Virgil Ovid Hawkins was born to Jean and Robert Hawkins in Dakota City, named after his Grandfather. Though their living situation was a little less than ideal, they still managed to get by fairly well off. That is, until that fateful day. He was nine years old that day. It rough in Paris Island. Gang violence ran about as rampant as toddlers in a daycare center. A riot had happened in the streets that day. There were many victims. Cops had to break it up. His mother was a medic. Not a doctor, but she worked with the ER and Nurses. She said that she was bring a surprise home for Virgil that day...

He didn't expect for the surprise to be her corpse. She was hit by a stray bullet amidst the shooting between Police and Gang Members. She had died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital as she simply lost too much blood by then.

It hit their family of, now three, pretty hard. So much pain circulated when Virgil's little sister Sharon, only three at the time, called for Mama, but there was no answer for her. Their dad thought about the things that would cause something like this. So, to make an impact in their own way for kids like them, Robert founded the Freeman Community Center.

The operation was a success, and the next thing they knew, Virgil's family moved out of their old home in Paris Island and instead moved to the middle class area of Dakota, named Sadler. There wasn't as much violence there in comparison. It was calm enough, Virgil went to school and did his best to help his father out with the community center. It was there that he met his best friend, Richter Stone.

Things for Hawkins seemed to look up there. He worked hard in school, via encouragement from his father, and was known to be an honor roll student. Though, that wasn't to say that the problems of his life were over. During his freshman year of high school, Virgil was met with the presence his older cousin, Wilson Morrison. Wil and Virgil never got along as kids, and that carried on into highschool. The difference was, that this time, Wil was much bigger and stronger than he was.

Thus, Virgil was frequently the victim of threats and beatings by Wilson and his gang until a classmate intervened. However, this intervention came with a price: Virgil was to join his gang because of his brainpower under a street dude guise. While Virgil never gave any official answer, the offer didn't imply an alternative was given.

As a result, Virgil became involved in the gang wars of Dakota. The gang wars escalated, culminating in a showdown at the Dakota docks. Though Virgil was no imposing figure, his presence was necessary at the event.

Even after being given a gun and a chance, Virgil refused to kill his cousin Wil. It didn’t matter if he was bullied by him all his life, the way Virgil saw it, they were still family. Blood was thicker than the water he tossed the gun into, and Virgil fled from the scene.

As fists flew in numerous directions, police lights shone overhead. While the gang boys fled in various directions, stray shots collided with strange canisters of Quantum Vapor in the area, which detonated and enveloped the area. Virgil survived, seemingly unscathed, a claim few others at the event could make. Apparently, as he woke, he learned that it was Wilson that saved him from what he assumed was certain death.

Several days passed and Virgil learned that he wasn't as unscathed by the event as he thought. e may have appeared fine, but Virgil's body had undergone a massive change. The gas from the "Big Bang", as people now called it, had charged Virgil's body with electricity. Virgil then too learned that he could control this electrical power that he now had. After this discovery, he began to hone his powers by playing with them; learning new things with his other close friend, Frieda Goren. Though, the way she found out was more so of an accidental use of his powers.

Frieda recognized the seriousness of Virgil gaining these abilities and agreed that he needed to be careful in how he used them. With his best friend's help and advise, the two agreed Virgil had to use his powers to protect people but secretly to keep their families safe from the dangers that a superhero could face. Just like Greased Lightning and the local legend, Augustus Freeman, before him.

In which case, they created a costumed persona, and he committed to heroic acts in his home city. The costumed kid made headlines, and when rumors spread around about him being a result of the Big Bang, the boy had been christened the Kilowatt Kid. Naturally, the name stuck.

While that was all well and good, they came to find out that Virgil wasn't the only Mutant Baby from the Big Bang. It later turned out that, of all people, Wilson got powers too, and became the villainous Hotstreak. From there, all sorts of villains showed up and Kilowatt Kid was tasked with the challenge of having to thwart them for the people of Dakota. There were some times that he even had to team up with other heroes to keep their villains in check.

However, the life of a teenage superhero wasn't easy. Sleep, school, the Community Center, girls, comics, and a little sister that wouldn't shut up, on top of the hero thing was a lot of work. Sometimes that worked out good, like when Dad said that he seemed more responsible as a person, or the ladies wanting to meet the Kilowatt Kid. Other times, not so much, like the one time he bombed an algebra test that he normally would've aced if he hadn't fell asleep on the test day.

Overall, Virgil's high school life in Dakota was exciting and daring. Though, time moved on, and after Virgil's senior year, he found that it was time to grow up and get a job. Hero work, while fun, wasn't free but it didn't pay either. Plus, some close calls with his family and...the incident, convinced Virgil that it might have been time to let go of the Kilowatt Kid persona.

Two years ago, it was clear that the city missed its hero but Virgil was convinced that maybe this was for the best to give normal life a try. Not to say he completely left them hanging but only worked in secrecy and in the most dire situations.

His father originally wanted him to go to a Community College to stay close to home but...with the stagnant nature of things between Virgil and his father's new girlfriend, Virgil decided to take an opportunity to go to a college out in New York City.

It was funded by S.T.A.R. Labs, and with his Aunt Kim moving back there too, his father was all for it. With Rick in tow, Virgil moved out of Maryland to the Big Apple.

More recently, it seemed that criminal activity was on an uprise aside from the monsters. There were already some other super-powered individuals that were present. Virgil, though keeping watch, largely turned a blind eye to it all.

Rick seemed to take notice of the odd lostness that Virgil seemed to have, and suggested that he try to rekindle an old flame. Knowing what he hinted at, Virgil denied, even after seeing the suit that Rick made him in hopes of his one day returning to heroism.

Virgil didn't even entertain the thought. He said he wouldn't after the incident...Still...there's always that tugging feeling of responsibility. That he should do something should the situation call for it.