Courtney

Courtney Whitmore
Biological Information
Species	Human
Status	Alive (in 507)
Universe Information
Home universe	Earth-1
General Information
Occupation	Advisor to King Arthur
Affiliation	Camelot Justice Society of America (formerly)
Alter ego	Stargirl
Code name	Merlin
Actor	Sarah Grey

Courtney Whitmore is a former member of the Justice Society of America who operated under the name Stargirl. After being sent back in time to protect a fragment of the Spear of Destiny, she adopted the identity of Merlin in Camelot.

Biography

Stargirl and her team confronting the Legends.

After the Legends forced Albert Einstein to reveal Mileva Maric as a ghost collaborator, Stargirl and the Justice Society of America intercepted them, wanting to bring them in for questioning.

The Legends insisted that they knew Rex Tyler though Stargirl said that he never mentioned them. When the JSA insisted that the Legends come with them, things escalated until a fight broke out. Obsidian darkened the skies, as she and Commander Steel was thrown in seeing Martin Stein and Jefferson Jackson merge and take off into the sky. Stargirl finally brought down Firestorm with a burst of energy from her staff, leading to the JSA winning the fight. Holding them in a cell, once they realized that the Legends meant no harm, they allowed them to leave, so long as they never returned. Soon after, when a fight in a Parisian nightclub broke out, the JSA arrived, settling it. The Legends revealed that they had access to a timeship, suggesting that they work together. They headed to the Fontainebleau Forest, intercepting some Nazis and taking on their target, Krieger, just closely escaping, albeit Ray and Amaya getting kidnapped in the process. Eventually taking down Krieger, the Legends handed over the Askaran Amulet to the JSA, who went on their way.

Years later, in 1956, the Justice Society travelled to Leipzig, aided by Rip Hunter, on a mission to recover the Spear of Destiny. However, it was thought to be too powerful for any one person to have so it was decided to break it into four pieces to be split amongst them to protect and scattered throughout time.

Courtney as Merlin.

Courtney took her piece of the Spear to the year 507, where she created the kingdom of Camelot, assisting its occupants to live a life according to the later Arthurian Ages (rather than the Dark Ages time period they were supposed to have been living in). She hid her shard of her spear in a sword set in stone, becoming the closest advisor of King Arthur, known as "Merlin". Sometime following, the Legends came to Camelot, much to Courtney's surprise. They took her aboard the Waverider, where Courtney explained how she had arrived in 507 AD. They returned to the court of Camelot, taking part in a feast. Amaya asked for the location of the spear's fragment, but Courtney refused to tell her, promising it was safe. They were promptly ambushed by Damien Darhk, Rip Hunter and a mind-controlled Arthur. Arthur held a dagger to Courtney's neck before Sara began a fight, causing Arthur to let her go, stopping them all after killing Sir Galahad. After they left, Amaya explained to Courtney that Damien had been working with a speedster, Rex Tyler's killer. That night, Courtney interrupted Amaya and Sara Lance, who had found the fragment of the Spear. Although initially reluctant, Courtney ultimately let them keep the fragment, requesting that they keep it safe. The following day, Courtney took part in the battle, taking on mind-controlled Knights of the Round Table. They eventually gained the upper hand, winning the battle as Damien retreated. Later, the Legends bid Courtney farewell, the latter wishing to stay in Camelot due to having fallen in love with Arthur.

According to John Constantine, a mage known as Merlin has created a protection spell in Brythonic language for the use of King Arthur and his knights, allowing him to heal even the worst wounds, a spell he'd later use on Chas Chandler.

Powers and abilities

Powers

• Powers via magical staff: Some of Courtney's powers come from his staff.
  • Energy manipulation: Courtney is able to shoot fiery gold colored solar energy out of her staff, though it is unknown whether the energy is magical or technological in nature.
  • Flight: Courtney is able to levitate and fly at unknown speeds and altitudes with the use of her staff.
• Magic: While at the court of Camelot, Courtney became a powerful mage known as "Merlin", creating unique spells used by sorcerers centuries down the line.
  • Protection spell/Resurrection: Merlin created a protection spell that, when cast on the Knights of the Round Table, would make it so that if any Knight of the Round Table under that spell was killed in the company of lesser knights, he would absorb all the lives of those around him, giving him additional chances to survive. The spell was used by John Constantine on Chas Chandler in the 21st century.

Abilities

• Peak of human physical condition: as a former member of the JSA, Courtney is in top human condition
• Expert combatant/Martial artist: Courtney has shown to be highly trained in close quarters combat
  • Expert Bo Staff-fighter: Courtney is an accomplished Bo Staff fighter, even skilled enough to effectively hit Sara Lance, though she did ambush her.

Equipment

• Stargirl suit: As Stargirl, Courtney wears a suit consisting of a blue and white suit with white stars on the chest and arms, red gloves, a red belt, and black and red boots.
• Staff: As Stargirl, Courtney carries a golden hook-like staff, she uses it to fly and shoot fire beams of energy. She also uses the staff as a close-combat weapon.

Appearances

Constantine

• "Quid Pro Quo" (mentioned as Merlin; presumed)

Arrow

Season 1

• "Trust but Verify" (indirectly mentioned as Merlin; presumed)

DC's Legends of Tomorrow

Season 2

• "Out of Time"
• "The Justice Society of America"
• "Compromised" (pictured)
• "Camelot/3000"
• "Land of the Lost" (flashbacks)
• "Moonshot" (mentioned)

Trivia

• While Courtney did share her team's initial view of the Legends being inferior to them since they lacked the same qualifications for crime-fighting, she admitted that she was amazed by their ship.
• Courtney is the sole survivor of her team that protected The Spear of Destiny.
  • Courtney, Amaya Jiwe, and Todd Rice are the last living members of The Justice Society of America.
• Merlin was first mentioned in the Arrowverse by John Constantine, who described an ancient protective spell. It is unclear whether that Merlin was Stargirl, or some pre-existing mage that Stargirl has assumed identity of, as her own vision of Camelot was built from fictional books she had read on the subject.
• Courtney doesn't seem to have suffered from time drift in Camelot, despite staying for a prolonged period of time in a very different era from her original one.

Behind the scenes

• In the DC comics, Courtney Whitmore was Stargirl, a member of the Justice Society of America and wielder of the Cosmic Staff, her name a tribute to its original owner, Starman.