Mister Terrific

Gallery

Real Name

Michael Holt

Current Alias

Mister Terrific

Aliases

White King, White Bishop

Relatives

Paula Holt (wife, deceased), unnamed child (deceased), Jeffrey Holt (brother, deceased)

Affiliation

Formerly Checkmate; Justice Society of America

Base Of Operations

New York City

Status

Identity

Secret Identity

Citizenship

American

Marital Status

Widowed

Occupation

White King of Checkmate, Adventurer, Multi-Millionaire, Retired Cybernetic Engineer, Former Industrialist, Financier, Olympian, former Owner and CEO of Holt Holdings Inc.

Education

Collage graduate, 14 PH.D's and assorted doctorates and masters degrees.

Characteristics

Gender

Male

Height

6' 2"

Weight

215 lbs (98 kg)

Eyes

Brown

Hair

Black

Origin

Origin

Michael Holt was an Olympic decathlon gold medal winner from an upper middle class family. He created his own cyberwear company which he then sold to a the Waynetech Corporation and retired; however, Holt's life was shattered twice when his beloved, mentally retarded older brother died at the age of fifteen and his wife, Angela, and his unborn child were killed in a car accident. No longer caring whether he lived or died, Holt contemplated suicide until the Spectre intervened. Inspired by the story the Spectre told of Terry Sloane, the original Mr. Terrific, Holt has adopted the name and the concept of "Fair Play" and fights in the inner-city for the minds and hearts of the kids there.

Universe

New Earth

Place of Birth

New York City

Created by

John Ostrander, Tom Mandrake

First appearance

Spectre Vol 3 #54
(June, 1997)

I always thought you could change the world, Michael.

-- Karen Starr ^src

HistoryEdit

At a young age, Michael Holt showed remarkable intelligence, reading and assimilating the works of Bohr, Einstein, Planck and Feynman, the pantheon of theoretic physics, at the age of six. He studied advanced science, space and time "while other children struggled through Sesame Street."

Holt displayed as he called it, "a natural aptitude for having natural aptitudes," easily picking up and retaining complex skills and abilities that other men spent their entire lives perfecting. Before he began his career as a superhero, he already possessed 14 Ph.D's (two in Engineering and Physics -- including assorted doctorates and masters in degrees in Law, Psychology, Chemistry, Political Science and Mathematics). He was a self-made multi-millionaire with a high tech firm called Cyberwear (later Holt Holdings Inc.) and was a Gold-medal winning Olympic decathelete.

While contemplating suicide after the death of his mentally retarded older brother and the accidental death of his wife and unborn child, Holt was met by the Spirit of God's Vengeance, known as the Spectre (ironically, Holt is an atheist), who told him about Terry Sloane, the Golden Age superhero known as Mister Terrific. Inspired by Sloane's life story he took the name Mister Terrific and later joined the current Justice Society of America, eventually serving as its chairman.

He initially wore ordinary clothes and a leather jacket with Sloane's "Fair Play" emblem on the back. He currently wears a T-shaped mask, a black and white costume with red trim, and a collarless jacket in the same colors (the black sections of tunic and jacket forming a "T") with "Fair Play" written on the sleeves and "Terrific" on the back.

For a time he acted as spokesperson for Tylerco and consulted that company on industrial espionage and security matters in exchange for that company helping fund a youth center Terrific had started.

Holt has a friendly rivalry with Batman, his opposite number in the Justice League of America. Also, Michael Holt has encountered Terry Sloane twice through time travel, with Sloane expressing pride in having so worthy a successor. Holt has been noted as the most intelligent member of the JSA in its history, surpassing his predecessor. He describes himself as the third smartest person in the world.

During a conflict over leadership of the Justice Society between former chairman Hawkman and then-current chairman Sand, Terrific was elected as the JSA's new chairman by his teammates, despite not actively seeking the office. He served in this capacity until the team disbanded following the Infinite Crisis.

Mr. Terrific was part of the team assembled by Batman for an attack on the Brother Eye satellite responsible for controlling the OMACs. He played a critical role as his invisibility to technology allowed him to reach the satellite's propulsion system, sending it crashing to Earth. On this meeting he met and befriended another African American superhero - Black Lightning.

As part of One Year Later, though Holt is still a member of the JSA, he has also become part of the United Nations Security Council's intelligence agency Checkmate. He initially held the position of White King's Bishop, but when the previous White King (Alan Scott) was forced to resign, he became Checkmate's new White King, complicating his relationship with Sasha Bordeaux, Checkmate's Black Queen. He has also given up his chairman position, which has been taken over by Power Girl. Mr. Terrific has also established an ill-defined mentorship with the latest Firestorm, Jason Rusch, over the missing year. The specifics of their meeting are yet to be documented.

After Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman began discussing the reformation of the Justice League, in regards to Mr. Terrific as a potential member, Batman said, "I think we can get him." Wonder Woman reminded Batman of Terrific's position of leadership in the JSA, but Batman insisted, "That doesn't matter, we can get him."

Powers and AbilitiesEdit

Abilities

Genius-level Intellect: Holt is described as having "a natural aptitude for having natural aptitudes;" picking up complicated skills quickly and retaining them, such as performing emergency surgery on teammate Alan Scott after reading about the procedure in a medical text book. As Holt himself put it, "everyone has a talent...Mine is learning."

Holt has described himself as the third smartest person on Earth (presumably after Batman and Lex Luthor).

• Polymath: Holt is also a polymath who has specialized in multiple fields of medicine, engineering and science. He possesses 14 Ph.D's (two of which are in engineering and physics-including assorted doctorates and masters in degrees in Law, Psychology, Chemistry, Political Science and Mathematics).

• Chemistry
• Electrical Engineering
• Law
• Medicine
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Science

• Multilingual: Holt is also multilingual, though the extent of this hasn't been revealed. He has been shown to speak the language of the nation of Kahndaq. Given Holt's propensity for learning, it likely that he speaks several other languages as well.
  

Master Martial Artist: He is a black belt in 6 different martial arts disciplines.

Olympic-Level Athlete: Olympic Gold Medalist in the decathlon.

Strength level

Mr. Terrific is an Olympic level athlete . Michael possesses the strength of a man , his age and size who engages in regular intesive exercise. Mr.terrific can lift up to twice his bodyweight enabling him to press lift 430 lbs.

ParaphernaliaEdit

Equipment

• T Spheres: floating robotic spheres can do many things including project holographic images, create laser grids, serve as cameras, link with outside data networks, allowing him to fly by bearing his weight, self-destruct, generate powerful electrical charges,and strike as flying projectile weapons. They respond to his mental and vocal commands.
  

• T-Mask: He is invisible to all forms of electronic detection. This ability is tied to nanotechnology woven into his specially designed "T-Mask" (which is molecularly bonded to his face and can disappear at will) and costume. Mr. Terrific was apparently the only super-hero whom the OMACs could not detect. His mask also protects his face from chemicals and relays mental commands to his T-Spheres by detecting the subtle movements on his face. The mask works in conjunction with an ear piece to acts as a communications system. Through his mask, Holt can change instantaneously into costume and back again.

• Holt's mask also doubles as a encephalic broadcaster, picking up aggregate thought-waves, allowing him to communicate with his T-Spheres and even project a speaking hologram of himself, even if he is injured or too weak to speak.
  

NotesEdit

• Holt is a self-made multimillionaire. Before becoming a super hero, he founded a company called Cyberwear later named Holt Holdings Inc. He has since sold that company to Waynetech, a company owned by Bruce Wayne.
• Holt is an atheist. Terrific, though well aware and having witnessed much of the mystical nature of the DC Universe firsthand, cites scientific and rational explanations for all of them. He described souls as "a unique energy that could quantify as a telepathic discharge upon death."^[1]
• One form of electronic detection has proven able to monitor Mr. Terrific, the android Red Tornado. He also can be detected by the artificial intelligence Thinker, whom Mr. Terrific has brought in as the White King's (Mr. Terrific's) Bishop in Checkmate.
• Anthro developed a costume inspired by Mister Terrific when he came to the future.^[2] Booster Gold and Blue Beetle think that it looks ridiculous.^[3]
  

TriviaEdit

• Holt enjoys Sudoku, and is so skilled at it, he fills the puzzles in with pen, instead of pencil.
• Along with teammate and friend Dr. Mid-Nite , Mr. Terrific is one of the two main superhero physicians in the DC Universe, notably participating in the autopsy of Sue Dibny in Identity Crisis.
  

Recommended ReadingEdit

• JSA (Volume 1)

Related

• 297 Appearances of Michael Holt (New Earth)
• 38 Images featuring Michael Holt (New Earth)
• 12 Quotations by or about Michael Holt (New Earth)
• Character Gallery: Michael Holt (New Earth)
• Fan-Art Gallery: Michael Holt (New Earth)

LinksEdit

• Michael Holt (New Earth) at Wikipedia.org 
• Mister Terrific at the DC Animated Universe Wikia
• Mister Terrific Secret Origins

Discover and Discuss

• Search this site for: Mister Terrific · Michael Holt · Michael Holt (New Earth)
• Search the Forums for: Mister Terrific · Michael Holt · Michael Holt (New Earth)
• Discuss this and other characters on the forums

Footnotes

Justice Society of America member This character is or was a primary member of the Justice Society of America in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice Society of America members" category.

Checkmate Member This character was a member of the top secret government organization Checkmate. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Checkmate members" and "Government Agents" categories.