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Jebediah of Canaan is the Wizard of Shazam, the benefactor of Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family.

9000 Years Ago

Over 9000 years ago[1], Shazam was a young shepherd named Jebediah, who lost his parents to a group of murdering nomads and was left alone. Pleading to the gods, Jebediah formed a covenant with the gods of his people and was chosen by six long-since forgotten gods to become their champion, Vlarem. The six gods were Voldar (Master of Strength), Lumiun (Patron of Wisdom), Arel (Swift Messenger of the Gods), Ribalvei (Most Powerful of the Gods), Elbiam (Lord of Courage), and Marsosh (God of Stamina), each decided to bestow upon Jebediah a portion of their power to transform him into an empowered adult form. These gods developed a magic code word ("Vlarem"), formed from the first initial of their respective names.[2]

At one point, Vlarem was seduced by a demoness disguised as a beautiful woman, and the two of them conceived two half-demon offspring, Blaze and Satanus, much to the displeasure of the gods. Vlarem later created the Rock of Eternity from two large rock formations--one from Heaven and one from Hell--to hold captive the "Three Faces of Evil", a dragon-like demon.

6000 Years Ago

Prior to becoming SHAZAM, he met and befriended King Solomon in Jerusalem. As Solomon lay on his death bed, the wizard gathered a small fraction of his essence, his wisdom. From the banks of the River Styx, he drew the essence of Achilles. At the edge of the world, he implored Atlas to let him harness a bit of is stamina. In Thebes, Heracles was inaccessible, but the Roman Hercules granted him power. Haering the wizards endeavors, the Roman Mercury granted him his speed. One night, Zeus came and imparted a portion of his power.[3]

Jebediah, later known as Shazam, spent the next 3000 years battling evil, but he grew weary and needed to choose a successor. Because the gods that he had relied on for his power had been long forgotten, Shazam petitioned and chose gods who would grant their powers to Shazam's successor, a worthy man named Teth-Adam. Adam merely had to speak Shazam's name and he was granted the powers of six Egyptian gods.[2][4][3] But Adam's power soon corrupted him and he became less benevolent. Shazam renamed him Black Adam, but since he was unable to strip him of his powers, Shazam instead banished Adam to the farthest star for his crimes.

Captain Marvel

Shazam once again waited to find a new successor. Unwilling to make the same mistake twice, Shazam decided to bestow his powers on a boy, much like what had happened to him. Ages passed until Shazam discovered a boy worthy enough to be granted those mighty powers. Shazam chose young Billy Batson to receive the powers of six of the mightiest gods and mortals. When Billy Batson says the name "Shazam," he is transformed into an adult version of himself, the world's mightiest mortal... Captain Marvel!

Although Shazam is killed—as prophesied—by a giant granite block falling upon him, Billy/Captain Marvel can summon the ghost of Shazam for guidance by lighting a special wall sconce in Shazam's lair.

Shazam takes up residence on the Rock of Eternity (a temporal spot in space/time) where he records the adventures of the Marvel Family.

Shazam has regained corporeal form and for a brief time lived with Billy Batson so he could regain an understanding of humanity. Sometime later, Shazam gained godhood and joined Zeus, Ganthet, Highfather, and the Phantom Stranger to form the Quintessence, a group of all-powerful beings who kept tabs on the order of the universe.

Shazam has returned to the Rock of Eternity and still watches over his charges.

Day of Vengeance

Shazam called upon the Spectre to free Superman from being controlled by the demon Eclipso.[5] This action broke a covenant between Eclipso and the Spectre and set Eclipso permanently at odds against the wizard. Possessing the body of the Atom's ex-wife Jean Loring, Eclipso corrupted the confused Spectre into joining forces with her and began a war against all magic-powered beings in the DC Universe.

Because of his previous action, Shazam was one of the duo's primary targets. In the Day of Vengeance miniseries, Shazam enlisted Captain Marvel to keep the Spectre at bay while the wizard gathered all of his power to battle him. With the assistance of the newly-formed Shadowpact, a band of magic-based heroes, Marvel fought the Spectre nearly to a standstill, but the Spectre escaped and made his way to the Rock of Eternity to confront Shazam directly. The Spectre overpowered the wizard, absorbed his magics, and killed him; the Rock of Eternity exploded above Gotham City into "a billion pieces", freeing the Seven Deadly Sins and sending a de-powered Billy Batson falling into the city.

Billy found he was still able to transform into the Captain before he struck the ground by saying the wizard's name as usual.[6]

After having Shazam's spirit dispersed, Batson had advanced to the wizard's position as Keeper of the Rock of Eternity. But after Batson's ascension, Black Adam, along with his resurrected wife Isis, were able to take control of the Rock for their own power. It was revealed that the wizard's spirit form was not completely destroyed by Spectre but sealed away in the separate Rock of Finality. With the help of Jay Garrick, the wizard's spirit was released from the Rock of Finality. Seeing Batson support his sister who had been corrupted and both becoming a "Black Marvel", the wizard's spirit stripped both Billy and Mary of their powers saying they "had failed him."

The wizard said that as Freddy Freeman's current "Captain Marvel" powers come directly from the six gods and not under the wizard's control, Freeman "would be dealt with".[7] It remains to be seen what the wizard meant by that statement against Freeman and his role as the six gods' champion.

Powers

  • Magic: Overtime, Shazam became greatly profient in magic to the point of becoming god-like.[8]
    • Flight
    • Cosmic Awareness: Shazam is aware of reality, being so acute he can resist new memories being inserted into his mind from alterations to the timeline.[9]
    • Physical Form: While in physical form, Shazam is afforded capabilities of existing on Earth. At one point, he was also provded a physical form by Ibis.[10]
    • Rock of Eternity Empowerment: As the Keeper of the Rock of Eternity, he and the Rock of Eternity are part of one another and is able to control the magical energies within it. His presence also keeps the darker forces within it at bay.
      • Inherent Omnipresence: Apparently possessing the power to be everywhere, at all times (i.e., multiple dimensions and places in time).
      • Inherent Omniscience: Apparently possessing the power to know anything that he chooses to know and can be known.
      • Teleportation
      • Telepathy: The ability to read the minds of others and project thoughts.
      • Immortality
  • New God Physiology: After completing his godhood on New Genesis, Shazam became a New God.[12]

Abilities

Weaknesses

  • Power Loss Bound to the Rock of Eternity, though the wizard's spirit can leave the Rock of Eternity for short periods of time. It should be noted that the wizard gets weaker the longer he is away from it.

Equipment


  • Shazam was created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck, first appearing in Whiz Comics #2. However, the New Earth version of Shazam first appeared in War of the Gods #3 by George Pérez.
  • The wizard Shazam no longer has an actual physical body and exists only in spirit form. While he can temporarily create a physical body, that creation can only be maintained for a short period of time before it fades and leaves him back in his native non-physical form.
  • Shazam would ascended to true godhood on New Genesis, making him a New God.[13]
  • In his human guise as "Jebediah O'Keenan", he posed as Billy Batson's grandfather on Miriam Batson's side.[14] His appearance was also described as looking like Sean Connery.[15]
  • Jebediah admitted to Mary Marvel to holding a misogynistic views on "Captain Marvel business", claiming he beleived it to be "man's work".[16] However, this characterization seemed to changed in 52 series, where it was revealed one of his previous champions was Queen Pharaoh Hatshepsut.[17]

Related

Footnotes


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