Virgil Ovid Hawkins was born on the Paris Island section of Dakota City as the second child of Robert and Jean Hawkins and the younger brother of Sharon Hawkins. As a young child, he was relatively close to his uncle Teshome and at one point wanted to be like him, but he insisted that Virgil stay focused on his studies and make something of himself. When his Uncle was unjustly arrested for the Van Hauser murders, young Virgil knew him to be innocent and would write endless letters to different law firms inferring this, not seeing the fruits of his labor until a decade later. Fearing the rise in gang activity may have a negative affect on them, he and his family moved to the supposedly safer working class neighborhood of Sadler. At some point after moving, during the fifth grade, Virgil would meet and befriend Larry Wade. At some point after, he would also become friends with Chuck Kane, Rick Stone, and Felix. Virgil would not meet Frieda Goren until high school.
Fifteen-year-old Virgil was known as a social outcast (a status he shares with Chuck, Rick, and Felix) due to not only his gifted intellect, but also because of his interests in comic books, role playing games, and science fiction. He maintained his friendship with the now-popular Larry and harbored a crush on Frieda, unaware that she was dating Larry. Because of his ostracism, he was often bullied, as was typical for an adolescent. When trying to stand up for Frieda, Virgil took a serious beating from Martin Scaponi (known as “Biz Money B”) until Larry stepped in. Hurt and humiliated one time too many, made even worse by Sharon and her friends’ tormenting, he was given a gun by Larry, who encouraged him to seek revenge on Martin at the docks during a gang war on Paris Island that night. Virgil arrived at his former home and hid behind some crates and old oil drums. Despite being tempted to murder his bully, he ultimately could not bring himself to shoot someone in cold blood. Not long after throwing the gun away, the police arrived and used a special tear gas under the belief that it is a radiation marker as a means of tracking the gang members in case they tried to escape. Unfortunately, the gas served only to either kill those present or mutate them in an event known as the Big Bang. Exposed to the gas while trying to escape, Virgil immediately gained a variety of electromagnetic powers and managed to flee the chaos unscathed on a trash can lid. Practicing with his newfound abilities and inspired by his interest in comics, he decided to become a superhero, calling himself, “Static”.
