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This article is about the character Arthur Curry/Orin/Aquaman in the Smallville TV series. For the character of the same name in the unaired television pilot, see Arthur Curry (Aquaman).

"Fish jokes. All I ever get are fish jokes."
— Arthur Curry, Justice

Arthur "AC" Curry (born as Orin) is a mysterious swimmer that has a special connection with water and the life forms within it.

He is a former marine biology student at the University of Miami and an on-and-off member of the Justice League under the codename: Aquaman.

After having met and married Mera, Arthur understood his true origins as Orin and has embraced his destiny as the King of the Seven Seas.

Physical Appearance[]

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Arthur Curry.

Arthur Curry is a tall, well built man. According to Sylvester Pemberton's journal on the heroes from Absolute Justice, Part 1, he is 6'2", weighs 213 lbs and has green eyes. He usually has short, medium blond hair. While in civilian clothing, he is mostly seen wearing orange and green clothing, like his costume.

As Aquaman, Arthur wears a customized wet suit that has an orange and green top with a hood. There are two variations of this top: one with sleeves and one without. He also wears green pants and shoes, a black snap-on belt, as well as has a small dagger saddled to his leg. His costume also features the outline of an "A" in green stitching upon his abdomen.

In Patriot, Arthur was seen wearing a stealth wetsuit with the same colors as his usual outfits. It was dark orange and has a green line patter on it: the suit model is very similar to the wetsuit his wife, Mera, wore while fighting alongside him.

→ See more images in Category:Images of Arthur Curry in the Aquaman suit

Powers and Abilities[]

Atlantean Physiology: As an Atlantean, Arthur has a number of other superhuman powers, most of which derive from the fact that he is adapted to live and thrive in the harshest of underwater environments.

  • Super-Breathing: Arthur can breathe underwater.
  • Night Vision: Arthur has enhanced vision underwater.
  • Super-Hearing: Arthur has enhanced hearing underwater. The Leviathan damaged his ears when he heard it from far away.
  • Telepathy: Arthur is aware of just about anything that occurs underwater. He can mentally communicate with any marine underwater creature. He also has limited sonar abilities.
Arthur's speed aura

Arthur's speed aura underwater.

  • Super speed: Arthur can move faster than the sound barrier while underwater. While in speed mode underwater, he perceives everything around him as moving extremely slow or is frozen. It was documented by Marionette Ventures that he can swim up to 100 mph.
  • Super stamina: Arthur can swim vast distances, exercise and even fight underwater for prolonged periods of time without getting tired.
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Arthur creating a ball of energy underwater.

  • Hydrokinesis: While underwater, Arthur can manipulate water with his mind. The more water he's exposed to at a time the more powerful he becomes. He can create a ball of hard water. When Clark punched him, Arthur stopped his motion from the hit like he was meditating. He also has the ability to propel himself through the water into the air to invade a fortress. (Aqua, Patriot)
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Aquaman busts through the ice.

  • Super strength: He is superhumanly strong while not exposed to water, however being dehydrated severely weakens him. When submerged underwater, Arthur is at least somewhat stronger than Clark.
  • Super durability: Arthur, either while exposed to water or while submerged in water, becomes highly resistant to damage, as well as can maintain consciousness and operate in very cold waters. He was even able to easily withstand a double punch from Clark when the two fought underwater.
  • Super leap: While not on par with Clark Kent, he has proven capable of performing standing high jumps (both on land and from water) and was able to jump for the ocean to the metahuman holding facilities with ease as well as jump through the ice.
  • Super Healing: Arthur can heal rapidly from virtually any wound by contacting water or while underwater.

Vulnerabilities[]

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Arthur is knocked out.

If deprived of a source of water, Arthur appears to be mortal and as physically vulnerable as any human, and a long enough deprivation from water will even cause his skin to become severely chapped and has troubles breathing. If he is weakened or deprived on land, exposure to water will heal him and make whatever parts contacted with water superhuman for a while. On land, he was shot with a tranquilizer dart which hit his neck, causing him to pass out after trying to get to the water. Lex then proceeded to torture him, by tying him down and depriving him completely of water. Clark Kent activated a sprinkler system and Arthur's skin immediately healed, hinting at a healing factor activated by water. Immediately after the water exposure, Arthur was able to break out of Lex's restraints. And when on a mission to find Clark in the arctic, he burst out of the closet from under some of Lex's men and threw him across the room with above-human force. Either way, water deprivation is clearly a major vulnerability.

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Arthur dehydrated.

Early life[]

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Arthur's biography for his college swim team.

The precise details about the origins of Arthur's powers are unknown to him. However his real name is Orin. He once told Lois and Clark that his father lived in a lighthouse, where his swimming abilities impressed Arthur's mother, but she died when he was a baby. Subsequently attending the University of Miami, Arthur went on to become the University swim champion, although his record was marred when he was caught after breaking into a marine research facility to release eight dolphins back into the wild.

Season Five[]

"Stay super, bro."
— Arthur Curry, Aqua
Aquahr090

Arthur saves Lois from drowning.

Arthur appeared in Crater Lake of Smallville, Kansas, to save Lois Lane from drowning, just seconds ahead of Clark Kent's life-saving attempt. However, he was in Smallville to take down a weapons project by LuthorCorp, Leviathan, that was harming undersea life. Due to his flirting with Lois, his criminal record and the lack of information about his origins, Clark, as usual, suspected the worst of him and tried to warn Lois about him, but she told him to buzz off.

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Arthur underwater.

Clark followed Arthur and discovered his plan, stopping his attempt to blow up LuthorCorp's marine facility by containing the explosion. This resulted in an underwater battle between Clark and Arthur, during which Clark was thrown out of the water. A later confrontation between Clark and Arthur in the Kent barn resulted in Arthur explaining his motives to Clark.

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Arthur is revitalized.

After both Clark and Arthur made an unsuccessful attempt to convince Lex Luthor to destroy the Leviathan project, Arthur went down to do the job himself but was captured by Lex, who had seen a video clip of him investigating the Leviathan underwater without scuba gear. After being shot by a tranquilizer dart and deprived of water, seriously weakening him: Lex even commented that he shouldn't have been surprised at Arthur's abilities given his friendship with Clark, but Arthur claimed that Clark knew nothing about his powers. Clark arrived and replenished Arthur by turning on the lab's sprinkler systems, after which the two of them were able to destroy Leviathan during Lex's attempts to demonstrate it to the Pentagon.

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Arthur about to kiss Lois.

During another meeting at the barn, Arthur suggested that he and Clark form a 'Junior Lifeguard Association', but Clark mentioned that he wasn't ready to join the 'JLA' just yet, advising Arthur to be careful as Lex was now aware of his powers: Arthur simply pointed out that the world was three-quarters water, as well as told Clark to stay super before he departed. Arthur left town to freely roam the high seas, after saying an emotionally-charged good-bye to Lois at Crater Lake.

Season Six[]

"So how's Lois doing, man?"
— Arthur Curry, Justice
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Arthur asks Clark about Lois.

Arthur Curry returned to Kansas as a member of Oliver Queen's team of heroes. Arthur was recruited by Oliver Queen when he was in Japan where Oliver saved him from "ending up in a thousand tuna cans". With Bart Allen and Victor Stone, they hope to bring down Lex's Level 33.1.

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Arthur as a member of Oliver's team.

While Green Arrow went to rescue Clark, Aquaman and Cyborg conducted their own part of the mission. Aquaman broke into the facility via waterway, knocked out the guards and met Cyborg inside where they both set up explosives.

Once they freed the patients of the project and rescued Bart and Clark, they blew up the facility of LuthorCorp. Arthur joined the Justice League in finding other divisions of 33.1 around the globe.

Season Eight[]

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Aquaman in the Arctic.

Arthur reappeared in the Arctic, along with Dinah Lance and Oliver Queen, in search of Clark, who had gone missing after the Fortress collapsed. They were unsuccessful in locating him, but they did find his jacket in the ice.

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Arthur and Dinah help in the search for Clark.

Unbeknownst to them, their actions against LuthorCorp who was also in the Arctic searching for Lex, would cost them. Using Chloe and her new found powers: LuthorCorp attacked Arthur and Dinah and then took them prisoner. Transferred to the same prison as Chloe, Arthur and Dinah were interrogated on the matter of Green Arrow's location, but they wouldn't say. The newly-found Clark and Oliver arrived in time to save them.

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Arthur, Oliver and Dinah.

Though they were rescued, they decided with the new threat of Tess Mercer, it was best if they split up for the moment and wait for the time to strike.

Season Nine[]

The government agency Checkmate wanted to know the locations of the Justice League members, including Arthur, but John Jones successfully managed to erase the memories of the agent of the organization—Amanda Waller.

Season Ten[]

Arthur: "Don't let an overzealous warhawk shake your faith in people, Clark. Your endless optimism is the one thing I actually like about you."
Clark: "You learn that vocabulary from Mera?"
Clark Kent and Arthur Curry in Patriot
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Orin and Mera.

Sometime later, Arthur met Mera, who became his wife and helped him understand his true origins and destiny as the king of the sea. The two of them worked as a team and when the Vigilante Registration Act was passed by the government, they learned that the government had been setting up containment facilities disguised as oil rigs all over the ocean. Arthur and Mera destroyed one of these in Florida which caught the attention of not only head of the Vigilante Registration Act, Slade Wilson, but also Arthur's own teammates, Clark and Oliver.

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Arthur is captured by Slade Wilson.

They questioned his motives and Arthur assured them he was doing what he believed to be right. Oliver signed the Vigilante Registration Act to learn more about it, but soon realized Arthur was right when Slade took him prisoner and subjected him to torture to learn more about the other heroes. Arthur and Clark set out to rescue Oliver but Arthur was taken prisoner while searching for him.

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Arthur and Clark at the farm.

Mera arrived and rescued Arthur and Oliver before they all escaped. Arthur told Clark that he was going to have to treat Lois as an equal like he did with Mera for their relationship to work before parting ways.

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Arthur at Hawkman's funeral with the League.

After Hawkman sacrificed his life to save Lois Lane from the villainous Slade Wilson, all Justice League members attended the funeral service held in Carter's home country of Egypt, led by Stargirl. He was left unconscious along with everybody else when a mysterious pyramid rose from the ground.

He along with the rest of the heroes were held captive by the VRA, but were freed, thanks to Chloe Sullivan and the Suicide Squad.

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Black Manta reads about Aquaman.

Toyman was handing out assignments or missions to the super-villain group, the Marionette Ventures, so they can eliminate each member of the Justice League and the Black Manta was assigned to target Arthur.

Appearances[]

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 #
Season 5 - - - X - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1
Season 6 - - - - - - - - - - X - - - - - - - - - - - 1
Season 8 X - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1
Season 10 - - - - - - - - X - X X - - - - - - - - - - 3
Total 6

In the Comics[]

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Aquaman as he appears in the comics.

In the comics, Aquaman is the King of the lost land of Atlantis. He is very protective of the sea and in his recent incarnations has an almost inhospitable personality to "surface dwellers".

Born as Orin to Queen Atlanna and the mysterious wizard Atlan in the Atlantean city of Poseidonis, he was abandoned on Mercy Reef as a baby because of his blond hair, which was seen by the superstitious Atlanteans as a sign of a curse they called "the Mark of Kordax." The only individual who spoke up on Orin's behalf was Vulko, a scientist who had no patience for myth or superstition. While his pleas were to no avail, Vulko would later become a close friend and adviser to the young Orin. He was later found and taken in by a lighthouse keeper named Arthur Curry who named Orin after himself.

Due to his heritage, Aquaman discovered as a youth that he possessed various superhuman abilities, including the powers of surviving underwater, communication with sea life and tremendous swimming prowess. Eventually, Arthur decided to use his talents to become the defender of the Earth's oceans. It was later revealed that he had, in his youth, adventured as Aquaboy and met Superboy (Earth's only other publicly active superpowered hero at the time) on one occasion.

It was later revealed that after Atlanna's death, Tom Curry met and married an ordinary human woman and had a son named Orm Curry, Aquaman's half-brother. Orm grew up as a troubled youth in the shadow of his brother, who constantly bailed him out of trouble with the law. He grew to hate Aquaman not only for the powers that he could never possess but also because he believed that their father would always favor Aquaman. Orm disappeared after becoming an amnesiac and would resurface years later as Aquaman's nemesis, Ocean Master.

Aquaman's ability to talk with fish eventually expanded to full-fledged telepathic communication with sea creatures even from great distances and he was also retroactively developed a specific weakness akin to Superman's vulnerability to kryptonite or Green Lantern's vulnerability to the color yellow: Aquaman had to come into contact with water at least once per hour, or he would die.

Brightest Day 06019-020

Arthur and Mera.

Aquaman's supporting cast and rogues gallery soon began to grow with the addition of Black Manta, the Fisherman, the Scavenger, the terrorist organization known as O.G.R.E., Aqualad (Garth), an outcast, orphaned youth from an Atlantean colony whom Aquaman takes in and begins to mentor and Tula (known as "Aquagirl"), an Atlantean princess who was Aqualad's primary love interest. Aquaman later discovered the submerged fictional city of New Venice and which also became Aquaman's base of operations for a time.

Aquaman was recognized as the son of Atlanna and was later voted to be the King after the death of the former regent, who had no heirs. By this time Aquaman had met Mera, a queen from a water-based dimension and married her shortly after he had become king. They soon had a son, Arthur, Jr. (nicknamed "Aquababy").

Aquaman was included in the Justice League of America comic book series, appearing with the team in their very first adventure and was also a founding member of the team. Aquaman was also briefly made the leader of the Justice League of America. Aquaman's participation in this new version of the Justice League ended in #243 (Oct. 1985), when he resigned to work on his marriage with Mera.

Orin no longer travels under the Aquaman persona, having become the "Dweller in the Depths" one year after the events of DC's universe spanning event, Infinite Crisis.

During World War III, Orin was involved in a dark magical ritual to save the citizens of Sub Diego which left him in his new form. He died not long after. In the series Final Crisis an alternate universe Orin came to protect the underwater people in their most desperate time of need as legends predicted he would. Arthur himself is slated to return in the event the Blackest Night as a member of the villainous Black Hand's Black Lanterns or "Death Lantern". In the final battle in of Blackest Night Arthur is brought back to life and reunited with his wife Mera.

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Arthur and Mera are reunited in Brightest Day.

Brightest Day begins with Aquaman and Mera reconnecting, but Arthur has yet to enter the water, cautious and fearful of his Black Lantern past. When Aquaman and Mera attempt to save a group of people from pirates, he ends up summoning dead creatures of the deep, who kill the pirates against his command. He and his wife are obviously shaken about Aquaman's powers.

Aquaman's resurrection and place among the twelve will continue to unfold in the pages of Brightest Day. Aquaman is attacked by a woman who looks similar to Mera. After the fight, Mera reveals that it was her sister Hila AKA Siren who attacked them. She tells Arthur that she was sent to Atlantis to kill Arthur, but ended up falling in love with him. Hila was sent with a Death Squad to finish was Mera started. Later, Arthur is contacted by the Entity, which tells him he must locate Jackson Hyde before "they do". Aquaman is about to start searching for Jackson when Mera claims that she knows who he is. After she tells him, Aquaman leaves to find Jackson on his own, sending Mera instead to get help because he needed time to mull all this new information over. He then rescues Jackson from a Xebel attack. While Aquaman repels the Xebel soldiers, the white ring brings Deadman to the beach were it reveals that it was the Entity that freed the Xebel soldiers from the Bermuda Triangle so that Aquaman could acknowledge the truth about Mera and Xebel. After the Xebel soldiers are sent back to the Bermuda Triangle, the Entity reduces Aquaman to what appears to be white water. When the Dark Avatar made his presence known, Aquaman is revealed to be part of the Elementals. Aquaman was transformed by the Entity to become the element of water and protect the Star City forest from the Dark Avatar, which appears to be the Black Lantern version of the Swamp Thing. The Elementals are then fused with the body of Alec Holland in order for him to be transformed by the Entity into the new Swamp Thing and battle against the Dark Avatar. After the Dark Avatar is defeated, Swamp Thing returned Aquaman to normal. Afterward, Aquaman is reunited with Mera, at which point he discovers that the Xebels' weapons were made of Atlantean technology.

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Aquaman VS Wonder Woman.

In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Aquaman was brought back to Atlantis when he was a teenager, due to the death of his father. As a result, the young Arthur never learned compassion and kindness from his father, who was killed by the Atlantean agents sent to recover him. In the present day, Aquaman and all of Atlantis wage war against Wonder Woman and the Amazons. He caused Western Europe to sink into the sea killing over 60 million people, intending to sink England as well and is later seen alongside his brother, the Ocean Master, in the flooded remains of Paris where they attack the pirate Deathstroke and his crew members. The war against the Amazons started when Diana's mother, Hippolyta, was killed on Aquaman and Diana's wedding day and in an act of retribution, Wonder Woman later killed Mera who had apparently married Aquaman. The wedding was going to happen after Atlantis was discovered by the Amazons when Aquaman saved and healed Diana when she was wounded by a sea creature. Both of the races then revealed themselves to the outside world. The death of Hippolyta was however revealed to be a casualty of war as the real target was Wonder Woman. A plot between Orm and Artemis to prevent the union of Aquaman and Wonder Woman was also revealed. Diana discovers that his brother Ocean Master and Penthesileia are both responsible for the war between the Atlanteans and the Amazons and that it was a ruse planned by them. While the Atlanteans are going to the surface Aquaman believes she has set a trap. She escapes from Aquaman, who refuses her word. Aquaman then arrives on New Themyscira. Aquaman and Wonder Woman are approached by the Flash and the heroes, who are here to stop the war.

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Aquaman in The New 52.

In the New 52 Aquaman is the half-human son of Tom Curry and Atlanna and sees him return to Amnesty Bay along with Mera. Greatly distressed by the harsh treatment given to the oceans during his time as ruler of Atlantis, Aquaman decides to abdicate the Atlantean throne and return to full-time heroics. However, he now struggles with his lack of reputation with the greater public, which views him as a lesser metahuman with less impressive powers than those of his peers. On the surface, Aquaman struggles with his lack of reputation with the greater public, still seeing him as an inefficient, weak metahuman with useless powers, constantly subject to ridicule. However, after the events in which Ocean Master and the Atlanteans waged war on the surface world, Arthur regains the throne and becomes king of Atlantis to try settle all differences between both worlds, more so to make Atlantis a powerful and striving nation once again.

Aquaman is now searching for Scavenger after being given the suggestion from Vulko that it's a distinct possibility it could be him. While Aquaman searches, the forgotten aged "King of Atlantis" confronts Mera.

Aquaman is also once again a founding member of the Justice League and a main member of the team. He teams up with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash (Barry Allen) and Hal Jordan (and later joined by Cyborg) to battle against the Apokoliptan invasion of Earth by Darkseid and his Parademons. Following the successful defeat of Darkseid's forces, Aquaman and the others form the Justice League.

See also[]

Current Aliases[]

The following aliases were either shown in Sylvester Pemberton's notebook.[1] or what other people refers to Arthur or what Arthur refers to himself

  • A.C.
  • The Sea King
  • The Ocean Wizard
  • The Sea Mariner
  • Orin, King of the Seas

Trivia[]

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Arthur's page in Sylvester's notebook.

  • According to Toyman's files, Arthur is from Mercy Reef, is 6'1", 325 pounds, his eyes are aqua blue and he has blonde hair.
  • He was born in Southern Florida. (Aqua)
  • According to Season 11 writer's Bryan Q. Miller's twitter,Arthur is basically the same age as Clark/Victor making him 25/27 years old by season 11.[2]
  • Arthur was a student at the University of Miami, whose colors are orange and green. Arthur is often seen wearing orange and green, which are also the colors of Aquaman. (Aqua) In-universe, it's quite possible that AC chose these colors to be the Aquaman colors because they are the University of Miami's school colors.
  • Arthur's Justice League codename is Aquaman. (Justice)
  • Like Bart Allen, Oliver Queen, Dinah Lance and Victor Stone, he attacked Clark when he met him. When Clark faced him underwater, he used a "water ball" to send him soaring out. (Aqua)
  • The origin of Arthur's abilities are hinted at but never fully revealed onscreen. (Aqua) However A.C. mentions that Mera helped him understand his true origins. (Patriot)
  • Arthur is a faster swimmer than Clark Kent. (Aqua)
  • Arthur's phone number is 429-555-0169. (Odyssey)
  • Aquaman is a main character in the animated mini-episodes, Smallville Legends: Justice and Doom.
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Aquaman pilot starring Justin Hartley.

  • A series created by the creators of Smallville, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, about Arthur was intended, starring Justin Hartley as "A.C.", but other than the pilot episode "Aquaman", the show never got off the ground. Justin Hartley was then offered the role of Oliver Queen on Smallville instead.
  • Arthur is seen via photograph in Hex and in Absolute Justice.
  • Arthur is noted as being Atlantean in Sylvester Pemberton's journal. (Absolute Justice, Part 1)
  • Arthur's Atlantean medallion that appears in the pilot of Aquaman is seen in Pemberton's journal.
  • Both Aquaman and Green Arrow were introduced in More Fun Comics Vol 1 #73 (November 1941) albeit in different storylines: the later was in the second, "Case of the Namesake Murders" while the former was in the seventh and last story, "The Submarine Strikes".
  • Alan Hitchson's first time portraying a DC Comics superhero. He would later star in Titans as Hank Hall/Hawk. Titans also features the characters of Conner Kent and Krypto.

Other faces of Aquaman[]

External links[]

References[]

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