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Enemies
Introduced Pre-Flashpoint
Black Jack
Black Jack (Pre-Flashpoint)
"Think we'll let the likes of you run home to tell about us, you swab? Overboard with him lads—then scuttle the yacht!"
A modern day pirate who dressed like an old-fashioned one, Black Jack sails the seas and plunders wantonly. He was able to take control of Pearl Island and its inhabitants. Black Jack is considered Aquaman's first arch-nemesis, and the only recurring villain he fought during The Golden Age of Comic Books.
- Arch-Enemy: The Golden Age Aquaman's main recurring foe, and the dislike was mutual.
- Beard of Evil: He was recognizable by his beard, to the point that Aquaman knew it was him from a description including said beard.
- Dressed to Plunder: He wore several different costumes, but all of them are variations on classic pirate outfits.
- A Pirate 400 Years Too Late: He dresses like a Caribbean pirate from the Gold Age of Piracy.
- Ruthless Modern Pirates: For all that he dresses like A Pirate 400 Years Too Late, his men are armed with modern weapons, and in his first appearance he plans to kill everyone on board the yacht he robs.
- Sword and Gun: Carries a cutlass and a pair of pistols, and is an expert with both of them.
- Talk Like a Pirate: Affects this as part of his A Pirate 400 Years Too Late act.
- Taught by Experience: In his first encounter with Aquaman, he threw him overboard. When this didn't work, later encounters had him try other means of killing his enemy, such as draining all the oxygen from a room or setting him on fire.
- We Can Rule Together: His first appearance had him offer Aquaman a chance to join his crew.
Black Jack (Post-Flashpoint)
"A man of your capabilities, Manta. Seems a damn shame to waste them on an obsession like vengeance...when you could be doing so much more."
An agent of Black Manta following his usurpation of leadership over the mysterious organization code-named N.E.M.O after they broke him out.
- Affirmative-Action Legacy: A modern-day Pirate Girl using the codename that used to belong to a Golden Age pirate.
- Cool Plane: The Albatross, an advanced undetectable aerial craft employed by Black Jack and other agents in order to get from place to place around the world undetected.
- Eyepatch of Power: She wears a high-tech version that might be either a targeting scope or a replacement for a missing eye.
- Goggles Do Something Unusual: She wears a high-tech eyepatch that might be either a targeting scope or a replacement for a missing eye.
- Pirate Girl: She belongs to N.E.M.O., a secret society intent on controlling the world through controlling its largest resource: the oceans.
- Ruthless Modern Pirates: In contrast to her predecessor, who was A Pirate 400 Years Too Late, she's a ruthless marine bandit and criminal with little interest in anything beyond seizing wealth and power.
- Spy Catsuit: She mainly wears a full-body black rubber catsuit that only leaves her face and upper neck exposed.
Black Manta
Alter Ego: David Hyde
Species: Human
First appearance: Aquaman (1962) #35 (September 1967)
"You want to bring the land and sea together? You raise this building to your own vain ambition? You're deluded. The world is afraid of you...and it should be. You will never be whole, Arthur Curry. Never. I have come to end the fear."
David Milton Hyde, aka Black Manta, is arguably one of Aquaman's most infamous and ruthless enemies. Orphaned when Arthur Curry accidentally killed his father (who was, admittedly, a murderous pirate himself), David swore vengeance against the King of the Seas and all those he held dear. Since then, he has battled the marine hero time and time again, utterly devoted to his pursuit of vengeance and slaughtering anyone who gets in his way. Perhaps his most famous moment in comics was when he murdered Arthur and Mera's infant son and taunted them about it relentlessly for years after. Equipped with a high-tech suit of armor, a deadly arrangement of weapons, and a burning hatred for Aquaman and his allies, Manta will stop at nothing until the King of Atlantis lies dead at his feet.
General
- Sinister Stingrays: He's a ruthless hi-tech pirate with a manta ray theme. He even got turned into a hybrid of a manta by fellow villain Neron for a bit.
Pre-Flashpoint
- Arch-Enemy: One of the top contenders for the title when it comes to Aquaman, alongside Ocean Master.
- Archnemesis Dad: To Jackson Hyde, aka the second Aqualad.
- Ax-Crazy: Manta's not quite sane and each appearance only ratchets up the level of violence he's prepared to employ.
- Bald of Evil: In the Post-Crisis era he's usually portrayed as either shaving his head or being naturally bald.
- Beware My Stinger Tail: In his demonic form he had several stingray like tails ending in venomous barbs.
- Big Bad: He's usually this when he appears in an Aquaman story. If not he's a Psycho for Hire Dragon.
- Breakout Villain: He started out as a minor recurring villain, but eventually established himself as Aquaman's main enemy and since then has had more media exposure than any Aquaman character aside from Aquaman himself.
- Clothes Make the Superman: Designed for optimum performance both underwater and on land. In a more literal similarity with the Trope Namer, the laser blasts from his helmet are a close analogue to Superman's heat vision.
- Color Animal Codename: A black manta ray.
- Cool Helmet: His visual trademark. It allows him to breathe underwater and can shoot the Eye Beams mentioned below.
- Deal with the Devil: Sold his soul to Neron in order to become a literal devil-ray, and gain dominion over the lower depths of the ocean. During this period he acted as gatekeeper of Devil's Deep, a trench in the ocean that supposedly led to Neron's realm in Hell.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Neron turned him into a manta-man in Underworld Unleashed. After Aquaman made him human again, Manta used a serum to grant himself the power to breathe underwater.
- Evil Is Petty: "Petty" might as well be his middle name, as everything he does is to hurt or kill Aquaman in some way, no matter how small, and he'll go to great lengths to murder and abuse anyone who associates themselves with the aquatic hero. When he learns that Aquaman has returned after a long period of absence, he kills everyone in the butcher shop that he was working at for being happy at the news, blows up his house, and goes back to tormenting his archenemy. A Subway advertisement comic additionally features one of the pettiest things Black Manta has ever done...stealing a guy's Subway sandwich and refusing to share with Ocean Master.
- Eye Beams: His signature weapon. They're usually heat-based laser blasts.
- Freudian Excuse: He has had two vague excuses. The first one, from Aquaman (1991), was that he was kidnapped and enslaved for an unspecified amount of time. He saw Aquaman and called out for help, but Aquaman didn't hear him. The other one was that he was autistic and underwent experimental treatment that left him angry and hateful. Neither excuse really worked and both were quietly ignored by later writers.
- The Heavy: Aquaman's most Prominent Foe.
- Hollywood Autism: Manta's depiction bore next to no resemblance to genuine autism, especially once Aquaman started suggesting that his violence and sadism were caused by it. While autistic people can certainly become violent just like anyone else (and may suffer from high levels of frustration), they are not the empathy devoid lunatics that Manta is portrayed as.
- Horns of Villainy: In his demonic form Manta had an impressive set of demonic horns.
- Ignored Epiphany: Aquaman Volume 4 issue 6 had him briefly think that killing Aquababy was a mistake and he contemplated what he'd become, only to brush it off as someone Aquaman made him.
- Joker Immunity: Like most comic book arch-enemies, Manta will only seem to be dead or otherwise incapacitated before returning when Aquaman least expects it. He's survived multiple drowning attempts, having his suit ripped open, being turned into a literal manta man, and having his face bitten off and come out no worse for wear.
- Lack of Empathy: More or less goes without saying once you're dealing with somebody as sociopathic as Manta.
- Madness Mantra: When he was "autistic" the previously articulate Manta was suddenly reduced to repeating "Swim! Swim!" and nothing else while attacking Aquaman.
- Malcolm Xerox: In the 1970s, Black Manta revealed that he is African American seeking a homeland for his race, but that motive turned out to be a self-serving lie. During the "Sub Diego" arc, writers decided to revisit this as a motivation, and had Manta trick Aquaman into assaulting him in front of a group of black men who had apparently never heard of infamous terrorist Black Manta, and started to riot because Aquaman had attacked "a brother".
- Mental Handicap, Moral Deficiency: When a writer in the early 2000s decided to give him a case of Hollywood Autism that left him totally incapable of communicating with anyone around him, then had Aquaman come to the conclusion that Manta's evil was caused by his autism. After being magically cured by Aquaman, Manta was, thankfully, still evil, but even the suggestion was pretty ableist.
- Mysterious Past: There's a lot of things about Black Manta that aren't revealed. He did have a girlfriend at one point, who was kidnapped and experimented upon by the people of Xebel, which is implied to be part of the reason he hates Aquaman, and he's also apparently has a history with Mera's sister, who called him by his first name...
- Never My Fault: He blames Aquaman for everything in his life and sees any heinous acts he commits as payback for what Aquaman did.
- No-Nonsense Nemesis: Tends to kill or incapacitate as efficiently as possible except when it comes to Aquaman. A good example is when he encountered Tula for the first time and, not knowing she was Atlantean but knowing she was in his way, had her chained to an anchor and thrown overboard immediately.
- Offing the Offspring: Manta attempted to murder his own son for no other reason than rejecting the path Manta wanted for him.
- Powered Armor: His suit verges on this at times, being equipped with things like a jetpack, missiles, and laser beams.
- The Power of Hate: One of his defining traits is the sheer hatred he has for Aquaman, with many of his plans devolving to ways to make him suffer as much as possible, especially if it involves hurting his loved ones.
- Psycho for Hire: Often found working in the employ of others, for the chance to hurt some people.
- Psychopathic Manchild: When "autistic".
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: His armor is black and his helmet has glowing red eyes.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Manta's helmet comes equipped with glowing red laser emitters where the "eyes" appear to be. In his demonic form his actual eyes turned red.
- Remember the New Guy?: His first appearance had him described as Aquaman's old enemy, with clashes happening beforehand offscreen.
- Ruthless Modern Pirates: He's a submarine pirate and has no scruples at all.
- Sanity Slippage: Supposedly his deal with Neron and transformation into a demon caused his "autism" cure to wear off, resulting in him reverting to a Psychopathic Manchild who could only repeat a few words. He was cured of this when Aquaman rewired his brain.
- Scarily Competent Tracker: He can track anyone anywhere in the water. There is little that he can’t find.
- Scary Black Man: Upon hearing Aquaman is still alive, he butchers everyone in a fish market with a carving knife, burns the entire place down, silently wades into the ocean, and rises back up in his armor. This was even worse back in the day when he was portrayed as a Malcolm Xerox type and his scariness and blackness were positioned as linked.
- Shock and Awe: Electrical powers to neutralize his opponent.
- The Strategist: Plans ahead every step of the way.
- The Sociopath: The comics might have once claimed he was autistic, but Manta was always a psychopath at his core.
- Suddenly Ethnicity: Currently the picture. As noted under "Malcolm Xerox", Black Manta was revealed to be African-American in 1977, ten years after he appeared.
- Sword and Gun: Some versions of the character have him using a gun along with his swords.
- Underestimating Badassery: Wally West does so in JLA #68, just to get Black Manta's Eye Beams on his face.
- Would Hurt a Child: And he did, murdering Aquaman's infant son Arthur Curry Jr. This infamous act is one of his big claims to fame as one of the most evil villains in the DC Universe.
Post-Flashpoint
- Abled in the Adaptation: Does not appear to have autism in this adaptation, but considering that was mentioned twice and had barely anything to do with his character it’s very paltry.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: He's no saint, but he’s nowhere near as sociopathic as his pre-Flashpoint incarnation and genuinely cares about his family. He also has a legitimate reason for hating Aquaman here, rather than their rivalry stemming from an Irrational Hatred.
- Arch-Enemy: Written as Arthur's, with a cycle of revenge thrown into the mix. Post-Flashpoint, he's the only contender since Orm undergoes Adaptational Heroism to a degree.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: When you're able to upend an omniscient council of vagueness as old as human history by your lonesome, you certainly fit with this.
- Clothes Make the Superman: Armour designed for optimum performance both underwater and on land.
- Color Animal Codename: A black manta ray.
- Cool Helmet: Similar to the Pre-Flashpoint version. It allows him to breathe underwater and can shoot the Eye Beams mentioned below.
- Create Your Own Villain: In this case, a villain creating another villain who's hostile to him. In Black Manta miniseries, a disgruntled former henchman adapts similar armor and the identity "Devil Ray" and goes to war against Manta.
- Cycle of Revenge: Stuck in a perpetual one with Arthur until one of them finally dies. Unlike Arthur, Manta revels in it, if only because his life has no purpose without it.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Without Aquaman, Black Manta is nothing. When he came to this realization at the end of Forever Evil after getting a full pardon, he immediately got himself sent back to jail so he could join the Suicide Squad in hopes of finding purpose there. When that didn't work out, he went back to antagonizing Aquaman because he literally doesn't know any other way to live his life.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Papas: The New 52 version of Black Manta portrays his motive for killing Aquaman as revenge for Aquaman killing his father, whom he cared about until the old man's death.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: As a child, he idolized his father, and his death at Aquaman's hands was what drove him to swear vengeance on the hero in the first place. He also cares deeply about his son, Jackson Hyde (aka Aqualad II), and has even called a truce with his arch-enemy on multiple occasions to protect Jackson from greater threats.
- Everyone Has Standards: Downplayed: he had absolutely no problem with his son Jackson coming out to him as gay, just because he didn't really seem to understand why he should care.Black Manta: You say that as though you're asking me a question. You think I care? We're all just meat.
- Expy: He's basically Arthur's equivalent to Captain Ahab, what with him being obsessed with slaying Aquaman to the point of no end.
- Eye Beams: Heat-based lasers, though each helmet has a limited supply.
- Freudian Excuse: Aquaman thought Black Manta killed his father, Tom Curry, when Manta attacked Arthur in order to get a sample of his blood for Dr. Shin, and Tom intervened. So, in revenge, Arthur killed Black Manta's father by mistake thinking it was him. It turned out Tom Curry suffered a heart attack and died in a hospital three days after the attack.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has three across his face from when Arthur hit him with a three-clawed hook.
- Improbable Weapon User: Can slit a man's throat with nothing but one of the societies coin communicators.
- It's Personal: Unlike the Pre-Flashpoint version, who hated Aquaman for no reason than just because, this one hates Aquaman for killing his father. Arthur returns the sentiment, not only blaming Manta for the death of his own father but also for the deaths of several of his friends in their ongoing war.
- Made of Iron: His suit not only provides him protection from the crushing undersea depths, but allows him to fight on-par with Aquaman.
- Powered Armor: His suit allows him to breath underwater, gives him super strength and has heat vision.
- Psycho for Hire: Originally a very ruthless pirate, he became even more unhinged after the death of his father.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: In Forever Evil, when Ultraman moving the moon out of orbit causes rising tides to desecrate his father's grave.
- Rule of Cool: Applies to most everyone in the New 52 Aquaman run. Manta just stands out more than most.
- Scary Black Man: Even out of armour, one of the scariest normal men you'll find. He gets to prove it while in prison by secretly activating his helmet's heat beams, accurately blasting a guard's clipboard from his hand, strangling and flailing him about with his handcuffs, then drowning him in a prison toilet.
- Took a Level in Badass: Took the reigns of power of the secret world power N.E.M.O. from its previously aptly named Fisher King, anyone who challenged this declaration of authority either got whacked or had the snot kicked out of them.
- Vengeance Feels Empty:
- Manta's entire life is killing Aquaman and causing him pain. Naturally, when it was believed Aquaman was actually dead in Forever Evil, this trope came into play.
- Aquaman even invoked this at the beginning of the Rebirth run. He offered Manta his trident and gave him a no-strings-attached opportunity to kill him — all while pointing out how no death will ever satisfy Manta and make up for the father he lost. Once Manta realized this, he cursed Aquaman and then surrendered, having completely lost the desire to fight.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: A little. Once Arthur is "killed" by the Crime Syndicate in Forever Evil (2013), he merely takes the trident, leaves the gang of villains, and places it at his dad's grave.
- You Killed My Father: Aquaman accidentally killed Manta's father in a fit of revenge, thinking he was Manta.
Bugala
Bugala is a sea serpent that terrorized a small undersea colony called Eldfur. The Eldfur's warriors, under the command of their king, came seeking a champion. They kidnap Aqualad to face the creature. With the help of Aquaman, Bugala was kicked out, but would return other times to face the duo. Years later the evil inventor Weisbogg working for Black Manta created a robotic duplicate to destroy Atlantis.
- Sea Serpents: It's a sea serpent who resembles a Chinese dragon.
Captain Demo
"You'd better not try it, Aquaman! If you take one more step — your city dies!"
A Bronze Age foe with the trappings of ancient piracy, he and his crew threatened to destroy Atlantis with radio-controlled bombs.
- Batman Can Breathe in Space: He and his crew can breathe underwater for no defined reason.
- Bubble Gun: Demo carries a pistol that disrupts the water molecules of the Ocean creating pockets of oxygen, which he uses to suffocate his underwater foes.
- The Bus Came Back: Over 40 years after his debut, he squared off against Black Manta in the latter's 2021 miniseries.
- Dressed to Plunder: Dresses like a Caribbean pirate from the Golden Age of Piracy, and has his crew do likewise.
- Evil Versus Evil: Black Manta chased him down for stealing from him.
- Eyepatch of Power: Wears one as part of his Dressed to Plunder outfit.
- Hook Hand: His hook was actually a miniature radio that would remotely control bomb detonators.
- Laser Blade: Carries a Laser Sword, which is not a sword made out of lasers, but a sword with a laser attached to it.
- Meaningful Name: Besides the obvious Captain Nemo, 'Demo' stands for 'demolitions.'
- Submarine Pirates: His fully functioning 16th Century pirate ship runs perfectly under the surface of the ocean.
- Talk Like a Pirate: Captain Demo embraces his pirate motif to the hilt, including using the lingo.
Clownfish (Dr. Sydney Allard)
"I want to make the world a happier, sunnier place, my little repurposed action figure. And I'm willing to kill every living thing in my path to do it."
Dr. Sydney Allard had a lucrative medical practice in La Jolla, until it was discovered that Allard was killing his elderly patients. Before he could go to trial, part of San Diego sank, forming Sub Diego. Allard was one of the many people whose biologies adapted to undersea life. When Black Manta took over Sub Diego, Allard went to work for him. While escaping from Aquaman, Allard was exposed to a strain of Joker toxin which drove him insane. Contemplating "the joke" that was life, Allard decides he needs a way to help himself explain the "truth" to others. Becoming inspired by a purple and yellow fish, Allard used markers that work underwater to color his entire body purple and yellow. From there on in, he refers to himself as the Clownfish.
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: Of the 'animal alias' variety. Aside being able to live underwater, his powers are not specifically related to the clownfish. He is more like an aquatic version of The Joker.
- Arch-Enemy: Clownfish is one of the few original rogues Arthur Joseph Curry fought and hasn't been seen since his storyline came to a close.
- Bald of Evil: Is completely bald.
- Fat Bastard: Is noticeably overweight.
- Mad Doctor: An immoral doctor driven mad by Joker toxin, he enjoys torturing his victims.
- Monster Clown: His 'costume' deliberately invokes the bright colours of the clownfish.
- Practically Joker: Is an aquatic version of The Joker to the point of being created by his toxins.
- Secondary Color Nemesis: His skin is colored pale purple from Joker toxin exposure.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Stopped wearing shirts when he went insane.
Creature King/Chimera (Jed Coombs)
Click here to view Jed Coombs
"Death to mammals!"
In the Silver Age, Coombs was a deep-sea diver who tricked Aquaman and Aqualad into retrieving a powerful magic serum that turned him into a nearly-invincible creature, which he used to rob sunken ships and stymie the heroes. After a narrow defeat, it was revealed that Jed might not be human, which was never delved into again.
Post-Flashpoint, Coombs was the janitorial detail working at the American Government stationed Triton Base who worked on maintenance around the under sea facilities both inside and out. Until he got on the wrong side of a feeding frenzy and was hideously chewed to pieces. Mix in one Mad Doctor and multiple animal parts (including the grey matter of a deceased Kaiju) and you get a seriously P.O.ed Animalistic Abomination with designs to depose the current sea king and replace him, title and all.
Pre-Flashpoint
- From Nobody to Nightmare: A deep-sea diver transformed into a giant purple monstrosity.
- Kaiju: His monster form was a giant purple humanoid with immense power.
- Manipulative Bastard: Tricked the innocent Aquaman and Aqualad into helping him gain magic powers.
- Near-Villain Victory: He carries Aquaman and Aqualad far inland to dry them out, away from any help, which was only foiled by the timely arrival of seagulls.
- Not Even Human: It was implied that his human form was just a mask.
- Story-Breaker Power: His new form was such a threat that the only way he was defeated was by taking the antidote, and both serums were in such small quantities it was ensured he could never threaten with them again.
- Super-Strength: His giant form could punch open ship hulls and drive away whales with ease.
- Too Clever by Half: After disposing of Aquaman and Aqualad, he drinks the antidote to the serum in order to become human again and get away with his crimes. Unfortunately for him, this made him much easier to capture.
Post-Flashpoint
- Bio-Augmentation: Coombs was a diver who was attacked by sharks but saved by Aquaman. When he died, his body went to experimentation by Triton labs. Dr. Edrid Orson grafted his brain and body with parts from Karaqan, stone fish, mimic octopus, scorpion fish, and other aquatic animals
- Cthulhumanoid: Has mini-tentacles alongside his face.
- Combat Tentacles: Chimera has two pairs of tentacles full of suction cups, which uses to hold its prey. Because of hisshape-shift abilities is able to create additional tentacles as needed.
- Evilutionary Biologist: Was indefinably the fruits of one misguided doctor's labors.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: A lowly maintenance worker at Triton Base transformed into a Cthulhumanoid monstrosity.
- Glowing Eyes: He has this to an incredibly horrifying degree due to his surgical mutation.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Invoked. Whenever he's about to change or commit horrible acts, his eyes usually start to glow.
- Half-Human Hybrid: The Doctor Moreau wannabe who remade him spliced an unknown amount of different types of sea creature D.N.A. into his unsanctioned pet project. Chimera seems to physically portray cephalopod, sea lion, barracuda and electric eel to name a few; whatever else he comprises of is yet to be disclosed.
- Mind-Control Device: Was meant to be implanted into his brain before the procedure was finished.
- Poisonous Person: He secretes incredibly potent viscous compounds which can melt flesh and bone.
- Super-Persistent Predator: His entire modus operandi given that he's made up of various deadly sea stalkers.
- Super Power Lottery: Being a mishmashed recombination of a host of different animal parts gave him a host of special powers and abilities relative to the great many sea creatures he's composed of, even a couple of odd abilities and characteristics which are all unique specificlally either to his giant monster genetics or himself.
- Sea Monster: Possessed a great many traits of one, bonus that his variation of AC's Marine Telepathy stems from an Atlantean one.
- Transformation Horror: Chimera's transitions from monster to man and vice versa are never pretty.
- Transhuman: Dr. Edrid Orson grafted his brain and body with parts from Karaqan, stone fish, mimic octopus, scorpion fish, and other aquatic animals.
Dagon
A villain whose first and only appearance for decades was in a Justice League of America story. He had powers over water similar to Mera. Post-Rebirth, Dagon was an ancient surface king in the service of demons, who used an amulet to imprison the water spirit Lernaea and command her obedience. Scared of his power, his people assassinated him.
- Making a Splash: He was "master of the waves" and could control the ocean water to form shapes and slice at Aquaman.
- One-Steve Limit: Dagon is also the real name of Nightrider, a member of the Team Titans.
- Posthumous Character: Is long-dead in the Rebirth continuity.
- Remember the New Guy?: His first and only pre-Rebirth appearance was as a "returning" foe of Aquaman's.
Dardanus
"Isn't it curious? The supposed curse my father, my family was slaughtered for...now causes envy among our supposed brothers."
The son of Shalako, and the father of Kordax, Dardanus initially seemed like he would turn out to be one of the heroes. Having witnessed his father sacrificing his mother, Dardanus turned on Shalako, revealing to the people of Tritonis that it was Shalako, and not King Orin I of Poseidonis who was to blame for their mutated condition. Resurfacing as an adult, Dardanus proved himself every bit as bad as his father. He raped Princess Cora, impregnating her with Kordax. He later found Kordax after his abandonment, and raised him to be a weapon, eventually using his son as a pawn in a gambit to seize control of Atlantis.
- Blatant Lies: Tells the people of Tritonis that their condition is Orin I's fault, despite he himself having revealed to them years ago that it was Shalako's.
- Ephebophile: Cora was fourteen when Dardanus raped her.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Dardanus' love for his mother would seem to have been his only redeeming trait.
- Freudian Excuse: His father Shalako sacrificed his mother in a dark magical ritual intended to help the people of Tritonis survive underwater. In revenge, the young Dardanus told the Tritonians that Shalako had been the one to curse them and turn them into proto-mermaids. Enraged, the Tritionians murdered Shalako and all his family except Dardanus, who survived by fleeing into the tunnels beneath Tritonis. The murder of his family, coupled with the long years living in isolation in the tunnels, result in Dardanus growing into a deeply disturbed young man.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Despite his horrific past, no one in the series treats Dardanus as anything but a monster once his crimes come to light. During their climactic duel, King Orin I even points out that Dardanus is largely the one responsible for his father Shalako's murder, having sicced the angry Tritonians on him in the first place.
- Hate Sink: Dardanus is obviously designed to be the most vile character in the entire Atlantis Chronicles. He's a demented, narcissistic madman who rapes a fourteen year-old girl, sires the mutant villain Kordax, and starts a pointless war between Tritonis and Poseidonis in order to place Kordax on the throne and rule through him. After his death, the victorious Poseidonians are so disgusted that they leave his body to the sharks.
- In the Back: Stabs King Orin I in the back during a pause in their duel.
- It's All About Me: Dardanus needed the world to orbit him. Nothing, not even his own child, mattered to him beyond his own position and power.
- Karmic Death: Slain by the ghost of his father, Shalako, if you believe the chronicler Regin. Regin's wife, Queen Fiona, believed that Regin had simply killed Dardanus himself, and then used the story of Shalako's ghost to scare the Atlanteans and Tritonians into getting along.
- Manipulative Bastard: Manipulated his own son, Kordax, into becoming a weapon, and played the people of Tritonis for fools.
- Narcissist: Dardanus' every action was dedicated to his own advancement, and his egoism and sense of self-worth knew no bounds. Convinced the world revolved around him, and seeing almost everyone as a potential pawn, he was a textbook narcissist.
- Never My Fault: Dardanus wants revenge on Orin I and the people of Tritonis for the death of his father Shalako, even though he was the one to incite the Tritonians to kill Shalako in the first place. Orin had nothing to do with it, and even tried to save Shalako at the very end.
- Patricide: Not directly, but by telling the people of Tritonis that it was Shalako who caused their mutations he ensured his father's death.
- Rape as Drama: Raped Cora and impregnated her with Kordax.
- Smug Snake: Arrogant, smarmy, and manipulative, but also rather deranged and impulsive at times.
- Stalker with a Crush: A dark, disturbing example. He believes that he's in love with Princess Cora, which leads him to assault and rape her, impregnating her with the mutant child Kordax. Needless to say, Dardanus' "love" is really more like lust or infatuation.
- Villainous Lineage: Would seem to have inherited Shalako's egotism and cruelty, which he then passed on to his own son, Kordax.
The Deep Six
Six minions of Darkseid, the Deep Six are aquatic terrorists who carry out the will of their master. Originally dispatched to battle Orion, the Six were thought to have died at his hands, but resurfaced in Aquaman, during Peter David's run. It is revealed that this new Deep Six is made up of spawns of the originals, who were raised on Earth, and are thus more attuned to its oceans then those of their homeworld. They battled Aquaman, Dolphin and Koryak, after apparently killing Koryak's mother, Kako. The Six are Gole, Jaffar, Kurin, Shaligo, Slig, and Trok.
- Body Horror: Slig and Jaffar can rearrange a person's features with a touch, with Jaffar at one point removing Dolphin's face completely.
- Cool Mask: Gole's helmet, which includes a mask that completely covers his face.
- The Corrupter: Try to corrupt Kako after her transmutation into a fire elemental, by allowing their spawn to feed on her.
- Fish People: All six have a serious Creature from the Black Lagoon vibe going for them.
- Generation Xerox: It is revealed that whenever one of the Six dies, they are replaced by one of their identical spawn.
- Good Wings, Evil Wings: Shaligo's wings are very evil—batlike, razor sharp, and used as weapons.
- It's Personal: Koryak and Arthur take their "murder" of Kako, and Jaffar's disfigurement of Dolphin very seriously.
- The Leader: Slig seems to be first among equals.
- Mad Artist: Jaffar, who considers the mutations he causes in others to be artistry.
- Prongs of Poseidon: Favoured by Kurin, who uses a short-handled trident singlehandedly.
- Psycho for Hire: All six of them clearly enjoy their work.
- Punny Name: They're called the Deep 6 and are from underwater.
- Super-Strength: All of the six are stronger then your average human, and are capable of taking punches from the likes of Aquaman.
Demon Gate (Kimon Tanaka)
Kimon Tanaka was a sea captain who hunted dolphins for a living. He captured several dolphins for a research center in Shinobi, one of whom was Porm (adoptive mother of Aquaman). When their boat was destroyed by Aquaman, Kimon was left to be eaten by sharks. However, Kimon was rescued by his brother Tanaka, head of Raiden Industries. Tanaka rebuilt his brother's body using highly advanced technology; turning his brother into a cyborg. He adopts the name Demon Gate and goes in search of vengeance on Aquaman.
- Cyborg: His transformation to a cyborg provides him with superhuman strength and durability. He can fight Aquaman for a while and survive a drop from the top of skyscraper. He can also breath underwater via his suit. He can also track beacons through his suit and has enhanced vision.
- Enhanced Archaic Weapon: He uses a remote controlled spear that can be charged with energy.
- Evil Poacher: He was an illegal dolphin hunter before his transformation.
- Fire-Breathing Weapon: His suit includes a wrist mounted flame thrower.
- Prongs of Poseidon: Carries a trident as one of his primary weapons.
The Eel (Mort Coolidge)
"You're going to die in the city you failed to protect, surrounded by the people your not going to save."
A criminal with mild telekinetic powers, Mort Coolidge had a career in both Gotham City and San Diego before the quake that sunk half of that city. Here he found his powers far more effective, figuring out that he had great control over water.
- Artificial Gill: He wears special armor that allows him to breath and function underwater.
- The Faceless: He's almost never seen without his mask.
- Making a Splash: His telekinesis increases underwater. He is able to control and change the density of water. His control is great, allowing him to manipulate water inside someone's body or use water to crush his opponents.
Electric Man (Roy Pinto)
"Ha, ha—The bolt didn't even tickle me!...I've become an Electric Man! And here's where I start cashing in!"
Roy Pinto was an escaped prison convict who decided to keep a low profile. He opened his own aquarium under the name "Roy Peters". His specialty was electric eels. Constantly handling them mutated him, granting him immunity to electric shocks. He also could conduct electricity through his body and discharge it to electric shocks. Roy figured out it was his chance to return to crime and this time get rich.
- Shock and Awe: Can draw electricity from lightning bolts and release it as powerful electric blasts.
Eochaid Bres
"So, your hatred has finally reached the point where you ally yourself with aliens to overthrow me, has it sister?"
The sister of Nuada Silverhand, Bres launched a coup against her sister, gaining control of Thierna Na Oge for herself. A manipulative schemer, she came into conflict with Aquaman as well, when the latter arrived in Thierna Na Oge, hunting for Ocean Master. She was eventually deposed by Nuada, and post-Crisis, died when she allied herself with an alien force that sought to invade Atlantis.
- Cain and Abel: Bres usurped the crown of Thiera Na Oge from her sister, Nuada Silverhand. Bres placed Nuada in a dungeon cell, but only after having her right arm torn off at the hands of a vicious Firbolg.
- Distaff Counterpart: As the jealous younger sibling who schemes to seize the throne for herself, she is Thierna Na Oge's answer to Ocean Master.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Bres launched a coup against her sister, gaining control of Thierna Na Oge for herself.
- Killed Off for Real: Killed by Nuada post-Crisis when she leads an alien attack on Thierna Na Oge.
- Manipulative Bastard: Convinced the ruling council of eleven that Nuada was unfit to be monarch and that the gods favored her own ascension.
- Narcissist: Bres almost never stops bragging about how great she is.
- Public Domain Character: She and Nuada are named for (male) characters from Celtic myth.
- Smug Snake: She's very full of herself.
- Sorcerous Overlord: She can use magic and uses this to stay in power.
- Vain Sorceress: She's arrogant, convinced of her own supremacy, and a capable mage.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Post-Crisis. If you hadn't read her original appearance, Bres seems to come out of nowhere right at the start of Aquaman #21 and then dies at the end of the issue.
Fire Trolls
Fire Trolls (Pre-Flashpoint)
An androgynous species of sentient lava mounds who once plotted to take over the world. They would often come to clash with Aquaman and Garth when they would try to cause catastrophic eruptions across the world's fault lines.
- Adaptive Ability: For beings of fiery rock they can adjust to survive anywhere, even the ocean floor.
- All Trolls Are Different: The Fire Trolls are creatures that live in a volcano beneath the earth.
- Apocalypse Wow: Their plans involved causing global volcanic activity.
- Breath Weapon: They can spit fire and lava.
- Fusion Dance: They can amalgamate with one another in order to become ten times the monster they used to be.
- Living Lava: An androgynous species of sentient lava mounds.
- Magma Man: An androgynous species of sentient lava mounds
- Poisonous Person: As they're made of magma, they give off incredibly toxic fumes.
- Super-Strength: Very strong being trolls and all.
- Take Over the World: They would try to cause catastrophic eruptions across the world's fault lines.
Fire Trolls (Post-Flashpoint)
Fire trolls are the volcanic guardians placed beside a maelstrom gate to keep intruder's from entering Pacifica unannounced. In truth however they are loyal to Karaku, their creator and the original monarch of the island locked in time.
- Breath Weapon: They can spit fire and lava.
- Detachment Combat: They launch body parts at opponents.
- Dumb Muscle: None of them are particularly smart.
- Enemy Mine: They aid Atlantis against the forces of the Frost King, since its existence threatens the Fire Trolls too.
- Immortality Inducer: They are intrinsically connected to the elemental entity that spawned them, if Karaku were ever to go down then they're rendered inert.
- No Immortal Inertia: When their creator goes down they temporarily shut down till he revives.
- Not Even Human: They're mostly lumbering sentinels void of sentience, barely capable of minor dialog.
- Pulling Themselves Together: After throwing their body parts as projectiles, they can reintegrate them into their bodies again.
- We Have Reserves: Given they are genesis creations of the volcanic beast, they exist in almost infinite numbers.
Fisherman
" Not even a man who can breathe air and water can hope to survive — in a vacuum!"
The Fisherman is an international criminal who began his career by stealing rare objects and scientific inventions and selling them to the highest bidder. When he stole a growth formula capable of enlarging any living matter it came into contact with, he encountered Aquaman and he's been an enemy of him since.
- Arms Dealer: Once smuggled weapons to Atlantean rebels on behalf of the Shark.
- Artificial Gill: Wears a special pressurized suit with a recyclable air supply that allows him to survive for extended periods at the very bottom of the oceans.
- Batman Can Breathe in Space: Once the parasite has turned a host into the Fisherman, the Fisherman can operate underwater, apparently able to breathe underwater. The person can also speak while underwater, another trait of those who have an amphibious nature
- The Faceless: His face is always hidden beneath his helmet, with only his mouth showing.
- Legacy Character: A very dark example. Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis revealed his helmet is a xenoform parasite that attaches itself to every incarnation of the Fisherman. The one Aquaman fought isn't the first or the last.
- No Name Given: The Fisherman's real name has never been revealed.
- Pungeon Master: He's prone to making fishing-related puns in battle.
- Rod And Reel Repurposed: Wields a reinforced titanium steel fishing rod with an incredibly strong polymer line which he is able to cast with pinpoint precision with either razor-sharp hooks or specially weighted lead bobs.
- The Spook: Nothing is known of his true name, his past, or even his face, and due to his helmet's true nature it's unlikely more will ever be revealed.
- Super-Strength: The Fisherman is strong enough to casually hurl Blue Devil (in his armored form, weighing 385 lbs) a long distance after lifting him from the ocean with his titanium rod. He is also strong enough to lift a mini satellite, carry a hoard of treasure that two of his henchmen struggle with, and knock out Aquaman via physical force.
- Super-Toughness: Fisherman is durable enough to take direct hits from Blue Devil and Aquaman, without getting knocked out, and can survive the crushing pressure on the ocean floor.
- Trick Arrow: Fisherman has a number of special fishing lures around his waist that have been gimmicked to explode or release clouds of noxious gases upon impact.
- Villain Team-Up: While he usually works alone, he once teamed alongside Karla and Un-Thing.
Gamesman
A supervillain who hunts superheroes for sport.
- Egomaniac Hunter: Hunts superheroes for sport.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: Hunts superheroes for sport.
- Powered Armor: Wears a suit of powered armour that can generate forcefields, fire energy blasts, and control electricity.
Giant Jellyfish
"All that matters is that we restore the genetic purity of the seas!"
A race of highly evolved, sentient jellyfish. They despised the notion that the seas were dominated by the humanoid Atlanteans, and embarked upon an ambitious plan to ensure racial purity in their territories.
- Fantastic Racism: They despise the notion that the seas were dominated by the humanoid Atlanteans.
- Intelligent Gerbil: A race of highly evolved, sentient jellyfish.
- Ultraterrestrials: A race of highly evolved, technologically advanced, sentient jellyfish dwelling in the depths of Earth's oceans.
Gustave the Great
A Silver Age foe of Aquaman's who controlled land creatures like he could sea creatures.
- The Beastmaster: Had telepathic control over land animals.
- Foil: To Aquaman, as both possessed the ability to communicate with and control animals, but he used land creatures instead of sea creatures.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: He was defeated when Aquaman controlled one of his land creatures, a water buffalo.
- The Power of Hate: His hatred of Aquaman was so great he stayed alive after a shipwreck out of sheer vengeance and taught himself to control animals over the course of a year for revenge.
Human Flying Fish (Vic Bragg)
" I struck fast, then I shot up to the surface and into the air! Man! Were they helpless!"
Vic Bragg was a swimming champion before turning to crime, before he fell in with Dr. Krill, the brilliant medical doctor and marine biologist who had also turned to a life of crime for some unknown reasons. Dr. Krill had been studying Aquaman's powers and crime-fighting methods, and had hypothesized that the only way for a person to commit crimes on the sea is if one could escape into the air afterwards, where Aquaman would not be able to follow. After coming to this conclusion, Dr. Krill surgically altered Bragg making him not only just amphibious, but able to take to the air for short periods of time with the aid of a special costume.
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: Has powers based on those of a flying fish.
- Corporate-Sponsored Superhero: He was a villainous example in the Sword of Atlantis series where his uniform was decked out with Tri-Dent decals. It made him look even sillier than normal.
- Flight: Bragg is able to fly at high speeds thanks to the special winged suit he is wearing. He is very precise at flying able to snatch bird while they are flying or board a flying plane.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Nowadays he's seen as a joke both in and out of universe, but he's dangerous enough to defeat and capture Arthur Joseph Curry. In Aquaman: The Becoming #1, while he went down easily in a fight, he killed a person during a robbery, which traumatized a bystander until Jackson helped calm her.
- Powered Armor: His suit is an armored exoskeleton which partially protects him from damage.
- Shock and Awe: Wears taser gloves and can shock people with electricity by touching them with his hands.
- Super Not-Drowning Skills: Dr. Krill's surgical alterations made Bragg capable of breathing underwater.
- Super Swimming Skills: Bragg was a champion swimmer before her turned to crime. His suit helps him swim at super human speeds.
- Tricked-Out Gloves: Wears taser gloves and can shock people with electricity by touching them with his hands.
Karla
"Ha... The mighty Aquaman and his teen-age ally... like all males who oppose Karla, they’re pushovers!"
A woman who led the Terrible Trio, consisting of Un-Thing and the Fisherman. She had hair made of fire.
- Cursed with Awesome: She saw her flaming hair as a sign of being a freak and turned to crime because of it, though it makes her a very dangerous opponent.
- Designated Girl Fight: While she also fought Aquaman, ultimately it was Mera who battled and defeated her.
- Fiery Redhead: An extremely literal example as her red hair was made of fire, matching her nasty temperament.
- Flaming Hair: Her power was to have flaming hair that she could control as needed.
- Freak Lab Accident: Got her powers in what she called an industrial accident.
- Most Common Superpower: Karla possesses a movie starlet figure.
- Prehensile Hair: She could direct her fire hair to be any shape or heat intensity as needed.
- Straw Feminist: Has shades of this as she claims to hate men and laughs that Aquaman, being a man, could never defeat her.
- Terrible Trio: Led a gang that was literally called this, and she acted as the temperamental boss of the partnership and ordered around Fisherman and Un-Thing.
King Fish
A villain of Aquaman who had plans to become king of Atlantis, he drugged the Atlanteans with a toxin of the Gindola fish, that made the people insane and made them fight with their king.
- Chemically-Induced Insanity: He drugged the Atlanteans with a toxin of the Gindola fish, which made the people insane.
- Take Over the City: Attempted to become King of Atlantis.
Kordax
" And was it normal, I wonder, for a mother to abandon her child to the harsh mercies of the depths? To take a squalling babe and leave it to die on the ocean floor?"
A mutated Atlantean prince with blond hair and green scales, Kordax was exiled at birth, only to return later in life and make a bid for the throne. The horrors of his invasion of Atlantis, and Kordax's own unnerving appearance, sparked the legends that led the Atlanteans to see all blonds as cursed. Returning in the present day, Kordax tried to usurp the throne of Atlantis, coming into conflict with Aquaman.
- The Antichrist: Not really, but boy do the Atlanteans think he is.
- Bastard Bastard: Born a bastard child of incestuous rape, Kordax's parental and abandonment issues made him a bastard in every other sense by the time he was an adult.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Kordax's hand was severed in punishment for his crimes. He replaced it with a sword.
- Child by Rape: His father, Dardanus, raped his mother, Cora, as part of his revenge against her father. Just to heighten the squick, Dardanus and Cora were cousins.
- The Dreaded: Still spoken of in hushed tones in Atlantis.
- Driven to Suicide: Killed himself after being defeated by Aquaman.
- Evil Is Bigger: Kordax is essentially Aquaman's Evil Counterpart, but as the villain of the piece, is considerably taller and heavier (6 feet, 6 inches, and five hundred sixty-five pounds).
- The Evil Prince: Son of the Queen of Atlantis, he sought to destroy all it stood for.
- Famed In-Story: Infamous in-story.
- Fish People: Taken all together, Kordax's deformities make him look very reptilian or icthyoid. He's basically this trope, but with blond hair.
- Foil: To Aquaman, with their similar curses, appearances, powers, lineage, back stories, and handicaps. It verges on Evil Counterpart.
- Freudian Excuse: His Parental Abandonment and subsequent raising by Dardanus did nothing for his personality.
- Genius Bruiser: A charismatic leader and strategist, as well as a six and a half foot tall killing machine.
- Handicapped Badass: He has only one hand.
- Immune to Bullets: Thanks to his heightened durability.
- Lightning Bruiser: He's every bit as fast and strong as Aquaman himself.
- The Magnificent: Kordax the Destroyer.
- Manipulative Bastard: Takes advantage of Koryak's anger to turn him against his father, Aquaman.
- Mutant: Scaled and huge, weighing at over five hundred pounds, all of it muscle.
- Parental Abandonment: Was abandoned as a child due to his grotesque appearance.
- Pointy Ears: Has pointed, elf-like ears.
- Really 700 Years Old: Probably older than that.
- Red Right Hand: Cora viewed Kordax's deformities as proof his evil nature and abandoned him accordingly. This ultimately resulted in Kordax being raised by his father, Dardanus, and turning out to be every bit as bad as you would expect.
- Shoulders of Doom: Wears armour with large spiked pauldrons.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Just like Aquaman, Kordax can communicate with sea life.
- Spikes of Villainy: Wears armour with large spiked pauldrons.
- Super-Strength: All Atlanteans are, but Kordax is capable of matching Aquaman himself.
- Telepathy: A pretty damn powerful one. When he psychically clashed with Aquaman, every creature in the sea was nearly driven insane due to the mental shockwaves. Fish and Atlanteans.
- Of course Kordax wouldn't care if they were mindless husks either way.
- Villainous Lineage: Kordax's father Dardanus was as bad or worse than he was. His grandfather Shalako, while well-intentioned, was a dark wizard who murdered his wife.
Krusivax
"He found his own way, Savage. I am pleased, though. As the last survivor of his line, it's fitting he should be here when I finally take command of the seas from usurpers."
Krusivax is the illegitimate son of a human woman with Kordax. He's the head of the criminal industries Tri-Dent.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Inherited his father's green skin.
- Arch-Enemy: Krusivax is one of the few original rogues Arthur Joseph Curry fought and hasn't been seen since his storyline came to a close.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: The head of the criminal industries Tri-Dent.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Krusivax is the illegitimate son of a human woman and Kordax, a mutated Atlantean.
- Interspecies Romance: Krusivax is the illegitimate son of a human woman and Kordax, a mutated Atlantean.
- Take Over the World: Krusivax forged an alliance with Vandal Savage, who had a plan to sink a good portion of the populated Earth and rule over the people who would be forced, via genetic engineering, to live underwater.
Lava Lord
A simple Fire Troll with a rational intelligence greater than those of his kind who had been vastly augmented by a toxic waste spill that Aquaman and Aqualad plowed him into.
- All Trolls Are Different: The Fire Trolls are creatures that live in a volcano beneath the earth.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Considering how dangerous the weaker non-sentient members of his race are, he must be quite powerful on his own.
- Beast and Beauty: He fell in love with Mera at first sight, and many years after his radioactive mishap he's still trying to woo her.
- Deflector Shields: He can wrap a nigh-impenetrable shell of lava rock around himself.
- It Can Think: A sapient mind from anthropomorphic magma.
- Magma Man: Lava Lord is a Fire Troll that was mutated further by abandoned barrels of chemical waste, transmuting his already rocky body to that of molten magma.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: Made of Magma so really hard to injure.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Lava Lord's body is made of molten magma and can thus burn and/or set fire to whatever he touches.
- Superpower Lottery: He's a sapient volcanic entity and has all the powers his other weaker brethren possess.
Leron
"Bah! If I cannot defeat a mere female, then I am not worthy of the throne!"
Leron is a major enemy of Mera. Both are natives of Dimension Aqua. Mera was the reigning Queen, Leron the leader of a revolt against her. He managed to depose Mera, but not to capture her. Xebel, chief scientist in her service, transferred the queen to another dimension, that of Earth. Uneasy on his throne, Leron was forced to pursue her there.
- Adaptational Heroism: In the modern era, he is captain of the Xebel military under the rule of Nereus. Leron taught princess Mera to fight from a young age. By the time her training with Leron was done she had become a mighty warrior who need not rely on her powers in combat.
- Making a Splash: Like all denizens of Dimension Aqua, Leron possessed the ability to increase the density of volumes of water to create hard-water constructs. Against an air-breather, these constructs could be used to drown an opponent, but they could also be used to cause blunt force damage.
- The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Led a revolt against Mera and deposed her.
- Straw Misogynist: Frequently accused Mera of being a 'mere female'.Mera: The women of Earth would call you a male chauvinist pig, Leron... I call you a fool!
Marauder
"Endanger the innocent."
Marauder was a cyborg mercenary who once fought Aquaman in Sub Diego during an attempt to plunder nuclear warheads from a sunken U.S. Navy base and resell on the black market, and later served as a member of the Suicide Squad.
- Cyborg: Has cybernetic adaptations to allow him to operate him underwater.
- Empty Quiver: Attempted to steal nuclear warheads from a sunken U.S. Navy base.
- Killed Off for Real: Was obliterated by Captain Boomerang's explosive boomerangs.
Marine Marauder (Simmonds)
"You’ve had it now, Aquaman! No one interferes with my plans and lives!"
Originally, the Marine Marauder was a Bronze Age foe who could control any air-breathing sea creature with telepathic radio signals. Post-Crisis, the title was taken by his apparent sister, Marlene, who had powers identical to the original's. A third Marine Marauder, Min Soo-Jin, appeared in a 2024 Valentine's Day special with no apparent powers or connections to the other two.
For details on the second Marine Marauder, see here.
- Ambiguously Related: While the two Marauders share a last name and a 'Who's Who' issue speculated they were related, it was never explicitly confirmed.
- The Beastmaster: He could control air-breathing sea creatures by radio waves from transmitters concealed in his costume.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": His costume has a large black “M” is emblazoned on his chest
- Karma Houdini: Unusually for the era, the first Marine Marauder escaped after his first encounter and was never seen again.
- Legacy Character: Post-Crisis, the mantle of Marine Marauder was taken by Marlene Simmonds, whom the original shared a last name with.
Narkran
An ambitious Atlantean with a head for scheming, Narkran was pulling the strings of a 9-issue story arc where Mera went missing and Aquaman expended himself searching for her. With the rulers gone, he took the throne, becoming a tyrant.
- Hated by All: The Atlanteans loathed his rule enough to form a revolution.
- The Man Behind the Man: He was behind other villains attacking, including Black Manta and human gangsters.
- The Usurper: Took the throne while Aquaman and Mera were occupied.
- Villainous Breakdown: When his plans are finally undone, he collapses in a howling stream of "No"s that are so loud they're written as sound effects.
- Would Hit a Girl: He stabbed Aquagirl when just threatening to wouldn't get the resistance to stand down.
Ocean Master (Orm Marius)
Pre-Flashpoint
Post-Flashpoint
"My crown will flood this city! It will throw the oceans down upon it! And I will show your world that Atlantis is not afraid!"
"Do you know what I like most about the ocean, little pretender? There are no laws here. No policemen, no municipal courts, no stultifying "societal standards." It's a place for the strong. For men bold enough to take what they want. To take what they want — and to kill anyone who stands in their way!"
Pre-Flashpoint, Ocean Master is Aquaman's jealous brother who wants to rule Atlantis. Originally depicted as a fully human pirate, utilising advanced technology, Orm became the son of Atlan the wizard and an Inupiat
woman post-Crisis, and a powerful sorcerer to boot. Whether he is human, Atlantean, or a mix varies, but one thing about Orm remains consistent: he wants the throne, and will trample anyone who gets in his way.
Post-Flashpoint, Orm is a full-blooded Atlantean, maternal half-brother of Arthur, paternal half-brother to Tula and the would-be heir to Atlantis. He is the son of Atlanna and Orvax, then captain of the Atlantean Guard. This version is more of an Anti-Villain, as he is depicted as a good king and he doesn't hate humans, though he does view Atlanteans as superior. After an accidental attack on Atlantis by a human-submarine, he wages war with the surface world and his brother and his associates in the Throne of Atlantis storyline. He is defeated, and Arthur becomes king of Atlantis. He is sent to Belle Reve to await trial, but before he does attend trial, the Crime Syndicate set every inmate free, and Orm makes his way to the ocean. However, he ends up protecting a woman and her child during the incident and winds up staying with them. Eventually, Xebus, the king of Xebel, finds him and tells Orm that the two must take their place among the Seven Kings and rule the world.
Pre-Flashpoint
- Arch-Enemy: Aquaman's original one, and a strong contender for the title to this day.
- Badass Native: Post-Crisis Orm is half-Inupiat, and was raised in their culture, spending the first part of his life believing himself to be fully Native American. While an evil, resentful SOB, there's no doubt that he is indeed a badass.
- Badass Normal: Pre-Crisis, when he was just a normal human being armed with a laser rifle.
- Bastard Bastard: Post-Crisis, where he's the bastard son of an Atlantean mage and an Inupiat woman. His mother actually calls him a bastard to his face, to which Ocean Master replies "If I'm a bastard, you would know mother."
- Big Bad: One of Aquaman's two main Big Bads.
- Cain and Abel: The Cain to Aquaman's Abel. Post-Crisis, it's even an Enforced Trope, since Atlantean kings are cursed to battle their brothers over the throne. It's stated that Atlan sires him simply so Aquaman will have a brother who will fulfill the prophecy.
- Cool Mask: Usually obscures his face with a mask.
- The Corrupter: Along with Neron, blackened the souls of everyone in the Dreaming City.
- Daddy Issues: When Atlan was his father in the Post-Crisis 'verse.
- Deal with the Devil: Cut a deal with Neron for mystical powers.
- Driven by Envy: In both Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis continuity Orm Marius is entirely motivated by jealousy of Arthur's power, prestige, and status as both a hero and King of Atlantis.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Post-Crisis Orm initially had no powers and used high-tech sci-fi weaponry like his Pre-Crisis counterpoint. Then he sold his soul to Neron and became an Evil Sorcerer, as well as far more of a threat.
- Evil Counterpart: As the ruler of the Dreaming City, he finally assumes a regal role like that of his hated half-brother, takes a lover much as Aquaman has taken Dolphin as a consort, and has a golden trident he can't let go of that parallels Aquaman's golden hook-hand.
- Evil Overlord: During his rule of the Dreaming City, and any time he is in control of Atlantis.
- The Evil Prince: While he was not a literal example in the Post-Crisis world, his role as Aquaman's brother on their father, Atlan's side, meant that he was often played this way.
- Evil Sorcerer: Pre-Crisis, he achieved this status in the Neal Pozner/Craig Hamilton miniseries by retrieving twelve gemstones from ancient Atlantis. Post-Crisis, he finds his way there by cutting a deal with Neron for a magical trident, albeit one with serious drawbacks.
- Flanderization: His initial appearance after his deal with Neron makes it clear that the drawback is that his trident's energies run out of control if Orm is not consciously wielding it, which can harm him and those around him. Later appearances treated it as if letting go of the trident directly caused him physical pain and nothing more.
- Green-Eyed Monster: He despises Arthur for taking the throne in the pre-Crisis and post-Crisis continuities.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Post-Crisis, as the son of Atlantean wizard, Atlan, and an Inuit woman.
- High Priest: Neron's high priest within the Dreaming City.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Pre-Crisis this was his defining motivation and the reason he became a supervillain. Post-Crisis he thinks he's already special and wants everyone to acknowledge it.
- Ignored Epiphany: Pre-Crisis, he recovers from his amnesia and learns that Aquaman is his half-brother, apparently ending their conflict. He's back to his usual villainy the next time he appears, as if nothing happened. Post-Crisis, he receives a vision of both his pre-Crisis and post-Crisis past, but remains unchanged by it.
- It's All About Me: Orm shows little interest in the politics of Atlantis, the people he (occasionally) rules, or even threats to the entire planet (like the aliens his ally Strom serves). Everything is subordinate to his need to defeat Aquaman and prove himself the superior brother.
- Kissing Cousins: Had an interest in his cousin, Kako, post-Crisis, attacking her in a jealous rage when she started sleeping with Arthur.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: His relationship with Aquaman is usually kept a secret until the big reveal.
- Magical Native American: Subverted. Post-Crisis Orm was half-Inupiat and grew up in their culture, but his interest in magic came from the Atlantean side of the family, and his actual powers were the result of selling his soul to a Christian demon.
- Manipulative Bastard: Kicked off the whole Cerdian war which leveled Atlantis cities by double dealing the rouge states queen, kidnapping the newborn son of Garth and Dolphin, urging his half-brother Arthur into going against the tiny nation after sending monsters to level his kingdom. Even went the extra mile of getting the Justice League involved to validate the former's invasion of which by getting his pawns to phone for help from the UN.
- The Master: His Ocean Master title is close enough.
- Power at a Price: During his post-Crisis incarnation. His deal with Neron granted him more and more magical power, but discharged magical energy uncontrollably whenever he wasn't holding it, scarring his face and causing him intense agony whenever he let go of it.
- Prongs of Poseidon: Wields a mystic trident granted to him by Neron, that acts as both a conduit for his powers and a mark of his favour with the demon lord, a combination Magic Staff and Staff of Authority.
- Religion of Evil: Not only sold his soul to Neron but worshiped him as a deity, enforcing the same worship on the citizens of the Dreaming City.
- The Resenter: Both Pre- and Post-Crisis, he has a hard time with the idea that Aquaman is the superhuman King of Atlantis, and he's just a normal human being who is, at best, destined simply to fight his brother a lot.
- The Savage Indian: Inverted. Rather than being portrayed as evil because of being raised in a Native American culture, Orm is demonized for having abandoned Native American culture. There are still issues with this, obviously, but it's a departure from the trope nonetheless.
- Sorcerous Overlord: Of the Dreaming City, where his sorcerous power marks him as Neron's chosen and the city's destined ruler.
- The Theocracy: The Dreaming City was a centre of Atlantean spirituality and religion. Following Orm's arrival it's rule passed into the hands of the cult of Neron, with Ocean Master as high priest and effective monarch.
- Villain Team-Up: Frequently teamed up with Manta or the Shark. He also assumes membership in Lex Luthor's Injustice Gang and the "inner circle" of Libra's Secret Society.
Post-Flashpoint
- Adaptational Nice Guy: This version of Orm genuinely loves his half-brother and his Fantastic Racism towards humans is downplayed. His attempts to claim the throne have all been less about hunger for power and more because he genuinely believes he's best fit for it.
- Alternate Company Equivalent: To Sub-Mariner, even more so than Johns's revamp of Black Adam. Orm is a physically powerful brunette king of Atlantis who attacks the surface world for misguided reasons, but has noble qualities and feels sympathy and pity for surface dwellers.
- Anti-Villain: Seems to be shaping into a Type IV, being not so much evil as reacting violently to threats directly against Atlantis. This is a first for the character.
- Bad Samaritan: Claims to be helping the Ninth Tride people by inviting them to the city of Dagon. This is all a front for his game of claiming the throne of Atlantis.
- Badass Normal: Unlike Arthur, Mera, Garth and Jackson he doesn't have any magical or divine powers. He's stronger than a typical Atlantean and has magic weapons but that's about it.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: His actions in his Villains Month issue could be interpreted as a rare combination of both Pet the Dog and Kick the Dog. When a seriously injured security guard, who showed sympathy towards Orm during his imprisonment, asks him for help, Orm strangles him, seemingly thinking that's exactly what he wanted.
- Chronic Villainy: He is unable to keep himself from villainy for long, no matter how hard he tries. Even his love for Erin Shaw and her son, Tommy, wasn't enough to keep him from trying to become king.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Sure he attempted to drown a few cities, but it was in defense of Atlantis, from his perspective. He also seems to truly love his brother Arthur, a first for the character. He also became a sort of Parental Substitute for Erin's son Tommy, and stayed with them during the Forever Evil event, later becoming engaged to her.
- The Evil Prince: Like Arthur, he is Queen Atlanna's son, and wants the throne for himself. However, he wasn't particularly evil until the Throne of Atlantis storyline, when he decided to wage war with the surface world. Even then, he's not actually evil, just reacting to an assumed threat from the surface world that turns out to be Vulko's fault.
- The Faceless: In his first appearance, Aquaman #14, his face is always obscured by shadows.
- Fantastic Racism: This version doesn't hate surface dwellers, he pities them. That said, he does think they're objectively inferior to Atlanteans. He eventually comes around, and even gets engaged to a human woman.
- The Good King: It is shown that he is actually this to the Atlanteans, and they do like him. The problem is he doesn't really like the surface dwellers all that much, which many Atlanteans agree with him on.
- Green-Eyed Monster: This seems to be subverted. He seems to genuinely care for Arthur, and wouldn't mind him being king. However, eventually, he comes to think that he would be the better king, though it's still not driven by envy.
- Making a Splash: His crown controls the sea.
- Pet the Dog: Protects Erin and her son Tommy from criminals released from prison by the Crime Syndicate, albeit reluctantly. Aquaman #25 reveals that he actually ended up staying with Erin.
- Refuge in Audacity: After killing Marine Marauder with the help of sea elemental Lernaea at his beck and call, he gets a visit from Apex Lex, who aided Marine Marauder instead of Orm after deciding he was too weak, now having had a change of heart. Orm not only refuses his help, but he also smashes the pendant keeping Lernaea bound to him, and orders her to destroy the Lexcorp vessel. She complies.
- Shock and Awe: His trident can generate and control storms through unknown means.
- Super-Strength: All Atlanteans have this. Though Orm is quite a bit stronger than the average Atlantean.
- Übermensch: Believes he is acting in the best interests of the lower castes of aquatic society when building the new city of Dagon in Year of the Villain. Dolphin eventually exposes his lie.
- Villain Has a Point: During one of his discussions with his human advocates while he is in prison, he criticizes how the deaths he caused during the war qualify as murder in the eye of the government, whereas Atlantean deaths are completely ignored.
Oceanus
"And now to make certain I have a peaceful reign, my first royal command will be to—order your execution!"
A native of Dimension Aqua, when Mera went into self-exile he followed her. He was infatuated with her and used his powers to create a new kingdom for his "love", Atlantis.
- Grand Theft Me: In the events leading up to Final Crisis, it is shown in the Book of Destiny that shortly before Aquaman's wedding to Mera, Oceanus was possessed by the ancient alchemist Megistus, in an attempt to kidnap Aqualad and use his powers to access the knowledge of the ancient Atlanteans.
- Making a Splash: Oceanus has the ability to psionically increase the density of volumes of water and shaping them to create hard-water constructs. He can use them to cause blunt force damage or simply drown opponents.
- One-Steve Limit: Shares his name with one of the Titans of Myth, who also exist in The DCU.
- Power Nullifier: Once used a weapon to remove most of Mera's powers.
- Stalker with a Crush: Is one to Mera.
- We Can Rule Together: He used his hard-water powers to conquer Atlantis and turn Aquaman and Aqualad to mere servants, then offered to make Mera his queen and have her rule alongside him.
O.G.R.E.
The Organization for General Revenge and Enslavement was a shady spy organization whose efforts to profit off atomic weapons were thwarted by Aquaman.
- Empty Quiver: This organiztion was being financially backed by an unknown foreign government to steal nuclear missiles that were stored under an island resort.
- Fun with Acronyms: O.G.R.E. stands for Organization for General Revenge and Enslavement
- Heel–Face Turn: One of their members, the Huntress, turned against the organization and helped Aquaman and Mera.
- Nebulous Evil Organisation: They started as this in their attempts to profit off of atomic weapons.
- Outside-Genre Foe: Their villainy was more suited to James Bond stories, but they kept running afoul of Aquaman instead.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: By the time of their final appearance, they'd done so much evil that kept getting foiled with nothing to show for it that they ran out of funds to continue operations.
Piranha Man (Charybdis)
"Oh, bite me! HA HA hee! "Bite me". Get it? I bit you because you hadn't...Ah, forget it. I'm wasting my best material."
The villain who caused the loss of Aquaman's hand, Charybdis was a terrorist who lost his wife, Scylla, in the same incident that gave him control over fish. He attacked Aquaman, and was mutated into a piranha/human cross in the process.
- Ambiguously Brown: Before he gets mutated, Charybdis is this. His ethnicity is unclear, but he has a dark, red-brown skin tone.
- Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better: Has all of Orin's abilities, many of them at a much greater degree.
- Ax-Crazy: Charybdis' mental state was always questionable at best. After Scylla's death, he hires actresses to impersonate her, so he can then murder them as a deranged way of punishing Scylla for "leaving" him. This gets even worse after his transformation, and he begins torturing Aquaman's friends and family while making bad pop-culture references and laughing maniacally.
- Couple Theme Naming: Charybdis' wife used tthe codename Scylla.
- Disability Superpower: After losing an arm he replaced it with the limb of a fire troll using Atlan's stolen magics.
- Evil Sorcerer: Became this after stealing Atlan's magical abilities.
- Freudian Excuse: He was already a wanted criminal, but losing Scylla did nothing for Charybdis' sanity.
- Heel–Face Turn: Strangely, Charybdis' arc ends when the magic he stole from Atlan eventually winds up restoring his conscience and sanity. He then apologizes to Aquaman, asks that they drop their feud, and teleports off to parts unknown.
- He-Man Woman Hater: Scylla's death leaves him with something of a misogynistic streak. He insults Dolphin in sexist ways, and seems to blame Scylla for her own death.
- I Will Tear Your Arms Off: Had this done onto him by Aquaman when he mutilated his mother in rather horrendous ways.
- Laughing Mad: Due to his deteriorating mental state, he can give Joker a run for his money in this department.
- Misanthrope Supreme: His first evil scheme revolves around targeting sunken military submarines so that he can detonate their nukes and cause a worldwide Holocaust. As Aquaman puts it, Charybdis hates women, mankind, and himself.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Named for a whirlpool in Greek mythology that sucked everything down.
- Omnicidal Maniac: He first attacks Aquaman so that he can drain his powers and use them to access sunken military submarines, intending to use the nukes to cause Armageddon.
- Piranha Problem: Sicced a school of them on Aquaman, and resembles one himself.
- Power Degeneration: When he stole some of Arthur's powers before taking a plunge into the Piranha pool, their collective essence rubbed off on him turning the guy into the human barracuda he is today.
- Power Parasite: One of his core abilities is to drain away the abilities of others either naturally or through technological siphons, it was never disclosed as to which held true.
- Replacement Goldfish: After Scylla's death, an unhinged Charybdis begins hiring women to impersonate her, so he can then murder them in a warped attempt to punish Scylla for "leaving" him.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Gained Aquaman's ability to talk to sealife, and was somewhat taken aback to realize that this did not come with the ability to get them to care what he said. He was eventually able to find a way round that.
- Telepathy: Got this from ripping off Aquaman's powers.
- Unholy Matrimony: With Scylla.
- Western Terrorists: His ethnicity is unclear, but he doesn't seem to be an Islamic or African terrorist.
- Would Hit a Girl: After Scylla's death, an unhinged Charybdis begins hiring women to impersonate her, so he can then murder them in a warped attempt to punish Scylla for "leaving" him. He also shows no hesitation in trying to kill Dolphin or torturing Aquaman's mother.
Piscator
"You'll speak no spell down here, magician!"
Piscator is a renegade Atlantean and a self styled Janissary. He is a metahuman mercenary for hire.
- Awesome Anachronistic Apparel: Dresses in the armour of an ancient Roman retiarius gladiator.
- The Faceless: Has never been seen without his face concealing helmet.
- Hat of Power: He wears a distinctive helmet that allows him to breath on land.
- Inescapable Net: He uses a net to ensnare opponents before he can finish them with his trident.
- Mobile Fishbowl: He wears a distinctive helmet that allows him to breath on land.
- Private Military Contractors: Metahuman mercenary for hire.
- Prongs of Poseidon: He uses a trident as his main melee weapon.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Originally appeared as a member of the terrorist-for-hire group Onslaught battling the Suicide Squad.
- Super-Strength: Piscator possesses superhuman level of strength. He is able to hold his own against super strong opponents such as Aquaman and Golem.
- Super-Toughness: He possesses a superhuman degree of durability. He is able to trade hits with superstrong opponents such as Aquaman and Golem.
- Telepathy: He possesses limited telepathy. He can communicate with others telepathically, but nothing more has been revealed.
- Terrorists Without a Cause: Was once a member of the terrorist-for-hire organization Onslaught.
Prime Minister Hagen
A rather unscrupulous politician who became the de-facto ruler of a new, quite possibly more human hating regime of Atlantis after prompting then disillusioned queen Mera, as well as using the backwash of begrudging Atlantean sentiment as a means to oust Aquaman from the throne. Him and his inner circle consist of conjurers and sorcerers who curried prestige among the Dark Art's practitioners of the traitorous witch Gamemnae.
- Absolute Xenophobe: Hagen and his cronies bitterly despise anything related to the surface world as well as land walking civilization in general, under his rule the new Atlantis is devoid of any kind of semblance relating to human culture whatsoever. Structures and architecture are modeled after marine life over classical above ocean engineering, walking and sitting of any kind is strictly prohibited as Atlanteans are to be swimming or floating at all times, even having a sharp eye and a secret detail of militant thugs keep watch over individuals who have ties to the former monarch of the kingdom. And in worst case secretly ordering their summery executions.
- Asshole Victim: While most had died when The Spectre ripped through the mermaid capitol, no tears were shed for this guy's tattered remains at the end by the survivors who lived.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Coming off as an immediate threat to all, he and his ilk of genocidal witch's & wizards are still largely circumvented by the much more immediate dangers presented by The Thirst.
- The Conspiracy: Basically what his coven of sorcerer's occupation in the New Atlantis boils down too.
- Creating Life: Or more clandestinely, taking falsely persecuted convicts and fusing them with lower lifeforms to create fusionistic mutant warriors loyal to the councils whims, this later comes and bites them all in the ass thankfully.
- Cthulhumanoid: If his physical appearance is anything to go on.
- Evil Gloating: Has a penchant for this throughout his appearances.
- Evil Makes You Monstrous: Difficult to tell either him being a resident of Tritonis before becoming a Sorc, or because his dabbing in foul powers monsterized his appearance.
- Evil Plan: Hagen sought to effectively take the reigns of power within Atlantis for him & his in order to crown the undersea nation as supreme imperium of the earth.
- Having lobotomized Mera through mystic drugs to use her as a proxy in order to cement sorcerer ruler-ship in Atlantis for him and his sect.
- A step further being he and his cronies utilizing foul powers gained from years of bootlicking to Gamemne's inner circle to mutate all sea life, themselves included, to Take Over the World and kill all Surface Dwellers.
- Failing the top two he would settle for screwing over Aquaman and the throne by cursing Mera with lungs out of spite for Atlantis's hated liege.
- Evil Sorcerer: A powerful and conniving sorcerer; after the obsidian age he became Atlantis's prime minister by foul means.
- Fantastic Racism: Towards surface-dwellers. Sought to enact a grand plan that would purge humanity from the face of the Earth. Passed a law so Atlanteans had to swim or float at all times.
- Government Drug Enforcement: How he managed to assume command of Atlantean Monarchy, he and his conspirators beset The current regent with a host of intoxication spells in order to keep her under. Being the highest ranked imperial and all, he naturally assumes the reins of state as the spokes person of the queen who his cohorts are keeping drugged up.
- Magic Genetics: Hagen and the new 1% run Atlantis mainly through both open and secret perversion of naturally spawned oceanic organisms, turning them into hideous monstrosities either as royal transport to get from place to place.
- The Man Behind the Man: For a time he's this to Mera as her handmaidens feed her faux medicine while he runs matters of state.
- The Omniscient Council of Vagueness: He and the new ruling caste in Atlantis are this, a coalition of one-off side characters who appeared out of nowhere to assume power after escaping the Obsidian age.
- Powers That Be: What the sorcerer class of Atlantis becomes after Mera is rendered comatose and made into his political marionette.
- Red Baron: With a name like Hagen The Heinous, what would one expect?
- Squishy Wizard: For all his boisterous grandstanding as an evil overlord and such, he can't win in a contest of might or magic against Garth and/or Vulko. granted the latter had help from one of Hagen's failed super soldier experiments.
- The Virus: Had his crew of like minded mystics come up with a means of wiping away the surface dwelling civilization, a chamber pot of foul magic brewed specifically to mutate any and all water dwelling entities. Atlantean included, into a hoary host of ravenous freaks of nature spawned by their dark craft.
Queequeg
I am Queequeg, master of techno-sonar-militarism! I am Queequeg, the blessed albatross has sent me to eradicate the flase prophet of the seas—the man in league with the dark forces of anti-whalism...Aquaman!"
Queequeg was a whaler who patterned himself after an ancient mariner. A fanatical eccentric, he fought passionately against the "dark forces of anti-whalism", specifically, the super-hero known as Aquaman.
- Awesome Anachronistic Apparel: Dresses like an late 18th/early 19th century mariner.
- Beard of Evil: A full sailor's beard.
- Egomaniac Hunter: A fanatical whaler.
- Evil Poacher: Fights passionately against the "dark forces of anti-whalism".
- Harpoon Gun: One of his primary weapons.
- One-Steve Limit: Black Lightning has also faced a foe called Queequeg.
Scavenger (Peter Mortimer)
Pre-Flashpoint
Post-Flashpoint
"That's it. That's the way it always is. I caught you fair and square and you go and call the damn fish."
Peter Mortimer was a deep-sea diver and pirate who called himself the Scavenger. Dressed in a specially-designed diving suit, he plundered the ocean waves, scavenging for valuables from sunken ships. He operated out of an advanced submersible vessel called the Scorpion-Ship.
- Arms Dealer: Went into business selling Atlantean armaments on the black market after Throne of Atlantis.
- Cool Ship: The Scavenger pilots a customized scorpion-shaped submersible called the Scorpion-Ship.
- Covered in Scars: Scavenger is attacked by Dead Water, and the injuries leave him disfigured. When Mortimer returns during Abnett's run, the right side of his face is severely scarred.
- Enemy Mine: Mortimer agrees to lend his help to the US Government in exchange for a lighter sentence. This leads him to join forces with Aquaman when Dead Water returns, albeit begrudgingly.
- Equipment Upgrade: He upgraded his diving suit after his first battle against Aquaman, though it's still not enough to overpower the hero.
- Even Evil Has Standards: A straight up asshole, but he's insulted when Arthur implies Peter didn't try to save his workers because there was no profit in it.
- Evil Cripple: Subverted. After being attacked by Dead Water, Mortimer has put on some pounds and appears to be confined to a wheelchair. However, it's later revealed that he was faking his injuries, and could actually walk the whole time.
- Fountain of Youth: The Scavenger was hunting a device called the Time-Decelerator which he believed would grant him immortality. He eventually found the Time-Decelerator and activated it. Rather than bestowing immortality however, it actually regressed him in age until he ceased to exist.
- Heel–Face Turn: In Aquaman (1991), he eventually went straight and got a job with recycled scrap.
- Incredibly Obvious Bug: Utilized one through a captured Atlantean whose organs he harvested to find the undersea city.
- Powered Armor: His diving suit is a less badass version of Black Manta's.
- Remember the New Guy?: Whenever he appears, it's clear he and Arthur have a history, but it's never elaborated on.
- Ruthless Modern Pirates: The Scavenger is definitely a pirate, but is no kind of romantic rogue. He prefers to sink ships and loot them at leisure later.
- Salvage Pirates: The Scavenger loots sunken ships, some of which he sunk himself.
- Villain Decay: Suffered this since his run in with Dead Water, going from a hardened sea hoarder to a frightened lamer at the mere mention of its name.
- Villainous BSoD: Mortimer panics once he realizes that Dead Water has come back. His inability to control his own fear ultimately ends up transforming himself into the creature.
Seaquake
"You're just a bonus, fish man! I was passin' through when I spotted you—and I figured that by killing you I could make my rep as the baddest thing in the water since Jaws!"
Seaquake was a robot built by Ocean Master who launched an attack on Atlantis following the funeral of Aquaman and Mera's son.
- Gale-Force Sound: Seaquake used a sonic disruptor that knocked Aquaman unconscious.
- Jive Turkey: Peppered his speech with copious amounts of slang.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: Aquaman did not realize Seaquake was robot until the Robotic Reveal.
- Robotic Reveal: Aquaman used a wrecking ball to destroy Seaquake, discovering that Seaquake was a robot built by Ocean Master.
- Robot Master: Controlled a small army of robots.
Sea-Thief
A Silver Age thief of the sea who appeared in one JLA story, the Sea-Thief is an old foe of Aquaman's.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": Has an 'S' on his yellow dive helmet.
- Bubble Gun: He attacked Aquaman with bubbles that would explode at such volume he'd be knocked out.
- Never Bareheaded: Is seen wearing his yellow helmet even on land for no real reason.
- Remember the New Guy?: Like Dagon, his first and only appearance had him as a recurring foe.
- Salvage Pirates: Implied to be his shtick, as Aquaman finds him near booby-trapped treasure chests.
Shalako
"The Gods protect us! The Gods love us, and their prophet... Shalako!"
The brother of King Orin I of Atlantis, Shalako was a sorcerer who grew jealous of his brother's position and power. Leading a group of exiles to live in Tritonis, Shalako manipulated events to transform them into fishlike merpeople. When it was revealed that this mutation was his own fault, his people ultimately killed him.
- Cain and Abel: With Orin I. This is a theme in Atlantean history; there is a prophecy that two brothers will always war for control of Atlantis.
- Deal with the Devil: Made a deal with dark gods in exchange for powers after he was forsaken by the goddess of the sky.
- Evil Sorcerer: He begins as a priest of the sky goddess Suula, but eventually resorts to worshipping darker gods in order to get what he wants.
- Expy: He's essentially a better looking Ocean Master. Given that he is supposed to be the originator of the prophecy about the brothers warring over rulership of Atlantis, and Ocean Master is a part of that prophecy, this is justified.
- Face–Heel Turn: At one point he and his brother were genuinely close. Then the fall of Atlantis happened and it all went downhill from there.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Towards Orin I, whose throne he sought after.
- I Did What I Had to Do: With his last words, he claims that all his actions were motivated by love for his people and a desire to protect them. The truth is a little more complex. The curse he placed on the people of Tritonis (which transformed them into proto-mermaids) was out of jealousy that they loved his brother Orin, even if it did wind up helping the Tritonians to survive underwater.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Speared to death by the people of Tritonis.
- Making a Splash: One of his mystic powers enabled him to form hard water weapons.
- Offing the Offspring: If you believe the chronicler Regin, Shalako's ghost kills his son, Dardanus, after the latter kills Orin I.
- Pride: His great sin. Shalako could not accept that anybody, including his own brother, might be better at something then he was.
- Religion of Evil: Believed in dark gods and human sacrifice, ultimately killing his own wife on the sacrificial altar.
Siren (Hila)
Hila/Siren (Pre-Flashpoint)
Pre-Crisis, Hila was little more than a rambunctious albeit vicious troublemaker and eponymous pain in the ass for her Gemini, Mera.
Renowned in their family as the black sheep of the lot, she would often cause all kinds of havoc anywhere she went, more often than not at Mera's expense since they look identical. Being the bad girl she was, Hila eventually fell in with a bad boy sorcerer and long time enemy of Aquaman by the name of Kandor, both of whom were exiled from their native home Dimension Aqua for past crimes. Together, the two conspired against Aquaman and Mera in a bid for power, but both suffered a change of heart in the following events and redeemed themselves.
In the Post-Crisis continuity, Hila is one amongst a colony of vicious inmates from the Prison Dimension of Xebel which was located within The Bermuda Triangle. The White Entity undid the seal that bound her and fellow exiles in their concentration reality to test Arthur by letting them unleash terror upon the world and its unsuspecting masses as well as kill the current monarch of Atlantis as revenge for her people.
- The Ace: Like her sibling yet unlike other aquamancers she uses a more advanced form of water shifting powers. Ones which don't rely upon the waterbearers like those of Jackson Hyde or her fellow criminals.
- The Bus Came Back: Disappeared for a long time, reappearing in Brightest Day, now with altered backstory and a more violent temperament.
- Evil Brunette Twin: Physically the two are practically adjacent to one another, and Siren is the younger of the two no less.
- Fantastic Racism: Like most Xebelians, Hila is an clear speciesest towards Atlanteans, half-breeds and especially surface dwellers due to her prison home upbringing. The former is due to right wing bigoted supremacy thinking the world and everything spawned from the sea belongs to her people. The latter because the reigning power of Atlantis' life imprisonment sentence.
- Heel–Face Turn: In her Pre-Crisis days, Hila had initially taken the place of Mera to better earn Aquaman's trust, but after seeing just how much the kingdom and its monarch truly loved her, she had a change of heart.
- Making a Splash: Like her sister and all Xebel prisoners, Hila has incredibly potent hydrokinetic shifting capabilities.
- Mysterious Past: She and Black Manta have a history, since she's one of the few people to ever call him by his name. Even more impressive, she's one of the few people he doesn't try to kill.
- Red Is Violent: Wears a red-orange version of the same scale-mail jumpsuit her sister wears, and is much more violent than Mera is even post-Trauma Conga Line.
Hila/Siren (Post-Flashpoint)
" Well... that could have gone better."
Hila is the demented twin sibling of Aquaman's wife Mera and a resident of Xebel. Sometime in her life she ran with the Thule in order to reclaim the seven seas and, as an eventual milestone, the world at large by encroaching their dimension into Earth's own. To this end, Hila's natural capabilities had been augmented by their potent dark magics, this coupled with her Shifter background enables her to better infiltrate Arthur's throne and impersonate Mera, ruling in both the former when implicating monarchy in her place after casting out the latter as a conspirator against the crown and kingdom, turning Atlantis against him.
- Ax-Crazy: Had a precocious slasher smile when she was bleeding Arthur dry after laying him. And her eyes were shot wide open while comparing herself to Mera with him in the sack.
- Bed Trick: After Arthur comes to reconcile with who he believed to be his wife, only for the doppelganger to reveal her true colors to him as a jest.
- Bloody Murder: Unlike her sister, however, Hila uses them for much more lethal endeavors, to which Aquaman can quite painfully attest.
- Making a Splash: She was outfitted with watercrafting abilities by her benefactors rivaling those of her sister.
- Shapeshifting Seducer: She suckered Aquaman into courting her in bed before giving him the Wham event by revealing her true self to him.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: As we learn, Hila may be or is a descendent of a resident from Thule called a Shifter. Master spies, and weavers of falsehood who can alternate their outward appearance or even cast illusions at will. Turns out she and a host of their thought-to-be-extinct race have taken over the throne of Atlantis from the ruling royalty in order to pave the way of Thule's incursion into Earth 0.
Thanatos
"Come fight with me, little one. Come find out what the important things are."
An evil version of Aquaman from a mirror dimension, Thanatos was obsessed with replacing his good counterpart and tormenting him with realistic illusions. He was eventually killed by Major Disaster.
- Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better: In many fields Thanatos is stronger than his mirror image.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: After spending much of his existence wanting to live in the real world as Aquaman, Thanatos got his wish, only to find Atlantis deserted. He was then immediately assassinated by Major Disaster, who'd been hired to kill the real Aquaman.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Got killed off early in the later series by a low tier supervillain.
- Enemy Within: He began life as Aquaman's evil mirror-self before being revealed as an otherdimensional being separate from the main Aquaman.
- Evil Twin: Thanatos is an evil doppleganger of Aquaman from an alternate dimension called the "Netherspace".
- Grand Theft Me: In his first appearance, he stole victims' identities and trapped them in their own minds while he committed crimes.
- Master of Illusion: His main trick is making himself look stronger than he is.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: In Volume 4, Aquaman was already wrestling with self-doubt and hatred when Thanatos came in to try and finish the job—but making Aquaman confront his fears directly helped him accept and move past them.
- The Power of Hate: Thanatos loved to draw out Arthur's hatred and frequently tried to goad him into rages so he could take over the body.
- Superpower Lottery: Being an evil double of Orin automatically grants this.
The Thirst
" Let me drinnnk my filll... from the wellsprinnngs... of eterrrnal life itselllf!"
The personification of drought, and the ideological opposite of the Waterbearer, the Thirst is an ancient being who attacked Aquaman after he became guardian of the Secret Sea. Taking the form of a golem made from dry river mud, The Thirst tried to drain the Seven Seas (the reservoir of human imagination), and the entirety of the world's rivers, all as part of its attempt at claiming Aquaman's soul.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: The Thirst is a composed of dry river mud, the mystical "brother" of a being called the Waterbearer, an ancient goddess, and is the anthropomorphic personification of drought.
- Anti-Magic: Being of the Secret Sea where Orin derives his water hand, Thirst is unaffected by mystical arcanum. As Tempest, an accomplished sorcerer in his own right; would come to find the hard way in his attempt to stop him.
- Badass Longcoat: Wears really cool long coat that swirls dramatically.
- Bald of Evil: As a golem, the Thirst is hairless.
- Cain and Abel: With his "sister" the Waterbearer. The Thirst had preyed on the deities who have watched over the Secret Sea for millennia.
- Evil Counterpart: To the Waterbearer. The Thirst is the Waterbearer's dark reflection of self, an evil counterpart who gains strength every time the water is used with the intent to harm another.
- Golem: A golem made from dry river mud, to be precise.
- Humanoid Abomination: The Thirst is roughly human in appearance, with a head, arms and legs in all the right places.
- Killed Off for Real: In their final battle, Aquaman stopped fighting the Thirst and surrendered his control to the light of the universe, the parasite was consumed by the holy power and destroyed, seemingly for good.
- Man of Kryptonite: His ability to drain water from his victims makes him very dangerous to Aquaman.
- Meaningful Name: Thirst and he’s constantly drinking.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: It's not as obvious as with some villains, but to anybody reading a comic about an aquatic superhero, the presence of a being called "The Thirst" should instantly set off warning bells.
- Necromancer: Can resurrect those that he has slain as mindless, zombie husks slaved to his will.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Red eyes from a formidable foe.
- Slave Mooks: The Thirst is able to absorb life energy leaving his victims as withered husks. The Thirst is then able to mentally control the zombie like husks of the individuals hes drained.
- Vampiric Draining: Sucks the life energy and water from his victims.
- Walking Wasteland: He causes drought wherever he goes.
- Your Soul Is Mine!: Wanted Aquaman's soul more than anything else.
Tiamat
"Pray to your long-dead gods Aquaman, that Kordax slays you this day! For your survival will endure only till the moment I lay eyes upon you!"
An ancient member of the Anunnake, a race of extremely powerful dragon like creatures that conquers and enslaves entire planets, imprisoned for millennia by Atlan in a cocoon of crystal. When Atlan transported Aquaman to the city to prepare him for the return of the Annunake, Tiamat was awakened.
- Breath Weapon: She can blast fire through her mouth, strong enough to hurt Power Girl.
- God Guise: Claimed that humans had worshiped her as a goddess for millions of years.
- Healing Factor: She can heal even after being entirely burned to a crisp, due to her eldritch energies.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Was imprisoned for millennia by Atlan in a cocoon of crystal.
- Super-Strength: She has immense superhuman strength allowing her to fight against characters like Aquaman and Power Girl on an even level. Her strength is far greater in her gigantic dragon form.
- Super-Toughness: She can withstand attacks from Arion, Power Girl and Aquaman and keep fighting.
- Swallowed Whole: Can swallow a human whole.
- Tail Slap: Her tail can rip through metal.
- Weredragon: Tiamat is a member of an alien race that can transform from a reptilian humanoid form to a 100 ft. long draconic form.
Torpedo Man
Torpedo Man is an unstoppable robot who, like his name suggests, only moves in one direction: forward. He was a member of Awesome Threesome and later joined Alexander Luthor's Secret Society Of Super-Villains.
- Implacable Man: Once he starts moving in a straight line, Torpedo Man will plough through any obstacle in his path, like, well, a torpedo.
- Killer Robot: Is programmed to destroy Atlantean DNA.
- Perpetual-Motion Monster: As a robot, Torpedo Man does not need to eat, drink or sleep.
- Super-Strength: Possesses superhuman strength.
- Super-Toughness: Displays a superhuman resistance to damage.
Un-Thing
"Correct gorgeous—and if we only had the time I’d show you some invisible love! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
A crook who fought as part of the Terrible Trio alongside Karla and the Fisherman. He became completely invisible in water, using that and his armor to sneak attack.
- Abhorrent Admirer: He had a very one-sided crush on Karla, much to her disgust.
- Creepy Old-Fashioned Diving Suit: His default outfit was this.
- Dirty Coward: Once Aquaman removed his advantage with octopus ink and taking him out of the water, he immediately panicked and went down easy.
- Invisibility: His power was to become invisible while in water.
- Smug Snake: He's good at dishing it out, but can't take it at all and will fly into a panicked rage.
V'lana
"Ah, yes, Mera—you have chosen a husband well! Indeed, I look forward to having him at my side when I regain the throne!"
V'lana was an insurgent Queen of Dimension Aqua and enemy of Queen Mera.
- The Beastmaster: Her telepathy was technologically enhanced so she could communicate with and control sea creatures.
- Evil Counterpart: To Mera.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Currently the Xebel Queen, her kingdom located in Dimension Aqua. The Xebel are an enemies of Queen Mera.
- Making a Splash: V'lana possesses the ability to increase the density of water within her immediate vicinity for a wide variety of effects. This ability allows her to create "hard water" objects, reshaping volumes of water into simple geometric shapes. V'lana commonly uses this power to create water missiles, which she projects towards a selected target.
- Mind Control: V'lana's telepathy operates at a higher degree then the typical for her people. In addition to telepathically communicating with other aquatic peoples, she can also telepathically command at least one other person to do her bidding (she held Mera under her complete control for weeks).
- Navel-Deep Neckline: The decolletage on her costume plunges all the way to her navel.
- Punctuation Shaker: Has an apostrophe in her name.
- Telepathy: V'lana's telepathy operates at a higher degree then the typical for her people. In addition to telepathically communicating with other aquatic peoples, she can also telepathically command at least one other person to do her bidding (she held Mera under her complete control for weeks).
- Weaksauce Weakness: Like all residents of Dimension Aqua, exposure to lead will rob V'lana of her hard-water powers.
Introduced Post-Flashpoint
Atlan (the Dead King)
Click here to view King Atlan
"I destroyed Atlantis once with this scepter... AND I SHALL DESTROY IT AGAIN."
The architect, builder, and very first king of Atlantis. However, along with giving life to Atlantis, he also was the one to destroy it. He is also not Aquaman's direct ancestor. In fact, Aquaman descended from Atlan's brother, Orin, who killed Atlan's family and usurped the throne of Atlantis. Atlan forged artifacts of great power and proceeded to sink Atlantis. He was frozen in ice at some point afterwards but was accidentally reawakened by Arthur's telepathy.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Was an honest decent family man whose only goal was to bring the peoples of the world together, he never would've turned bad like he did if his jerkass brother and his wife hadn't taken his wife, children and entire kingdom from him.
- An Ice Person: He possesses the ability to generate ice.
- Back from the Dead: In a dystopian parallel called The New 52: Futures End, the people of Atlantis headed by Aquaman's former wife Mera resurrect the former monarch in order to subjugate the surface world after a devastating war with Darkseid.
- Cain and Abel: His brother, Orin, betrayed Atlan and killed his family and servants to take hold of the throne.
- The Caligula: Inverted in his old life, where he used to rule as The Good King. As a shambling age-old living ghoul however...
- Died Happily Ever After: After having lived for nearly 3000 years, his bitter end finally gives him one happy epiphany out of all his suffering.
- Everyone Is Related: While not a direct ancestor to Arthur, Tula and Orm; he is still their maternal great, great, great, great grand uncle on his Brother Orin's side of the family.
- Fallen Hero: Even Vulko admits that Atlan was a great hero while Aquaman's ancestors were the villains.
- Genius Bruiser: Physically strong enough to contend with Aquaman. Along with being the lead designer of the building of Atlantis, as well as having arcane knowledge which he used to forge the seven artifacts.
- The Good King: He was this in the past. Not so much in the present.
- Magic Staff: His scepter, which can control the Trench, who are later revealed to be descended from Atlanteans. Aquaman believes the scepter does not control them; instead, the Trench have a primal instinct that causes them to obey whoever holds the staff because of their shared ancestry with Atlanteans.
- Meaningful Name: Atlan is the name of some locations in Mexico, which sound much like Atlantis, causing the belief of Atlantists (People who believe in the existence of Atlantis) that the Aztecs of Mexico were descendants of the Atlanteans.
- The Paragon Always Rebels: He was betrayed by his siblings and followers but the trope still stands.
- Royally Screwed Up: After being woken by Aquaman's telepathy and re-taking the throne, Atlan enslaves any Arthur loyalists while he attempts to regain rule over the seven seas.
- Start of Darkness: Originally, Atlan was a wise and just king who believed that there could be peace between all species. His advisers and brother Orin, however, were warmongers who betrayed Atlan and killed his family. Outraged, Atlan killed Orin and his wife and started a civil war. Using his scepter, Atlan sunk Atlantis.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Turns out Atlan didn't forge the seven treasures, not on his own at least. He ended up killing the guy who actually created the gear used by The Others over some kind of dispute, that's gratitude for you.
Broadside
"Explosive uranium-core penetrators. Slice through even your freaky suubhuman skin. Or skull..."
Broadside is a N.E.M.O underboss, heading one of the assassinations divisions and specialising in kill Atlateans.
- Arm Cannon: Broadside uses a pair of ballistic launch devices to propel explosive possibly active uranium shell casings which can pierce and rend even the dense skin of an Atlantean or Xebelian hide.
- Fantastic Racism: Boasts of his hatred of Atlanteans.
- Invisibility Cloak: Uses holo-disguise to mask his combat gear while out among the masses, giving his gear the appearance of regular civilian clothing.
- Professional Killer: Is in charge of wetwork operations for N.E.M.O.
- Throw Down the Bomblet: His armaments also dispense small but powerful explosive charges with enough destructive force to collapse building structures.
Corum Rath
"Your last hope is lost, false king. Your "unbreakable" trident shattered. Just as I will shattter Atlantis and sink it into the Abyss!"
The fiercely xenophobic atlantean leader of a fanatical terrorist cell of equally fascist merepeople coined The Deluge. Naturally being one of many Atlanteans who despise the surface world, he also bares a particular enmity towards his half-breed king; whom he feels is more at liberty towards taking and giving with the surface world over his own people.
After becoming frustrated with Arthur's ways, and with Orm presumed dead, the Atlantean Elders place him on the throne.
- Absolute Xenophobe: Hates the surface and anything related to the surface.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He's outraged when Aquaman asks him if the Deluge is responsible for framing Atlantis for attacks on the surface, as Rath just wants to reinstitute the kingdom's isolationist policies, not drag it into a war or Kill All Humans (regardless of how much he dislikes them). This gets thrown out the window after he becomes king, however, as his inability to get everyone in the kingdom to submit to his rule frustrates him to the point that he becomes increasingly unhinged and begins declaring that all of his "enemies" (which includes all surface dwellers) need to be obliterated, frightening even his Dragon.
- Patriotic Fervor: Starts out this way, as he loves Atlantis and only wants what he believes is best for it. Eventually becomes It's All About Me.
- Trumplica: His Tyrant Takes the Helm storyline took place after the 2016 Presidential Election, and his ascension and character include a lot of similarities to Donald Trump. He crows that Arthur being raised on the surface means he doesn't have the right to be King (Trump claimed that President Obama wasn't born in the United States and therefore could not be sworn in as president), is openly xenophobic and suspicious of non-Atlanteans (Trump was outspoken in his distaste for immigrants, especially those from Mexico or Islamic countries), one of the first things he does upon being crowned is arrange a ceiling-like structure be built to close Atlantis off from the surface (building a wall to seal Mexico off from the United States was one of Trump's major campaign promises). Rath's rise to power was also backed by more conservative members of Arthur's own court, particularly the religious Reverend Mother Cetea, who were uncomfortable with Arthur's more progressive political positions (Trump was running on a hardline conservative, nationalist ticket, attacked the far left in political ads, and counted the Evangelical Christian community as a critical voting block).
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: Black Manta attempts to instigate a war between the surface and Atlantis; after dealing with Manta, Aquaman diffuses the situation by formally surrendering to the United States. Rath takes advantage of this show of "weakness" by rallying the increasingly resentful Atlantean populace into helping him overthrow and exile Arthur.
- Violence is the Only Option: Feels it'll be how he'll get Atlantis' voice heard.
Coven of Thule
This cabal of Evil Wizards were The Omniscient Council of Vagueness of Old Atlantis. They profited off the turmoil resulted from the many wars around their kingdom and the world over until the rule of Atlan I ceased all ceaseless conflict. Seeing this as a threat to their rule; these vile despots sought an escape from their predicament. Using the devastated kingdom caused by the then deposed king as a sacrificial means to create their own world separate from Earth, ruling as Sorcerous Overlord's for a millennium.
- Evil Overlord: What they were past and present.
- Femme Fatale Spy: Deployed one of these to undermine Arthur and Atlantis during Thule's invasion.
- Garden of Evil: What the world of Thule is to the primary earth, its buildings alone generate foul magical energy which poisons the environment around it.
- The Horde: The Coven has a sizable army of ghosts and goblins at its beck and call.
- Improvised Golems: They breach part of their own infrastructure into the world transforming them into mobile dreadnoughts for invasion.
- Orcus on His Throne: Largely they rely upon scheming, manipulation and background orchestrations to accommodate themselves. Otherwise sending their make-believe mystic mook's or spy's to do their dirty work, they're rarely seen taking part in any conquest.
- Squishy Wizard: While they're magic is potent enough to bend reality, they themselves are spindly weaklings hiding behind an army.
Dead Water
An aquatelepathic parasite capable of possessing its hosts and transforming them into a vicious predator. Dead Water was thought to have perished alongside its first victim, a marine engineer called Jonah Kendry Payne. However, it's later revealed that the source of the infection was a sentient planet called Tethys, whose telepathic pulses mutated any non-aquatic lifeform after prolonged exposure.
- Always Chaotic Evil: Dead Water was designed to prevent non-aquatelepathic beings from entering Tethys. Its sole instinct is to mercilessly kill anything that approaches the sentient planet's portal.
- Driven to Suicide: Jonah Kendry Payne allows himself to be killed by Arthur for what he's done.
- Elemental Shapeshifter: Dead Water can transform into water to avoid physical attacks.
- Guardian Entity: The true purpose of Dead Water is to act as a guardian of Tethys, a sentient planet covered entirely in water.
- Humanoid Abomination: Dead Water resembles an amalgamation of various ferocious sea animals, though it noticeably retains the head shape and the torso of its human host.
- Immune to Bullets: The Aquamarines open fire on Dead Water, but the monster liquefies itself, causing the bullets to pass through harmlessly.
- Jekyll & Hyde: Dead Water is a vicious monster that overrides the host's original personality in moments of extreme fear.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Jonah killed two of his colleagues in order to escape a sinking ship. He had no choice, since they were all at each other's throat over an oxygen tank, but it still haunts him.
- Mystical Plague: Aquaman believes that Dead Water was born after Jonah was exposed to a mutagenic agent, but it's later discovered that the true cause of the infection was the sentient water of planet Tethys, whose telepathic pulses have a negative effect on terrestrial lifeforms.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Jonah was employed by the supervillain Scavenger, but only so he could pay child support in order to see his son.
- Portal Pool: Their teleportation requires a body of water to work.
- Supernatural Fear Inducer: Tethys' telepathic pulses induce strong feelings of fear to those who cannot communicate with aquatic life. Resisting the urge to go away is what causes the victim to mutate into Dead Water.
- Villain Teleportation: Dead Water's ability to freely teleport between pools of water is a major source of frustration to the heroes, as it enables the creature to easily escape their attempts to capture it and facilitates ambushes.
Karaku, the Volcano God
A walking volcano who once was the sole inhabitant of the isle of Pacifica. The creature is an elemental of great power and is extremely territorial, at best he can only be staved off by a powerful relic owned by Atlanna. Even then he's an all but unstoppable mass of molten destruction that crushes and burns whatever is standing it its wake.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: He's near as tall as the volcano it sits in.
- Complete Immortality: At best he can only be temporarily belayed. Never destroyed.
- Genius Loci: A living aspect of volcanic activity.
- Giant Equals Invincible: Of a kind, knock it down once it'll reform itself.
- Healing Factor: Taking off it's head does nothing to it.
- The Juggernaut: Next to unassailable, even Atlanna's lance can barely stave it off.
- Kaiju: Karaku is an enormous volcanic creature, a living volcano for all intents and purposes.
- Lethal Lava Land: Being a walking active volcanic eruption.
- Mook Maker: He's the creator of the fire trolls.
- Nature Is Not a Toy: Programmed to allow only a limited amount of inhabitants on the isle. Atlanna thinks she can keep it appeased by a sacrifice. As Dr. Shin and archaeologist Daniel Evans observe, she's bitten off more than she can chew, and Karaku comes for her.
- Vicious Cycle: Every time it's destroyed it'll revive itself.
- Wave-Motion Gun: Similar to it's genesis cast off's lava breath, but Much, MUCH more powerful.
- Zerg Rush: Able to churn out a host of fire trolls from itself.
Krush
"This is my zone! No one challenges me! Get the boys together. If there's a vigilante in the Ninth... well, we'll be going hunting."
Krush is a mutant crime baron who holds sway in the Ninth Tride, part of the criminal underworld of Atlantis.
- Power Pincers: Krush has a crab-like physiology, including powerful crabs.
Legend (Goran)
"She sees things. Aspects and shadows of the future, I believe. A fascinating ability. One I've long desired. Almost as much— as I've wanted to take back that which Atlan stole. Think of me... as LEGEND."
Legend is an immortal son of the alchemist that crafted the Gold of Legacy and seeks to recover the artifacts forged from them by King Atlan.
- Resurrective Immortality: Undertook a ritual that would bind him to a suit of Armor allowing him to live another life time, at the end of every life he would be bound to a new set of armor until the modern day.
Namma (Mother Salt)
An ancient sea goddess formed from salt, who sought to purify the world of the lesser beings.
- Elemental Motifs: Salt. By transmuting any type of molecule (including oxygen molecules) into a salt molecule, Namma can effectively create salt out of thin air.
- Love Makes You Evil: She actually didn’t want to kill off her children, but when they killed their father she took it ill and in grief and rage decided to kill them all.
- Physical God: Namma is the primordial sea goddess in Mesopotamian mythology.
- Salt the Earth: Her plan, literally and figuratively.
Nereus
One of the greatest warriors of Xebel who rules it as regent while Mera was sent to assassinate Arthur. Nereus wants nothing more to rule Xebel with Mera by his side as his queen.
- Arranged Marriage: With Mera, originally. As he was set to marry her once she returned from her mission to assassinate the King of Atlantis.
- The Dragon: Nereus willingly submits to Atlan and becomes his right-hand man.
- Evil Redhead: A common Xebelian trait with Nereus being cruel and driven by jealousy.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Towards Aquaman for having won Mera's genuine affection. Made even worse by the fact she was supposed to assassinate him.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: When seeing the Dead King Atlan in the flesh, he and his forces kneel to him and swear their allegiance rather than risk fighting him. Likewise when Atlan is defeated, Nereus turns tail and runs rather than face Aquaman.
- Forceful Kiss: Plants one on Mera in Issue #21. She rebukes him with a violent tidal wave.
- Making a Splash: He also has the ability to manipulate water with his mind.
- Villainous Crush: Towards Mera, whom he intends to claim as his own.
Trench King
The Trench King was the leader of the Trench, a lost tribe of Atlanteans who were once part of the Atlantean continent, before being destroyed by Atlan. At that point the Trench were normal Atlanteans, but after the sinking they evolved to a cannibalistic underwater race, trapped for many years below the bottom of the ocean.
- Absurdly Sharp Claws: His needle point claws are potent enough to rend even Arthur Curry's dense skin.
- All Webbed Up: He can create a cocoon to carry his food alive underwater.
- Breath Weapon: He can spew poison from his mouth that can paralyze humans.
- Fish People: The Trench adapted to life on the ocean floor much like all the other Atlantean cultures. Hence their monstrous appearance which gives them the visage of vicious angler fish.
- In a Single Bound: Can leap very high shooting out of water, like all the members of the Trench.
- Long-Lived: Is very long lived, possibly hundreds of years old.
- Man Bites Man: His teeth are strong enough to bite through Aquaman's scale armor and pierce his skin drawing blood.
- The Paralyzer: He can spew poison from his mouth that can paralyze humans, although Aquaman was unaffected by it. The Trench poison is strong enough to keep Superman and Wonder Woman sedated.
- Super-Strength: Trench King possesses a great degree of superhuman strength, allowing him to go toe to toe with Aquaman both on land and underwater.
- Super-Toughness: Possesses a great degree of superhuman durability, being able to take a lot of punishment by Aquaman.
- Wolverine Claws: The Trench have incredibly sharp talons capable of cutting and rending tempered steel with ease. Those of the Trench leader were potent enough to rend even Aquaman's dense skin.
Urcell
"Treason, is it? By whose measure? By whose definition?"
Former co-leader of the Deluge terror cell turned Commander of the Drift and adamant xenophobe.
- Absolute Xenophobe: Hates the surface and anything related to the surface.
- The Dragon: Right-hand woman to Corum Rath.
- Dreadlock Warrior: Her hair is arranged in dreadlocks and she's a fighter like most atlanteans.
- Fantastic Racism: Urcell is a proud fascist bigot, who hates outsiders and minorities within Atlantean society like the "Sea Changed" and is eager to participate the genocide of those groups and those that oppose the Drift.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Lord Satanis kills her once he no longer needs her.
Warhead (Siyu)
"—You are receptive to contact but resistant to control — uniquely resistant to technopathic control — physical duress required —"
A Chinese superweapon who defied his programming and allied himself with Aquaman.
- Cyborg: When the Ministry of Self-Reliance found and retrofitted him, Siyu was bionically enhanced with a host of neurotechnical implants which made him physically superior to the finest human specimen, putting him on par in terms of mind and mettle against the likes of a Super-Atlantean like Aquaman.
- Defector from Decadence: Warhead was leased to the military powers of Kahndaq aiding against the rebels of Bilaya. When ordered to, he refused the Kahndaqis declaration to eradicate the Bialyans due to acts of vengeance lacking any military value. His employers were less than happy about his refusal to follow orders and retaliated by having one of their soldiers unload a single chamber bullet into his exposed braincase. Eventually, Warhead escaped; travelling across the world to find refuge from both his creators and his former contractors until he could recover.
- Master of Illusion: Warhead can plunge people into his memory scape, making them relive the moments of his days while operating a warzone.
- Mind Control: Warhead's main design parameter was to be a mobile control hub for military operations enabling him to control the minds of fully organic human beings as well as machines.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Warhead was traumatized by his time as a munitions op. system and his abuse at the hands of his employers, so he has trouble distinguishing a battlefield from real life.
- Technopath: He can wirelessly connect to and operate any form of significantly advanced mechanization without the need of physical interaction. He's able to guide and utilize multiple military grade munitions via thought alone be they assault drones, TV monitors, automated tanks and munitions systems.
- Telepathy: Warhead is an adept mentalist with vast psychic manipulative capabilities which stem into thought reading, mind control, memory projection and immersive mirage generation.
