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Thanatos is a dark reflection of Aquaman.

He inhabited an "other dimensional realm" known as the "Netherspace" that is a kind of reverse Purgatory where beings known as the "Others" keep entities until they are filled with sufficient evil to be returned to the New Earth dimension.

He began as a being trapped in the Netherspace, only coming out after luring victims to his mirror and stealing their identities. Regular citizens of Earth would be immobilized by him while he committed crime with their identities. When prompted for any sort of response, the "zombified" citizens would only repeat "I am dead. Thanatos killed me" over and over again. One day, Thanatos lured Aquaman to his mirror by sending him a message from "Aqualad" asking to meet in the abandoned house that the mirror resided in. Satisfied with the powerful identity, Thanatos kept Aquaman's form but was eventually banished back to the Netherspace.

After Aquababy died, Mera went off on her own and Thanatos was able to lure her into the Netherspace by convincing her that he was the real Aquaman. Nine months later, she gave birth to A.J., who could easily be either man's son.

In search of Mera, Aquaman finds his way into the Netherspace but is unable to leave as the Others have not deemed him worthy. Aquaman and Thanatos engage in a final battle, in which Aquaman is the victor, but he refuses to kill Thanatos and the Others see this as weakness and a lack of evil. They deem Aquaman unready to leave but, during the battle, Thanatos proved himself to be filled with sufficient evil. They allowed him to return to the New Earth universe, where he could continue to live as Aquaman.

Thanatos' returned to Poseidonis, only to find it deserted and quickly grew bored. He used a communicator to declare war on the surface world, only to immediately be mistaken for Aquaman and then murdered by Major Disaster, who was previously hired by the demon Neron to kill Aquaman. Crushed between the closing walls of a trench, he is then presumed to be dead, leaving the surface world thinking that the real Aquaman has declared war.

Powers

Abilities


  • Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.

Related

Footnotes


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Aquaman Villain(s)
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This character, team or organization, is or was primarily an enemy of Aquaman, or members of the Aquaman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Aquaman Villains."

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