Static (Character)

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Publisher: Milestone Media llc.

Created by: Denys Cowan, Dwayne McDuffie, Derek Dingle, Christopher Priest and Micheal Davis

1st appearance: Static #1, 1993

Facts: He’s most famous for having his own cartoon series on kids WB and making guest appearances on the cartoon network Justice League.

Real Name: Virgil Ovid Hawkins  

Nationality: American

Team Affiliations: Teen Titans, Shadow Cabinet

Legal Status: High school minor with no criminal record

Weight: 140 lbs    Height: 5’7

Eyes: Brown              Hair: Brown

Skills and Abilities: Virgil is a keen scientific mind 

Known Relatives:Robert Hawkins (father), Jean Hawkins (mother), Sharon Hawkins (sister), Homer Hawkins (grandfather), Cassandra Hawkins (Cloned Sister)

Alternate reality children: Larry Hawkins (Son), Sadie Hawkins (Daughter)

Powers: Static is able to generate, manipulate, absorb and re-channel electromagnetic energy on a large and ever-expanding scale. He usually uses his powers to generate shields, fire potent bolts of lighting and manipulate electronic items. 

Perhaps due to the nature of his powers he has a measure of resistance to telepathic probes and mind control. He was able to resist the control of a telepathic bee queen in Dakota and later avoid telepathic detection by Miss Martian. Unlike most subjected to the anti-life equation he was also able to break free on multiple occasions and had to be heavily sedated before given another dose. 

Equipment: The costume supplied by Hardware gives him a degree of resistance from injury. The can also generate holographic displays. He also has a “static Saucer; composed of six part  separate metallic pieces which he can manipulate with his electromagnetic powers for both offensive and defensive purposes. They can also be collapsed for easy storage. For close quarters and hand to hand combat Virgil now also has a retractable Bo-Staff. 

Biography

Origin

Virgil Ovid Hawkins was what one would classify as a “geek” and as a result was bullied in school [Static #1].  He had a confidence issue and tried to mask it by being a ‘clown’. Alongside being a bright student he was also a comic and video game fan [Static Shock: The Rebirth of the Cool #1]. After moving to Dakota with his family he also tutored and Larry Wade in math [Static #1].

The first day he met Frieda Goren he was instantly smitten. They seemed to have mutual chemistry. This was the day Francis Stone, aka Biz-Money-B decided to give him a proper pounding in the school hall. This resulted in major embarrassment for Virgil who cried in front of everyone. On the way home he was also chided by the teens in his building and embarrassed even more. That night he spoke to Frieda who only proved to further anger Virgil over being so spineless and weak. His friend Larry thought Virgil should “kill” Biz-Money and gave him a gun to carry out the act at the Big Bang. Virgil waited and aimed but could not kill another human being [Static #1]. After tossing the gun Virgil the gangs were laced with Tear Gas and he passed out in the confusion [Static #1].

When he awoke he found almost everyone dead. A handful flying over head and even ran into Brickhouse. His powers manifested and he managed to make his escape. Over the coming weeks he honed the use of his powers before becoming the superhero Static to clean up his neighborhood [Static #1].

Adventures in Dakota

As static he busted up crack houses, street thugs etc and really made a name for himself [Static #2]. His first challenge came when facing Hot Streak a super powered Biz-Money. He froze and was initially defeated [Static #1]. Revealing his identity and origin to Frieda he gained the confidence to take down Hot-Streak and came to the attention of Holocaust and Tarmack [Static #2]. After defeating Tarmack he was approached by Holocaust [Static #3]. The villain tried to recruit him and he discovered Larry dating Frieda, this lead to tension between the two friends. Static eventually refuses Holocaust’s proposal [Static #4]. Static briefly joined the Shadow Cabinet to aid Icon battle Holocaust and his superhuman gang Star Chamber [Icon #10].

He then faced off with Commando-X a Muslim radical who believed in separation of the races [Static #5-7].  Virgil also came to the attention of the Shadow Cabinet who tried to recruit him [Static #8] fought, then aided fellow bang baby Virus [Static #9], defeated Puff and Coil [Static #10-11] and started dating Daisy [Static #10]. He also befriended D-Struct [Static #12].

When Icon was considering leaving Earth he aided a pregnant Rocket defeat the supervillain Bulletproof [Icon #19]. When Icon learned the secret of the Big Bang Static was one of the heroes with whom he spoke before convening with Dharma [Icon #20].  

During worlds collide when Dakota and Dc merged he shared a kiss with Rocket as they faced the end [Static #14]. He dealt with his own Homophobia when his friend Rick Stone came out as gay [Static #17]. When Hotstreak resurfaced Static had to put him down again [Static #19-20].

When Icon left earth he was approached by Rocket and her replacement Darnice to replace Icon on the team. because of his small frame however it was hilariously mismatched and he was passed over in favor of Buckwild [Icon #22].

Static was present at the destruction of Utopia park [Static #26-28]. Larry was later killed after Static found out he was selling drugs at night [Static 29-#30]. Other notable adventures had him facing the Swarm [Static #32-33], the Rubberband man [Static #33-34], Prometheus [Static #35], saved the lost boys and defeated Boom Box [Static #40]. A bunch of his villains teamed up to kill him but he managed to prevail [Static #41-42]. One of his last Dakota adventures involved an adventure with Brickhouse, breaking up with Daisy and mounting romantic tension with Frieda [Static #43-54].

Static was also a part of the Heroes team which was assembled to save a small town from a breaking dam. The team consisted of  Blitzen, Donner, Iota, Payback and Starlight [Heroes #1]. After saving the town they faced a reformed Shadow Cabinet [Heroes #2]. Later adventures include journeying to the Innverse. The team continued to operate together [Heroes #3-6]. 

He stopped being Static for months and left Heroes after the death of Dusk in an unspecified heroic battle. He also started a relationship with Madison [Static Shock: Rebirth of Cool #1]. Bang Babies were disappearing mysteriously and despite not wanting to get involved he was convinced by Icon and Rocket who were away from Earth at the time. When Starlight is defeated by the villains he finally springs into action [Static Shock: Rebirth of Cool #1]. To get to the bottom of the mystery of the disappearances he was aided by the Shadow Cabinet, Heroes and Hardware  [Static Shock: Rebirth of Cool #2]. When he locates the “internment camp” which hosed the captured he found Brickhouse, DMZ, Flashback and others  [Static Shock: Rebirth of Cool #3]. The abductions were conducted under orders of John Tower who everyone thought was dead  [Static Shock: Rebirth of Cool #3]. John had become vampiric and was consuming the blood of the bang babies which gave him all their powers. Tower defeated Hardware with relative ease before tackling Virgil. Static distracted him ling enough for the Heroes and Shadow Cabinet to free the captured bang babies and together with a venerable army they finally defeated Tower  [Static Shock: Rebirth of Cool #4].

Abduction  

At the behest of Darkseid he is captured from his home along with other Bang Babies to be used as fodder for the Dark Side Club’s coliseum death matches. After being subjected to the Anti-life equation he is entered into the tournament. It’s unknown how long he was away but he rose to the rank of champion. Though he manages to remain champion he proves hard to control and must be heavily sedated when not in combat. Clock King unleashes him on Rose Wilson/Ravager. They have a long drawn out though epic confrontation and Static remains champion by winning. Soon after winning he breaks out of the mind control but is quickly sedated once more. When Rose escapes she breaks him out as well and he faces Dreadbolt another electromagnetic meta human. Alongside Rose they defeat the Terror Titans and break up the Dark Side Club [Terror Titans #3-6].

Teen Titan Years

When the Titans hosted a recruitment drive he was one of the members who applied and shared mutual attraction to Aquagirl. He was chosen along with Miss Martian, Wonder Girl, Aquagirl and others to comprise the new team  [Teen Titans vol.3 #69]. His team then aided the Titans during the Deathtrap crossover [Teen Titans vol.3 #70]. The team then faced the Fearsome Five and one of his teammates died in the process [Teen Titans vol.3 #71-74]. They briefly fought Raven’s demonic son and faced the hordes of the undead during Blackest Night [Teen Titans vol.3 #75-78].

Upon returning home he found Dakota all but held ransom by Hollander Enterprise who had a monopoly on a miracle serum for a mysterious illness. While investigating he ran into Holocaust [Teen Titans vol.3 #79]. The villain once more tried to recruit him to no avail [Teen Titans #80]. He was captured alongside half the teen titan team, when the other half arrived Holocaust was defeated. His girlfriend Madison also broke up with him. He returned to the Teen Titans [Teen Titans vol.3 #81-82]. They faced Raven’s demonic son, he burned out his power after this ordeal leaving him powerless [Teen Titans vol.3 #83-87]. Cyborg then sent him to Cadmus where it was hoped they could restore his powers [Teen Titans vol.3 #87].

New 52

 In the rebooted timeline Virgil and his family have moved to New York. Static is supplied with a new power suit and tech along with a functional lab thanks to Hardware. In New York he faces Virule and the press gang while dealing with a new cloned sister and a new school [Static Shock #1–2]. He later runs amok of Piranha and the Pale man [Static Shock #3]. Doctor New then sells the Bang Baby formula for Quantum juice to Piranha who uses it to create an army of bang babies. Gilotina is one such creation. The new bang babies defeat Static and he almost drowns [Static Shock #4]. A war then erupted between the Press Gang and Piranha’s bang baby army, one of Virgil’s sisters was also abducted. Things escalated to the point he had to call for backup from Hardware and Technique [Static Shock #5]. Together they shut down the villains and rescued his sister. at home the clone chose to be called Cassandra and they accepted her into the family as Sharon’s twin [Static Shock #6]. Static who had a job at STAR labs took the girls their to run a few tests and foiled an attempted robbery by bang baby Phayze [Static Shock #7]. 

Sometime later he aids the Teen Titans who have come to Star labs because kid Flash was out of sync. He also had a hand in creating the new costume worn by Red Robin/Tim Drake capable of limited flight and propulsion [Teen Titans #6]. 

 

Milestone Forever/Future

Static was present when Icon, Hardware and Rocket took on the evil Blood Syndicate team created by Holocaust [Milestone Forever #1].

Further in the future his father died and he attended a high school reunion while his relationship with Frieda was shaky. While at the reunion he faced Hotstreak again after years of being inactive as Static [Milestone Forever #2].

In the finale future depicted by Milestone Forever he is married to Frieda and they have two kids with powers; Sadie and Larry; and he is now a doctor and retired from heroics [Milestone Forever 1-2].