Darkhawk's History
Chris Powell was the teenage son of Mike Powell, a cop, and Grace Powell, a District Attorney. Following his younger twin brothers, Jon and Jason, to the abandoned amusement park across from his home, Chris discovered his father taking a bribe from mob boss Phillipe Bazin. While trying to escape with his brothers from Bazin's henchmen, Chris discovered an amulet that transformed him into the Darkhawk armor. When his father disappeared after Chris saw him, he swore to use the Darkhawk armor as an "Edge against crime."
Darkhawk's powers included a force blast which emanated from the amulet on his chest, a force shield from the same amulet, a claw cable which could serve as both a Wolverine-like claw, and a grapple cable, glider wings and later flight capability, enhanced vision and strength, and an image underneath the Darkhawk helmet which served to frighten and distract his enemies.
As the series developed, Chris learned that his armor was actually an autonomously existing android armor, one of five commissioned by an alien mob lord named Dargin Bokk, being held in a sentient space ship, Osch, in Null Space. When Chris grasped the amulet, it actually caused his body to switch places with that of the Darkhawk body, although his mind remained in control of the body.
After helping them several times, Darkhawk was brought aboard the Avengers West Coast as a reserve member, but saw little action with them after becoming a member, because they were dissolved shortly thereafter. Nonetheless, he did at least start a lasting friendship with Spider-Woman.
Later, Chris and Darkhawk would actually split into two separate entities, with the armor being updated into the "2.0" form, as it was informally known. This advanced form of armor gave DH new powers, such as the ability to form a force shield encasing his body, an actual "Hawk" construct (a gigantic force-field shaped like a hawk), and the ability to summon weapons from Osch. By the end of the series, DH 2.0 and Chris re-merged, with the prospect of no longer needing to use the amulet in order to switch bodies.
Recently, Chris has been seen in a self-help group of ex-teenage-super-heros, (The Loners), who admit to being addicted to their powers. Members include: Turbo, the Green Goblin, Richochet, Spider-Woman III, and Lightspeed.
Enemies: Darkhawk's series was relatively short, but he developed quite a roster of enemies: he would fight Spider-Villains such as Hobgoblin, Tombstone, and Venom. His own "Gallery of Villains" included Lodestone, a magnetically-powered villain developed by Bazin, Evilhawk, the evil space gangster who commissioned the original Darkhawk armors, and Overhawk, a rebuilt Darkhawk. He also fought against some who would later ally with him, such as Portal, a teleporting mutant who killed another Darkhawk and stole parts of his armor, Savage Steel, the armor created by the secret police cabal that Chris' dad had been a member of, and Damek, a mercenary sent from the future to kill DH. Recently made an enemy of Nekra, a woman who seemed to be held prisoners by manufacturere of MGH.
Allies: Darkhawk also made many friends and allies throughout his career. He often teamed up with Spider-Man. As a sometime member of the New Warriors, he befriended Speedball, Nova, and later, Turbo. He also has a longstanding friendship with Spider-Woman II (Julia Carpenter), who he fought alongside with as a founding member of the Secret Defenders and as an ally, and later Reserve Member of, the Avengers West Coast.
Since Series Ended: He was relegated to minor appearances in Wolverine, Avengers, Thunderbolts, and other books. However, he has recently resurfaced as a founding member of Excelsior and, in a divergent timeline, is the de facto leader of the unofficial League of Losers in Marvel Team-Up.
