“He who reigns within himself and rules passions, desires, and fears is more than a king.” -John Milton

Aquaman, DC’s mighty Avatar of the Blue.

Namor, Marvel’s fearsome Avenging Son.

The ocean is Earth’s greatest mystery, one we know less about than the depths of space. All we have are ideas of what lurks below the surface that have taken the form of legends, from gargantuan sea monsters such as the Kraken to the mythical nation of Atlantis. And on the pages of comics, DC and Marvel have raised up their own Kings of Atlantis, who act as protectors of marine life and masters of the sea. And once again, Imperius Rex will clash with the Dark Tide in a battle of golden tridents. Will Aquaman keep his noble crown, or will Namor finally proclaim victory for all to witness? Let’s dive in!

Before We Start…

Aquaman

The origin of Aquaman has gone through a few changes, especially in regards to who his mother and father were. None of this really changes what he is at the end of the day, but for clarifications-sake, it’s worth going over quickly. His Earth-Two origin is a split of what many believe to be his real origin, making his father a famous deep sea explorer who discovered Atlantis, and turned Aquaman into a superhuman who could breathe underwater through the power of science, but this origin was overwritten once the Silver Age rolled in, making it so his mother was an exiled Atlantean who fell in love with a human.

Then, the Crisis on Infinite Earths rebooted continuity and the majority of its characters. This time, his father changed into the former King of Atlantis named Atlan, making Arthur an heir to the Atlantean Royal Family. Instead of being raised by a human father, he was raised by a dolphin named Porm, and a nice lighthouse keeper Arthur formed a bond with him growing up. However Brightest Day #16 establishes Arthur’s father as a lighthouse keeper in spite of this, and there’s even a mention prior to this of Arthur’s dad being non-Atlantean in Justice League Europe #46. When New 52 rolled in however, all previous Arthur origins were combined into one uniform origin of Arthur’s mom being of Atlantean royalty, falling in love with Arthur’s human dad, leaving him/dying, Arthur being raised a human, and the rest is history…that we’ll go over below.

Namor

On a handful of occasions, Namor has had amps or objects that boost his power in unusual ways. A little bit of Phoenix Force here, a couple Infinity Stones there, you know, the usual for comic guys. Needless to say, this analysis will be focused on Namor’s standard level of power. Additionally, for anyone nerdy enough to care, Marvel has played with the idea that any comics published before Fantastic Four #1 (that is to say, Namor’s first two hundred appearances or so) are in-universe World War II propaganda. However, while this may be the case for the likes of Captain America, and Namor comics do exist in-universe, the events of Namor’s early appearances have been referenced extremely consistently throughout his history since then, so they should be usable. In fairness, all of his best feats come from later on regardless.

Aquaman

Background

• Full Name: Arthur Joseph Curry
• Age: Early 30s
• Height: 6’1”
• Weight: 325 lbs
• Founding member of the Justice League
• Monikers: King Arthur, Orin, Dweller in the Depths, Waterbearer, The Dark Tide, Emperor Aquaman
• Teams: Justice League of America, Justice League Blue, All-Star Squadron, Atlantean Royal Family, Justice League Detroit, The Others
• First Appearance: More Fun Comics #73 (November, 1941)
• Likes: Hydrox cookies, beer, videos, The Lost City Of Atlantis movie, Jaws
• Dislikes: Magic the Gathering, flying, vodka, the internet, climate change
• Was a sketch on The Conan O’Brien Show before people knew he was real
• Has a show in the year 2076
• Doesn’t know what a Namor is

What does it mean to be caught between two worlds? To feel like you’re being tossed to and fro on the waves of uncertainty, constantly searching for your place in life? It’s a path only the strong can tread, and sometimes that path leads into the embrace of the ocean. In such a vast global biosphere, life can be found in all manner of forms; fish who swim in pods, eels that sting, whales that sing, and most strangely, people like you and me. Over 7,000 feet beneath the sea, the civilization of Atlantis dwells. It is one of Earth’s oldest nations, and it remains a mystery to all who seek out its existence. Would it ever be discovered? Would it ever reunite with the world on the surface? One could say they did reunite many years ago on a stormy night on the shores of Amnesty Bay, Maine.

Tom Curry was a humble lighthouse keeper that was in the midst of a terrible storm overseas known as the Raging Eye, when he would meet a young woman named Atlanna, and the two would fall in love shortly and give birth to a son that they named Arthur Curry. Despite being happy for a time, Atlanna could not stay with her new family, as her Atlantean royalty meant Arthur would be at risk to the enemies of Atlantis, leaving Tom to raise the child on his own. Arthur showed from an early age that he had inherited his mother’s gifts, particularly the ability to breathe underwater when his father found him playing with a sea turtle in the water. Tom did his best to help his son live a normal human life, teaching him all he knew as the boy grew up.

It wasn’t long before others knew of the gifts Tom’s son had, and Dr. Stephen Shin, a doctor desperate to prove Atlantis exists, wanted to expose a phial of Arthur’s blood to the public to prove so, hiring a mercenary known as Black Manta to find that phial in Arthur’s home. Manta’s attempt was unsuccessful, but the attack caused Tom to have a heart attack, and he would die in the hospital, leaving the now young man Arthur enraged. In seeking out Black Manta for revenge, he too had taken a life, killing Manta’s father by accident, having believed him to be Manta.

Despite this mistake made, Arthur tried to do good in the world, acting as a protector to Boston. After meeting a costumed hero named the Flash, Arthur decided to make his hero identity known to the world as Aquaman! By this point, Aquaman was a member of the Justice League after helping them defeat Darkseid and his army of Parademons, and had fallen in love with the Xebellian rebel known as Mera, who was originally sent to kill him. Arthur’s first impression of Atlantis wasn’t the greatest, as he met a young exiled boy from the continent who was thrown out for his purple eyes. Arthur took in the young lad as a protege, and this boy, named Garth, would go on as Aqualad, eventually becoming a member of the Teen Titans. All seemed well for Arthur, until it was time for him to finally go to Atlantis.

Arthur’s half-brother, Orm, also known as Ocean Master, ruled Atlantis with an iron fist. Orm was quick to launch a full-scale invasion of Atlantis onto the surface world when the US government attacked its general area, and Arthur tried to resolve the conflict peacefully. Deep down though, Arthur didn’t want the responsibility of the king, and believed Atlantis would spit him out for his half-Atlantean heritage.  When the Justice League got involved, his duties as a superhero were put up against his duties to Atlantis. But in the end, Arthur beat Orm in single combat, usurping the throne for himself to become the new King of Atlantis.

As King of Atlantis, Arthur would have a son of his own with Mera named Arthur Curry Jr., and his multitasking…wasn’t the best. Trying to manage his family, his time on the Justice League, and the political responsibilities as a monarch was proving to be challenging, especially when enemies of Atlantis made themselves known, such as the Dead King or the ravenous Trench. But where many enemies attacked Atlantis, one enemy wanted Arthur himself; Black Manta. Kidnapping the king’s infant son, Manta forced Arthur to fight Garth in order to save Aquababy from suffocating in an encased globe of air. Though the heroes broke out of Manta’s arena, they were too late to save Arthur Jr. from suffocating, and the baby died. Driven by anguish and revenge, Arthur pursued Manta, forgetting who he was as he nearly killed his nemesis, but his ideals as king reminded him of who he was, and instead had him arrested. Unfortunately, his ideals as king weren’t enough to save Arthur’s relationship with Mera from collapsing, and Mera nearly killed her husband for not being there for her when it was needed most, especially for the funeral of his own son. His revenge against Manta got in the way of the grief of his wife, and their relationship crumbled away.

With Mera returning to her home dimension, Arthur sat on a lonely throne. Despite returning to active duty as a superhero, things never got any easier. He lost his hand to a swarm of piranhas after a battle with the terrorist Charybdis, and spiraled into a depression over the death of his son. When wanting to engage in public affairs with the United Nations, his people resented him, and proclaimed lots of hatred for surface dwellers. On land, people thought he was a joke, the laughing stock of the Justice League, and any attempt to get people to take him seriously only made people fear him more. Despite brushing it off, it deeply bothered Arthur to be seen as a weak man who only talks to fish. And everything he did to help Atlantis only seemed to make it worse. At one point, Aquaman nearly gave his life to protect his home from the mighty Imperiex, launching himself and Atlantis thousands of years back in time as a result. Despite this predicament being fixed, Aquaman was put on trial for crimes against his people, and the throne of Atlantis was no longer his.

Now with no throne at all, Arthur had to fight a different kind of battle. Crown or no crown, was he capable of protecting anyone at all? Did he even want to? Land nor sea would treat him with respect, and through extensive journaling to battle his spiraling depression, Arthur lived in isolation, struggling to find purpose. Who was he really? For a time, he didn’t know. And it took an even stranger turn when he not only didn’t know, but he forgot who he was. After defeating the Death Kraken and saving the Earth from drowning, Aquaman washed up on shore as a man with no memory of his identity named Andy.

Free from expectations of a hero, husband, or king, Andy naturally became a protector to the people of Unspoken Island, even defending them from the ancient sea goddess Namma. Through this battle, Arthur’s memories returned to him in a confrontation with Mother Shark, who held Aquaman’s entire life before him. Once again, Arthur was forced to confront everything that he had hoped to escape from; the death of his son, the separation with his wife, and the call to action to save Atlantis. Through his time as Andy, Arthur was refined with wisdom about the pain of his past, and realized that he didn’t have anything to prove in regards to being fit as a hero or king, and his ability to endure pain was not what made him strong…it was his ability to continue to be caring despite it. His willingness to put his life down for people who have hated him his whole life for one reason or another was a constant in his life, not just for surface dwellers or Atlantean, but all who dwell in the ocean, as shown when he nearly died stopping the Death Kraken to save the entire Earth from drowning in death. All this time, he still defended those who could not defend themselves due to his love for both sides of his heritage.

Aquaman and Mera eventually reconciled. For so long, Arthur had believed he had failed his family, and Mera carried her own grief and anger over the loss of Arthur Jr. for so long alone, and their reunion helped the pain feel easy and light. Together with their allies, it didn’t take long to retake the throne of Atlantis from Corun Rath, where Aquaman and Mera would rule side by side as king and queen. Together, they once again had a child, this time a daughter named Andrina Curry. Aquaman was now given a second chance at fatherhood, and instead of being gripped with fear of losing her, he saw his baby girl as someone worth loving even if there was always a risk of losing them. To Aquaman, a true protector was no longer defined by the crown he wears, nor does he need one to justify his actions.

His role as a king and hero were far from over however, and it would soon grow beyond Atlantis and the planet itself. After years of being connected to the ocean, Arthur was called upon to become the Avatar of the Blue, a fulfillment of the prophecy of the Dark Tide crashing upon the shore of the enemy. With this newfound godlike power, Arthur’s ambition to unite his two worlds was reignited, as now he had worlds without numbers to look after, but this also means the threats coming for Atlantis were from the stars as well. His desire to serve and to protect despite this is the transformation that comes with being one with the ocean. He was a boy raised in a lighthouse, caught between land and sea all his life, and now, he acts as the bridge between this, for this is the life Aquaman wants for all his people. So, what does it mean to be caught between two worlds? To stand tall as the lighthouse that guides voyagers home when the waters and storms arise, to come back home just as Arthur Curry came home to those he loves and protects.

Experience & Skill

Growing up, Aquaman’s whole life was centered around training to utilize the heritage of his mother. By 18 months old, Aquaman learned how to swim. As a toddler, Aquaman used a sharp piece of coral to fight off a shark, being smart enough to target his sensitive nose and eyes. As a boy, Aquaman’s dad would train him for 10 hours a day, refining his skills, improving his physicality, and gaining full command of his physical and mental power. He learned how to use his marine telepathy with the help of Dr. Stephen Shin, and it’s implied that part of his training at age 13 was just being dropped in the Trench. Youch! Fortunately, his father made sure he lived a normal human life as well, and Arthur went to high school and college. When he was imprisoned in Atlantis for a time, he spent much time learning under Vulko.

At his core, Aquaman is the King of Atlantis. In terms of the sheer scope of his role as king, Aquaman looks over 15,000 submarine states. Atlantis’s military is stated to be the fiercest military on Earth, and the nation of Atlantis is an entire continent that has technology far more advanced than any on Earth. This comes with many responsibilities, as Aquaman acts as an ambassador for Atlantis, and was present as their diplomat when presenting the nation to the United Nations as a global leader, granting him diplomatic immunity. In the semiannual occasions when Atlantis is under siege, Aquaman is usually the one rallying the troops with his skill and experience, such as when he needed to raid Thierna Na Oge, a stronghold of Atlantean sorcery, or when he launched a large scale invasion against the Gil’Dishdans. Though he’s been dethroned a handful of times, Aquaman will always be the King of Atlantis, and many distant futures revere Aquaman for his leadership, which has raised Atlantis out of the sea. And the army of Atlantis will always be ready to stand behind Aquaman.

Outside of Atlantis, Aquaman has led his own iterations of the Justice League such as the Justice League of Atlantis, a team composed of Tempest, Mera, Arion the Immortal, and Power Girl. And even his allies recognize his leadership capabilities. Superman has called him a natural leader, and Maxima called Aquaman the greatest king on the planet. His leadership and courage has even been recognized by the Anti-Monitor, who allied with Aquaman to send him back to 1941 to help Flash and John Stewart find a shard of the Totality. Arion the Immortal says that Aquaman has the blood of a king and the soul of a warrior. Aquaman’s career as a superhero has also made him into a great mentor, as shown by his mentorship to Garth, who says Arthur is a great mentor. He also mentored Naomi and Jackson Hyde, the second Aqualad. And of course, being affiliated with the ocean means Aquaman can easily teach people how to swim, or teach his fish how to perform circus tricks. He’s more than happy to show off his acrobatics with the seals.

In his early days, Arthur frequently used the environment to his advantage, such as using seaweed to patch up wounds or to hide himself, and splashes water on his old enemy Black Jack as a distraction to steal his gun. He’s also good at exploiting the weaknesses of enemies, such as when he brought a horde of Fire Trolls to fight the Frost King, using nearby wires to shock Black Manta and a water hose to cool off Clayface. He can fashion seaweed lassos and throw rocks, both with “unerring aim”, and he was able to redirect a shot from a cannon that can blast things into the fourth dimension, by swimming fast enough to create a whirlpool that sends the cannon shot back at the enemy ship. He lured an enemy named Noble into a room with a thermal generator that has enough power to kill a humpback whale, electrocuting him. Aquaman frequently employs his animals to help with his plans, often using their unique features to his advantage such as using whale blowholes to propel himself up a cliff, or stabbing a shark to trigger a shark feeding frenzy to attack Black Manta. If someone’s unfortunate enough to have not heard of Aquaman he also takes advantage of this, goading the Giant-Borns into explaining where they came from and even fooled Hercules himself by begging not to be dropped in the water or else he’ll drown, which obviously reinvigorates him.

As a king, being a tactician and strategist is important, and Aquaman shows this time and time again. With his knowledge of Greek Mythology, Aquaman actually let himself get killed by Poseidon’s son Tritonis, in order to go to the underworld to bargain with Hades to release Poseidon, returning the God of the Sea safely to mortality. He tracked a dropoff car by hooking Swamp Thing’s hand onto the back of the car so Alec can track it. When on the trail of a murderer in Atlantis, he rigged a Waynetech gun with two darts, one poisonous and one not, anticipating the killer would shoot him with the second shot to catch them. A major precaution Aquaman took many years ago was writing down the Atlantean War Plans, which were documentations of everyone on the surface who would be a threat to a hypothetical Atlantean world takeover, such as Batman. Batman himself has said he never underestimated Arthur despite the world underestimating him.

Aquaman has fought no shortage of deadly opponents, and his experience truly shows here. By nature of the seas he protects, most of them end up being large sea creatures! He’s been slaying aquatic monsters since he was a boy, from ancient Plethiosaurs to the Karaqan to the Kraken itself. He’s fought entire armies and guerillas, bestial marauders, gorillas, robots, aliens, gods, and everything in between. By his own words, he’s fought millennium gods, destroyers of worlds, and insane megalomaniacs. He’s seen many battles in his days and has fought wars that have made history, and has straight up stopped wars by just showing up, or with threats of his span over the seven continents. Having been a member of the Justice League since year one, he has faced down many of their worst and most deadly enemies such as Shaggy Man, the Dominators, Chemo, Amazo, and Darkseid. Though his success against them individually isn’t always the best, Aquaman proves he knows how to win fights against impossible enemies, such as when the Shaggy Man was putting the hurt on him, so he used the Watchtower’s teleporters to teleport the Shaggy Man into space.

Aquaman’s skill is not to be underestimated either, as he is one of the greatest fighters on the side of the law. He frequently spars with other Atlanteans and has taken fencing lessons. Being in the Justice League, he’s been trained by Huntress and Batman, even applying some of Batman’s tricks by disarming guards and taking their weapons. He routinely faces against Black Manta and has bested Thanatos, who is a “master of arms”. His wife Mera is a Xebellian, who often compete in ritualistic combat, and the king and queen have gone toe-to-toe before, with Arthur admitting they have predicted each other’s moves for years. To become King of Atlantis, he had to fight his half-brother Ocean Master, who has been training from advanced Atlantean military school since the age of eight. He’s fought and bested Cheshire, who was described as the most dangerous, lethal, savage woman alive. Against stronger opponents, his strategy is usually to outmaneuver them and eventually force a knockout, such as against the King of Beasts. Against groups of opponents, Aquaman fought Kraken, Honsu, and Dardanus at once, even blocking an attack from behind without looking, and took on a team of Atlantis’ most highly trained warriors and beat them all. Most recently in the D.C. K.O. story, Aquaman fought and defeated Hawkman in two rounds, who has been a warrior throughout many generations.

On the ocean front, Aquaman is the guy to talk to for all things ocean. For reference, the ocean is 97% of the global biosphere, their average depth is 2.5 miles and their maximum depth is more than 7 miles, covering 128,000 square miles of the planet’s surface, or about ⅔ of it. And Aquaman says he knows every inch of this ocean, down to each reef and rock to hide under. Aquaman is easily able to identify lesser or unknown species of fish, down to its inner workings, where it came from, and what it ate. He frequently acts as a medical assistant to injured sea creatures, and can perform artificial respiration to save someone from drowning. Aquaman’s travel around the other means he’s smart enough to speak several languages. First and foremost, he knows and understands ancient Atlantean, his native language. He understands sign language and can speak Mandarin, Phoenician, Scandinavian, and Russian. It also means he knows many sovereign customs such as Gorilla City. He can also understand more alien languages such as the residents of Kooey Kooey Kooey.

Lastly, Aquaman is very smart when it comes to understanding architecture, technology, literature, and science. In his early days, he built an undersea sound system by synchronizing his shell-speaker to his amplifier to let him pick up any dangers happening on the surface. He can build boats and helped rebuild Atlantis, helped construct the Hellbat, and contributed to the building of the Watchtower. In fact, when the Watchtower was destroyed and had to be rebuilt, Aquaman was able to hack into and recreate the entire Justice League database despite lots of said files being lost in the destruction. In the science department, he developed a poisonous formula for dealing with jellyfish infestations. And he knows how to pickpocket security guards.

Equipment

The Trident of Poseidon

Aquaman’s signature weapon, the Trident of Poseidon was gifted to Arthur from the Sea God himself, as a thank you for rescuing Poseidon from the Underworld of Hades. Forged by the primordial Cyclopes, the Trident, along with other mythical weapons like Zeus’s lightning bolts, were key in the victory of the Olympians over Cronus and the Titans. This unbreakable three-pronged golden weapon is an incredibly powerful tool, as it is magical in nature, being able to bring Mera back to life with its power and destroy magic barriers like the Crown of Thorns, an impenetrable barrier surrounding the capital city of Poseidonis. For defense against magic, it can redirect magic blasts. It’s able to act as a conduit for even greater magics, as Mera was able to enhance it with the Tear of Extinction, which can erase Gods from existence, or channel the Speed Force through it to break the entire planet out of mind control.

Its power is also measured up well against other enchanted weapons, such as being able to clash with Wonder Woman’s sword or Ocean Master’s trident, and it’s durable enough to block arrows. It’s worth noting however that Aquaman somewhat relies on his Trident for raw power, as it was suggested by him that despite his new powers, Aquaman could not kill the evil god Dagon with his bare fists, and that he needed his Trident. A few of its latent powers are being able to emit shockwaves, shoot energy beams, generate forcefields that shield from Speed Force explosions, and manipulate water to a limited degree, being able to surround enemies with balls of water.

The Trident of Poseidon has skewered through a variety of foes across land and sea, from your every day N.E.M.O. submarine to other Atlanteans to legendary sea creatures such as the Trench or Dead Water. It’s also stabbed through notably durable aliens such as the Timeless, Kryptonians and White Martians. In terms of heavy hitters the Trident has sunk its prongs into the Olympian, a being who took down Martian Manhunter, Ocean Master, Black Manta, the Shaggy Man, and the Abyssal King-possessed Colum Rath, the source of all Atlantean magic, which forced the Abyssal King out of Colum Rath’s body. It’s even gone through Darkworld’s hand, an ancient evil that can manifest its thoughts into reality and generate black holes.

Recently, the Trident of Poseidon was taken back by Poseidon himself in Emperor Aquaman #20, and his new weapon will be discussed below in his Avatar of the Blue state. For the sake of this blog we’ll treat it as standard to normal Aquaman, but not to current Aquaman.

Poseidon’s Blessing (Formerly)

In the struggle against the secret sorcerer nation of Thule, Aquaman was given Poseidon’s Blessing, which gave him a slew of new abilities. Unfortunately, Aquaman relinquished these abilities shortly after the war, but it’s worth the mention anyways;

• Shapeshifting: The Trident can turn into a short blade.
• Cryokinesis: Can summon shards of ice, freeze water that’s restraining him, and freeze Atlanteans from the arm up.
• Lightning Creation: Aquaman can fire lightning bolts so powerful, they turned a building to ashes and took down Atlantis’ most skilled warriors with a lightning strike. Interestingly enough, Aquaman used lightning against the Scavenger even after having no more blessings of Poseidon, though other powers have not been shown.
• Earth Manipulation: Raised stone pillars out of the ground to keep people from drowning. Stated to have control over wind and storm as well.
• Teleportation: Can teleport from the Amazon to Missouri and his royal bedroom in Atlantis. He needs concentration when teleporting though, otherwise he’ll end up in an unknown destination. Was able to teleport to Thule, an alternate reality.
• Bane-Field Resistance: Aquaman was protected from the poisonous bane-field of the Thule, which are waves of aggressive necrosis mystically engineered to rot through worlds
• Magic Resistance: Aquaman was also shielded from three Thule sorcerer’s magic blasts.
• Reality Destroying: When Aquaman poured all of Poseidon’s magic and blessings into the heart of Thule, it completely poisoned it, reversing the bane-field effects and destroying Thule altogether, which is stated to be an alternate “world” that has overtaken other worlds that rips into reality across Earth, the Moon, and Themyscira.

Thalissa the Trilance Saber

Made by Arion the Immortal and the Lady of the Lake, Thalissa the Trilance Saber is Aquaman’s most recent weapon, made from his own blood and some mystic energies that is bound to Arthur’s soul. Similarly to the Trident of Poseidon, it is incredibly powerful thanks to the magic energies flowing within it, being able to break magic binds and cleave through swords, ships, and hordes of mercenaries on its first spin around the block. Arthur has noted that the saber is as light as the water he swims in, and that he moves before he can think of what to do like an innate reaction. It’s incredibly durable, being able to block Superman’s heat vision, and its incredible strength can clash against the Trident of Poseidon when wielded by the Sea God himself.

Costume

Despite looking like a silly costume, Aquaman’s outfit is surprisingly useful. It’s composed of scale armor and chainmail that is consistently bulletproof, being able to tank all manner of gunfire like shotguns, and it’s thick enough to stop tridents from fully piercing into his skin. According to Mera, this armor was forged by Haethmos in the third century A.D. His gloves are also bulletproof, and are made of a waterproof material similar to neoprene.

On his belt, he has a Justice League communicator, courtesy of S.T.A.R. Labs that can send a signal to the Moon, though it takes 8-9 hours. It can also be handheld, and generate a three-dimensional holographic map of the area, but Arthur’s stupid ass dropped it in the ocean. The belt-buckle can also be used as a lightning rod to shock a petrodactyl and has a teleporter.

Shell of Sounds

Given to him by his mother Atlanna, the Shell of Sounds is an ancient Atlantean relic that can transmit messages via telepathy, and is imbued with Atlanna’s essence.

Stealth Suit

A gift to Arthur, Aquaman has a stealth suit imbued with magical properties that allow him to hide from his enemies.

Atlantean Armor

During the storyline of Our Worlds At War, Aquaman dons golden Atlantean armor to face off against the mighty Imperiex, being able to tank the eyebeams of an Imperiex Probe.

Atlantean Submarine

Similarly to how Batman doesn’t need to walk over all of Gotham, who says Aquaman has to always swim around the ocean? Sometimes a nice little submarine cruise is the way to go.

Atlantean Communicator

Aquaman has a device that lets him communicate with his Atlantean military and their seacrafts.

Waynetech Gear

Aquaman’s connections with Batman has gotten him some nifty gear for dealing with underwater threats in less conventional methods. Bruce gave Arthur a device that can dampen the Eel’s telekinetic powers by 99%, and a dart gun that fires darts tipped with Shk, which is sea anemone venom that causes temporary paralysis.

Portable Flamethrower

Carries a portable flamethrower, which melts solid water back into liquid…why does he call it solid water isn’t that just ice-

Cosmic Rod

A recent finding of his in the D.C. K.O. tournament, Aquaman fought Firestorm for a cosmic rod, one of the most powerful weapons in their universe. He hasn’t done anything with it yet though.

Kevlar Vest

When going on land, Aquaman used to wear a kevlar vest made out of water to protect him from bullets where his weakened skin couldn’t handle it.

Scuba-Gear

When battling the sea creature Dead Water, Aquaman harnessed himself scuba-gear, due to being unable to breathe in its otherness water, which is the layer of H2 Point O.

Hydration Suit

When in the desert, Aquaman has access to a hydration suit to compensate for the lack of water nearby, stimulating fluid productions within his prosta-glandins.

Wealth

Aquaman himself says he gets by with treasures and riches. But…just how much? Well, he can take care of millions of dollars worth of property damage…with just a treasure chest. He once gave a woman enough money to put her two kids through college…with just two golden coins. Later in the New 52, it is revealed that Aquaman has access to an estimated $60,000,000,000 in treasure across millions of shipwrecks.

Justice League Identification Card

Allows Aquaman to access the Watchtower as a teleport key.

Metropolis Snow Globe

Superman’s Christmas present to Arthur!

Former Weapons

The Trident of Neptune

Oddly enough, Aquaman has wielded two tridents throughout his history. It’s a bit confusing to be honest but yes this is not the same as the Trident of Poseidon. In the Post-Crisis continuity, it is implied that this trident was used on a single occasion to fight the Imperiex Probe, being able to stab through its body armor. In the New 52, this eight-foot long trident is one of the Seven Treasures of Atlantis used by the former King of Atlantis, Atlan.

Unlike the Trident of Poseidon, there isn’t any magic or enchantments to be found in this one, and acts more as a symbol of Atlantean royalty. That being said, it can still affect magic, being able to shatter magical ice from Graves and repel magic blasts, or act as a catalyst to open a Rune Stone, a doorway to another location/dimension such as Atlantean Hell or Gorilla City. Mera even says a number of magic users would kill to get ahold of the trident. And it’s still a very capable weapon when it comes to skewering foes, being able to stab through sea monsters like the Karaqan. It’s broken through bulletproof armor, Black Manta’s armor, Talons, Martian Manhunter, Parademons, and even the eye of Darkseid. It’s also durable enough to survive getting shot out of an Atlantean cannon I guess?

Harpoon Hand

In a battle with the terrorist Charybdis, Aquaman unfortunately lost his hand to a swarm of piranhas, and he was quickly gifted a new harpoon hand, the first iteration of a few of Aquaman’s replacement hands. Arthur made a request to Vulko that his new hand should be as invulnerable as possible, and it certainly does a good job, as it can tank Black Manta’s laser point-blank. It stabbed through Deathblow and Gole and Jaffer, members of Darkseid’s aquatic team of the Deep Six. This first hand didn’t last long though, as it was melted down by Kako.

Bionic Prosthetic Hand

The second hand of Arthur’s after losing his default harpoon hand. This one is now a shiny gold, cybernetically attached to Aquaman’s thoughts and will. It has a variety of features such as a retractable grappling hook that can steal Green Lantern’s ring off of him and bring down ceilings, a drill that can go through rock, and a lasso for roping or choking opponents. Sometimes, Aquaman hides his cybernetic hand with a fake hand that has a rigged explosion to it for an unwelcome surprise. At one point it received another upgrade with more shapeshifting properties, being able to take any shape he envisions like spear-shaped blades, based on regenerative biology.

This one is even tougher than the last, being able to break through rope, shields, energy whips, and swords and even stab through a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Like his Tridents, it’s got some piercing power against sea monsters such as mutant whale sharks, Tiamat, or Cerebrus, the three-headed dog guarding the gates of Hell. It’s also got some blunt force, being able to stun Maxima. Due to being made of metal however it is very vulnerable against those who can manipulate it, such as Doctor Polaris. Its time came to an end when Arthur willingly took it off his arm when it had a rigged explosive charge in it, courtesy of S.T.A.R. Labs.

Waterbearer Hand

After barely escaping execution at the hands of Atlantis, Arthur found the Secret Sea and met the Lady of the Lake, who deemed him her Waterbearer and gave him an all-new magical hand. This hand responds to Aquaman’s every thought, being able to molecularly change to strengthen its physical tension, but using it in anger weakens the Lady of the Lake. Its main abilities are as followed:

• Water Absorption: He can absorb water onto his body like a hungry sponge, and use this offensively, such as when he split the ocean like Moses. He can also pull oxygen out of water and pass it onto people, though it can only be done with two people at a time.
• Power Amplification: Can amplify his telepathy to new levels.
• Resurrection: Can resurrect the dead with this hand.
• Clairvoyance: Able to see visions of events currently happening in the present from afar.
• Magic Negation: The Waterbearer hand can undo and negate magic. When fighting Roduun, Aquaman was able to break down his armor, which was protected by Atlantean sorcery, nullifying its magical defenses. It also deflated the dark sorcery of a necro-monstrosity. Can undo an astral spell cast by Tempest.
• Dimensional Travel: With the usage of visions, Aquaman was able to enter the Secret Sea, which is stated to be an ocean of pure possibility where ideas, not forms, exist, and physical bodies are left, and a spiritual place filled with visions of the future, where past, present, and future blend and swirl in a dizziness of pure potential. It is a metaphysical domain where all ideas exist in a primal ocean of shared imagination. To access this Secret Sea, one must swim into the crevices of the soul itself, and by focusing his telepathy, Arthur can open doorways to it with ease. As Arthur describes it, swimming in the Secret Sea is where instead of swimming in water, they are swimming in everything anyone ever will or has imagined, and they see gods like Apollo and even heroes like Batman and Superman, acting as representatives of humanity’s essential framework of ideas. Aquaman and Aqualad are part of the world’s collective memory, and magic does not work in the waters.
• Healing: When entering the Secret Sea, Arthur automatically heals all wounds. It can also heal the wounds of others, being able to heal lacerations, shattered bones, and burns. It was able to heal Black Manta of his…uhhhh…uhhhh…UHHHHHHHHHHH…
• Telepathic Link: The Waterbearer hand can separate from Arthur’s body, and he can telepathically communicate with his hand, even when he’s asleep.
• Enhanced Senses: Can sense the spiritual dimension of water flowing through poisons, which is described as the purest essence of life itself.
• Construct Creation: The hand can morph itself into any shape, such as a mace.
• Regeneration: After getting shot through the hand, it was able to regenerate itself particle by particle.
• Fusion: The Lady of the Lake can become one with the Waterbearer hand and Arthur.

The Waterbearer hand came to an end when Aquaman made a deal with the Sea Gods for more power to restore Sub Diego to San Diego, merging his waterbearer hand with his previous skeletal hand to cast a spell that raised San Diego out of the sea, restoring it to its former self. The cost of this? Aquaman became transformed into the Dweller of the Depths, a monstrous figure with great magical power (see Nonstandard Forms).

Abilities

Atlantean Hybrid Physiology

Aquaman is part Atlantean, which are an offshoot part of humanity that are biologically adapted to live in the ocean. The other part of him is obviously human, making Aquaman one of the world’s first hybrids capable of breathing air and water at the same time. Aquaman himself attributes his overall set of powers to his mother and heritage. Aquaman’s been able to breathe underwater since he was a baby, and he can be immersed underwater basically forever without any ill effects or suffocation. Atlanteans have much denser molecular structures and muscle tissue than humans, allowing their bodies to adapt to the pressures of the ocean floor and heal faster than humans. According to Garth, Arthur is at his peak performance underwater. A unique part of their genetic makeup is their lungs, which are much more suited for breathing underwater, but also holding their breath if they need to. Aquaman can hold his breath for way longer than a human to avoid breathing in gas, and these lungs can function at 11,000 meters below sea level, where the water pressure is 16,000 lbs per square inch.

Superhuman Strength

Aquaman’s muscle density is ten times that of a normal human, and it’s been assumed that his muscles have been toughened by underwater pressure, and he himself says you need superhuman strength to throw a punch underwater. Interestingly, this makes Aquaman out of water much stronger, saying that several hundred pounds of cubic water pressure usually weigh him down, and that he is even stronger on land than even the strongest of peak humans. Obviously the conditions of being on land are dependent on water, admitting he would thrive better in a rainforest than a desert. With this strength, Aquaman has no code against killing, though there have been plenty of times where he holds back on inferior humans to not accidentally kill them.

With this strength, Aquaman has lifted up entire chunks of a city, cruise ships, and even pushed large sea walls underwater. In the water, his fights with legendary sea monsters have often been mistaken for sea quakes or depth charges, and he was able to stop the Dead King’s attempt to sink Atlantis with his scepter, physically stopping him from slamming the weapon onto the ground and sinking the continent. On land, his blows have generated shockwaves when punching Superman, clashed against Hercules, and sent Wonder Woman flying into a crane. With the Trident of Poseidon, he can strike with the force of every current on Earth.

Superman Speed

Due to his amphibious nature, Aquaman is an incredibly fast swimmer, capable of swimming in any of the harshest conditions water has to offer such as floods and tsunamis. He can easily swim up a stream of water such as the Niagara Falls. Like his strength, Aquaman is “swiftness itself when out of the sea” due to being accustomed to moving against water, saying that without water pressure, his reflexes are faster on land. When swimming, Aquaman mimics the style of a dolphin of propulsion through lower/full body motion, though he says his arm motions are sloppy habits. In rare cases where he isn’t swimming in water, Aquaman can still swim in more unideal scenarios, such as swimming through blood or even in zero-gravity.

Enhanced Durability

Being able to swim means Aquaman’s skin is insanely durable, being stated to have the hide of a walrus. His dense body structure can withstand changes in temperature and oceanic pressure, making him able to dive hundreds of feet or even three miles down into the deep abyss of the ocean without getting killed by water pressure. Though Atlanteans can also survive oceanic pressure, Arthur exhibits much stronger resistances, as he was capable of holding immense weight in prison restraints, which didn’t shred his body. This also increases his stamina, being able to survive in a desert for barely over an hour and fight off Nero’s constructs alongside the Justice League for three hours. When Green Arrow had Arthur’s powers, he was able to carry Arthur’s body for 40 miles straight. On land, Aquaman is far more durable than humans even without water, and attacks from enhanced humans like Deathstroke bounce right off his skin.

Aquaman has an interesting history against bullets. In earlier iterations of the New Earth continuity, it’s been stated that Aquaman is tough enough to turn away from small fire, with Black Manta saying Aquaman’s skin is “nearly bulletproof”. Aquaman has shrugged off bullets, but sometimes enough gunfire is enough to barely cut through his skin or draw blood. As time has gone by though, Aquaman’s gone unfazed from being shot at, and has implied that he won’t be harmed from being shot.

Night Vision

Another feature of Aquaman’s ability to traverse deep ocean waters is enhanced eyesight that is adapted to see in the dark. He has night vision that can traverse dark waters where even the most advanced of submarines can’t function where light isn’t present nor sunlight can penetrate. On land, his eyes can adjust to seeing in dark caves due to adjusting to ocean darkness, and his eyes could see through smoke.

Water Rejuvenation

Being an Atlantean means that Aquaman needs water to survive, only it’s not just to drink like humans, but just being in water is needed due to being humans that primarily thrive and live in water. For Arthur, all he needs is contact with water to rejuvenate himself, saying that water boosts his strength as soon as it hits him. Being soaked with water heals his wounds and replenishes his life’s blood. Any type of water is a viable option, be it sprinklers, rain, or even steam, though it isn’t as effective as liquid water.

Water isn’t the only viable method of replenishment however, as Aquaman can use other liquids to regain his strength. The main one of course is blood, which has the same composition of water and even contains 97% of water. Milk is also able to replenish his strength.

Super-Leaping

As is with his speed, Aquaman’s mobility outside of the water is astounding, being able to leap over tall buildings or out of the water with ease. Early on in his career, his leaping wasn’t as good, usually needing speed, momentum, and water to jump onto airplanes, and on land, he could only clear a 10 foot electric pole fence. Soon, he was able to leap across buildings. According to the DEO, various JLA websites, and other reputable sources, Aquaman can leap 60 feet out of the water. One time, Green Lantern’s ring was about to shut down, so Aquaman had to perform a depth to air leap of 10,000 feet per second at full range, coming directly up from 20,000 feet. This weakened him, as even with his tough skin, he couldn’t stop nitrogen bubbles foaming in his blood.

Eventually, Aquaman’s leaping broke past these limitations. He could leap while carrying a corpse of the Trench with him, leap onto enemy ships from the desert ground, and jump over shots from aerial Atlantean crafts. The White House once mistook Aquaman’s super-leaping for flying, as he was able to leap from Washington D.C. to the Potomac River, which flows from West Virginia to Maryland. In a similar instance, he could leap across Manhattan, New York.

Enhanced Senses

Aquaman’s senses are on another level, and each of his six senses has been enhanced to beyond normal human capabilities. In terms of sensing, his sonar abilities have alerted him to a sniper from another building, sense disturbances in the tide, detect incoming foes, sense the death of Atlan, sense movement in the dark while blind, sense organic minds, detect someone’s presence in the ocean via bio-signatures, and unfortunately, he feels the death of sea life even from far away. He can even sense life within a pool at the microscopic level. Most impressively, Aquaman could hear his dimension’s ocean screaming despite being in the Blood Reef, the realm of the Sea Gods.

He also has super hearing, and while it may not be as long-ranged as Superman’s, it’s pretty nifty. He can hear Deathstroke’s heartbeat, could hear police sirens from the harbor, hear high-pitched whale screaming, heard Jim Gordon screaming despite him being underwater, hear drones and aircrafts in the sky, and can hear the heartbeat of an Atlantean inside of a sunken submarine. While he himself has not shown super smelling, he should be comparable to his brother Ocean Master, who can smell the poisons in the air and taste the toxins humans breathe.

Marine Telepathy

Arguably Aquaman’s most talked about, underrated, laughed at, and fascinating ability all in one, Aquaman has the ability to directly communicate with sea life telepathically, and has been doing so practically his whole life. He can communicate with, summon, and command all sorts of animals, such as sharks, whales, dolphins, octopi, whale sharks, swordfish, narwhals, bull whales, porcupine fish, blue whales, humpback whales, orcas, giant squid, jellyfish, luminous fish, and albatrosses. The range of this telepathy covers all bodies of water on Earth, being able to send a telepathic message across the entire ocean for 24 hours. It reaches to all continents such as Antarctica and ocean wide, as there is an untold amount of marine life per square mile.

It’s an ability that in the public eye, has been perceived as a joke, often associating Arthur with just riding on the backs of swordfish, orca whales, or giant seahorses, and in and out of universe it is built upon many misconceptions that has made Aquaman’s reputation laughable. One of the first common misconceptions is Aquaman tells fish what to do with exact obedience. Aquaman has debunked this misconception himself multiple times, saying that he does not command fish, they just choose to listen to him. He can talk to them and give them commands or suggestions, but they are still independent. Further elaboration on the telepathic aspect of it is Arthur emits telepathic waves that reach into the midbrains to push fish to help them, and sometimes it simply depends on the sea creature; a guppy may easily obey his command, but a dolphin may be difficult and argue. One big misconception on marine life itself is that they are not intelligent enough to generate meaningful dialogue, which isn’t true.

With this in mind, Aquaman’s grown stronger in his usage of marine telepathy. In the past, Aquaman could only really summon a few fishy friends at a time, and anything over a platoon or horde of sea fish could overtax Arthur. When Giant Jellyfish invaded Atlantis, Aquaman reached out to so many sea animals that he got a bloody nose and went unconscious, even though it destroyed the Giant Jellyfish. With his embracing of his heritage and increase in telepathic power however, Aquaman quickly made that type of command second nature. One time he faced a being named Kingu, who claimed to be the sea itself, being made up of the ocean from every small part in its entirety, and Aquaman was able to call every sea creature in range to his location with his telepathic voice to beat him. He’s also bested Kordax, who grew so powerful he too could command all sea life, but Aquaman’s telepathy was called mightier than his, and he reached out to sea life with all six senses, being able to feel the pain of a dolphin give birth, the ecstasy of whales making love, and the helplessness of shrimp getting caught in a net, becoming “at one” with all sea life. Even this wasn’t considered his upper limit, as one time, he reached out to sea life like he never has before, reaching out with fear of a contagious oil affecting the environment.

On Arthur’s end, communicating with fish gives him access to a lot of neat tricks. He can read the thoughts and memories of all fish, sense primal emotions, sense if their minds are living or zombified, hear telepathic cries of distressed fish in a region, and receive thoughts with certain intelligence levels. Emotionally, he can make a shark as calm as a tadpole. And yet, Aquaman treats his fishy friends as equals when it comes to working together, and his marine telepathy isn’t strictly business. He has many iconic aquatic buddies that are his friends such as Topo the Octopus, Mr. and Mrs. Tusky the Walrus, Maruice the Fish, Cron the Shark, Beluga the Orca, Sheymo the Whale, Pakuul the Whale, and Bud and Sandy the Dolphins. Growing up he had a dolphin friend named Nera, who taught Arthur how to fish.

Types Of Sea Creatures
Aquaman Can Reach

Many may be wondering, what is the full extent of Aquaman’s ability to communicate with and command fish? Does it extend beyond Earth’s ocean? Surprisingly, yes it does! Aquaman’s connection to sea life is not just limited to Earth, and he has communicated with and commanded fish from many different types of waters. One reason for this is that Arthur has said that he can communicate with the ancient aquatic brain, which he used to sense the emotions that have taken over Ultraviolet John Stewart’s mind. Here is a list of other sea creatures Aquaman can communicate with/command;

Positive Showings

• Sea Birds: Can telepathically command seagulls to attack sea devils. He can also command other birds such as eagles.
• Sea Monsters: Aquaman is able to control legendary sea creatures and monsters. Commands giant sea horses to ride on. Aquaman made a connection with Karaqan and interfaced with its memories. Aquaman caused the serpent Tiamat to dissipate back into the ocean.
• Prehistoric/Ancient Fish: Growing up, Aquaman had a pleisosaur friend named Timmorn, and as an adult he can command most ancient fish. Aquaman is able to read Peli, a plesiosaur’s mind via direct contact and call out to her despite being asleep, something Arthur thought was impossible. Communicates with the fish of Abzu, an ancient Mesopotamian water burial ground. Asks an ancient sea creature to break Dolphin out of prison. Communicates with unknown sea creatures that look ancient/prehistoric. Somehow controls a prehistoric lake creature.
• Hybrid Sea Creatures: Telepathically controls half-human half-aquatic mutants to make them jump in the water. When Corum Rath was no longer King of Atlantis, Rath became more fish then human, so Aquaman commands him to leave.
• Giants: Aquaman tries and succeeds in communicating with Cerna, a giant, commanding him to drop the pod of whales in his hand. Commands aquatic Giant-Borns, the same race as Hercules.
• Intelligent Fish: Aquaman can command anthropomorphic talking fish such as Jabberjaw.
• Mutant Fish: Commands Ocean Master’s mutant sea creatures to stop biting humans.
• Alien Fish: Commands an alien fish, says it has enough of a cephalophodic brain to control. Communicated with a Durlan Sea-Claw, an alien sea creature (shown in the image above).
• Magic Fish: Can communicate with magic-land fish.
• Demonic Fish: Managed to take control of a demonic sea creature. Communicates with Creare, a sea devil from another world.
• Mythological Fish: Can command sea creatures thought only to exist in myth.
• Collective Beings: In the future, reefs are vast intelligences that are the largest creatures in the solar system, with a collective mind that stores more data than you can shake a langoustine at. Aquaman communicates with the revered reefs, asking for their help against the Kraken, and channels the empathic wave of the reefs through him to the Kraken. In another instance, Aquaman and Mera end up on Tethys, a sentient water planet, which somehow boosts Aquaman’s aquatelepathic link, and Mera says Aquaman can talk to Tethys with his telepathy.
• Red/White Blood Cells: I’m sorry how do these count exactly? When shrunken down into a man’s bloodstream, Aquaman is able to control the red and white corpuscles to form a defense barrier against Virus X and closes the valves leading to the man’s heart to trap Virus X on the other side.

Negative Showings

Note: Some of these are obviously outdated, and Aquaman has expanded his abilities in reaching all sorts of sea creatures, but these are worth the mention since it isn’t just showings of “he can’t”, but also showings of “he can do this, but he struggles sometimes”.

• Sea Monsters: Aquaman struggles to communicate with sea monsters such as the Kraken. Originally, Aquaman needed a magic conch to summon Topo, but was able to do so with his telepathy, but it caused Aquaman to bleed and pass out, going into a coma for six months. When trying to communicate with the Karaqan, it sent his mind elsewhere.
• Prehistoric/Ancient Fish: In the past, Aquaman has struggled to communicate with Plesiosaur due to being too prehistoric, with them hesitating but ultimately not budging. Some prehistoric sea creatures are impervious to Aquaman’s psychic coercion, believing them to be genetically engineered. Giant sea serpents of the past do not obey Aquaman’s commands. Could not communicate with fire trolls or a giant volcano squid.
• Hybrid Sea Creatures: Aquaman struggles to control hybrid sea animals, such as half-turtle half-batfish. Cannot control Nuliajuk’s eels since they’re attached to her body like Medusa.
• Mutant Fish: A mutated mindless sea creature ignores Aquaman’s commands. Mutant sharks don’t follow his orders. Aquaman’s commands can’t work on sea creatures affected by a mutating toxin. Could not communicate with a Source-infected Atlantean mutant. Has said that his powers have never worked on King Shark before. Struggled to communicate with Jeff the Shark.
• Intelligent Fish:. The Manhunter Jellyfish use feedback to repel Aquaman’s mental commands
• Alien Fish: Alien fish don’t respond to his telepathic orders. His telepathy doesn’t work on a Kraken, a creature from the planet Vekjor.
• Robot Fish: A robot octopus made by Vulko didn’t respond to Aquaman’s commands. Failed to reach out telepathically to robotic dolphins and sharks.
• Alternate Universe Fish: Aquaman is concerned his marine telepathy won’t work outside of his home dimension, and Naiad had to enhance his telepathy to achieve this, linking him to all of the sea life in Oceanid.
• Folklore Fish: Aquaman tries to communicate with an Umibozu, a Japanese sea Yokai but fails.
• Collective Beings: A collective being made of Coral doesn’t respond to Aquaman’s telepathy.
• Demonic Fish: Couldn’t control Scratch, a sea devil creature.

Commands

While Aquaman mostly asks fish for help, there are many occasions where Aquaman has to command sea life to obey him under threat of his wrath or when the situation is life or death. Lots of this is telling sharks to not eat his allies, such as telling sharks to not eat the Flash or a hammerhead shark to not eat a Parademon. As a young man, he stopped a great white shark from attacking him with his telepathy. He commanded jellyfish to tell the Coral to stop, told a mosasaur named Byss to stop killing, and calmed down the raging thoughts of a sea serpent. He sent a large octopus creature to Atlantis as a distraction but ordered it not to kill anyone. Mentally commanded a smaller mercury blob and school of fish to head towards a whirlpool. For more nice commands, he asks angler fish to light up the area, and has whales hand him his trident. When Green Arrow had Aquaman’s powers, he politely asked a school of deep sea fish to let them pass.

Saving People

Saving people from drowning or boats adrift is no easy task, especially for one man, so Aquaman has his pals help him out where he can to save people from the clutches of the sea. He frequently has dolphins rescue humans from lifeboats and carry them to shore safely or push them to the surface in air bubbles, but this can also be achieved with sea turtles and his buddy Ark the Seal. Sometimes he has to save his pals from own sea creatures, however, forcing an octopus to free Aqualad.

Navigation/Information Gathering

Another type of communication with fish is tracking and navigation. This often means Aquaman has his buddies scout ahead or use their unique abilities to locate a person, place, or thing. Sometimes the fish come to alert Aquaman of danger before he knows it, such as a little red fish telling Aquaman of men fighting on a yacht up ahead or fish in a tank telling Aquaman a bomb was planted in the floor. And his fish are pretty good at navigating the ocean, leading Aquaman to caves and ocean crevices, finding the location of his hologram clone via tuna’s psycho-electric field displays, or locating his infant daughter. A very useful fish for this occasion is an oarfish, known as the “messenger from the Sea-God’s place”, which are sensitive to pressure waves with frequencies below 50 hz, suggesting they can predict earthquakes, and they sense a huge ocean-quake caused by a tsunami that’ll wipe out the east coast.

Assisting Aquaman

Aquaman’s fish have been more than willing to help out Arthur himself, especially in his early days when he would get himself captured, knocked out, or restrained…a lot. He was able to break free of his restraints by using a rare sea creature and its fluid to attract dolphins to Aquaman to help him. In general, Aquaman calls upon many fish to free him from his restraints such as Tusky the Walrus, ramora fish, starfish, swordfish, and lobsters. They’ve also lent a hand in helping Arthur around the ocean, such as a pod of dolphins helping him dig up a sunken vessel from the bottom of the ocean. Sharks are also very good for interrogation.

Sea animals also make great getaway drivers, and they’ve helped Aquaman out of a pinch many times. He’s summoned swordfish and giant squid to help him escape the scene. Most importantly, fish have helped cover for many of Aquaman’s weaknesses, and have saved him from certain death many times. He’s been hit on the head by his pals to break out of amnesia, had drum fish emit vibrations to shatter Aquaman’s attacker, causing him to revert from glass, had electric eels absorb deadly electric rays from a torpedo ray to save Arthur, disarm Poseidon of his trident to break Arthur out of his telepathy, had eels short circuit a machine that placed him in mind control, and has seagulls bring him sponges filled with water to revitalize him.

Sea Creature Abilities

Another misconception about summoning sea creatures is they are pretty useless, which is just blatantly untrue. With over two million possible species of marine life, each has something to offer in unique ways, and Aquaman has summoned very particular sea animals for specific occasions to utilize the unique powers that they have for offense, defense, transportation, or fun. Here is a hefty list of Aquaman’s friends from the deep using their powers in unique ways;

• Whales:
  • Aligns a whale’s blowhole to angle up with the Sun’s heat rays to create a rainbow
  • Two whales make a gigantic wave to carry a boat over a reef
  • Has whales shoot water from their spouts to put out fires.
  • Whale uses its blowhole to splash a man with water
  • Diverts the water spout of a whale to hit a man on a boat
  • The backs of dozens of whales make a runway for a plane take-off
• Sharks:
  • Sharks can detect a drop of blood from a quarter mile away
  • Can sense hostility in Superman
• Electric Eels:
  • Heats his food via electric eels
  • Makes a lasso out of a bunch of interlocked electric eels
  • Uses electric eels to power a speaking device
  • Has electric eels disarm Black Jack’s crew of their guns, twice
  • Electric eels form a change that channels an electric charge into a metal wall
  • Uses a swarm of electric eels to make an electromagnetic field that a vat of chemicals cannot escape
  • A ton of electric eels create a collective charge to shoot a blast of electricity comparable to real lightning.
  • Short circuits a rampaging machine with electric eels.
• Octopi:
  • Uses an octopus as artillery and a manta ray as a parachute
  • Uses octopi as make-shift propellers for a boat
  • Summons an octopus and electric eel that shock Pikes and Rogan
  • Commands an octopus to squirt ink and write lines on a chalkboard
• Squid:
  • Has a colossal squid make a smoke screen with some ink
  • Summons squid to create an ink smoke screen so dolphins can take Deep Blue to safety
  • Uses miniature squid to plug holes in barrels to prevent water from getting in them
• Bioluminescent Fish:
  • Summons billions of phosphorescent little fishes to light up a shore near a lighthouse
  • Summons a lantern fish and luminous squid to provide light.
  • Uses a lantern fish like a flashlight.
  • Blinds an elephant via a school of luminous fish.
  • Gets bioluminescent fish to form the word “Amensty”
• Pufferfish:
  • A pufferfish assists Aquaman in poisoning a shark with a man’s face on it
  • Controlling pufferfish to bail water out of a flooded area.
• Blowfish:
  • Washes his hair with soap-spitting blowfish
  • Blowfish inhale frigid water from the south pole and then blow it out to freeze Myron, a giant creature, encasing him in ice.
• Sawfish:
  • A sawfish’s fin is a non-conductor of electricity, allowing it to cut the cables restraining a whale
  • Summons two sawfish to cut coral tree
• Plankton:
  • Summons an impenetrable cloud of plankton to serve as a pseudo-smokescreen.
  • As shown in the image above, Aquaman fills Eel’s body with plankton since he entered the water, saying they entered his body microscopically to attack him
• Groups of Fish:
  • Has numerous sea creatures construct a boat using lumber found in the ocean
  • Works together with electric eels, swordfish, and octopi to keep the Bon Homme Richard afloat by putting patches of grass around the holes
  • Rides a turtle and uses eels as ropes to go wakeboarding
  • Uses two manta rays to act as sails to prevent a boat from going into a whirlpool
  • Commands every sea creature within a mile to swarm Atlantis, creating a huge barrier with their sheer numbers
• Miscellaneous Fish:
  • Mera’s telepathy triggers an unused part of a bunch of dolphins’ brains, allowing them to discharge electricity like eels.
  • Disguises sea turtles as mines to fool sailors
  • Used a bunch of walruses to board a ship and lure everyone on it into the water
  • Communicates with a narwhal and has him dig through the mud to release oil
  • Utilizes airfish to blow air through hollow seaweed to the surface to pry a submarine out of the mud
  • Uses lobsters to cut through seaweed and squid to create an ink barrier
  • Uses horseshoe crabs that are immune to electricity to nullify the octopus-eel hybrid
  • Uses a giant clam to squeeze pigment from green plants.
  • Pops a hot air balloon with the quills of a sea porcupines
  • Uses moses sole fish to create a natural shark repellent from the toxin they emit
  • Communicates with surgeon fish, who have notably sharp scalpel spines, to cut Manta’s suit
  • Has a bunch of bottom feeder fish swarm Green Lantern’s forcefield. The bottom feeders’ skin protects them from the oceanic pressure in the depths they are at, protecting Green Lantern once his forcefield disappears.
  • Has a school of deep sea fish nibble at Shaggy Man’s “shag”, which converts all available light to energy. This completely shaves Shaggy Man and depowers him.
  • Summons dugongs to eat Swamp Thing and algae-eating fish to try and eat the creature in the Apo reef
  • Uses shoal fish to hide his presence
  • Aquaman calls upon krill to scatter Namma’s essence to prevent her from regenerating
  • Has sanitatem fish heal Batman’s wounds while he’s in a coma

Swarming Foes

Sometimes sea creatures make a good intimidation tactic, and Aquaman can summon swarms of sea creatures with the threat of being mauled. He can surround people with great white sharks, poisonous lionfish, electric eels, anglerfish, schools of small fish, giant squids, little crabs, giant lobsters, tiny lobsters, sea turtles, dolphins, piranhas (as shown above against Cheetah), and jellyfish. These sea life have overrun entire armies and helped him defeat many powerful enemies such as Ocean Master, the Maazrons, Dead King, Lantern constructs, Brutus, and the Manhunters. These fish often act as a barrier for Aquaman for a surprise punch.

Sea Creatures’ Strength

These sections will go over the strength, speed, and durability of marine life that Aquaman summons. One common misconception that has been a thing since the original Death Battle episode of Aquaman vs Namor is that Aquaman can use his marine telepathy to enhance the stats of his sea creatures, which…has no basis at all. That being said, many sea creatures have feats of harming pretty deadly enemies alongside Aquaman, so we’ll go over these feats and the consistency of them in the Weaknesses section:

• Whales:
  • Whales are capable of towing and pushing large ships
  • Can also hold up entire shifts with the weight of their bodies
  • A whale named Blubber bullrushes Noble
  • Commands whales to lift a freighter.
  • A humpback whale that knocks out Black Manta cold with its tail
  • Summons a pod of humpback whales to drag Batman’s submarine over 12 miles
  • A sperm whale spits out enough gold to start sinking a ship
  • A whale using all its strength budges an iceberg
  • Baby whales are able to tow boulders with ropes
  • Has whales use their water spouts to split up a huge tidal wave into thousands of little jets to break up the wave
  • A whale breaks through the hull of a large ship by ramming into it
  • Blue whales measure at 100 feet and weigh 200 tons
  • A sperm whale sends Koryak flying with its tail
  • A pod of whales shake Ocean Master’s headquarters, and he mistakes it for an earthquake
  • Alongside Mera and Arthur, four humpback whales lifts up a large piece of stone
  • A pod of whales to ram into a large sea creature
  • Summons orcas to eat up the Justifiers, brainwashed minions of Apokolips
  • Enough whales together can help create a tidal wave that towers over buildings
    • This wave could overwhelm Superboy
• Sharks:
  • Sharks can bullrush and eat through Parademons
  • Has sharks attack and draw blood from Despero (as shown above)
  • Summons two sharks to knock Black Manta’s vehicle off-course
  • A shark could pierce Aquaman’s skin as a young man
• Octopi:
  • Telepathically commands octopi to lift and throw boulders from the ocean floor.
  • Restrains two sailors
  • Summons an octopus to restrain Captain America
  • Topo the Octopus restrains the Sea Wolf and bends metal bars
  • An octopus restrains a young Aqualad
  • Destroys Toymaker’s Aquaman robot
  • Restrains Rampage, who took a hit from Wonder Woman
• Squid:
  • A giant squid puts pressure on the rocket Aquaman is tied to to prevent him from blowing up
  • Commands a giant squid to open a large stone door underwater
  • A giant squid overpowers a vessel
  • Two giant squids lift up two rocks
  • Has some giant squids restrain the Kraken
  • Two giant squid to restrain Hercules
  • A giant squid restrains Ultraviolet Sinestro, Still Force Gorilla Grodd, and Cheetah
• Swordfish:
  • Pierce through the hull of a ship, which the men onboard mistake for a torpedo
  • Swordfish are able to stab through solid stone and dig through rock
• Lobsters:
  • Has lobsters pry open a wall to weaken it so whales could smash through it
  • A large lobster opens the entrance to a fortress like a “can of sardines”
• Electric Eels:
  • Eels can restrain sailors
  • Gets some electric eels to blast a hole through a submarine hull for him
• Groups of Fish:
  • With a pod of fish, pulls a girl out from underwater rubble
  • A group of five fish pull a medium-sized boat’s weight
  • A group of sea creatures help lift the boat out of the water to prevent sinking
  • Two whales, two turtles, and a sea cow tow a boat
  • Summons a legion of sea creatures that tear through the hull of a large robotic shark
  • A swarm of sea life bust through the walls of the City of Dagon
  • A pod of dolphins tow a small boat to a big boat
• Miscellaneous Fish:
  • Aquaman notes starfish can pry open giant oysters with their strength
  • A giant manta ray cuts through a water spout.
  • Can summon crown-of-thorns, sea creatures who have cut men to ribbons
  • Has seahorses chew the ropes tying him up
  • Uses sawfish to cut through ice in the Arctic and sea turtles to carry large chunks of ice on their back
  • A flock of eagles are able to carry a life boat with two people on their backs.
  • Summons alligators to attack Swamp Thing and chew him up
  • With the Trident of Poseidon, summons sea-foam stallions that form a huge tidal wave that sweeps up Kryptonians
    • These Kryptonians, under Rao’s new Sun, became powerful enough to instantly overwhelm Green Lantern and Wonder Woman

Sea Creatures’ Speed

• The speed of sea creatures obviously varies from animal to animal, with the fastest sea animal being a sailfish, which can move up to 68 miles per hour
• A flying fish knocks a gun out of a goon’s hand
• A group of whales pull a boat at “express-train speed”
• A swordfish is able to catch up to a speedboat
• Sends pilot fish to redirect torpedoes back at boats
• An eagle grabs a harpoon mid-air before it hits a whale
• Ocean Master summons water worms that strike as fast as lightning

Sea Creatures’ Durability

• A giant sea turtle doesn’t mind darts being shot at him
• Implied an octopus got shot with a bullet and did an ink smoke screen as retaliation
• A group of sea turtles’ shells block harpoons (as shown above)

Life Force Connection

The explanation behind Aquaman’s ability to communicate with sea life (like most retconned comic powersets), is part of a wider field of energy unseen to most. This is called the Life Force, one of the seven forces of the DC Universe, being connected to all life itself down to their souls, and it is felt most deeply within those who have bonds to the ocean. Poseidon empowered the world with this Life Force, connecting to all of life on Earth, but especially sea life. This power was used by Arion the Immortal to turn life into death, creating the Tear of Extinction, which was used to cast the Sea Gods to the Graveyard of Gods. In Post-Crisis, this concept was called “the Clear”, which allowed Aquaman to communicate with the spirit of his deceased dolphin mentor Porm, but there wasn’t much elaboration on this so it’s safe to say the Life Force is a hard reset to the concept.

Aquaman was told this power is his, and it was used in ancient times to stop Sea Gods. He has used the Life Force against the Death Kraken, a monster that induces death upon any sea life it touches, killing it instantly by ramming his ship into it. Another ability shown by the Life Force is Aquaman’s ability to send a foe to the Celestial Isthmus, the psychokinetic sea that connects the ocean to higher-dimensional waters; a realm of pure thought that connects all life. It’s a realm Arthur has explored, and he can summon psychokinetic sea monsters to help him fight. He can also use the connection to the Life Force to determine a being’s origin, which he did with the Voidsong.

Telepathy

Apart from communicating with sea life, Aquaman has demonstrated the ability to read and probe minds similarly to Martian Manhunter, though Arthur himself admits J’onn is 10 times the telepath he is. Even still, Aquaman’s telepathic feats are quite impressive, and it acts as a sixth sense that warns him when something is not as it should be. Most famously, Aquaman gave a seizure to a White Martian, aliens capable of taking on numerous Justice League members at a time. He did this by locating the brain’s basal ganglia, the part inherited from ZuM’s White Martian marine ancestors. He can also use his telepathy to amplify others’ powers, like Green Lantern energy blasts. When in telepathic battles with foes such as Koryax, Arthur can release telepathic blasts and psychic shockwaves that affect all life in the area, causing sea life to go havoc and threatening to turn anyone in the area into mindless husks from sheer psychic energy. These telepathic probes can even affect hard-light holograms. He can also use telepathy to get a mental fix on someone to find their location.

He can also fill people’s minds with dark and frightening thoughts that eventually force a target into suicide, give headaches to Tempest, force the Brain to slice off his arm, or lacerate the minds of the great Tiamat, forcing the dragon to bend to his will. He can rattle telepathic defenses of cybernetic Hunter/Gatherer ships, and emit a telepathic wave that de-transforms sea creatures such as Shark, reducing him to a regular shark with no memory, intelligence, or mind of its own, however this action took a toll on Arthur’s body. He can also use telepathy to locate the brain of the Karaqan to know where to strike it, and receive impulses of movement despite it being dead. Conversely, he can use telepathy to detect if something is alive, calling it “life-noise”. It can also be used to find the source of rage in sea animals such as sharks and wake people up from sleep.

Aquaman was told that this was all but a pale reflection of his full potential, and side effects would frequently kick in if he overtaxed himself on using his telepathy, such as being unable to talk to fish or having his skin mutate. But with time, Arthur’s telepathic prowess grew, as showcased when he nearly probed the two personalities in Doctor Polaris’s body, with Tempest saying that his telepathic power has increased a hundredfold and that he could hit somebody with an entire speech in the blink of an eye. Now, he can broadcast entire telepathic messages to the city of Poseidonis. He was able to command the Ramona, a Hunter/Gatherer ship, forming a cybernetic telepathic bond with the sentient spaceship, and can get Martian technology to respond to his telepathy. He can tap into the consciousness of quantum mechanics, beings created a billionth of a second after the Big Bang that see reality as subatomic realms. He can project his consciousness through water like a “mindprint”, and astrally project himself onto the universe despite being in the Blood Reef, a part of the Graveyard of Gods. His telepathy is able to breach a dimensional wall and contact whales back in his own dimension, though there was a dimensional gateway open at the time.

Oftentimes he uses his telepathy in conjunction with other telepaths like Martian Manhunter to perform great feats such as sending a telepathic beam from the Watchtower to Earth through Superman Blue, which made a peace bomb that subdued 10 million child minds. Aquaman’s telepathic boost helped Martian Manhunter sever the Trans’ connection to the Spectre’s mind. For reference, the Trans are an alien race inhabitant of the imaginal space who used the collective unconscious of the Humans to create psychic manifestations in order to invade Earth (yes I know this is an unfortunate name out of context). His telepathy can stagger and probe deadly foes such as the giant Cabraca, or a continental-sized Starro the Conqueror, though he needed J’onn’s help to send an alien transmission sequence into its mind. Together, J’onn said their telepathic mind could subdue Despero, an old time foe of the Justice League who can affect Superboy’s mind, who has ample mental resistances from his training. His telepathy could hear the Reaper thinking, which is a large city-sized monster that wants to harvest humanity, though he can’t make out what it’s saying.

Transformation

A more unique side effect of his telepathy is his ability to awaken…gods! Through his unique connection to the Life Force, Aquaman can restore fallen gods to their divine selves. He did this when he was in the service of the humble folk of Unspoken Waters, and these humble folk turned out to be gods in human form, having lost their godliness. But when Arthur called out for help with his telepathy, he awakened the Sea Gods, beckoning them to come help them. Their willingness to help Arthur is strong, as Cailleach suggested that to beat Namma, he should reach out to Tangora the Infinite, who had been absorbed by Namma. This caused Tangora to burst out of Namma, scattering her essence everywhere. Whenever Aquaman sends out the telepathic call, the gods will answer and come to aid him. He’s also used this to transform the Dragons of Dragontown into legitimate dragons.

Hydrokinesis

After the events of Absolute Power, Aquaman was…accidentally given his wife’s ability to manipulate water when all of the heroes’ powers were returned to each other. This ability gives Arthur the power to manipulate, solidify, shape, and command water itself to his desire. With this power, Aquaman was able to slow a planes’ crash, generate whirlpools and floods, and fight and dissipate a sentient water monster by separating it from the ocean and turning it into nothing as shown in the image above. This power extends to being able to manipulate the water in other liquids as well such as mud, turning the water in it into tendrils to free himself from Jenny Greenteeth, before he pulled water out of her as well. He can also pull water from any object that has it such as wood, He can also control the streams of moisture, which he used to traverse the Green, the realm that binds and animates all plant life.

Aquaman’s usage of water, especially after becoming Avatar of the Blue (more on that below), should be comparable to Mera’s own usage of it. For reference, Mera is able to solidify water into any shape she desires, harden water inside ships to cause them to explode, create water armor, make barriers and forcefields around herself and others, generate tsunamis, and most deadly of all, suck up the water within a person’s body, causing fatigue, headaches, muscle cramps, a stroke, or lung suffocation. Like Aquaman, she can also control other liquids such as the flow of lava.

Avatar of the Blue

Aquaman’s current form is known as the Avatar of the Blue. This is due to the fulfillment of a prophecy, one that says the Dark Tide will crash upon the shore of his enemies, the vessel to be filled, and to become a new god. Aquaman now has godlike powers thanks to the Blue. As its name suggests, the Blue represents the ocean the way the Green represents nature and the Red represents animal life, connecting to every planet that has water. It connects water throughout not just planets, but the cosmos, and dimensions and without it, there would be no Green or Red. At the beginning of time, order and chaos balanced the universe until the latter caused an upheaval, but order fought back, giving the universe structure in the form of objects, elemental creatures, or gods. The Blue is one of these forces; it is the hope of life transferred through the confluence to every living being and planet; the Blue is magic, magic that keeps the Green and Red alive. When Dagon cut off the universe from the Blue, Arthur became the vessel to defeat him and restore the Blue to reality.

Becoming the Avatar of the Blue put Arthur on the brink of death, being mortally wounded until he fell into the embrace of the Blue, overtaking his molecules and revitalizing him. It soon set in that Aquaman was in a completely other league of power. His senses? Now enhanced, feeling the waters return to reality like a broken dam, being able to hear the Blue tell him where to go and pick up the scent of ancient magic. His hearing? Now extends to halfway across the world, where thousands of voices can be heard. He can hear hurricanes before they happen and the cries of people drowning. His physicality? Arion the Immortal likens him to a god, one with an infinite amount of oceans flowing through him, and he’s never been faster than before. Oh and his super-leaping? Yeah he can leap into space now.

Aquaman is able to traverse the Blue, usually via its currents, allowing him to get to places quicker such as the Earth’s core, with all of these leading back to the Lighthouse of Atlantis. The Blue pulls from the past and future via time dilation, and this can have an effect on Aquaman’s essence. When Aquaman seemingly had the Blue absorbed from him, his kid, younger, and older self were split up in an inescapable part of the Blue. When they reunited together, they were able to break the mystic power holding them in this part of the Blue, with Arthur saying the Blue is “a world he controls” that cannot be trapped there. Aside from the Blue, he can simply open transdimensional doorways to Atlantis or other planets made of water, which he used in his fight against Poseidon.

Another part of the Blue’s enhancements obviously came in the form of his water manipulation. He was able to restore Mera’s powers back to her, and he can reconnect planets to the Blue. Now, he can make geysers, outright fly with water, make hardened water constructs, control the water in the air and condense it into clouds and rain, and he can turn raindrops into blades as sharp as shark teeth that punch through the hull of a Green Lantern ship. He defeated Dagon by using water to burst him open from the inside. He can easily sweep away foes in typhoons and cool extreme temperatures. Batman says he can create tidal waves where the top is hard to see and control blood. This was proven during D.C. K.O., where he threatened to drain all of the water out of Firestorm’s body, and used his powers to the extreme when he faced off against Hawkman, suffocating him and then controlling the 60% water in his body to cause his heart to not pump blood.

A newer side effect of this water control is arguably its most lethal, that being control over molecules. When Arthur used water to force a worm parasite to identify itself, he theorized these parasites need heat to survive, so Arthur learned to slow down water molecules locking the hydrogen bonds together to create ice, which stops each molecule in the parasite from moving, though this definitely took a lot of power. When Jarro briefly took control of Aquaman, he used the Blue to heat up the molecules of Father Star, the birthplace of the Starro race, saying he can freeze or heat up molecules, causing all Starro spores to explode and Father Star to collapse into a black hole. Most recently, Aquaman defeated Poseidon by turning water into steam, then ice, sending them into Poseidon like razors to cut through his skin.

Overall, using the Blue has become second nature to Aquaman, especially when it comes to using his water and ice powers. In his recent fight against Poseidon, he was able to generate a tidal wave to stop Poseidon’s whirlpool, and freeze him over with ice, demonstrating great control over the power in a few short issues.

Resistances

Positive Showings

• Water Pressure: Aquaman was born to survive the depths of the sea, where pressure is measured in tons per square inch. He is repeatedly capable of traversing oceanic depths of thousands of feet. He can retain his senses from heavy water due to his familiarity with undersea conditions and withstand being at a pressure of 800 atmospheres, which is enough to turn a human body into a smear of blood and bonedust. He swam at 300 meters, where the water pressure is in hyperbaric conditions with scarce oxygen. The average Atlantean resists oceanic pressure, but Aquaman has stronger resistances to it.
• Blunt Force: Stated to have superhuman levels of resistance to physical damage by the Aquamarines’ system.
• Extreme Heat: Consistently tanks Black Manta’s eye beams. Withstood Amazo using Superman’s heat vision, though he cried out in pain. Resisted being near Kako’s heat, which he said felt like touching a blast furnace. Survives coming out of a pool of lava, which melted the Dead King and his scepter into ore, whereas Atlanteans need heatsuits to not get boiled alive by lava. Can withstand volcanic pressure 1,200 meters below the surface.
• Extreme Cold: Unaffected by the freezing cold temperatures of the Himalaya Mountains and Siberia. Unbothered by cold water.
• Poison: Can shrug off poison from fish and jellyfish stings.
• Acid: Gets trapped in an acid net but breaks out of it. Tanks the breath of the Chimera, which can melt humans.
• Disease: Immersing Aqualad in distilled water allows his body to absorb the water, cooling the fever caused by hydro-asian flu, which would have otherwise killed him.
• Drugs: As Avatar of the Blue, stated he can find the drugs in his system and push them out from his pores.
• Paralysis: Thierna Na Oge magic immobilizes Aquaman so the guards can read his mind, but Aquaman is able to fight back against it. Fought through Ocean Master’s immobilization blast.
• Sound Manipulation: Gets hit by an ultrasonic wave but has enough power to jam the turbine. Survives being near an ultrasonic device that bursted the head of an ordinary human. Gets an ear bleed from Hara generating an ultrasonic sound with her horn, which stunned Cheetah-infected Superman
• Energy: Stated in the encyclopedia to have heat and energy resistance.
• Mind Manipulation: Stated to have telepathic shields. Resisted a S.T.A.R. Labs headpiece that attempted to fry his mind, though his head had injuries. Fought back against a Hunter/Gatherer ship’s telepathic defenses. Forced the Chimera out of his mind when it tapped into his memories.
• Mind Control: Submerging himself into water drowns out the sound of music that was controlling his mind. Broke Sreng free of the mind control the Thiernians conclave spell put on him. Resists and casts out the mind control of an ancient sea creature that took control of a mutant Black Manta. Resisted mind control from Valgos with his waterbearer hand. Was unaffected by the Voidsong’s mind control, which was affecting everyone on Earth except for him and the Flash.
• Hypnosis: Resists Maxima’s hypnotic control.
• Emotional Manipulation: Fought back against Shark’s thoughtcasing, which tried to make him more angry. Resisted the love of the water nymphs.
• Illusions: Can use telepathy to block illusions from his and other people’s minds. Broke out of Graves’ illusions, which drove Steve Trevor mad. Breaks out of an illusion from Warhead, who calls Arthur resistant to telepathic control.
• Sleep Manipulation: Aquaman, along with other Atlanteans, were unaffected by the knight terrors plaguing the world and its heroes due to the inner ears of Atlanteans evolving to underwater pressure and building up a natural defense that allowed communication in the sea, and this defense was able to block Insomnia’s knight terrors.
• Soul Manipulation: Ocean Master’s followers hit Aquaman, Dolphin, and Aqualad with the power to “psychically rend souls”, but Aquaman is still able to react to Orm’s trident.
• Disintegration: Tanks blasts from Tempest’s eye beams, which can disintegrate enemies. Gets hit with the King-Angel of Heaven’s Army’s subsonic attack, which destroys matter itself.
• Transmutation: Aquaman resisted his body being grabbed and eaten by a monster that had “transformative molecules” that turned anything it touched into an aquatic monster, at a rate of thousands of people per second.
• Power Nullification: When his mind got transferred to an octopus, Arthur was still capable of using his telepathy. Was somehow unaffected by power sources fluctuating when the Source was in trouble, though it isn’t explained as to how. Unfazed by plasma darts that prevented underwater breathing due to being Atlantean. Was able to restore his power to the Blue even after being absorbed by the Jewel of Lyonesse, returning from the Blue despite the absorption.
• Magic: Gets hit by the Silence School’s magic, who say Arthur has great resilience to Atlantean spell-craft.
• Death Manipulation: Survives getting blasted by “Atlantean death magic”. Survived getting stabbed by Black Manta’s blade when it was imbued with the Tear of Extinction. For reference, Cheetah’s claws imbued with that same Tear allowed her to instantly kill Poseidon. Arion created the Tear of Extinction with all of his magic, which is a water opposite to life, or an elixir of death, infusing it with a conch that defeated the Sea Gods. Rammed into the Death Kraken, which induces death upon any ocean life it touches, the same kind as the Tear of Extinction, although Aquaman was knocked out by this.
• Atomization: Gets dragged by Dead Water into a body of liquid that isn’t water, an “otherness” or medium that resonates with properties that water does not possess. Despite drowning, Aquaman is able to escape this water. Arthur calls it the layer of H2 Point O, water that is strong enough to atomize human tissue. Enters this otherness again with no scuba-gear.

Negative Showings

• Electricity: Knocked out via electrocution arrows. Couldn’t touch an electrified net without dying.
• Ice Manipulation: Frozen in ice by Green Arrow’s freeze arrow. Got frozen in ice and would’ve died without medical care on land. Gets affected by Eclipso’s ice.
• Sound Manipulation: Knocked out by a shot from Ocean Master’s sound gun. Has been affected by Black Canary’s canary cry.
• Sleeping Gas: Gets knocked out by sleeping gas. Went unconscious from a gas grenade.
• Poison: As the Waterbearer, got poisoned beyond repair and Tempest had to remove the effects from his body.
• Mind Manipulation: Despero was able to transfer and interfere with his mind manipulation powers. Impeded by a brain-wave scrambler that cancels out his telepathic commands. Has been hit by telepathic attacks that make him see things he can’t understand. Swamp Thing easily gained access to his mind. Got attacked in his dreams by Thanatos. Needed help from Martian Manhunter in psychic combat due to Starro invading his consciousness. A fear toxin made him recoil at being near water.
• Mind Control: Once tried to mind control a squid, but got met with a mental backlash that caused him to black out. Has been overwhelmed by Poseidon’s telepathy and been forced to dance like a puppet. Has been mind-controlled by Marine Marauder, Despero, Eclipso, Skeletor, Celeana, Brainiac, and Jarro.
• Illusions: Has been fooled by illusions in the past from Ocean Master. Was affected by the Black Mercury, a plant that traps victims in horrifying nightmares.
• Paralysis: Immobilized by a paralyzing chemical solution. Affected by paralyzing beams. Has been affected by Ocean Master’s paralysis beams.
• Biological Manipulation: Experiences a heart attack from an unknown green liquid in the ocean. Was at the mercy of Electric Eel, who threatened to boil his brain, burst his heart, or freeze his lungs.
• Disintegration: Killed by disintegrator beams.
• Infection: Has been infected by an alien virus, but Arthur is able to fight it for control of his body. His communion with the Red can slow the effects of being infected though. Got turned into a great ape when a bomb went off in Gorilla City.
• Shrinking: Affected by a shrinking effect and shrink ray, which weakens him in the process.
• Transmutation: Was turned into glass, though he was still able to think and use his telepathy in this state. Got his body transformed into another person. Gets changed into mercury by an alien blob with no control over his body.
• Lifeforce Draining: Gets his lifeforce drained by Graves when his spirits pass through him. Was under threat of Cereana draining his and Wonder Woman’s lifeforces.
• Power Nullification: Charybdis was able to put a mental block on Aquaman’s ability to talk to fish, but he admitted he couldn’t truly take away Arthur’s powers. Piranha Man put a mental block on his telepathy. Got his powers stolen by Dreadnaught. Was affected by the Amazo Virus, which negates metahuman powers. Has had his connection to the Life Force stolen by Tyyde and given to Black Manta. Had his powers taken from him by an Amazo unit during Absolute Power.
• Soul Manipulation: Corum Rath constrains him with magic that “blisters the soul”.
• Time Manipulation: Affected by Chronos’ time freeze (which is visualized like ice is forming on his body) though can still think. The Trident struggled to break through temporal barriers. Had his history rewritten when his brother Orm used his skeletal hand to cast a spell that changed his reality. Was caught in the crossfire of time snaps, devices that could rearrange the timeline when placed in various points of it.
• Time Travel/Battlefield Removal: To save Aquaman from Imperiex, Tempest sent him 3,000 years into the past. Was sent into a pocket dimension by Pariah.

Support

Storm

Aquaman’s faithful steed and an oversized seahorse, Storm was domesticated by Arthur and became his willing mount, and would often be seen with Imp, Aqualad’s seahorse. While Storm may not have many feats, like Aquaman he can withstand tons of water pressure on the ocean floor and restrain a Tyrannosaurus Rex…awesome. In modern comics, Storm is often accompanied by another seahorse named Skim.

Forms

Dweller in the Depths

After making a deal with the Sea Gods to restore San Diego to land, Aquaman paid the terrible price of using too much magic to handle, turning him into a monstrous figure with great magical powers at the expense of a fractured mind. In this form, he acted as a mentor to Arthur Joseph Curry, a relative of the late Tom Curry who had similar methods of gaining power to the Earth-2 origin via science. In this form, Arthur knows magic that can heal…that’s about it. When the assassin Narwhal raided Atlantis, he beat the Dweller in combat, killing Arthur and letting his body decompose in the water.

Black Lantern

During the events of Blackest Night, Aquaman was resurrected as a Black Lantern, becoming part of the undead army of Nekron, the Lord of the Unliving. As a Black Lantern, Aquaman could detect emotions such as fear, and carried out the main objective of Black Lanterns by ripping out the hearts of his enemies in order to increase their numbers. Despite being a Black Lantern, Aquaman is still able to summon sea life to his aid, except the sea life is undead. He fought Tempest and Mera in this form, tanking the former’s magic blast and the latter’s trident stab. At the end of Blackest Night, Aquaman was brought back to life along with the other resurrected heroes and villains, but he retained his ability to summon undead sea creatures such as the Kraken until his mission as a White Lantern was complete, still being dead.

Tenth Metal Armor

During the events of Death Metal, Aquaman gained access to Tenth Metal Armor, which is made up of Element X, the purest form of creation itself. It can manifest any thoughts to reality and augment all natural abilities of the wearer, and can change its form in response to the wielder’s desires. With this armor on, he made a wish that he could live in a place where he could live the life he wanted, a place of land and sea, thus this causes Atlantis to rise out of the water.

Feats

Overall

• Became the King of Atlantis time and time again
• Founding member of the Justice League of America
• Defeated Ocean Master, Black Manta, Charybdis, Scavenger, Dead Water, The Dead King, Tritonis, King Shark, Colum Rath, The Abyssal King, Thanatos, Imperiex, Eel, The Triumvirate Of Sea Gods, The Death Kraken, The Trench, and Poseidon
• Led rebellions to save Atlantis from two corrupt kings named Hagen and Colum Rath
• Stopped a full scale Atlantean takeover of the world from his half-brother Orm
• Helped Atlantis gain recognition as a nation of his own, being recognized as a global leader by the United Nations
• Became the Waterbearer of the Lady of the Lake
• Led the Justice League Blue and Justice League Atlantis
• Restored the Sea Gods of the Unspoken Waters to their former glory
• Helped the Flash and John Stewart find the shard of the Totality in 1941
• Bested Hawkman in D.C. K.O., winning both rounds
• Became the Avatar of the Blue, restoring waters to reality after destroying Dagon
• Gained a second chance at fatherhood with his daughter Andrianna
• Had a crossover with Jabberjaw and Jeff the Shark

Power

Lifting Strength:

• Lifted a cruise ship out of the water (as shown above)
  • Death Battle compared its size to the large cruise liner in real life, the Symphony of Seas, which weighs 228,000 tons
• Capable of lifting up the debris of rock, heavy machinery, Atlantean structures, buildings, or spacecrafts
• Easily lifts a chandelier over his head
• Lifts up a stone statue of himself
• Lifted a beached whale and carried it back to the sea
• Deathstroke says Arthur could heft a truck
• Can lift a boat from its bottom and tow it by rope
• Stops a boat from hitting the rocks with his bare hands
• Lifts a torpedo
• Knocks over a stone pillar
• Lifts up a huge chunk of Sub Diego, which is San Diego sunken into the ocean
• Has columns collapse on him, but he lifts them up
• As a young man, could lift a biplane out of the water
• Stops a truck in its tracks with his trident and flips it over
• Pushes a large rock onto the entrance of the Trench’s lair
• Catches a helicopter
• Pulls a huge sunken ship out of the water with Wonder Woman
• Pushes a large boulder out of the way of a stream
• Pulls Black Manta and Yvette out of the pull of a black hole underwater

Throwing Strength:

• Throws a stone at a robotic octopus to kill it
• Threw a polar bear into the air
• Knocks out Nicodemus by throwing a sewer lid at him
• Throws a bus at an O.M.A.C.
• Throws the head of Cereberus’ head through the gates of Hades
• Throws a submarine from the ocean’s bottom to the surface
• Rams a sunken warship into the Dead King
• Throws two cars at the Karaqan and one car at the Voidsong

Prying Strength:

• Pries open five cartridges to get the powder out of them
• Rips open a locked chest
• Forces open the entrance to a deep water tank
• Breaks out of an electro-net
• Breaks out of his barnacle restraints while weakened
• Breaks out of a waterspout with force
• Can easily break out of handcuffs

Striking Strength:

• In his early days, could punch out pirates like Black Jack and knock out grown men
• Even when reverted to a kid, overpowers Black Manta
• As a 13 year old, put a boy in a coma for weeks with a single punch
• Breaks a thick tree with his punch
• Punches through the hulls of submarines
• Can break down locked, and helicopter doors
• Can tip or break boats by landing on them
• Has overpowered sea life such as sharks
• Can snap the jaws of sea monsters such as plesiosaurs
• Breaks a harpoon in half
• Stabbed a polar bear and twisted its head off
• Collapses a runway path
• Stops a tank in its tracks
• Pushes the entire Trench ship/wall with Mera to get it to the surface
• Uses a steel beam to ram his trident into the skin of the Karaqan
• Smashes the cockpit of an Atlantean sea craft
• Punches through Amazonian alloy
• Pops the bioluminescent tip of a large mutated anglerfish that swallowed a Sea Devil ship whole
• Destroys an afterlife guardian monster

Scaling:

• Can clash tridents with Ocean Master, knock him out,break his helmet,snap his trident in half
  • Bullrushed Orm hard enough to split a bus in half
• Ditto with Black Manta, Arthur has knocked him out and broken his leg, helmet, and armor
• Can harm Atlanteans such as Vulko, Kadaver, Kordax, Murk, Atlan, King Iqula, and Corum Rath, and can overpower them even when being unarmed
• Easily overpowers Mera
• Physically stronger then Tempest consistently, breaking out of his ice
• Hits Red Tornado hard enough to stun him
• Knocked out the King of Beasts, who was stated to be stronger than Arthur
• Unbinds the Gemini seal, shutting down Magus’s dimension and disabling his mystic alignment
• Punches out a Royal Flush Gang member
• With speed/momentum built up from Flash, knocks down a giant Deconstructo
• Deathstroke admits a single punch from Aquaman would knock him out
• Knocks out the Trickster
• Knocks the water out of Aqualad with a kick…despite being in the water
• Tackles Hawkman into the water and trades hits with him on land
• Overwhelms Superboy in the water with Tempest and Dolphin
• Fights Gole and Jaffar, members of Darkseid’s aquatic Apokolips team called the Deep Six, threatening to break Gole’s neck
• Punches out Green Lantern Kyle Rayner and breaks out of his construct underwater
• Slams Fire into Warrior Guy Gardner
• Elbows Cannonball in the stomach in the DC vs Marvel crossover
• Punches Traumiel, an angelic heavenly host
• Knocks the wind out of Green Lantern Alan Scott
• Dive bombs into Chemo
• With Mera and Noble, blows up the Lava Lord from the inside
• While weakened, subdues the Joker
• Beats Power Ring, an evil Earth-2 Green Lantern
• Restrains Wonder Woman while she’s infected with the Witchblade with Martian Manhunter, but she breaks out
• Punches out a Predator
• Aquaman and Wonder Woman punch Imperiex Prime together
• Punches Green Lantern Hal Jordan
• Rips off the Marauder’s arm and renders him inert
• Draws blood from the Olympian, who is described as a “schizophrenic Superman” that took down Martian Manhunter
• Has sent Superman flying with a punch hard enough to create shockwaves
• Throws a metal spear through Despero’s body and punches him out of the water
• Punches an O.M.A.C.
• Consistently overpowers the Trench
• Sent Wonder Woman flying into a crane and has fought her while mind-controlled
• Broke Mera out of the Dead King’s ice and punched through his ice columns
• Stops the Dead King from plunging his Scepter into the ground to destroy Atlantis again
  • The Dead King’s scepter when slammed into the ground caused the sinking of Atlantis, which is repeatedly stated to be an entire continent
• Physically contends with the Dead King, crashing through a building and throws him in lava
• Draws blood from and snaps the legs of Giant-Borns, the same race as Hercules
• Sends Hercules flying across an entire island
• Breaks out of Swamp Thing’s vines
• Tackles Chimera through cars, trucks, and buses, who is bulletproof
• Punches and bullrushes Martian Manhunter while his mind is overwhelmed by Atlantean spirits
• Confidently beats up Gorilla Grodd
• Amazo virus-infected Aquaman fights Lex Luthor
• Sends Killer Croc flying out of the water
• Fights the Drift, who are stronger than ever thanks to the magic of the Silent School
• Trades hits with King Shark
• Engages Corum Rath possessed by the Abyssal King, the source of all Atlantean magic
• Fights and defeats Lord Satanis while he is amped with the magic energies that could reverse the rise Atlantis, breaking out of his magic bindings
• Punches Poseidon after waking up from a series of visions
• Trades hits with Namma, an old god that was a fragment of Mother Salt, one of the creators of the ocean
• Punches Brutus, who Arthur noted can take on Black Adam
• Breaks apart Karaku’s fist with an uppercut
  • Karaku is one of the reasons why Atlantis abandoned the island as a place of refuge, the Atlanteans have battled it in the past and sent the Karaqan as a defender against it
• Tears apart Scavenger’s armor, who describes his suit as the best combatware he could beg for
• Fights Aquabeast, who is twice as strong and fast as Arthur
• Clashes with Arion the Immortal
• Fights Darkworld with Black Manta, a powerful force that can manifest thoughts into reality, though he admits he can’t really beat him
• Fights the Voidsong with the Flash and destroys one of its ships
• Wants to arm-wrestle Queen Nubia

Green Arrow w/Aquaman’s Powers:

• Leaves dents on the top of airplanes with his feet
• Rips open a metal door with his bare hands
• Throws a jeep over his head

Statements:

• Aquaman is called the greatest power of all of Atlantis’ defenders
• His legs are powerful enough to propel him through the water at hundreds of knots
• Says he underestimates his own strength out of the water
• Claims he can flex his wrists and break out of handcuffs and that the President’s guards would be hard pressed to stop him and does so later in the issue
• Aquaman’s fight with Tiamat was mistaken for an underwater eruption or quake
• Wally West stated that running into him and Kyle Rayner at 130 knots would’ve shattered their ribs
• His fight with Tritonis, son of Poseidon, was felt across the entire ocean by its notable denizens
  • Tritonis suggests he let Aquaman beat him, but Poseidon disproved this
• Aquaman and Titus fought for a minute underwater, with their blows being mistaken for depth charges
• Dive bombed from space to punch the Karaqan, which he described as his best punch at full speed
• Stated by Mera to be stronger than anyone in Xebel, her people/kingdom
• One-shots Gontu, despite it being said that no Atlantean could put him down
• Atlanna, Arthur’s mother, says that she didn’t expect an Atlantean to grow this powerful
• The Trident of Neptune destroyed the realm of Thule, which is described as a poison that slips in the universe from a “shadow dimension” that is a “mirror version” of Atlantis, becoming another “world”. This magic is stated to be even bigger than Atlantis and Earth, as the Thule’s magic has been colonizing other planets in their “reality”. Thule has been ripping its way into reality, across the world, the Moon, and even Themyscira.
  • A sorcerer has to use a “great expenditure of magical energy” to keep Aquaman’s presence from poisoning said realm
• Fought a depowered Superman, with Clark saying Arthur was 100 times stronger than him while weakened
• While infected by an alien, Flash says Aquaman could’ve crushed his larynx and fractured is hyoid bone, but Arthur was holding back
• Aquaman’s trident hits with the force of every current on Earth, which cracks the helm of the Voidsong

Avatar of the Blue:

• Tussles with a Grindylow, ancient underwater creatures that lure kids to their deaths
• Tears apart Jenny Greenteeth’s physical form
• Escapes the pull of a huge sea monster’s mouth
• Crushed the Ocean Orb that Dagon used to manipulate the Blue
• Arion the Immortal likens Aquaman to that of a god, with Zan comparing him to Superman and Wonder Woman who he also calls gods
  • Arion cannot comprehend the power Arthur has
• Blasts a mind-controlled enraged Superman with energy
• Clashes swords with Ghostbeard
• The power of the Blue could kill Mera in an instant
• Destroys the barrier surrounding Atlantis
• Trades hits with Lobo, and both end the fight exhausted, with Lobo losing a leg
• Destroys Father Star, the home of the Starro race, collapsing it into a black hole that instantly dissipates
• Rips Jarro off of his face
• Arthur says controlling the Blue is like riding a wave or controlling a hurricane, Hal says he has had “that kind of power before”, which is alluding to Parallax in the comic
• Confident that no amount of prep time from Batman could beat him
• Black Manta says Aquaman could destroy a team of himself, Lolanna, Siren, Scavenger, Ocean Master, and Jenny Greenteeth with ease
• Breaks out of Poseidon’s grasp and clashes against him, generating a shockwave that Arion’s shields can’t hold against
• According to Ted Kord, Aquaman and Poseidon’s clash of waters will cause a storm that will rip the ocean in half

Speed

In Water:

• Narration calls Aquaman swifter than any racing craft on land
• Stated to be able to swim at 100 nautical miles per hour
• In terms of knots, the unit of measurement for swimming, Aquaman has numerous statements of being able to swim at 100 to 130 to 200 to 1,000 knots
  • 1,000 knots is roughly 1,150.78 miles per hour
• Called as “swift as a water rocket” that moves too fast for divers to see
• Can consistently dodge Black Manta’s laser beams, caught a shield thrown by him as a young man
• As a child, could swim so fast that a speedboat couldn’t keep up with it
• Has been stated to move and react in the water at “lightning swift speeds” very consistently
• Called faster than every fish, including sharks, dolphins, sea lions, electric eels, barracudas, and tiger sharks
• Stated to strike with the speed of an electric eel
• Evades heat-rays and laser beams
• Dodges the tail of a stingray
• Can react to and duck under all manner of gunfire
• Reacts to and catches multiple harpoons coming at him
• Swam around the world in seven days, getting ahead of schedule by getting to Panama Canal by the first evening, ends up clearing it in six days
• Swims fast enough to create a whirlpool that sends a cannon shot back at an enemy ship
• Evades lightning, though it isn’t in-tandem movement
• Can swim at supersonic speeds
• Telepathically communicates with Topo in a split-second
• Dodges a shot from a laser cannon
• Moves fast enough to create a vacuum around a sea creature’s head, depriving it of oxygen
• Despite being blind, reacts to a kick from Animal Man
• Dodges magical blasts and eyebeams from Tempest
• Reacts to Koryak’s assault from behind without looking
• Dodges attacks from an Atlantean named Noble and calls him too slow
  • Aquaman is too fast for Atlanteans or their vehicles, and blitzed entire groups of Atlanteans
• Evades the lava stream of a Fire Troll
• Dodges Joker’s attacks underwater
• Swimming from Poseidonis to the edge of the Corisman Sector would take more than two hours, but Aquaman and Mera only take half that time to get there
• Implies he’ll swim from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to Manhattan, New York in 10 minutes
• Dodges an eyebeam from Despero’s third eye
• The Operatives’ have a jet that can fly at hypersonic speed, and Aquaman can swim faster than their jet, and does so to reach an island before them
• Outswims a Xebel fleet while injured
• Dodges ice spears from the Dead King
• Swims across the four corners of the Earth during the entire battle of the Kindred to locate their four connecting crystals
• Outpaces Green Lantern Simon Baz’s constructs
• When controlled by Eclipso, Aquaman secured the country’s shorelines with marine mammals in seven minutes
• Stated to move like a phantom
• Stated to move faster in water then anything a technician has ever seen as he rescues 12 people

On Land:

• Saves an Atlantean from a rhinoceros charge
• Stated to be “swiftness itself” when out of the water due to being accustomed to moving against it
• Even on land is stated to move at lightning speed
• Reflects a light burst from Doctor Light after it’s fired, using a car bumper
• Dodges a beam from Deathstroke’s staff
• Gets out of the way of a speeding truck
• Leaps over a blast from Ocean Master
• Blitzes two armed policemen before they can react
• Dodges numerous arrows
• Dodges a mace from an Ugdug demon giant
• Saves a girl from an avalanche as its about to hit her
  • Avalanches can reach speeds of 80 miles per hour in five seconds
• Dodges a punch from Superman
• Deflects three strikes from the Voidsong’s tendrils while having a conversation with Flash

Green Arrow w/Aquaman’s Powers:

• Caught a thrown arrow in his hand at close range
• Deflected machine gun fire with his trident

Avatar of the Blue:

• Says he moves “faster than he ever has” to Atlantis from Daytona Beach, Florida
• Stops mind-controlled Superman’s fist

Durability

In Water:

• As a baby, survived getting slammed into a reef by a shark
• Has shrugged off bullets, eventually becoming fully bulletproof as time has gone by
• Survives getting launched by an underwater volcano’s eruption
• A whirlpool is a merry-go-round to Aquaman
• Born to survive the depths of the sea, where pressure is measured in tons per square inch and consistently withstands the water pressure of the ocean, diving over 500 feet to three miles, without sustaining any injuries
• Has taken attacks from sea creatures such as a snapping turtle’s bite, being slapped by the tail of a humpback whale, being electrocuted by an unknown large rainbow manta ray, which he describes as worse than an electric eel’s shock
• Survived having his hand cut off two times, one by piranhas and one by Black Manta
• Consistently survives underwater, boat, ship, and warhead explosions
• Survives being in waterspouts formed from hurricanes, which can suck in submarines and kill humans
• Can shrug off lasers from drones
• Has tanked many forms of electricity, such as lightning and electrocution by Monsieur Mallah, Marauder, Kadaver, and Electric Eel
• Can survive being stabbed and getting blasted by his own weapon, the Trident of Poseidon
• Withstands Black Manta’s optic blasts, electric harpoons, and blades
• Takes hits and bites from sea creatures such as Plesiosaurs that send him flying into lighthouses, which Arthur describes as being hit by a brick wall
  • Said Plesiosaurs can take out boats and move faster than whales or sharks
• Can take hits from Ocean Master
• Stung by jellyfish controlled by the Manhunters
• Survives being near the explosion of a transport ship
• Sent flying by Mera’s hydrokinesis attacks
• Gets punched by…his own suit?
• Launched into a wall by the Squatter with the Flush Gang’s wand
• Gets punched by Wonder Woman through two buildings and tanks being hit by Guy Gardner’s sword directly
• Unscathed from being electrocuted by an energy whip
• Takes a punch from She-Hulk in the DC vs Marvel crossover
• Tanks hits from Tritonis, the son of Poseidon
• Withstands a plasma blast from Gamesman
• Survives a blast from Magus, who became an entire universe that will devour the main universe the more lifeforces he absorbs that can bend and twist reality to his whim
• Tanks a full blast from Starro the Conqueror that knocked out Orion
• Sent flying by Chemo
• Gets smacked by the Lava Lord
• Has taken hits from Martian Manhunter disguised as Superman/Mera, also survives his heat vision
• Survives a torpedo that would’ve killed an ordinary man or even Atlantean
  • Urn, an Atlantean, was killed by a torpedo, losing his leg and midsection
• In his golden armor, survives eyebeams from an Imperiex Probe
• Punched by Wonder Woman hard enough to break a boat in half
• Survives being hit by Chimera’s acidic breath
• Punched by the Dead King through a sunken airplane and ship and stabbed by his ice shards
• Survives getting shot through the torso by Atlantean gunfire
• Punched by Swamp Thing
• Blasted by Atlanna’s trident
• Gets punched by a fire trolls’ launched fist
• Painfully takes Black Manta’s blade out of his shoulder by slamming himself into a wall
• Survives being near a Green Lantern ring explosion
• Killer Croc breaks his teeth trying to bite Aquaman’s skin
• Survives getting burned by Kadaver’s Atlantean sorcery
• Tanks Deadshot’s bullets, which are high-caliber
• Hit by Harley Quinn’s hammer
• Gets shocked by Black Manta’s mech armor’s electrical defenses, which were a thousand times more powerful than the charge of a Lex Luthor drone that blew up on Manta
• Gets hit by a sonic attack designed for Aquaman and aquatic life

On Land:

• Can jump out of a plane and land in water with no injury
• Survives getting shot in the arm
• Scratched in the back by the Trench
• Only stunned by a blast from Doctor Light
• Tanks Amazo’s heat vision, though he does cry out in pain
• Deathstroke’s attack literally bounces off Arthur’s skin
• Didn’t even register a polar bear’s claws sinking into his skin
• Punched by Solomon Grundy
• Kicked in the balls by the Joker
• Gets hit by a flurry of punches from Johnny Quick
• Survives getting tackled by an O.M.A.C. onto land
• Survives crashing into the middle of the desert
• Takes hits from the Trench
• Sent flying from an explosion caused by Cheetah-infected Superman
• Survives an explosion from Batman of potassium that caused an exothermic reaction
• Hit by a fuel explosion that sends him flying on land
• Despite just getting up from a six month coma, jumps down an ice cliff and cracks the ground beneath him
• Tanks Morgaine Le Fays’ magic blasts
• Thrown by Karaqan’s tentacles into nearby debris
• Gets ragdolled by Hercules and gets several tons of rock dropped on them from their fight
• Sent flying by Giant-Borns
• Tanks a detonation from Neutron, who sent Superman flying with a detonation
• Kicked by Cheshire
• Thrashed by Gorilla Grodd
• Crushed by the fist of Karaku
• Sent flying by Dead Water, falls a skyscraper height with it
• Gets shot in the back and survives being near a tank shell explosion
• Blocks a bullet with his hand
• Blasted by Synmar, who defeated Queen Hippolyta
• Can breathe in space
• Gets pieced by Failsafe’s spikes

Green Arrow w/Aquaman’s Powers:

• One of Green Arrow’s arrows breaks on Ollie’s hand
• A bullet staggers him at most

Avatar of the Blue:

• Sent flying into a building by a creature made of sentient water
• Stabbed by Lori’s frozen poison blade
• Stabbed in the chest by Dagon, though his takes him out for a moment before he becomes the Avatar of the Blue
• A punch from a mind-controlled Superman only gives him a bloody lip
• Hit by Hawkman’s mace
• Takes hits from Lobo
• Blasted by Green Lantern energy
• Sent flying onto an island by Poseidon

Scaling

Denizens of Atlantis

Aquaman is consistently stated to be the best Atlantis has to offer, and is the physically strongest and fastest of any modern Atlantean and even ancient Atlantean now that he is the Avatar of the Blue. He consistently fights, spars with, and blitzes legions of Atlanteans. Against the more ancient Atlantean sorcerers or gods, Aquaman’s odds have unfortunately not been the best, admitting he would fall short in power against the likes of the Abyssal King. Current Aquaman however would fare much better.

• Atlantis is stated to have once been the most powerful nation on Earth
  • Atlantean technology is considered far more advanced than any nation on Earth
    • Atlantean technology is strong enough to encase the center of the Earth and cause tidal waves/oceanic surges
  • Warhead says Atlantis could defeat any world superpower
  • Superior to Sister Glory’s army, with one vessel alone being able to destroy a small country
• Atlantean weapons shoot high caliber coral that can penetrate Aquaman’s skin and harm Killer Croc
• Kordax says he could take 100-1,000 Atlanteans
• Dolphin snapped a Hy-Brasil soldier’s neck
• Nuada destroys an Annunake arrival ship, which are only slightly smaller than the rock holding up the city of Poseidonis, the capital of Atlantis
  • The arrival of one of the Annunake ships sank Atlantis
• King Shark fought Arthur Joseph Curry Jr., who is as strong as Aquaman himself
• Vulko sends Superman flying with a punch
• Titanus restrained mind-controlled Superman
• Corum Rath gained access to the Abyssal King, the divine source of all Atlantean sorcery, which the power of its sea devils being what built Atlantis
  • With this power, Abyssal King wanted to sink Atlantis and take over Earth

Mera

Aquaman’s aquakinetic wife, Aquaman and Mera are portrayed as comparable to each other, saying they have trusted and predicted each others’ moves for all the years they have known each other. Arthur has tanked Mera’s hydrokinetic wrath ample times, and now with his own hydrokinesis, he should stack up to Mera’s own capabilities.

• Moves and swims faster then Aquaman
• Busts down a metal door and rips an iron cell gate off the wall
• Lifts the top of a tank off and throw it at a helicopter
• Can control the tide to make huge tsunamis
• Slit the throats of the Trench
• Restrains Martian Manhunter with a water construct
• Punches Superman into the air
• Stated to be the greatest aquakinetic in history
• Dodges Ocean Master’s lightning
• Chopped up an infected Swamp Thing
• Mera creates a forcefield that can repel a global flood, and Vulko confirms its her own doing with no assistance from Atlantean technology

Tempest

Formerly known as Garth and Aqualad, Aquaman is generally treated as physically superior to Garth, though Tempest’s magic prowess far eclipses Arthurs. The two have fought on a few occasions, and Arthur has tanked his eyebeams, magic blasts, and physical attacks.

• Stops a tidal wave from hitting an island with an ice
• Threatens to flood and destroy Metropolis
• Held back the God Drogue with his forcefield, whose power eclipses Superman

Black Manta

Aquaman’s hate-filled sworn enemy, the two butt heads on many occasions, with Black Manta’s weapons being capable of cutting through Aquaman’s dense skin, meanwhile Arthur has threatened to beat Manta within an inch of his life. Arthur consistently bests him in combat, oftentimes ending in a knockout or with his armor broken.

• Fires a gun in a microsecond
• Harms the Flash with an optic blast and strangles him underwater
• Amanda Waller calls Black Manta a “code alpha”
• Has his suit upgraded by N.E.M.O. technology to be an “alpha threat”, which is described as a threat to the entire planet
• Harms Darkworld with his optic blast , whose power could manifest thoughts to reality
• Could physically grapple with a heavily weakened Superman
• Black Manta claims his suit is strong enough to kill Aquaman, and they both pull the levers needed to activate the broadcast system’s distress signal

Ocean Master

Arthur’s half-brother from the same mother, Orm is another consistent rival to Aquaman, often clashing tridents in their fights, though Arthur has insisted that they are not equals, and he more often than not beats Orm in battle.

• Created an explosion that crackles through the top of a mountain
• Deflects bullets with his trident
• Ocean Master says he and Arthur have the power to sink every boat and vessel in the ocean
• Threatens to sink Boston
• Electrocutes Superman and Wonder Woman
• Makes a tidal wave that Cyborg, Firestorm, and Zatanna have to work together to stop
• Murk says Ocean Master is worth a hundred men
• Mera calls Ocean Master one of the most dangerous men on the planet
• Ocean Master merely meeting up with Aquaman causes a storm that generates waves individually powerful enough to destroy entire villages

The Dead King

Once called King Atlan of Atlantis, the Dead King is the prime reason behind the sinking of Atlantis after his brother Orin slew his family. When he returned from the dead and claimed his scepter, Aquaman was able to physically contend with him, and even stop the continent-crumbling blow of his scepter.

• Opening his tomb caused an earthquake
• The Dead King forged Atlantis and built its weapons, such as Aquaman’s Trident of Neptune
  • The seventh relic is the Scepter of the Dead King, the one that sank Atlantis
  • The sinking of Atlantis killed 90% of its population, and the seven kingdoms of Atlantis broke apart, four were lost and only three survived, and the survivors adapted as well
• Black Manta wielding the Scepter of the Dead King caused large fissures in the ground and triggered an earthquake that destabilized and fractured the foundation of the island
• Atlan’s trident is considered indestructible and it gutted Kahina and blew apart Vostok’s spine
• Overwhelms and defeats Mera with snow

The Justice League

Prior to Avatar of the Blue, Aquaman was certainly towards the bottom of the Justice League in terms of raw power. While there have been times where Aquaman has staggered the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman, or Martian Manhunter, Arthur has admitted in his early days that he is nowhere near Superman’s strength, and J’onn and Clark both agree he never stood a chance against Big Blue, and he has been overpowered and knocked out by heavy hitters such as Power Girl, Wonder Woman, Superboy.

With the Avatar of the Blue in mind however, things change drastically. In this state, Arthur is compared to a god in a similar manner as Superman and Wonder Woman, and Arthur backs this up by taking a punch from a mind-controlled Superman and retaliating with an attack of his own, beating up Lobo, and even spooking Hal Jordan with his power, which is likened to that of when he was Parallax. So in his current state, Arthur stacks up much better against his fellow Justice League members.

• Superman has…
  • Flew from Vega to Earth in a short timeframe
  • Restored infinite future timelines in his fight against Jaxxon
  • His brain operates at 1/1000th of Brainiac’s whose Coluan brain can process 70 times seven octodecillion beings (6.5 quindecillion c)
  • Can act within attoseconds
  • Fights and overpowers Nebula Man, a living universe
  • Punched Barbatos, who can shake the multiverse and kill his Dark Multiverse’s World Forger
• Wonder Woman has…
  • Used the Lasso of Truth to pull Martian Manhunter out of a black hole
  • Tagged Professor Zoom
  • Withstood magical attacks that caused worldwide earthquakes
  • Matches the Olympian Gods in strength
  • Rocked the Earth and Heavens in battle with Superman
  • Can keep up with Hermes, who was faster than an early Wally West
  • Sustained Olympus with her very existence when all gods abandoned it
  • Shatters Cronus’ scepter, which tore through numerous godly pantheons and contained a portion of the Godwave
• The Flash has…
  • Survived attacks from Paradox, who could destroy the timestream
  • Generate enough energy during Flash War to wreak havoc on the fabric of the multiverse, causing Highfather to mistake the power for that of the Source
  • Wally’s mass approaches infinity, employing a punch so deadly he knocks out Zum, a White Martian
  • Barry’s own iteration of his infinite mass punch can deform space-time itself and topple the Anti-Monitor through universes
• Green Lantern has…
  • Defeated Doctor Polaris when he was amplified by the magnetic forces of reality that hold the universe together
  • Bent reality in his battle against Sinestro
  • Created Willworld, a pocket universe with an infinite sea as a rookie
  • Flew a construct plane faster than gods itself, reaching transluminal space to outpace omega beams that nearly caused a Speed Force singularity
  • Survived attacks from Sinestro with the GLC Power Battery, which can become as large as a universe and destroy it
  • Sent tremors across the entire Emotional Spectrum when creating his new power ring
  • A time-displaced Hal Jordan by10 years couldtrade hitswith Pre-Zero Hour Parallaxand breakout of his constructs. Parallax Hal has…
    • Defeated Superman
    • Went back in time with Pre-Crisis Flash, Supergirl, and Superman to stop the Anti-Monitor from causing the First Crisis again
    • Fought the Spectre (Crispus Allen) and ripped his face off, and the Spectre admitted to fearing Parallax’s power
      • Spectre could unmake and rebuild all of creation itself
    • Comparable to other emotional entities such as Ion, who empowered Sodam Yat with the strength to face Superboy-Prime
• Martian Manhunter has…
  • Wonder Woman with her Lasso, Superman, and Martian Manhunter pull the weight of the Earth
  • Pushed against Brainac’s planet-sized Mothership alongside Superman, halting its descent of 36,000 miles per hour into the stratosphere
  • Superman admits J’onn is the one guy on the planet he does not want to fight
• Miscellaneous:
  • Aquaman is confident Shazam can give Superman a run for his money
  • Captain Atom and Monarch’s fight twists space and time, causing universes to explode within atoms
    • Monarch overpowers Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Fire all at once
  • Supergirl tore apart the Anti-Monitor’s armor, which was key to the victory of the First Crisis
  • Firestorm when agitated could trigger a second Big Bang, which he himself would survive

Enemies of the Justice League

Similarly, Arthur has struggled with many Justice League enemies by himself, such as Lobo saying he could easily strangle him with his bare hands. Doctor Polaris has a similar statement, stating to be able to kill Arthur with a mere glance. He’s also been beaten to near death by O.M.A.C. and Shaggy Man, so despite his best efforts, he does have his moments of failure. He does have moments of triumph however, beating enemies like Brutus or the Olympian who have damaged heavy hitter JLA members, and his trident has harmed many more powerful beings such as Darkseid or Imperiex. Once again however, it’s likely he upscales his previous limitations in his current state as Avatar of the Blue.

• Doctor Polaris controls Earth’s magnetic fields and could raise the city of Poseidonis
• Maxima says she has battled Superman with ease and took hits from Power Girl
• The Shaggy Man can…
  • Generate seismic activity with his footsteps
  • Go unscathed by Atlantean gunfire and plasmit cannons
  • Only able to be restrained by the Justice League, never outright beaten, with Atlanteans saying he fought the Justice League to a standstill
  • Stated by Aquaman to hit harder then Superman
• Imperiex fights Kyle Rayner, Wally West, and Plastic Man
• Despero draws blood from Martian Manhunter with a scratch
• Emanation Darkseid broke Green Lantern’s arm
• Kryptonians under Rao’s sun could quickly overwhelm Wonder Woman and Green Lantern
• Lobo swung around Pulsar Stargrave, which has stellar mass

Arion the Immortal

Arion was an Atlantean demigod and one of the Lords of Order. He is a legendary scientist, powerful sorcerer, a hero of Atlantean and Amazon lore, and now, a trusted advisor of Aquaman under his new powerset. Arthur was able to briefly clash tridents with Arion in the past, but now, even his power as the Avatar of the Blue is considered incomprehensible by even Arion’s standards.

• Makes a shield against the Hunter/Gatherers blasts
• Matched and defeated Garn, who had the power to destroy the Moon
• Blocked a magic blast from Chaon, a Lord of Chaos that destroyed Atlantis and threatened to destroy Earth
• Harms the dragon Tiamat, who hurt Power Girl with her fire breath and had “more power than anything Earth has seen”
• Destroyed a sentient star
• Created the Tear of Extinction, which he used with Poseidon to stop otherworldly invaders
  • The Tear could collapse the Graveyard of Gods, which would’ve caused a chain reaction that will echo into the Sphere Of The Gods and Underworld
  • The Death Kraken, which is made up of the same properties as the Tear, could not be held back by Superman and Mera
• Created the Darkworld, a place of impossible concepts and unwitnessed dreams, merging Garn with it into a universal consciousness
• Trained by his father Calculha, who was one of the strongest Atlantean gods, who boasted power that could destroy dimensions

Dagon

When Aquaman became Avatar of the Blue, his first major hurdle was Dagon, who was trying to take control of the Blue for himself when he stole the Ocean Orb from Atlantis. Aquaman struggled to fight him at first, but upon becoming the Avatar of the Blue, he easily blew him up from the inside.

• Controlled the Moon with the Blue
• Severed the Blue from the universe
• Easily kills gods from the Haven of the Divine Deep, a city of ancient mythological Gods pulled from space
• When Hawkman was possessed by Horus, the Egyptian God of the Sun and Sky, in D.C. K.O., Aquaman likened its power to Dagons

Poseidon

The God of the Seas himself, Poseidon is the brother to Zeus and Hades, and gifted Aquaman his very own trident after his namesake. He is an extremely powerful god that has blessed Arthur with many of his powers, and recently, he wasn’t too happy with Arthur gaining godlike power, fighting him and ultimately losing, proving furthermore that Aquaman’s power has ascended to godhood.

• Stated to be a being of immeasurable power
• Fought Dr. Fate
• In the form of a storm, knocks Superman into the water unconscious
• Tritonis with the power of Poseidon lifts up the city of Poseidonis
• Struck the Sea Gods down to the Graveyard of Gods
  • The Sea Gods flooded the entire Earth in minutes, and not even the Justice League can stop them, and Superman couldn’t stop their floodings of Metropolis
  • Commander Drogue, one of the Sea Gods, put Superman in a chokehold that nearly killed him
• Should be comparable to his brother Zeus, who created Olympus
• The combined power of the pantheon of Greek Gods could conquer Apokolips

Weaknesses

Aquaman has a fair amount of notable weaknesses and limitations with his powers. Jumping into the most obvious one, Arthur needs water to survive; without it, he will die. This has been another inconsistency in Aquaman’s history, with the question being, does Aquaman need water to survive? Can he function on land just fine? Across Earth-2, Post-Crisis, New 52, and Rebirth, there are a total of eight statements that Arthur cannot be out of water for over an hour, with one instance of this actually happening, and he did pass out. The guidebooks elaborate on this by saying that at the two hour mark, his strength diminishes, and if not exposed to water, he will enter a coma at the three hour mark. Conditions with extreme heat make this significantly worse and dehydrate him, as he has passed out in the desert twice when stranded there. Even his half-brother Ocean Master gets sick if he is out of water for too long. The workaround is obvious, contact with water, blood, or any liquid, will fully replenish Aquaman at full strength again no matter how small a droplet.

On the flipside, Arthur has a few contrary statements about this weakness? He says that dying at the hour mark out of water is something someone made up, though this would fall in line with the idea that he doesn’t die at the hour mark, but he does start to get weakened. He’s also said that he can function just fine out of the water after an hour, but that it’s not his preference obviously. In later continuities, he’s used humor to insinuate that he’d go mad at the four hour mark without water, when he seems to be clearly functional most of the time. In general however, comics simply stopped addressing the weakness after this instance, and there are ample instances of Aquaman being on land for longer than he should, especially with how much time he spends with the Justice League or in the Watchtower. His wife Mera was able to go two days without water as a matter of fact.

Overall though, the obvious circumvention to this power is once again thanks to the new powers of the Avatar of the Blue, giving Arthur pretty on demand control over water that he can pull from the environment or just have on him regardless of where he is at. Apologies for this section being a bit misleading, but it’s a widespread weakness so it had to be addressed.

Moving over to his marine telepathy, it has many counters. For starters, sometimes fish…don’t listen to Arthur. They will outright ignore his telepathic commands, or their own emotions such as being terrified senseless will override their instincts to ignore his telepathy, and on occasion, some sea creatures just straight up wanna kill Arthur because they’re mad or hungry. Powerful enough telepathy from other opponents has proven to be a difficult hurdle for Aquaman to gain his fishy friends back from, and many foes have used this against Arthur such as Electric Eel, Poseidon, and Chimera. If an opponent’s telepathy is stronger than his own, he can’t really get his sea creatures back. In terms of regular telepathy, it’s the same deal, powerful enough telepathy can override him pretty easily. This has allowed Poseidon to make him dance like a puppet, and his telepathy had no effect on Swamp Thing, who said Arthur has no power over him. Doctor Polaris merely restraining Aquaman hard enough prevented him from using his telepathy.

Another issue with his friends from the sea is that their durability is quite inconsistent. There have been plenty of times where foes from all levels of power have just murked his pals, from Killer Croc ripping a great white shark in half to an O.M.A.C. ripping apart a shark…damn why is it always sharks? As said in the section of sea creature strength, there isn’t anything explicitly saying that Arthur can enhance the stats of marine life, though there are a lot of instances of them harming heavy hitters. The only possible line that could be drawn is saying that his ability to transform gods back to their divine selves and dragon people into legitimate dragons…translates to sea creatures, and he calls them up with additional strength to aid him in battle, though this would still present inconsistencies if sharks can draw blood from Despero but lose to Killer Croc. The more obvious answer is this is a writer issue, as evidenced by a lack of statements about this power, and they aren’t ever thinking about the logistics of if a shark could actually harm Superman, just that it would look cool.

Breathing water is also something that can be tampered with. Alien fluids and novel pathogens can mess up Aquaman’s ability to breathe underwater, and he has struggled to breathe in Los Angeles due to its fog (yeah that tracks). Prior to Avatar of the Blue, draining the water out of Aquaman was another go-to strategy, one that Batman had in his contingencies for Arthur by incapacitating him with powdered foam from magnesium carbonate, the most absorbent material on Earth, covered in so many pores that a single gram has nearly 800 meters in surface area, which Batman used to rip moisture from Aquaman’s body. Having his lifeforce drained is the equivalent of draining him of water. Take away Arthur’s powers overall, and he can’t breathe underwater.

His connection to the Life Force has also been severed, as the Sea Gods were able to simply take his connection to the Life Force and give it to Black Manta, needing the aid of the Atlantean towers to feel his powers come back again. And although Avatar of the Blue has helped mitigate this (again), even the Blue has been sought out before, being siphoned by the Jewel of Lyonesse, which absorbed Aquaman into the Blue and took his Omega energy, though Arthur was quickly able to regain himself and escape from the Blue, which he states he now has full control over, so trying to absorb him wouldn’t likely work in the future.

Namor

Background

• Full Name: Namor McKenzie
• Age: 100+ years
• Height: 6’3” | 1.91 m
• Weight: 278 lbs | 126.1 kg
• Former king of Atlantis & the seven seas
• Monikers: Sub-Mariner, Imperius Rex, Prince of the Blood, Avenging Son
• Teams: Invaders, Defenders, Avengers, Illuminati, X-Men
• Notable Situationships: Betty Dean, Sue Storm, Dorma, Marrina, Sandy Pierce, Emma Frost
• Likes: Blondes, Captain America, Bagels, Popeye the Sailor Man
• Dislikes: Redheads, Franklin Roosevelt, Reed Richards, Black Panther
• Least Favorite Nicknames: Mr. Spock, The Little Mermaid, Subby
• Still fighting 81 years after World War II

Thousands of years ago, the kingdom of Atlantis sank beneath the waves. Their home destroyed by a Great Cataclysm, the people of Atlantis would have been washed away forever, were it not for their savior: the Greek god, Neptune. The god of the seas granted them superhuman strength and the power to breathe underwater, allowing their culture to flourish beneath the sea and become powerful warriors, in exchange for their undying worship. For thousands of years, Atlantis remained hidden, ruled in Neptune’s name by a long line of powerful kings and conquerors, never to be seen again by the surface world. Until, of course, the newest and final king of Atlantis changed everything. This was Namor, the Sub-Mariner.

Born to the Princess Fen and a human sailor named Leonard McKenzie, the young prince was raised in Atlantis, taught the ways of war by his grandfather King Thakorr’s grand viziers. As the first ever hybrid between human and Atlantean, Namor’s unmatched strength and speed quickly impressed, though his pink skin led to ostracization by his blue-skinned peers. More importantly, though, Thakorr taught Namor to hate the surface world, raising him on the idea that he was the byproduct of coercion and rape on the part of his human father, a lie that would remain undiscovered for years. And even more devastating, an earthquake caused by the surface world killed his mother, the person Namor loved most in the world.

And this, more than anything, carved a wound into the young prince’s heart that would never heal. To make matters worse, war broke out not long after. In Namor’s early twenties, he made Atlantis known to the surface world for the first time in thousands of years, by fighting alongside superheroes like the Human Torch and Captain America against the Axis Powers. In doing so, Namor got a firsthand look at the absolute worst that humanity had to offer. His hatred and rage and distrust only grew, and after a few years spent as an amnesiac homeless person in New York City (long story), he returned to Atlantis and claimed his grandfather’s throne. Now declared a worthy king by Neptune himself, Namor began a campaign to crush the surface world.

A campaign that was stopped by the Fantastic Four, of course, though not permanently. In the many years since then, Namor has worn the title of both hero and villain, fighting shoulder to shoulder with Reed Richards one moment, and Doom the next. For every extraterrestrial invasion that he’s helped drive off, he’s drowned a city with a tidal wave. For every universe-destroying Incursion stopped, a bloody war with Wakanda. For a long time, it was believed that his shifting allegiances were due to chronic oxygen imbalance in his blood, but even cured of that affliction, he was still a fickle friend. The simple fact of the matter is that Namor was raised to believe that life is war, and his first introduction to the human world… was World War II. There was no biological reason for his anger, only pain and loss. Many people believe from his arrogant attitude that no one loves Namor more than Namor, but the truth is that no one hates Namor more than Namor either.

Even still, it bears emphasizing that the Sub-Mariner is a valiant man at heart. He despises killing needlessly, and wants nothing more than the safety and success of Atlantis, and the sanctity of the seas he rules over. To that end, he has gone to any lengths, and proven himself a wise and powerful king, even if he might not always seem like it. Atlantis has been destroyed countless times, or overrun by would-be conquerors like Attuma or the Warlord Krang, but through it all, the Avenging Son has fought to protect his people, and they have always endured. Even when it meant killing his own son, Namor chose his kingdom over himself without hesitation.

Eventually, though, his reign came to an end. Defeated and imprisoned on the surface, Namor was stripped of his title, and seven would-be kings rose up to claim the throne. In a war that shook the seas themselves, they vied for the crown, seeking to become the next emissary of Neptune’s will, and Namor was left to question the best path for his people. It was then that he learned the true secret of Atlantis, the true reason for their warmongering ways: it was Neptune, the god they worshipped, who sank Atlantis beneath the waves to begin with. The Great Cataclysm was a lie, and the Atlanteans waged endless war in service to a selfish god who only wanted glory done in his name. A god who never wanted the bloodshed to end.

Faced with the truth, Namor did what no other king had ever done and rejected Neptune’s will, returning to the sea and fighting against seven armies all by himself until only he was left standing. As seven vanquished foes knelt to their once-again king, Namor declared the monarchy dissolved, and rebuilt Atlantis newer and better, with leadership who would seek progress and not war. As for him? He built a prison at the bottom of the sea and became its jailer, bringing all the villains beneath the waves to heel with his mighty strength. Free at long last from the need to wage war, Namor’s scars might finally be fading, just a little. Still, the blood of kings runs through his veins, and if anyone would threaten his people, he won’t hesitate to show them the meaning of his name.

Experience & Skill

Contrary to what many may think, Namor is not just a raging meathead, but rather exceptionally skilled and cunning in battle, thanks to his education under his mother Princess Fen, as well as King Thakorr’s grand viziers. As the King of Atlantis and commander-in-chief of their military, his tactical talents and leadership experience are first-rate, and he makes use of these skills against heroes and villains alike. Having been in his twenties during World War II, he’s now over 100 years old, and his thousands of battles against all manner of foes have only made him smarter and wiser.

In terms of general intelligence, Namor is a genius who is fluent in ten languages (or perhaps every language on Earth), and well-versed in a vast variety of sea-related facts. He is an expert engineer who could design submarines more advanced than any human technology, and personally built his own undersea fortress. In the aftermath of World War II, he spent some time as a homicide detective, capable of solving crimes through tactics such as altering radio frequencies to discern specific sounds.

In terms of combat and martial arts skill, Namor knows jiu-jitsu, has beaten champion level boxers, and has described human martial arts such as judo as “primitive” compared to his own skill. He’s proven this as well, having defeated his cousin Byrrah, who is a master of all fighting styles, as well as having equaled Captain America in direct hand-to-hand combat. His skills were great enough that Iron Fist praised them, and he was even able to compete with the literal God of War, Ares. He’s also gifted with both sword and trident, thanks to his training under the Warlord Krang.

In terms of battle IQ, Namor has learned to combat enemies like the Human Torch, who can take advantage of his principle weaknesses. For example, coating his fists in insulated mud to strike hot opponents. He has also adapted to rogues like Llyra and Orka, who can take control of his fish. For example, using blood to divert piranhas. He has worked around foes faster than himself, such as the Whizzer, a speedster almost too fast for him to see. Or enemies that are difficult to physically damage, such as Reed Richards. When faced with troublesome foes, he is adept at discerning and taking advantage of enemy weaknesses, such as Triton’s saline tubes. Perhaps most impressively, he was able to outsmart Doctor Doom, tricking him into dropping his force-field before then overpowering him.

Arsenal

Trident of Neptune

Namor’s signature weapon, the Trident of Neptune, is a copy of the original trident belonging to the god of the sea, Neptune. Acquired after Namor proved himself worthy to rule Atlantis, this three-pronged piercing weapon is imbued with Neptune’s full power, and is made of Adamantine, the enchanted metal that all of the Olympian gods wield. Thanks to its powerful magic, it can clash with Mjolnir and even pierce the hide of the Incredible Hulk.

In addition to acting as a symbol of Namor’s rule, the Trident has various mystical powers as well. It can channel lightning for charged strikes, or fire it out as a blast. It grants Namor control over the seas, allowing him to flood cities with massive tidal waves. And it is psychically linked to Namor, allowing him to sense its presence and proximity. When combined with other mystical talismans, it has shown to be capable of transforming willing followers into sea creatures. In the hands of Neptune himself, it was able to destroy the Elder God Set’s golden serpent, which split off part of Set’s life force and affected him despite the fact that he was located in another dimension. It was even stated to be able to directly drain your life force dry.

Adamantine, the metal that the Trident is made out of, also has a number of miscellaneous abilities that it has demonstrated over the years. While Namor nor the Trident have personally utilized all these powers, they should theoretically be available to him. For instance, Adamantine can absorb and disperse magical energies, with Hercules believing it can unchain ghosts and bring them peace. Indeed, it does then successfully free them from their shackles of cosmic radiation, allowing them to pass on. It is also difficult to phase through due to its density, even for the likes of Vision, and it can cut through the fabric of reality to open portals to other dimensions

After becoming sentient (long story), the Adamantine could also:

• Assimilate other metals
• Shapeshift into other forms
• Possess people
• Amp the stats of those it possesses
• Corrupt Wolverine and suppress his soul
• Transform into an entire army of gold creatures

These powers don’t seem to be applicable to an ordinary, non-sentient weapon made of Adamantine, so they probably wouldn’t apply to the Trident. It is worth noting as well that while the Trident is Namor’s most famous weapon, and his skill with it is top-notch, he actually doesn’t use it as consistently as you would expect. In the greater majority of circumstances, he prefers to let his fists do the talking.

Horn of Proteus

A magical horn that Namor possesses, which he can blow like a conch in order to rally the greatest forces of the sea. When the horn sounds, any number of giant kaiju come to the Sub-Mariner’s aid.

Most prominently, he used this during his first fight with the Fantastic Four, to summon the sea creature Giganto, a massive, bipedal whale monster capable of trampling New York underfoot. Spawned from the poison and litter that humans recklessly discard in the ocean, Giganto is enormously powerful, so durable that even Mjolnir can’t put a dent in him. He can fire lasers from his mouth like Godzilla, shoot water from his spout, and kill people (even those as strong as Namor himself) with echolocation, producing sound waves that reduce their flesh to pulp. It took a nuclear bomb detonated from inside his body to bring Giganto down. Not even a version of Thor can defeat him directly.

However, to make matters worse, he’s not even unique. In fact, there are entire hordes of Gigantos roaming Atlantis’ grazing lands, and Namor can summon many at once if he so desires. On top of that, he also commands krakens, giant squids, and massive crustaceans that are just as strong and large, albeit not as iconic. However, it’s worth noting that Namor is reliant on the Horn to control these larger creatures, with his own marine telepathy being insufficient. If separated from it, he will have a harder time bending them to his will and preventing a full-on rampage. Though, after the War of the Seven Kings, in which Namor earned the allegiance of the entire sea, he showed the ability to use the Trident to communicate with and command the armies of all the oceans without needing the Horn. Meaning he may have now superseded the need for it.

Sacred Armor of Atlantis

Namor was once granted the Sacred Armor of Atlantis by Neptune, a magic armor that can not only protect his body, but temporarily stave off the effects of wounds, healing him quickly in the event that he is injured. He used this armor to battle and defeat Samu-Ket.

Sword of Kamuu

The Sword of Kamuu is a magical sword that was once wielded by King Kamuu, the last ruler of Atlantis before it sank. Previously, it contained a magic gem called the Eye of Zartra (which belonged to Kamuu’s queen) but that has since been removed. In the modern day, Namor has wielded the sword on occasion, and in his hands, it was able to clash with the Ebony Blade, a magic sword tougher than Adamantium that can normally cut through any object, such as Iron Man’s Extremis armor, the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, or even atoms. Only able to be wielded by a true prince of Kamuu’s blood, it also increases the wielder’s physical powers, and can heal wounds. Its only limitation is that it cannot be used to harm an Atlantean, presumably due to their connection to Kamuu himself. If it is used for such a purpose, it will kill the wielder too.

Life Support Costume

Namor was once temporarily altered on a biological level by nerve gas, which prevented him from breathing or retaining any water when on land, essentially confining him to the ocean. Thankfully, Reed Richards came to the rescue, and designed a costume for him which was lined with tubes and filters to keep him moisturized for up to 24 hours at a time, out of water. The downside being that if the suit was damaged, he lost the ability to breathe. Later, however, Doctor Doom altered his biology again so that the suit no longer worked for him, and eventually he regained the ability to breathe out of water, thus rendering it obsolete.

Energy Trident

Though only used briefly, and presumably not nearly as strong as his normal trident, Namor has used a three-pronged trident with cylindrical spokes made of energy, kind of like a lightsaber. This trident could shoot blasts of electricity.

Wakandan Suit

At one point, Namor wears a suit that was specially designed by Wakandan scientists, which acts as a firewall to repel mind controlling nanotechnology. Obviously this is hyper-specific to the situation, and Namor did not like wearing the suit very much, so under most circumstances he wouldn’t bother with it.

Magneto Helmet

When combatting the omega level telepath Cassandra Nova, Namor and his allies made use of a number of replicas of Magneto’s famous helmet, in order to keep her out of their heads. Presuming the helmet is comparable to the one that Magneto himself wears, it should likewise be effective against other high tier telepaths like Xavier.

Asbestos Net

In order to counter the Human Torch, Namor has carried fireproof nets made of asbestos into combat, allowing him to bind Johnny Storm with no fear of the net being burned through. Given that the Human Torch can produce flames as hot as two million degrees Fahrenheit, and potentially even comparable to a supernova, it’s probably a bit tougher than normal asbestos.

Flash Gun

In his early appearances during World War II, Namor occasionally carried a pistol-like firearm called a flash gun (alternatively referred to as a “shock gun”) which could fire blasts of electricity to zap foes.

Pellets

Likewise mostly a hallmark of his early comics, Namor has access to several varieties of pellets which can burst and produce different effects. For example, he once shot Iron Man with an emery dust pellet which made his metal joints stiffen, hit the Thing with a gas pellet that knocked him unconscious, and incapacitated the Human Torch with a vacuum pellet that extinguished his flames.

Abilities

Atlantean Hybrid Physiology

The overwhelming majority of Namor’s powers stem from his biology, namely the fact that he is half Atlantean and half human, a union which somehow resulted in a completely unique being far stronger than any member of either species. In addition to his superhuman stats, Namor reaps the benefits of his heritage through being able to breathe both in and out of the water, swim tirelessly across the entire planet, and survive extremely inhospitable conditions. For instance, he can endure extreme variations in water temperature, see in pitch darkness, and endure pressure at unfathomable depths. Unfortunately, his ability to breathe both in and out of water has led to chronic issues with oxygen imbalance, but after being diagnosed, Namor has since counteracted this particular issue.

As far as specific special abilities go? Well, that’s what the rest of these sections are for!

Superhuman Strength

Namor is almost impossibly strong, capable of lifting massive ships, icebergs, and even islands with ease, but that’s hardly the upper limit of what he’s capable of. At his peak strength underwater, he’s consistently overpowered behemoths like the Thing and even Savage Hulk. In fact, his clashes with Hulk have caused tidal waves big enough to sink continents, and even released energy that could power a machine intended to atomize the entire planet. Out of the water, Namor isn’t as strong, but he still retains 85% of his peak strength, according to Black Panther. On land, he has clashed with a version of Thor, broken the Crimson Bands of Cytorrak twice, matched Hercules one issue after he held up the universe, helped Hulk drive back the Nameless One, put hands on Doom Supreme, and even smashed the head of the Dreaming Celestial. Needless to say, the Sub-Mariner’s might is not to be underestimated.

Superhuman Speed

Much like with his strength, Namor is at his fastest underwater, but has said he feels just as comfortable in the air. He’s proven it too, being easily fast enough to catch the Human Torch, play hopscotch with falling meteors, and effortlessly dodge Iron Man’s lightspeed repulsor blasts. When faced with speedsters like the Whizzer, who was faster than Quicksilver, he could easily adapt and tag him. He can fly at speeds comparable to Thor’s hammer, is explicitly faster than the Hulk, Iron Man, Hercules, or Mar-Vell, and his reflexes are fast enough to snatch the Silver Surfer off his board mid-movement. He’s used this incredible speed to crash through several buildings with Sentry, and when sufficiently enraged can launch dozens of blows instantly, so fast that normally-comparable foes like Attuma couldn’t respond.

Super-Resilient Skin

Thanks in part to the amount of time he spends at the bottom of the ocean, subjected to crushing pressures, Namor has nearly impenetrable skin. In addition to being bulletproof and tough enough that blades break against him, his body can withstand powerful electric shocks and the heat of the Human Torch’s Nova Blast. He can endure freezing temperatures as well, surviving even if he is molecularly frozen down to his marrow. A transmutative effect that normally affects the whole body could only turn part of his arm to stone. He is impervious to nuclear radiation, and can survive in the vacuum of space, even if he cannot breathe there without aid. Powerful magnetic force can’t crush him, even that which is a thousand times stronger than Magneto himself. A sonic blast strong enough to turn flesh into pulp merely stunned him, and Black Bolt’s scream did not kill him. A plasma blast to the chest merely dehydrated him, and he recovered quickly.

With all this said, he is not truly indestructible. Adamantium and Vibranium can both cut him, as can blades wielded by enemies comparable in strength to himself, such as a young Thanos.

Flight

Namor is famously Marvel’s first mutant, with small wings on either side of his ankles that allow him to fly, not unlike the Greek god Hermes. This allows him to zoom through the air at speeds comparable to Thor’s hammer, fast enough to match even foes like Sentry. He can cross huge distances in mere moments, and make hairbreadth turns with expert precision. While the wings on his feet might seem too small to achieve lift, they do anyway, defying all known physical laws. However, in the event that they are restrained or clipped, this will severely hamper Namor’s mobility until they grow back.

Water Absorption & Empowerment

Perhaps Namor’s most powerful and essential trait is his ability to absorb water into his body, using it to drastically boost his strength and speed. That might not sound like much at first glance, but the power boost he gets underwater is so great that he’s never been truly overpowered there. Matched, very occasionally. Outsmarted or outmaneuvered, sure. Cheesed by hax, absolutely. Removed from the water and defeated elsewhere, definitely. But in a contest of sheer physical might, even the Hulk and Thor, or hell, all the Avengers at the same time, cannot unambiguously outdo the Sub-Mariner in his own element.

On land, he’s weaker, about 85% of his peak strength, per Black Panther’s estimates, and this number decreases even more the longer he spends out of the water. However, he needs no prolonged exposure to moisture to regain his strength; in fact, just touching as much as a single drop of water is enough to instantly restore him to full power and stamina. When properly hydrated, Namor has endless stamina, sharpened senses, and improved healing, as well as greater resistance to esoteric attacks. For instance, it can break him out of mind control and restore erased memories, and can replace his blood and fluids even if all of the moisture is boiled, sucked, or leeched from his body. In his early comics, he could expel the water from his body like a sprinkler to counter fire-based attacks, though as time goes on, he can just tank them without needing to do so.

It’s worth noting that Namor can empower himself with other liquids, not just water. For instance, he once rejuvenated his strength by swimming in molten blood, and then used that strength to harm Doom Supreme, one of the strongest versions of Doctor Doom in the multiverse. He can also swim in things that are not even traditionally “liquid,” for example a region of fluid-like space, though it is unclear if he received a boost in that case. However, water that is extremely polluted or chlorinated, or specific liquids like oil, have been shown to be less beneficial to him. It is also worth clarifying that being hydrated does not make Namor invincible, as his endurance can still be overtaxed. If he takes enough damage, it will take time for him to recover, water or no water.

Marine Telepathy

In addition to the monsters he can summon with the Horn of Proteus, Namor has the natural ability to telepathically communicate with all manner of marine life, commanding them to do his bidding. Notably, this power is more “crude” relative to actual mind control, though it is clearly more extensive than simply asking the creatures to obey. It can normally be seen as a more “subtle” influence, where the creatures are compelled to obey but not completely incapable of resisting. Though resistance is clearly acknowledged to be unusual, there are plenty of creatures that Namor cannot control, such as Giganto.

However, it actually is possible for Namor to utilize his telepathy to launch more powerful mental attacks. When his deranged duplicate, Imperius Rex, used Namor’s own telepathy against him, it caused significant strain against Namor’s mental resistance, and was eventually able to subdue and control him after Imperius Rex’s telepathy got even stronger. This means that Namor’s telepathy is capable of not only taking full, forcible control over its target, but also pushing past mental resistance as strong as Namor’s own. Which is extremely impressive, given his incredible willpower (see below).

In terms of specific creatures that Namor has access to, in addition to basic sharks, dolphins, whales, and so on, he also has piranhas strong enough to pierce his own flesh with their teeth, and electric eels that can absorb magic. However, in the event that his fish are turned against him, he has had no problem dealing with them via his own strength.

Water Manipulation

While the Trident of Neptune offers Namor some control over water, he recently took things up a notch by stealing the powers of Morris Bench, more commonly known as Hydro Man. With his newfound control over water, Namor can batter foes with waves of water, conjure tidal waves, and split the sea. His range is so great, he could drown people in a prison in New Mexico from the bottom of the ocean. And he’s precise enough to use water to manipulate other objects, recalling his Trident to his hand by grabbing it with water.

More importantly, he escalated to a whole new level of power, able to take on Thor, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, and Ghost Rider at the same time by himself. While the reason for his power boost isn’t specified beyond being vaguely correlated with the Hydro Man powers, this is most likely because his strength level is dependent on hydration, and his connection with water is now greatly improved.

Though Namor has not shown all of them, Hydro Man has demonstrated a wide variety of applications for his control over water, all of which should be replicable. This includes transforming his body into water to make himself effectively intangible, regenerating from being splattered, reforming from steam, duplicating himself, forcing water down a person’s throat to suffocate them (dangerous to even foes as strong as Wonder Man), filling people with water to puppeteer their bodies, and ripping the water out of a person’s body telekinetically. While you could debate it based on the art, visually it appears that Namor has at least turned his body to and from water at one point, so the other abilities should not be off-limits either.

Superhuman Willpower

Another one of Namor’s most impressive traits is his nearly peerless willpower, which has allowed him to endure extreme pain and incredibly inhospitable conditions. For example, he once endured being whipped for several days, taking a punishment that would have been inflicted upon every member of the Atlantean slums all by himself. Even when it got to the point that the people whipping him were crying out in pain from how much their muscles hurt from doing it for so long, Namor himself did not make a sound. Even while separated from water, he has gone six weeks straight with zero hydration whatsoever.

This also doubles as powerful resistance to mind control and mental attacks. There have been numerous examples of this across Namor’s history, so here are a few of the biggest highlights.

In his early comics, Namor was mind controlled for a little while by a villain called the Puppet Master, who uses puppet versions of his victims to control them remotely. Notably, this mind hax could even work on people like the Immortal Hulk, who normally resists mind hax. While Namor was affected outside of the water, touching water dislodged Puppet Master’s control long enough for Namor to concentrate and exert his willpower, breaking free of the control and shattering the puppet controlling him. This caused Puppet Master to declare that he would never dare attempt to control Namor again.

Some time later, all of Atlantis was placed under the thrall of the Serpent Crown, an artifact that subjects people to the mind control of the Elder God Set. In addition to Atlantis, this crown has controlled all of Washington D.C., and affected individuals as powerful as the Scarlet Witch. While Namor was rendered amnesiac by the power of the crown years prior, in this instance he was able to resist the control of the Serpent Crown even after putting it on his head, marshalling his willpower and removing it, never falling under its control.

At one point, during a period in which Namor’s mind had been fragmented and put back together incorrectly, Doctor Strange bound him with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak and attempted to enter his mind. After a few moments, Namor was able to forcibly expel Strange’s astral form from his mind, shatter the Crimson Bands, and produce a psychic feedback effect that harmed Strange’s astral form.

In the Emperor Doom graphic novel, Doctor Doom was able to harness the powers of the Purple Man via a special device, placing countless people under his mind control. However, individuals with high willpower like Namor were able to naturally resist this. Subsequently, Doom increased the effect’s power and actually did manage to successfully control Namor, but upon touching water, his willpower was bolstered to the point where he even broke free from the amplified effect.

During his time with the X-Men, Emma Frost repeatedly entered Namor’s mind with his willing consent. However, as she was exploring his mind, she found doors that separate specific portions of his psyche, for example one that is dedicated to his feelings for Sue Storm. Despite the strength of Emma’s telepathy, she was unable to open that door, noting that she could normally do so easily, and citing Namor’s willpower as the reason for her inability to access that part of his mind.

Recently, an alternate universe version of Namor who is identical to the mainline version was able to shield himself from mental detection by using his telepathy to make himself appear like a fish to psionic powers. Notably, Jean Grey mentioned immediately beforehand that it took her immense effort to disguise her mind from detection in the same manner.

In Namor’s very most recent appearances, a mutated duplicate of himself called Imperius Rex used Namor’s own telepathy to mind control him. Namor was able to resist this with difficulty, until Imperius Rex increased his power to the point that his telepathy exceeded Namor’s own. After this, he was able to successfully control Namor temporarily, but Namor’s willpower eventually allowed him to break out again and kill Imperius Rex.

Lastly, in Avengers/JLA, a number of Atlanteans were knocked forcibly unconscious by a telepath’s mind control, which is able to affect sea creatures, though it took a lot of effort on their part to do so. Thanks to Namor’s mental resistances and his nature as a hybrid, he was able to remain largely unaffected in comparison, only commenting that the attack gave him a headache. The telepath in question was, of course, none other than Aquaman! …Go figure.

Superhuman Senses

Namor has a variety of sensory powers that allow him to perceive his surroundings with greater acuity. For starters, his vision is much better than a normal person, allowing him to see even in the lightless depths of the ocean. His ears are also super-sensitive, able to hear through the hull of a submarine, detect a person’s heartbeat through the water, or perceive a sound echoing across the ocean floor from over a thousand leagues away.

In addition, he has a number of extra senses as well. His sixth sense can alert him to danger, such as a surprise attack from behind. By mimicking the radar sense of deep sea creatures, he can keep track of invisible opponents such as Sue Storm or Super Skrull. By sensing the sounds of motion through the water, he can fight while blinded, and through electrolocation, he can sense his surroundings via electrical signals. For unexplained reasons, he can see Doctor Strange’s invisible astral form, if sufficiently angry. Underwater, his navigational instincts are infallible, and he is capable of sensing that he is in an illusion. If any of these senses are interfered with, simply touching water clears them up immediately.

Accelerated Healing

Though not as powerful as some other characters like Wolverine or the Hulk, Namor does have an accelerated healing factor which allows him to recover from damage more quickly and thoroughly than a mortal man. He can heal from slashes across his chest near-instantly, and can shrug off being stabbed, even surviving hits through vital places like the neck, stomach, or the left side of the chest, and his recovery rate can be amped even further through contact with water. If his wings are ripped or burned off, they can grow back, though this takes time.

Electricity Generation, Absorption & Channeling

Similar to an electric eel, Namor is capable of producing, absorbing and discharging electricity through his body, even generating a current that could stagger the Hulk. This has allowed him to redirect lightning attacks, including those powerful enough to harm Doctor Doom through his armor, but has also allowed him to redirect other energy attacks. For example, he has absorbed and rebounded Iron Man’s repulsor blasts, and even Wasp’s energy stings, which are powerful enough to burn the flesh off of the Sentry.

Inflation & Deflation

Though only used once, Namor has shown the ability to inflate his body like a pufferfish to cushion an impact, and then subsequently deflate himself back to normal size. This is reflective of his broader ability to mimic the powers of marine life.

Slipperiness

Surprisingly not completely one-off, Namor has shown on two separate occasions, decades apart, the power to make his body slippery and difficult to get a grip on, not unlike an eel. This is effective enough that even the Thing could not keep a solid grip on him, nor could Reed Richards with his elasticity.

Life Force Absorption

Perhaps the most powerful aspect of Namor’s connection with marine life, but naturally used infrequently, is the ability to directly absorb the strength and life force of both animals and plants near him. Namor used these to counteract the effects of the Diamonds of Doom, which were draining his life force, reinvigorating himself at the expense of the living things nearby. He says that he can do this with all things that live under the ocean, though given his love for the ocean, it logically should be a last resort.

Additional Resistances

Many of Namor’s specific resistances – such as mind manipulation, memory manipulation, mind reading, heat, cold, electricity, dehydration, transmutation, molecular manipulation, life draining, piercing attacks, loud sounds, radiation, and so on are covered in the above sections to which they are related. This section will cover miscellaneous resistances that do not fall under any other ability that he possesses.

Though he is not immune, Namor has shown much greater resistance to poisons and sedatives than a normal person, powering through them or purging them entirely via water. When his soul was removed from his body and imprisoned by the Ebony Blade in an ethereal realm of demons, it was able to resist assimilation, break out of the blade and return to his body, demonstrating resistance to soul manipulation. Likewise, he has endured Ghost Rider’s Penance Stare; that is to say, it worked on him just fine, but then he just tanked the pain. He has managed to grab the arm of a ghost, showcasing non-physical interaction. His Atlantean physiology makes him capable of enduring certain types of blood manipulation, such as nanotech designed to suck all of the oxygen out of his blood.

Feats

Overall

• Formerly the King of Atlantis
• Fought alongside the Allies against the Axis Powers during World War II
• Defeated Human Torch, The Thing, and The Hulk
• Fought the entire Fantastic Four together on various occasions
• Waged war against Wakanda, which ended in a stalemate
• Aided in preventing multiple Incursions from destroying the universe
• Instrumental in repelling Knull’s invasion of the planet
• Declined offers for membership in the Avengers, Hellfire Club, and Krakoan leadership
• Defeated Attuma, Tiger Shark, Orka, Llyra, Llyron, Byrrah, Proteus, Salamar, Suma-Ket, Kamar
• Learned the greatest secret of Atlantis and rejected Neptune’s desire for endless war
• Won the War of the Seven Kings against seven armies singlehandedly, reclaiming the throne of Atlantis before dissolving the monarchy altogether
• Had offscreen sex with a humanoid tapeworm queen
• Learned to respect women on-panel (based)

Strength

• Lifted the island Utopia to prevent it from crashing down onto New Atlantis
• Consistently overpowers Marvel’s heavy hitters underwater, including but not limited to Thing, Hulk, Thor, Hercules, Iron Man, Red Hulk, and both Captain Marvels
• Clashed with Hulk with such force that they shook all of Atlantis and disturbed the sea for hundreds of miles, making tidal waves that threatened the coastlines of an entire continent
• His clashes with the Hulk were used to power a machine meant to atomically disintegrate the planet
• Powered through being pinned down by Magneto’s magnetic beam projector, which was a thousand times more powerful than Magneto himself
• Together with Hulk, managed to push back the Nameless One, who was more powerful than Doctor Strange
• The Trident of Neptune is stated to possess the full power of Neptune, one of the strongest Olympian gods
• Helped beat Zeus into submission alongside Thor and She-Hulk, causing Zeus to admit he had been humbled by the fight, though he did proceed to beat all of them
• Smashed a huge dent into the Dreaming Celestial’s head and then ripped it apart
• Used the Trident of Neptune to match the strength of Thor’s hammer strike
• Can draw blood from the Sentry with his punches, and even hold him off temporarily 1v1, smashing him back through multiple buildings in the process
• Made Thanos bleed with a punch, though broke his hand in the process and was defeated afterward
• Broke the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak twice, once when they were wielded by Doctor Strange and once by Clea
• Overpowered Unworthy Thor and Iron Man simultaneously, threatening to crush Thor’s hammer with one hand, then repelled an assault from Captain Marvel, then She-Hulk, then Robbie Reyes Ghost Rider, all in immediate succession
• Stabbed Nerkkod and disarmed him of his hammer, despite Nerkkod being strong enough to fight off the Silver Surfer, and stated by Doctor Strange to wield energies unlike anything he’s faced before
• Harmed Doom Supreme with his punches, a Sorcerer Supreme version of Doctor Doom, who has defeated the Prehistoric Avengers (Odin, Phoenix, Agamotto, etc.) numerous times across the multiverse

Speed

• Caught a bullet with his bare hand
• Stated 36 times to be some variation of lightning speed
• Dodged Iron Man’s repulsor blasts, which have been stated to be lightspeed
• Caught up to Jim Hammond Human Torch mid-flight, despite Jim having a huge head start
• When rage amped, struck Attuma dozens of times instantly before Attuma could react, despite Attuma normally being comparable to him in speed
• Snatched the Silver Surfer off his board mid-movement
• Charged at Thanos with comparable speed to Mjolnir, Iron Man’s repulsor blast, and blasts from Firelord
• Crashes through multiple buildings in battle with Sentry, crossing a large distance quickly
• Stated to be faster than Hulk, Iron Man, Hercules, and Captain Mar-Vell
• Adapted to the Whizzer’s super speed, tagging him with relative ease despite the fact that he was faster than Quicksilver

Durability

• Consistently bulletproof, like he tanks bullets a lot, like all the time
• Tanked Human Torch’s sun-level fire on various occasions, including his Nova Blast
• Frequently takes hits from the likes of the Hulk and the Thing
• Survived being launched to the moon by a geyser of water
• Survived crashing to Earth at faster-than-light speed
• Tanked Cyclops’ Optic Blast, which can split planets and pulverize Adamantium
• Survived blasts from the Silver Surfer and being rammed by his board on multiple occasions
• Powered through M.O.D.O.K.’s mind blast
• Survived getting hit at 186,000 miles per second (the speed of light)
• Has tanked Captain America’s shield to the head on multiple occasions
• Takes multiple blasts from Doctor Doom, even from point blank range
• Tanked stings from Ant-Man and the Wasp
• Survived a blow from Wonder Man that was nearly Thor level
• Endured the force from Magneto’s magnetic beam projector
• Survived getting smashed into the ground by Sentry
• Survived being hit by Black Bolt’s sonic scream
• Tanked a direct hit from She-Hulk’s gamma explosion
• Rammed Fat Man (the nuke, to be clear, not this guy) in midair to prevent it from hitting Nagasaki

Scaling

Human Torch

Namor’s earliest rival was Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch, and as time has gone on he has proven himself comparable to Johnny Storm as well. He has tanked the Torch’s Nova Blast, his most powerful attack, despite the fact that being dehydrated by high heat is technically his weakness. Their battles have granted Namor extensive experience compensating for this weakness, with dozens of battles taking place over the course of decades.

• Can produce miniature supernovas
• Johnny Storm has flown into space quickly
• Johnny Storm’s Nova Blast is capable of shattering a small moon
• Johnny Storm flies through the Negative Zone at high speed
• Two Johnny Storms were able to power a device that would require heat equivalent to “a sun or two”
• Jim Hammond has burned the Sentry, overloading him with energy

The Thing

Namor is a match for the Thing even outside of the water, and his superior when fighting beneath the waves. They have fought upwards of a dozen times, and to date, Thing has only won a fair fight underwater once, in AvX. Every other time, Namor either defeats him underwater, or Thing is forced to get Namor out of the water to stand a chance at beating him.

• Survived a blast from Galactus that could split the planet in half
• Survived Ego the Living Planet exploding on top of him
• Fought Miracle Man, who was possibly able to create a star, though the Marvel website says this was likely at least partially an illusion
• Survived a moon crashing on him and exploding

The Hulk

Namor’s record against the Savage Hulk is pretty similar to that against the Thing; he’s on par with him out of the water, and stronger than him underwater. This is to the point where Namor being as strong as the Hulk is his consistent reputation in-universe, frequently cited by many unrelated characters as a measuring strength for his incredible might.

• Grey Hulk destroys an asteroid twice the size of Earth
• Hulk destroys Nightcrawler’s universe with a thunderclap
• Hulk shakes the infinite dimensions connected to the crossroads
• Hulk survived being in a realm of infinite density
• Hulk’s intercourse with Umar causes a shift in reality

Thor

Namor fights Thor less frequently than Hulk or Thing, and has a somewhat poorer record against him, having lost several times and only won once. However, his strength is still clearly on par with that of the thunder god. He’s matched Thor’s hammer swings with his trident, and after his power boost in Aaronvengers, could block a strike from Unworthy Thor’s replacement hammer with one hand, threatening to crush the Uru in his bare grip. This is their most recent fight, took place after Namor’s power boost, and just so happens to be Namor’s one clear victory.

• Pulls around the planet-sized Midgard Serpent
• Clashed with Gorr hard enough to shatter distant planets
• Survived the weight of twenty planets
• Shook the universe with a thermo-blast
• Strikes with Mjolnir are compared to the Big Bang
• His crying as a baby causes storms that shake the World Tree
• Contains the power of the multi-galaxy busting Life Bomb
• A clash between two Thors compresses infinite timelines into one
• Shatters one of Yggdrasil’s roots
• Pushes against the World Engine, shifting the Nine Realms
• Jane Foster Thor shakes planets half a universe away

Hercules

Likewise, Namor is a match for Hercules, even fighting him just a single issue after Hercules famously lifted the heavens. The two have clashed several times otherwise, and much like the Hulk, Namor is stronger than him underwater. The Trident of Neptune, being a godly weapon made of Adamantine, is also comparable to Hercules’ mace, which is made of the same material. Not to mention, Namor was also able to help overpower Hercules’ even stronger father, Zeus.

• Bore Atlas’ celestial burden, lifting the weight of the universe, which is described as infinite
• Claimed to have enough power to shake the universe
• Could have shifted the Earth out of orbit by arm wrestling with Thor

Iron Man

Though perhaps a step down from the likes of Hulk or Thor, Namor has indeed fought Iron Man several times, always outspeeding him and overpowering him underwater. His blows are strong enough to smash through Tony’s armor, and he can block his repulsor blasts with his bare hands.

• Can react within picoseconds
• Flew interstellar distances in a short time-frame
• Stopped an impact that would have cratered the west coast of the U.S.
• Destroyed a landmass the size of Manhattan
• Earlier armors have tanked impacts that caused country-wide earthquakes
• Endured being struck with the force of the sun by Magneto
• Destroyed Thanos’ star-busting synthetic jewel

Silver Surfer

Namor has punched out Silver Surfer, snatched him off his board mid-movement, and tanked direct hits from his energy blasts. He also overpowered Nerkkod, which Surfer was not capable of doing.

• States that his power, if misused, could destroy a galaxy
• Destroys galaxies in his fight with the Uni-Lord
• Manipulated the Big Crunch while weakened
• Matches the power of the Infinity Stones
• Outruns multiversal destruction fast enough to go back in time

Miscellaneous

Namor has fought the likes of Doctor Doom. He’s matched Sentry twice. He’s overcome both Captain Marvels, and harmed Kree warriors comparable to Ronan the Accuser. On the higher end, he has punched out Doom Supreme, overpowered enemies stronger than Doctor Strange like Nerkkod and the Nameless One, and smashed the Dreaming Celestial’s head. He can damage Thanos, albeit with difficulty. He has harmed Neptune and wields his power in the form of the Trident.

• Sentry has the power of a million exploding suns
• Sentry smashes through the head of a dead Celestial
• Invisible Woman’s barriers temporarily protect from an Incursion
• Mar-Vell’s excess energy creates a star within the Negative Zone
• Doctor Doom’s barrier protects him from a blast from Celestials
• Doom Supreme overpowered Odin, Phoenix, Agamotto, etc. numerous times
• Doom Supreme could manipulate a portion of the First Firmament
• Hyperion withstands the collision of two universes
• Loki’s battle with Sise-Neg threatens “reality itself”
• Thanos endures the collapse of a black hole light years across
• Thanos has endured blasts and beatings from Odin and attacks that can kill Celestials
• Enchantress damages the World Tree, threatening to destroy the realms
• X-Man and Ares fight each other within the span of planck time
• Valkyrie scours all Nine Realms in the span of an eye blink

Weaknesses

While Namor is largely a bruiser, he does have his fair share of weaknesses. Most prominently, if he remains out of the water for too long, he will become dehydrated and eventually die. Though in fairness, normal humans will die after a few days without water, and Namor can go six weeks with zero contact, so he’s pretty tough. Likewise, heat can dehydrate him quickly, but he’s also endured Human Torch’s Nova Blast, so it takes quite a bit to get him sweating. Regardless, his strength is notably lower on land than in the water, and he is generally much easier to defeat there, if an enemy can force him out of the ocean.

For a while, he was also believed to be plagued by mood swings born of oxygen imbalance, causing him to make rash decisions and behave villainously due to his competing respiration systems. However, while his oxygen imbalance was real, he fixed the issue and his villainous stints still continued, demonstrating that it’s actually something much more fundamental to his personality. Born of his trauma from World War II and his bad experiences with humanity, Namor feels as though he is constantly at war, making him far more prone to picking fights on occasion. Though, this does not make him any less skilled or clever.

He also has a handful of more specific weaknesses that can be taken advantage of. For example, damaging his wings to a great enough extent will prevent him from flying, and destroying the Horn of Proteus will leave him unable to command his kaiju. His endurance can be overtaxed, even underwater, and polluted water won’t heal him the way that normal water will.

Before the Verdict

Similarly to the previous two comic rematch blogs, the researchers for this blog put together a retrospective on the episode, going over what they got right, what they got wrong, and if it was even right at the time.

Aquaman

“Though she thinks she was knocked up by a fish Jesus wizard… I-it’s not important; comics are weird.”

This is in reference to Atlan, an old King-Wizard of Atlantis. During the beginning of the Post-Crisis era, Aquaman found his ancient writings and figured out he was his son, but this detail quietly went away even before New 52 launched, with Arthur saying in Brightest Day that his dad is a lighthouse keeper. In New 52, Atlan remained a former King of Atlantis and was repurposed into the Dead King, who we’ll talk about later.

“Tom trained Arthur to master his powers until eventually, his mother showed up with a heavy dose of truth: Arthur was the rightful king of the underwater city, Atlantis. (sighs) I wish there were more stories about parents comin’ back. In real life, too…”

Incorrect, Aquaman’s mom’s advisor Vulko is the one who first comes to Arthur about Atlantis in New 52.

“And so, Arthur would descend the ocean depths to claim his birthright and maintain the peace between land and sea, as the king, the superhero… Aquaman.”

For the most part this is true but it varies between continuity. In New 52 he obviously had to battle Ocean Master for the throne (though its implied he had the throne but gave it up to Orm after having his son), and in Post-Crisis he does simply claim it back some time after becoming a Justice League member, as said in the Secret Files’ timeline of Aquaman’s history.

“Not to worry, after a few gaudy hooks and a magic water hand, he got better. Arthur controls sea life by tapping into a worldwide phenomenon called the Clear.”

“Kinda like the Force from Star Wars, but just, in the ocean.”

“Popup: The Clear, AKA The Blue, is one of many elemental forces in the universe. For example, Poison Ivy and Swamp Thing connect to plant life with The Green.”

They basically combined the Clear and the Blue which isn’t accurate. The Clear later got renamed into the Life Force and became a crucial part of the DC universe lore for sentient life itself, whereas the Blue has more to do with oceans in the same vein as the Green/Red for nature and animals. I will say, extremely based usage of a Kit Fisto clip.

“Through the Clear, creatures he controls increase in strength. Some even become capable of breaking Green Lantern constructs.”

One of the biggest misconceptions is that this simply…exists. There is no known statement that I could find where Aquaman increases the strength of his fish. Yes, they do have high-end feats of harming Lantern constructs or Justice League-level enemies like Despero, but this statement came out of nowhere. I scoured the internet high and low for statements and kept a close eye while reading and found nothing. The absolute closest thing I could find was a character named Deep Blue, who can increase the size of sea life and that’s it.

I guess when you look at the wording they say they “increase in strength” as in generally speaking and not Arthur himself doing it, but it still reads pretty odd. It’s a hard concept to approach because while sea life is impressive and incredibly underestimated, it is hard to imagine within reason that these guys can harm someone like Despero, especially when in DC, characters like Dick Grayson can grapple with orcas, but the feats exist so your mileage may vary here.

“Wiz: Well, he has difficulty dominating more intelligent life. His octopus friend Topo is one such example of a being he cannot forcibly control.

Boomstick: What’s so impressive about that little guy—

A picture of Prime Earth Topo is shown.

Boomstick: Whoa! Yeah. Got it.”

Overall true statement in the first half, usually there is a certain point of intelligence where he can’t just command things, hence why some times when he is controlling a more human-esque character, it’s usually because their minds are too far gone, like when Corum Rath lost the Abyssal King possession. Also I’m not sure if they meant to do this but Topo the Octopus and the sea monster Topo are two different characters, and the panel change insinuates Topo can just change into a giant monster which isn’t true.

“Boomstick: THE LEGENDARY TRIDENT OF POSEIDON!!!

We then cut to the wide shot of the Death Battle Lab, where Wiz pulls out another trident.

Wiz: …and also the Trident of Neptune.

Boomstick: Wait… isn’t that the same god? Aren’t they the same thing?”

Yeah this concept is weird but they explain it fine enough in the comics. The Trident of Neptune was developed by King Atlan along with the other Seven Relics in New 52 lore, and the Trident of Poseidon was established as a weapon forged by the Cyclopes along with other weapons such as Zeus’s lightning bolt.

“Wiz: Well, kind of. They both can control water, summon storms, create force fields, and unleash lightning. That one can teleport.”

Yes on water, only Trident of Poseidon can make forcefields, Trident of Neptune can teleport but only to certain locations via runestones, and summoning storms/lightning were a one-time blessing of Poseidon that Aquaman relinquished after defeating the Thule realm.

“Wiz: With added flight, hydrokinesis, earth manipulation, and more, Aquaman’s Trident was a perfect symbol to prove himself a mighty king.”

He doesn’t gain flight until Avatar of the Blue, hydrokinesis is true but pretty limited, and earth manipulation is Poseidon’s blessing-exclusive.

• Trident of Neptune:
  • Hydrokinesis
  • Weather control
  • Lightning blasts
  • Transmutation
  • Invisibility
  • Trident of Poseidon:
  • Hydrokinesis
  • Create fog
  • Force fields
  • Conjure ice
  • Weather control
  • Aquatic teleportation
  • Grants flight
  • Creates water elementals

This is from the “Arsenal” slide and there’s a lot wrong here. Trident of Neptune cannot transmute objects or make Arthur invisible. For the Trident of Poseidon, conjuring ice and teleportation are abilities for Trident of Neptune, and Arthur has never used it to make fog or water elementals. I initially thought the water elementals could be referring to the Unspoken Village Gods but those comics happened starting in April of 2019, which was a few months after the episode came out.

“Literally! He’s strong enough to push around oceanic plates, throw a submarine around with water magic, and lift this giant cruise ship.”

A common sighting for lifting strength feats for Aquaman is that he “pushed a tectonic plate” and I’ll admit I myself bought into this for a while but reading the comic, he pushes a chunk of a tectonic plate onto the entrance to the lair of the Trench, which is big sure, but not big enough to where he needed to push an entire tectonic plate onto it.

“This ship appears big enough to compare to the world’s largest cruise liner, the Symphony of the Seas, which weighs an incredible 228,000 tons.”

I’m not an expert on math or calculations so I’m not sure how unfounded this statement is since the ships by design don’t look that similar, but regardless it’s still a pretty big cruise ship he lifted. When looking at cruise ship comparisons, you can argue it’s comparable to a “mega-sized” cruise ship, which can range between 150,000-250,000 tons.

“He’s fast enough to keep up with Wonder Woman and swim around the whole planet in just an afternoon.”

So they don’t share the panel but it’s in reference to this panel. When you read the comic, it’s actually Arthur knocking Diana into a crane. Still impressive, but not really a speed feat so erm wrong. The second line is…kinda true? He has a feat like this when they fought the Kindred but the timeframe is somewhat unclear, but it seems as if he went around the four corners of the Earth during the whole duration of the fight.

“Oh, and he even fought the ancient dead king of Atlantis, Atlan. This guy was so strong, he sank Atlantis centuries ago with one blow from his scepter, and Aquaman held back a repeat of the same attack! With his bare hands!

Wiz: While there’s no official size for DC’s Atlantis, it is officially considered a continent. Therefore, it has to have a greater landmass than Greenland, the largest island in the world. This means Atlantis must consist of more than 836,000 square miles. To sink or destroy it, Atlan must have been outputting potential energy averaging more than 155 trillion tons of TNT.”

This is all pretty accurate, but the direct comparison to Greenland is somewhat puzzling. Again not a math guy so looking it up, the smallest continent, Australia, is considered 8 million square kilometers whereas Greenland is only 2.2 million square kilometers so I guess it’s not entirely unfounded? But it’s still a weird country size to use.

“Wiz: Well, he does have one rather lame weakness: he’s essentially fueled by water. If he’s away from water for too long, he’ll start to dry out, lose his powers, and eventually die.”

Basically true, though after a certain point Arthur began to say it was a made up rumor, then he double backed and said that he’d be fine after the hour mark, but that it’s not his ideal setting.

“Boomstick: He lives under the sea, he wears yellow, and he’s absorbent?! Wiz, I figured it out! (begins to sing) Oooooooh!~”

>Shows Aquaman’s orange shirt

Overall, this rundown actually has some decent coverage of Aquaman’s history in regards to his weapons, rise to power, and general overview of who he is. That being said, this analysis is riddled with blatant misinformation or made up powers that fail to mention the actual context of certain amps, and they just get a lot of panels mixed up and wrong.

In terms of its scaling, it feels very bizarre that they just namedrop Wonder Woman for speed and nobody else because Diana’s speed feats are usually documented a lot in these episodes and not too long ago were they using the Shattered God reaction speed feat, so coupling that with Aquaman maxing out at continent level in power is very strange.

In terms of storybeats and character stuff, it’s very surface level (heh). You can tell this movie was made as the late tie-in to the Aquaman movie just a month before because it centers around his New 52 lore especially, so we get no mention of Aquaman losing Arthur Jr., and even worse we don’t even get a mention of his wife Mera or his two archenemies Black Manta and Ocean Master. No mention of any important storylines like the two times he had to take back the Throne of Atlantis, making Atlantis public to the UN, or even just the fact that he is a founding Justice League member. I guess they cycle through Arthur’s three hands he had during Post-Crisis which is neat. They have the right idea with trying to prove that Aquaman isn’t lame but as you’ll see below, they kinda do this at the expense of Namor.

Namor

“He’s got superhuman strength, speed, and durability. He can store water in his body and shoot it out of his pores like a… human sprinkler, which is gross.”

So this is true; he uses this power a few times in his really early comics, mainly to counter fire attacks. But this is such an obscure and useless ability that it’s very strange how it’s one of the first things mentioned in his rundown. In general, this episode suffers from the same thing that a lot of seasons 5-7 comic episodes suffer from: it’s pretty obviously leaning heavily on the characters’ respect threads and betrays a lack of actual familiarity with the source material.

Case in point: the episode mentions Namor’s human sprinkler powers that he used twice in the forties, but doesn’t once talk about him getting stronger underwater – a power that he uses in practically every single fight that he ever partakes in. Pretty much inarguably his single most important and consistent power, and it’s not mentioned a single time in this episode.

“Far more impressively, he can telepathically communicate with all types of marine life, including other Atlanteans, and can persuade them to follow his commands.”

So this is a pretty unclear topic. Most of the time Namor does use his telepathy strictly for communication, and there are a decent number of cases where other marine telepaths have forcibly controlled his sea creatures against him. For that reason, I won’t give them too much flack for this, but there are a few notable indications that his telepathy is more advanced than simple persuasion. It’s made clear for instance that fish being able to disobey his commands is unusual and requires a degree of resistance on their part. Furthermore, in the time since the episode, Namor’s telepathy has been copied and used offensively by a doppelganger of himself.

“Whether it be a squadron of armored sharks or a giant killer whale, the creatures of the sea follow the First Mutant’s lead.”

This is pretty severely underselling Namor’s aquatic army, as he most frequently commands entire armies of kaiju. Even his basic fish have some esoteric showings, like absorbing magic or supplying him with their life force, and his piranhas are strong enough to pierce his skin with their teeth. The episode attempts to position Namor’s fish as unremarkable and ordinary outside of Giganto alone, a notion that’s highlighted heavily in the verdict, and this is definitely a severe misrepresentation.

“Technically, Namor is a three-way hybrid of human, Atlantean, and mutant genes.”

Namor is widely known as Marvel’s “first mutant,” though notably this label was something that was applied retroactively later on down the line, when the concept of mutants was more fleshed out than in the 1940s. For clarity, he isn’t the first mutant chronologically nor the first mutant discovered in-universe, but rather the earliest debuted character who later was given the mutant label. Somewhat confusing, I know.

“Well, this trident’s got a bunch of cool magic powers. It can control water, shoot lasers, turn people invisible, and if Namor needs some backup, he can animate objects and his surroundings to create living beings to fight alongside him.”

Blech. Okay so there’s a lot to unpack here. First of all, this list of abilities is not pulled from any actual comics or official sources, but rather lifted directly from the Marvel Wiki’s page on the Trident of Neptune, which lists a number of powers with zero citations. Having actually sat down and read all of Namor’s comics, it’s never shot lasers or been used to turn people invisible. This should be extra apparent based on the footage used here, where the “laser” shown is footage from a fanmade LEGO mod, and no footage is shown for the invisibility at all. Those abilities were just added to the Marvel Wiki with no source and the DB used that list without verifying.

As for animating objects and his surroundings to create living beings to fight alongside him… siiiiiiiiiiigh, not really. The panel shown here is from an instance where a different character named Jacqueline acquired the Trident temporarily, and by combining it with a number of Neptune’s mystic talismans, was able to turn a group of willing participants into sea creatures. In other words, Namor has never done it, it required multiple additional artifacts, and could only be used to transform living beings who were already cooperative. The episode meanwhile has Namor use this ability in the fight, to… create stone golems to fight for him? Namor has never done anything close to this, and it’s nothing like the ability they’re actually referencing. This is a completely fake power that the episode essentially made up.

I think it’s also worth noting that this episode portrays the Trident of Neptune as though it’s Namor’s preferred weapon, and he uses it for the entire fight animation. While including the Trident is certainly valid, it’s worth noting that Namor doesn’t actually use it that often, and prefers direct fisticuffs most of the time. I think this episode has given people a false impression of how Namor actually fights.

“He can use the Horn of Proteus to summon sea monsters like Giganto, which is a super whale with arms!”

Giganto has a number of special powers and is one of an entire race of super whales. He’s pretty significantly undersold here as an asset.

“The Giganto is strong enough to withstand the blast of an atomic bomb, and yet, it still pales in comparison to Namor’s own strength.”

I mean… no. Giganto was straight-up killed by the atomic bomb that the Fantastic Four used against him during Namor’s invasion of New York. Mind you, this is definitely a low showing for Giganto, as he has no-sold hits from Mjolnir among other things, but he has never just tanked a nuke outright.

The most charitable interpretation of this line is that the Thing needed to carry the atomic bomb into Giganto’s body and detonate it inside of him to kill him, so they may be inferring that his external durability would have been enough to survive. The tab here somewhat supports this: When the Fantastic Four battled a Giganto, its hide was impervious to an atomic bomb! But the way it’s described is at best misleading, and regardless, nuke level is a huge lowball for Giganto anyway.

I would also take issue with the assertion that Giganto’s strength pales in comparison to Namor, because as far as I know this has never been stated anywhere. If anything, Giganto has proven a substantial threat to Namor’s life on occasion. It’s possible they are inferring that Giganto is weaker simply because Namor has better high-end strength feats, but again it’s really not clear. It’s hard to understand what the script is talking about, because it doesn’t show any visual justification and doesn’t explain many of its claims.

“The Sub-Mariner is strong enough to match the savage Incredible Hulk, whose lifted 150 billion tons of rock for over a minute. If that’s not good enough for you, how about the time Namor held up a whole frickin’ island all by himself!”

So this script is kind of a mess. Obviously, the Savage Hulk even at the time of the episode had much better feats than this, and even Hulk’s season 3 episode highlighted several of them, so focusing on this specific Hulk feat is extremely odd. But even beyond that, the line here then positions Namor’s island lifting feat as though it’s more impressive than this Hulk feat, even though it’s just straight-up not. The script seems to have no good understanding or frame of reference for how impressive different feats are relative to each other, and can’t really keep itself internally consistent. You’ll see more of this in a moment.

“He’s quick enough to catch the Human Torch, absorbed and discharged electricity powerful enough to injure Doctor Doom, took on Thor trident to hammer, survived a mountain falling on him, and even resisted the mind-control powers of the Purple Man.”

All of this is true. Note that this episode came out after Thor VS Wonder Woman, where Thor lifting trillions of tons was highlighted, and Ultron VS Sigma, where Thor’s hammer was noted to be capable of shattering distant planets. This mention of matching Thor’s hammer will never be brought up again for the rest of the episode.

“At the end of the day, as long as there is water in his veins, the Avenging Son is a heroic king of his people and a terrifying opponent.”

So, how’s the rundown overall? General observations…

1. Every single feat or ability mentioned is pulled from a respect thread or wiki page.

I really don’t get the impression that any actual research into Namor was done for this episode. That might sound harsh but it’s true. The Trident’s list of abilities just being ripped from an unsourced section on the Marvel Wiki is especially egregious.

2. The rundown does not accurately convey how Namor actually fights.

Namor’s most important abilities, like getting stronger underwater, are skipped over in favor of powers he’s used a couple times, like the sprinkler and electric eel powers. He likewise is much more focused on physical brawling than usage of esoteric trident powers. In general this gives off a very weird and false impression of how he actually operates as a combatant.

3. Namor’s scaling is incoherent and lacks any cohesion.

I’ll talk about this more in the verdict part, but I just want to note that this rundown mentions:

• Matching Savage Hulk
• Matching Thor’s hammer
• Breaking the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak
• Making Thanos bleed with a punch
• Tanking Doctor Doom level electric shocks

Every single one of these people (or things, as far as the Crimson Bands are concerned) have been put at planet level or higher in episodes that came out before this one. None of these things come up in the verdict (except Hulk scaling, which is handwaved), and Namor is placed at low kiloton level, weaker than Miles Morales will be placed a season later. And it’s not like season 6 DB didn’t know better; again, all of these characters had shown up before, some very recently when this episode came out. Thanos VS Darkseid was ONE episode before this! It really begs the question of like, what even happened here, which is hard to answer without speculation.

4. Pretty much none of Namor’s interesting stories are discussed even in passing.

The rundown’s coverage of Namor as a character pretty much starts and ends with his backstory, and then they tack on a bit at the end about him being sometimes villainous. They don’t cover cool stuff, like that time he had a massive feud with Wakanda and sent Thanos to slaughter their people, or how he killed his own son to protect Atlantis, or how he destroyed numerous universes to protect the main reality during the Incursions, etc. etc.

Because of that, he really comes off as a shallow, surface-level character without interesting qualities, and I don’t think anybody got a very positive impression of him from this episode. Something that I’ll never forget is that I once saw someone say about Aquaman VS Namor: “I liked this episode because it made me like Aquaman a lot, and I also got to learn about Namor.”

The person who said this didn’t even mean it facetiously, but I think it really sums up a lot of the episode’s problems on Namor’s end (both in the rundown and the fight, and trust me I’ll get to the fight in a minute). There’s really just nothing here to like, and for a character as historically significant as Namor, that’s really a shame! He was basically Marvel’s first anti-hero, and his fight with the Human Torch was the first ever major superhero crossover. The dude is a big deal, and it sucks that he’s stuck with a mid portrayal in a mid episode that made most of the Death Battle community hate him.

Anyway, fight time.

The Fight

“You dare splash the Prince of Blood?”

Bzzzt. Namor’s title is “A Prince of the Blood,” not the Prince of Blood. The latter sounds cool but isn’t accurate.

“Plenty of space around the pool, Spock.”

Namor roars as he grabs Neptune’s Trident and fires mystic blasts at DC’s King of Atlantis.

This is a really stupid setup to be honest. Namor canonically doesn’t like being called Spock, but having the fight start over him getting splashed and then babyraging is yet another example of the episode not really portraying him in a likeable way at all. He’s very much written like he’s there to lose, and for gigachad Aquaman to style on. It’s also not even really in-character unless you’re reading a comic where Namor is pretty flanderized (and even then I have a hard time thinking of a comic where he’s characterized like this).

“You may be a prince, but I’m the King of the Seven Seas.”

Yeah so Namor is also a king and has been since like the 1960s, this line doesn’t really make sense unless you’re deliberately writing Aquaman as the chad and Namor as the beta cuck.

“While flying, he lands multiple blows on Arthur before punching him down to a nearby beach and uses his trident to summon two large rock monsters.”

Reiterating that he can’t do this and doesn’t fight like this. Even setting aside the fact that this power is fake, Namor in this fight pretty much exclusively uses his most random abilities and it’s super weird.

“Die! Imperious Rex!”

This implementation of Imperious Rex was weeeeeeeeak.

“Well, seems we’re evenly matched.”

Namor would never admit something like this.

“No! You… control me!? Impossible!”

Really weird scene, given that the rundown brings up Namor resisting mind control and the verdict says again that he can resist Aquaman’s telepathy. Positioning this as Aquaman’s win condition in the fight and then going back on it immediately is very strange, and another example of this script failing to maintain any kind of consistency.

The Recap

“Aquaman and Namor’s powers were so similar and well-matched, this fight could’ve reasonably gone in either one’s favor.”

“Still, while Namor could certainly have won this in some circumstances, Aquaman had the potential he needed to take the victory more times than not.”

The verdict says this and then later will say that Aquaman is 100 billion times stronger and like a million times faster. Again, no consistency.

“Namor can match Savage Hulk, who held up 150 billion tons. But remember, Aquaman stopped Atlan’s continent-crushing attack, which had a potential energy over 150 trillion tons of TNT.”

No mention of any of Savage Hulk’s other feats, and for some reason comparing lifting strength to energy output without making an effort to calculate the latter for Hulk. Also man, this episode really implied Aquaman is stronger than the Hulk, huh? I’m not entirely sure how they got away with that.

“Not exactly a one-to-one comparison, but consider Namor’s own similar feat: Keeping the island Utopia from falling. We can estimate the island’s size and weight using this panel, coming to a little over 178,000 tons. Considering the weight applied as force through the pillar Namor was pushing up, this means the potential energy exerted onto Namor would only be 1,425 tons of TNT.”

That is small town level for those of you keeping score. No mention of half the feats listed in Namor’s rundown.

“Sure, Namor was fast enough to easily catch up to the Human Torch, who flies over 140 miles per hour on a normal day, and sometimes even thousands of times the speed of sound.”

The Human Torch in this panel was Jim Hammond, while the “thousands of times the speed of sound” mention is definitely a reference to an Endless Mike calc from OBD for a feat from Johnny Storm. Two completely different Human Torches, treated like the same character. Larp?

“Yeah, but none of that strength and speed would matter if the Sub-Mariner just ordered a bunch of sharks to eat him first, right?”

Aquaman being large country level and thousands of times FTL (per the episode’s estimates) wouldn’t matter if he were faced with a bunch of sharks? Plain old everyday sharks, as the episode will claim about 30 seconds from now? What? Again, there’s no consistency. The episode will mention a feat or make a point and then forget about it five seconds later.

“Oh, and don’t forget, Aquaking can make his underwater buddies physically stronger with the Clear, while Namor was stuck commanding plain-old everyday fish.”

Underselling Namor’s fish, as previously mentioned, but also what about Giganto? Is he a plain old everyday fish? The rundown spent a good chunk of time talking about him and then the verdict just forgets about it.

“Overall thoughts?”

Normally I’m pretty forgiving of older episodes and tend to give benefit of the doubt when giving criticism, and I’ll look at oddities or mistakes with a charitable mindset to understand what the episode was going for, or how the mistake happened. I also like to keep context and release date in mind, so that I’m not judging episodes based on modern day quality standards.

With all that said, this was, like… bad? LOL. Like, way worse than I was expecting to be honest. I’ve tried to look at the episode’s coverage of Namor from as many angles as possible, but I really don’t think that there’s any explanation for a lot of things outside of “this episode was basically just pulling from his respect thread and wiki page in lieu of actually reading his comics.” I won’t make excessively harsh judgements on it, because I don’t know the context for why or how that happened, and there are usually extenuating circumstances when things like this happen. I also have full faith that the team who worked on this episode tried their best, and don’t want to disparage their genuine efforts. But I’m not going to sugarcoat it, this was a massive swing and a miss.

Verdict

Aquaman VS Namor

Because Aquaman’s powers operate on a pretty different scale with and without his recent power boost as the Avatar of the Blue, we’ll start by covering how “normal” Aquaman does against Namor, and then cover to what extent Avatar of the Blue affects the comparison.

Stats

As with any fight between Marvel and DC heavy-hitters, the first thing you need to do is look at how the two have performed against powerful characters in their respective universes. Which side does better on a more consistent basis? Neither of these guys are typically seen as being equal to the big boys, but historically speaking there’s always been a prevailing perception that Aquaman fights folks like Superman and Wonder Woman more regularly, while Namor is stuck battling middleweights like the Thing and Iron Man, and only occasionally punching in a higher weight class.

The truth, frankly, is quite the opposite. Aquaman isn’t weak, per se, he has his showings of punching Superman, or Wonder Woman, or Green Lanterns, and even looking at more extended fights he has some good showings against Justice League level threats like Despero. But in one on one confrontations, it’s always pretty clear that he’s a step below Superman, and his scuffles with Wonder Woman don’t tend to be very extensive. At most, he can hang in there, but is still a step below.

In contrast, Namor is repeatedly established to be unmatched in strength when properly hydrated, consistently overpowering Hulk, Thor, Hercules and more underwater. Guidebooks back this up, describing him as “truly incredibly strong, even in comparison to the Hulk and Thor,” and he’s also got good showings against the Silver Surfer, Doom, Sentry, and so on even out of the water. That’s to say nothing of his higher end showings, like smashing the head of the Dreaming Celestial (who isn’t just a random Celestial, mind you, that’s one of THE Celestials), overpowering foes that are stronger than Doctor Strange, boxing out Doom Supreme, and more. This is consistent with the fact that he wields the Trident of Neptune, which is stated to contain the full power of Neptune, a Skyfather.

Hell, this was even obvious to their publishing companies! When the two fought in the crossover, they had Aquaman win by dropping a whale on Namor to promote Aquaman’s new series, because the writers didn’t think that Aquaman winning a fight directly was believable. Given Aquaman can keep up with Superman and Wonder Woman temporarily, you could put him equal to Namor’s level in speed for sure. But as far as sheer might is concerned, the Sub-Mariner has way better showings on a much more consistent basis.

Versatility

In contrast to stats, it’s pretty obvious that Aquaman is the more varied warrior overall. He uses his Marine Telepathy more consistently and in far more creative ways, and Mera’s hydrokinesis has many of the same showings as Hydro-Man does, with Aquaman having used more of these abilities personally than Namor has. While Namor has his own unique abilities such as electricity absorption and redirection, besides regular eels themselves, the sheer versatility of sea life, be it the microscopic level attacks of plankton or the sawfish being non-conductors of electricity, have way more to offer in sheer variety for attacks. And in terms of enhanced senses, Arthur has him pretty matched in the senses department in terms of having super hearing, smelling, and night vision.

The Trident of Poseidon also grants Aquaman numerous special abilities such as teleportation, magic channeling, barriers, and so on, exceeding the relatively limited variety of the Trident of Neptune. Speaking of which, while the Sword of Kamuu could be scaled to the Ebony Blade’s atomic cutting, Aquaman’s Tridents can hold up against Wonder Woman’s sword, which would be comparable.

It’s worth noting, for what it’s worth, that Namor has ways to deal with pretty much all of these powers. In base, nothing that Aquaman is bringing to the table can particularly overwhelm or catch him by surprise, especially when both of them can kill each other pretty easily with their Tridents. However, credit where it’s due, Aquaman takes versatility, even base to base.

Skill

What’s that, you ask? Why the fuck are we talking about combat skill for Aquaman and Namor? These guys aren’t skilled enough to make this a valid category? WRONG. Namor is a chud meathead so the winner is obvious? ALSO WRONG. Aquaman and Namor are both way more skilled than you would think.

Starting with Aquaman, he was able to defeat Cheshire, who was described as the most dangerous, lethal, and savage woman alive, and is a rival to world-class martial artists like Connor Hawke, the likes of whom are a master of every martial art. Though, Aquaman still struggles with opponents on this level, having lost to Batman on land before, a similarly skilled martial artist. Meaning he can hold his own, but isn’t quite on the level.

Namor, on the other hand, has defeated his cousin Byrrah, an explicit master of every fighting style. On top of that, he’s an equal in hand to hand combat with Captain America, and matched Iron Fist in skill to the point where Iron Fist praised his martial arts skills. Perhaps most impressively, his skills are a rival for the God of War, Ares, who is a master of all forms of combat, and personifies war on every plane and every future. Now, DC Ares has similar statements, and characters like Wonder Woman and Batman can scale to him, but Arthur isn’t an equal in skill to Batman or Wonder Woman, and thus would likewise be a step below Namor.

However, it’s worth noting that Arthur is way less prone to hand-to-hand alone compared to using his trident. It’s the opposite for Namor to be honest. While he does wield the Trident of Neptune a lot, he prefers to do the talking with his fists, but will throw down with a trident if need be. In terms of a trident vs trident duel, Aquaman would be pretty capable of holding his own, as he has frequently faced opponents with tridents and dueled against the Trident of Poseidon used against him by…Poseidon! He’s also faced experienced trident fighters like Ocean Master, who has advanced military training from Atlantis since age eight.

Overall though, Namor is pretty firmly the more experienced and skilled fighter, with Arthur at best being able to keep up in a trident vs trident confrontation. Otherwise, Arthur is outclassed. When it comes to fisticuffs, Namor is the better boxer.

Undersea Forces

When you’re the King of Atlantis, it’s no surprise that you’re going to have the entire ocean itself at your beck and call. And we aren’t talking about no Atlanteans, no no. We’re talking about all the fish under the sea, big and small. Both of these guys can summon sea life and even sea monsters, but what that means is it’s more than likely a tug-of-war over who has more of a grip on their forces, especially since they both have marine telepathy.

So to start with the regular sea life, both of these guys have shown the capability to control animals. In terms of the usage of this power, it’s worth noting that Aquaman has a significant edge in terms of how often he uses this ability, as he has been getting fish to help him since the very day he entered the pages of comics. With this, Arthur has also used them in far more versatile ways, such as shoalfish hiding his presence for a surprise attack, electric eels to absorb electric attacks, or krill scattering the essence of a being who can fully regenerate her body to prevent her from reforming. Even more deadly, he’s used plankton to attack foes on a microscopic level from the inside! That doesn’t mean Namor is too far behind though, as he has electric attacks that can absorb magical attacks and piranhas capable of piercing his own skin. But overall, Aquaman shows a clear edge in using a wider variety of fish to help him in combat, whereas Namor has usually stuck to the big bruisers like sharks or dolphins.

But as we’ve established, they both command sea life in very similar ways. Aquaman pushes into their midbrain to ask them for help, and Namor’s subtle commands compel the fish to obey him, even if they don’t know why. Against opponents who have challenged their own marine telepathy, both have really good direct feats of overcoming opponents who telepathic might matched their own, with Aquaman overriding Kordax, who became powerful enough to control all sea life, making his own telepathy stronger, and Namor overpowered his evil doppelganger Imperius Rex and he too gained his control back over sea life. So they even out in some ways there, but Aquaman would still take the edge here due to how much more he uses his power, and his variety in the fish means that he has way more fish he can operate with if he were to somehow lose a couple sharks or minnows. But these are comic books! There aren’t just regular ol’ sharks lurking below the surface.

Namor has a few other options of his own in terms of sea life he can control, most notably in the form of the Horn of Proteus, which can summon the absolutely gargantuan Giganto, a legendary humanoid whale sea creature. Not just one Giganto either, he can summon entire hordes of them! Gigantos is far more powerful than your average orca or swordfish, being able to fire lasers from its mouth, take hits from Mjolnir, and emit an echolocation attack that can reduce flesh to a pulp, and this works on people as durable as Namor. Against an army of regular sea life, it’s pretty easy to say that one AoE attack from an echolocation attack would obliterate all of them, and even hurt if not kill Arthur himself if he is exposed to this. Can Arthur do anything about this?

The most obvious question that can be asked is “Can’t Aquaman just take control of the Gigantos?” While Aquaman’s marine telepathy has grown far stronger, he still struggles to control particularly large sea monsters at times. You could argue he could overtake one or two, but Namor can simply summon more, and Aquaman could easily be overtaxxed. An argument to be made is that while there’s no explicit reasoning for it, Aquaman has sea life strong enough in numbers to possibly make it even. The most notable example of this is Aquaman using sharks to attack Despero, a villain that typically requires the entire Justice League to beat, so that could be something comparable to Giganto tanking hits from Thor. Aquaman’s sea life he commands is no stranger to fighting against kaiju-sized sea monsters, and he has an entire ocean’s worth of them to command, though Namor has fish that have pierced his skin as well, so this would level out.

The last way Aquaman can level the playing field is summoning the Old Gods of the Unspoken Village. Like Gigantos, Aquaman can summon sizable hordes of them. These Sea Gods helped form the world, and they are quite versatile in their powers, such as Tangaroa the Infinite being able to shrink or grow infinitely, sometimes within someone to burst them from the inside. Quite the versatility when it comes to handling something like Gigantos.

With the playing field leveled out, both of their armies provide lots of value. Aquaman possesses greater numbers, versatility, and some power to spare with strong creatures, whereas Namor has pretty direct muscle and AoE to deal some immense damage, but both of these armies have perfectly equal odds of outdoing the other. The Old Gods could outmuscle Gigantos, but Gigantos could just as easily fry them with echolocation. Aquaman’s fish could use anything from electricity to making barriers to attacking microscopically, but Gigantos could just as easily kill them from just being in the area, no matter how small the sea life is. So for their armies, we’ll call this category a tie.

Aquaman’s Telepathy VS
Namor’s Resistances

With strength and skill in Namor’s court, comparable marine armies and a versatility advantage for Aquaman, it’s looking a bit grim for DC’s King of Atlantis. In a straight up fight, Namor would beat the brakes off of him, and he also happens to have an army of whale kaiju that are just as strong as he is, and have sonic attacks with high area of effect. Aquaman’s abilities might put him ahead in variety, but almost all of it is stuff that the Sub-Mariner can just power through.

Keyword being “almost.” There’s still one obstacle that Namor needs to overcome if he wants to take the win, and it’s something that can’t be solved by raw might: Aquaman’s telepathy. If Arthur can give Namor a stroke or devolve him into a shark, it’s GG, strength advantage be damned. So the question is: can Namor resist Arthur’s impressive marine telepathy?

The answer… is pretty straightforward, actually. Even if you ignore the fact that Namor directly resisted Aquaman’s telepathy in the canon crossover, he has plenty of other showings against comparable or stronger mind hax. The Purple Man, Puppet Master, the Serpent Crown, Emma Frost – the list goes on. Hell, recently it was shown that he could break out of psychic control from a copy of himself that was initially able to override his own resistance. Aquaman may be able to mess with White Martians a bit, but his telepathy is explicitly ten times inferior to Martian Manhunter’s, and Namor has multiple showings of overcoming layered mind hax to keep his resistance ahead.

And do be careful not to misinterpret Aquaman’s feat of reverting The Shark back into a normal shark. Wonder Woman and Green Lantern have devolved The Shark before via mind control, so it’s pretty clear that this is just something that happens to The Shark when he’s defeated. It’s not like Aquaman can just de-evolve any enemy whenever he wants. With incredible mental resistance feats over the years, even against Omega Level telepaths and layered attacks, Namor clears the last obstacle and scoops up a definitive win base to base.

Meaning that at the time of the Death Battle, this was Namor’s fight to win. None of this stuff is recent – he’s been stronger than Aquaman and resistant to mind hax for decades now. But in the time since the episode, Aquaman has changed a lot more than Namor has. So the question today isn’t whether Namor could beat the Aquaman from 2019. Let’s discuss how the Sub-Mariner stands up to the Avatar of the Blue.

Avatar of the Blue
VS Namor

Stats

With the Avatar of the Blue on the table, things take an interesting turn. Aquaman’s recent power boost has turned him into a legitimate God, one that has an infinite amount of oceans flowing through his veins. But Namor’s taken on Gods before, as he has clashed Trident to Mjolnir with the Mighty Thor himself, so is Aquaman really at an advantage here? Let’s find out.

In the past, Aquaman is consistently stated to be well below Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and other heavy hitting Justice League members overall, at most being stated to be 100 times stronger than a heavily depowered Superman. But as the Avatar of the Blue, how much has this changed? If we take a look at what Arion the Immortal said, he not only calls Aquaman a God, but he replies to Zan (one of the Wonder Twins) to say this, who directly compares Aquaman to other “Gods” such as Superman and Wonder Woman. Aquaman then goes on to take a point-blank punch from Superman before hitting him right back!

For supporting evidence to establish that this isn’t just a generous guess, Aquaman fought Lobo pretty evenly, with Lobo losing a leg in the fight, when in the past, Aquaman was pretty helpless when Lobo was about to kill him, only being saved by the fact that he knew dolphins! Even other Justice League members recognize this boost in power, such as Green Lantern, who said that he’s had that kind of power before, one that is likened to Hal Jordan during his tenure as Parallax. And most recently, Aquaman went toe-to-toe with the God of the Seas himself, Poseidon, ultimately beating him after a drawn out battle and matching his raw strength and clashes. This puts Aquaman leagues above his previous levels of power, much more relative to his stronger League teammates than he used to be.

If you take the Parallax statement more literally, Arthur would scale to some impressive feats. Parallax could assist other heroes in stopping the Anti-Monitor from causing the First Crisis, which destroyed the infinite multiverse, though you could interpret that statement a comparison of the nature of the power feeling corruptive rather than a direct power comparison. Still, he’d have some other good scaling chains like with Poseidon. Poseidon is pretty easily on par with other Greek Gods such as Zeus, a member of the Quintessence and denizen of the Sphere of the Gods that exists beyond space and time.

Moving back over to Namor, he too has gained recent feats of tremendous strength, ones that match some of his older feats. He’s gone toe-to-toe with godly beings such as Hercules, torn up the head of the Dreaming Celestial and pushed back the Nameless One, who is more powerful than Doctor Strange, but recently, he harmed Doom Supreme, aka Doctor Doom with the Sorcerer Supreme. This version of Doom defeated the Prehistoric Avengers, a team which includes Odin, the Phoenix, and Agamotto. Odin is an immensely powerful being that has casually threatened the infinite multiverse when battling other Gods such as Seth, making shockwaves that ripple through every reality. The Phoenix is another being that eclipses all of space and time, and could hold back a tsunami from the First Firmament capable of wiping out all of Marvel’s reality.

When you look at the scaling chains, they’re pretty comparable the farther you go up in terms of cosmic beings. Parallax, the Quintessence, Zeus, Anti-Monitor, Poseidon, Odin, Phoenix, Agamotto, Doctor Strange, Doctor Doom, and so on and so forth. Namor has always been a consistent heavy hitter, one that only continues to get stronger and face stronger opponents, and only recently has Arthur had to play a bit of catch up, but the catch up came pretty quickly. While you could get into the specifics over which cosmic being is stronger then the other amongst these guys, it’s safer to say they’re overall more comparable due to the similarities in the beings they have fought and been compared to, so strength now becomes a tie.

Aquaman VS Gigantos

This now begs the question, how do Aquaman’s new abilities stack up against Namor’s forces, most notably Gigantos? Can Arthur himself take on the legendary beasts? For this section, we’ll start to talk about some of the abilities for the Avatar of the Blue.

Giganto’s biggest advantage in the army battle is its ability to send out a sonic attack capable of obliterating flesh as strong as Namor’s, which would pretty easily kill most of Aquaman’s fishy friends, and even Aquaman himself, due to not being as strong and durable as Namor. While it’s still arguable it could affect Arthur with similar strength in mind now, do Arthur’s abilities give him a way to take on the Gigantos head-on?

Well, yes. Aquaman possesses a wide array of control over elemental forces, most notably water. In discovering the upper limits of his hydrokinesis, Aquaman found that his manipulation of the water molecules allowed him to change their temperatures, both cold and hot. One of Aquaman’s most recent direct feats takes this power to the extreme when Jarro and Aquaman annihilate Father Star, the sentient homeworld of the Starro conqueror race. Not only do they heat up the molecules of the entire planet and all its Starro spores, but Father Star collapses into a black hole right after. His ability to manipulate molecules is pretty clearly shown to be internal as well, as shown with his examples of controlling the blood within Hawkman during D.C. K.O.

Against Gigantos, there isn’t much the poor creatures could do against an ability like this. While their durability is impressive, being exploded from the inside at the molecular level is something they’ve never had to deal with. In fact, the Fantastic Four initially killed Giganto via setting off a nuclear bomb inside his body, frying his vulnerable internals. And this power being able to affect an entire planet in range means that Aquaman could pretty easily deal with a horde of Gigantos if he decides to. Worth noting: it’s an ability that he resorts to pretty quickly in most cases, such as when he tried to manipulate Poseidon’s blood at the start of their fight. And unfortunately, Aquaman has shown time and time again that he is willing to kill sea life if it does not obey him, so if he finds that controlling Gigantos isn’t an option, then carpet bombing them will be the second option. So even against a fleet of Gigantos and other kaiju, Aquaman clears this obstacle.

That being said, this is only Namor’s army. What about Namor himself? How does he fare against Aquaman’s new assortment of abilities? It all comes down to this final category.

Avatar of the Blue VS
Namor’s Resistances

The powers of the Avatar of the Blue have given Aquaman significant control over water on a multiversal scale. He can make doorways to other dimensions, manipulate molecules, control water-like substances like mud or blood, jump into space, and most deadly of all, control temperatures. But we’ve seen time and time again that the Sub-Mariner’s willpower is not to be messed with, especially when it comes to beating him out of his element. Can this willpower keep up with even deadlier abilities? Let’s find out.

Hydrokinesis

First up, how does Namor do against Aquaman’s newfound control over water? All things considered, he’s got it covered. Aquaman wasn’t the only one who stole the flow of the resident comic hydrokinetic. In fact, Namor did it way before Aquaman, as he now has Hydro-Man’s powers, granting him some pretty similar capabilities such as making huge tidal waves, controlling the water in a person’s body, and even turning his entire body into water. Now in a direct comparison between Mera and Hydro-Man, it’d pretty easily go to Mera due to being far stronger and having arguably way better range in her offense and defense.

But this is about Aquaman and Namor, not Hydro-Man and Mera, and the Sub-Mariner is a lot more powerful with his water than Morris Bench ever was. Strong enough to overpower all the Avengers at once, in fact. And if you assume they have comparable enough capabilities, it’d be pretty hard for one to overpower the other. Sure, Arthur’s experience against a sentient water monster means he could dissipate Namor back into the ocean, but there isn’t much stopping Namor from just reforming since he has an additional boost of water directly rejuvenating his strength. And if you assume he is comparable to Hydro-Man, he could easily reform from being splattered just as Morris himself has in the past. And given this level of control over water, it’s not like taking the water out of either of their lungs would work. Namor can generate water from wherever, and Aquaman can too, though on a much greater scale, effectively making it a tug-of-war that would get nowhere. So water won’t win this fight for either.

It is worth clarifying though that Hydro-Man’s state of being is not a passive one and is a defensive one, and Morris isn’t always made of water at every given moment. This would also apply to Namor to an extent. Regardless, Namor survives this challenge.

Battlefield Removal

Aquaman has shown that he can make portals to just about anywhere in the multiverse, especially places where there is water. He showed in his fight against Poseidon that he is more than willing to take the fight elsewhere to keep Earth safe and put himself at an advantage. If Aquaman were to take Namor out of Earth’s ocean, would that make things easier?

Not necessarily. Even prior to Hydro-Man’s powers, Namor still retains 85% of his strength when out of water, and the coverage from Hydro-Man’s powers make this a non-issue since again, he can simply generate water anywhere from his body, so he wouldn’t be at too much of a disadvantage. At most it’d give Arthur an advantage since he’d have more to draw from around him in terms of water then Namor, but Namor wouldn’t be helpless either, even if he doesn’t outright resist being blipped away to another world.

And keep in mind, Adamantine (which the Trident of Neptune is made from) can create portals between dimensions, giving Namor the means to return even if sent to another dimension. Namor survives this challenge.

Blood Bending

Once again, this wouldn’t really work on Namor as well as you’d think. While it is a powerful ability, Namor has fought through nanomachines sucking out his blood, and Hydro-Man’s powers once again means that he has blood covered, since water can easily replace his bloodstream if it were to be tampered with in any way. Even a single drop of water can restore Namor’s blood and vitality, and he has 24/7 access to water nowadays. This would double cover any bloodflow stoppage or heart attack attempts, since blood reduction and blockage are things that Namor has dealt with before. So no blood bending for Aquaman, Namor survives this challenge.

Molecular Freezing

Aquaman can freeze up water molecules, which would probably be a good workaround to Namor’s resistance against being able to generate water. Even Hydro-Man does really badly against ice, and will often be out of commission for at least a half an hour if frozen sufficiently. So it should be able to work here right? WRONG. Namor has tanked Luna Snow’s ice and broken out of it. For reference, Luna Snow’s ice is stated to rival that of Iceman’s, whose ice can freeze things at the molecular level. Even before this, Namor has generally shown to be pretty good at breaking out of ice pretty consistently, so Namor could easily muscle through getting his molecules frozen as well. Once again, Namor survives this challenge.

Molecular Heating

Last but not least, we have Aquaman heating up molecules. In the recent Emperor Aquaman comics, Jarro used Aquaman’s control of the Blue to heat up the molecules of Father Star, the sentient homeworld of the Starro the Conqueror race, killing the sentient planet and all its spores before it collapsed into a full scale black hole. Can Namor stack up against such a terrifying ability? To answer this, we need to look at Namor’s history against fire, temperatures, and all things hot.

Namor’s oldest rival is Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch. Ol’ Jim packs quite the punch, being able to deliver heat at the atomic level or in the form of a Nova Blast, his most powerful attack that he equates to an exploding sun. He consistently tanked Jim and Johnny’s fire, and it took the combined might of three Human Torches to bring him down, and this was out of water.

Now in terms of range, an entire planet is nothing to scott at, but that is still far smaller than an exploding sun both in size and temperature. The question now becomes simple; has Starro the Conqueror ever dealt with such immense heat? Given that was the main opponent Aquaman annihilated, we have to look at if Starro has dealt with heat himself to see if Aquaman can deal with an opponent with strong heat resistances.

The main comparison would obviously be Starro tanking Superman’s heat vision, though statements for its level of heat have varied heavily, and Superman tends to hold back its temperature most of the time. At first glance, it seems like this isn’t good enough. So to solve this, we had to dig pretty deep into the trenches until we found a DC character that literally nobody has ever heard of: Brimstone.

See, Starro was able to fully wrap around the flaming face of Brimstone, chilling in the middle of his flames like it’s no big deal. That might not sound impressive (who even is this guy?) until you realize that Brimstone is a genetically-engineered being made by Darkseid from Apokolips that can incinerate all forms of matter with his heat. This heat was so deadly that Firestorm (yes, FIRESTORM) nearly incinerated himself just by being near him, had he not turned the air around him into asbestos. This is especially key because Firestorm is powerful enough…to survive the explosion of the Big Bang!

Which finally breaks through the Sub-Mariner’s stalwart defenses. In a direct temperature comparison, the explosion that created the universe would be far hotter than any old exploding sun, by a factor of many trillions of times. The Human Torch definitely can’t touch that, considering his flames are completely insufficient to harm characters like Blastaar, whose adaptation allowed him to survive inside the Big Bang. Now, Namor has tanked photonic blasts from Carol Danvers, whose energy has overloaded Blastaar, but that would at best put Namor’s heat resistance equal to Firestorm’s. Brimstone’s fire exceeds that, Starro’s heat resistance exceeds Brimstone, and Aquaman’s temperature manipulation exceeds Starro’s resistance. No matter how you slice it, Namor falls short compared to even an individual Starro’s resistance.

With that in mind, we return to how this all levels out. To put it simply, Aquaman’s temperature control can blow up an entire planet of Starros, including the main creator of Starros, Father Star. Far beyond the resistance of even any individual Starro, which Namor already doesn’t match. So nothing would really stop Aquaman from being able to explode Namor from the inside. Not only would Namor’s heat resistance not be strong enough, but Aquaman’s precision and range of this power are advanced enough that he could do it without Namor turning into a black hole, and his control over it has only gotten better with his usage of the Blue. It was a narrow race to the finish line, but Aquaman’s powers proved fatal in the end.

Finally, just to close things off, one other advantage of Arthur’s is his ability to come back to life from the Blue. If Namor did mortally stab him or outright kill him, Aquaman has shown twice that he has been able to come back to life from the depths of the Blue, due to his soul/consciousness being linked to it. Although the second attempt required more effort to due a splintered consciousness, it’s pretty clear that Aquaman can come back from deadly attacks like what Namor dishes out normally. This gives Arthur the opportunity to stay in the fight for at least a bit even if caught lacking, and approach the fight differently, were he to be overcome at close range.

Conclusion

“I am AQUAMAN– the king of the seven seas. This is my birthright. This is my responsibility. And I will embrace it.”

Advantages:

• Matches in strength with Avatar of the Blue
• More versatile powerset overall
• Superior marine telepathy
• Can keep up in a trident vs trident battle
• Far great numbers advantage when it comes to his armies
• Old Gods and strong sea life compensate for Gigantos’ strength
• Molecular manipulation can deal with Gigantos pretty easily
• Has overheated opponents whose heat resistance far exceeds Namors
• Can come back to life via his soul’s connection to the Blue
• His wife is still alive

Disadvantages:

• Much weaker without Avatar of the Blue
• Less skilled
• Gigantos would annihilate most sea life with echolocation
• Under threat of being annihilated by Gigantos’ echolocation attack in base
• Namor’s telepathy resistances are too great for Aquamans to work
• Hydro-Man powers compensate for being removed from the ocean, loss of blood, and molecular freezing
• SpongeBob victim #TruthNuke

“I vow to be true to the name of Namor, which means “avenging son”! I shall never rest till the insolent human race has paid for its crimes against our people! Now rise, and pledge me your hearts, your hands, your lives!”

Advantages:

• Much stronger against base Aquaman, and equal in strength to Avatar of the Blue Aquaman
• More skilled overall
• Resists Aquaman’s telepathy due to mental resistances against greater telepaths
• Gigantos provide a muscle advantage in the army battle against sea life and the Old Gods
• Gigantos’ echolocation attack could instantly kill a solid chunk of Aquaman’s sea life, and even possibly Aquaman himself in base
• Hydro-Man powers compensate for being removed from the ocean
• Can resist most of Blue’s abilities with his own resistances and Hydro-Man powers, such as getting his blood sucked out or his molecules frozen
• Contrary to popular belief, canonically respects women (based)

Disadvantages:

• Somewhat less versatile than base Aquaman and much less versatile than Avatar of the Blue
• Inferior usage of marine telepathy
• Gigantos have no counter to Aquaman annihilating them molecularly
• Cannot resist Aquaman heating up his molecules and exploding him, due to Aquaman bypassing far greater heat resistance from Starro
• Top 5 worst Death Battle portrayals of all time 💀
• Is about to help fight the Kingkiller who is a threat to every afterlife and whose random minion pushed Sorcerer Supreme Wanda to high diff (L bozo should have done this a few months ago if you wanted buffs lmao idiot)

In the end, Aquaman as Avatar of the Blue gained enough edges to win out over Namor. If this were Aquaman prior to as early as 2024, he would’ve lost clear cut, as he would not have had the right hax or comparable level of power to pull off a victory. Hell, the Father Star feat happened earlier this year, after this blog started production! Even still, Namor didn’t make it easy for Aquaman, and he was able to muscle through a majority of Aquaman’s major abilities such as telepathy. Their undersea forces were also more than a match for each other in multiple ways, with Gigantos alone being able to do some major damage. But some abilities were simply too much for Namor or his Gigantos to handle.

Aquaman’s molecular heating proved be capable of overriding foes whose heat resistances eclipse that of Namors, and Aquaman’s second chances with resurrection via the Blue gives him the time and battlefield traversal to play it a lot safe. Namor wasn’t without his advantages, and up close he could overwhelm in sheer skill, but the new powers of the Blue meant Aquaman had more options of dealing with Namor that would eventually make the Sub-Mariner yield.

Against Aquaman, Namor was simply out of his depth.