Black Adam

Teth-Adam became the wizard Shazam's champion and was known as the Mighty Adam. He was a benevolent figure, defeating dictators and monsters and freeing the Kahndaqi tribe. However, afraid the Wizard would discover he had killed his nephew, Adam tricked Shazam into drinking a potion that kept him in a mystic sleep for centuries. Adam advised many pharaohs before deciding he would make a better ruler and seizing the throne himself. Eventually, the Wizard awoke and, furious, cast Adam into exile in a far-off realm, renaming him Black Adam in disgrace. Centuries later, the Wizard retrieved Black Adam to help Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons and others defeat the Frost King, but at the conclusion of the battle, the Wizard imprisoned Adam in a tomb.

In the modern era, Adam escaped his tomb and found the Wizard had a new champion, Billy Batson, to wield the power of Shazam. Black Adam battled Billy and the rest of the Shazam Family on many occasions before deciding he no longer cared about them once he learned that his homeland, now the nation of Kahndaq, was under the oppressive rule of the dictator Asim Muhunnad. Adam invaded Kahndaq, killing Muhunnad and taking the throne himself. While he also ruled with absolute authority, Adam was a benevolent king who put the best interests of his people first, so they embraced his rule. As a result, while the world's heroes had initially tried to remove him, they finally acknowledged that Adam was the ruler his people wanted and stopped interfering with his governing Kanhdaq.

For a brief time, it seemed that Adam had found true happiness when he married Adrianna Tomaz, who became empowered as Isis, and her brother as Osiris. Together they gave Adam the family he hadn't had in millennia, and Kandaq experienced a golden age. Sadly, both Isis and Osiris were killed defending Kahndaq. Insane with grief, Black Adam sought revenge on the alien gods who had slain them. He got his revenge, but in the process killed countless innocent people in the nation of Bialya. Adam has been in the grip of depression and wrath ever since.

Black Adam has allied himself with both villains, such as the Legion of Doom and the Sinestro Corps, and heroes, including the Justice League. Adam revealed to Sinestro the tomb of an alien invader he'd defeated in ancient times, the Pale Bishop. It turned out the Pale Bishop was a rogue Guardian of the Universe. He was returning to life, and his legions were returning to Earth for a new invasion attempt, which the Sinestro Corps repelled. Later, Adam joined the Justice League, reflecting on Isis's kinder approach to the world and wanting to honor her memory, but he ultimately resigned, feeling he could not properly focus on protecting Kahndaq at the same time.

Recently, Black Adam realized that he would need an heir to protect Kahndaq should anything happen to him. Unable to consider remarrying due to his still overwhelming grief over losing Isis, he shared his power with Malik White, a medical student from Washington, D.C. Together, the two of them battled Ibac, who had been resurrected and empowered by mystic immortals. While Black Adam has not given up the throne, he has taken steps to ensure that whatever may befall him, his homeland will always have a champion.