Aquaman Has the Best Rogues' Gallery, Actually

While overmuch ado is made astir Batman’s iconic enemies being clever inversions of his ain neurosis, oregon however the Flash’s rogues are everyday vocation criminals who’ve deliberately rebranded themselves with a amusive gimmick, it seems Aquaman’s are seldom discussed successful the aforesaid affirmative breath. We’re present to marque the lawsuit that a pantheon of ocean-themed personage stalkers are each spot arsenic worthy arsenic the regulars of Arkham Asylum oregon Iron Heights. Submitted for your support are 10 of our precise favorites.

Image: DC Comics

Black Manta

Towering implicit his foes successful that amazing, too-tall helmet that should truly person eyeholes successful the neck, Black Manta (civilian name, David Hyde) has remained Aquaman’s astir iconic foe since his instauration astir 60 years ago.

Born an autistic kid who felt astatine location nether the crushing extent gauge and icy waters of the ocean, Manta developed an unhealthy obsession with Aquaman aft seeing him connected television. An alternate root communicative posits the young David Hyde was kidnapped by pirates who forced him to enactment connected their ship, earlier helium killed them all, 1 by one. Either way, Manta’s bizarre quality and beaming reddish eyes marque a large ocular counterpoint to Aquaman, whose much-discussed gold-and-green costume evokes freshwater koi food and tidal pools, adjacent to Manta’s benthic depths.

A third root story—a saltation of which appears successful the archetypal Jason Momoa movie—posits that Aquaman accidentally changeable Black Manta’s begetter with a harpoon weapon during a failed arrest. For the New 52's aggressive rebrand trying to marque Aquaman a hyper-competent diplomat, that was a weird choice.

Image: DC Comics

The Awesome Threesome

This unusual radical is pb by the Torpedo Man, who tin retract his armor into a cigar-shaped projectile and motorboat himself astatine Aquaman, Aqualad, oregon Mera similar an underwater battering ram. In the Filmation cartoon, Torpedo Man was voiced by Super Friends narrator Ted Knight, fundamentally doing a huskier mentation of Skeletor. In his last appearance, Torpedo Man accidentally launched himself into a twisting underwater cave and became stuck there.

Whether Torpedo Man is really a antheral oregon immoderate benignant of malicious robot is near ambiguous. It’s similar however Batman had the Spook, oregon Hawkman has Gentleman Ghost—except, alternatively of wondering if their enemies are legitimately supernatural oregon simply faking it, eerie clues and intolerable feats person Aquaman questioning if his mysterious adversary is secretly mechanical.

His entourage, Magneto and Claw—both decidedly robots—are serviceable henchmen. One is magnetic. One has claws.

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The Fisherman

The Fisherman is simply a thief who uses sportfishing poles, lures, and different items from the outdoor section of L.L. Bean to bargain hi-tech instrumentality and merchantability it connected the achromatic market. That’s beauteous beauteous arsenic it is, but successful the Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis miniseries, it was revealed the Fisherman’s yellowish helmet is really a benignant of parasitic mollusk—and the existent brains down the Fisherman’s leech/host assemblage treble act. The individuality of the Fisherman’s “underhuman” has ne'er been revealed, but whitethorn I constituent retired DC already has a mustachioed quality with a penchant for wearing things connected his caput known to vanish for decades astatine a time? Just an idea…

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Dead Water

Able to fell and look from pools of h2o of immoderate size, the hulking, eel-like mutant known arsenic Dead Water was erstwhile marine technologist Jonah Payne, earlier a mysterious substance changed him into an omnifarious anguilliform. A aboriginal quality from the quality progressive the instauration of a second Dead Water (leading to a third, fourth, and fifth) named Lawrence Quinn, scuttling an underwater probe presumption aboard a submarine successful the benignant of Alien or DeepStar Six—but that’s reasoning small. Dead Water could reasonably leap from dewdrop to dewdrop successful the fields extracurricular the Kent farmhouse, oregon lurk wrong the bead of sweat that’s presently dripping down your forehead. Though the quality mightiness beryllium a small busy, design-wise, Dead Water’s unsocial abilities connection unlimited ocular gags and absorbing acceptable pieces.

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Un-Thing

This bizarre quality is an invisible misogynist successful a Victorian diving suit. While the invisibility instrumentality lone works underwater (which is beauteous scary erstwhile you deliberation astir it), 1 would deliberation aged Un-Thing had capable weird, disparate traits to go a classical DC Comics antagonist successful the vein of Gorilla Grodd oregon Mr. Mxyzptlk. Regrettably, the quality hasn’t “resurfaced” since his azygous quality successful Aquaman #24, mode backmost successful 1965. Un-Thinkable.

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The Trench

The debut antagonists of Aquaman’s 2011 rehabilitation period (“You guys person got maine each wrong—I don’t talk to fish, I manipulate them!”), the Trench are a contention of deep-sea humanoids, akin to Anglerfish, but with transparent craniums. Their sole intent is to cod capable nutrient for the offspring of the Trench King and Trench Queen. While it’s ace chill that they trap their prey successful cocoons alive, their toned, humanoid bodies marque nary consciousness beneath the photic zone. Still, Warner Bros. concisely considered letting them prima successful their ain spinoff fearfulness movie pursuing a little quality successful 2018's Aquaman.

Image: DC Comics

Wackyman

Wackyman was a seafaring clown who decided he’d summation gross by parodying Aquaman. His act, which included pratfalling from a leaping swordfish, riding a robotic octopus, and spelling his sanction with a drawstring of electrical eels, caught the attraction of pirates, who conscripted him into their services. More of a unfortunate than a villain, Wackyman is worthy a 21st period reevaluation successful the look of demonic clown sightings, the fiscal recession, and cryptids similar the Ningen. Imagine being mislaid astatine sea, and present comes this waterlogged figure, drifting successful the ocean, reeking of brackish and brine. First, you deliberation it’s Aquaman. But past helium floats a small closer…

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The Thirst

The astir absorbing happening astir the Thirst is that’s he’s a golem made of adust stream mud. Naturally unstable, helium needs to sorb moisture to enactment packed into his humanoid form, which helium often does by leeching the fluids from water-nutrient humans. The Thirst’s victims tin past go his desiccated henchmen, overmuch similar the vampires successful Lifeforce, but they are—naturally—flimsy and easy dealt with. Despite being a golem, the Thirst is fundamentally a mummy who tin physique himself backmost up similar a sandcastle. He conscionable needs to enactment wet.

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Aquabeast

One time aboard his yacht, affluent douchebag Peter Dudley caught Mera successful a net and decided the 2 were destined to autumn successful love. After penning a cardinal dollar cheque to a infirmary successful Africa, Dudley was capable to person a geneticist to springiness him an experimental attraction altering his DNA into an nonstop duplicate of Aquaman’s. Of course, the process went awry, and the mutated Dudley came retired looking similar Aquaman aft falling into a atomic reactor.

Enraged, the recently christened “Aquabeast” bushed the kelp retired of Aquaman and kidnapped Mera, but was past sucked down a whirlpool aft redeeming Mera’s beingness from the occupant of a crashed spaceship, a la The Abyss. Aquabeast has lone returned once since his azygous quality successful 1964, and that’s a shame—a distorted Aquaman is an unsettling image—and an antagonist who willingly remodeled himself into a giant, mutated mentation of the antheral joined to the pistillate he’s projected unreasonable fantasies upon is not a atrocious thought for a recurring villain.

Image: DC Comics

Ocean Master

The self-styled “Ocean Master” is truly Aquaman’s dweeby half-brother, a jealous Milhouse benignant egregiously named “Orm”—what indispensable beryllium the Atlantean equivalent of “Wendell” oregon “Egbert.” Constantly clutching his enchanted trident, nary means of revenge against his much fashionable sibling is excessively petty for mediocre Orm, making him a darling foil to person mincing distant successful the inheritance portion Aquaman deals with much pressing concerns, similar sponge poachers oregon the Human Flying Fish.

Thirsty for more? This is simply a sampling of the strange, varied satellite of Aqua-tagonists. There’s inactive galore further weirdos with a vendetta against the King of Atlantis—including Scavenger, the bottom-dwelling treasure hunter; Charybdis; the violent who forced Aquaman to provender his near manus to piranhas earlier falling into piranha-infested waters himself; and OGRE, the bizarre arms-trafficking radical whose acronynm stands for the “Organization for General Revenge and Enslavement.” Not to notation Liquidator, a rival undersea vigilante who incredibly looks similar this.

Who’s your favourite subordinate of Arthur Curry’s force list? Isn’t it clip the Fisherman and Un-Thing enjoyed their ain Max constricted series, oregon is that champion near to the likes of Kite Man? Let america cognize successful the comments.

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