Aquaman

The origin of Aquaman is a bit more complex than most super-heroes. No fewer than three origins have appeared for this character over the years. The earliest appearance of Aquaman made him the son of a scientist who discovered Atlantis. Wanting his son to have the ability to visit this wonderful place and his unnatural obsession with sea monkies, he used his scientific ability to make the child an amphibian allowing him to breathe in both the air and water. The second origin made him the half-breed son of Tom Curry, a really lonely lighthouse keeper, and Atlanna, a mermaid. The child was named Arthur Curry and became the hero Aquaman. This origin was later changed to make Atlanna the queen of Atlantis, and the father Atlan, an wizard. With this origin, we find that Aquaman's real name is Orin and that he was abandoned by his parents on a reef due to his blond hair, which was in Atlantis is a sign of bad luck. The baby was then found by Tom Curry, the aforementioned lighthouse keeper, and raised as his son Arthur.

When Aquaman eventually learned his origin, he lived for a time as the leader of Atlantis, being a super-hero part-time. He joined and lead for a time the super-hero group the Justice League. He married Mera, an extra-dimensional queen, with the ability to create solid water objects. The two later had a son, who was killed by Aquaman's foe Manta. The death of their son drove the two apart, eventually driving Mera mad with grief. The two were eventually divorced.

Aquaman's one limitation has always been that he cannot spend extended periods of time out of the water. Originally, it was an hour period. Of late, the time period has been less well defined. In Aquaman's early adventures, being "out of the water" was a pretty loose term, as the hero was able to recover by splashing himself from a water fountain or dousing himself with a Coke.