Character Profile: Black Adam

NAME- Teth Adam
ALIAS-BLack Adam
AGE- Unknown (looks to be in his late twenties)
OCCUPATION-Teacher
PERSONALITY- Teth isn't known for his kindness and is very prideful, he loves to lord his powers over others while an extremely good actor he only has his own interests in mind and doesn't care for mankind.

HISTORY- Adam was born to the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II in the neighboring (fictional) land of Kahndaq. While there are contradictory accounts of the circumstances of Black Adam’s early history, certain elements are consistent:

While serving as high priest to Ramses II, the wizard Shazam sought a successor to his godly powers. Impressed with his virtue and martial heroism, he chose Adam. Having determined to make Adam his successor, Shazam’s intentions were altered by the intervention of his half-demonic daughter Blaze. Blaze struck a bargain with the god Set so that when Adam speaks the word “Shazam,” instead of becoming the avatar of the wizard’s deific patrons, he becomes the avatar of the Egyptian gods Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton and Mehen.

"Teth-Adam" (Mighty Adam) then served the Egyptian pharaoh as his champion for many years. At one point, a time-traveling adventure of the Justice Society showed him in service to Prince Khufu (an early reincarnation of Hawkman) alongside the wizard Nabu. This service however, drew him away from his family and home country of Kahndaq, which was attacked in his absence, resulting in the murder of his family and the devastation of his people. The attack was carried out by a rogue priest who used the Orb of Ra to give himself Metamorpho-like powers, and plotted conquest in league with the immortal Vandal Savage. With the assistance of the time traveling members of the Justice Society of America, the two villains were eventually defeated. Captain Marvel, interacting with his predecessor prior to his fall from grace, was both impressed by the valor and nobility of Adam, and disturbed by the bloody vengeance he exacted upon the murderer of his family.

Though he went on to serve the pharaoh of Egypt for hundreds of years thereafter, Teth-Adam eventually fell from the good graces of Shazam. This happened either because Adam became dictatorial towards Kahndaq, he became corrupted and homicidal by his powers, or the wizard believed he was plotting conquest with Blaze. Henceforth, the wizard referred to him as "Khem" (or "Black") Adam. In any event, Shazam somehow magically transposed Teth-Adam’s powers (and apparently Teth-Adam’s spirit) into a mystical scarab amulet, where they remained for thousands of years. Having been unnaturally supported past his normal lifespan, Adam’s body disintegrated. Made cautious by this failure, Shazam does not empower another champion until modern times when Billy Batson was made into Captain Marvel.

The scarab amulet found its way into the tomb of Ramses II and remained there until an archeological expedition financed by Dr. Sivana served as the vehicle for fate’s intercession. Billy Batson’s father C.C. Batson led the expedition and discovered the amulet along with his wife Marylyn and assistant Theo Adam. Becoming immediately obsessed with the amulet, the unscrupulous assistant killed the Batsons to claim it for himself. Theo Adam discovered he was a descendent of Black Adam and learned to speak the magic word that bestowed upon him the powers of Black Adam, and eventually released the ancient warrior’s spirit. Recognizing Captain Marvel’s resemblance to C.C. Batson, the empowered Theo Adam revealed himself as the murderer of Billy’s parents, and the two battled. Marvel achieved victory by snatching away the scarab from Theo and took him to the wizard Shazam who removed his memory and voice.

This solution proved short-lived, however, as Shazam’s daughter Blaze again intervened and restored Theo’s faculties and thereby his powers. Holding the soul of his sister hostage in hell, she coerced Theo to serve her in a plot against the wizard. When her brother Satanus interfered and released his sister’s soul, Black Adam turns on Blaze and she was defeated by the wizard. Theo/Teth-Adam was then sent to a far-flung part of the cosmos. He eventually returned and claimed to be free of the influence of Theo.

Hereafter there is confusion as to whether Black Adam’s real persona is Theo or Teth-Adam. His next appearance showed him acting irrationally and violently, and opposed by the Justice Society, who were only able to stop him by bringing lightning from ancient Egypt to the present and transforming Adam back to mortal form. From that point on, the mortal form Black Adam transmogrifies to is that of Teth in his prime, and he appears to be the sole personality involved. He claimed to have been once again temporarily under the influence of Theo when he made a deal with Johnny Sorrow to remove a brain tumor from Theo in return for his joining the Injustice Society. Black Adam then claimed to be free of Theo. He joined the Society against Sorrow and they triumphed. Applying for membership in the Justice Society, Adam was accepted as a probationary member. However, there was a great deal of suspicion of him, particularly from Atom Smasher, who was openly hostile, and Captain Marvel, who also joined to keep an eye on Adam. When he was sent to the new world he agreed to be a teacher for the University, purely for his own interest of course


POWERS/SPECIAL TALENTS- Black Adam is gifted with a panoply of powers that appear to correspond to and match, if not exceed, those of Captain Marvel. Essentially, he is gifted with six attributes of particular gods who are exemplars of them. He is as strong, fast, durable, powerful, knowing, and as possessed of inner strength as six gods who are pinnacles of those qualities. These powers are both magical and divine in nature. They are magical insofar as it was the wizard Shazam who originally provided the link to the gods who empower Black Adam, but the powers themselves come directly from the six gods who lend their puissance to him. This is a significant distinction insofar as the gods seem to have shown reluctance to abandon their avatar, even when his magical patron would clearly rather have removed his gift. While the wizard was able to initially displace the powers into an amulet, this was clearly not sufficient to keep Adam from eventually reclaiming them. Nor was Shazam apparently able to repeat the feat in the modern age. Captain Marvel, having apparently inherited the wizard Shazam’s power after the Spectre slew him, was roughly rebuked when he sought the gods’ intercession with Black Adam during the events of 52. It took an impressive coalition of magic-users acting in concert with Marvel, and the simultaneous distraction of fighting a large contingent of the world’s heroes, to change the Word and temporarily de-power the violent powerhouse.

The chief distinction between the power of Captain Marvel and that of Black Adam is that Adam’s powers are provided by the Egyptian, rather than the Greek, pantheon. Presumably, the two are nearly equal in power, though it is conceivable that one god might be more potent than another (an interesting note is that Solomon, Achilles, and Hercules - three of Marvel’s patrons, were originally at least half mortal). Aside from the short-lived Black Marvel family, Black Adam does not share his power the way Billy does with Freddy, rendering him much more powerful in most situations. Therefore, any feat demonstrated by Captain Marvel should be at the very least duplicable by Adam. Teth even in mortal form shows remarkable ability to inspire his followers, even to their deaths, and was an able warrior before being given his abilities. Moreover, Adam has had centuries more experience with his powers than most super-beings, and is an accomplished and iron-willed combatant even without his powers. The powers granted to Black Adam are as follows:

Shu

(stamina): Nigh-invulnerable, and does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe (can survive unaided in space). Extremely resistant to magical attack, and effectively tireless. Even when a specially prepared bullet made from the Rock of Eternity could puncture him, Adam dug it out with his fingers and healed almost immediately. Has survived the equivalent of a major astronomical event being teleported inside his skull, and Captain Marvel has withstood being literally turned inside out by a spatial tesseract bomb with zero ill effects! Shu is the Egyptian god of the air, whose name means “he who rises up”.

Heru

(Horus - speed): Black Adam can fly, move, and fight at, at least Mach 500 in an atmosphere; and in space, at faster than light speeds. In one account, Adam traveled from the farthest reaches of the cosmos to earth in 5000 years (the universe is 156 billion light years wide). Heru is the Egyptian god of the sky and victory personified.

Amon

(strength): Provides Adam with truly incredible strength. In a strength class with Superman and Captain Marvel, and able to toss one-handed an aircraft carrier (hundreds of thousands of tons) for possibly hundreds of miles. On one occasion, He was successfully able to hold his own against an assemblage of The Justice League, Justice Society, and The Teen Titans, Something neither Superman or Captain Marvel have been able to do. Amon is considered the king of the Egyptian gods, a god of virility and the ‘breath of life’.

Zehuti

(Thoth-wisdom): Access to godly level of knowledge, magical and mundane. Can simply ‘know’ appropriate knowledge for a situation, and be counseled as to the best course of action. Adam has voiced distrust for the voices of the gods to Captain Marvel. Adam’s gods have also expressed approval for his more brutal actions in “52”, which appears to be very different than the stance of Captain Marvel’s patrons. Black Adam’s senses are phenomenally sharp as well, though nowhere near the level of Superman’s. Zehuti, or Thoth, is the Egyptian god of magic and writing, whose magical powers were so great, that those who read the 'Book of Thoth', became the most powerful magician in the world. Teth is also a master telepath and has been acknowledged for some of his work as he can easily read someone's mind and it has been said to control them.

Aton

(power): Aton provides the magic lightning that transforms Adam, and Adam can use the lightning bolt as a weapon by dodging it and allowing it to strike an opponent. The power of Aton enables Adam’s flight, enhances his physical abilities and invulnerability, and gives him godly resistance against magical attacks. This power also allows him the power of interdimensional travel. It is feasible that the power of Aton and the wisdom of Zehuti could be used more extensively, if required, but that Adam’s general invincibility makes him favor the direct approach. Aton is the Egyptian god of the solar disk and of creation itself.

Mehen

(courage): Provides a godly degree of inner strength, including superhuman resistance to psychic manipulation, or any form of mind control. It is worth noting that even in mortal form Teth demonstrates phenomenal determination, mental toughness, and nerves of steel. Mehen, or “one who is coiled” is the serpent god who fought the demon Apep to protect the sun.