Growing up in the East End of London, Tim had a fairly normal childhood marked by one tragedy in particular: when he was young, his mother was killed in a car accident, an event that formed an important ambiguity in Tim's teenage years. It was during that time that his potential as a magician began to become obvious to various organizations and big players in the magical community, such as the Cult of the Cold Flame. Rather than allow him to be indoctrinated by this destructive group (or any other), four men decided to approach the twelve year old Tim and offer him a wide-reaching look at the world and nature of magic.

Though not actually known as the Trenchcoat Brigade, as Constantine sardonically termed them, the four members did indeed wear the trademark coat, and starred in a separate miniseries by that name. The Phantom Stranger, John Constantine, Doctor Occult (and his assistant/alternate psyche Rose Psychic), and Mr. E each educated Tim on different aspects of magic. The Phantom Stranger took Tim into the past to show him the events of magic gone by, and to hear the opinions of great magicians before him, such as Merlin, Arion, and Giovanni Zatara.

Constantine took Tim to America to show him the modern world of magic, introducing him to people like Baron Winter, Madame Xanadu, Zatanna, and the Spectre. During this time, Tim also meets Boston Brand in various guises, frequently when Constantine was preoccupied elsewhere.

Doctor Occult and Rose Psychic took Tim for a tour of the Faerie lands, as well as the other mythical dimensions. He met Queen Titania for the first time, narrowly escaped being eaten by Baba Yaga, and learned something about magical etiquette and the importance of choosing one's words carefully.

On his final journal, Mr. E took Tim into the future. He showed Tim a possible future in which he was a powerful magician, battling people he had befriended while traveling with Constantine. The Constantine of this future said that he should have killed Tim while he had the chance. This was an attitude that Mr. E ultimately decided on, and at the end of time, he attempted to kill Tim to save humanity. He was stopped by Death and Destiny, who sent Tim back to his time, but told Mr. E that he would have to walk all the way back.

With his tour completed, the Trenchcoat Brigade asked Tim to make a choice: to enter the world of magic and embrace all the wonders and dangers inherent, or to remain among the mundane and live out a normal life. He chose to remain normal, and left them to continue being just a kid. However, the Phantom Stranger stated that his real choice had been when he decided to go with them and see what magic was about.

His story picked up two years later, and one of the earliest things he discovered was that his parents, John and Mary Hunter, weren't his biological family. His birth father was Tamlin, a human shapeshifter from the realm of Faerie. The question as to the identity of his mother was left unanswered. Titania, the Queen of Faerie, claimed that Tim was her son, but Auberon, the King of the Faerie, later told Tim that he had no faerie blood. It has been revealed that Titania is actually a human masquerading as a faerie, however, meaning that her original claim might well be true.

After encountering and defeating a manticore, Tim bled out, restoring Faerie with his death. Tamlin traded his life for the life of his son, dying in his place so that his son could live. In other words, Tim never found a solid answer, but in time learned to accept who he was and believe that the question of his heritage was ultimately irrelevant.