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Black Vulcan
BlackVulcan
First appearance

Very Personal Injury

Most recent appearance

Harvey Birdman, Attorney General

Gender

Male

Age

29 (Season 1)
30 (Season 2)
31 (Season 3)
32 (Season 4)
45 (Harvey Birdman, Attorney General)

Homeland

New York

Species

Human

Alternate Form(s)

Lightning bolt

Voiced by

Phil LaMarr

Black Vulcan (Michael Jones) has made several appearances on the show. Along with Apache Chief, he is the co-founder of The Multi-Culture Pals.

Background[]

He debuted in the season one episode "Very Personal Injury," where he describes his power as "Pure electricity… in my pants," to which someone responds "Oh, my." This becomes a running gag: whenever someone makes a double entendre, he will often appear to utter some variation on "…in my pants." In a later episode, he gives advice to Peanut as he goes through superhero puberty and acquires his powers. "I felt something... happening..." "In your pants?" "That's right. In my pants."

In the episode "Booty Noir," he has a menage a trois with his ex-girlfriend Norlisa and Reducto.

Apparently he used to go by the name of Supervolt before Aquaman suggested his present name, to which Black Vulcan responds that maybe they should just call Aquaman "White Fish."

According to "Sebben and Sebben Employee Orientation," Debbie has a crush on him, which makes him feel very uncomfortable (in his pants.) This is apparently meant to be sexual harassment.

In Harvey Birdman, Attorney General, Black Vulcan was America's last President, and the rest of the cast aim to re-elect him. He also wears a really cool jacket now.

Screen Shot 2020-07-11 at 12.10

Black Vulcan super-looting in Challenge of the Super Friends episode 1

Black Vulcan, like Apache Chief, was originally created by Hanna-Barbera to create a more racially diverse cast of superheroes for Super Friends, although they are largely considered out of place racial stereotypes and jokes among heroes by today's public. This is often parodied by Harvey Birdman, with Apache Chief and Black Vulcan both having been fired by the Super Friends; Black Vulcan's case being because of some sort of budget thing, though he thinks it's because they were always pairing him up with a white member, "like I was gonna start super-lootin' the minute they weren't watchin'." This is not true, as in the first episode of Challenge of the Super Friends, Black Vulcan does in fact super-loot, but in a different context (his unconscious mind was being manipulated by Lex Luthor's dream machine.)

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Black Vulcan has been shipped with Harvey in many fan depictions, and the most common headcanon is he's bi, since he is in a relationship with Norlisa.
  • "Peanut Puberty" reveals he smokes (or used to smoke.)
  • He has said his catchphrase "in my pants" at least seven times over the course of the show.
  • Black Vulcan was originally voiced by Buster Jones in the Super Friends shows.
  • Black Vulcan's original catchphrase was "Great Lightning!" (and in early episodes, he used to shout his name akin to the original Birdman.)
  • Black Vulcan was Hanna-Barbera's way of stealing Black Lightning, an already existing comic character, when they weren't allowed to used him thanks to DC's relationship with his creator. Black Lightning has since appeared in newer shows.
  • In the first episode of Static Shock, Virgil Hawkins puts on a Black Vulcan costume while trying on different superhero outfits, and his friend Richie rejects it, saying he looks like "a battery commercial." In 90s Energizer commercials, there was a rival battery company called Supervolt, which is also the name Black Vulcan used to go by in Harvey Birdman, so Richie is correct.

External links[]

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