
“ | King of the seas, remember? | „ |
~ Aquaman reminding Downpour of his powers |
Summary[]
Arthur, last name unknown, was the king of the lost city of Atlantis in the DCAU. When Lex Luthor's environmentally reckless practices threatened his sea, Arthur (known as "the Aquaman") went to the surface and endeavored to take Luthor down - which he did with the help of Superman, a tentative ally. A year or so later, the newly formed Justice League would help Arthur stop his evil brother Orm from usurping the throne, and later he would fight alongside the League against "the Old Ones," extradimensional monsters that threatened the Earth. Following the Thangarian Invasion, Arthur would formally join the expanded Justice League, assisting in the battles against the Ultimen and a resurrected Solomon Grundy.
Powers and Stats[]
Tier: Varies from at least 9-A to High 6-A to 5-B, possibly far higher at his peak
Name: Arthur, also known as Aquaman
Origin: The DC Animated Universe
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown, physically appears to be at least 30
Classification: King of Atlantis, Member of the Justice League
Powers and Abilities:
- Superhuman Physical Characteristics (See Attack Potency, Speed, Lifting Strength, and Durability)
- Superhuman Athleticism (Leapt an inhuman distance off a sea serpent and jumped high enough to intercept an orca)
- Hand-to-Hand Combat Mastery (Kept up in skill with Wonder Woman during The Terror Beyond)
- Weapon Mastery (with his hook hand and trident)
- Aquatic Respiration (Every single Atlantean can breathe and speak underwater)
- Enhanced Swimming (Can swim so quickly that his movement creates a speedboat-esque wake)
- Acrobatics (Performed a huge flip off a sea serpent and onto a tank and flipped to get onto a sheet of ice)
- Telepathy/Animal Manipulation/Summoning (Can telepathically command and call to his side every single animal considered “sea life,” including (but not necessarily limited to) sharks, whales, octopi, a massive sea serpent, electric eels, and even seagulls)
- Magic and Energy Projection (The Trident of Poseidon fires beams of magical energy)
- Spatial Manipulation (The Trident of Poseidon could seal a dimensional rift)
- Vehicular Mastery (Wove an Atlantean speeder around energy blasts)
- Limited Stealth Mastery (Snuck up on a traitorous Atlantean while inches away from him, though said Atlantean was ultimately tipped off to his presence by his shadow)
- Resistance to Extreme Heat/Magma Manipulation (Was unhurt by touching monsters made of Lava)
- Resistance to Extreme Cold (Is unbothered by swimming shirtless through glacial waters)
The many sea creatures he can control can possess many of the following abilities:
- Flight (Seagulls can fly)
- Large Size (Type 0 to Type 1: Many sea creatures possess this, such as Whales, the Giant Octopus he summons, the giant sea serpent he summons, etc)
- Poison Manipulation (Many sea creatures can secrete poison)
- Paralysis Inducement (Octopi can restrain foes with their tentacles)
- Electricity Manipulation (with Electric Eels)
Attack Potency: Varies (Is portrayed as dramatically weaker than he usually is during "The Enemy Below" in JL Season One and "A Fish Story", where he can be nearly killed by a bazooka and would have died from falling into lava - due to how few appearances he has, his anti-feats can't just be ruled out via preponderance of evidence - ergo, he's listed as varying in power), from at least Small Building Level (As an Atlantean, should be at least a good bit stronger than any non-enhanced human, which would include Batman. Likely as strong as, or stronger than, his daughter Aquagirl, who ragdolled Batman II with a punch. Burst through the bottom of an iceberg. Crumpled the hood of a car with a punch. Knocked a large metal vehicle out of the way by simply swimming into it) to Multi-Continental to Planet Level at his peak (Fought evenly with Wonder Woman, harming her several times. Knocked out a dinosaur-morphed Shifter and oneshotted Downpour. Can fight those who can harm him, such as Orm, and wields the Trident of Poseidon - a Trident composed of nearly all the ambient magic on the planet during the age of magic, including a spell that kept Atlantis (a large city) afloat for many, many years), possibly far higher (The Trident of Poseidon can destroy "Lovecraftian" old ones. The exact extent to which many of the series' characters scale to feats such as "a thousand lanterns" being capable of holding the sun together is impossible to be sure of, so it's only listed as a possible end)
Speed: Relativistic (Isn't inconsistent in terms of speed, so he isn't listed as varying here. Kept up with a serious Wonder Woman, landing several blows on her (as evidenced above) and dodging her attacks. Dodged energy blasts from Lex Luthor's henchmen. Turned and caught a fired harpoon as if it was moving at a crawl), possibly MFTL+ (It's possible that Lanterns' travel speed scales to their combat speed, though personally I've never seen any arguments for that which were nearly compelling enough for me to claim it's definitive)
Lifting Strength: At least Class 25 (Isn't inconsistent in terms of LS (other than this one embarrassing antifeat), so he isn't listed as varying here. Lifted a Moai. Tore the cannon off a tank and tossed it several meters away, smashing another tank. Helped knock over a huge statue. Swung a dinosaur around. Caused a car to nearly tip over. Lifted a huge stone pillar and swung it like a bat), possibly Class K or higher (Seems to have overpowered Wonder Woman, but this was underwater and he had a blade to her throat, meaning she couldn't risk struggling too much and Aquaman may have been amped by being submerged in water)
Striking Strength: Varies, from at least Small Building Class to Multi-Continent Class to Planet Class at his peak
Durability: Varies (Is portrayed as dramatically less durable than he usually is during "The Enemy Below" in JL Season One and "A Fish Story", where he can be nearly killed by a bazooka and would have died from falling into lava - due to how few appearances he has, his anti-feats can't just be ruled out via preponderance of evidence - ergo, he's listed as varying in durability), from at least Small Building Level (Should be able to withstand his own physical power. Kept fighting Orm after taking blasts from the Trident of Poseidon, which even in this same episode could destroy sections of a rock formation. Withstood an explosion that could smash a human-sized hole into an iceberg. Implied to be unable to survive a large fall), up to Multi-Continental to Planet Level, possibly far higher at his peak (Should be able to withstand his own physical power. Can take blasts from the Trident of Poseidon)
Stamina: Superhuman (Saved his son and fought a small army of traitorous Atlanteans after slicing his own hand off with no medical attention whatsoever other than putting a rag over the wound and having a hook hand attached)
Range: Standard Melee Range physically, Tens of Meters with his Hook Hand (Stretched across a huge ship. Extended to kill an Old One that Wonder Woman was struggling with), and Tens of Meters with blasts from the Trident of Poseidon (Stretched a notable distance to seal a rift)
Standard Equipment:
- Hook Hand: A metallic hook hand attachment, which can be extended to snare foes.
- Optional Equipment:
- The Trident of Poseidon: An ornate golden trident composed of nearly all the ambient magic on Earth during ancient times, created by King Poseidon to battle the Old Ones. It generates and emits long range blasts of magical energy powerful enough to harm Aquaman himself, and can even seal rifts between dimensions.
- Can Create/Summon: Many different kinds of Sea Life
Intelligence: At least Above Average, if not Gifted, with notable combat prowess (Is an extremely experienced and trained warrior, to the point of keeping up with Wonder Woman in skill, and runs the entire kingdom of Atlantis)
Standard Tactics: His fights with Wonder Woman, Orm, and the resurrected Solomon Grundy show that he prefers a full-frontal attack, incapacitating his foe as quickly as possible.
Weaknesses: Is very headstrong. Otherwise, none notable.
Note: Bruce Timm has stated that the original DCAU tie-in comics are not canon, with the only tie in comics that have statements to the contrary (other than Batman: The Adventures Continue, which has so many continuity issues that it's essentially impossible to argue it's canon) being Justice League Infinity, the Batman and Harley Quinn tie in comics, and specifically the first annual of Batman Adventures. Ergo, I only consider those three comics canon.