Rip Hunter (Earth-1: Pre-Crisis)

"I've seen darker days. I've seen men of steel die and dark knights fall, and even then, I accomplished my mission no matter what."

- Rip Hunter

Michael, better known as Rip Hunter, was a rogue Time Master who founded the Legends of Tomorrow and later the Time Bureau.

Early Life
Michael was born to an unnamed mother in Whitechapel, London at some point in the 22nd century. Due to living in poverty, he became a petty thief by the age of five, until he was recruited by the Time Masters and taken to The Refuge. While there, he was cared for by Mary Xavier, who he came to view as his real mother.

While being hunted by The Pilgrim, Michael's older self brought the Legends to The Refuge to protect them. While there, Michael's younger self was used as bait in a prisoner exchange between the Legends and The Pilgrim, as Hunter thought that his childhood temperament would be useful. He was ultimately proven correct when Michael stabbed The Pilgrim in the leg with a knife, which gave the Legends the opportunity to defeat her. Afterward, Michael was presumably given an amnesia pill that wiped his short-term memory, thereby ensuring that his future would not be affected by this event.

Early Career
After reaching adulthood, Michael joined the Time Masters, taking the codename "Rip Hunter" to avoid his enemies targeting his ancestors and thus erasing him from existence. He was trained by Time Master Zaman Druce, becoming his favorite student, and eventually reached the rank of lieutenant.

After falling in love with fellow trainee Miranda Coburn, Time Master Declan threatened them with expulsion for violating their code unless one of them resigned. Hunter went to Declan to hand in his resignation so that Coburn could continue her training, but he was soon informed that she had beaten him to it. Frustrated, Hunter met with Coburn to ask why she had resigned, and was told that she had become disillusioned with their mission and that he could commit to it much better than she could. Following this, Hunter completed his training and became a Time Master, serving for over a decade on the Waverider, travelling to numerous points in the timeline and gaining a feared reputation among Time Pirates. At some point, Hunter invented the Time Sphere and met Eobard Thawne, who later used Hunter's design to create his own version of the device.

Calvert Mission
During his career, Hunter was once sent to Calvert, Oklahoma in 1868. After completing his mission, Hunter found it impossible to leave, due to being consumed by the heroic opportunities available during the era, and so he decided to stay for a while. He soon befriended Bounty Hunter Jonah Hex and was given a coat by Hex at some point, which he frequently wore from that point onward. The pair made a name for themselves pursuing outlaw Quentin Turnbull, but Hunter, fearing that he would never see Miranda again, abandoned the era a day before Turnbull destroyed Calvert, an event he knew would happen.

Spear of Destiny
After locating the Spear of Destiny in Leipzig in 1956, Hunter travelled to the era to retrieve it from the Soviets. Seeking the aid of the Justice Society of America, Hunter informed them of the spear's ability to alter reality and the team soon agreed to help him, though Obsidian was not allowed to go on the mission due to President Eisenhower distrusting him.

After a brief confrontation with the Soviets, the team retrieved the spear, but they soon realized that it was too dangerous for one person to possess, and so Hunter broke it into four pieces and entrusted a piece to each member. He then took the members of the Justice Society to different points in time, with Stargirl being taken to Camelot in 507, Dr. Mid-Nite being taken to Detroit in 3000, and Commander Steel being taken to Manhattan in 1965. Hunter then hid his piece in a secret compartment on the Waverider so well that even his A.I. Gideon did not know where it was.

Going Rogue
At some point after this, Hunter married Coburn, and they had a son named Jonas, who was named after Jonah Hex. By 2166, Earth had almost entirely been conquered by an immortal dictator named Vandal Savage, with London being the last area to fall into his grasp. During the Second Blitz, Miranda and Jonas were killed by Savage, and their bodies were later found by Hunter. Seeking to avenge their deaths, Hunter met with the Time Council at the Vanishing Point and demanded that Savage be erased from the timeline, but the Council insisted that they could not intervene as Savage had not used time travel during his conquests.

Instead of accepting the council's decision, Hunter instead stole the Waverider and travelled back to Ancient Egypt in 1700 B.C. to kill Savage, then known as Hath-Set, before he became immortal. After sneaking into the Royal Palace, Hunter confronted Hath-Set, but hesitated to kill him, resulting in Hath-Set's bodyguards restraining him. As he refused to state his name, Hath-Set decided to refer to Hunter as "Gareeb" and had him locked in the dungeon. After weeks of starving Hunter, Hath-Set again asked who he was and why he tried to kill him, but Hunter merely stated that he was trying to save the world from his evil. Hunter later escaped after tricking the guard with a novelty pen from the 1970s.

Failing in his attempt to kill Savage, Hunter returned to 2166 and attempted to rescue Miranda and Jonas before they were murdered, but this time they were killed by Savage's shock troopers while attempting to board the Waverider. After numerous failed rescue attempts, Hunter realized that their fate was unavoidable, and instead decided to travel to various points in history in an attempt to kill Savage and prevent his conquest of the planet from ever happening. To do this, Hunter decided to recruit eight individuals from the 21st century whose activities had little impact on the timeline, thus ensuring that his own timeline was not altered.

Recruiting the Legends
Hunter first travelled to Star City to recruit Dr. Ray Palmer, a member of Team Arrow and the vigilante known as Atom. After observing Palmer defeat several of H.I.V.E.'s Ghosts, Hunter quickly assured him that he was not one of his adversaries, before rendering him unconscious through the use of a memory flasher.

Next, Hunter travelled to Tibet to recruit Sara Lance, a resurrected former member of the League of Assassins and Team Arrow. Arriving just after she had fought several men who were harassing a young woman, Hunter offered her a drink before also rendering her unconscious. His decision to recruit Lance was due to her being fated to die in four months during an altercation with Damien Darhk, alongside her sister, Laurel, and her father, Quentin.

Then, Hunter travelled to Pittsburgh to recruit Jefferson Jackson and Martin Stein, the two individuals who merge to become Firestorm. Arriving as they were arguing after defeating a terrorist at a nuclear power station, Hunter quickly rendered them unconscious before they had time to react.

Afterward, Hunter travelled to St. Roch to recruit Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders, the latest reincarnations of Prince Khufu and Priestess Chay-Ara, and thus the only people capable of permanently killing Savage. Arriving during an argument over a botched mission, Hunter sarcastically recommended marriage counselling before rendering the pair unconscious.

Finally, Hunter travelled to Central City to recruit Mick Rory and Leonard Snart, the criminals known as Heat Wave and Captain Cold respectively. This choice confused Gideon, but Hunter nonetheless continued with his plan, interrupting the pair during a heist and rendering them unconscious.

First Mission
A few hours after the recruitment, Hunter brought them to a roof in Star City and showed them what will happen if they did not help him defeat Vandal Savage. Hunter gave Stein a location and told them to find him there if they wanted to go. A day later, they all arrived at the location and boarded the Waverider. They later executed a time jump to 1975, St. Roch for Aldus Boardman. After Boardman gave them a few notes on Vandal Savage, they all returned to the ship but were attacked by Chronos. Gaining enough time to escape back to the Temporal Zone, they were free from Chronos, but Aldus was shot in the back and died soon afterward.

Saunders later attacked Hunter for causing Boardman's death, but stopped when Hunter revealed his past as a Time Master and Chronos was sent to kill him. He also told them that none of them are Legends in the future like he told them, instead they were heroes and villains forgotten by history. Hunter also accepted their opinion if they wanted to leave, but they decided to stay to change their own fate.

Losing Carter Hall
After the team left 1975, Palmer realized a part of his suit was missing. As Hunter checks the timeline, it says that Savage used the piece to develop technologies for conquering Earth. To prevent this alternate timeline from happening, they decided to return to 1975 to track Palmer's suit with the help of young Stein's technology. Meanwhile, they discovered that an artifact is capable of killing Savage is also in 1975.

As the team splits into two groups, with Stein, Lance, Jackson on finding the tracker and Palmer, Snart, Rory on stealing an artifact that can kill Vandal Savage. However, the mission to steal the artifact went wrong and got them locked in a cage. While they were short-handed on rescuing them, Hall and Saunders brought the team to rescue them. During the fight, Hall was killed by Savage and his energy was absorbed by the latter.

Hall's body was later taken by Savage and used as a ritual for Savage's cult members. Hunter brought the team to the ritual and tried to retrieve Hall's body. Even though they succeeded, the members of the cult already gained longevity.

Original Timeline
After the Legends went to 1945, they met the JSA and worked together on fighting Damien Darhk's nuclear missile. However, they died on the mission and Rory ordered Rex Tyler to go back to 2016 and warn them.

Forming the Time Bureau
After the Legends defeated the Legion of Doom, Hunter left the team and made Sara Lance the captain of the Waverider and the leader of the Legends. Later, Hunter went back to 2012 and formed the Time Bureau, laying the groundwork for cleaning up Time Aberrations for the next five years.

Abilities

 * Genius-Level Intellect: Hunter was an exceptionally intelligent individual and as such was able to effortlessly calculate what impact it would have if certain events in the timeline were to be changed.
 * Baking: Hunter was a talented baker due to him perfecting his skills when held captive aboard the miniature Waverider by the Legion of Doom.
 * Bilingualism: Hunter is able to speak English and Arabic, the latter due to his extensive research on the League of Assassins.
 * Engineering: Hunter was a highly skilled engineer and was able to repair the Waverider and other time travel technology with ease. He also invented the first Time Sphere.
 * Investigation: Hunter was a skilled investigator, as he was able to discover several details about a person's death from a brief examination of their corpse.
 * Leadership: Hunter was able to effectively lead the Legends to victory against Vandal Savage and later lead the Time Bureau from a small startup to a federal bureau.
 * Singing: Hunter was a capable singer, as shown when karaoke singing Careless Whisper alongside Wally West.
 * Tactics: Hunter was a master tactician, being able to effectively lead the Legends to victory against Vandal Savage.
 * Peak Physical Condition: Hunter was in peak physical condition due to his decade-long service as a Time Master.
 * Hand-to-Hand Combat: Hunter was a capable fighter and was once even able to overpower and temporarily kill Vandal Savage despite his thousands of years of training.
 * Knife-Fighting: Hunter was able to disarm Vandal Savage of his knife and use it against him to slit his throat, temporarily killing him.
 * Marksmanship: Hunter was highly familiar with the use of various firearms from different eras, being able to effectively use his Laser Pistol from the 22nd century, a revolver from the 1870s, and a rifle from the 1860s.

Former Equipment

 * Jonah Hex's Coat: Hunter was gifted a coat by Jonah Hex, which he wore frequently from that point onward.
 * Laser Pistols: Hunter owned several laser pistols which variously fired green and red energy bolts capable of stunning his opponents.
 * Memory Flasher: Hunter owned a device capable of erasing the short-term memory of a person who looks at it.
 * Stun Device: Hunter owned a device capable of knocking someone unconscious with a flash of light,
 * Time Courier: Hunter owned a device capable of opening a portal to another location in time, thus preventing the need for a timeship.
 * Waverider: Hunter owned a timeship called the Waverider for over a decade. He later left this to the Legends, who used it to protect the timeline.