Vandal Savage, formerly known as Hath-Set, was an ancient Egyptian priest who gained immortality by consuming the souls of the Egyptian priestess, Chay-Ara, and the Egyptian prince, Khufu.
Biography
Ancient Egypt
4000 years ago in the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Hath-Set was a priest. After catching Prince Khufu in the bed chambers of Chay-Ara, a priestess, he killed the two of them and tethered their life forces to his own.[1]
Hunting down Khufu and Chay-Ara
For 4000 years, Vandal Savage hunted down Khufu and Chay-Ara, killing them in all of their reincarnations. During this time, Savage guided Julius Caesar through the Gallic Wars and served as Genghis Khan's most trusted adviser. He also claimed to have taught Robin of Locksley archery while Robin taught him to control pain. [2] In 1887, he killed 2 million people during floods in order to get to the reincarnations of Khufu and Chay-Ara, eventually succeeding.[1] He also claimed to have taught Harry Houdini how to get out of handcuffs.[2]
21st century
In 2015, Savage stowed aboard a ship bound for Central City in his search of Chay-ara's latest reincarnation. When he was captured and about to handed over to the CCPD, Savage slipped his cuffs onto the ship captain before killing him, his crew and the arresting police officer.[2]
Savage found Chay-ara, going by Kendra Saunders, and Cisco Ramon at CC Jitters. However, Cisco summoned the Flash, who quickly knocked Savage down. Savage recovered and threw a knife at Cisco. The Flash distracted himself to catch the knife, enabling Savage to escape.[2]
As the Flash and Ramon took Kendra to Star City to seek the aid of Team Arrow, Savage gave pursuit. He stormed Oliver Queen's loft as both teams were celebrating. He threw a flurry of knifes at all, but as Barry Allen attempted to catch them all, he throw an extra knife, managing to knock Barry down. He then caught the arrows shot at him and engaged Oliver in close combat. He knocked him down and threw a knife which Barry caught. Oliver and Thea speed shot a barrage of arrows at him. He was able to block most with his fan. However he took three to the chest and fell of the balcony[2]
Realizing he was outmatched, Savage returned to Central City to find the Staff of Horus. He finds the staff before the Flash and Green Arrow arrive to stop him. Utilizing the staff, he was able to keep both heroes at bay. Acknowledging them as worthy opponents, Savage was about to utilize the staff's full power when he sensed Kendra awakening her past lives. Regaining his bearings, he used the staff to destroy the church, though both his foes managed to escape.[2]
Ra's al Ghul organised a meeting with him along with Green Arrow and The Flash, in which he expressed his wish to have Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders or he would destroy both Star City and Central City. They eventually agreed to hand them over.
During the exchange Green Arrow suddenly turned on him and attacked. Savage incapicated Green Arrow and killed Khufu with his knives. He then killed Chay-Ara who was unable to use her wings. Barry tried to use his staff against him but Savage used his magic and used the staff to kill Green Arrow and incinerate the city with everyone in it. However Barry escaped and used time travel to get back and come up with a better plan.
Having the exchange again they had learned from the future failure. They handed him Khufu and Chay-Ara However, before he could kill them, Green Arrow shot their bounds. During the fight Team Arrow managed to stall Vandal long enough for the Flash to take his staff. The Flash and Green Arrow used a glove of Nth metal to channel the power of the Staff of Horus, in turn defeating him and turning him to dust. Malcolm later collected his remains and said that he would owe him one.[1]
Powers and abilities
Powers
- Immortality: Savage is at least 4000 years old and can live on indefinitely, as he had murdered Khufu and Chay-Ara in ancient Egypt. It was rumored that he was Genghis Khan's greatest adviser and had helped Julius Caesar during the Gallic Wars even mentoring Harry Houdini in many of his magic tricks.[2] In order for him to live forever, he had to kill the reincarnations of Khufu and Chay-ara to absorb their life force.
- Regeneration: Oliver and Thea shot him with multiple arrows, including one near the throat and he shrugged off most of them, until he was bombarded by too many and fell out of a window. Though, even from that, he recovered and got away, healing from the wounds he sustained in a matter of hours if not less.[2]
- Magic: Savage was linked to the life force of Khufu and Chay-Ara. Every time he killed them, he got more powerful. He had shown the ability to seemingly teleport handcuffs from his hands to the hands of a man in front of him.[2] Since he was linked to the reincarnations of Khufu and Chay-Ara, he could sense their presences to find them.
- Enhanced speed: When a cop shot at Savage at point blank range, he was able to dodge, disarm, and shoot him in seconds.[2]
- Enhanced reflexes: Savage was able to effortlessly dodge and catch multiple arrows, and even bullets, shot at him at point blank range.[2]
Abilities
- Master Tactician: Savage has 4000 years of experience in tactics and tracking down Khufu and Chay-Ara. During this period he killed them 206 times. He possibly has helped Ghenghis Khan and Julius Ceasar during their wars.
- Master hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: Savage is a highly skilled hand to hand combatant and martial artist with millennia of experience, as he was able to easily gain the upper hand in a fight against Green Arrow. He was able to fight Team Arrow simultaneously in close combat and win[2]
- Master knife-thrower: Savage is highly skilled in throwing knives with deadly accuracy. His knife throwing is so fast that Khufu and Green Arrow were not able to react to it, even the Flash seemed to have a difficult time catching them. He was able to throw 5 knives in one motion and would have hit all his targets if the Flash had not stopped them[2]
- Master staff fighter: Savage can wield the Staff of Horus like a melee weapon. While wielding the staff he was able to fight Diggle, Thea and the Canary simultaneously and come out on top.
- Tolerance for pain: Savage is able to ignore pain. This was taught to him by Robin of Locksley.
- Multilingual: Savage speaks Coptic, English and possibly many other languages fluently.
Equipment:
- Knives: Savage wears 32 knives on the inside of his coat. He had thousands of experiences in wielding them.
- Metal fan: Savage has a metal fan which he used to deflect arrows.
Appearances
The Flash
Season 2
Arrow
Season 4
Trivia
- In an erased timeline Savage succeeds in killing not only Carter and Kendra but also every member of Team Arrow and Team Flash, with the exception of Quentin Lance, and everyone in Central City.
Savage's former name, Hath-Set, is roughly translated as " maker of evil".
Behind the scenes
- Vandal Savage is one of DC Comics oldest super-villains, debuting in Green Lantern #10 in December of 1944. In his origin story Savage was a fifty thousand year old cave man who gained immortality and genius level intellect after exposing himself to a radioactive meteorite.
- Vandal Savage is an amalgamation of the DC Comics' Savage and of Hath-Set, the long time enemy and nemesis of Hawkman and Hawkgirl.
- The conflict between Savage, Hawkman and Hawkgirl resembles the conflict between Gentleman Ghost and Hawkman in the pre-Flashpoint continuity. Jim Craddock was an English highwayman who was wrongly murdered by the American gunslinger Nighthawk, Prince Khufu's 19th century reincarnation. As a result, Craddock became the revenant Gentleman Ghost and sets out to murder Khufu's latest incarnation in order to put his soul to rest. Unfortunately, do to the endless cycle of reincarnation which affects Khufu's sole, Craddock is unable to accomplish this feet and is forced to remain undead.
- Aldus Boardman claimed that Savage was known under the names Machiavelli and Nostradamus. However, historically, these two had overlapping lives, so this claim is likely false.