Aquaman: Monster is an Aquaman fanfic by Orphistry (Allisterarch). Primarily based on the Silver and Bronze Age versions of Aquaman, with a heavy emphasis on Atlantis' Greek roots, the story retells the Death of a Prince arc in its own unique world.
Black Manta wants revenge on Arthur Curry, King of Atlantis, for killing his father after he killed Arthur's father. Seeking to finish the cycle of revenge, he hires other villains to hunt the hero down and locate Atlantis, all while Aquaman deals with the growing pressure of raising a family, being a king, and the increasing attacks. But when Manta finally makes his move, Arthur's life will change forever.
The story can be found here
. A side story taking place between chapters 2 and 3 can be found here, focusing on an adventure Arthur, Garth, and Mera had at Thierna na Oge and Xebel.
This fanfic contains examples of:
- Adaptation Name Change: Arthur's son, traditionally called Arthur Jr., is named Tommy here after Tom Curry.
- Awesome Underwater World: A focus in the series is how wonderful life under the sea is even with villains attacking, as fish sing a dawn chorus just like birds and create beautiful nests, and for the most part creatures live in harmony with one another.
- Colorblind Confusion: Garth's Tritanopia colorblindness (inability to distinguish blue from green and yellow from red) leads him to accidentally choose a tacky outfit to wear when going out with Tula, which she has to fix with oil dyes.
- Compelling Voice: Aquaman can outright control marine life in times of duress instead of just asking for help. He really doesn't like doing it.
- The End Is Nigh: Reverend Mother Cetea sees traces of titanium as a sign of the Titans returning to bring about the end times.
- Gender Flip: Topo, a male octopus in the comics, is female here.
- Goo-Goo-Godlike: Tommy exhibits both Arthur's fish communication and Mera's hard water powers, making him a very formidable infant.
- Heel–Face Turn: The Scavenger decides to stop working for Manta and mislead him about where Atlantis is, parting with Aquaman as friends.
- Intrepid Reporter: Esther Maris takes minutes at diplomatic meetings and reports on the Atlantean news, gathering information from multiple sources.
- Lemony Narrator: The narration sometimes goes into humorous tangents to explain things to the audience or make funny asides.
- Misplaced Wildlife: Invoked in one instance with the white-spotted pufferfish, who don't live in the region where the story takes place in real life, but were added for thematic and symbolic reasons with their elaborate nest-building.
- Mythology Gag:
- Pete the pufferfish appeared in the first Justice League of America story, warning Arthur about Starro.
- While he was raised on the surface by Tom Curry like his Silver Age origin, Arthur was also befriended and helped by a dolphin pod like in his Post-Crisis origin.
- Named by the Adaptation: Several characters who had Only One Name have added names, such as Thesily being given the first name Giorgios.
- The Nicknamer: Tommy names both Topo and Pete the pufferfish, which aren't their real names but they like enough to be addressed by.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: The Terrible Trio bicker as much as they battle, but for a while they had Aquaman and his family at their mercy and had to be defeated with outside help.
- Revisiting the Roots: The story brings Aquaman more in line with his Silver Age self, who talked to fish and didn't have super strength or bulletproof skin.
- Sacred Hospitality: Xenia is sacred in Atlantis and Arthur remembers how, when he was homeless, most people took him in and treated him with kindness.
- Shock and Awe: Lucia, AKA Stingray, uses electricity and electrified titanium swords to attack. Since she fights underwater, it's even more lethal than normal as the shocks spread out.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Aquaman is the only one able to understand the fish and marine life, while Garth can sense their emotions and feelings.
- Tastes Like Friendship: Arthur and the Scavenger share coffee together as they watch the sunrise and bond.
- Terrible Trio: The Terrible Trio from the comics, Fisherman, Karla, and Un-Thing, appear under Black Manta's employ and spend as much time bickering as they do attacking the heroes.
- Thirsty Desert: The desert outside Shayeris doesn't have enough oxygen for Garth and Gaan to comfortably breathe, and no sources of fresh water to stave off hypersalinity.
- 20 Minutes into the Past: The story is set in the year 2011 and was written in 2024, with flashbacks to Arthur's past growing up in the 90's.
- The Usurper: Narkran Ristes has his eyes on Arthur's throne and enacts a propaganda campaign to impeach him and install himself as ruler.
- Vagueness Is Coming: The creatures around Atlantis are known to make prophecies and comments on the future, which only Arthur can hear and understand. Unfortunately for Arthur, they tend to be vague and hard to parse at best.
