Halo (DC Comics)

"Aurakle" redirects here. For the Seven Soldiers of Victory character, see Aurakles.

Halo (Gabrielle Doe) is a superheroine appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. She first appeared in a special insert in The Brave and the Bold #200 (July 1983) and was created by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo.^[2]

Halo
Halo as depicted in Batman and the Outsiders #4 (September 1983), art by Jim Aparo.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	The Brave and the Bold #200 (July 1983)
Created by	Mike W. Barr (writer) Jim Aparo (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Gabrielle Doe
Species	Human/Aurakle (gestalt entity)
Team affiliations	Outsiders Strike Force Kobra Batman Incorporated Dead Heroes Club Justice League
Partnerships	Batman Black Lightning Geo-Force Katana Looker Metamorpho Grace Choi
Notable aliases	Gabrielle Doe Marissa Baron Spectrum Violet Harper[1]
Abilities	See list Aura generation Violet: Self-healing abilities and resurrection, and can produce empowering mental effects that can give her previous body's consciousness control of their shared body. Indigo: Tractor beam. Blue: Hologram generation. Green: Produce halting stasis beams to stop and manipulate enemies. Yellow: Light generation Orange: Concussive blasts. Red: Energy shield generation, destructive heat beams White: Light generation

The character's origin involves spirit possession, with an alien being resurrected and possessing the body of a recently murdered woman and resurrected her. Halo initially suffers from amnesia, having no access to the memories of either the alien or the human host.

Halo has made limited appearances in other media, primarily in association with the Outsiders. Zehra Fazal voices Halo in Young Justice, where she is depicted as a Quraci refugee named Gabrielle Daou who was possessed by a Mother Box rather than an Aurakle.

Publication history

Halo first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #200 (July 1983), and was created by writer Mike W. Barr and artist Jim Aparo.^[3]

Barr spoke on the genesis for the character, stating:^[4]

"Feeling that an attractive ingénue as a team member never hurt sales with what in those days was presumed to be a largely male audience I reached back to my fan days, and more specifically Batman #134 recalling the cover story "The Rainbow Creature!", about a being whose different auras each had a different power. Combining these ideas gave us Halo".

Fictional character biography

Halo is a gestalt of a human woman named Violet Harper and an Aurakle, an ancient energy being who originates from the Source.^[5] After Violet is murdered by Syonide, an operative of the 100 and Tobias Whale, the Aurakle resurrects, possesses, and empowers her.^[6]

Following her resurrection, Violet joins the Outsiders as Halo. She participates in the Infinite Crisis, World War III, and Blackest Night events, with Blackest Night revealing her abilities to be effective against Black Lanterns.^[7][8]

In Batman Inc., Halo joins a new team of Outsiders led by Red Robin.^[9] Following an explosion, the Outsiders are declared legally dead and use their status to perform covert missions.^[10][11]

Powers and abilities

Halo can fly and create auras of the seven rainbow colors, called halos, which have different effects. She can heal and resurrect herself and generate light, fire, holograms, teleport and stasis beams.

Other versions

An alternate universe variant of Halo appears in JLA: Another Nail.

In other media

Television

• Halo makes a non-speaking appearance in the teaser for the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster!" as a member of the Outsiders.^[12]
• Halo appears in Young Justice, voiced by Zehra Fazal.^[12][13][14] This version is the product of a Mother Box's spirit reviving the body of Gabrielle Daou, a refugee from Qurac who was kidnapped and experimented on by metahuman traffickers and euthanized by Helga Jace after testing negative for a meta-gene. Initially a blank slate with traces of Daou's personality and memories and limited access to the Mother Box's knowledge and powers, Halo is rescued by Tigress, whom they live with before joining Nightwing's team. They also name themselves Violet Harper, seeing themselves as a new individual; enter a relationship with Brion Markov; and befriend Harper Row. However, they are kidnapped by Granny Goodness, who harnesses their access to the Source to access the Anti-Life Equation before Victor Stone rescues them. In the aftermath, Halo breaks up with Markov after Zviad Baazovi secretly manipulates him into killing his uncle Baron Bedlam. In the fourth season, Young Justice: Phantoms, Halo considers converting to Islam, starts identifying as non-binary, and reconsiders their feelings towards Markov and Row. As of the fourth season finale, Halo and Row have entered a relationship.

Film

An alternate universe version of Halo named Aurora appears in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths as a member of the Crime Syndicate of America with powers similar to those of a Green Lantern.^[15]

Video games

Halo appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.^[16]