Whereas a lot ado is made about Batman’s iconic enemies being intelligent inversions of his personal neurosis, or how the Flash’s rogues are everyday career criminals who’ve intentionally rebranded themselves with a enjoyable gimmick, it appears Aquaman’s are hardly ever mentioned in the identical optimistic breath. We’re right here to make the case {that a} pantheon of ocean-themed superstar stalkers are each bit as worthy because the regulars of Arkham Asylum or Iron Heights. Submitted in your approval are 10 of our very favorites.
Black Manta
Towering over his foes in that incredible, too-tall helmet that ought to actually have eyeholes within the neck, Black Manta (civilian identify, David Hyde) has remained Aquaman’s most iconic foe since his introduction virtually 60 years in the past.
Born an autistic little one who felt at house below the crushing depth gauge and icy waters of the ocean, Manta developed an unhealthy obsession with Aquaman after seeing him on tv. An alternate origin story posits the younger David Hyde was kidnapped by pirates who compelled him to work on their ship, earlier than he killed all of them, one after the other. Both approach, Manta’s weird look and beaming pink eyes make a fantastic visible counterpoint to Aquaman, whose much-discussed gold-and-green costume evokes freshwater koi fish and tidal swimming pools, subsequent to Manta’s benthic depths.
A third origin story—a variation of which seems in the first Jason Momoa movie—posits that Aquaman by accident shot Black Manta’s father with a harpoon gun throughout a failed arrest. For the New 52’s aggressive rebrand attempting to make Aquaman a hyper-competent diplomat, that was a bizarre alternative.
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The Superior Threesome
This unusual group is lead by the Torpedo Man, who can retract his armor right into a cigar-shaped projectile and launch himself at Aquaman, Aqualad, or Mera like an underwater battering ram. Within the Filmation cartoon, Torpedo Man was voiced by Tremendous Buddies narrator Ted Knight, basically doing a huskier model of Skeletor. In his last look, Torpedo Man by accident launched himself right into a twisting underwater cave and have become caught there.
Whether or not Torpedo Man is definitely a person or some kind of malicious robotic is left ambiguous. It’s like how Batman had the Spook, or Hawkman has Gentleman Ghost—besides, as an alternative of questioning if their enemies are legitimately supernatural or merely faking it, eerie clues and not possible feats have Aquaman questioning if his mysterious adversary is secretly mechanical.
His entourage, Magneto and Claw—each positively robots—are serviceable henchmen. One is magnetic. One has claws.
![Image for article titled Aquaman Has the Best Rogues' Gallery, Actually](https://i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fit,q_60,w_645/1821ad3c13fdbb4d57649728981e5e7d.jpg)
The Fisherman
The Fisherman is a thief who makes use of fishing poles, lures, and different objects from the outside division of L.L. Bean to steal hi-tech gear and promote it on the black market. That’s fairly pretty as it’s, however within the Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis miniseries, it was revealed the Fisherman’s yellow helmet is definitely a kind of parasitic mollusk—and the true brains behind the Fisherman’s leech/host physique double act. The id of the Fisherman’s “underhuman” has by no means been revealed, however might I level out DC already has a mustachioed character with a penchant for wearing things on his head known to disappear for decades at a time? Simply an concept…
![Image for article titled Aquaman Has the Best Rogues' Gallery, Actually](https://i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fit,q_60,w_645/10eb3d2f9046fc0a829abf4d5c35fa5e.jpg)
Useless Water
Capable of conceal and emerge from swimming pools of water of any measurement, the hulking, eel-like mutant generally known as Useless Water was as soon as marine engineer Jonah Payne, earlier than a mysterious substance modified him into an omnifarious anguilliform. A later look from the character concerned the creation of a second Useless Water (resulting in a third, fourth, and fifth) named Lawrence Quinn, scuttling an underwater analysis station aboard a submarine within the model of Alien or DeepStar Six—however that’s pondering small. Useless Water might moderately leap from dewdrop to dewdrop within the fields outdoors the Kent farmhouse, or lurk contained in the bead of sweat that’s at the moment dripping down your brow. Although the character could be a bit of busy, design-wise, Useless Water’s distinctive skills supply limitless visible gags and fascinating set items.
![Image for article titled Aquaman Has the Best Rogues' Gallery, Actually](https://i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fit,q_60,w_645/fe772f858f6234fd832568a2ecedb170.jpg)
Un-Factor
This weird character is an invisible misogynist in a Victorian diving go well with. Whereas the invisibility trick solely works underwater (which is fairly scary when you concentrate on it), one would assume previous Un-Factor had sufficient bizarre, disparate traits to turn into a basic DC Comics antagonist within the vein of Gorilla Grodd or Mr. Mxyzptlk. Regrettably, the character hasn’t “resurfaced” since his single look in Aquaman #24, approach again in 1965. Un-Thinkable.
![Image for article titled Aquaman Has the Best Rogues' Gallery, Actually](https://i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fit,q_60,w_645/c0f039ac482a08e717be23cea191de53.jpg)
The Trench
The debut antagonists of Aquaman’s 2011 rehabilitation period (“You guys have gotten me all mistaken—I don’t discuss to fish, I manipulate them!”), the Trench are a race of deep-sea humanoids, much like Anglerfish, however with clear craniums. Their sole goal is to gather sufficient meals for the offspring of the Trench King and Trench Queen. Whereas it’s tremendous cool that they entice their prey in cocoons alive, their toned, humanoid our bodies make no sense under the photic zone. Nonetheless, Warner Bros. briefly thought-about letting them star in their very own spinoff horror movie following a short look in 2018’s Aquaman.
![Image for article titled Aquaman Has the Best Rogues' Gallery, Actually](https://i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fit,q_60,w_645/3928501365fe8ec671a6593d6c714292.jpg)
Wackyman
Wackyman was a seafaring clown who determined he’d improve income by parodying Aquaman. His act, which included pratfalling from a leaping swordfish, driving a robotic octopus, and spelling his identify with a string of electrical eels, caught the eye of pirates, who conscripted him into their providers. Extra of a sufferer than a villain, Wackyman is price a twenty first century reevaluation within the face of demonic clown sightings, the monetary recession, and cryptids just like the Ningen. Think about being misplaced at sea, and right here comes this waterlogged determine, drifting within the ocean, reeking of salt and brine. First, you assume it’s Aquaman. However then he floats a bit of nearer…
![Image for article titled Aquaman Has the Best Rogues' Gallery, Actually](https://i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fit,q_60,w_645/d11dca4f9549aa28c5deaab82af788a7.jpg)
The Thirst
Essentially the most fascinating factor in regards to the Thirst is that’s he’s a golem made from dry river mud. Naturally unstable, he wants to soak up moisture to remain packed into his humanoid kind, which he usually does by leeching the fluids from water-nutrient people. The Thirst’s victims can then turn into his desiccated henchmen, very similar to the vampires in Lifeforce, however they’re—naturally—flimsy and simply handled. Regardless of being a golem, the Thirst is basically a mummy who can construct himself again up like a sandcastle. He simply wants to remain moist.
![Image for article titled Aquaman Has the Best Rogues' Gallery, Actually](https://i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fit,q_60,w_645/c9670e2b09117069394426abb0ecbaa2.jpg)
Aquabeast
At some point aboard his yacht, wealthy douchebag Peter Dudley caught Mera in a net and determined the 2 had been destined to fall in love. After writing 1,000,000 greenback examine to a hospital in Africa, Dudley was in a position to persuade a geneticist to provide him an experimental therapy altering his DNA into a precise duplicate of Aquaman’s. In fact, the process went awry, and the mutated Dudley got here out wanting like Aquaman after falling right into a nuclear reactor.
Enraged, the newly christened “Aquabeast” beat the kelp out of Aquaman and kidnapped Mera, however was then sucked down a whirlpool after saving Mera’s life from the occupant of a crashed spaceship, a la The Abyss. Aquabeast has solely returned once since his single look in 1964, and that’s a disgrace—a distorted Aquaman is an unsettling picture—and an antagonist who willingly transformed himself into a large, mutated model of the person married to the girl he’s projected unreasonable fantasies upon will not be a foul concept for a recurring villain.
![Image for article titled Aquaman Has the Best Rogues' Gallery, Actually](https://i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fit,q_60,w_645/06425f39165f06094dafa316a87ce618.jpg)
Ocean Grasp
The self-styled “Ocean Grasp” is absolutely Aquaman’s dweeby half-brother, a jealous Milhouse kind egregiously named “Orm”—what have to be the Atlantean equal of “Wendell” or “Egbert.” Continually clutching his enchanted trident, no technique of revenge towards his extra well-liked sibling is simply too petty for poor Orm, making him a darling foil to have mincing away within the background whereas Aquaman offers with extra urgent issues, like sponge poachers or the Human Flying Fish.
Thirsty for extra? That is merely a sampling of the unusual, different world of Aqua-tagonists. There’s nonetheless quite a few further weirdos with a vendetta towards the King of Atlantis—together with Scavenger, the bottom-dwelling treasure hunter; Charybdis; the terrorist who compelled Aquaman to feed his left hand to piranhas earlier than falling into piranha-infested waters himself; and OGRE, the weird arms-trafficking group whose acronynm stands for the “Group for Basic Revenge and Enslavement.” To not point out Liquidator, a rival undersea vigilante who extremely looks like this.
Who’s your favourite member of Arthur Curry’s enemy listing? Isn’t it time the Fisherman and Un-Factor loved their very own Max limited series, or is that finest left to the likes of Kite Man? Tell us within the feedback.
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