History ComicBook / SubMariner

* GreaterScopeVillain: Set, the ancient serpent god loosely adapted from Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian. Namor has rarely fought Set in person, but Set's servants Paul Destine, Naga, Llyra, and Ghaur have been involved in many of the terrible things that have happened to him and Atlantis over the years.

Given to self-righteous rages, Namor attacked UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, blaming humans for damage that Atlantis had suffered. This led to [[LetsYouAndHimFight the first comic book superhero battle]] between him and the Human Torch (no, not [[ComicBook/FantasticFour that one]]). Fortunately, Namor had a weakness for beautiful, noble women. FairCop Betty Dean convinced him to halt his attacks. In addition, he eventually realized that it was the Nazis who were the true menace and ended up joining a team (The Invaders, which included both the Human Torch and ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, among others) in order to battle them. This group would be renamed the ''All-Winners Squad'' after the war. (Note that this is a {{Retcon}}; the AWS did have their own short-lived series in 1946, but it was writer Roy Thomas in the [[TheSeventies 1970s]] who established that they had been The Invaders previously; they did star in their own series then.) He had a companion in his cousin, [[DistaffCounterpart Namora]].

Given to self-righteous rages, Namor attacked New York City, blaming humans for damage that Atlantis had suffered. This led to [[LetsYouAndHimFight the first comic book superhero battle]] between him and the Human Torch (no, not [[ComicBook/FantasticFour that one]]). Fortunately, Namor had a weakness for beautiful, noble women. FairCop Betty Dean convinced him to halt his attacks. In addition, he eventually realized that it was the Nazis who were the true menace and ended up joining a team (The Invaders, which included both the Human Torch and ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, among others) in order to battle them. This group would be renamed the ''All-Winners Squad'' after the war. (Note that this is a {{Retcon}}; the AWS did have their own short-lived series in 1946, but it was writer Roy Thomas in the [[TheSeventies 1970s]] who established that they had been The Invaders previously; they did star in their own series then.) He had a companion in his cousin, [[DistaffCounterpart Namora]].

* KissingCousins: With Namora. They almost married in ''ComicBook/AgentsOfAtlas''.
** His late wife Lady Dorma was also apparently a cousin. And Namora's daughter Namorita did at one point hope to have this with Namor when she was younger, but eventually got over her crush. Atlanteans obviously don't have a cousin incest taboo.
*** In fairness, though, Namor's family ''are'' [[RoyalInbreeding royalty]].

* VitriolicBestBuds: ComicBook/BuckyBarnes can tease Namor with impunity.

** Jim Hammond seems to be the only friend Namor has left, actually.
*** [[ComicBook/BuckyBarnes Bucky]]'s still a fan, as is ComicBook/DoctorDoom, oddly enough.

In spite of his importance to Marvel's early history, Namor has yet to appear in a film adaptation. When Marvel had a dance with bankruptcy back in 1996, Namor's rights were licensed to Creator/{{Universal}}, where attempts to bring the character to film occurred between 1997 and 2006, but the project ultimately never went anywhere. The rights have since partially reverted to Creator/MarvelStudios, but Universal still retains distribution rights on the intellectual property. It is believed, much like the movie rights to the ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'', that Namor can appear in ensemble movies, but can't have his own standalone movies without Creator/{{Disney}} and Universal coming to an agreement. Nonetheless, Namor's mythology has been referenced in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse as far back as ''Film/IronMan2'', the third film in the setting.

In spite of his importance to Marvel's early history, Namor has yet to appear in a film adaptation. When Marvel had a dance with bankruptcy back in 1996, Namor's rights were licensed to Creator/{{Universal}}, where attempts to bring the character to film occurred between 1997 and 2006, but the project ultimately never went anywhere. The rights have since partially reverted to Creator/MarvelStudios, but Universal still retains distribution rights on the intellectual property. It is believed, much like the movie rights to the ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'', that Namor can appear in ensemble movies, but can't have his own standalone movies without Creator/{{Disney}} and Universal coming to an agreement. Nonetheless, Namor's mythology has been referenced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as far back as ''Film/IronMan2''.

* {{Jerkass}}: He occasionally has his genuine non self-serving PetTheDog moments, but those are very, very rare. On most occasions, his "nice" moments are just ploys to butter people up into giving him what he wants, and he's generally one of the biggest douchebags in the entire MU.
** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: One notable example is an issue of ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' in which Reed Richards had returned [[DeathIsCheap after it was believed he was dead]] and found Namor assaulting his wife and attempting to kidnap her. Furious, Reed attacked, they fought, and Namor, after realizing at long last that Sue genuinely loved her husband, purposefully [[ThrowingTheFight lost the fight]] and pretended to be knocked unconscious so that Reed would feel better and regain his confidence. It was implied that he did so in order to win Sue's heart at a later point in time.
** And note that being a jerkass made him one of the very first comic book superheroes to actually have a ''personality''.

* ShellShockedWarVeteran: The 2018 Invaders comic claims that he has been this ever since World War II, from his service with the Invaders.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: The prince or king of Atlantis (depending on the story) is willing to fight battles himself or at the front of his army.
** His royal styling appears to actually be Prince of Atlantis, though not as in "son of the current reigning king".

Namor first appeared in Martin Goodman's ''[[ComicBook/MarvelMysteryComics Marvel Comics]]'' #1 (October, 1939), the very first publication of [[Creator/MarvelComics Timely Comics]], in an expanded and colourised version of a strip written for the never-published ''Motion Picture Funnies'' #1. He quickly became one of the most popular characters in Timely's stable.

Namor first appeared in Martin Goodman's ''Marvel Comics'' #1 (October, 1939), the very first publication of [[Creator/MarvelComics Timely Comics]], in an expanded and colourised version of a strip written for the never-published ''Motion Picture Funnies'' #1. He quickly became one of the most popular characters in Timely's stable.

** Initially the Atlanteans or Sub-Mariners, as they were originally called, had BizarreSexualDimorphism with the males having green scaly skin, large eyes and catfish-like barbels under their noses while the females had Caucasian skin, large eyes and some slight-fish like features. The blue skin, name of their race and the fact that they had any connection to Atlantis would not appear until 1963: twenty-four years after Namor's debut.
Further more they could be out of water for five hours with Namor being able to be outside indefinitely due to his half-human nature.

** Initially the Atlanteans or Sub-Mariners, as they were originally called, had BizarreSexualDimorphism with the males having green scaly skin, large eyes and catfish-like barbels under their noses while the females had Caucasian skin, large eyes and some slight-fish like features. The blue skin, name of their race and the fact that they had any connection to Atlantis would not appear until 1963: twenty-four years after Namor's debut. Further more they could be out of water for five hours with Namor being able to be outside indefinitely due to his half-human nature.

* CanisLatinicus: His CathPhrase, Imperius Rex. "Imperius" is a nonsense (though obviously derived from the real Latin word ''imperium''). There are quite similar-sounding real words that could be used instead to make it make sense, but as it stands, the phrase is a prime example of this trope. (The second element, Rex, is legitimate; it means King.)

* CanisLatinicus: His cathphrase, Imperius Rex. "Imperius" is a nonsense (though obviously derived from the real Latin word ''imperium''). There are quite similar-sounding ones that could be used instead to make it make sense, but as it stands, the phrase is a prime example of this trope. (The second element, Rex, is legitimate; it means King.)

* AntiVillain: DependingOnTheWriter and when he isn't being an AntiHero -- Retconned as a chemically induced fictional mood imbalance (bipolar disorder doesn't work like that) during Byrne's run on Namor's own book. He is a member of the Illuminati (a council of powerful heroes which includes Professor X, Iron Man, Reed Richards, and Doctor Strange) and the Cabal (its villainous counterpart). He claims he doesn't see the difference.

* CaptainErsatz: Some might call him one of Creator/DCComics' Comicbook/{{Aquaman}}, but Namor came first by a few years. Meanwhile ComicBook/BlackAdam's characterization has often been compared to Namor's. As have his looks in recent years. Adam was rather less attractive originally, but now they practically look like twins.