Shazam Is Not a God, but His Powers Are Divine in Nature
Shazam is one of the most iconic and most powerful characters in the DC comics universe. He has incredibly destructive powers, he can lift insane weights, and he is as quick as a lightning bolt. He is often compared to both Superman and Wonder Woman. Superman’s origin is fairly known. He is an alien powered by yellow solar radiation, which is the source of his insane powers, and Wonder Woman, while initially considered Amazon, turned out to be the daughter of Zeus, a demigoddess. So what is Shazam’s secret & what is the source of his powers? Is Shazam a god?
Shazam is not a god. He currently holds the mantle of Wizard’s champion and has nearly unlimited might at his disposal. Even though Shazam has no biological connection to deities, his powers stem from several powerful ancient gods and historical figures. Even though his origin story changed several times, he was never a god himself. He only uses powers of several gods to fight evil.
Now that we’ve covered Shazam’s divine status, it’s time to analyze it in a bit more detail. If you’re interested in how Shazam got his powers, stay with us and keep reading!
Shazam was an ordinary kid before he became a powerhouse
Shazam’s origin story was revisited several times, and he is always basically a teen who gets to transform into a grown-up superhero with unlimited powers by uttering the word Shazam!
Despite this, many fans often think that Billy himself has some connection to Roman or Greek pantheons, as is the case with Wonder Woman, who was famously revealed to be the daughter of Zeus.
But this is not the case. He has a fairly original origin story, and he gained his powers by pure chance and, well, being brave enough to talk back at the ancient Wizard. Not only does Shazam lacks any biological connections with the gods, but his parentage is strictly human. Billy Batson was born to C.C. Batson and Marilyn Batson, both humans. They ultimately turned out to be unfit parents, and Billy ended up as an orphan.
When Billy lost his parents, he turned into a bitter and uncaring young man and was moved from different foster homes due to his problematic behavior.
When Billy was 15, he ended up in the care of Vasquez’s family. They were experienced foster parents with several children already living with them. Billy had trouble fitting into this already diverse and large family, but he managed to become good enough friends with his foster siblings.
One day Billy decided to defend his foster siblings from bullies in school and sneaked out with his foster brother Freddy, to take revenge by stealing the bullies’ father’s car.
Their plan fails, and they are caught by the police. In an attempt to escape, Billy runs into a subway station and boards a train, which transports him to the Rock of Eternity.
There, Billy meets an ancient wizard who recognizes something special in him. The Wizard tests Billy’s character and, despite not being perfect, sees the goodness in him and grants him powers. Initially angry and resentful, Billy eventually accepts his new powers after the Wizard acknowledges the good he has done in his life. With a single word, “S.H.A.Z.A.M.,” Billy can transform into Shazam, a superhero with abilities such as flying, super strength, and control over lightning.
Since the Wizard died after granting Billy his powers, he never got to explain to them what those powers include. At first, the rest of the future Shazam family had difficulty believing what they saw. One night Freddy and Billy snuck out, and Billy got the chance to use his powers to stop some minor crimes and nuisances from happening.
They also used Shazam’s newfound powers to buy beer. Things to a turn for the worse when the newly awakened Black Adam sought Shazam to destroy him. Even with his incredible powers, Billy knew his skills and experience were nowhere near enough to destroy Black Adam, that threatened to kill his entire family.
Shazam’s powers are connected to gods
Even though Shazam is not a god or related to gods, his powers come from ancient gods and powerful historical figures. But before we explain how you need to consider Shazam’s acronym.
- Wisdom of Solomon
- Strength of Hercules
- Stamina of Atlas
- Power of Zeus
- Courage of Achilles
- Speed of Mercury
As you can see, each aspect of Shazam’s powers comes from a different superhuman entity. Shazam’s wisdom comes from the biblical king of ancient Israel, an ancient figure famous for his wisdom, allegedly granted to him by God himself.
Shazam’s strength comes from Hercules, a great warrior and hero in Greek mythology who is, due to being a son of Zeus, a demigod.
Atlas, who provided Shazam with nearly inexhaustible reserves of stamina, was a Titan defeated by Zeus and the other Olympians. Even though not technically a god, Atlas is a titan, which makes him, in some aspects, vastly more powerful than a regular deity.
Shazam’s powerful lightning-based powers come from Zeus, a god that needs to introduction. Zeus is responsible for fathering almost all the gods of Olympus, including some famous heroes such as Wonder Woman and Hercules.
Shazam’s courage comes from Achilles. He is also not a pure god but rather a demigod and is known to be among the greatest warriors that ever existed. Lastly, Shazam got his swiftness and flight from Mercury, a messenger of Gods and a god himself. Similarly, Wonder Woman got her speed from his Greek counterpart Hermes.
And that’s it. As you can see, Shazam is connected to the gods while not being a god himself.
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