All right, I've re-written this enough times now to say the hell with it and put it up.

[@Master Bruce] [@mattmanganon]

[hider=SHAZAM!][INDENT][COLOR=SLATEGRAY][CENTER][sup][h1][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/VNOQ4Tk.png[/img][/center][b][center][color=black] B L A C K   A D A M[/color]
[color=gold]B L A C K   A D A M[/color][/center]
[/b][/h1][/sup]
[color=goldenrod][sup][i]"The Wizard Shazam betrayed everyone who ever trusted him just so he could gather more and more power. 
But he's the hero of the story. And me? I'm the bad guy."[/i][/sup][/color][/CENTER][table][row][/row][row][cell][center][sub][sup][sub][h3][b][color=black] C H A R A C T E R   P O R T R A I T[/color]
[color=gold]C H A R A C T E R   P O R T R A I T[/color] [/b][/h3][/sub][/sup][/sub][sup]_________________________________________________________[/sup][img]https://i.imgur.com/8UDMe9n.png[/img]
[sup]_________________________________________________________[/sup][sub][sup][sub][h3][b][color=black] C H A R A C T E R   S U M M A R Y[/color]
[color=gold]C H A R A C T E R   S U M M A R Y[/color][/b][/h3][/sub][/sup][/sub][sup]_________________________________________________________[/sup]
[sub][COLOR=goldenrod]Teth-Adam[/COLOR]
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[COLOR=goldenrod]Approx. 3,500[/COLOR]   [b]|[/b]   [COLOR=goldenrod]Single[/COLOR]
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[COLOR=goldenrod]Captain Marvel[/COLOR]   [b]|[/b]   [COLOR=goldenrod]Canaanite (Khandaqi)[/COLOR][/sub][/center]
[indent][sub][sup][sub][h3][b][color=black] N O T A B L E   A B I L I T I E S   &   T O O L S[/color]
[color=gold]N O T A B L E   A B I L I T I E S   &   T O O L S[/color][/b][/h3][/sub][/sup][/sub][/INDENT][sup]_________________________________________________________[/sup]
[INDENT][hider=][color=#2e2c2c]-[/color]
[indent][sub][b][color=gold]   A B I L I T I E S[/color][/b][/sub]
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[COLOR=darkgray][color=lightgray][b]◼ STRENGTH OF HERCULES[/b][/color]
Teth possesses immense physical strength, in the 100 ton category.[/color][/sup]
[sup][COLOR=darkgray][color=lightgray][b]◼ STAMINA OF ATLAS[/b][/color]
Teth's enchanted form is exceptionally resilient and durable, commensurate with his physical strength.[/color][/sup]
[sup][COLOR=darkgray][color=lightgray][b]◼ SPEED OF MERCURY[/b][/color]
Teth is capable of bursts of movement faster than the human eye can follow, boasting exceptional reflexes and the ability to fly at speeds exceeding the speed of sound for short periods.[/color][/sup]
[sup][COLOR=darkgray][color=lightgray][b]◼ POWER OF ZEUS[/b][/color]
Teth is a living lightning rod, with the magical energies of the world's leylines taking the form of electricity that arcs through the Earth and connects to the boy. He can wield this energy to fuel magic or cast bolts of destructive force.[/color][/sup]
[sup][COLOR=darkgray][color=lightgray][b]◼ WISDOM OF SOLOMON[/b][/color]
Even in ancient times, common sense was a goddamn superpower. But, that aside, Teth is a homo magi capable of wielding magic.[/color][/sup]
[color=#2e2c2c]-[/color][/indent]
[indent][sub][b][color=gold]   T O O L (S)[/color][/b][/sub]
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[COLOR=darkgray][color=lightgray][b]◼ NEGA-GAUNTLETS[/b][/color] 
A pair of gauntlets formed of the same material as Mar-Vell's Nega-Bands. Powered by the energies coursing through Teth, the bands help to regulate his power and ground him. Made of a Kree programmable matter, the bands can take different shapes, becoming a pair of scimitars or even a pistol fueled by Teth's lightning.[/color][/sup]
[sup][COLOR=darkgray][color=lightgray][b]◼ ROCK OF ETERNITY[/b][/color]
Either an magical anchor that tethers the worlds leylines, or the well-spring from which Earth's leylines flow, the Rock of Eternity was usurped by the Wizard Shazam sometime in the 13th Century BCE and served as the source for the power that created the Champion. It is the source of Teth's power.[/color][/sup]
[color=#2e2c2c]-[/color][/indent][/hider][/INDENT][indent][sub][sup][sub][h3][b][color=black] N O T A B L E   S K I L L S   &   T A L E N T S[/color]
[color=gold]N O T A B L E   S K I L L S   &   W E A K N E S S E S[/color][/b][/h3][/sub][/sup][/sub][/INDENT][sup]_________________________________________________________[/sup]
[INDENT][hider=][color=#2e2c2c]-[/color]
[indent][sub][b][color=gold]   S K I L L (S)[/color][/b][/sub]
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[COLOR=darkgray][color=lightgray][b]◼ THE ART OF WAR[/b][/color]
Teth is an exceptional combatant, trained and experienced in hand-to-hand and armed combat through centuries of warfare.[/color][/sup]
[color=#2e2c2c]-[/color][/indent]
[indent][sub][b][color=lightgray]   W E A K N E S S E S[/color][/b][/sub]
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[COLOR=darkgray][color=lightgray][b]◼ OVERCHARGED[/b][/color] 
When the Wizard Shazam was alive, Teth only possessed as much (or little) power as the Wizard allowed, acting as a kind of regulator. With the Wizard gone, Teth has access to a level of raw, unfiltered magical power that is unlike before -- forcing him to re-learn how his powers work.[/color][/sup]
[sup][COLOR=darkgray][color=lightgray][b]◼ ONLY HUMAN[/b][/color] 
Teth still requires food, oxygen, and sleep. While the magic enchantment on him may preserve his life, this means he's limited on how high he can fly or how long he can submerge under water before losing consciousness.[/color][/sup]
[sup][COLOR=darkgray][color=lightgray][b]◼ LIMITED VOCABULARY[/b][/color] 
Untrained in magic, what limited experience Teth has with it is from the Ancient World, when wizards relied on words of power and were not as spontaneous in their spellweaving as modern magic users. Like a Wizard in DnD, Teth has to prepare the spell and know the words (and be able to speak them) to cast magic.[/color][/sup]
[color=#2e2c2c]-[/color][/indent][/hider][/INDENT][/cell][cell][INDENT][sub][sup][sub][h3][b][color=black] T H E   S T O R Y   S O   F A R...[/color]
[color=gold]T H E   S T O R Y   S O   F A R...[/color][/b][/h3][/sub][/sup][/sub][/INDENT][sup]________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup]
[COLOR=DARKGRAY][indent]First things first, instead of being a kid who turns into Magical Superman, this is just an empowered kid. Which is also every version I write of Captain Marvel/Shazam/Black Adam, so you all know what you're getting at this point.

While in past OU games, I've merged Billy and Mar-Vell, this version keeps my habit of merging aspects of Billy and Black Adam, with this take leaning into Black Adam's revised origin as a slave. The main tweak to the origin here is that Teth is meant to be Shazam's illegitimate child (making him a half-brother to Satanus and Blaze). I've connected him with Mar-Vell to bridge the two Captain Marvels as well as provide for an NPC'd mentor while still having the Wizard die right when he's needed most (as per Billy's usual origin).  Nothing in this concept is intended to bar a Billy Batson or Carol Danvers, including as a successor Captain Marvel. Shazam could have selected another Champion prior to Teth being released, and Mar-Vell is having adventures out in space where Teth can't follow, so plenty of narrative room on both sides for others to play with if they so choose.

Teth's power level is scaled back considerably to provide balance for his power set otherwise rolling Superman, Flash, Black Vulcan, and Zatanna all in one. Key to my interpretation is the idea that, with the Wizard gone, the magic now flows directly to Teth instead of through Shazam, making it where Teth is having to re-learn how to manage and control his abilities, while also trying to comprehend the world he's in and find his place in it.

Like Jason and the Argonauts, in this version, Shazam and Teth are historical-mythological figures whose actual existence is debated among scholars. Aligning Shazam and Black Adam to older literary figures (Gilgamesh, David, Samson, Beowulf, etc), that is, their flaws are as much part of their story as their virtues. Shazam a wise philosopher who reigned over an advanced civilization for the time period, but also a pragmatist and opportunist. Teth-Adam a brave warrior, but also arrogant, brash, disrespectful, and disruptive. Shazam is said to have betrayed the city to the Achaemenid Empire, with Teth falling in the Siege of Khandaq in a tale with many parallels to Troy and the story of Achilles.

From there, Shazam disappears from the historical record while Khandaq lapses into a cycle of conquest. Alexander the Great followed, then the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the rise of the Roman Empire. The eventual rise and fall of the Ottomans in the modern era led to Khandaq's re-emergence, only now as an Islamic Republic with connections to both Egypt and Iran for its history with both. Behind the scenes, Shazam was working to try and protect the world from otherworldly threats, particularly Dormammu and the arch-fiends of Hell.

Teth reappeared in the world three years ago, having been released by a Wizard mortally wounded in the fight against the Reach. Without the Wizard, Teth found the power uncontrollable and was more menace than hero for it. A Kree soldier fighting on Earth by the name of Mar-Vell was able to use Kree technology to help Teth regain control of his wild energies, with the two joining the fight to re-take the Earth. Now, while Captain Marvel continues to battle the Reach across the cosmos, Teth is left to try and find his place in a world he no longer recognizes.

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[INDENT][sub][sup][sub][h3][b][color=black] P L O T ( S )   &   G O A L ( S )[/color]
[color=gold]P L O T ( S )   &   G O A L ( S )[/color][/b][/h3][/sub][/sup][/sub][/INDENT][sup]________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup]
[COLOR=DARKGRAY][INDENT]It took me a long time to think of how to approach the game's narrative. Shazam and Teth are both intended to be presented as more complex characters with regard to their motivations, having done great and terrible things each. I think that gives him a great perspective coming into the current world. The Reach was an enemy he could touch, whereas the political fallout is much more difficult to grasp, particularly in terms of right and wrong.

The general vibe I'm aiming for is Billy's "superhero in a homeless shelter" kind of cynicism around saving the world not paying anything, with all the emotional baggage of Teth's storied history. In terms of hooks for others to grab onto, Teth's participation in the latter part of the Reach Invasion is meant to supply a possible connection to other heroes who battled the Reach. Otherwise, two stories I'll be running will use Oom (the alien serial killer) as a murder mystery exploring another alien threat on Earth, and re-imagining Mr. Atom as a rogue autonomous weapon system.[/INDENT][/COLOR][/cell][/row][/table][hr][/COLOR][/INDENT][hr][center][sup][color=darkgray][i]All formatting originates via the work of[/i] [color=248ffd][i]Lord Wraith[/i][/color][/color][/sup][/center]
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