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| As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page. |
History
In her earlier youth before ascension to the throne of Atlantis princess Atlanna would often wander from the confines of her undersea kingdom, one night during a horrendous storm a sailboat carrying her future husband; Tom Curry, had capsized throwing him overboard to drown. Atlanna saved the would be lost at sea pedestrian and the two would fall in love.[1] Over time they'ed end up having a son who she would ask be named as a surface dweller, thus Arthur Curry was born and named on the surface world.
They were happy for a time watching over their child as he began to grow up. But the dutiful royal soon remembered she was of Atlantean Royalty and could not stay with her new family.[2] With a broken heart, she would eventually return home to her lonely solitude as she was married off in an Imperial wedding with Orvax, who was then captain of the Atlantean Army, eventually mothering a son of his own in Orm. But the matrimonial pursuit was less than a happy one, as her political marriage to bind both royalty and military for maintaining power had pawned her off to an ultimately abusive relationship. Her new husband was an abrasive sort with a history of mental and emotional instability, who regularly abused his wife and son on a regular basis.[1]
This marital fallout stemmed from the inherit surface hating persona that Orvax blatantly showcased. He and his naval forces would regularly sink human ships out of spite which greatly perturbed his wife, viewing this as dissent in his eyes he would often assault her on a regular basis in full view of their son. These relational disputes reached a fever pitch when he found Atlanna wanting to return to the surface with her other family, but the cruel king boasted he'd killed them in another of his surface raids in order to keep her from leaving him.[3]
In a fit of rage and despair the embittered queen murdered him with a lance, pleading innocent in front of a crying Orm in her arms as it was believed her husband had been assassinated by one of his many enemies. These events all came about on her child's adolescence ascension ceremony, where she'd prepared his favorite play to show in order to commemorate the occasion, all of which was an elaborate ruse in order to fake her own death in order to escape the oppressive rule of her homeland and its stifling laws.[1] Initially she had royal advisor to the throne, Vulko; arrange a transport back to the surface world for her and her son. All while arranging a distraction that would mask her defection from the throne and her royal duties. In truth however she'd instead fake her death in an accident during the play where it would seem she'd been incinerated placing secret blame on Orm, (which was never her intent) as she made her escape from Atlantis forever.
Maelstrom
After having left Atlantis, Atlanna used an old transportation artifact called The Maelstrom and found herself a new home and a new life in a place called Pacifica eventually creating a tumultuous peace there until Arthur of Atlantis showed up.[4] Having come to be leader of this secret land founded by other sea dwelling nomads wishing to flee the obstructive regime of Atlantean culture as it ran itself to ground. After meeting and defeating her now adult son going by the alias Aquaman, the disillusioned former queen who refuses to believe him to be her child recounts to her chief advisory Lenu, about how she'd been studying up on ancient lore in secret which would enable her to finally escape the lifestyle of an oppressed monarch in name.
How she would utilize Maelstrom warp gates to travel across the world and to other worlds in order to find this place, as well as round up any and all Purple Eyed Atlanteans who knew of the sordid history of her new domain for their protection as well as using their help to bury any mentions of it's existence. Brandishing a particularly cultivated hatred of her former life as a blue blood of the nation she recounts how treacherous and horrible her culture truly was. From her experiences with power hungry militants eagerly marrying into the throne to the obvious hatred the Atlantean Council showed towards the ruling seat. As she prepared her sacrifice to the islands resident volcanic entity, her son had recovered whisking away both his wife and Atlanna's aid in order to convince the young charge of the truth. Atlanna would soon give chase after staving off the Volcano God communing with the island herself to get a fix on their location. Shortly after catching up to the trio, Arthur's battalion shows up through the portal in order to aid their king. All while Karaku descends upon both parties flinging down Fire Trolls on all of them.
Lenu had surmised the volcanic beast had become threatened by all the different entities teaming upon it's island and now acted to wipe them all clean. Atlanna fought off karaku only to realize she would be doomed in doing so but refused to give up, until Arthur managed to save her at the last possible moment, when the former stopped to mourn the loss of Dr. Evans at the hands of a fire troll however. She didn't repay the kindness as Karaku itself brought down his mountainous fury upon him.[5]
Only choosing to act after repeatedly refusing to believe him to be her son when her masses moved she help him because of it, after seeing Queen Mera move the ocean water around the island to help her mate. She then took to the air and saved him in order to distract Karaku for the former to knock him down. While Arthur and Mera comfort one another, Atlanna moves in to deliver the killing blow. Still refusing to believe that Arthur is her son even after everything they've been through, with all other options exhausted Arthur finally proves his worth to Atlanna by showing her what he inherited. Calling all the amalgamated creatures within the surrounding area to his side proving to her once and for all that his is her son. Left in tears at this revelation, Atlanna simply opened the doorway back to Earth sending both her son, his wife and the rest of their party back to the home which she left behind. But not before sending Arthur's Royal Trident back with her Royal Signet attached to it.
It details she believes her newfound sons words and actions, when he left his relic behind it confirmed he was who he said to be. That no pure born royal would ever part with it otherwise. She left him with her Shell of Sounds to acclimate his right to rule Atlantis and to not tell Orm that she's alive until she is ready to tell her himself, generally believing that Atlantis may be changing for the better under the rule of her son of both worlds.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Atlantean Physiology: Due to gererations of living under the sea, Atlanteans have evolved to breath underwater and be far superior to any other human.
- Superhuman Strength: Atlanna is strong enough to hurt the likes of Aquaman.
- Superhuman Durability: Atlanna is able to withstand the huge pressures of deep ocean.
- Superhuman Speed
- Superhuman Stamina
- Superhuman Reflexes
- Enhanced Senses
- Enhanced Vision: Atlanna is able to see perfectly in the pitch blackness of the deep ocean.
- Enhanced Hearing: Atlanna's hearing is far greater than any human's.
- Marine Telepathy: Like her sons, Atlanna has the ability to commune with and command any and all native sea life.
- Animal Control
- Chlorokinesis: She's shown some attribute to communicate with plant life as a means of enhanced surveillance.[4]
Abilities
- Leadership: Atlanna successfully rules over Pacifica.
- Swimming: Swimming for an Atlantean is like walking for a human.
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Shell of Sounds: A relic that can contain recorded memories and dialog from the user, in order to convey their memories to future generations.
Transportation
- The Maelstrom: Atlantean themed warp gates which were used by old Atlantis as a means of expedient travel across the world and to other dimensions. They can only be accessed by relics of Atlantis as well as special destination tablets depicting desired locations.
Weapons
- Staff of Storms: A Powerful Atlantean spear which holds the forces of a hurricane within its tip, she can discharge bursts of torrential energy capable of stunning even Super Atlanteans like Aquaman.
Notes
- Atlanna was created by Robert Bernstein and Ramona Fradon, first appearing in Adventure Comics #260. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Atlanna first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Aquaman (Volume 7) #24 by Geoff Johns and Paul Pelletier.
Related
- 16 Appearances of Atlanna (Prime Earth)
- 4 Images featuring Atlanna (Prime Earth)
- 1 Quotations by or about Atlanna (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Atlanna (Prime Earth)
Footnotes
  This character is or was an ally of Aquaman, and a member of the Aqua-Family and/or its supporting cast. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Aquaman Supporting Cast" category. See also: Aquaman Villains. |