This is a list of characters who appear in the TV series Static Shock. Main characters Virgil Hawkins Virgil Ovid Hawkins, also known as Static (voiced by Phil LaMarr), is an African-American high school student from Dakota City who, as a result of being accidental exposed to an experimental mutagen in an event called the "Big Bang", gained the ability to control and manipulate electromagnetism. After discovering others like himself, nicknamed "Bang Babies", using their powers for criminal pursuits, Virgil becomes a hero to stop them. Virgil is an intelligent young man with a strong sense of justice, but grapples with self-doubt. Over the course of the series, he gradually becomes more mature and responsible with his powers. Richie Foley Richard "Richie" Osgood Foley (voiced by Jason Marsden) is Virgil Hawkins' best friend who supports the latter as Static by developing gadgets for him during seasons one and two. In the latter season, Foley encounters Ragtag, who grants him the power to repel or deflect objects via purple energy. Taking the name "Push", he becomes addicted and begins stealing for Ragtag in exchange for him maintaining his powers, but eventually sees the error of his ways and helps Virgil defeat Ragtag. In season three, due to prolonged exposure to Virgil, Foley becomes a Bang Baby with superhuman intelligence and limited technopathy. Using his newfound powers, he builds advanced technology, such as the robot "Back-Pack", and joins Virgil in fighting crime as the superhero Gear. According to series creators, Richie's character was based on Rick Stone, Virgil's best friend in the comics, who is gay. Since Stone's sexual orientation could not be explored within the context of a children's television series at the time of the show's original run, it was never addressed if Foley was gay as well, though series creator Dwayne McDuffie did consider him gay and subtly hinted at such throughout the series. Robert Hawkins Robert Hawkins (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) is a strict yet caring widowed social worker and head counselor of the Freeman Community Center who served in the Marines and strongly dislikes gangs and the destructive attitudes of most Bang Babies, which motivates him to counteract bad influences on young people. Throughout most of the series, he remains unaware of his son Virgil's actions as Static, whose actions he disapproves of, until he is kidnapped and deduces Virgil's secret identity near the end of