Winged flight

Winged flight refers to the ability of an organism to fly within an atmospheric environment by way of natural or artificial wings. This is a natural ability of many animals such as birds and bats, but also of various alien races as well.

In the Star Wars film series, there have been at least two different races presented that possess winged flight. One are the Toydarians who have two wings upon their back that beat rapidly allowing them to fly short distances and maintain a sustained hover. Another race, also featured in the prequel trilogy are the Geonosians, who likewise have a pair of insectoid wings upon their backs. It is unclear who fast or far they can fly with these wings, but they appear to be able to climb a maximum ceiling greater than that of a Toydarian.

On the 2011 relaunch of the Thundercats animated series, one of the recurring antagonists is a character named Vultaire. He is a pastiche of Vultureman, who appeared in the original 1980s series. Unlike his 1980s predecessor, Vultaire actually possessed wings similar to that of his namesake and could be seen flying about the floating city of Avista.

There are many superhero and supervillain characters who have appeared in various comic book properties who possess winged flight. In DC Comics, the Golden Age hero Hawkman and his partner, Hawkgirl wore a winged harness. Future retcons revealed that the propulsion system of the wings themselves was actually governed by an alien mineral known as Nth metal. The concept of Hawkman was re-tooled in the 1960s by artist Joe Kubert wherein he was presented as an alien police officer from the planet Thanagar. The Nth metal wings were a commonly used piece of equipment amongst Thanagarian wingmen.