Ja, Hawkman! I fooled you -- fooled them, too! Why should I have served Hitler -- or any of them -- when I alone had learned the Secret of Kukulkan? 
- — the Feathered Serpent src
The Feathered Serpent was an enemy of the All-Star Squadron who believed he was empowered by the Gods of Mexico.
History
The self-styled Feathered Serpent claimed to have been born on the Yucatan Peninsula, and this may be true, but if so he was born to German parents. He was educated in the United States and Europe, between the World Wars, and became an archaeologist. Using heavy makeup to pass himself off as a Mexican Indian, he mounted an expedition and returned to Yucatan to search out the fabled Lost Pyramid of Kukulkan, and found it. Drawing on his extensive studies, he was able to enter the pyramid via a secret entrance near its apex, and within it he found a set of sacred vestments, hidden there by Moctezuma himself. He put these on, and suddenly found himself able to read the pictographs in the tomb. He could now speak and understand the Olmec, Toltec, Aztec, and Mayan languages. Immediately he ordered all the pure-blooded guides and bearers in his expedition to slaughter all of their Mestizo co-workers, and immediately they all obeyed. Strong and ancient magic was clearly at work here, so in this respect, at least, this false god was no fraud at all.[1]
Amid the early chaos of the Second World War, Kukulkan formed an unstable and reluctant alliance with the German Ambassador to Mexico, and his military attache General Saukel. With a detachment of soldiers and a team of secret agents, the Feathered Serpent undertook to kidnap American amateur archaeologist Shiera Saunders, and convey her to the Lost Pyramid, to be ritually slaughtered in a sacrificial ceremony.[2] This evil deed would give him supernatural control over all pure-blooded Mexican Indians, whom he would then lead in a bloody revolution, overthrowing the elected government, and ruling as a divine king. This new Mayan Kingdom would immediately form an alliance with the Third Reich.
Meanwhile Shiera's fiance, Carter Hall, in his other identity as Hawkman, had brought along seven of his All-Star allies on a search and rescue mission. He and the Shining Knight violently disrupted the pagan ceremony, but at the last moment Quetzalcoatl was able to achieve partial success, by murdering General Saukel in lieu of Shiera, placing a mystic spell across the length and breadth of Mexico. That was the high point of his career, after which his entire scheme was dismantled by the visiting All-Stars, with him ending up in their custody as a prisoner of war.
During this conflict, in Mexico City, a second "Feathered Serpent" (actually a Mestizo hireling, equipped by the Nazis with a powered exoskeleton), began leading the mesmerized Neo-Mayan hordes of local citizens in a raid on the Presidential Palace. This too was thwarted, by Robotman and Liberty Belle, and the imposter was killed.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Occultism Unlike the mechanically-augmented fake Feathered Serpent deployed by his Nazi allies, all of the genuine Feathered Serpent's powers were produced by sorcery.
- Flight Kukulkan flew fast enough to escape from Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and the Shining Knight's flying steed Winged Victory.[3]
- Mind Control By occult means, he placed the entire sub-population of ethnically-pure Mexican Indians under his control and turned them violently against all of their Mestizo countrymen.[4]
Abilities
Notes
- enemy of the All Star Squadron
- This version of Feathered Serpent, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022-2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.
Related
- 2 Appearances of Feathered Serpent (Earth-Two)
- 1 Images featuring Feathered Serpent (Earth-Two)
- 1 Quotations by or about Feathered Serpent (Earth-Two)
- Character Gallery: Feathered Serpent (Earth-Two)
Footnotes