Tryin' to land on top, that was always Fred's things-- me, I always just wanted to treat this like a real job. Keep your head down, make a living, get out early. Everyone thinks that makes me a coward, but that's fine. I don't really care about all that. My reputation-- look at me, I wear a quilt! What kind of reputation am I gonna have? I was starting to get a little saved up, was looking at places in Hoboken--places with yards, even! But now--now this happens... Don't even know why I took 'im in the first place. 
- —Shocker[src]
History
Herman Schultz was a career criminal who, after several prison terms for robbery, built a battle suit that sent out shock waves to quickly open safes as well as give himself a one-up on the authorities. The Shocker had the ability to shock his enemies with his hand held vibro-shock units, but because the vibrations were so fierce, he wore a heavily insulated suit. During his first outing as the self-styled "Shocker" he ran into and defeated Spider-Man (albeit the hero was suffering a broken arm at the time) who became Schultz's nemesis.[3]
Early on in his career Shocker often acted as either a thief or subordinate to the more prominent of Spider-Man's foes such as Kingpin and The Owl. Shocker joined Mysterio's Sinister Seven, Green Goblin's Sinister Twelve (and even Doctor Octopus' short lived makeshift Sinister Six during Civil War.) Other villains he teamed up with include Rhino, Boomerang, Leila Davis, Trapster, Hydro Man and Speed Demon- these villains along with the Beetle made up the Sinister Syndicate.
The Shocker
Early life and career
Herman Schultz's parents died when his younger brother, Marty, was a boy.[1] Schultz was usually involved in theft or extortion; a typical day in the life of the Shocker would find him knocking over armored cars or trying to hawk items he previously stole. On one particularly ambitious day, the Shocker held New York City for ransom when he blacked out portions of the city to spell out his criminal moniker, then threatened to black out the entire city unless he was paid one million dollars[4]. On another he terrified a stockbroker into playing the market, for substantial monetary gain.
He would fight Spider-Man on many occasions, proving himself to be one of Spider-Man's more difficult opponents. The Shocker became a member of the Masters of Evil with Radioactive Man, Tiger Shark, Moonstone, and the Beetle to incriminate Dr. Henry Pym, who was then on trial for treason. Unfortunately they were defeated by the Avengers.[5] The Shocker was later hired by the Nazi war criminal Baron Von Lundt to kill Dominic Fortune, and built the vibro-shock units into his entire uniform to do so.
During one of his team-ups with Doctor Octopus, he participated in a raid on Avengers Mansion, hoping to help conquer it as the heroes were distracted by the events of the Infinity War. Shocker was forced to fight alongside the heroes called the Guardians of the Galaxy when alien doubles of both sides attacked. After the doubles stopped coming, Octopus tried to order Shocker and the others to continue fighting the heroes but instead, they turned on him. They did not wish to harm the people who had helped save their lives and Shocker helped chase Octopus out of the building.
The Shocker has let Spider-Man go on a few occasions, the first being when he found Spider-Man incapacitated with a bout of vertigo on the outside of a tall building. He doesn't kill Spider-Man, thinking it an unworthy end despite the fact it doesn't help him either. Shocker would later turn on his ally the Trapster at the bequest of Norman Osborn (who sought to have the Trapster eliminated as a potential witness against his recent attempt to frame Spider-Man for murder). Preparing to kill the resigned Trapster in an alley, he was attacked and rendered unconscious at the last minute by Spider-Man (then disguised under the alias of Dusk).
Shocker with the rest of the Sinister Seven
He allied himself with Speed Demon of the New Thunderbolts in order to break into a particularly well-guarded safe. Though the police arrived at his hide-out in quick pursuit, he was saved by Speed Demon, who dashed in and stole both the loot and Shocker's weapons, removing all traces of evidence (and unfortunately for Shocker he keeps the money to fund the Thunderbolts' further activities.) Shortly after, he was terminated as a freelance agent by Hammer and captured by Spider-Man while trying to rob a federal bank alongside Hydro-Man. He accidentally evaporated his water-based ally with a misplaced vibration.
Civil War
A new version of the Sinister Six, with the Shocker as a member, banded together during the Civil War but were stopped by Captain America and his Secret Avengers. Herman was later at a bar with other villains during Stilt-Man's wake where he and all the other villains inside were poisoned and subsequently blown up by The Punisher.[6] Somehow Schultz survived the poisoning and fire-bombing.
He partially reformed the Sinister Syndicate alongside Hydro-Man and Boomerang. This group attempted to rob Baily's Auction House but were interrupted by Spider-Man and then Initiative members War Machine and Komodo. The latter were there to neutralize Spider-Man. The trio escaped, only to be found and attacked by government operatives known as the Scarlet Spiders.
He was hired by a mobster to take out a subway train wagon full of jurors. After a brief battle with Spider-Man, he was knocked unconscious while Spider-Man used his gauntlets to destroy rubble blocking the path. Although he seemed cooperative at first, as soon as he was secured by Spider-Man, he activated a powerful shock in his gauntlets through his belt, causing the main exit to collapse and allowing him to escape.[7] On their way to collect money from bets on superhero fights, Shocker and Boomerang discovered the dead body of "The Bookie."[8]
Before Spider-Island, Herman was defeated again by Spider-Man. Later, he was infected by the spider-virus, and, now with six arms, robbed a bank, hoping that the Mad Thinker could cure him. Spider-Man interrupted the scene and battled Shocker, who was transformed into a giant spider along with the whole infected citizens of New York. Apparently, he was cured by Spider-Man along with the rest of New York.Attributes
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Powers
Abilities
Weaknesses
- Lack of Confidence: The Shocker has had severe confidence problems during his early years as a super-criminal, however this brief period of shaky confidence appears to be a thing of the past.
- Dependence on his costume: Since Shocker's specialized suit is designed to protect him from the recoil effects of his Gauntlets, damaging or taking away the suit carries the risk of Shocker injuring or killing himself if he tries to use his Gauntlets when in that situation.
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Vibro-Shock Gauntlets: The Shocker has two vibro-shock units that, when activated by a thumb trigger, can project a concentrated blast of air that has been vibrated at an intense frequency. This allows the Shocker to both effectively throw long range vibrational punches, as well as vibrating the structure of something in order to weaken or destroy it. Holding the thumb triggers down for an extended period of time increases the intensity, speed, and even spread of the air blasts. The vibro-shock units were created to open safes by "shaking" them open silently and quickly. Shocker also has a vibrational shield that deflects blows to him & allows him to slip from many a grasp. The feedback from the Shocker's gauntlets is extremely intense (the initial test almost killed him.) To guard himself from this, Schultz developed a protective costume consisting largely of yellow quilt patches designed to absorb the shock. The vibro-shock units can add power to his punch via a trip-hammer vibration shock, making his blows a dozen times more potent than normal.
Trivia
- Herman Schultz is not the only Marvel villain to use the name Shocker. Randall Darby from the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants/Mutant Force also used the name. Darby changed the name to Paralyzer at one point, perhaps merely to avoid confusion with the Shocker proper.
- The Shocker has a surprisingly large fan base for such a low-level villain. Many fans enjoy that he actually is not a lunatic but a simple thief, who would rather go after the money than kill his enemy.
See Also
- 184 appearance(s) of Herman Schultz (Earth-616)
- 14 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Herman Schultz (Earth-616)
- 31 minor appearance(s) of Herman Schultz (Earth-616)
- 42 mention(s) of Herman Schultz (Earth-616)
- 6 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Herman Schultz (Earth-616)
- 158 image(s) of Herman Schultz (Earth-616)
- 5 quotation(s) by or about Herman Schultz (Earth-616)
- 1 item(s) used/owned by Herman Schultz (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Untold Tales of Spider-Man (novel) , "Poison in the Soul"
- ↑ Official OHOTMU Spider-Man 2004 corrections
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man #46
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man #152
- ↑ Avengers #228
- ↑ Punisher War Journal #4
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man #578–579
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man #584
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 10
Template:Amazing Spider-Man