Terrence Thirteen (New Earth)

Doctor Terrence Thirteen was an occult investigator whose primary function was to debunk rumors of supernatural activity.

History

Thirteen was given this mission by his father in order to break the Curse of Thirteen: a string of superstitious lynchings that had murdered his ancestors for a millennium.^[1] This earned him a reputation as a "ghost breaker." Dr. Thirteen was married to a woman named Marie Leeds, who frequently assisted him in his investigations. He once gave John Constantine and Tim Hunter a ride to San Francisco though he was aware of neither of their identities.^{[citation needed]}

The Phantom Stranger

Eventually, Thirteen came across the Phantom Stranger and he became determined to prove he used hoaxes to make people believe in his supernatural powers.^[2][3][4] His quest brought Thirteen to work alongside the Phantom Stranger, solving mysteries and exposing crooks who pretended to use scare tactics against their victims.^[5][6][7] Eventually, Dr. Thirteen's determination to prove hoaxes caused him to unleash the spirit of the evil demoness Tala upon Earth, giving the Phantom Stranger a hard time as he had to stop Tala from wreaking havoc.^[8]

Thirteen and his wife were often exposed to supernatural events in their quest to prove them as hoaxes and in more than one occasion, they were saved by the Phantom Stranger.^[9][10][11] Eventually, Stranger and Thirteen came in conflict against the immortal alchemist called Tannarak.^[12]

Thirteen and Stranger would eventually cross paths again and worked together to confront the entity known as the Spawn of Frankenstein.^[13]

Gotham City

On one occasion, Thirteen was summoned to Gotham City as the Gotham City Police Department needed an expert in paranormal activity to investigate the supposed "Ghost of Wayne Manor".^[14] Thirteen agreed, but in his search for unusual activity, he stumbled upon the Batcave, where Batman and Man-Bat were fighting. Thirteen was injured during the struggle and he was later taken to Gotham Hospital, with no recollection of the events.^[15][16]

Thirteen was later hired by Rupert Thorne to free him from the ghost of Hugo Strange and during his investigation, Thirteen came across the spirit^[17] only to find that it was all an elaborate hoax. After clearing the nonexistent mystery, Thirteen moved on from the case without accepting Thorne's dirty money.^[18]

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

• Investigation
• Science
• Occultism^{[citation needed]}

Weaknesses

• Even living in a world where magic is demonstrably real, Dr. 13 will never accept its existence, rather trying to explain any supernatural phenomena in a totally logical and scientific way.

Notes

• Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.

Related

• 82 Appearances of Terrence Thirteen (New Earth)
• 10 Images featuring Terrence Thirteen (New Earth)
• 4 Quotations by or about Terrence Thirteen (New Earth)
• Character Gallery: Terrence Thirteen (New Earth)

Footnotes