History ComicBook / BlackAdam

[[redirect:Characters/ShazamBlackAdam]]

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Black Adam/Teth-Adam is a comic book character. He first appeared in ''Marvel Family'' #1 (December, 1945), created by writer Otto Binder and artist Clarence Charles "C.C." Beck. He was at first a one-shot character, but was revived in ''Shazam!'' #28 (March, 1977) and has had semi-regular appearances ever since. Adam was originally the archnemesis for [[{{ComicBook/Shazam}} Captain Marvel/Shazam]], and the Marvel Family, but was later portrayed more as an antihero.

His backstory is relatively simple: Born millennia ago, he was given immense magical power by the wizard Shazam, becoming the original Earth's Mightiest Mortal in ancient Kahndaq (a fictional AncientEgypt-like country). Unfortunately, he became drunk with his own power after the death of his family, and Mighty Adam (as he's called) rebelled. Shazam had him banished to another dimension. In the 20th century, Captain Marvel was appointed the new champion of Shazam to battle Adam. Bonding with Theo Adam, a modern archaeologist's aide, Black Adam comes back as a ruthless animal who killed Captain Marvel's parents years ago when he first returned.

In ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica, Black Adam came to the JSA asking for membership, saying that Theo Adam and Black Adam were not one and the same. He was let on for a probationary term but was soon brought into some trouble when he wanted to reinvade his homeland of Kahndaq. Taking a separatist team of heroes, he invaded his homeland and took over. In the series ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', Adam was one of the protagonists, gaining his own Black Marvel Family. Isis, Osiris and Sobek became his Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr. and Tawky Tawny, respectively.

However, towards the end of 52, they were all slain, and Black Adam became enraged, going on a rampage killing all people in the country of Bialya (another fictional Mid-Eastern nation), and starting an actual World War Three. After 52, Black Adam received a miniseries where he managed to revive Isis, but the formerly loving and friendly Isis became embittered by her and her brother's murder. Together, they became darker and more evil than before, eventually having their powers taken from them by Shazam and transformed into statues.

The ComicBook/New52 saw Black Adam get a reboot along with the rest of the DCU, though in his case this amounted to a few tweaks here and there - notably, he's not bonded to Theo Adam. In the new timeline, Black Adam was imprisoned on Earth until he was freed by Sivana, serving as the villain of the Shazam back-up story in ''Franchise/{{Justice League| of America}}''. He died at the end, but was resurrected by a resistance movement in modern Kahndaq to destroy its current dictator, which he did, declaring himself the country's protector... just as [[ComicBook/ForeverEvil the Crime Syndicate of Earth-3 took over the world]]. Much offended by the Syndicate's claim the world was theirs - believing instead it belonged to no-one - he joined ComicBook/LexLuthor's Injustice League to help defeat them, eventually developing a [[CommonalityConnection friendship]] with ComicBook/{{Sinestro}} over their statuses as harsh rulers.

Adam is something of an alternate company equivalent to [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor the Sub-Mariner]], the Franchise/MarvelUniverse's own super strong, pointy eared, black hair slick backed, anti-hero flyer. Both are also Golden Age characters, and both have been members of their UsefulNotes/WorldWarII equivalent teams, ComicBook/TheInvadersMarvel and JSA. Adam was originally published in Creator/FawcettComics stories, before the company closed and DC bought the characters.

The character is set to appear in his own upcoming movie in the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, portrayed by [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson]] (who's been set to play him for a [[SavedFromDevelopmentHell very long time]]), guest-starring the JSA. ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'' most likely alludes to him when the wizard talks about the ancient champion who became drunk on his powers and turned evil.
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!!Provides Examples Of:

* AHeroToHisHometown: In Kahndaq, he's a hero; post-''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'', there are stories of how he saved Kahndaq back when he first became the Wizard's champion, even if not all Kahndaqians believed them.
* AdaptationOriginConnection: Geoff Johns retconned in a connection between the [[ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} Hawks]], ComicBook/DoctorFate and Black Adam. In ''JSA'', it's shown that, after Khufu and Chay-Ara discovered the Thanagarian spaceship that granted them the Nth metal they use for flight, Nabu was their magical adviser and Black Adam their close confidante (after the death of his people).
* AllYourPowersCombined: Shu's Stamina, Heru's Swiftness and flight, Amon's Strength, Zehuti's Wisdom, Aton's Power, and Mehen's Courage.
* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Black Adam shares more than a few similarities to Marvel's Namor the Sub-Mariner, as noted above. Also to Thor in some respects, being the godlike lightning powered millennia old figure of his community.
* AncientEgypt: Originally he was from here, but it was later retroactively changed to the fictional Kahndaq.
* AndIMustScream: After ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', both Black Adam and the resurrected Isis were [[TakenForGranite transformed into statues]] by the wizard Shazam. This plot point was never resolved, as the ComicBook/{{New 52}} ContinuityReboot happened a short while later.
* AntiHero: NominalHero; a defining modern example. Despite being a hero on the JSA, he had no problem with killing people, finally quitting the team when they let Kobra go rather than see anyone die.
* AntiHeroSubstitute: One for Captain Marvel as Black Adam was used far more often in the late 2000's than Captain Marvel, who didn't even have a book for most of the decade.
* TheAtoner: Initially, he joins the JSA to prove himself a hero, decrying the actions of Theo Adam. It doesn't turn out too well.
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: A possible explanation for the New 52 Adam's villainy.
* BerserkButton: Harm his country or allies and he will slaughter all responsible parties and level everything in his way. He also hates mind control and will gruesomely kill anyone who uses it on him, as Psycho Pirate infamously learned.
** He ''slaughtered the entire population of a neighboring country'' for its leaders' complicity in killing his family. Then, one of the killers, the Apokoliptan god of Death, shows up and claims all the killing made him stronger. Black Adam completely wrecks Death in only a handful of pages, and then spends the rest of the night slowly killing him.
* BeyondTheImpossible: Shattering Hawkman's Nth Metal mace with one hand. Nth Metal is not only one of the strongest materials in all of the DCU, but it has AntiMagic properties and is considered indestructible. Adam has magic-based abilities.
* BoomHeadshot: Infamously does this to Psycho Pirate '''''with one bare hand.''''' By driving the latter's Medusa Mask right through his skull. [[BondOneLiner "No more silly faces"]] indeed.
* BreakoutCharacter[=/=]BreakoutVillain: Despite being a one-shot character in the Golden Age (who died in his one and only appearance), he was brought back in the 1970s for good, and proved to be a massively popular character in the 90s, eventually starring in his own miniseries, joining the JSA, and being a big player in the DCU. In fact, it got to the point where Black Adam has more presence in the DCU than the Big Red Cheese himself.
* ByThePowerOfGreyskull: "Shazam!"
* ByronicHero: He truly wants to do right by his people (and make up for a lengthy history of misdeeds as Theo Adam pre-''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'') and achieve happiness along the way, but his mercilessly violent nature and proclivity towards violent revenge that pushes all of his other goals to the wayside are the reasons why nothing will ever work out for him.
* CantTakeCriticism: If he feels you are anything less than respectful in his presence, that's more than enough reason for him to end you. Insulting him directly makes him even more vicious.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: 5,000 years ago, his methods were grade-A heroic.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Loves these.
* DynamicAkimbo: Naturally, being so arrogant, he uses this pose even more often than Captain Marvel.
* Myth/EgyptianMythology: The source of Adam's powers, with his version of SHAZAM standing for Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen. When his rampage on Bialya was going on, apparently they were amused with what he was doing.
* EgyptIsStillAncient: Justified, he's ''from'' AncientEgypt (or a fictional country similar to it), and reawakened in the modern day.
* EnfanteTerrible: In ''Billy Batson and the Power of Shazam''.
* EvilCounterpart: Inverted. While Theo Adam didn't transform into Black Adam until after Billy had become Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel himself was originally created as the good counterpoint to the ancient Black Adam, who Shazam knew could be reawakened.
* {{Expy}}: The Black Adam Family for the Marvel Family, Isis for Mary Marvel, Osiris for Captain Marvel Jr., and Sobek for Mr. Talky Tawny.
* FacepalmOfDoom: Psycho Pirate was definitely tempting fate, but still, ''yikes''.
* FallenHero: He used to be the original wielder of the Power of Shazam, but lost his way.
* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: The modern Black Adam is disturbingly fond of horrible deaths. In ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' he pushes the Psycho Pirate's mask through his head and out the back. In ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' he kills [[spoiler:Sobek]] by forcing his jaw open until his head is torn in half. In WWIII he literally tears a man's face off in order to kill him.
* FatalFlaw: Wrath. His brutality and tendency to go on violent rampages whenever he feels sufficiently wronged are the cause of the vast majority of his problems.
* FlyingBrick: Black Adam, like all users of the power of Shazam, is an example of this.
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: His ''New 52'' incarnation is confused and disoriented by the modern day, at first.
* {{Foil}}:
** ''JSA'' positions Black Adam as one to Hawkman, with Adam still using the brutality of his era while Hawkman, having witnessed the changes to society throughout his various lives, doesn't.
** ''ComicBook/DoctorDoom'' is one as well. Both are ruthless, amoral rulers of a fictional country.
* GeniusBruiser: Black Adam is sometimes written this way, at least when he's a protagonist. Unlike with Captain Marvel, there's no supernatural element present. When he's a villain, for the record, he is typically of average intelligence.
* GoodIsNotNice: Even at his absolute best, he's still ''very'' much a product of his time and is more brutal than most unambiguously villainous characters.
* TheGoodKing: Yeah, his methods are questionable at best and his sheer brutality towards his enemies makes most true villains pale in comparison, but he truly loves his country and people and wants to rule them wisely and justly and keep them safe from harm.
* {{Gorn}}: Various writers and artists could be said to indulge themselves to this with Adam stories, as he has Superman-level powers and no problems with killing. His mini-series was particularly bad. He's shred limbs, torn people in half, stomped people into goo, and punched a guy's metal mask through his face.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: He rivals Namor in this regard. While he usually takes to a extremely brutal anti-hero working begrudgingly along with heroes, he does work with villains on occasion (although not without much disgust and bribing). As with many things it’s either out of protection of his nation or revenge.
* HerosEvilPredecessor: He was previously empowered by Shazam but turned evil, meaning Captain Marvel was recruited to replace him.
* HeroicResolve: He will do ANYTHING to get Isis back. Even if it means wandering the entire earth powerless, having his followers sacrifice themselves, or eating human flesh to survive.
* HistoricalCharactersFictionalRelative: For a time, he was portrayed as the son of Ramesses II, even being born the same year his father ascended to the throne: 1279.
* InTheHood: Gains a hood on his cape post-''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'', to match Billy's redesign as Shazam.
* ItsAllAboutMe: During ''Day of Vengeance'', he refused to accept the aid of the Justice Society against the Spectre because he didn't want to create the impression that he needed help, even though he was clearly no match for the Spectre on his own.
* KnightTemplar:
** He wants to have his country safe and to have a happy family. It's his actions that are disgusting.
** In the New 52, he's driven by a dedication to freeing others from what he sees as oppression, and will go to any length in pursuit of his goal.
* LightningBruiser: With actual electrokinesis to boot. He's incredibly quick and powerful, making him a match for the likes of Shazam and Superman.
* LoveMakesYouEvil:
** In some continuities' backstories, Adam was denounced and banished by the wizard for falling in love with an evil woman (such as Blaze in ''The Power of Shazam!'' or Princess Jemai in the Filmation cartoon). Of course, Adam doesn't see his lover as evil, hence his anger at the wizard.
** His ''New 52'' incarnation turned evil because he wanted to use his power to get back at the people who killed his family.
* NephariousPharaoh: After learning how to use the word "Shazam!" to gain super powers, Black Adam overthrows the pharaoh of Egypt and assumes the throne.
* NighInvulnerability: There's not much out there that can hurt Black Adam; there have been times when neither he nor Captain Marvel could hurt the other.
* NoImmortalInertia: How he was defeated in his first appearance, since he was an invulnerable PhysicalGod. He was tricked into saying "Shazam" which made him revert to his mortal form which immediately had thousands of years of decay catch up with it.
* OutdatedHeroVsImprovedSociety: One of the main sources of his villainy. He'd be a grade-A hero in the barbaric times of Ancient Egypt, but in modern times his "kill all who offend you and salt the earth" approach makes him monstrous to people of modern society.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: After the death of his wife, he single-handedly destroyed the country of Bialya, killing two million of its citizens in the process, before eventually carving a thorough swathe of destruction across the planet as the sole instigator of World War III, beating down any heroes, decimating armies, and demolishing any national monuments in his path.
** The World War III storyline was Black Adam, on his own, vs. the rest of the world, and he very nearly won. Notably, China saw him coming, sent their own army and superheroes, and it didn't help.
* PointyEars: Inexplicably. At first it was probably to give him a demonic appearance, but then it became TheArtifact (and made him look like the ComicBook/SubMariner's long-lost twin). Post-''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'', it's been dropped, and he now has normal human ears.
* {{Qurac}}: Being from the Middle East, he interacts with a few of these, most notably Bialya (which is nearly obliterated by Adam), and Kahndaq (Adam's country).
* {{Reincarnation}}: Theo Adam is a descendant and reincarnation of the original Teth-Adam.
* RetCon: In ''The Power of Shazam!'', Teth-Adam willingly got into bed with the demoness Blaze (possibly literally) and Theo Adam is last seen having reformed for [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas the love of his sister]]. In ''JSA'', Captain Marvel warns the Society that Teth-Adam is an honourable man who lost his way, but Theo Adam is an unrepentant murderer.
** Also in the New 52, as noted above.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Near the end of the comic book series ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', Black Adam's wife and brother-in-law are killed. As it was [[FreudianExcuse the death of his first wife]] that [[StartOfDarkness caused his original fall from grace]], it is unsurprising that the death of the second led him to wipe out the country that harbored the murderers, and anybody else that stood in his way. It doesn't end well, though, as the nerdy {{Mad Scientist}}s behind her death soundly kick his ass with SCIENCE. And when he escapes from ''that'', he just declares bloody vengeance on the entire world, leading to the week-long WorldWarIII.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: He was ruling his country until his massive non-HeroicBSOD.
* ShockwaveClap: Uses this during his attempt at joining the JSA (the first time); it knocks a few people away.
* StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: While he's typically presented as being on Captain Marvel's level, during the ''WorldWarIII'' storyline he was able to fight against him, Superman, and a number of other heroes from the Justice League and Justice Society AT THE SAME TIME!
** Although in fairness, Black Adam's powers come from the Egyptian gods, so it's probable that they gave him more power than usual during his RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
* TakenForGranite: Turned into a statue as punishment by the wizard Shazam after giving up his powers.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Averted with extreme prejudice. Dude has a higher body count than most true villains.
* TokenEvilTeammate: During his tenure with the JSA, though "evil" is a stretch.
* TooDumbToLive: Has been tricked into saying "Shazam" more than once.
* VillainousFriendship: Strikes one up with Sinestro during ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil'', due to their similar ideologies.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: In Ancient Egypt, he was close friends with Khufu (Hawkman's original persona) and Nabu (the original Doctor Fate persona).
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Started out as a villain, but tried to go clean. In fact, it looked for a while as if he'd finally have something to be happy about. Then the events of ''52'' hit.
* WorldWarIII: Started one in fact, actually technically the Second World War Three the DCU has had.
* WorthyOpponent: Has a grudging respect for Billy. At the very least he trusted Billy and the rest of the Marvel family enough to be pallbarers at the funeral of Amon and Isis.
* WouldHurtAChild: Billy Batson, obviously, but his New 52 reboot backstory has this as well. [[spoiler: Black Adam is an older relative of the ''actual'' champion Shazam chose, a child in ancient Kahndaq. The kid shared his power with Adam and Adam killed him to get the rest, believing the kid was too soft.]]
* YouCanBarelyStand: Towards the end of World War Three he gets to this point. It doesn't slow him down.

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Adam is something of an alternate company equivalent to [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor the Sub-Mariner]], the Franchise/MarvelUniverse's own super strong, pointy eared, black hair slick backed, anti-hero flyer. Both are also Golden Age characters, and both have been members of their UsefulNotes/WorldWarII equivalent teams, ComicBook/TheInvadersComicBook and JSA. Adam was originally published in Creator/FawcettComics stories, before the company closed and DC bought the characters.

Adam is something of an alternate company equivalent to [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor the Sub-Mariner]], the Franchise/MarvelUniverse's own super strong, pointy eared, black hair slick backed, anti-hero flyer. Both are also Golden Age characters, and both have been members of their UsefulNotes/WorldWarII equivalent teams, Comicbook/TheInvaders and JSA. Adam was originally published in Creator/FawcettComics stories, before the company closed and DC bought the characters.

In ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica, Black Adam came to the JSA asking for membership, saying that Theo Adam and Black Adam were not one and the same. He was let on for a probationary term but was soon brought into some trouble when he wanted to reinvade his homeland of Kahndaq. Taking a separatist team of heroes, he invaded his homeland and took over. In the series ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', Adam was one of the protagonists, gaining his own Black Marvel Family. ComicBook/{{Isis}}, Osiris and Sobek became his Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr. and Tawky Tawny, respectively.

The character is set to appear in his own upcoming movie in the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, portrayed by [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson]] (who's wanted to play him for a long time), guest-starring the JSA. ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'' most likely alludes to him when the wizard talks about the ancient champion who became drunk on his powers and turned evil.

* {{Foil}}: ''JSA'' positions Black Adam as one to Hawkman, with Adam still using the brutality of his era while Hawkman, having witnessed the changes to society throughout his various lives, doesn't.

* EgyptIsStillAncient: Justified, he's ''from'' AncientEgypt( or a fictional country similar to it), and reawakened in the modern day.

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: He rivals Namor in this regard. While he usually takes to a extremely brutal anti-hero working begrudgingly along with heroes, he does work with villains on occasion (although not with much disgust and bribing). As with many things it’s either out of protection of his nation or revenge.

The character is set to appear in his own upcoming movie in the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, portrayed by [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson]] (who's wanted to play him for a long time), guest-starring the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica. ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'' most likely alludes to him when the wizard talks about the ancient champion who became drunk on his powers and turned evil.

The character is set to appear in his own upcoming movie in the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, portrayed by [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson]] and set to release on December 22, 2021, guest-starring the JSA. ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'' most likely alludes to him when the wizard talks about the ancient champion who became drunk on his powers and turned evil.

The character is set to appear in his own upcoming movie in the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, portrayed by [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson]] and set to release on December 22, 2021. ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'' most likely alludes to him when the wizard talks about the ancient champion who became drunk on his powers and turned evil.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Black Adam shares more than a few similarities to Marvel's Namor the Sub-Mariner, as noted above.Also to Thor in some respects, being the godlike lightning powered millennia old figure of his community.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Black Adam shares more than a few similarities to Marvel's Namor the Sub-Mariner, as noted above.

** The World War III storyline was Black Adam, on his own, vs. the rest of the world, and he very nearly won.

His backstory is relatively simple: Born millennia ago, he was given immense magical power by the wizard Shazam, becoming the original Earth's Mightiest Mortal in ancient Kahndaq (a fictional AncientEgypt-like country). Unfortunately, he became drunk with his own power, and Mighty Adam (as he's called) rebelled. Shazam had him banished to another dimension. In the 20th century, Captain Marvel was appointed the new champion of Shazam to battle the treacherous Adam. Bonding with Theo Adam, a modern archaeologist's aide, Black Adam comes back as a ruthless animal who killed Captain Marvel's parents years ago when he first returned.

The character is set to appear in his own upcoming movie in the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, portrayed by [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson]]. ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'' most likely alludes to him when the wizard talks about the ancient champion who became drunk on his powers and turned evil.

Black Adam/Teth-Adam is a comic book character. He first appeared in ''Marvel Family'' #1 (December, 1945), created by writer Otto Binder and artist Clarence Charles "C.C." Beck. He was at first a one-shot character, but was revived in ''Shazam!'' #28 (March, 1977) and has had semi-regular appearances ever since. Adam was originally the archnemesis for [[{{ComicBook/Shazam}} Captain Marvel/Shazam]], and the Marvel Family, but in recent years he's been portrayed more as an antihero.

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor

The character is set to appear in his own upcoming movie in the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, portrayed by [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson]]. ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'' most likely alludes to him when the wizard about the ancient champion who became drunk on his powers and turned evil.