History ComicBook / AquaMan

Aquaman's powers have varied over the years; in all incarnations, he is mainly known for his ability to breathe underwater, swim at high speeds and communicate with sea life. Aside from that, he's essentially the underwater equivalent of a FlyingBrick, possessing super-strength and enhanced durability, and he is often depicted as one of the Justice League's three heavy hitters (the other two being Superman and Wonder Woman respectively). As of TheNewTens, [[MakingASplash Hydrokinesis]] is increasingly common as well. He also often has something to do with Franchise/TheDCU's version of {{Atlantis}}.

Aquaman's powers have varied over the years; in all incarnations, he is mainly known for his ability to breathe underwater, swim at high speeds and communicate with sea life. Aside from that, he's essentially the underwater equivalent of a FlyingBrick, possessing super-strength and enhanced durability, and he is often depicted as one of the Justice League's three heavy hitters (the other two being ComicBook/Superman and ComicBook/Wonderwoman respectively). As of TheNewTens, [[MakingASplash Hydrokinesis]] is increasingly common as well. He also often has something to do with Franchise/TheDCU's version of {{Atlantis}}.

Aquaman's powers have varied over the years; in all incarnations, he is mainly known for his ability to breathe underwater, swim at high speeds and communicate with sea life. As of TheNewTens, [[MakingASplash Hydrokinesis]] is increasingly common as well. He also often has something to do with Franchise/TheDCU's version of {{Atlantis}}.

Aquaman (a.k.a. Arthur Curry a.k.a. Orin) is a Creator/DCComics {{Superhero}} with water-based powers. He's probably [[AudienceColoringAdaptation best known for his]] ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' appearances, the [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway lame nature]] of that version's powers and the fact that he is in practically every episode, whether this makes sense or not ("What's that? Trouble in the desert? Come on, team, we haven't a moment to lose! And let's bring Aquaman with us; his ability to breathe underwater and talk to fish are ''sure'' to be useful there!"). In essence, [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman having him take part in anything whatsoever was sort of the super-powered equivalent to pity sex]].

Aquaman continued in ''More Fun Comics'' until issue #107 (January, 1946). He was then transferred to ''Adventure Comics'', starting with its 103rd issue (April, 1946). During UsefulNotes/TheInterregnum, Aquaman was one of the few {{Super Hero}}es who remained in publication, largely due to his status as the backup feature in ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'s title.

* CultureJustifiesAnything: How many Atlantean terrorists, usurpers and insurgents justify deposing Arthur every time he comes to the aid of the surface world or just being an inadequate leader. The fact that Arthur is born of the surface is as much a reason as [[AcceptableTargets discriminating against his friends]] because of their connection to him.

* CapturedOnPurpose: Volume 3 opened with Atlantis conquered by evil giant jellyfish. Seeking a quick way into the city, Aquaman used his prison garb costume to his advantage and was quickly captured in a net... only to find the invaders had also rigged it with a charge of electricity.

Aquaman (a.k.a. Arthur Curry a.k.a. Orin) is a Creator/DCComics {{Superhero}} with water-based powers. He's probably [[AudienceColoringAdaptation best known for his]] ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' appearances, the [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway lame nature]] of that version's powers and the fact that he is in practically every episode, whether this makes sense or not ("What's that? Trouble in the desert? Come on, team, we haven't a moment to lose! And let's bring Aquaman with us; his ability to breathe underwater and talk to fish are ''sure'' to be useful there!"). [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman In essence, having him take part in anything whatsoever was sort of the super-powered equivalent to pity sex.]]

[[caption-width-right:300:ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman!]]

Aquaman (a.k.a. Arthur Curry a.k.a. Orin) is a Creator/DCComics {{Superhero}} with water-based powers. He's probably [[AudienceColoringAdaptation best known for his]] ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' appearances, the [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway lame nature]] of that version's powers and the fact that he is in practically every episode, whether this makes sense or not ("What's that? Trouble in the desert? Come on team, we haven't a moment to lose! And let's bring Aquaman with us; his ability to breathe underwater and talk to fish are ''sure'' to be useful there!"). [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman In essence, having him take part in anything whatsoever was sort of the super-powered equivalent to pity sex.]]

* WhamEpisode: The death of Aquababy, Arthur Jr., changed the tone of the stories completely and had ramifications for ''decades'' as Aquaman dealt with grief and loss, his marriage fell apart and continued to have ups and downs as Mera blamed him for the child's death, Aqualad's relationship with Arthur was strained for a period, and Black Manta became cemented as his arch-nemesis.

* BroughtDownToNormal: Mera tries to traverse the Crown of Thorns by using a damaged amulet, but suffers a magical injury in the process and bcomes a regular human. Stuck in the underwater city, she survives thanks to the combined efforts of King Shark, Aquaman and the Widowhood, and is taken back to the surface so she can regain her powers.

** His Golden and Silver Age stories were breezy fun, with the exception of a story in ''Adventure Comics #192'' where Aquaman creates a preserve for rare fish and is ''horrified'' when crooks start murdering the fish for their own gain. It has a happy ending as the fourth fish only pretended to be killed, but three fish were killed for real and we see his increasing sorrow and anger at the situation.

* UexpectedlyDarkEpisode:

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: To start with, not many among the Atlantean populace were all that happy to have a half-breed surface born king on the throne. Even after taking back his birthright, he still wrestles with their superstition and hate-fueled paranoia towards the land above. Ultimately Inverted by ''Rebirth'', wherein Aquaman now has a recognizable fanbase with scores of people across America cheering his name.

** Geoff Johns' run ended with setting up another crossover between ''Justice League'' and ''Aquaman'' about Nereus trying to unite the Seven Seas. The crossover never came during Johns' tenure as writer of ''Justice League'', though it would resurface after ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' was announced, wherein Johns has said it's one of his planned projects.

* ''The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure'': His first appearance in a non-comic medium, Creator/{{Filmation}} paired his episodes alongside their pre-existing ''[[WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman New Adventures of Superman]]''; additional segments featured ''ComicBook/TheFlash'', ''ComicBook/TheAtom'', ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'', ''ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}'', plus team adventures with both the Justice League of America and the original ''ComicBook/TeenTitans2003'' (the latter featuring Aqualad from the ''Aquaman'' segments); the ''Superboy'' segments from ''Superman'' were also carried over. After the ''Superman'' cartoon was paired up with a ''Batman''-based cartoon the next season, Aquaman gained his own show (still with the guest star segments).

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'': Voiced by Creator/PhilLaMarr. His sidekick Aqualad, Kaldur'ahm, is a main character.

* ''Aquaman: King of Atlantis'' (2021): An animated three episode miniseries. An ''Creator/HBOMax'' original program.

In the process, Aquaman picked up a supporting cast, something which he had generally lacked (for a time in the late 40s he had been aided by a Ditzy, Genius sidekick named the Sea-Sleuth but he had [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome vanished without a trace years earlier]].) Most notable among them were {{sidekick}} Aqualad, and super-powered wife ComicBook/{{Mera}}. They even had a kid. UsefulNotes/{{The Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}} led to his comic being canceled, UnCancelled, and re-canceled repeatedly. His child was murdered in an effort to drum up interest and provide angst, and he became the leader of the DorkAge version of the Justice League (often referred to as "Justice League Detroit").

* EyeScream: Aquaman defeats [[spoiler:the possessed Corum Rath by stabbing him in the right eye with the shattered hilt of Atlan's Trident]].

* SeriesContinuityError: In Geoff Johns' run:
** In issue 6, an ancient Atlantean log recounts how a group of soldiers was killed by the Trench while pursuing the man who wanted to sink the continent. This contradicts Atlantis' backstory as revealed in issue 24, since [[spoiler:it's stated that the Trench are the degenerated form of one of the Atlantean races, meaning they could only have come into existence ''after'' Atlan sank the kingdom]].
** In issue 25, Aquaman retrieves the Atlantean Scepter from a treasure trove and states he had hidden it there since the events of ''ComicBook/ThroneOfAtlantis''. This contradicts previous events from the same arc, since the Dead King is clearly seen wielding said weapon during his first appearance up until his first confrontation with the protagonist at Xebel.

* AbortedArc: Geoff Johns' run ended with setting up another crossover between ''Justice League'' and ''Aquaman'' about Nereus trying to unite the Seven Seas. The crossover never came during Johns' tenure as writer of ''Justice League'', though it would resurface after ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' was announced, wherein Johns has said it's one of his planned projects.

-->-- Aquaman's job description, in his own words, in ''ComicBook/KingdomCome''