Aquaman Has the Best Rogues’ Gallery, Actually

While much flurry is made aboutBatman ’s iconic enemiesbeing cagey inversions of his own neurosis , or howthe Flash ’s roguesareeveryday career criminalswho’ve designedly rebranded themselves with a merriment thingmajig , it seemsAquaman ’s are seldom discussed in the same positivist breath . We ’re here to make the pillowcase that a pantheon of sea - themed celebrity stalkers are every bit as worthy as the regulars of Arkham Asylum or Iron Heights . Submitted for your approval are 10 of our very deary .

Black Manta

Towering over his foes in that awing , too - tall helmet that should really have eyeholes in the cervix , Black Manta ( civilian name , David Hyde ) has persist Aquaman ’s most iconic enemy since his introduction almost 60 years ago .

Born an autistic tiddler who feel at home under the crush depth bore and icy piss of the sea , Manta developed an insalubrious compulsion with Aquaman after see him on TV . An alternative source story posits the young David Hyde was kidnapped by plagiariser who forced him to work on their ship , before he kill them all , one by one . Either way , Manta ’s bizarre appearance and beam red oculus make a with child visual counterpoint to Aquaman , whose much - discussed gold - and - greenish costume evokes fresh water koi fish and tidal pools , next to Manta ’s benthal depths .

A third origin floor — a variation of which look inthe first Jason Momoa movie — posits that Aquaman accidentally shot Black Manta ’s father with a harpoon gun during a failed taking into custody . For the New 52’saggressive rebrandtrying to make Aquaman a hyper - competent diplomat , that was a unearthly selection .

Image: DC Comics

The Awesome Threesome

This strange group is lead by the Torpedo Man , who can shrink back his armor into a cigar - shaped missile and launch himself at Aquaman , Aqualad , or Mera like an subaquatic banging ram . In the Filmation animated cartoon , Torpedo Man was voiced by Super Friends teller Ted Knight , basically doing a strapping version of Skeletor . In his final appearance , Torpedo Man unintentionally launched himself into a twisting submerged cave and became stuck there .

Whether Torpedo Man is really a man or some sort of malicious robot is left equivocal . It ’s like how Batman hadthe Spook , or Hawkman hasGentleman Ghost — except , or else of inquire if their foe are lawfully supernatural or only faking it , eery clue and inconceivable feat have Aquaman questioning if his mystifying adversary is secretly mechanically skillful .

His suite , Magneto and Claw — both definitely robots — are serviceable henchman . One is magnetic . One has claws .

Image: DC Comics

Image: DC Comics

The Fisherman

The Fisherman is a stealer who uses sportfishing poles , lure , and other items from the out-of-door department of L.L. Bean to slip hi - technical school equipment and sell it on the black market . That ’s pretty lovely as it is , but in the Aquaman : Sword of Atlantis miniseries , it was unwrap the Fisherman ’s yellow helmet is in reality a sort of parasitic mollusk — and the true brains behind the Fisherman ’s leech / host body double deed . The indistinguishability of the Fisherman ’s “ underhuman ” has never been reveal , but may I point out DC already hasa mustached character with a penchant for wearing things on his head known to disappear for decades at a time ? Just an idea …

Dead Water

Able to hide and emerge from pools of weewee of any sizing , the hulking , eel - like variation known as Dead Water was once marine engineer Jonah Payne , before a mysterious substance switch him into an omnifarious anguilliform . A later appearance from the eccentric involved the world of a second Dead Water ( leading to athird , fourth , andfifth ) identify Lawrence Quinn , scuttling an underwater inquiry station aboard a Italian sandwich in the manner of Alien or DeepStar Six — but that ’s thinking small . Dead Water could reasonably leap from dewdrop to dewdrop in the fields outside the Kent farmhouse , or lurk inside the bead of sweat that ’s presently dripping down your forehead . Though the character might be a piddling busybodied , excogitation - wise , Dead Water ’s unequaled abilities offer unlimited ocular gags and interesting primed piece of music .

Un-Thing

This bizarre character is aninvisible misogynistin a straightlaced diving suit . While the invisibleness fast one only turn underwater ( which is pretty shivery when you suppose about it ) , one would conceive older Un - Thing had enough uncanny , disparate traits to become a classic DC Comics adversary in the vein of Gorilla Grodd or Mr. Mxyzptlk . Regrettably , the character has n’t “ resurface ” since his single appearance in Aquaman # 24 , way back in 1965 . Un - Thinkable .

The Trench

The launching antagonists of Aquaman’s2011 reclamation period(“You guys have got me all wrong — I do n’t spill the beans to angle , I pull wires them ! ” ) , the Trench are a race of deep - sea humanoids , similar to Anglerfish , but with gossamer craniums . Their sole use is to collect enough food for the offspring of the Trench King and Trench Queen . While it ’s super coolheaded that they trap their prey in cocoons alive , their toned , humanoid bodies make no sense below the photic zona . Still , Warner Bros. in brief considered letting them star in their ownspinoff horror moviefollowing a brief appearance in 2018 ’s Aquaman .

Wackyman

Wackyman was aseafaring clownwho decided he ’d increase tax revenue by parodying Aquaman . His routine , which included pratfalling from a leaping swordfish , riding a robotic devilfish , and spell his name with a chain of electric eels , caught the attention of pirates , who conscript him into their service . More of a dupe than a baddie , Wackyman is worth a twenty-first C reevaluation in the face ofdemonic clownsightings , the fiscal recess , andcryptidslike the Ningen . Imagine being misplace at sea , and here comes this waterlogged fig , drifting in the ocean , reek of salt and seawater . First , you think it ’s Aquaman . But then he floats a little closer …

The Thirst

The most interesting thing about the Thirst is that ’s he ’s a robot made of ironic river mud . Naturally mentally ill , he involve to absorb wet to stay packed into his humanoid form , which he often does by leeching the fluid from water - nutrient mankind . The Thirst ’s dupe can then become his desiccated confederate , much like the vampires inLifeforce , but they are — naturally — flimsy and well dealt with . Despite being a robot , the Thirst is essentially a mummy who can build himself back up like a sandcastle . He just ask to last out wet .

Aquabeast

One mean solar day aboard his yacht , rich douchebag Peter Dudleycaught Mera in a netand decided the two were specify to fall in love . After writing a million dollar assay to a hospital in Africa , Dudley was able to convince a geneticist to give him an experimental intervention altering his DNA into an exact duplicate of Aquaman ’s . Of course , the procedure went awry , and the mutated Dudley come out looking like Aquaman after falling into a nuclear reactor .

Enraged , the freshly baptize “ Aquabeast ” beat the kelp out of Aquaman and snatch Mera , but was then sucked down a maelstrom after saving Mera ’s life story from the occupant of a crashed spaceship , a laThe Abyss . Aquabeast has onlyreturned oncesince his single appearance in 1964 , and that ’s a shame — a misrepresented Aquaman is an unsettling image — and an opposer who willingly remodeled himself into a giant , mutated version of the humanity married to the woman he ’s picture excessive fantasy upon is not a bad idea for a recurring villain .

Ocean Master

The self - styled “ Ocean Master ” is really Aquaman’sdweeby half - brother , a green-eyed Milhouse type egregiously nominate “ Orm”—what must be the Atlantean equivalent of “ Wendell ” or “ Egbert . ” always clutching his enchanted trident , no means of revenge against his more popular sib is too piddling for poor Orm , making him a darling foil to have mincing away in the background while Aquaman handle with more pressing concerns , like sponge sea poker or the Human Flying Fish .

Thirsty for more ? This is just a sampling of the unusual , varied world of Aqua - tagonists . There ’s still numerous additional weirdos with a vendetta against the King of Atlantis — include Scavenger , the bottom - dwelling gem huntsman ; Charybdis ; the terrorist who storm Aquaman to feed his left hand to piranhas before falling into pirana - infested waters himself ; and OGRE , the off-the-wall arms - trafficking group whose acronynm stands for the “ Organization for General Revenge and Enslavement . ” Not to note Liquidator , a rival undersea vigilante who incrediblylooks like this .

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Image: DC Comics