Shazam/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Good ol' Captain Marvel has built up quite a supporting cast over his 70+ years of existence. Read more about them here.

The Marvel Family

Chosen by the wizard Shazam, the Marvel Family are empowered by six ancient gods and heroes, possessing the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury.

Captain Marvel / Marvel / Shazam III

AKA: Billy Batson

The World's Mightiest Mortal himself, Captain Marvel is one of Earth's most powerful heroes. Clad in his red uniform and white-and-gold cape, Cap stands as a symbol of courage, strength, and kindness. What few know, however, is that he is in fact Billy Batson, a young orphan empowered by the great wizard Shazam to be his champion. Whenever he speaks the wizard's name--"SHAZAM!"--Billy is transformed into the mighty Captain Marvel!

Billy's parents, famous archaeologists, were murdered by Theo Adam. After spending most of his childhood penniless and alone on the streets of Fawcett City, Shazam helped Billy find his long-lost twin sister, Mary, with whom he shared some of his vast power; he was then adopted by Mary's surrogate parents, the Bromfields. When not fighting evil as Captain Marvel, Billy is a schoolboy who moonlights as a novelty DJ for Whiz Radio.

After Shazam was killed during the Infinite Crisis, Captain Marvel gained his power as the new wizard, Marvel. This was short-lived, as Shazam was resurrected a couple years later. Due to mistakes Billy, his sister, and Black Adam made in the wizard's absence, Billy is currently powerless, but the time will surely come when he regains his power as Captain Marvel once again.

  • Adult Child
  • Alternate Company Equivalent: Originally Fawcett's version of Superman. Now effectively an Expy, since DC now owns both characters.
  • Death by Origin Story: His parents. In modern continuity, they were killed by Black Adam's descendant/reincarnation.
  • Embarrassing Nickname: The Big Red Cheese. Endowed upon him by Doctor Sivana.
  • Evil Counterpart: Black Adam. Though Adam's "evilness" tends to vary. A lot.
  • Follow the Leader: Obviously created to cash in on Superman's popularity. Then wound up getting so popular, Superman started to copy his trends.
  • Friend to All Children: The original hero for all children everywhere.
  • Fun Personified
  • The Good Captain
  • Incorruptible Pure Pureness: In the '90s Crisis Crossover Underworld Unleashed, Billy's soul was so darn pure that not even the demon prince Neron could corrupt him. In fact he was stated out loud as having the most virtuous spirit of all DC heroes, even Superman. Justice League Unlimited even made a specific point of this. Superman is sometimes played as an older mentor to an even more idealsitic younger brother, who can help out whenever there is magic or kryptonite involved.
  • The Messiah
  • Nigh Invulnerability: When transformed, he has no weaknesses whatsoever, as his magic invulnerability works against pretty much any area of assault. Basically the most invulnerable DC hero around. During battle with the galaxy-ravaging Void Hound, he was hit by an attack that warped space to teleport him inside out, but was only dazed, and it was stated outright that if any other hero had been hit (including Wonder Woman and the Kryptonians) they would probably have died. A major plot point of his original stories was that he and Black Adam weren't strong enough to overcome their own invulnerability. Hence, Superman is probably a bit stronger, and has a greater range of powers, but Captain Marvel is a bit swifter, much more invulnerable, and has no weaknesses in his transformed state.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: His appearance was based on actor Fred MacMurray.
  • Older Alter Ego
  • Put on a Bus: The general treatment ever since Marvel Comics appropriated his name.
  • Sexier Alter Ego - Not that Billy Batson is ugly, but Cap is better looking (not to mention Not Jailbait).
  • Top-Heavy Guy: In some of his cartoonier incarnations.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy: His "Marvel" incarnation. Not-so-affectionately called "Captain Elric" by some fans.
  • Will They or Won't They?: With Stargirl. They didn't.

Mary Marvel

AKA: Mary Batson Bromfield

Captain Marvel's twin sister. While Billy was consigned to poverty after their parents died, Mary was taken in by a kindly rich couple, the Bromfields. When the siblings became teenagers, they met by chance when Mary entered a contest emceed by Billy. When Billy was captured by a gang of thugs, Mary was granted the powers of Shazam and saved her brother. They were reunited at last and the Marvel Family was born.

When Shazam died, Mary lost her powers, leading her on a quest to regain them. After gaining the powers of Black Adam, she fell victim to the silver tongue of the demon Eclipso, who brought her to the evil god Darkseid. Darkseid brainwashed Mary and his minion, Desaad, possessed her. After using Mary's body to fight the heroes of Earth, Desaad was cast out when Freddy Freeman used Shazam's power to exorcize him. She is currently powerless, her corruption by Darkseid having proven her unworthy to the resurrected Shazam; whether this will change is yet to be seen.

Captain Marvel, Jr. / CM3 / Shazam II

AKA: Freddy Freeman

  • Breakout Character
  • By the Power of Greyskull: Unlike Billy and Mary, his "magic word" was "Captain Marvel!", not "Shazam!" (meaning that he couldn't even say his own name, hence the "CM3" apellation). This changed when he became the leader of the Marvel Family.
  • Clark Kenting
  • Darker and Edgier: But just a little bit, and the drawing style for his original stories was never nearly as goofy as for the others, nor was the tone, which may be why he was chosen to replace Billy.
  • Death by Origin Story: His grandfather, killed by Captain Nazi.
  • Legacy Character: His switch to the second Shazam.
  • Nice Guy
  • Shout-Out: Elvis Presley was a huge Captain Marvel, Jr. fan when he was a kid, and his iconic Vegas outfit was in fact based on Freddy's costume. Modern writers have returned the favor by making Freddy a huge music fan with a love of Elvis in particular.
  • Sidekick Graduations Stick

Shazam I / The Old Wizard / The Champion

AKA: Jebediah of Canaan

Uncle Dudley / Uncle Marvel

AKA: Dudley H. Dudley

Mister Tawky Tawny

Marvel Bunny

AKA: Hoppy

The Lieutenant Marvels (Tall Marvel, Fat Marvel, and Hill Marvel)

AKA: "Tall" Billy Batson, "Fat" Billy Batson, and "Hill" Billy Batson

Three young boys from across the United States who just happened to share the same name as Billy "Captain Marvel" Batson--"Tall" Billy from Texas, "Fat" Billy from Brooklyn, and "Hill" Billy from down south. Travelling to Fawcett City to meet the famous kid radio star, the four formed the "Billy Batson Club". When the quartet were kidnapped by Doctor Sivana, Billy gave the other three the ability to transform into the Lieutenant Marvels by saying "Shazam". Afterwards, the three became members of the Marvel Family, aiding the Big Red Cheese on a part-time basis.

The three Lieutenant Marvels were erased from history by the Crisis on Infinite Earths (though post-Crisis versions of them were briefly seen in Trials of Shazam!, only to immediately lose their powers).


The Black Marvel Family

Black Adam / Mighty Adam

AKA: Theo Adam / Teth-Adam

Black Adam was an Egyptian champion of Shazam given his powers, who was sent into suspended animation after corrupting them upon the deaths of his family. In modern times, he was reincarnated in the body of a descendant, a thief and a murderer. Eventually, his original personality took hold, though before long, it was revealed that he was pretty brutal in the old days as well. Twisting various other legacy heroes to his ways, he formed his own team, took over his home country (killing the dictator in charge), and became a huge Anti-Hero character. He gained and lost a new family once his new team broke up, as Isis and Osiris were brutally killed in the 52 event, and he became a genocidal maniac as a result. Shazam has finally decided to punish him by turning him into a statue, and as of 2011, he remains stuck that way.

Isis

AKA: Adrianna Tomaz

Osiris

AKA: Amon Tomaz

Sobek / Famine

AKA: Yurrd the Unknown


Villains

Blaze

AKA: Angelica Blaze

Captain Nazi

AKA: Albrecht Duhrer

Doctor Sivana

AKA: Thaddeus Bodog Sivana

The world's foremost Mad Scientist, Doctor Thaddeus Bodog Sivana is a spiteful, petty, raving troll of a man who will settle for nothing less than total global domination... if only he can get rid of that Big Red Cheese first. Originally the CEO of Sivana Industries, Sivana's battles with Captain Marvel led to his financial ruin, which caused him to slip deeper and deeper into insanity. He was also the employer of Theo Adam, and accidentally provided him with the scarab that turned him into Black Adam; he later helped create the Four Horsemen who killed Isis and Osiris. Today, Sivana is a rogue scientist who has allied himself with the Secret Society of Super-Villains, the Injustice League, and the Oolong Island Science Squad.

Ibac

AKA: Stanley "Stinky" Printwhistle

King Kull

Mister Mind

Sabbac I

AKA: Timothy Karnes

Sabbac II

AKA: Ishmael Gregor


Other Heroes

In addition to the Marvel Family, Fawcett City is home to various other heroes, mostly drawn from DC's acquisitions from Fawcett Comics.

Bulletman and Bulletgirl

AKA: Jim and Susan Barr

Ibis the Invincible

AKA: Amentep

Minute-Man

AKA: Jack Weston

Mister Scarlet and Pinky the Whiz Kid

AKA: Brian and Pinkerton Butler

Spy Smasher

AKA: Alan Armstrong

The Squadron of Justice

A team of super-heroes brought together by the god Mercury, the informally-named Squadron of Justice[2] was the Earth-S counterpart to Earth-1's Justice League and Earth-2's Justice Society. Comprised of Captain Marvel, the Lieutenant Marvels, Bulletman, Bulletgirl, Ibis, Mister Scarlet, and Pinky, they came together to rescue Shazam from the clutches of King Kull. They won the day with the aid of the JLA and JSA. The Squadron of Justice does not exist post-Crisis.

  1. ↑ though this was later retconned out
  2. ↑ they were only called by this name on one cover
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