List of DC Comics characters: N

Shortly after the formation of the universe, two elemental forces were born: the Lords of Order and the Lords of Chaos. As the two emerged, both forces struggle for supremacy over the other. The Lords of Order manifest as the first sentience race in the universe as disembodied magical beings, in which included Nabu. As a Lord of Order, he was one of the first beings to contribute to the creation of the universe.[2] Eventually assigned to the mortal world of Earth, he adopted a human form and descended to Earth from Cilia, and became Nabu the Wise, an advisor to the pharaohs of ancient Egypt. He served as a court magician for various Egyptian pharaohs including Khufu and Ramses.

During his time with Ramses, Nabu tried to warn the pharaoh and subsequently his son against persecuting the escaping Jews, led by Moses. One night, Nabu was visited by the Spectre, who warned that every firstborn Egyptian child would be killed by him except for Hebrew slaves. This horrified the magician and he prepared to fight the Spectre with all of his powers but was defeated despite his preparations. The humiliated mystic returned to the pharaoh who had lost his son and, in despair, agreed to free the Hebrew slaves, but then decided to send his army to kill them to annoy God. Despite his plans, the Pharaoh was killed when the Spectre brought the Red Sea crashing into the Egyptian army after Moses and the Israelites had crossed.[3]

Nabu became the guardian of several powerful talismans, in 2578 BC, when Egypt had fallen under the rule of the Vandal Savage, who had assumed the identity of Pharaoh Khafre. Around this time, Bonnie Baxter of the Masters of Time had come from the 20th century, where Khafre's guards threw her into a prison cell. Nabu appeared before her and led her to safety with his magic and asked for her help in overthrowing the immortal Khafre. He intended to combine magic with the science of the time traveler where she gave him her communicator. By combining the pair, he created the Blue Beetle of Khaji-Da, which Bonnie used to overthrow the pharaoh who was wrapped in bandages to contain him, as his immortality would cause him to rise again.[4] The Beetle was lost for 4,500 years before being rediscovered in the 20th century by archaeologist Dan Garrett, who became the first Blue Beetle.

During the Theban dynasty, Nabu the Wise served as an advisor to Prince Khufu Kha-taar, where he served with his ally Teth-Adam. One day, they witnessed a Thanagarian spacecraft crashed and they headed to catch up, they arrived at the scene of the dying pilots where Nabu conjured a spell to translate their alien language that spoke of imminent danger in the far future after this they died. From the ship, they discovered the existence of Nth Metal, which Khufu forged into weapons for his use, and Nabu tried to prepare them, as it was determined that the prince and his fiancee had a role to play in this conflict. During this time, they encountered a traveler who could travel at high speeds and gave him a war glove forged from portions of the Nth Metal called the "Claw of Horus", which they predicted would be instrumental in a battle of thousands of years in the world.

In 1920, archaeologist Sven Nelson and his son Kent go on an expedition to the Valley of Ur. While exploring a temple discovered by his father, Kent opens the tomb of Nabu the Wise and revives him from suspended animation, accidentally releasing a poisonous gas which kills Sven. Nabu takes pity on Kent and teaches him the skills of a sorcerer over the next twenty years before giving him a mystical helmet, amulet, and cloak. In 1940, Kent meets Inza Cramer and Wotan in Alexandria, Egypt on his way back to America. After arriving back in the United States, Kent begins a career fighting crime and supernatural evil as the sorcerer and superhero Doctor Fate and sets up a base in a tower in Salem, Massachusetts. Due to Nabu occasionally possessing him, he converted to half of the helm to regain control but at the cost of halving the power.

After Kent's death, Nabu chooses Eric Strauss and his stepmother Linda to be the next Doctor Fate, with Eric and Linda having to merge into one being in order to become Fate.[5] Nabu goes on to possess Kent's corpse in order to personally advise them.[5] The three of them are soon joined by a friendly demon called Petey and lawyer Jack C. Small.[6] Eric is killed on Apokolips during a battle with Desaad, forcing Linda to become Doctor Fate on her own.[7] Linda is killed soon afterwards by the Lords of Chaos. Despite their grim fates, Eric and Linda's souls are reincarnated in the bodies of Eugene and Wendy DiBellia while Nabu reincarnates in Eugene and Wendy's unborn child.[8]

Eventually, Nabu came into conflict with the Spectre when he began hunting down and killing other Lords of Chaos and Order. In Infinite Crisis, Alexander Luthor, Jr. revealed that he had sent Superboy-Prime to recover the black diamond and that the Psycho-Pirate delivered it to Loring on Alex's orders and had Eclipso-Loring manipulated the Spectre by convincing him magic was an abomination to God and into breaking down magic into it's more raw energy form, in which doing so killed the Lords of Chaos and Order in the process. In doing so, Alexander could use them for his own ends. After killing other Lords of Order including the Wizard Shazam, Nabu was the last one to face him. Nabu put up a valiant fight against the Spectre but knew he would lose this battle and instead, opted to fight at a level for the Presence to take notice. Je was fatally injured but ultimately stopped the Spectre. Nabu, in his final act, passed his Helm of Fate to Detective Chimp and tasked him to find one worthy of the mantle. With his death, the 9th Age of Magic had ended and the 10th Age of Magic begun.

In 2011, "The New 52" rebooted the DC universe and a new version of Nabu appeared. Nabu had the appearance of a legless entity with an elderly appearance and a more peaceful personality. He was a Lord of Order and said to be a wise servant of Thoth. Residing in the Helm of Fate, he would team up with Kent Nelson as Doctor Fate and later Khalid Nassour.

In Futures End, John Constantine is able to set a trap for Nabu, who had been summoning countless people to try to be consumed by the helmet. John made a deal with a demon to summon the god Anubis to judge Nabu. He was found guilty of caring only for himself and killed, with the demon now trapped within the Helmet of Destiny.

• Nabu appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode, voiced by James Arnold Taylor. Batman and Doctor Fate appear before him and Typhoon in order to learn the history of Equinox. In addition, the character "Equinox" is revealed to be a balancer between order and chaos.
• Nabu appears briefly in Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay. He is shown in flashbacks featuring Steel Maxum as Doctor Fate, first in the beginning of the flashbacks on which the helmet bonded with him, but he, upset with Maxum failing to protect the "Get Out of Hell Free" card from Scandal Savage and Knockout, kicked Maxum out of the Tower of Nabu and stripped him of his Doctor Fate title.
• Nabu first debuts in the episode "Denial", voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson in the Young Justice animated series. A flashback in the third season episode "Evolution" featured a new origin for the character, revealing that Nabu was originally the son of Vandal Savage (who was known by the name "Marduk" during the ancient Babylonia time period). The episode "Teg Ydaer!" featured this version's origin story: during his mortal life, Nabu was once on his father's side until he was killed when Klarion unleashed Starro the Conqueror to improve Marduk's army and the army fell sway to Starro. After the death of Arion, the Lords of Order sought a method to combat the Lord of Chaos as their conflict and sinking of Atlantis escalated their battle to a new level. Seeing Nabu as a worthy candidate, they took his human soul and elevated him into a higher plane among them, binding his soul and power into the helmet he created during his lifetime.
• Nabu appears in the Injustice 2 video-game. When the Lords of Order side with Braniac's conquest of Earth due to their low opinion of Earth, considering it capable of only creating chaos, Nelson opposes and Nabu supplants his will with his own. In Doctor Fate's ending, he defies the Lords of Order and defeats Brainiac, but is forced to go into hiding with the help of his Justice League Dark teammates and is happily reunited with his wife. In Raiden's ending, Raiden assists Batman in defeating Brainiac but after the battle, he finds he is unable to save Kent's life. Before dying, Kent reveals that the Lords of Order are responsible for the impending Armageddon conflict as they are intent to use it to create a more orderly multiverse. To oppose the Lords of Order and restore balance, Raiden joins forces with Justice League Dark to combat them.

Nereus appears in the DC Extended Universe film Aquaman portrayed by Dolph Lundgren.[13] This version is Mera's father. Using a submarine provided to him by David Kane, Orm tricks Nereus into siding with him in his campaign against the surface world while arranging for Mera to be betrothed to him. After Mera helps Aquaman escape, Orm tells Nereus that Mera perished in the escape. Nereus accompanied Orm in his trip to the Kingdom of the Fishermen. When the Fisherman King Ricou turned down Orm's offer, he was killed while Nereus killed the two guards that tried to avenge him. Nereus then watched as Orm persuaded King Ricou's wife Queen Rina and daughter Princess Scales to take the offer. During the attack on the Kingdom of the Brine where Orm became the Ocean Master, Nereus fought the Brine soldiers and told the Ocean Master that they need the Brine King alive. When Aquaman arrives on the back of the leviathan Karathan and summons an army of sea creatures, Nereus is told by Princess Scales that Aquaman is also commanding the Trench, which Nereus considered impossible. Mera finds her father and informs him that Aquaman has King Atlan's trident, causing Nereus to switch sides. He then watches Aquaman's duel with the Ocean Master, where Aquaman is victorious, and even sees Atlanna appear. As the Ocean Master is taken away by the Atlantean guards, Nereus and the other Atlantean kingdoms accept Aquaman as their leader.

Lundgren is set to reprise his role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

Nereus appears in Lego DC Super-Villains. He appears as part of the "Aquaman" DLC.