Herman Schultz (Earth-616)

Shocker
Name	Herman Schultz
Current Alias	Shocker
Aliases	Nicknames: Quilty
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Ally of Scorpion Formerly Thunderbolts, Boomerang Revenge Squad (leader/founder), Black Cat's Criminal Army, Sinister Syndicate, Villains for Hire, Sinister Twelve, Hood's criminal army, Masters of Evil, Sinister Six, Sinister Seven, Defenders ally of Chameleon, Hammerhead, Trapster, and Hydro Man, Jack O'Lantern and Constrictor
Relatives	Parents: Unnamed mother (deceased) Unnamed father Siblings: Martin "Marty" Schultz (brother) Spouses: Unnamed ex-wife
Marital Status	Divorced
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	5′9″ (1.75 m)
Weight	175 lbs (79.38 kg)
Eyes	Irises: Brown
Hair	Brown
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Human; As an unsuccessful burglar, Herman Schultz, with a gifted skill working with tools, developed, in prison, what was to become the infamous vibro-shock units that advanced his already criminal ways to a new plateau.
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	New York City, New York
Personal Information
Identity	Public
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Crime Lord, assassin, criminal
Education	High school dropout, Trained electrical engineer
Base of Operations	New York City, New York
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Stan Lee, John Romita Sr.
First	Amazing Spider-Man #46 (December, 1966)
First	Amazing Spider-Man #46 (December, 1966)

 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

History

Early Life

Herman Schultz's parents died when his younger brother, Marty, was a boy. From a young age Schultz turned to a life of crime however, he soon realized he wasn't particularly good at it, having been arrested several times.

Shocker

After one robbery gone wrong, Herman was arrested again, but was sent to the prison workshop, where he used the resources around him to project and build gauntlets that sent out shock waves which quickly opened safes as well, giving himself a one-up on the authorities. The Shocker had the ability to shock his enemies with his handheld 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).

Early on in his career Shocker often acted as either a thief or subordinate to more prominent mob bosses such as Silvermane.

Masters of Evil

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. The Shocker was later hired by the Nazi war criminal Baron von Lunt 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 joined a new Masters of Evil and 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.

Sinister Seven

Shocker with the rest of the Sinister Seven

When Kaine, the unstable clone of Spider-Man, was going around killing Spider-Man's enemies, several rogues joined together as the Sinister Seven to defend themselves, including the Shocker.

Saving Spider-Man

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 didn't kill Spider-Man, thinking it an unworthy end despite the fact it doesn't help him either.

Trapster

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).

Hydro-Man

He was terminated as a freelance agent by Justin 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.

Secret War

The Shocker was recruited by Lucia von Bardas to attack Nick Fury and a group of heroes who were involved in his Secret War in Latveria a year earlier. The hired mercenaries were each a component of a bomb designed to destroy the city. Fury and his team were able to stop them and arrested them all including Schultz.

Thunderbolts

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.)

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. Somehow Schultz survived the poisoning and fire-bombing.

Short-Lived Sinister Syndicate

He partially reformed the Sinister Syndicate alongside Hydro-Man and Boomerang. This group attempted to rob Bailey'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.

Subway Ride

Shocker 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. On their way to collect money from bets on super hero fights, Shocker and Boomerang discovered the dead body of "The Bookie."

Origin of the Species

Shocker was invited by Doctor Octopus to join his super villain team where he exchanged for securing some specific items. He and Tombstone went after Lily Hollister's infant in the restaurant shop, until Spider-Man interfered. After he passed out from his fight, the police arrived but Shocker was carried away by Tombstone, who escaped. When Spider-Man went on a rampage against the villains after the infant was stolen by Chameleon, Shocker was attacked in his hideout and threatened to tell him everything about the villain's whereabouts. Shocker told Spider-Man that Chameleon had the baby at the Kravinoff Mansion.

Spider-Island

Spider-Island

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.

Beta Team

At some point after the events of Dark Reign, Shocker would be arrested and incarcerated in the Raft, under the supervision of warden Jonathan Walker (Earth-616). He would be recruited into Luke Cage's new iteration of the Thunderbolts, as part of a support "Beta Team" including the likes of Speed Demon, Boomerang, Troll, and Mister Hyde. This team would fight the Juggernaut and a mercenary unit led by Baron Zemo, but Shocker would leave its ranks very quickly.

Villains for Hire

Purple Man tried to form a new criminal empire with the help of Shocker, Headhunter, Avalanche, Death-Stalker, and Scourge.

Sinister Six

Shocker would be recruited by Boomerang into a new incarnation of the Sinister Six, alongside Speed Demon, Beetle, Overdrive, and the Living Brain. This group would be plagued with infighting and find itself at odds with numerous heroes and villains including The Superior Spider-Man, Hercules, The Chameleon, and The Owl, but its misadventures would end well for Herman, whose possession of the cybernetic head of Silvermane would grant him a short stint as the leader of the Maggia crime syndicate and its chief enforcer, Hammerhead.

Black Cat's Criminal Army

Black Cat tried to recruit other villains, but they declined because of her affiliation to Electro. Cat then thwarted Parker Industries' plan to create a prison for super villains by trying to kill Electro, but was stopped by Spider-Man and Silk. After said event, the criminals such as Shocker joined Black Cat's criminal army, and, later, she bought the Bar with No Name, where villains from all over the city gathered to rest from their criminal activities.

Shocker followed her rules for a while, however Black Cat kidnapped Diamondhead, with whom he had become good friends with, to make profit from his regenerative body parts, so Herman asked Star-Lord for help and, later, turned against Black Cat, who ended up losing the bar. A week later, Shocker and 8-Ball joined Javelynn to create a new bar for criminals, this time naming it Javelynn's.

Shocker would recently reappear as a member of the Thunderbolts, working for New York mayor Wilson Fisk and helping to apprehend Darkhawk under the terms of New York's anti-vigilante laws.

Venom War

Wanting to bring his friend Boomerang back to life, Shocker stole the Resurrection Stone from a museum and tricked Overdrive and Speed Demon into helping him assault a Roxxon Security truck transporting Boomerang's body. To their horror, they saw that the drivers had been turned into Zombiotes and got hold of Speed Demon, turning him into one of them. Shocker quickly got hold of Boomerang's body and got in his getaway vehicle, while Overdrive jumped on top it and enhanced its speed to get away from the zombified Speed Demon. However, they crashed into She-Hulk who had been fighting the Zombiote horde.

As they fought the Zombiotes, Shocker took the body and Stone to the Bar With No Name, followed behind by Overdrive, She-Hulk holding a restrained zombified Hellcat, and the kids the heroine had saved. The bar owner Hilda immediately activated the bar's security to keep the Zombiotes from breaking in. Unfortunately, Hellcat managed to infect Hilda's dog, Sparky, which led to her and Boomerang also becoming infected, reanimating the latter.

The zombified Boomerang tackled Shocker to the ground, forcing the latter to smash the Resurrection Stone on him, unknowingly resurrecting him but remained infected. At that moment, Hellcat freed herself and grabbed Shocker on one side as Boomerang was doing the same on the other side. She-Hulk proceeded to do a power clap that freed everyone from the Zombiote infection, except for Boomerang who infected Shocker. As She-Hulk became infected herself, Overdrive empowered a nearby stereo which properly freed everyone of the Zombiote infection. Shocker was overjoyed at having his friend back, and with his vibro-gauntlets empowered by Overdrive, he and the heroes fought back against the Zombiotes.

Attributes

Power Grid

Abilities

• Engineer: The Shocker is a gifted, and apparently self-taught, engineer who built his battle suit from scratch in a prison workshop. He is also the (self-proclaimed) world's best safecracker.
• Lockpicking: Shocker is a skilled safecracker.
• Hand-to-Hand Combat: Shocker has familiarity with streetfighting techniques.

Weaknesses

Lack of Confidence: The Shocker has had severe confidence problems during his time as a super-criminal, as has fluctuated between cocky and cowardly many times over the years.

Costume Dependence: 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.

At one point, the Shocker upgraded his equipment so that his vibro-shocks came from micro-circuitry emitters throughout the costume, so that he was no longer dependent on the gauntlets for his powers. He continued to wear the gauntlets as a deliberate ruse against Spider-Man and other heroes, leading them to think the gauntlets were still his Achilles' heel. Other upgrades over the years boosted Shocker's overall abilities, or provided new ones such as flight. Shocker has repeatedly gone back to his original power levels and gauntlets, however, implying that these upgrades were unstable or expensive to maintain.

Notes

• As a member of the villainous Defenders, the Shocker blackmailed a stockbroker to play the stock market as his representative. The Shocker earned one million dollars and deposited the money into his own Swiss bank account.

Trivia

• Herman has always wanted to open a cat sanctuary.
• Herman grew up in the Bronx.

See Also

• 192 appearance(s) of Herman Schultz (Earth-616)
• 16 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Herman Schultz (Earth-616)
• 29 minor appearance(s) of Herman Schultz (Earth-616)
• 44 mention(s) of Herman Schultz (Earth-616)
• 6 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Herman Schultz (Earth-616)
• 177 image(s) of Herman Schultz (Earth-616)
• 7 quotation(s) by or about Herman Schultz (Earth-616)
• 2 item(s) used/owned by Herman Schultz (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Herman Schultz on Marvel.com