Birdman

“Everything was going fine, and then the Cartoon Network calls up and says "Sorry Harvey, we're passing on your late night show." Just like that, they clip my wings.”

~ Birdman on the unexpected virtue of ignorance

Birdman in the wild.

Birdman (Ray Randall) is a third-rate superhero whose only powers are that of flying and solar energy. He only took the mantle of Birdman as a way to capitalize on Hawkman's success.

History

Early years

Ray Randall was born on the west coast of America in August 1942. Sometime in the early 60s, he came across a tomb that allowed him to store solar energy and was contacted by the SolarCity mascot, Ra, who told him he was chosen to harness the infinite power of the sun to work and save. Ra gave Ray Randall a pair of wings, which he found hard to live with soon after, so he decided to minimize the hardship of the situation by adopting a pet eagle, whose cry sounded like a goat being strangled and whom he named Avenger.

Time as a superhero

Birdman, upon realizing he is a third-rate, also third-run superhero

In 1967, God Themselves, Hanna-Barbera contacted Ray Randall and told them they were looking for a new superhero after Space Ghost went off and became a talk show host. Ray initially refused, but later agreed to work with them, thinking he could use his wings to garner fame and fortune. He chose the name "Birdman" so he could rip off Hawkman, and unable to think of a catchphrase, he simply resorted to shouting his name at the top of his lungs, which surprisingly Hanna-Barbera loved. An employee at Hanna-Barbera, named Falcon-7, became Birdman's boss, and gave him missions for him to go on. Birdman also took his pet Avenger on his crime-fighting excursions, without any concern for his safety.

Birdman only fought crime for one year, because the citizens he saved and the viewers at home alike thought he was stupid, with his incredibly wooden dialogue, stupid "catchphrase" (if you could even call it that), and the fact he had a gaping weakness of his powers running out when he wasn't in sunlight (he had solar bands to replenish his energy in these situations, but he rarely used them.) Because of this, he got captured often and rarely even did any of the work; most of it was done by Avenger. Birdman lampshaded this when he taunted an enemy by calling them "a weakling and a coward," unaware of the hypocrisy. By January 1968, Birdman quit, and what luck, because soon after, Hanna-Barbera would be sued by Filmation for trying to be a better studio than them, and Falcon-7 would resign.

Time as an attorney

With Harveynomics, baby!!

After being brutally beaten by Huckleberry Hound, Ray Randall lived in retirement for many years, using his wings as an advantage to do random crap. In 1993, he went to law school. By 2000, he graduated law school and got a job as an attorney at Sebben and Sebben Law Firm, run by his former boss, Falcon-7 (whose real name was Phil Ken Sebben). Also during this time, Ray Randall legally changed his name to Harvey Birdman. Harvey represented many clients, including the sexy-ass Black Vulcan and the redneck who beat him up in 1969, Huckleberry Hound, and eventually found experience raising a kid without even being married when Swayzak landed in his courtroom, with no idea how he got there.

Harvey supposedly died in 2007 of being crushed by a ginormous villain, but he was faking his death (like how Disney faked Jim Henson's death) and he made his grand return in 2018 as attorney general Bob Barr. He helped save America by impeaching President Phil Ken Sebben and re-electing the previous President, Black Vulcan. Harvey Birdman is now teaching his foster son Swayzak how to be an attorney, which Swayzak uses to sue every cartoon character that doesn't belong to Warner Bros. (yes, even the ones that aired on Cartoon Network back in the day.)