees a mysterious female entity who kills the men. Escaping out of the temple, the expereince became the first, notable supernatural experience he had, his mind rationalizing it as a mass hallucination.^[2]

Becoming Fate

Original origin

Jared Stevens was hired to retrieve the cloak, amulet and helmet of Doctor Fate from Egypt, and was subsequently summoned by the aged Kent and Inza Nelson, who had both previously been Doctor Fate, to their home in Salem so that they could reclaim their power.^[4] The artifacts rejected the Nelsons however, and they were then killed by agents of a demon called Kingdom who wanted the artifacts for himself. Jared tried to use the amulet against the demons but it exploded, and somehow bestowed various mystical abilities on Jared (as well as an Ankh tattoo over his eye) while also damaging his right arm. Jared tore up the cloak and used it to bandage the arm; the arm was immediately restored to normal, though Jared later discovered that if he removed the bandage, it was effectively dead.

He went on to melt the helmet down and fashion the mystic metal into a dagger and Ankh shaped throwing stars. Having fought off Kingdom's demons, Jared was contacted by Nabu the Wise, the Lord of Order who had empowered the Nelsons and who now wanted to make Jared the new Doctor Fate. Jared refused, but was reluctantly drawn into his unwanted new role as one of earth's mystical defenders, operating under the name 'Fate'. He made allies of several of Earth's other heroes, including Kent Nelson's former Justice Society of America teammate Sentinel.

Death

Jared was eventually murdered by the wizard Mordru, warning the Justice Society of the 'Dark Lord' and his plans with his dying breath at the funeral of Mordru's other victim, Wesley Dodds, the Sandman.^[5] The artifacts of Fate reconstituted themselves into their original forms at Kent Nelson's Tower and were later claimed by the next Doctor Fate, Hector Hall while Jared's spirit was for a time seen to exist inside Fate's amulet.^[6] Star-Spangled Kid has mentioned that he was given a hero's funeral, and was buried in Valhalla Cemetery.^[7]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Unique Physiology: Jared's body was subjected to mystical alteration when both the Lords of Order and Lords of Chaos attempted to make him their agent and he rejected him, causing him to undergo various changes to his body.^[8]
  • Energy Negation: Jared states that he is immune to maigc.^[9]
  • Enhanced Senses: Jared's senses are inclined towards sensing the changes between order and chaos.^[10]
  • Intangibility^[11]
  • Healing: Jared possessed a regerative factor that allowed him to heal from a gunshot wound.^[12]

Abilities

• Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)^[13]
• Indomitable Will: Jared could resist the powers of both the Lords of Order and Lords of Chaos when they attempted to make him their agent.^[8]
• Driving: Jared can hotwire a car.^[11]
  

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Fate's Knife: Originally the Helmet of Fate, the helm was repurposed into a knife capable of damaging both Lords of Chaos and Order; it can additionally act as a tuning fork, honing in on magic relating to both Order Magic and Chaos Magic.^[11]
• Fate's Arm Bandage: Originally the Cloak of Destiny, the cloak has been repurposed as a large arm bandage, containing the chaos magic empowered arm on Jared.^[10]

Notes

• The Day of Judgement Secret Files and Origins claim that Jared was chosen by the Lords of Order as an Agent of Order although both The Book of Fate and Fate series openly depict and express that Jared was considered an agent of balance, rejecting both being an agent of order and agent of chaos.
  

Trivia

• Jared's unpopularity as Fate combined with unfortunate circumstances made him a wanted man by governmental agencies, the superhero community (for a time), and even paranormal groups; he is wanted by governmental agencies and the superhero community (Justice League) for assassinations while the short-lived Conclave levied a suit for supposedly stealing the Artifacts of Fate.^[14]
• During his tenure as Fate, Jared had a webpage for contacting him managed by siblings, Arnold Burnsteel and Vera Burnsteel.
• Jared's tenure as Fate lasted roughly one year.^[15]
  

Recommended Reading

• Fate (Volume 1)
• The Book of Fate (Volume 1)

Related

• 57 Appearances of Jared Stevens (New Earth)
• 100 Images featuring Jared Stevens (New Earth)
• 5 Quotations by or about Jared Stevens (New Earth)
• Character Gallery: Jared Stevens (New Earth)

Footnotes