Richie Foley was the best friend of Virgil Hawkins. After the Big Bang, Richie came up with the idea of being a super hero.
Over time, he began growing jealous of Static's powers, and yearned powers of his own. He joined Ragtag's gang; Ragtag had the ability to grant others superpowers for a brief period.
Over the years, Richie was exposed to Quantum Vapor residue that was on Static. It boosted his brain capacity, and made him a technopath.