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Elvis Presley (died 1977), known as "The King of Rock and Roll", was the unknown possessor of the Death Totem in Memphis, Tennessee, circa 1954. The totem was connected to his guitar that allowed his deceased twin brother Jesse to help him create his sound, allowing him to become the first Rock and Roll Legend. Nate Heywood and Amaya Jiwe helped convince Elvis's preacher Uncle Lucious not to stop his career, thereby presumably saving Rock and Roll, until Elvis's music rose the dead as ghosts. Luckily, Elvis was able to use the Death Totem in his guitar to release their spirits by leading everyone into singing "Amazing Grace." This also enabled Elvis to convince Jesse to move on to the afterlife.

Biography

Elvis had gone to a pawn shop to purchase his first guitar now that he had enough money. He became drawn to one that unknowingly housed the Death Totem. The shopkeeper told him that the guitar had belonged to Robert Johnson. Elvis was awestruck but the owner told him that he didn't want it as it was rumored to be cursed. Elvis took it and tried it out and didn't seem to notice the lights starting to flicker brightly as he played a good melody. The shopkeeper was frightened and told Elvis to take it. Elvis told the man his name and advised him to keep an ear out for his name because he would be on the radio one day.[1]

In a separate timeline, his hometown of Memphis had been driven to a fit of hysteria where all the residents fled but Elvis stayed behind. When he emerged, he was declared insane and institutionalized. This sent a ripple through time that caused rock music to never be created and drew in the Legends.

Elvis was sitting in his uncle's church during a service and listened as his uncle preached that Rock and Roll was the 'Devil's Music'. His uncle then called him to play a hymn for everyone and his mother told Elvis to keep it godly. He went and started playing a church hymn to the disappointment of Nate Heywood, but after a while, Elvis started to let some of his own soul into it which activated the totem on his guitar and caused Zari Tomaz to float into the air as her totem began to react.

Elvis went to a music bar but saw that his guitar was missing. It had been unknowingly taken by Wally West before Nate and Amaya arrived to give him a duplicate guitar. He thanked them for finding it and went on stage to play but found that he didn't feel like himself. When Nate asked what had happened, Elvis revealed that every time he had played with his guitar, he felt his twin brother Jesse's spirit with him and it inspired him to play great music. Now, his brother was gone and Elvis didn't feel like he could play like he wanted and would have to cancel his upcoming recording session. Nate told him that he couldn't cancel the session and that they would get Jesse's spirit back to him.

Nate and Amaya returned the real guitar to him and Elvis went to his recording session where he played like himself after he felt his brother again. Nate was happy that he was able to be there to hear him play but told him that Elvis would have to say goodbye to the guitar and his brother. After his demo was done, the studio manager was ready to take it to the radio station but Elvis' uncle arrived, angry with him for missing his choir practice to come and record rock music. He took Elvis' demo from him and had the police come and arrest Elvis as well as Nate and Amaya for encouraging him. In jail, Elvis tried to reason with his uncle, but he wouldn't have it. He said that his mother was being too soft with him so he would have to be tough in order to get through to him.

When his song started playing, having been recorded with the Death Totem, it started to raise the spirits of the dead in town. Elvis was confronted with one of the ghosts but played a soft melody that banished it. He, along with Nate and Amaya, went to his uncle's church to try and stop the ghosts from running amok. Elvis was confronted with his uncle but Elvis stood up for himself and his music to set things right. He then calmly played Amazing Grace with the guitar which summoned the spirits to him and managed to pacify them all. He then took the time to say goodbye to the spirit of his brother Jesse as he had to let him go. Afterwards, he found the inspiration to keep playing his music without the need for the totem and he removed it from the guitar and gave it to Nate.[1]

Although Elvis died in 1977, there was a persistent urban legend that he was actually alive and had faked his death.[2]

Powers and abilities

Former powers

  • Death Totem: Unknown to Elvis, his guitar had the Death Totem attached to it.[1]
    • Necromancy: The Totem allowed Elvis to raise the spirits of the dead.[1]

Abilities

  • Singing/Guitarist: As an aspiring musician, Elvis can sing and play the guitar.[1]

Equipment

  • Guitar: As a musician, Elvis carried his beloved guitar around with him.[1]

Former equipment

Appearances

Constantine

DC's Legends of Tomorrow

Season 2

Season 3

Season 5

The Flash

Season 3

Season 5

  • "Nora(mentioned)

Behind the scenes

  • Real-life Elvis Presley was nicknamed The King of Rock and Roll due to his recordings of versions of songs like Hound Dog, Blue Suade Shoes and Jailhouse Rock. Elvis was also in fact what is known as a "twinless twin" with his brother Jesse Garon Presley dying before Elvis was born.
  • The urban legend of Elvis faking his death, which was mentioned on Constantine is a popular real world belief which inspired several elaborate conspiracy theories
  • Possibly due to licensing restrictions, recordings of the real Elvis were not used in the Legends episode. Moreover, the song at the center of the episode that Elvis has to sing and record in order to set the timeline straight bears no resemblance to "That's All Right (Mama)", the song he actually recorded for Sun Records. In fact, the song Elvis performs in the episode isn't even in the style of 1954 rock and roll, but is more in keeping with his style from the early 1960s. Presley did perform "Amazing Grace" (another key song in the episode) in his youth, though he never recorded a version until the 1970s.

References

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