- "All hands on deck!"
- ―Billy Batson to the Shazam Family[src]
The Staff of the Gods is a relic created by the wizard Shazam for Atlas. With it, he could bestow the power of the gods upon those he deemed worthy, as well as project bolts of lightning.
History[]
Origins[]
Millennia ago, Atlas created the staff from the tree of life and transformed it into a powerful weapon in which he placed all the supernatural powers. Atlas used the staff to give the various powers to the other deities, but also to take them away.
Tired of the tyranny of the gods over the human world, the council of wizards met, stole the staff from Atlas and used it to take away all the powers from both him and all the other gods. The wizards then used the staff to seal the Mount Olympus, separating it from the human world and confining magic.
Massacre in Kahndaq[]
After Teth-Adam released the Seven Deadly Sins on Kahndaq and used his powers for vengeance, Shazam used the Staff of the Gods in the battle against Teth-Adam, entombing him for five thousand years.[1]
Rejected Champion[]
In 1974, Shazam used the staff when he tested Thaddeus Sivana as a new champion. Thaddeus attempted to take the staff but was quickly tempted by the corruption of the Seven Deadly Sins, causing the Wizard to reject him and send him back.[2]
Final Champion[]
In 2018, the Wizard tested a new champion, Billy Batson. Shzam told Billy to hold the staff and say his name. When Billy did, he was transformed into an adult and receives Shazam's powers. After the Wizard gave him his powers, he disintegrated in front of him, with Billy still holding the staff.
Billy left the staff at Rock of Eternity, which was later found by Sivana when he invaded Rock. Billy took the staff from Thaddeus Sivana and used it to empower his foster siblings with the power of the gods to help him fight Sivana and the Seven Deadly Sins. Billy then broke the staff to prevent it from being used in the wrong hands.[2]
Used by the Hesperides[]
To be added[3]
Restoration[]
Following the defeat of the Hesperides, the staff was drained of its magic powers with no gods left to restore it. Having heard of Billy Batson's sacrifice, Wonder Woman came to Mount Olympus and restored the staff by imbuing it with her own divine magic, resurrecting Billy in the process as well as restoring life to the land and Anthea's powers. Billy then used the staff to restore his siblings' powers.
Some time later, the Wizard visited the Vasquez family home to take the staff back as he prepared to enjoy living on Earth.[4]
Capabilities[]
- Power Bestowal: The Staff of the Gods can bestow on humans all of the greatest powers of the gods: Wisdom of Solomon, Strength of Hercules, Stamina of Atlas, Power of Zeus, the Courage of Achilles, and the Speed of Mercury, with the invocation also being a combination of the first letters in the names of each gods.
- Power Revoking: The staff also had the power to steal the powers of the gods; anyone struck by it would be robbed of all their abilities, whether they were gods, titans, or people empowered by divine power.
- Electricity Manipulation: The staff could emit a bolt of lightning, as shown when the wizard Shazam tried to attack Thaddeus Sivana after he released the Seven Deadly Sins. By overloading it with electricity, Billy Batson was able to destroy the Tree of Life and kill Kalypso, Ladon and Kalypso's army at the cost of draining the staff of its power completely and his own life.
- Restoration: When used on Mount Olympus, the staff's magic restored life to the land and Anthea's power.
- Resurrection: After Wonder Woman restored the staff's power and used it on Mount Olympus, it resurrected Billy who was buried nearby.
