The young hero known as Static is Virgil Hawkins. Virgil lost his mother to gang violence when he was very young. His father vowed to help the community, and set up the Freeman Community Center, which became a second home for Virgil. Virgil grew up to be an honor-roll student with a sharp wit and even sharper tongue... something that led to his getting into trouble with a mean-spirited bully who had ties to the local street gangs. In his efforts to stand up to this bully, Virgil found himself embroiled in the gang activities of his hometown of Dakota City. A gathering of these gangs amassed at The Dakota Docks and Virgil foolishly joined in. The police arrived and attempted to disperse the crowd by firing off considers of tear gas. It turned out that this tear gas happened to contain the mysterious Quantum Vapor... a substance concocted by a sinister scientist who arranged for it to be combined with the tear gas so to test it on human subjects. Exposure to this vapor caused many of the individuals at the docks to develop super human powers (an event that would become known as ‘The Big Bang’). In the aftermath, Virgil discovered that he had been bestowed with electrokinesis (the ability to manifest and mentally control electromagnetic energy). He decided to use these newfound powers to become a costumed do-gooder and thus was born the hero Static. In the role of Static, Virgil defended Dakota City and battled a number of the gangbangers who had been similarly empowered by the ‘Big Bang.’ During his adventures, Static encountered the fellow hero Hardware who assisted him by providing technologically advanced gadgetry to further enhance Static’s powers. Some time thereafter Static became a member of The Teen Titans. The hero starred in the animated series Static Shock and a feature film is reportedly in the works. Static first appeared in the pages of Static #1 (1993).