Mr. Terrific

Mister Terrific is known as a member of the Justice Society of America. He served as its last Chairman before the team disolved. As a solo hero, he tends to operate in the LA area.

Michael Holt is famed as a former Olympian and successful businessman. He currently is working as a consultant specializing in corporate espionage and data security.

Background
Even as a child, Michael Holt had already begun to display his remarkable intelligence. He was clearly in the top percentile of child physiological and psychological development. His capacity for learning was voracious and he was able to acquire skills and talents advanced for his age. He was so advanced that he began attending primary school at the age of 3. Michael was the 2nd Holt child, having an older brother five years his senior named Jeffrey. Jeffery was severely physically and developmentally handicapped. Regardless of this, the two boys were extremely close. They were each other's best friends. Jeffery would spend hours listening to Michael read to him from all various manuals, encyclopaedias and textbooks. They were two peas in a pod. At age 15, Jeffery died from medical complications due to his condition. Michael was devastated. He couldn't understand why life was so unfair as to take his big brother away from him.

Growing up, Michael displayed an aptitude for learning that far surpassed his peers. He easily and rapidly acquired complex skills and talents that took others years to master. What's more, he was able to retain this information and displayed remarkable proficiency with them. Holt had a natural propensity for technology and engineering. He focused much of his study in this area, though he also pursued other areas such as psychology, medicine, law, political science, business and of course, logic.

Michael entered Metropolis University at the age of 10. He would go on to earn multiple PhD's the first being in Engineering. It was during his school career that he also began to pursue athletics. He proved himself a natural at the decathlon. By his late teens he competed and won gold at the Olympics in the decathlon. The resulting fame and wealth allowed Michael to follow one of his other dreams, opening his own technology company. So by the age of 20, Michael had a most remarkable life. He was an Olympic gold medalist. He was a lettered scholar. He was CEO of his own high tech dotcom firm called Cyber ware.

Michael still felt he lacked a true purpose for his life. That is until he met and married his wife, Paula. Paula completed Michael in a way that all his pursuits and achievements never could. Finally his life was complete, whole, and purposeful. About a year later, Michael had sold his business, Cyber ware, and was now a millionaire. Best of all, he and Paula were expecting their first child. Things could not be better in his life. And that's when they became their worse. Paula was killed in a car accident on the way home from a doctor's appointment. Michael's world came crashing down on him. The loss of his wife and child along with the previous loss of his brother caused Michael to spin into a deep depression. Life lost its meaning and he had no more reason to live. His depression increased to the point where he attempted to commit suicide. But that is when everything changed. Before he could end his life, Michael had a divine epiphany.

The Spirit of Vengence (aka the Spectre) appeared to him. The Spectre told him of the historic hero, Terry Sloane known as Mister Terrific. He showed Holt Sloane's life and how he had be such an intrumental force for good. He urged Holt that he should do the same. Suddenly realized how valuable his life was and how much more of a difference he could make. He saw himself in another identity. He would be a champion of justice and fair play. He saw himself helping clean up the crime and social ills around him. He saw himself helping youth and the disadvantaged. Even more, he saw himself standing amongst heroes and champions, fighting against evil incarnate. When he came to himself, Michael Holt was a changed man. He was now, Mr. Terrific.

Over the next few years, Michael worked on developing his Mr. Terrific persona. He used his technical skills to create uniform as well as high-tech gadgets to assist him in his fight against crime. With his T-Spheres he was able to gather copious amounts of data about the criminal activity and use it to his advantage. He began a campaign particularly directed against youth crime and street gangs. By combined efforts as both Michael Holt and Mr. Terrific, he was able to break a part a large number of gang circles and facilitate the rehabilitation of many young people. Finally Mike had purpose again, just like his vision had shown him. He had become a force of change, for justice and ethics in the world. He was simply, Terrific.

Having successfully established himself in the hero community, it wasn't long before the JSA approached Mister Terrific about joining their ranks. Following in the steps of his predecessor, he gladly accepted. Terrific often functioned in a tactical support role, given that many of the JSA were much more powerful than he and had longer, more established careers. However, his intelligence and adeptness soon caused him to rise to the top as a lead member. He was a strong team player who had a gift for organization, coordination and leadership. He was well liked by his comrades and highly respected. But as is true with any group, things in the JSA were not perfect. There were a lot of interpersonal clashes and issues as a whole. Longstanding chairman, Hawkman, had many noted clashes with Sand who challenged the other's leadership. Things came to a head to the point that in a very unprecedented move, Mister Terrific was voted in as the new chairman. He would continue in that role until the JSA officially disbanded.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Terrific went back to functioning as a solo hero. Further, he began to establish himself as an expert in corporate world as an expert in industrial espionage and data security. He worked as a consultant in that area utilizing his skills and resources to that end. Mister Terrific continues his fight to bring justice and equality where he can.

Personality
Driven: Mr. T is the quintessential A type personality. He is driven and inpatient. He hates wasting time or effort. He is a perfectionist who constantly pushes himself to always improve and exceed his previous achievements. He is highly competitive but more against himself than others. He is his own greatest foe. He is a multi-tasker who often has more than one project on the go concurrently.

Disciplined: Terrific is disciplined and focused. He isn't one given to fanciful pursuits or procrastination. Once he fixes upon a course of action, he follows it through to the end without wavering. He has a tight rein on this thoughts and emotions. He isn't easily overwhelmed and has a natural resistance to emotional or mental compulsion.

Ethical: Michael Holt has a strong ethical sense. He is totally dedicated to the concepts of justice and fair play to the point where he believes himself an embodiment of these principles. He holds himself to very high standards of behaviour. He eschews lying, cheating and other such immoral behaviour.

Factual: As the adage goes, "Seeing is believing". Mister Terrific is very factual and logical, thus he will not believe something unless he has evidence and fact to support his theories. Because of this, he does not believe in the occult, supernatural or spiritual phenomena (including the existence of 'god' and other angelic or demonic beings). For him, all truth and reality has a basis and footing in scientific fact.

Inquisitive: Michael Holt is inquisitive by nature and has a natural love of learning. He is always seeking ways to acquire new facts and education. He loves the acquisition of knowledge. He lives by the saying 'you learn something new every day'.