Halo

History

Billions of years ago, at the beginning of creation, a race of beings called the Aurakles emerged from the Source. The Aurakles become observers and rarely interefered with sentient affairs. In time, however, one Aurakle grew increasingly fascinated by the lives of organic beings. While observing events on Earth, this sentimental entity was drawn to a young girl named Violet Harper. BATO 22

Harper was a teenaged runaway. She and her boyfriend, and Mark Denninger, had stolen a formula from the mob boss, Tobias Whale. They attempted to blackmail Whale for it and fled to the tiny European nation of Markovia. Harper turned on Mark as well and killed him with a drug overdose. Whale sent an assassin called Syonide to find them and Violet's luck finally ran out. Syonide left the girl for dead. BATO 20 The Aurakle witnessed this violence. It unwittingly reached out to her and was forever trapped inside her body! Violet's personality was deeply submerged and the Aurakle assumed control of her body. In the process, it became amnesiac; it was ingorant of either its own or Violet's memories. BATO 22

Soon afterwards, the Batman stumbled upon her body in the Markovian woods. He nicknamed the young girl "Halo" because of the glow that surrounded her. Halo aided Batman in rescuing his associate, Lucius Fox from Baron Bedlam. Batman requested further aid from the Justice League to save him, but the JLA refused. Batman then resigned and formed the Outsiders to deal with the problem. This band also included Katana, Black Lightning, Metamorpho and Geo-Force. BATO #1

After Markovia was freed of Bedlam's tyranny, Halo accompanied the new team to Gotham City. There she began a new life for herself under the guardianship of Katana. She also chose a name for herself: Gabrielle Doe. Tatsu and Gabrielle set up residence in Bruce Wayne's former penthouse — in the same building which housed the Outsiders' headquarters. Halo briefly flirted with Geo-Force but they soon realized that they were not interested in pursuing a serious relationship. #3, 6

Batman wasted no time in searching for Halo's origins. He sent his associate, Jason Bard, to the midwest to investigate her past. Harper's school yearbook led Bard to her real name and her parents in Arlington, Missouri. When Batman learned of her name (Violet) he noticed another mystery: Halo never used her violet aura. Gabrielle and Tatsu quickly gew very close, so it was heartbraking when Batman returned Halo to the care of her biological parents, Sam and Margaret. #16

Halo soon began to discover disturbing things about her past. At the same time, Tobias Whale and Syonide also discover Violet Harper's reemergence and set about reclaiming their stolen formula. Apparently, Violet Harper had a photographic memory, and Whale enlisted Dr. Moon to uncover the forumla. Instead, Moon noticed an anomaly in Halo's brainwave pattern. When the Outsiders entered the fray, Syonide killed the Mr. and Mrs. Harper. #18-20

The Outsiders removed Halo to the JLA satellite to analyze Halo themselves. Black Lightning provided the power and their associate, Dr. Jace, jogged Halo's memory of life as an Aurakle. This jolt summoned the other Aurakles, who kidnapped Gabrielle. Katana slayed one of the beings with her Soultaker sword and commanded it to take them to Halo. The team managed to cripple the Aurakles, who surrendered Halo. After all of this trauma, Halo departed from the team in anguish. #22-23

She then met a man named David, who took her to a commune called Eden. (This commune was actually a front for the villain Kobra.) David proposed to Halo just before they were captured by Kobra and her identity as Halo was exposed. Under duress, she revealed the Batman's identity, too. The Outsiders rescued Halo, but she and David went their separate ways. #24-27

After the Outsiders split from Batman, they were awarded medals by King Gregor of Markovia. They also accepted his offer to become "unofficial agents" of that state and voted to move to Los Angeles. There they would operate officially from the Markovian embassy, and unofficially from their new headquarters, just off-shore. #36

Geo-Force disbanded the Outsiders after a tragic series events. Gabrielle was left comatose by a blast from a Manhunter. Tatsu remained by by her side. Outsiders v.1 #28

Tatsu traveled with Gaby's body to Markovia, where she was mysteriously awakened. A new team of Outsiders was formed but they immediately found themselves framed for murder. Halo, Katana and Geo-Force fled the country along with new members Technocrat, Faust and Wylde. Outsiders v.2 #1-alpha

After the team was cleared of all charges, Halo began using her violet aura. The secret of the violet aura was known only to a few: it indicated that Violet Harper's personality was again in control. In this state, Harper could control all Halo's auras at once (Gaby could use only one at a time). Violet defected from the team and sought an alliance with Marissa Baron (Technocrat's ex-wife). Instead, Baron commanded the assassin Sanction to kill her. In the fracas, Sanction's blasts hit both women. This trauma forced the Aurakle to jump to a new host: Marissa Baron. Violet Harper's body was again left for dead. This time, Halo retained the memories of both Gabrielle and Marissa. (#7, 9)

The Aurakles attacked Halo again and possess her teammates. They had sought to reclaim her but were driven off by a high dose of electricity. (#13) These events added to tension to Gaby's relationship with Tatsu and may have added to her newfound attraction to Faust. When the team fractured, Halo sided with Looker and Faust and followed the Eradicator. #0 Unbeknownst to the Outsiders, Kobra rescued Violet Harper's dead body. His science was able to preserve Harper's essence and Halo's powers. She took the code name Spectra and joined Kobra's new Strike Force. Spectra posed as Halo and also recruited the former Outsider called Windfall. #16

The two Outsiders teams soon rejoined, but their time was short-lived. Since then, Halo, Katana and Geo-Force have kept the group alive, but its capacity is unknown. They have been spotted among other super-heroes in times of great crisis. DAY OF JUDGMENT 3-4, JLA: OUR WORLDS AT WAR 1

Notes: Violet Harper's birthdate is July 10; Halo turned 17 in SECRET ORIGINS #6.
+ Powers

....In addition to the power of flight, Halo possesses seven auras with different abilities:

* red = heat
* orange = repulsion
* yellow = sunlight
* green = stasis
* blue = distortion
* indigo = tractor beam
* violet = indicates the presence of the evil Violet Harper's personality, who can control all auras at once.