Virgil Hawkins is Static, a Bang Baby and the most prominent hero of Dakota.
History
At the age of nine, Virgil Hawkins lost his mother to gang violence. His father vowed to help the community, and set up the Freeman Community Center, which became a second home for Virgil.
Virgil grew up to be an honor roll student with a quick tongue. That caused him to be to be the target of notorious bully and gangbanger "F-Stop" Stone, Virgil was pressed into the gangworld himself. At a gathering of all the crews of the city in the Dakota Docks, Virgil found out he got in way too deep: Wade thought the only solution to Virgil's problems was to kill F-Stop. It did not come to pass: police had arrived on the scene to squelch the battle. When they encountered return fire, the police fired tear gas and the gas grenade caused a container full of then unknown chemicals to explode. The entire dock area became covered in a thick, purple smoke. Virgil escaped seemingly unscathed, a claim few others at the event could make.
Birth of Static, Protector of Dakota
Static in his first suit.
The next morning, Virgil found out he had electromagnetic powers. At the advice of his friend Richie Foley, he became a superhero. With Richy as back-up, he created a costumed persona, and Static was born. Static made a name for himself quickly by dealing with the cities severe gang and crime problem. Though initially met with skepticism being thought as dangerous as the other metahumans affected by the Big Bang. While Static set off to protect Dakota, the same couldn't be said for the other teens affected by the gas. Virgil's old nemesis F-Stop was present at the Big Bang as well, and developed pyrokinesis. Renaming himself "Hotstreak", he began to terrorize Dakota until Static put a stop to his efforts.
Another one of Static's biggest enemies was Ebon, a former gang leader and now a living shadow, who decided to make a "Bang Baby" exclusive gang. His first members were bird girl Talon and Shiv, a youngster who could generate light weapons from his hands, but he quickly set out to recruit more. Though Static was on that list, the hero opted out, and instead stopped the Meta-Breed's activities. Other rogues included Ferret, Slipstream, Replay, Puff, Onyx, Kangor, and hydrokinetic Aquamaria.
He had several adventures with Batman, Superman, Green Lantern and the rest of the Justice League. He was also helped by Richie, who had developed superpowers of his own due to his frequent contact with residual Quantum Vapor left on Virgil's clothes, and called himself Gear.
After a cure was developed that restored most of the Bang Babies back to normal, Static and Gear managed to keep their powers.
Future Static
Static beyond.
Years later, Virgil eventually married and had a metahuman child. He became one of the world's greatest heroes, until he was captured by Kobra. He was eventually freed by the new Batman, and young himself from the past, who had time traveled forty years into the future.
When Chronos altered the timestream, Static was one of the few heroes left standing. Together with Warhawk, Green Lantern, both the young and the old Batman, he held his own against the self-appointed time lord, but he was lost in a crack of time. His death was later reverted when the timeline was restored to normal.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Bang Baby
- Cosmic Awareness: Static broke a fourth wall twice to give a viewer a public service announcement.[2][3]
Abilities
Weaknesses
- Power Limitation: Static stores a finite amount of electrical power; using them considerably can exhaust his stamina and thus he must replenish it from exterior electrical sources.
- Vulnerability to Water: Static's powers could be "shorted out" when exposed to water.
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Gloves: Static wore special gloves to better channel his powers.
- Shock-Boxes: Communication "Walkie-talkie" style Boxes designed by Richie and given power by Static that allows for communication between the two when Static is on the job. These are highly durable and resistant to EMP.
Transportation
- Static Saucer: A disc made of steel and mylar that could be folded up and stored inside Static's coat, and unfolded with a jolt of electricity.
Weapons
- Zap-Caps: Grenades of electromagnetic energy, to be used if his powers were shorted out.
Notes
- This version of the character is exclusive to the continuity of the DC Animated Universe and is an adaptation of Static. The original character was created by Dwayne McDuffie, Derek T. Dingle, and Denys Cowan and first appeared in Static #1.
- Static was voiced by Phil LaMarr.
- Static's season 3-4 costume was later adopted; by his mainstream counterpart..
Trivia
- Virgil hates being called by his middle name, Ovid.
- Virgil's powers cause him to have a high electrolyte count, which is usually attributed to high consumption of salt, like that in junk food. However medical examination reveals the higher electrolyte levels show no ill effects on his health.
- One of Virgil's biggest heroes is Green Lantern.
- Before acquiring his Static Saucer, Early in his career, Static was relegated to manhole covers and trash can lids, subsequently his friend and inventor Richie produced the Static saucer
- Some of Virgil's nicknames are Sparky, Beyoncé, V, V-man, Virgil, Virg, Hero.
Recommended Reading
Related
- 35 Appearances of Virgil Hawkins (DCAU)
- 7 Images featuring Virgil Hawkins (DCAU)
- 6 Quotations by or about Virgil Hawkins (DCAU)
- Character Gallery: Virgil Hawkins (DCAU)
External Links
Footnotes
  This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats. |
