10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About Static Shock
4. Richie Was Greatly Changed From The Comic Book
Like any good hero, Static had a sidekick, Richie Foley, one of the few people to know that Virgil and Static were one and the same.
Richie was an amalgamation of characters from comic, capturing different aspects of Virgil's friends and supporters. In the first two seasons, Richie played a role similar to Microchip from the Punisher comics - a provider of technology, equipment and information to support Static's heroics.
For Season 3, feeling the relationship was static (sorry!) but loving the interplay between Phil LaMarr and Jason Marsden, the producers decided to shake things up and give Richie superpowers of his own. A concept was created where Richie had slowly been developing super-intelligence by constantly being around Static and absorbing his power through osmosis.
Given his propensity for inventing, Richie took on the name Gear, and was now a partner to Static. His enhanced intelligence allowed him to create more complex equipment and technology for both of them, and he remained a loyal companion to Static until the end of the show.
One other drastic change - in the comic, Richie was clearly written as being gay. McDuffie acknowledged that Static Shock's Richie was also gay, but simply never addressed it onscreen.