As well as being an illusionist, Zatara also had genuine magical powers (decades later ascribed to being a descendant of the "Homo magi"), which he focused through speaking backwards: he could do anything so long as he could describe it in ("backwards speech"). This helped distinguish Zatara from the numerous Mandrake the Magician knockoffs that cluttered the comics and pulp magazines of the day, although Merlin the Magician (Quality Comics) also had this attribute, and it was also given to him by Zatara's creator, Fred Guardineer.