If I Was a Champion of Shazam

Background

6,000 years ago the wizard Shazam decided that he needed someone who could succeed him as a champion of the Earth. The gods that empowered the wizard himself had long since been forgotten by humans so he petitioned more contemporary ones to give the new champion powers. He has done this at least three times. Once for Black Adam, a second time for Isis and a third time for Billy Batson. These "godly" powers sets have been shared with or used by others such as with the Marvel Family and Black Marvel Family. Black Adam has also used the powers of Isis after she died when he couldn't access his own powers.

Description

Anyone who is a champion of Shazam becomes more "heroic" looking versions of themselves. Generally in males it means being larger and more lean and muscular and in Billy Batson's case he assumed an adult version of himself. With women it's hard to say if they change at all since they're already drawn as attractive and idyllic in the first place but I should say that the most recent Isis seemed taller and had a more impressive physical presence and her brother noted that she looked prettier. I should note that Black Adam for some reason has pointed ears.

The males who become champions of Shazam all have essentially the same basic uniform. A body suit of one specific color: Billy Batson in red, Teth Adam in black and Freddy Freeman in blue. The body suit comes with golden "folded over cuff" boots, banded arm bracers and sash as well as having a large golden stylized lightning bolt on the chest. Osiris' costume is a slight variation on Black Adams having no sash, the lightning bolt on his chest is much broader and extends to going over his shoulders and his boots are banded like the arm bracers. Both Freddy and Billy have capes attached by golden "rope". The capes are white with golden trim and golden stitching.

Both Isis and Mary Marvel have different costumes. Isis dressed like Egyptian royalty including golden sandals and bracelets. Mary wore a costume similar in design to Captain Marvel but had a short dress instead of a body suit and lacked the banded arm bracers and wore "slippers" instead of boots. She later wore a white version of her costume to differentiate herself from her brother.

Powers

All the Champions of Shazam have the power to cast a spell that transforms them into a heroic looking version of themselves powered by a variety of gods (or godly immortals) or in Isis' case only one.

With the exception of Isis all the champions of Shazam had the following powers regardless of the Gods that empower them but their power levels very somewhat depending on the individual god or god-like being giving the particular power as example it would seem that Amon is stronger than Hercules since Black Adam seems stronger than Captain Marvel.

Super Wisdom: Essentially this amounts to super intelligence, super memory, intuitive clairvoyance making them more aware of their environment making it easier to make accurate guesses. It also includes access to vast amounts of knowledge among other things making them "omni-lingual" as well as aware of the magical nature of the world.

Super Strength: Super strength on par with Superman permitting them to move at least Earth size planets. The supernatural nature of the strength permits them to lift massive objects with out damaging them by the simple act of lifting and moving them.

Super Stamina: Essentially the raw ability to endure physical exertion for possibly an unlimited period of time. It also includes the ability to survive in outer space as well as other hostile environments. They do not need to eat, sleep, or breathe when transformed.

Power: This essentially grants them magical powers. Among them the ability to travel to the dimension that houses the Rock of Eternity where Shazam lives, the ability to use the magical lighting that transforms them for a number of uses such as healing themselves, powering magical spells, charging their fists for lighting punches and electrocuting an opponent by placing them between themselves and the lightning bolt when they call it. It also gives them their great resistance to magic and great magical potential should they pursue the study of sorcery.

Super Courage: Aside from giving them super human inner strength permitting them to persevere in the face of adversity and emotional strain. Somehow this also includes virtual physical invulnerability.

Super Speed: This permits them to move and fly at speeds greater than that of light as well as making them faster than Superman. They also have the appropriate reaction time to go with that speed. They are capable of interplanetary and interstellar travel under their own power.

The transformed state of the champions does not age making them virtually immortal if they remained in that form all the time. Black Adam is thousands of years old but only appears as an adult in his prime.

Although each champion with the exception of Isis all possess the same type of powers their power levels are not all necessarily equal. As an example Black Adam is physically stronger than Captain Marvel because in the DC Universe Amon is considered stronger than Hercules.

If I Was a Champion of Shazam

I guess the first thing would be to decide who would be my "godly" benefactors. I figure since I have Scandinavian heritage on my maternal grandfather's side I'll go with the Norse gods. If your familiar with Norse mythology you know I won't be able to spell out Shazam using the first letters of each gods name but since Isis had no such limitation I won't put that limit on myself either for this entry.

Odin (wisdom) He drank from Mimir's well of wisdom, hung himself from or had himself stuck to the Tree of Life by a spear so he could learn the secrets of the rune stones as well as using his two ravens to permit him to keep abreast of what is going on in the world at all times.

Magni (strength) he was stronger than his father Thor (who can beat mountains into valleys) even at 3 yrs old.

Ull (stamina) essentially the god whose life style requires more stamina then any other god since among other things he is the god of snow shoes, winter, hunting and the chase.

Thor (power) well for the obvious connection to lightning as the god of thunder and being among the the most powerful Norse gods but also because he is actually a fairly impressive spell caster. He kills the goats that pull his chariot so he has something to eat then the next day then he casts a spell that returns them to life.

Balder (courage) he is essentially the godly embodiment of hope and hope breeds courage even in the darkest times. Aside from that Balder can't be harmed by anything but mistletoe.

Zoran (speed) he is known not only for his own speed but for the ability to build vehicles that also travel at ridiculously incredible speeds.

I would imagine that I would end up with a green or indigo version of Black Adam's costume and that I would end up with gauntlets instead of just arm bracers.

With power to literally reshape the world I figure I would start off by watching it every day from orbit. Really learning to fall in love with it and those that inhabit it. You have to I think. If you can wipe out life on a planet by throwing a tantrum you have to have enough love in your heart for it so that you react to what happens in the world with care and understanding instead of anger and frustration.

At first I would maintain a secret identity and would lead a full "normal" life doing a variety of jobs to make sure I could see things from a variety of people's perspectives. I would probably even get married and raise a family before fully immersing myself in the role of champion. When they pass and if I hadn't shared my power with them for whatever reason then I would start dealing with world leaders and establishing my presence full time as the world's protector.

I would set up a world wide non-profit organization that people could volunteer at to keep me in touch with those I would be protecting. To help people you need to know what they need in the first place. It's not right to just assume you know. If you do that you become a tyrant not a helper when you wield so much power.

Thanks for reading.

If I Was Vanisher

Background

Vanisher is one of the X-Men's oldest enemies. Over the years he has gone from major villain with his own henchmen to an X-team indentured transporter (since he can teleport other people as well as himself) until he was killed by a Sentinel.

Description

Vanisher is a bald man of average height and build with green eyes who now has tribal tattoos. By the end of his career he gave up wearing a costume.

Powers

The Vanisher can teleport himself and extra mass. Technically it seems he passes at an incredible speed through another dimension and reappears on Earth. So fast it seems that neither he nor the inhabitants of that dimension are aware of his passing through it.

His powers are "psionic" in nature and includes an instinctual spatial awareness ability that permits him to "teleport blind" to anywhere in his range. In other words he may want to teleport behind a closed door but if there is something that would prevent from him "materializing" there he will know not to teleport there even if he may not know what was in the way or any other detail of the area.

The maximum range of his teleportation powers is not yet been declared but he has teleported himself and seven other people from Southern California to an island north east of Madagascar. When he assembled the Fallen Angels (a group of young mutants runaways) he regularly teleported ten others including a 20 feet tall, 6000 lb. dinosaur.

If I Was Vanisher

I think I've talked enough about liking to explore and how I'd use various super powers to do it. Well the ability to teleport blind makes it even easier to explore places I haven't been. Also it makes taking vacations easier or even group vacations. The places that are opened up to you when you can get there almost instantaneously; a Maui beach in the afternoon and dinner by the Eiffel Tower at night. Imagine you're watching television and you're thinking the place you're watching seems like it would be a great place to visit so you just teleport there and check it out in real time. Then you come back and watch the rest of the show.

This is another one of those power sets that are life changing. The ability to move freely through the world in literally the blink of an eye makes it all different. I would have to do something life changing with it. I could do like Harry Keogh the Necroscope and use it to be the most kickass weapon delivery system ever. "Put the bomb where?" Poof. Poof again. "Okay It's there." But I'm thinking more about delivering medical supplies and even transporting patients and doctors quickly to the places they need to be in an emergency.

I might actually wear a costume that hides my identity. That way I can help the police and military out without being identified by those I've helped them against and that they themselves do not abuse my help. It's not that I think poorly of everyone in the police and military but I know that these are large organizations with authority over people's lives and not every one giving the orders is necessarily interested in everyone's best interests. Don't take my word for it read history books or pay attention to the news.

To indulge my "darkside" I would do a lot of breaking and entering minus the breaking part. My sense of exploration would eventually lead to me teleporting into businesses after hours just to see what they're like after hours. Like how a hacker breaks into a system just to see what's there but doesn't do anything with the data they've seen. I might also become a scourge to preservation lands teleporting into them most often unwittingly just to see what it's like where I'm not suppose to go. I can also see myself transporting into royal palaces and the homes of world leaders just to see how they live. I could really get myself into a lot of trouble.

If nothing else I would develop a combat style based around teleportation. A lot of dodging by teleporting and quick counter attacks by shifting my position to an exposed area on my opponent. Among the deadlier moves would be teleporting myself in such a way that when I materialize my weapon appears inside my opponent but then that might not be possible given the intuitive spatial awareness that prevents teleporting into solid objects. Regardless it should be an effective combat style especially since I would dedicate a room to housing various weapons that I would use in combat and teleport there to switch weapons as needed.

Thanks for reading.

If I Was Black Tom

Background

Thomas Cassidy is an Irish born mutant with a knack from crime who is the cousin of the former X-Man Banshee. He is the long time partner in crime of the Juggernaut and the two have fought the X-Men on many occasions.

Description

Black Tom is a tall, well put together man (6' tall, 200 lbs) with black hair and brown eyes. Typically he wears a goatee.

His current costume is a black body suit with red ankle high "boots" with a black over coat with red trim on the sleeves and something like a large bat shaped "T" as its emblem.

Powers

Black Tom has the ability to project bolts of heat, concussive force or both simultaneously that he must project through a wooden medium such as his shillelagh which is unharmed by its use. There doesn't seem to be a specified limit to his powers but it is noted that he can melt metals with his heat blasts and can wreak "considerable havoc" with the concussive force.

He is immune to the powers of his cousins Banshee and Siryn.

If I Was Black Tom

One of the first things I would do is set up my house to have easily accessible pieces of wood in every room. With that done I would move to making myself a "side arm". Among my choices would be wands of various styles. There are tons of websites that sell ornately crafted wands. Some look pretty nice. I may keep a wand or two up my sleeve. I may make use of my own carving skills to make gun shaped carvings, maybe a variety of dragons or "laser guns". I even thought it might be cool to make wooden replicas of Iron Man's gauntlets. If nothing else I would wear a couple of rings carved from wood on each hand.

Another thing I would do is make sure all my bowls and plates were made of wood as well as my serving and baking utensils. That way I could use a low level heat blast to warm food in them. Possibly I could use the force aspect of the concussive blast to mix things or at least shake them up. Having said that I might make a number of hand tools out of wood that can make use of my blasts. Or I might just use chopsticks for wood burning and carving. With a lot of practice I may even develop laser-like precision in cutting using the powers.

I know that as with all energy blast powers I would like to see at how low of a level of output I could use the energy blasts. I would like to use the concussive element of the blast to push things with minimal damage to them and I would like to be able to use the heat element of it to warm a person or a room without burning them.

I might also find ways to use my powers for propulsion. A wooden paddle would be a great tool to push myself along in a canoe. I might use a wooden board to move along the water or on the snow by projecting force out the back of it. I might create a flying rig that lets me use the blast power that I can guide with my arms. Possibly a safety harness attached to some gauntlet-like arm rockets.

I might also take up kendo and become a swordsman. That way I could use the wooden practice swords in all kinds of cool martial arts way. That may lead me to playing local protector or at least trying to be useful.

Thanks for reading.

If I Was Jade

Background

Jennifer-Lynn Hayden is the daughter of Allan Scott the original Green Lantern of Earth who derived his power from a Lantern created from the Star Heart rather than a Green Lantern Corps' Power Battery. For some reason that I don't know Jennifer-Lynn was born with a connection to the Star Heart that gives her Green Lantern-like powers.

She has had a long, distinguished career as a super heroine and was a member of many super groups and was even at one point the leader of the Outsiders. When her connection to the Star Heart was severed she lost her powers and became a member of the Green Lantern Corps serving as Earth's Green Lantern.

Description

Jade like virtually all super heroines is an attractive, athletic female. At one point she made a living modeling. Where she differs is that she is green. Not only does she have green eyes and hair, she has green skin as well.

She wears a green and white costume with what looks like a green stylized atom for its emblem.

Powers

As a conduit for the Star Heart she has extensive energy manipulation powers. Most notably she can create "constructs" out of the green energy of the Star Heart like shields, hands, swords, simple geometric shapes, force fields or whatever she can imagine. Although her power manifests itself with an accompanying green light phenomena, she can manipulate a variety of natural forces and energies like gravity, radiation, heat and light.

Aside from solid energy forms she can use her powers to make herself invisible, fly, pass through solid objects (although apparently she moves through the "4th Dimension" do do that). She can project beams of heat or force or blinding light and can hypnotize people. As some natural defense she can even when unconscious produce a protective aura that not only protects from harm from external attacks and hostile environments but can also sustain her when there is no oxygen or suitable atmosphere.

Being a conduit for the Star heart she possesses a number of super human sensory powers. She is essentially aware of and can perceive the entire electromagnetic spectrum and is also capable of sensing and perceiving magical and spiritual phenomena. Her sensory powers also give her the ability to "detect danger". The source of danger is "highlighted" in green.

She is capable of more feats than I've listed but those are the most common use of her powers. It is said that like with the Green Lanterns including her father the true limit of her powers is the strength of her will and the quality of her imagination. That being said due to the Star Heart's particular magical nature it is most effective against metals and least effective against plant life, wood being totally immune to it. Other forms of plant life can still be affected but to a lesser degree than things from the animal and mineral kingdoms.

If I Was Jade

Well...I'd be green but I wouldn't care. When I'm having a bad day I would sing "It's Not Easy Being Green" like Kermit the Frog does.

I'd train myself to have a number of attacks and defenses to the point that they are intuitive. I would also declare myself the "Supernatural Protector of the Planet". From there I would choose a country and make them a super power. I would do that because I don't specifically want to rule the world. It sounds cool at first but it's an incredible pain in the ass in the long run. You rule things because you want to be in charge. Being in charge means you're responsible for everyone you're in charge of. Way too much a pain in the ass. So instead I'd let others deal with that. If I like what they're doing I back them with my power. If I don't I let them do it on their own or take them down.

Another reason I don't want to be in charge is because with Jade's power level I'd prefer to be tackling natural disasters like tsunamies, land slides, earth quakes, ect... I'd also like to tackle cleaning up space debris, processing landfills, repelling asteroids, cleaning up pollution, that kind of thing.

Another thing I would do is explore the solar system for other forms of life or new elements and materials that don't exist on Earth and either bring them back for research or bring researchers to them. Once again I would increase humanity's knowledge of the universe.

Thanks for reading.