Nth metal

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Nth metal (also called ninth metal) is a fictional metal found in the DC Universe.

It is native to Thanagar, the home planet of Katar Hol and Shayera Thal, the Silver Age Hawkman and Hawkwoman. Among the unusual properties of Nth metal is the ability to negate gravity, allowing a person wearing an object, such as a belt, made of Nth Metal to fly. In addition, Nth metal also protects the wearer from the elements and speeds the healing of wounds, increases their strength, and protects them from extremes in temperature. It has many other properties that have yet to be revealed in full. It has been implied that the apparently "magical" abilities of the Thanagarian supervillain, Onimar Synn, all stem from his unique mastery of the properties of Nth metal. These powers are augmented to a god-like level in the Rann-Thanagar war when he builds himself an artificial body made of the substance.

In ancient Egypt a Thanagarian spaceship made of Nth metal crash-landed, to be discovered by Prince Khufu and his betrothed, Chay-ara. Exposure to Nth metal forced Khufu and Chay-ara into a cycle of reincarnation. In the Twentieth Century, they were incarnated as Carter Hall and Shiera Saunders, the original Hawkman and Hawkgirl. As Hawkman and Hawkgirl, they wore Nth metal belts, made with the help of Thanagarian Paran Katar, father of Katar Hol, when he was visiting earth.

Many years later, Carter and Shiera's son, Hector Hall made a suit of armour made of Nth metal and took the name Silver Scarab as a founding member of Infinity Inc. The suit provided him with protection from attacks, allowed him to fly and to project solar energy blasts, and let him lift great weights.

The current Hawkman and Hawkgirl continue to wear Nth metal.

[edit] Nth metal in the DCAU

In the Justice League animated series, Nth metal has a somewhat different history. In the TV series, Nth metal is transuranic iron with an atomic number of 676, possessess innate anti-magical properties, is hyperconductive and is able to invert mesons and gravitons.

The direct evidence of the latter two properties is evidenced in a discussion between Paran-Dul and J'onn J'onzz in Starcrossed:

"This technology is amazing. How does it work?"

"The circuits utilise Nth metal, an element with properties you couldn’t even begin to understand."

"What properties wouldn’t I understand? The hyper-conductivity or the meson/graviton inversion?"

The Thanagarians had used the Nth metal to drive off Ichthulthu, a Lovecraftian entity that had dominated Thanagar for generations. Also, Hawkgirl was able to use her Nth metal mace to deflect the spells of Dr. Fate, and her mace was the only weapon that could put down a rampaging Solomon Grundy.

Hawkman, who appears later in the DCAU, also carries an axe and a net made out of Nth metal. He uses the net to capture Gentleman Ghost, claiming that the properties of Nth metal interfere with dimensional shifting.