Hawkgirl (animated)
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Hawkgirl appears in the animated Justice League series on Cartoon Network. Based on the comic book character Hawkwoman, Shayera Hol was an advance scout for a Thanagarian invasion force passing as a superhero before betraying her people to save the Earth from destruction. She is voiced by Maria Canals.
Her personality was completely re-designed for the series by the producers, who wanted a second woman for the team (taking Aquaman's place) but wanted her to be clearly set apart from Wonder Woman. While Black Canary is traditionally more associated with the Justice League, the producers preferred to have the Hawk family represented.
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[edit] Insiders on Hawkgirl
Justice League producer Bruce Timm recognized, "she's the second most controversial member of the cast".
Rich Fogel pointed that Hawkgirl needs to have something hawk-like about her. So as a gimmick for her, for the most part , she's warm, sweet, friendly and everyone likes her; "but the minute she goes into battle her instincts kick in and she becomes like Wolverine".
Maria Canals on Hawkgirl:
| “ | She is fearless, she is mysterious—which I love about her. When you see Justice League you’ll see how beautifully they animate her when she flies—she lifts up in the air and she flies and spins and somersaults. She’s very graceful, and yet the next minute she’s kicking a space alien’s butt. She’s very tough. She has this weapon—my mace—and I have this war cry that I love when I get to do. It relieves a lot of stress when I do it. | ” |
[edit] Before Justice League
In the three-part finale of season two, entitled "Starcrossed", it is revealed that Shayera was a member of the Thanagarian military, and that she was sent to earth in order to observe its people. It's also revealed that on Thanagar, Shayera was "promised" to Commander Hro Talak ("It's like being engaged" she explains to Green Lantern John Stewart.)
[edit] At the Start of Justice League
In Secret Origins the Martian Manhunter gathered her with Flash, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern to join him, Batman and Superman against an alien invasion on Earth. Interestingly, when she first arrives, Batman greets her with a surprised "Hawkgirl?!" implying that he knew her (or at least about her), although she never made an appearance in the DCAU previously. After the defeat of the invasion, the seven remained a team, the Justice League, dedicated towards the defense of Earth against attack both within and without.
To the rest of the League, Shayera was a mysterious woman with angelic wings from another world. She explained that she found herself on Earth when, while pursuing some criminals who were trafficking in forbidden technology, she was accidentally transported by the rays of a dimensional transporter known to her people as a Zeta Beam (the very same device as Adam Strange uses to travel from Earth to his new home planet, Rann). In the episode Only A Dream she is revealed to suffer from claustrophobia.
[edit] The Terror Beyond
Much of the Season Two Justice League episode "The Terror Beyond" deals with Hawkgirl's ancestry and her people's alleged atheism. Early on in the episode, Wonder Woman makes a reference to the Greek goddess Hera asking for strength, and Shayera seems surprised and displeased by this. Later in the episode, the two women discuss religious faith, Shayera says that she doesn't understand how one could have it, and Diana saying that she does not understand how Shayera and her people could "bear the weight without it". Later on in the episode, a dying Solomon Grundy asks Shayera if she believes that his soul is "waiting for him". Shayera starts to say that she doesn't believe in souls, but stops, and then warmly tells Grundy that yes, she thinks so. Grundy dies peacefully, and Shayera gives him a burial, despite still not fully believing in the concept of a soul.
[edit] "Starcrossed"
Revealing her true intentions, Shayera implements martial law on Earth with the help of Talak's aides Kragger and Paran-Dul. When Talak confesses that the scheme is actually to destroy Earth by using it as part of a hyperspace bypass, thus allowing the Thanagarians to decimate their enemies, the Gordanians, a horrified Shayera betrays her people, informing the Justice League of Talak's orders and thus allowing them to destroy the hyperspace generator (sacrificing the Watchtower in the process). The Thanagarian forces leave Earth defeated, and Shayera is left behind as a traitor.
The Justice League takes a vote on Shayera's inclusion in the team, but before they can tell her the result, Shayera resigns from the League and departs. Afterwards, she spends time healing from physical and emotional wounds in Doctor Fate's tower, spending time with with Sorceress Inza Cramer, Aquaman, and eventually AMAZO. In Justice League Unlimited episode "Wake the Dead", Solomon Grundy's corpse is reanimated, and he wreaks havoc. Only the elemental properties of her mace's Nth metal were capable of destroying the monster, and Shayera takes the responsibility of killing Grundy, whom she once considered to be a friend. After this, she returns to the League, but it is some time before she is properly reaccepted among its members.
In this same episode, Superman and Green Lantern reveal that at the end of the Thanagarian defeat the League voted to keep her on the team as Superman cast the tie breaking vote in her favor and Green Lantern had recused himself due to his personal feelings. Speculation has it that Martian Manhunter and Flash voted to include her on the team from their professed defense of her actions during the discussion right before the vote. If this is true, it is assumed that Wonder Woman and Batman voted against her inclusion.
[edit] Green Lantern
During Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, Shayera has a tumultuous love affair with the Green Lantern John Stewart. They quickly develop a connection while working together, as is obvious in the most episodes of season one and two, which is probably founded in part on their shared military history (John Stewart was a Marine).
Early on, they begin a friendship and frequently talk about personal issues. Also, they seem to be fond of covering each other in combat. Shayera seems to be aware of her growing attraction to John and tries to hide it by adopting a tough attitude, thus getting them into many heated disagreements. Flash himself has observed that they sound like "an old married couple" when they bicker. Also of note is that in the episode "Comfort and Joy", Shayera plants a kiss on John's forehead while he is sleeping.
In the episode "Wild Cards", John asks Shayera after yet another disagreement why "You're always like this when we're together". During the course of that episode, while trying to disarm bombs that the Joker had placed in Las Vegas, John takes a full-on explosion and is rendered unconscious. When Shayera finally manages to revive him by shocking him with her mace, she is visibly relieved and says, "I never told you..." to which John weakly replies, "Tell... me what?" In the ending of "Wild Cards", while Shayera is watching over John's recovery alone in the Watchtower, John confronts her about their feelings for each other. Though Shayera initially protests, citing that they work together and "we're so different", eventually she allows John to remove her helmet (this is the first time her helmet was removed in the series, revealing her face) and kiss her.
However, barely after they begin their new relationship, the events of the episode "Starcrossed" (a reference to William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet "starcrossed lovers") take place. Shayera betrays the Justice League to Thanagarian invaders, including John. Though Shayera helps the Justice League to stop the Thanagarians at the price of dooming her own race, she feels that she needs to leave the League and does so, even before the other six members are able to voice their decision to keep her or not. However, during the scene where John Stewart sees her off when she goes off on her own separate journey, Shayera asserts that although she lied about her ultimate allegiance, she never lied about loving him. Moments after Shayera soars away into the sunset, John himself says, "I love you, too."
After she is allowed to rejoin the Justice League in Justice League Unlimited, Shayera reclaims her seat among the seven founding members and changes her costume to be much less militaristic, removing the Thanagarian headress permanently. In addition to the changes in the League's expanded structure, she must adapt to the fact that her former lover Green Lantern is now involved with the supermodel superhero Vixen. Also, her relationship with John now is more restricted and painful. However, it may be reignited, as it was revealed in an episode that in the future, Warhawk, the son of Shayera and John Stewart named Rex Stewart, would fight alongside the future Batman and Static. Ironically, she has a amiable relationship with Vixen as well.
Bruce Timm has stated that although he was deliberately ambiguous as to giving the John/Shayera romance a set-in-stone conclusion, "you can put two and two together and imagine what happens."
[edit] Hawkman
During the fifth season, Shayera contends with a stalker, Carter Hall, who claims that he is the reincarnation her lover from a past life. Carter later becomes Hawkman. The Shadow Thief, a physical manifestation of Carter's dark side and an incarnation of Egyptian priest Hath-Set , shows Shayera, Carter, and John a vision of the past: Katar and Shayera Hol are Thanagarians who crash-land in Egypt millennia ago. Shayera, despite being Katar's queen, begins an affair with Bashari, John Stewart's former incarnation. Hath-Set, trying to please Katar, murders the adulterers while they are in bed. Katar, distraught, commits suicide. After defeating the Shadow Thief, Carter says that he has finally learned what he should have long ago: that he and Shayera are not meant for each other.
[edit] The Once and the Future Thing
The show ends with Shayera and Green Lantern having resolved to be friends for the time being. It is, however, indicated that John Stewart once travelled to the future and discovered that the superhero Warhawk, is actually his son with Shayera named Rex Stewart, a revelation he did not immediately share with her until she confronted a stalker in the form of Carter Hall, the would be Hawkman.
Despite both Shayera and John having this knowledge, and the apparent implication that they are meant to be together again, which briefly gives Shayera an ecstatic feeling of hope, John decides to stay with Vixen, stating that while he still loves Shayera, right then Vixen needs him, he "will not be destiny's puppet.", and that whatever happens needs to happen based on how they feel "now", leaving Shayera alone. She then goes to Batman and asks him to tell her about her son.
[edit] Other Media
- Hawkgirl is a playable character in the Game Boy Advance games Justice League: Injustice for All and Justice League: Chronicles.
- Hawkgirl is also a playable character in the game Justice League Heroes for Playstation 2, Xbox, and PlayStation Portable. While based on the Hawkgirl currently appearing in DC Comics, the official strategy guide for the game pointedly assures that Hawkgirl is a playable character, perhaps in reference to the character's popularity thanks to the Justice League animated series.
