Lou Hackett (Earth-616)

Lou Hackett and his friend Joshua Kane hunted together a lot in their younger days, hunting the largest and most powerful prey on the planet. At some point this hunter's instinct helped Hackett become a police officer in Los Angeles. While investigating the circumstances around the mysterious death of Kane, Hackett came across the hunter's notes and came to believe that there was a werewolf roaming around the city on the nights of the full moon.

After some investigation, Hackett became more and more convinced that Jack Russell was somehow involved with the supposed werewolf. Several times he visited Philip Russell's home hoping to speak to Jack. After several months, Hackett visited Jack at his Colden House apartment, announcing to the young man that he had reason to believe that a werewolf was in the complex.^[1] At the same time Ma Mayhem also entered Jack's apartment under the guise of the cleaning lady. Jack threw Hackett to the floor, knocking him unconscious when he saw Ma wielding an axe behind him. When he came to, Hackett witnessed two werewolves fighting on the streets below and tried to shoot them with silver bullets (the two werewolves were Jack and his neighbour Raymond Coker). Hackett followed the two beasts to the park where he was prevented from shooting them by onlookers who mistook the creatures to be a couple of guys brawling.^[2]

A short time later, Hackett received one of the Werewolf Rings, as stipulated in his old friend, Joshua Kane's, will. The ring allowed its wearer to transform into a werewolf simply by thinking about it, the wearer retaining his own mind while in the form of the werewolf. In his newfound werewolf form, Hackett stalked Jack and discovered that both he and Raymond Coker were werewolves. The next day, Hackett approached Jack and told him that he knew Coker was the werewolf and pressured Jack into agreeing to help him capture Coker.^[3]

Hackett had been trying to contact the late Joshua Kane's lawyer, Geraldo Kabal for over a month, trying to determine the origin of his magic ring. Eventually he was able to confront Kabal in his home and was informed that the ring had come from a trunk of mystical artefacts owned by Kane that supposedly had once been once by the monk named Aelfric who had originally been responsible for collecting the magic scrolls which would come to be known as the Darkhold. Kane had told Kabal to give one of the rings to Hackett because he thought it would suit his bestial nature. Kabal then told Hackett that the second Werewolf Ring was in the possession of Jack Russell. Transforming into a werewolf, Hackett then killed Kabal and left in search of Russell, wishing to know what properties the second ring may possess. Hackett tracked down both Russell and Coker who had both reverted to their werewolf forms, and trapped them in a dead-end alley before transforming himself into a werewolf also.

Hackett found the true werewolves to be too fast and nimble for him in the tight confines of the alley and soon took to the rooftops, followed by Russell. They continued their battle at a foundry, where they crashed through a skylight and landed above a large vat of molten steel. Hackett demanded Russell hand him the ring, not knowing that Jack had somehow lost it after battling the Committee. Russell was knocked off of the catwalk above the vat and held on the rail for dear life, though Hackett was trying to kill him. Coker, however, leaped down on top of Hackett, knocking him over the railing instead and he was vaporized by the molten steel below. The act of killing a werewolf then released Coker of his curse and he transformed back into his human form, forever free of his curse.^[4]

By using one of the Werewolf Rings Hackett could transform into a werewolf. In this form he possessed all of the traditional powers and abilities of a werewolf including: superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, senses, and an enhanced healing ability.

Lou Hackett was a skilled hunter and police officer, skilled in the use of several different types of firearms.

Like all werewolves, Hackett presumably was vulnerable to silver while in his werewolf form.

One of the Werewolf Rings

As a police officer, Hackett carried a standard issue revolver which he later loaded with silver bullets when he discovered that a werewolf was in Los Angeles.

Police squad car