Kendra Saunders


 * For Chay-Ara's previous reincarnation of the same name, see Kendra.

"Goodbye, my love."

- Kendra as she kills Vandal Savage in 2021

Kendra Saunders, nicknamed Hawkgirl by Cisco Ramon, is a former barista at CC Jitters, a vigilante and a reincarnation of the Egyptian priestess Chay-Ara. She is the ex-girlfriend of Cisco Ramon, the ex-fiancée of Ray Palmer, and the reincarnated soulmate of Scythian Torvil. In early 2016, Kendra Saunders was recruited by the rogue time-traveler Rip Hunter on a mission to take down Vandal Savage.

Biography
After a singularity was accidentally opened over S.T.A.R. Labs, Kendra, along with a number of others, looked on as it sucked up parts of the city.

Kendra began working as a barista at CC Jitters where she was asked out by Cisco Ramon, initially rejecting him. Cisco later returned to simply order coffee, asking if Kendra was going to shoot him down again. Kendra told Cisco that she was new to Central City and accepted his offer for a date, giving him her phone number.

While on their first date to see The Princess Bride at a local theater, Cisco touched her hand and vibed, seeing a winged person dressed in armor and a helmet. Cisco is left freaked out and bails on his date with Kendra. Cisco later visited her at CC Jitters, giving her a box of chocolates, flowers and bringing along a digital projector with the movie loaded onto it. As Kendra and Cisco kiss, he vibed again and learned that the person he saw in the armor was Kendra.

Cisco and Kendra later went on a date at Jitters where the two were about to have dinner when a mysterious man suddenly appeared, calling Kendra "priestess Chay-Ara". The man then insisted Cisco hand her over only for the latter to refuse. Fortunately before he could harm them The Flash came to their rescue. The man then threw a knife at Cisco which The Flash caught before escaping. A grateful Cisco then accidentally revealed The Flash's identity as Barry Allen much to Barry's annoyance. At S.T.A.R. Labs Barry and the others questioned Kendra only for Kendra to reveal that she never met the man. In an effort to keep her safe Barry and the team brought her Star City where she met Oliver Queen who she found out was the Green Arrow. Oliver proceeded to question Kendra about the man harshly and when Barry told him to calm down a little Oliver pointed out that Barry put everyone including his teammates in danger. In an effort to ease tension Felicity suggested they go back to the loft to relax. At Oliver and Felicity's loft the group relaxed until the man crashed through the window. Oliver, Barry, and Thea managed to fight him off however and the man once again escaped. At The Foundry Cisco proceeded to tell Kendra about his abilities and the vision he got of her. Suddenly Malcolm Merlyn and the League of Assassins appeared and revealed the man's name was Vandal Savage: an immortal who has lived over centuries. He then proceeded to tell them that they could not protect Kendra who then proceeded to run outside with Cisco going after her. Catching up with Cisco asked if she was alright and apologized for not telling her about his powers sooner. Kendra assured him it wasn't that and claimed that if what Merlyn said was true then her whole life was changed and claimed she was not ready for that. Cisco compared her experience to when he first learned about his powers and assured her that everything would be alright. Suddenly a man with wings seemingly kidnapped her and took her to a building. The man identified himself as Khufu and told Kendra she needed to remember him and who he was and told her that until her memories came back she needed to stay by his side so he could protect her. The Green Arrow and The Flash came to Kendra's rescue and managed to subdue the man. Back at the Foundry, the winged man identified himself as Carter Hall a reincarnation of Prince Khufu and that Kendra was Priestess Chay-Ara and that they were lovers forced to find each other again and again and that Vandal Savage is the one who kills them each time having done it a total of 206 times and that he grows stronger with each kill. Malcolm entered once again and told them that Savage had left Star City after realizing that taking them on would be a challenge and had decided to retrieve the Staff of Horus. An ancient and powerful weapon from Carter and Kendra's past that would make Savage nearly unstoppable. Carter suggested that he be allowed to show Kendra how to activate her powers and memories. Going to the top of a building Carter suggested Kendra jump off to unlock her potential. When she began to hesitate Carter pushed her only for Barry to save her. When he suggested the try again Barry and Cisco strongly objected. Oliver then realized that the reason Kendra was drawn to Central City was because it was were the Staff of Horus was located. Later on top of the building Kendra realized Carter was right and that to become who she really was she had to jump which she did. Suddenly her wings sprouted. Cisco then proceeded to give her the name Hawkgirl.

Later Kendra, Carter, and the rest of the team decided to hide out in a farmhouse in the outskirts of Central City. As everyone coordinated plans to find and stop Savage, Oliver told Kendra that they should work on unlocking her abilities. Barry warned Kendra to not let Oliver train her, Carter then decided to train her himself. When Oliver and Barry returned from a meeting with Vandal Savage, Oliver told Kendra and the rest that they have twenty four hours until they are supposed to hand Kendra and Carter over to them or else Savage would destroy Central City. Kendra was distraught however claiming that her life was not worth the deaths of numerous innocent people and left the house. Carter went after her and when he caught up with Kendra she asked if they have ever killed themselves to deny Savage the chance of killing them himself. Carter tried to calm her down but Saunders noted that everyone back at the farmhouse was willing to die to protect them. Carter however pointed out that it was this act of bravery was what made all of them heroes. He then told her that if she did not want the others to die for her she should focus on becoming the warrior that he knows she is. Carter then had Saunders attack him which she did only for Carter to easily best her. Eventually Kendra lost her temper and managed to tackle Carter down. Felicity then arrived and told them that the others had found information on Vandal Savage. Felicity then played the tape given to her by John Diggle. In the tape, scientist and professor Aldus Boardman explained his knowledge of Hath-Set/Vandal Savage, Khufu and Chay-Ara's origins. He said that his immortality had come as a result of an "unearthly calamity" and that anything related to that calamity would possibly reverse its effects. Professor Boardman also expressed his belief that Vandal Savage was the greatest threat Earth would ever face. Later that night Oliver came up with a plan to defeat Savage and he Kendra, Carter, and Barry arrived to seemingly give in to Savage demands. When Savage was about to kill them Oliver and Barry spring the plan into action. The plan however failed miserably with Kendra unable to unlock her abilities and Savage ended up killing Kendra, and Carter, and with the Staff of Horus unleashed an energy blast that vaporized Oliver and everyone else in Central City.

Second chance
However Barry managed to escape the blast and managed to go back in time preventing the events from happening and giving them another chance. When Carter was talking to Kendra Cisco intervened and talked to Kendra himself. Cisco then told her to not focus on the Warrior side but instead focus on the priestess. With them Kendra remembered her and Carter's first death and realized how the cycle between them and Savage began. At the same area Barry and Oliver put their new plan into action with Kendra successfully unlocking her abilities. Eventually Barry and Oliver using the Staff of Horus together managed to obliterate Savage seemingly killing him and ending the cycle. The next day Kendra and Carter decided to leave Central City and dedicated their lives to helping people like they did in their past lives. Before leaving she thanked Cisco and kissed him as thanks for being himself.

Aiding Rip Hunter
Kendra and Carter were fighting crime, once again beginning to argue. Rip Hunter comes in and tells them that they need some help. He pulls out an unknown device, then Carter and Kendra woke up, next to six unknown individuals. Rip Hunter told them they have to take-down Vandal Savage again, he agrees, but Kendra doesn't. They fight to see if they will go, Kendra lost. They came aboard Rip Hunter's ship, The Waverider.

Hunter welcomed them onboard his ship. He then explained to them that to track down and destroy Savage before he destroys humanity and time itself, they must go to the only one who is an expert on Savage: Aldus Boardman. Arriving in the year 1975, Hunter brought with him Ray, Stein, Kendra, and Carter, claiming he did not need the skill sets of Leonard, Mick, or Sara. Arriving at St. Roch University, the group confronted Boardman, who recognize Kendra and Carter as his reincarnated mother and father. Boardman then explained to them that Savage spent his years causing war and numerous others atrocities all over the world to keep his anonymity and proceeded to give them a journal detailing all the information he had on Savage.

Suddenly, Rip got an alert from Gideon that the Waverider was under attack. However, Kendra and Carter were unwilling to leave their son behind and demanded he come with them much to Hunter's protest. Arriving at the Waverider, Hunter found the ship under attack by Chronos. Working together, Rip and the team managed to fight Chronos off long enough to escape. Although, in the process, Boardman was severely injured with Carter and Kendra coming to his aid and rushing him to the ship.

Escaping, Kendra blaming Hunter for Boardman's condition punched him and demanded Rip tell them who Chronos was and the real reason he recruited them. Hunter told them everything and told them he understood if they wanted to return home. The others then decided to take a moment to decide on what choice they would make. Kendra talked to Aldus who proceeded to give her a ring that she in her past lifetime as his mother gave to him. Kendra then ran into to Carter and thanked him for taking her side in bringing Aldus aboard. Later, everyone came together with Kendra telling Hunter that Boardman passed away and that she blamed herself, as if she did not insist on bringing him aboard he would have died peacefully. Rip told her not to blame herself and proceeded to tell everyone that time itself alongside Chronos and Savage would be one of their enemies. The group decided to stay together to defeat Savage and earn their rightful place in history with Carter claiming that all he wanted to do was make sure Savage was killed for good this time. Hunter then proceeded to take them to the lead he had learned from Boardman's journal.

Losing Carter
While the team was still in 1975, thanks to Aldus Boardman’s journal, they knew what they were looking for: terrorists and fringe groups looking to buy arms. When Kendra and Carter ask why can’t they go back and save Aldus, Hunter explains they can’t change things they’ve already been involved in. He then explains that he has a room in the Waverider that can give them any outfit for any era.

They make it to the exchange and talk their way inside. Kendra, Carter and Jax watch from a nearby rooftop as it becomes clear Savage isn’t a buyer here, he’s the seller. As he prepares to auction off the warhead, his Hawk-senses begin tingling. The bidding begins where those interested fire off a round in the air, with a younger Damien Darhk among those participating. When suspicions arise regarding the Legends, Heat Wave fires off a round and secures the winning bid, but when confronted by Darhk and Savage, they all do what they do best: start a fight. We see that Ray was present the whole time as well, hiding all tiny-sized in Martin’s pocket, and he makes a crucial mistake by letting a piece of his tech fall off. The Hawks fly in to fight Savage, but he sets the warhead to explode and gives them the ultimatum of catching him or stopping the bomb. Despite there being multiple team members with different skillsets wherein both options could have been carried out, they stay behind. When it becomes clear that the bomb is going to go off, Firestorm carries it off to absorb the explosion once it detonates.

On the Waverider, everyone blames each other for what went wrong, but they have bigger problems: they’ve revealed themselves to Savage, oh and one of his goons found the tech Palmer left behind and they’re working on weaponizing it. They have time to fix it though, time is like fresh cement apparently. Carter goes through Aldus’ stuff and finds a newspaper clipping of the sale of the knife used to kill them in Egypt. Ray realizes they can track his tech by its Alpha Particles and Stein says the best way to do that is find the younger version of himself – he’s already working on technology for that exact occasion. When Kendra and Carter reveal what they’ve found to the team, Snart volunteers to go steal it back with Heat Wave and Ray accompanies them. While Stein, Jax, and Sara decide to locate Steins younger self.

Later Carter tries to guide Kendra through their past lives to try to uncover the origins of the dagger. However, when Kendra instead remembers them making love he tries to kiss her only for Kendra to reject this. When Carter tries to point out that they are destined to fall in love with each other Kendra points out that if it means she must lose who she is as a person then she will never fall in love with him and leaves.

Kendra later returned to apologize to Carter only for Carter to apologize himself claiming that he took their love for granted considering that in each of their lifetimes she always fell in love with him and told her that she doesn't have to fall in love with him in this lifetime as he is willing to wait for her no matter how long it takes. They try again to figure out the words on the dagger and discover that the dagger was a gift from Khufu to Chay-Ara. When Kendra and Carter and the rest of the team discover that Ray, Rory, and Snart have been captured by Savage they venture to the mansion where Firestorm manages to subdue Savage. Snart hands Carter the dagger and he and Kendra confront Savage. Carter manages to overpower and stab Savage with the dagger only for Savage to pull the blade out and mortally stab Carter telling them that since the blade belonged to Kendra she must be the one to kill him. Kendra attacks Savage but he overpowers her. Carter dies in Kendra's arms. Kendra in anger again attacks Savage only for Savage to stab her in the abdomen, seriously injuring her. Before he can finish her off however Ray blast Savage away and the team manage to escape on board the ship. Ray and Hunter take her to the medical bay where an emotionally distraught Kendra proceeds to cry over the death of Carter distraught over the fact that she never got to tell him she remembered and felt the same way about him that he felt about her. Gideon administrated her a light sedative while Hunter comforted her until she fell asleep.

With Kendra injured and unable to handle time travel, the team was stranded in 1975. After touching down in Leipzig, her condition worsened. The rest of the team went after Savage's fortune, while Ray and Martin worked on removing fragments of the Amon Dagger from her bloodstream. Ray shrunk down in his A.T.O.M. Exosuit and was able to destroy the fragments, stabilizing her condition. Once she woke up, she thanked Rip for rescuing Carter's body. Later they held a funeral for Carter and Aldus; she knelt over Carter's grave saying for Carter to come back to her.

Learning to control her inner self
In 1986, when Rip Hunter's team went on a retrieval mission for Savage's redacted file located within the Pentagon, Kendra lost control of her power and went violently attacking the guards who were just doing their jobs and had to be removed from the scene, with the help of Firestorm, before any more damage was done. Sara Lance voiced her concerns to Rip, who suggested they train together. The first practice didn't go so well as priestess Chay-Ara's persona shortly appeared to fight back, only to cause Sara's berserker mode to show up and retaliate in return; Sara eventually came to her sense and decided she just wasn't the best person to do the job. This time round Kendra went to Rip for advice, who again remained believing the pair would learn what they needed to grasp the most from each other. As the second practice began, Kendra told Sara that while she needed to embrace her fearsome warrior side, Sara needed to face the fact that there was still a human side within her.

Kendra consoled Jax when Jax psychically sensed Martin's fear from interrogation. Rip later excluded Kendra and Jax from the rescue mission since they were Savage’s primary targets, which made them feel left out. Frustrated, they sent a signal to Martin by Kendra cutting Jax's arm, which appeared on Martin’s arm. Later, they demanded to be a part of the operation so Kendra, Rip, and Jax devised a plan. She flew Jax into the prison yard to cut the power and lured Savage away. Inside, she and Rip held Savage at gunpoint and detonated some bombs incapacitating him while the rest of the team rescued Martin from Valentina Vostok and escaped. They hid in the Temporal zone where Chronos ambushed and damaged the Waverider knocking it out of the time stream into 2046.

Adrift in time stream
Arriving in Star City of 2046, the team is confronted by a hooded archer. Thinking it was Oliver, Ray and Sara tried to talk to him but the archer fired arrows at them forcing them to retreat. Kendra stayed on the time ship to make repairs. While on the ship, Kendra worked with Ray on the repairs, getting to know each other. Jax also took the time to get to know Kendra, developing a crush on her. Later, Kendra helps Sara rescue Connor Hawke from Deathstroke. After the fight, Ray asked Kendra out but she rebuffed him due to her already complex life.

Unable to track Savage due to obsolete time data, the crew was stranded. Gideon intercepted a distress signal from Captain Eve Baxter of the Acheron. When they went to investigate, the away team was captured by Time pirates. After camouflaging the ship, Kendra and Ray discovered Leonard and Sara trapped in the bulkhead breach after trying to repair damage sustained from the Acheron. Ray configured his suit for space and went outside of the ship to repair the damage, while Kendra tried to keep him from passing out by talking him through the repairs. After repairing the hull breach, he passed out and went into cardiac arrest. Kendra performed CPR and revived him. Soon after, Mick arrived on the Waverider but the team found out that he betrayed them to the time pirates. Mick and Jon Valor's crewmen chased Kendra, Ray, Sara, and Leonard throughout the Waverider. They managed to fend off the pirates and subdued Mick. Afterwards, Kendra kissed Ray. As a team, they decided to put down Mick for betraying them to the pirates.

Stranded in time and relationship with Ray
The Acheron's timeline data took the team to Harmony Falls, 1958. Kendra and Ray staked out the town by living in an empty home masquerading as a married couple, which Ray enjoyed. Kendra then received a visit from Gail and Curtis Knox, Vandal Savage's current alias. Kendra opted to investigate Savage since he didn’t seem to recognize Kendra. Kendra and Ray attended the Knox's house party. While Ray scoped out the house, Kendra talked to Curtis/Vandal. Ray found a backroom where Savage was keeping the Amon Dagger. The next day, Kendra acted as look out while Ray stole it and escaped just as Savage returned home. The team devised a plan for Kendra to kill Savage with the dagger. Kendra hid the dagger in her purse and met up with Savage but Savage was privy to her act. Savage released his Manhawks, as Kendra and Ray escaped. While Kendra, Ray, and Sara were preparing to leave, Chronos attacked the Waverider forcing it to leave without them. After waiting for the Waverider to return, Sara suggested to keep moving since Savage was still at large. Ten days later, they got an apartment in Hub City and Ray was building a time beacon. Ten weeks later, Ray tried his time beacon but it short-circuited convincing Sara that the rest of the team wasn't coming to rescue them so she left them in Hub City. Two years later, Kendra visited Ray while he was teaching in a college classroom. They went to a park where Ray gifted Kendra his time beacon with the intention of destroying it together. Ray also was about to propose to Kendra but the time beacon activated and the Waverider arrived and picked them up to resume the mission. Kendra was glad to be back on the ship to be herself again but Ray took it hard, especially when Kendra didn't think it was necessary to retrieve any of their possessions from 1960. When they were reflecting on the lives they left behind, Kendra surmised that Sara probably returned to the League of Assassins. When they went to Nanda Parbat, Rip was captured by Sara so Kendra and the team snuck into the fortress where the League captured all of them. They discovered Sara had reverted to a former self and was loyal to only Ra's al Ghul. In the League prison, she admitted to Ray that she had not been able to access her hawk powers or her memories of past lives in two years, which was why she was glad to be back on the ship. Rip then challenged Ra's to a trial by combat. Ra's chose Sara while Rip chose Kendra, which they both accepted. Kendra managed to hold off Sara for a bit but Sara got the upper hand. Before she could kill Kendra, Kendra reminded her that she was the White Canary which made Sara realize her real self. After the trial, Chronos attacked. Sara convinced Ra's to free the rest of the team so that they could fight off Chronos. Through their combined efforts, they defeated Chronos but discovered that he was actually Mick Rory. Back on the Waverider, she reassured Ray that even if she wasn't happy with the situation of being stranded in time, she still fell in love with Ray and didn't want to lose him and they kissed. Later, Rip informed the team that their next target was 2147.

The team arrived in the Kasnia Conglomerate in 2147. Rip's plan in this leg of the mission was to kill future despot Per Degaton before he could provide the platform for Savage to later conquer the world. Kendra and others opposed this plan so Rip compromised by kidnapping him from the timeline. Kendra caught up with Ray after he discovered that he had a child back in 2016. It was around this time where she remembered her life as Edith Boardman and her time with Joe Boardman and Aldus, which made her feel as if she was cheating on Carter with Ray causing some awkwardness between the two. Kendra sensed Savage and soon after, Savage and Tor Degaton's army surrounded the Waverider so she helped the team battle the A.T.O.M. robots and soldiers. Kendra and Ray broke off from the rest of the team and targeted the robots' command center. They ran into Dr. Brice but convinced her to do the right thing and disable the robots. She also revealed to them that her distant grandfather was actually Sydney Palmer, not Ray. Later, she and Ray talked about the awkwardness between them but they both agreed not to give up on their relationship.

Rip next took the team to Salvation, 1871 to hide out from the Hunters. Kendra went with the team to explore the town. They entered a saloon when Kendra bumped into an older woman triggering flashbacks. Gideon gave Kendra the location of the nearby Albano Gulch based on her memory flashes and Sara went with her. They tracked down the woman in the middle of the wilderness and found out that the woman was a past life of Kendra. The woman told Kendra about her life with Hannibal Hawkes and that any relationship that wasn't with Carter would end in tragedy. Back on the ship, Sara told Kendra that the woman had already lived her life and that her opinion should not stop Kendra from living hers. Later, Kendra watched Rip win a duel against Jeb Stillwater when the Hunters arrived and attacked. The entire team fought off the Hunters but before dying, one of the Hunters told Mick that the Time Masters had initiated the Omega Protocol triggering the Pilgrim to go after the team. Later, Kendra decided not to tell Ray about what her past incarnation told her.

After Vandal Savage's death, Kendra and Carter decide to be together and see what happens now without the imminent threat of being hunted and killed. They then fly away together.

Crisis in 2024
In 2024, in at least one possible timeline, Hawkgirl fought with the Flash and Green Arrow along with the Atom against Reverse-Flash in Central City atop two leaking oil trucks. However, in an explosion of light, the Flash vanished.

Powers

 * Claws: When Kendra's ancient warrior-persona emerges, she possesses claws which are sharp enough to tear through flesh. It is also possible that her great strength enhances the strength and sharpness of her nails.
 * Enhanced strength: Kendra possess great strength, at least some of it seemingly caused by the size of her wings, that allows her to overpower and knock down larger and heavier opponents and even lift up and send people flying through the air with enough momentum, especially while in flight or moving with her wings out. In Progeny, she had the strength to grab and carry away a soldier with one hand, all while gliding down with her wings and swooping down to pull him off the ground. She could effortlessly rip off the chest plate of the A.T.O.M. Exosuit while Ray was unconscious and beat his chest with enough to quickly resuscitate him as he was dying of hypothermia and cardiac arrest. She was even capable of throwing a man several feet through the air and to the ground after flipping over him. With enough motivation, she was able to break straps forged from Tiberian steel.
 * Flight: As Hawkgirl, Kendra can manifest a pair of bird like wings, giving her the ability to fly. She can also use the size of the wings to enhance her strength and overpower and knock down people who are larger and heavier than herself, even the likes of Carter Hall or Vandal Savage. Her wings allow her to seamlessly glide in any direction, which allowed her to swoop down and grab objects or people from the ground with ease. Despite their size, her wings move as if weightless.
 * Reincarnation: The ancient Egyptian knife which murdered Kendra in her original incarnation as Chay-Ara had an unusual effect upon her soul and that of her lover, Khufu. The pair are locked in a seemingly endless cycle of death and rebirth throughout the centuries. While not a superhuman power per se, this propensity for reincarnation has allowed Chay-Ara to cheat death and return to active duty in her current incarnation. Over time, each new incarnation is able to recall all their knowledge and experiences from each respective past life.

Abilities

 * Expert mechanic: Drawing from her experience from a past life, Kendra is proficient with metalwork, able to assist with repairing the future technology of the Waverider.
 * Hand-to-hand combatant: Although it's unknown if Kendra draws upon her experiences from past lives, it is known that she has some small training in hand-to-hand combat, courtesy of Sara Lance. She is shown fending off Time Pirates when the Waverider is being attacked. She was also shown able to hold her own against Vandal for a short period, and was able to beat him with the aid of Carter's mace. She is capable of fighting acrobatically, as she flipped over a man to throw him several feet with her enhanced strength.
 * Skilled stick fighter: Training with Sara, Kendra became quite skilled at using a staff. She was able to keep up with Sara and even surprise her during sparring sessions.
 * Skilled swordswoman: Kendra is skilled at fighting with swords. She was able to defend herself for a while against Sara Lance before she got overpowered.

Equipment

 * Hawkgirl suit: Kendra uses this suit to operate as her alter-ego, Hawkgirl.

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Trivia

 * In the comics Kendra's cousin, Shiera Sanders Hall, the golden age Hawkgirl, was the reincarnation of Chay-Ara.