History ComicBook / Fathom

* PrefersGoingBarefoot: Members of the Blue are like this, though, Characters like Kiani are more of an EarthyBarefootCharaxter. Aspen Matthews lives in modern society and likes to ditch her sandals whenever she can.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Both the Blue and the Black largely go barefoot, as they live underwater. Played straighter with Aspen, who tended to ditch her sandals whenever she felt like it. Most likely justified since their powers require dermal contact with water (via arms and legs), thus any object that reduces dermal exposure limits their powers. Slightly averted with Cannon, as he's a Blue who tends to wear casual, modern clothes (shoes included). His first appearance was in a [[BadassInANiceSuit suit]].

* SharedUniverse: Back in the early days of Fathom, Aspen found herself sometimes teaming up with Lara Croft (of Franchise/TombRaider fame) and Sara Pezzini (the original holder of the {{ComicBook/Witchblade}}). This was due to all three comnics being published by Creator/TopCowProductions. This is no longer the case with the soft reboot done when Turner left the company. Now, Aspen crosses paths with the characters from {{ComicBook/Soulfire}} (also under the Aspen MLT banner).

* AlliterativeFamily: With AlliterativeName: The brothers Chance and Chris Calloway.

* SharedUniverse: Back in the early days of Fathom, Aspen found herself sometimes teaming up with Lara Croft (of VideoGame/TombRaider fame) and Sara Pezzini (the original holder of the {{ComicBook/Witchblade}}). This was due to all three comnics being published by Creator/TopCowProductions. This is no longer the case with the soft reboot done when Turner left the company. Now, Aspen crosses paths with the characters from {{ComicBook/Soulfire}} (also under the Aspen MLT banner).

* TeamUpSeries: Back when Fathom was being published by Top Cow, Aspen did a crossover series with [[VideoGame/TombRaider Lara Croft]] and [[ComicBook/{{Witchblade}} Sara Pezzini]], both also properties of the company. This got discontinued when Michael Turner, the creator of Aspen Matthews, left Top Cow in 2002.

* TransformationTrinket: A mild example. In the 2017 volume, Aspen gets a collapsible glaive from an assailant who attacked her. While it doesn't give her any new powers, it does give a set of coral armor like the Blue wear. In the original version, her Amulet was modified to generate a white armor flying suit, ironically it was the Black who made the modification.

* WeaksauceWeakness. The Blue in general are vulnerable to electrical energy. An AOE electrical field can disable their super powers, while a high level direct shock will be fatal. But don't try that on the Black or Aspen, who will absorb the electricity and [[ReverseThePolarity send it back]] to the [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard enemy holding the taser weapon]].

* IronicNickname: "Joker"'s backstory has him mention that, at least at first, this was the reason for his callsign. By the time of the story proper, though, he has grown into being a regular ClassClown (by Navy standards).

* WeaksauceWeakness. The Blue in general are vulnerable to electrical energy. An AOE electrical field can disable their super powers, while a high level direct shock will be fatal. But don't try that on the Black or Aspen, who will absorb the electricity and [[ReverseThePolarity send it back]] to the [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard enemy holding the weapon]].

* UnderwaterCity: Muria, the main hub city for the Blue.

* ElementalShapeshifter: Aspen, as well as many of the Blue, have the ability to transform their body completely into water.

* ApparentlyHumanMerfolk: The Blue (and even the Black, underneath their armor and masks) are perfectly normal human-looking underwater dwellers that can shapeshift into water as well as control it.

%%* RuthlessModernPirates%%

* TransformationTrinket: A mild example. In the 2017 volume, Aspen gets a collapsible glaive from an assailant who attacked her. While it doesn't give her any new powers, it does give a set of coral armor like the Blue wear.
** In the original version, her Amulet was modified to generate a white armor flying suit, ironically it was the Black who made the modification.

* AlliterativeName: The brothers Chance and Chris Calloway.

* CoversAlwaysLie: Aspen or another female character will appear on the cover in an extremely skimpy string bikini (if she's even [[SceneryCensor wearing that much]]). On the inside, though still in a two-piece suit, it's often a far more modest athletic bathing suit.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: Aspen herself. It doesn't help that her skin tone tends to fluctuate from volume to volume.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Both the Blue and the Black largely go barefoot, as they live underwater. Played straighter with Aspen, who tended to ditch her sandals whenever she felt like it. Slightly averted with Cannon, as he's a Blue who tends to wear casual, modern clothes (shoes included). His first appearance was in a [[BadassInANiceSuit suit]].

* HopelessWithTech: Type B. Being a member of the Blue in her childhood and a marine biologist who spends a lot of time in and under water, this is to be expected. She's gotten better about it in more recent volumes, even making a broadcast from her laptop when [[spoiler: her identity gets exposed in Volume 7]].

* MakingASplash: Aspen, being part Blue, can manipulate water on command, turn herself into water, and has no problem dealing with the depths of the ocean. She can do this to a much greater degree since she's also [[spoiler: part Black]], which also brings the added powers of energy blasts, telepathy, and the ability to heal wounds (even fatal ones).

* NonHumanHumanoidHybrid: Aspen herself, being both [[spoiler: part Blue on her mother's side and part Black on her father's side]].
* OlympicSwimmer: Aspen took part in the Youth Olympic Games as a member of the US Swim Team. She would later be disqualified after a world-record breaking preliminary heat for "performance-enhancing drugs", even though the tests came back negative. She would later find out that her Blue heritage was responsible for her biology being higher than normal human standards.

* TransformationTrinket: A mild example. In the 2017 volume, Aspen gets a collapsible glaive from an assailant who attacked her. While it doesn't give her any new powers, it does give a set of bone armor like the Blue wear.

* YouHaveGOTToBeKiddingMe: Aspen's reaction when she found out that people online were not talking so much about the fact that she battled a supervillain on top of a tsunami, saving an entire city in the process, but that they instead were arguing about what she was wearing during the battle and if she was an illegal immigrant or not.

* HopelessWithTech: Type B. Being a member of the Blue in her childhood and a marine biologist who spends a lot of time in and water, this is to be expected. She's gotten better about it in more recent volumes, even broadcasting from her laptop when [[spoiler: her identity gets exposed in Volume 7]].

The plot of Fathom follows Aspen, a girl involved in a mysterious cruise ship disappearance only for the ship to reappear out of thin air ten years later. She would be later be adopted by Captain Matthews, a naval officer investigating the disappearance. Throughout the series, she learns about her heritage, her powers, and the events that happen both on the surface and the depths below.

* ElementalShapeshifter: Aspen, as well as many of the Blue, have the ability to transform their body completely into water

* HopelessWithTech: Type B. Being a member of the Blue in her childhood and a marine biology who spends a lot of time in and water, this is to be expected. She's gotten better about it in more recent volumes, even broadcasting from her laptop when [[spoiler: her identity gets exposed in Volume 7]].

* HopelessWithTech: Type B. Being a member of the Blue in her childhood and a marine biology who spends a lot of time in and water, this is to be expected. She's gotten better about it in more recent volumes, even broadcasting from her laptop when [[her identity gets exposed in Volume 7]].