Herman Schultz

## Personality

Perhaps the most surprising element regarding Herman Schultz is how much of an ordinary guy he is. He is quite affable, accommodating and even friendly whenever he is not in the role as The Shocker. Additionally, he has a very professional perspective and approach to committing crimes and thus comes off as more nuanced and cautious compared to the more radical and volatile individuals he works with.

However, Schultz is prone to confidence issues during streaks of misfortune and on rarer occasions, displays a cock side to him. The most noteworthy aspect is he possesses a surprising self-awareness on reputation management. He keeps a low profile and goes for low-risk jobs. While this tends to earn him some mockery, those who know Schultz note that he is quite serious and capable when he is provoked.

## Powers & Abilities

***Skilled Engineer*-** Schultz is a skilled engineer and inventor. He created his own gauntlets and able to maintain them in operating condition, even under sub-optimal circumstances. He also created the safety suit that allows him to handle the shockwaves of the gauntlets easily while being comfortable to be worn for hours on end.

## Tools & Equipment

***Vibro-Shock Gauntlets-*** Two mechanical apparatuses that cover most of Schultz’s forearms, the Vibro-Shock Gauntlets are tools and weapons of his own design and creation. When activated by a thumb trigger, the gauntlets project a concentrated blast of air that has been vibrated at an intense frequency. This allows the Shocker to weaken structures through powerful vibrations or create shockwaves to deter law enforcement. Holding the thumb triggers down for an extended period of time increases the intensity, speed, and even spread of the air blasts. They were initially designed to open locked areas and secure facilities through the vibrations and pressurized air. Additionally, he can project the shockwaves to act as shielding from blows, projections and explosions to his front. The gauntlets are powered by an external power-source strapped onto his back.

***Shock Absorber Suit*-** A suit noteworthy for its yellow quilt patches distributed through the body, the suit was designed to absorb and distribute the backlash shock from the Gauntlets, allowing him to safely use them. The red secondary layer serves as additional armor on the head and vitals along with likely reinforcing the cables that power the gauntlets.

## History

### Common Birth

Herman Schultz was born in 1967 over in The Bronx of New York to a poor family of Mr. And Mrs. Schultz. Little is known about Herman’s childhood except that he lived in lower class and of course the birth of his younger brother Martin “Marty” Schultz over in 1977. The Schultz family lived an unremarkable poor life though one of the points was on Schultz being gifted with machines and the hope was that perhaps he could get a job as a mechanic over when he is older to help and further support the family over time.

However, everything would change when Mr. Schultz would end up involved in crime and took his older son involved, trying to desperately go and make some much-needed money during the 1980s. It would not be long before Herman would would exceed his father in theft, being methodical, practical and careful, making sure to bring in money to help support his family. However, he did not become an official full-time criminal until his father would get shot in 1987 by the mob.

This lifestyle in crime continued even after he graduated though when he did so as a man, he would begin getting caught and being jailed for it. This would begin the gradual decline of relationship between him and the rest of his family. Despite being more than capable of being able to go straight if he wanted, he never really felt suited to do that sort of traditional work and a rift began growing. The years would go by as Herman improved his skills, both in burglary and in inventing. However, when his mom would end up being hospitalized and his brother having to live with him, Herman grit his teeth and decided to go straight.

### Becoming Shocker

He understandably had trouble looking for work and found a few sites, but found his big break over with Advanced Idea Mechanics when he would impress them with his skills and he got a job. He would spend the next 5 years working there and earning some good money while improving himself on his various assets and capabilities. It would seem that Herman would finally learn his lesson and he would even end up getting married. Despite the trouble, it seemed that Herman would finally get his life together.

Life finds a way to shock people though. He finished the prototype of handheld devices that could release shockwaves and tried to work an arrangement regarding deals and ownership, hoping to get a good patent. He even designed a suit to handle using it properly. However, it ended up falling through and worse still, his wife of a few months would leave him when she discovered he lied about his criminal past. Defiant, Schultz would finish his work using company resources before leaving to go on to rob banks much grander. This was his life and his occupation. It just now involved fancier gadgets… and more fascinating crimefighters...

## Trivia

* His childhood dream was to open a cat sanctuary and has expressed interest in doing so upon retirement as a super-criminal.

* One of his earlier crimes would blackmailing at stock broker to play the stock market as his representative with the money being deposited into his own Swiss bank account. Herman has not checked how much money he has earned since then.

* One of the other places he worked at was in Roxxon Energy Company, as part of a joint project AIM. He showed a negative view over of Roxxon, viewing them as extensive suspicious.

* Despite how life took them into separate ways, The Shocker on occasion writes a letter to his brother and privately hopes to reconnect with him. He even snuck in to see his graduation ceremony.

* He chose the name "Shocker" because of his shockwave creation technology and notes how people are a bit surprised.

* He came up with the idea for the gauntlets during his time in prison, inspired by an anecdote from another inmate involving shaking up a box to loosen the pins within the locks.

* His professionalism means he holds no ill will toward Spider-Man or other superheroes that he runs into. According to him, he sees them as just another hazard of the job, same as police officers and thus, does not use lethal intent on them.

* At the same time, that professionalism means that individuals like Spider-Man and Daredevil are more cautious around him since they know he is a more rational and focused criminal than others.

* He is able to repair his gauntlets and suit relatively easy because he swiped an extra keycard of AIM and would sneak in to steal parts and use some of the equipment with no one knowing. He plans on recreating some of the stuff to do it himself.

* During one of his defeats by Spider-Man and waiting for arrest, he once noted to Spider-Man that he should check out AIM due to noting some shady records. While he appreciated them hiring him despite his record, he always got a funny feeling on them. He would be vindicated if still surprised at the true orgins and motives of AIM.