Mr. Terrific

Michael Holt was a prodigy whose exceptional intelligence was matched by extraordinary athletic ability. He earned advanced degrees across numerous scientific fields and became an Olympic gold medalist before building the highly successful technology company Cyberwear. Despite those accomplishments Michael found his greatest happiness with his wife Paula. Her death in a car accident shattered him and left him without any purpose. An encounter with the Spectre introduced Michael to the legacy of Terry Sloane and his belief in “Fair Play.” Michael chose to continue that mission as Mr. Terrific and redirected his wealth and intellect toward helping others.

Mr. Terrific joined the Justice Society of America and rapidly became one of its most valuable members. His intelligence made him an exceptional strategist while his judgment earned enough trust that he was eventually chosen to lead the team. Michael developed increasingly sophisticated technology for his work including his versatile T-Spheres. He later served with Checkmate and the Justice League while continuing to operate as an independent scientist and hero.

Michael eventually established Terrifitech and formed the Terrifics alongside Plastic Man and Metamorpho and Phantom Girl. His scientific work has taken him through alternate dimensions and encounters with technology capable of threatening entire worlds. Despite possessing resources that could keep him isolated from most problems Michael continues placing himself directly in danger because he believes intelligence carries a responsibility to improve the lives of others.

Appearance: Mr. Terrific has deep brown skin and a tall heavily muscular athletic build. His eyes are dark brown. His black hair is cut short with a tight textured curl pattern. A metallic silver T-shaped face covering runs vertically down the center of his forehead and nose before widening across the area around both eyes and upper cheeks.

He wears a fitted black and white combat suit with a high collar. White sections cover the upper chest and shoulders while glossy black material covers most of the arms abdomen hips and legs. Red piping traces parts of the upper body. Each sleeve carries large red block lettering that reads “FAIR PLAY” along the outer forearm.

His hands are covered by black fingerless gloves. The lower suit remains predominantly black with white sections along the thighs and lower legs. His boots are integrated into the suit with broad white soles and black uppers.

Personality: Michael is intensely intelligent and disciplined with a strong perfectionist streak. He approaches most problems analytically and rarely accepts that something is impossible simply because nobody has solved it before. His confidence can make him seem distant and his tendency to focus completely on a problem sometimes causes him to shut other people out. Beneath that reserve he possesses a deeply humanitarian outlook built around fairness and practical action. He would rather find a solution that saves someone than waste time seeking recognition for having done it.

Paula remains one of the greatest influences on Michael’s life long after her death. Her compassion helped redirect his ambitions toward helping others and much of his work as Mr. Terrific reflects the values he associated with her. Terry Sloane serves as another important influence through the legacy Michael chose to inherit. Within the Justice Society Michael developed deep trust in his teammates and became one of their most respected leaders. He also maintains strong professional relationships with other brilliant heroes such as Batman while Plastic Man became one of his closest allies during their time with the Terrifics.

Mr. Terrific possesses one of the most formidable scientific minds on Earth. His expertise includes physics and engineering as well as mathematics and computer science. Michael is also an Olympic-level athlete and an accomplished martial artist with black belts across multiple disciplines. He combines those abilities with exceptional tactical judgment and can analyze unfamiliar technology or battlefield conditions extremely quickly. His costume incorporates nanotechnology that renders him effectively invisible to electronic surveillance including cameras and radar.

Michael’s signature inventions are his T-Spheres. These autonomous floating machines can gather information and establish communications while projecting holograms and creating security networks. They can attack through electrical discharges or explosive force and can carry Michael through the air when used as platforms. He continuously modifies their capabilities according to the situation and can coordinate several simultaneously. The technology surrounding Mr. Terrific is largely his own creation which allows him to repair or redesign his equipment without relying upon another inventor.