S.H.O.C.

 

S.H.O.C. 

 

Real Name: Todd Fields 

First Appearance: Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #76, November 1996 

 

Powers: Todd Fields is the son of a scientist who worked for HYDRA in developing Project S.H.O.C. (Sub-dimensional Human-based Occultechnic Conduit) over two decades ago as a means of accessing the extradimensional energy of the Darkforce dimension via bonding to a special armor, a procedure which eventually kills the user.

The scientist wore the armor as the superhuman operative S.H.O.C. alongside a man that would come to be known as Crown, but absconded with the armor after learning of HYDRA's true purpose, building a new life for himself as Empire State University professor "Dr. William Fields", getting married and fathering a son, Todd. However, Crown tracked down and killed Dr. Fields along with many other Hydra agents and was planning to use the S.H.O.C.s technology to conquer the world. Todd was a young boy when he witnessed the death of his father, witch traumatized him greatly. His father however left Todd with key components for Todd to track and use another S.H.O.C. armor and bond with it. Todd then became S.H.O.C. and swore revenge on Crown for murdering his father.

S.H.O.C. was bonded with a bio-mechanical armor charged by a mysterious power source. By combining his father's research work with the S.H.O.C. armor, Todd physically bonded with the armor and could use it to channel Darkforce energy for various purposes. His arch-nemesis Crown was apparently empowered by an earlier version of S.H.O.C.'s technology. He was covered by a tangible black energy suit at all times, apparently could not revert to human, and claimed to be dying as a result of the experiment. Whether S.H.O.C. was also dying because of his powers, or if his father's notes improved enough upon the earlier tech to preserve his life, is unknown.

As S.H.O.C., Todd could mentally generate black energy in order to summon the armor at will, changing identities with a thought. Once the armor was active and helping him channel Darkforce energy, S.H.O.C. possessed superhuman strength, stamina, and resistance to physical injury, as well as flight. The S.H.O.C. armor was mildly customizable -- it showcased heavy armor plating on the outer surface during combat situations, but on the rare occasions S.H.O.C. appeared in a relaxed setting, those armor plates smoothed out to resemble a flat design pattern on the suit. S.H.O.C. could produce Darkforce energy for transmogrifying blasts. The most basic form of blast would deconstruct matter, causing concussive or disintegrating effects where it struck. However, the black energy could also cause more elaborate effects like reshaping the floor into defensive barrier or charging Spider-Man's webbing with energy so that it could absorb additional force as a web net. S.H.O.C. could also transmogrify himself while inside the armor. He could increase his overall mass, growing to at least twice his normal size. He could also stretch his arms or fingers like Mister Fantastic, and expand his fists into massive pile-drivers. He could shape and disconnect portions of his armored mass from the whole, and remain in mental contact with these pieces even after they separated from him. S.H.O.C. was sensitive to other sources of Darkforce energy in use in his vicinity, and could absorb and redirect those energies when exposed to them. Whether he could sense and manipulate other forms of energy is unknown.