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Shazam is the wizard who gave Captain Marvel his powers.

Exact origins and how Shazam was endowed with his powers are unknown, but he mentioned having humble origins. He learned his mystical knowledge with Solomon. In Solomon's final moments, Shazam cast a spell, gathering his wisdom. After he cast the same spell over Stygia River, where Achilles was endowed with his invulnerability, gathering Achilles' courage. And so, he gathered attributes from the Greek Atlas and Zeus, and the Roman Hercules and Mercury.[1] Shazam had been a wizard since the times of Ancient Egypt and protected that land for some years. He grew weary and chose a sucessor, Teth Adam, to whom he passed all his non-sorcerous powers. He intended to give him the wisdom of Solomon, strength of Hercules, etcetera which he gathered years before with his spells. But Set corrupted the powers[1], and instead Solomon, Hercules, and etcetera, Teth-Adam was endowed with Egyptian gods powers and became Mighty Adam. Mighty Adam helped the King Menes to unify the low and upper Egypt in one land. While he was building pyramids, Mighty Adam rebeled himself, killed Menes and became Pharaoh, and Shazam was obligued to banish him to another dimension, renaming Black Adam.[2] In the 20th Century, predicting that Black Adam would return, Shazam chose Billy Batson as his new sucessor, Captain Marvel, and soon after was killed when a heavy granite block fell over him.[3]

Powers

  • Keeper of the Rock of Eternity: As the Guardian of the Rock of Eternity, he is one with the Rock as it is a part of him. As such, he is infused with the duty to keep the power and the magic of the earth realm in balance. As keeper of the Rock of Eternity he also holds the dark forces at bay.
    • Inherent Omniscience: Apparently possessing the power to know anything that he chooses to know and can be known.

Abilities

Weaknesses

  • The wizard Shazam no longer has an actual physical body and exists only in spirit form.

Equipment


  • Shazam was created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck, first appearing in Whiz Comics #2. However, the Earth-85 version of Shazam first appeared in Shazam!: The New Beginning #1 by Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas, and Tom Mandrake.
  • This version of Shazam was not shown to have had a career as the hero known as Champion (although he protected the ancient lands for years), nor does he have connections with the Canaanite gods. However, he also seemed to have vague memories of the Earth-S Marvel Family.[5]
  • In Shazam!: The New Beginning Vol 1 3 Shazam mentioned to have "non-sorcerous" powers, which he passed to Black Adam. Wheter he gave them all or the greater part of them is unknown. He was alive during the 20th Century, which suggests that at least his longevity was left intact. However, War of the Gods #4 mentions that these powers did not originate from the wizard.

Related

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 War of the Gods #4
  2. Shazam!: The New Beginning #3
  3. Shazam!: The New Beginning #1; If the granite was placed there by Shazam himself, it is a matter of speculation, but he knew it, perhaps also foreseeing it and accepting his fate, or mere suicide.
  4. Shazam!: The New Beginning #2
  5. Shazam!: The New Beginning #1


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