CAPTAIN MARVEL: The Power of SHAZAM! Real Name: William (Billy) Batson Occupation: Radio personality Base of Operations: Fawcett City Marital Status: Single Height (as Cap): 6' 2" Weight: 215 lb. Height (as Billy): 5' 4" Weight: 110 lb. Hair: Black Eyes: Blue Former Base of Operations: Fawcett city Group Affiliation: The Marvel Family, JLA, Shazam's Squadron of Justice First Appearance: WHIZ COMICS #1 (February, 1940) OVERVIEW Granted powers by the wizard Shazam, Billy Batson has only to speak the wizard's name to transform into Earth's mightiest mortal, Captain Marvel. While the source of his powers are in dispute, the quality of those powers is not in doubt. Captain Marvel's might has only a few equals on the planet and calls amongst his peers, Superman, Orion, Wonder Woman, The Martian Manhunter, Maxima and Big Barda. Early in his career, Billy chose to split his power among himself, his sister Mary, and Freddy Freeman. Together, as Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel, Jr. (or "CM3"), the Marvel family protected Fawcett City and Earth from numerous threats. Recently, The Marvels suffered a tremendous loss when the nefarious Mr. Mind detonated an atomic bomb in nearby Fairfield, killing thousands. Together, the Marvels brought Mr. Mind to justice, but the three nearly died when they were in a car accident in their non-powered forms. When their longtime enemy Black Adam reappeared, apparently to take their places, the one, true, original Captain Marvel ultimately defeated him. Recently, during the One Million incident, it was revealed that Billy will assume the wizard Shazam's role in the 853rd century. Billy's exploits up until that time remain unrevealed. Captain Marvel is an unusual member of the metahuman community in that he appears to have no real physical weaknesses while having the major suite of superhuman abilities (superstrength, invulnerability, flight, superspeed) at 70% to 95% of the level of other major powers on Earth. On the other hand, he has the mind of a young man and could possibly be corrupted or turned with well-placed psychological training, brainwashing or propoganda. POWERS AND ABILITIES Captain Marvel's powers seem to stem from energy directed to him from the wizard Shazam, who channels energies of the primal God-wave and the Greek Gods through the Rock of Eternity. This gives Captain Marvel incredible powers that rival the Last Sons of Krypton and Mars for sheer versatility and scope of powers. The source of these powers or template for these powers are derived from the following four gods and adapted from these two human heroes: Solomon - Wisdom, Hercules - Strength, Atlas - Stamina, Zeus - Power, Achilles - Courage, and Mercury - Speed Overall Powers: William Batson's human body has been super-charged with magical energy of the Godwave. In addition to super-charging his body, his body been aged into early adulthood by the divine power but his mind is still unchanged. His powers include super-strength, super-speed, flight, near invulnerability, an uncanny awareness of his circumstances that allows him to turn disadvantages into advantages, an understanding of divine interactions with the mortal world and acting as an advocate for humanity and limited dimensional travel. This particularl ability is limited to the Rock of Eternity, but it has never been determined if he is able to travel to other dimensions. Captain Marvel also has the ability to share his power with two other individuals who partake of his power partially, but not necessarily equally. Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel have similar but reduced power levels. Captain Marvel's powers are reduced while the power is shared by his protˇgˇs. Superhuman Strength Captain Marvel's strength appears to be nearly as great as Superman's. He has performed feats of strength near the equal of the Man of Steel. Superman and Captain Marvel have battled several times, inconclusively. Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman have also battled, again inconclusively. (However, we do not believe that the conflicts were anywhere near the level of destruction that all of these beings are capable of.) There is a question of how Marvel's and Superman's stamina compare since that is one of the primary means of determining how strong and ultimately how destructive a metahuman can be. Consider that Doomsday defeated the entire Justice League (not the current League, an earlier, less powerful one) in a matter of minutes, with no one able to offer serious challenge to him. Only Superman was able to expend the amount of energy required to wear the creature down and ultimately slay him. Since we have never seen Captain Marvel expend energy at that level, it is difficult to know just how he compares to Superman in that way. Captain Marvel has stunned Superman with two of his best punches, so suffice it to say, he should be at least 80% as strong as Superman. This means no known barriers can stop Captain Marvel. Whenever he shares the power with Captain Marvel Junior, or Mary Marvel, his strength is reduced to 1/3 of its previous levels. This reduces his strength to approximately 50% of Superman's levels. Near-Invulnerability Captain Marvel's level of invulnerability appears to be as effective as any of the most powerful metahumans including Superman, the Martian Manhunter, and Wonder Woman. As near as we can tell, Marvel's invulnerability has no particular limitations but the exact dynamics are unclear. Marvel is not believed to be generating a biometric force field similar to the one that Superman produces, so Marvel's uniform has been destroyed in particularly fierce battles. Strangely enough, every time Marvel changes from Billy Batson into Captain Marvel, his uniform is restored. The nature of the materials and their repair is currently unknown. Again, when sharing his power his invulnerability is reduced but by how much has yet to be determined. Most human weaponry still seem relatively ineffective against him even in this reduced state. Flight Captain Marvel possesses the power of flight. His flight does not seem to take an excessive amount of energy or concentration to maintain. Our studies of his flight indicate that it is a magical gift similar to the one given to Wonder Woman by the messenger god, Mercury. The nature of how he flies is still unknown. Marvel seems to use his flight relatively well, but is not an excellent aerial combatant. Sharing his powers with his protˇgˇs does seem affect this power as well, but again it has yet to be determined as to how fast he can travel in his reduced state. Superspeed Marvel also seems to possess limited superspeed abilities similar to Wonder Woman's and the Flash's. He has the ability to sharpen his awareness and increase his temporal flow, appearing to move faster than humanly possible. Considering how rarely he uses this power, it must require more effort or concentration than he is comfortable using. When using superspeed his reflexes increase to 8-20 times the human norm. It is rare to see Captain Marvel utilizing superspeed as the incredible weapon it could be coupled with superstrength and invulnerability, so it is assumed that he is hesitant to cut loose with the destructive force that these three powers would give him. Magical Awareness Infrequently, Captain Marvel possesses an ability to interact with nearby realms of magic, possibly similar to the forces that activate his own powers. As such, he has been considered an advocate for Humanity against entities from these realms whom are friendly, and guardian against those who are not. How he moves into these realms is currently unknown. Limited Dimension Travel Captain Marvel may perform limited dimensional shifting into and out of the realm of the Rock of Eternity. The Rock of Eternity is a nexus of power in a nearby realm of existance that channels power to anyone utilizing the power of the wizard Shazam. As to whether he can travel to other dimensions or locations using the Rock is currently unknown. Magical Lightning While not directly a weapon, Captain Marvel is transformed by the interaction of his shouting SHAZAM! and a magical bolt of lightning that supercharges and transforms him. Since the bolt strikes wherever he is standing when he says the word, anyone at ground zero can be conceivably be damaged by the lightning if they are not able to use the power of Shazam. Captain Marvel's powers were christened to battle the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man: Pride, Envy, Greed, Hatred, Selfishness, Laziness and Injustice and as such is a powerful champion capable of defending Mankind against forces who would prey upon the weak. As a personality, Marvel manages to maintain a sense of boyish wonder and idealism, perfect for a heroic mentality.