Hector Hall was born in Cairo, Egypt, while his parents were on an archaelogical expedition. Hector felt neglected as he grew up, even though his mother had retired from crimefighting. Carter would continue to battle villains as Hawkman, and he and Shierra would often go on expeditions, leaving Hector with babysitters.

When Hector's parents took him to the hidden city of Feithera, home of the winged bird people, to visit their god-son Norda (Northwind), Hector was unhappy, because he could not fly with his parents as Norda could.

Hector went to UCLA and there he began building the armoured suit he would eventually wear as the Silver Scarab. Meeting up with his childhood friend Lyta Trevor at UCLA, the two began dating, and one night Hector showed her his Silver Scarab costume. Meanwhile, Lyta (daughter of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor)longed to become the new Amazon Princess. That night, they asked their parents to sponsor them for membership of the Justice Society. Along with Northwind and Nuklon, they were turned down due to their inexperience.

Unperturbed, they formed a new heroeic group - Infinity Inc.