Black Adam

The original champion of the Wizard, Teth-Adam was a former slave who channeled the power of six Egyptian Gods to fight evil. But when his family was murdered during the conquest of his people, he developed more ruthless methods to protect innocents. Seeing him as corrupt, the Wizard banished "Black Adam" to the tomb of Ramesses II. After centuries of imprisonment, he would finally escape to overthrow Kahndaq's tyrant by force, becoming the country's defender and a natural enemy to the world's heroes. He went on to battle the Wizard's new champion Billy Batson many times.

Black Adam remained Kahndaq’s ruler and protector, and appeared to continue to receive the adoration of the populace. Appearing to harden further, he undertook a vicious program on the supervillains he encountered, going so far as to rip a minor villain in half in front of an aghast Lois Lane and other members of the press corps while hovering over Metropolis. He also showed a no-tolerance policy towards all Meta-humans, including the JSA, who violate Kahndaq air space. Moreover, he began to build a coalition of national powers hostile to the perceived threat of the U.S.-powered community, called the Freedom of Power Treaty. He is courted by representatives of Intergang, who offer him the gift of a beautiful young woman named Adrianna whom they have abducted and enslaved. Disgusted and outraged, Black Adam slaughtered them where they stood.

Black Adam is gifted with a panoply of powers that appear to correspond to and match, if not exceed, those of Captain Marvel. Essentially, he is gifted with six attributes of particular gods who are exemplars of them. He is as superhumanly strong, fast, durable, powerful, knowing, and as possessed of inner strength as six gods who are pinnacles of those qualities. These powers are both magical and divine in nature. They are magical insofar as it was the wizard Shazam who originally provided the link to the gods who empower Black Adam, but the powers themselves come directly from the six gods who lend their puissance to him. This is a significant distinction insofar as the gods seem to have shown reluctance to abandon their avatar, even when his magical patron would clearly rather have removed his gift. While the wizard was able to initially displace the powers into an amulet, this was clearly not sufficient to keep Adam from eventually reclaiming them. Nor was Shazam apparently able to repeat the feat in the modern age. Captain Marvel, having apparently inherited the wizard Shazam’s power after the Spectre slew him, was roughly rebuked when he sought the gods’ intercession with Black Adam during the events of 52. It took an impressive coalition of magic-users acting in concert with Marvel, and the simultaneous distraction of fighting a large contingent of the world’s heroes, to change the Word and temporarily de-power the violent powerhouse.

The chief distinction between the power of Captain Marvel and that of Black Adam is that Adam’s powers are provided by the Egyptian, rather than the Greek, pantheon. Presumably, the two are nearly equal in power, though it is conceivable that one god might be more potent than another (an interesting note is that Solomon, Achilles, and Hercules - three of Marvel’s patrons, were originally at least half-mortal). Aside from the short-lived Black Marvel family, Black Adam does not share his power the way Billy does with Freddy, rendering him much more powerful in most situations. Therefore, any feat demonstrated by Captain Marvel should be at the very least duplicable by Adam. Teth even in mortal form shows remarkable ability to inspire his followers, even to their deaths, and was an able warrior before being given his abilities. Moreover, Adam has had centuries more experience with his powers than most super-beings, and is an accomplished and iron-willed combatant even without his powers. The powers granted to Black Adam are as follows:

Shu With the Stamina of Shu, Black Adam is almost invulnerable. He does not require food, sleep, water, or oxygen in order to survive. At that, Adam is effectively tireless.

Shu is the Egyptian god of the air, whose name means “he who rises up."

Heru The Speed of Heru allows Black Adam to run, move, and fly at least Mach 500 in an atmosphere.

Heru is the Egyptian God of the Sky and victory personified.

Amon The Strength of Amon is likely Black Adam's strongest area. With such strength, he often disrupts speedsters with a simple thunderclap. Among other things, he's matched Superman on two occasions, tossed an aircraft carrier (hundreds of thousands of tons) from the ocean to New York City without strain, and punched harder than the chicxulub asteroid.

Amon (or Amun-Ra) is considered the king of the Egyptian gods, a God of Virility, and the ‘breath of life.'

Zehuti The Wisdom of Zehuti gives Adam access to godly level of knowledge, magical and mundane. He simply ‘knows’ appropriate knowledge for a situation, and be counseled as to the best course of action. Adam has voiced distrust for the voices of the gods to Captain Marvel. Black Adam’s senses are phenomenally sharp as well, able to smell sweat and hear blinking.

Zehuti, or Thoth, is the Egyptian God of Magic and Writing, whose magical powers were so great, that those who read the 'Book of Thoth', became the most powerful magician in the world.

Aton The Power of Aton fuels the magic lightning that transforms Adam, and Adam can use the lightning bolt as a weapon by dodging it and allowing it to strike an opponent. But as Black Adam, he is an immortal being who has roamed the Earth for 3,200 years, and has just as much experience. The power of Aton enables Adam’s flight, enhances his physical abilities and invulnerability, and gives him godly resistance against magical attacks. This ability also allows him the power of interdimensional travel, specifically to the Rock of Eternity.

Aton is the Egyptian God of the Solar Disk and of Creation itself.

Mehen The Courage of Mehen provides Adam with a godly degree of inner strength, including superhuman resistance to psychic manipulation, or any form of mind control. It is worth noting that even in mortal form Teth demonstrates phenomenal determination, mental toughness, and nerves of steel. He has no fear of death, not even his own.

Mehen, or “one who is coiled” is the Serpent God who fought the demon Apep to protect the sun.

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