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Aug 22, 2021

Discovering Nth Metal by Tim Board

Art by Adam Kubert
Thoughts on the Nth Metal!

We've always heard about the Nth Metal and how it gives Hawkman the power to fly. But how fast? How does he control it? What other abilities does it give him? These sorts of questions are always bugging me so I've been digging around. Here is a list of all the abilities that Nth metal has shown over the years. I will continue to add to the list as other abilities show. When I add some new information and repost the article to the top of the blog.


Art by Ed Coutts
Here is an introduction of the Nth Metal from DCAU Resource:
Nth Metal is a transuranic iron, with an atomic number of 676, native to the planet Thanagar. Its clearly defined ferrous properties are able to govern the four fundamental forces of the universe: the strong force, the weak force, the electromagnetic force, and the gravitational force. It also has the properties of hyperconductivity and meson-graviton inversion. The first known use of Nth Metal was to forge weapons capable of repelling magic and fighting those associated with it, namely Icthultu. The Thanagarians then utilized Nth Metal for space travel and all of their technology. One such vessel crash-landed in ancient Egypt circa 6600 B.C. and centuries later, Nth Metal is still used on Earth where it was found to be useful against force fields, for resuscitation, and fighting metahumans with the power of intangibility. Somehow, it interferes with the dimensional shifting aspect of the power.

JSA No. 24
Flight
1. It allows a person who is wearing it to fly. The wings give the wearer more control and speed. 
2. Gives you the ability to fly faster than sound.
3. Hawkman himself has said that he can dive bomb at 500 mph/800 kph. His flying speed has been calculated to be anywhere between 200 mph to Mach 4 or 3080 mph/4760 kph. If Mach 4 was possible, Hawkman could fly around the Earth in just over an hour.

From Trinity No. 6 (2008)

4. There have been feats (too numerous to list) that Hawkman has done, but in order to accomplish them, he would have to be incredibly fast. There have been some suggestions that Hawkman is the premier flier, and capable of incredibly fast speeds, but only for short bursts. The mental and physical strain of sustaining that speed would be incredible. We have seen him dodge lightning bolts, laser beams, machine-gun bullets, and other projectiles. To do this he would have to have super-vision, super-reflexes, and of course super-speed flight.

From Hawkman Vol. 2 No. 9
5. In the Justice League of America series (2013), Savage Hawkman was shown flying through space. It's not revealed what he is doing, but it appears that he is capable of space flight, and also protected by the Nth Metal during flight. This is just one writer's (Matt Kindt) version but it bears mentioning.

From Justice League of America No. 14 (2013)
Protection
1. It protects the wearer from the elements.5. It protects them from extremes in temperature.

Flash Comics No. 18

2. It is used as shielding around the engines of the Thanagarian ships.
3. Gives you the ability to survive in space or below the "Light Line" of the oceans for 5-10 minutes before explosive decompression.
4. The metal can also restore the host after total biophysical desiccation, restoring life to a dead body, or even physically reintegrate its user at a bio-molecular level.
5. The Nth Metal can counteract against any poisons that enter the body. 

Hawkman Vol. 4 No. 32
Healing
1. It speeds the healing of wounds.
Hawkman Vol. 4 No. 12

2. The metal bonds to and vastly augments the physical dexterity of the host wearer, even restoring lost physical attributes which recede over time.

Hawkman Vol. 4 No. 39

Strength
1. It increases their strength.
2. Grants the ability to modulate gravimetric fields and adjacent effects for various purposes. Such as allowing the wearer to carry objects 20-70 times heavier than what they normally could.

Hawkman Vol. 4 No. 1

3. Skilled and determined users can use the ring’s anti-gravity field to lighten the force of gravity on objects they touch, allowing the lifting of great weights.
Magical Connections
1. It also has been implied that the apparently "magical" abilities of the Thanagarian supervillain, Onimar Synn, all stem from his unique mastery of the properties of Nth metal. so there are magical abilities that are made possible by the metal as well.
2. It has the capacity to destabilize magic and all things wrought of it. Hawkgirl was the only one who could defeat Solomon Grundy who was controlled by magic.
3. Nth Metal is the one metal that can channel magic.
4. Disrupts and negates magic.
JSA No. 25

5. Nth Metal immediately negates any magic it comes in contact with.
6. It will destroy magical barriers and end magical spells.

Batman Eternal No. 24

7. When forged into armor essentially renders its wearer immune to the magical castings of others. Regardless of its power, no spell or magical effect will penetrate Nth Metal.
8. The abilities possessed by it meant that some considered it a mystical element.
9. It possessed innate anti-magic properties, immune to any spell or magical effect leveled against it. No matter the strength of the magic-user nor the effects the spell might have on objects, it will not affect them.
Reincarnation
1. Exposure to the metal also triggered Hawkman/Hawkgirl's reincarnation cycle.
2. Exposure to Nth metal forced Khufu and Chay-Ara into a cycle of reincarnation.
3. The user also remembers everything from their past lives up to the point of their rebirth. 

Hawkman Vol. 4 No. 38

Claw of Horus
1. The Claw of Horus is a weapon made from Nth Metal It was created by Prince Khufu (Hawkman), Teth-Adam (Black Adam), and Nabu (Doctor Fate), sometime around 1600 B.C. 
2. It draws its power from the magnetic core of the Earth. 
3. It has the power to make surrounding Nth Metal inert. 
4. It had enough power to incapacitate Superman with one punch. 

Superman/Batman No. 4

Varied Abilities 
1. It is psycho-receptive and is capable of controlling the fundamental forces of the universe.
2. The most versatile super-metal is Nth Metal.
3. Not as impervious as Promethium and Adamantium, it is nevertheless still very durable, resisting the blows of some of the DCU strongest beings before showing the slightest signs of wear or metal fatigue.
4. Some said the Nth Metal is DC's Adamantium.
5. Nth Metal gives you a full set of superpowers.
6. Exceptionally durable (bordering on indestructible).
7. Pierces lesser quality metals (steel, iron, etc).
8. Can be electrically charged to varying levels at will by the wielder.
9. It can also be used to make anything from personal armor to bullets and guns. Its applications are limited by the ability of the person forging it.
10. Nth Metal is essentially indestructible once it has been forged. The material can only be damaged by other similar materials such as Adamantium.
11. Nth Metal is immune to excessive heat with the exception of temperatures equal to those found inside of a star.
12. In weapon form, it is highly potent, strong enough to do harm to even Elder Gods and Old Ones.
13. After the Source Wall was near destroyed when the Justice League used it to stave off an invasion by the Dark God Barbatos and his twisted Acolytes.
14. Carter and Shiera's son, Hector Hall made a suit of Nth metal armor made of Nth metal. The suit provided him with protection from attacks, allowed him to fly and to project solar energy blasts, and let him lift great weights.


15. Gives you animal-like senses.
16. A wearer can shape and form into weapons or armor with adaptive features at their command.
17. Nth Metal weapons have the ability to function without the need for physical handling. Carter Hall showcased such effects through his Mace by making it fly around in whatever direction he willed it to.

Hawkman Vol. V No. 3

18. Nth metal has the power to absorb and store vast quantities of energy for later redistribution.
19. The metal can greatly enhance a user's powers.
20. Nth Metal has the capacity to influence those who venture near it and it can also manipulate others' actions and decisions.
21. The metal has the capacity to adjust in order to better aid its wearer with new abilities.
22. Nth Metal can be used to travel back & forth through history in order to contact your past life. 

Hawkman Vol. V No. 8

23. Hawkman utilized it to call an army of his past incarnations across reality to battle against the Deathbringers.
24. Nth Metal can allow the wearer to go without sleep for days, even weeks. 
Hawkman Vol. 4 No. 49
25. The metal can give the wearer super-vision. 

Hawkman Vol. 4 No. 13

Legion Flight Rings


There are also some clues about the metal when we look at the Legion of Super-Heroes flight rings. This ring was invented by Braniac 5 and Invisible Kid or Mon-El by using an alloy of the Nth Metal called Valorium. Here are the abilities the wearer gets from a Legion Flight Ring.
1. The rings are activated by conscious willpower.
2. The speed of flight depends on the wearer's willpower.
3. The wearer will remain suspended in flight if they are unconscious.
4. Some possibly apocryphal sources claim that wearers of the Flight Ring can “link” together and travel at the speed of the fastest linked character, allowing them to keep up with characters with superspeed.
5. The ring allows flight at supersonic speeds. Need and willpower can trigger a proportionate response from the ring, allowing even greater speeds for a short period of time.

Information Sources:

From TV's Justice League

Simply put, Hawkman's Nth Metal is one of the most amazing and powerful weapons in the DC Universe. Together with Hawkman's experience, mental and physical strength, and knowledge, Nth Metal clearly makes Hawkman the premier aerial warrior of the DC Universe! 
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