Aqualad

Soon after the sinking of Atlantis, a group of pacifists lead by Thar and his wife Berra established a colony away from the main city of Poseidonis. The colony thrived under Thar's leadership and he and Berra were made king and queen of their people, who called themselves Idylists.

But tragedy struck the colony as illness struck their king. The disease twisted Thar's mind and he began to stock arms and take control of the people by force, planning to further his control by violence. The people turned to Berra for help though she was pregnant. Berra was unable to bring herself to oppose her husband, though she pleaded with him to stop his plans. The people eventually rose up against their king and slew him. As punishement for her weakness, Berra was exiled from the Idylists and she returned to Poseidonis.

When Berra's child was born, the infant was healthy, but he had purple eyes. Purple eyes were believed by the superstious members of Poseidonis to mean that the child could be Garn Dauu'uth reborn. Dauu'uth was the brother of the mighty Atlantean wizard Arion and a evil wizard in his own right. Others believed that the child was inferior and a drain on society. It was decided that the child should be taken to a reef and left to die.

Garth, as the child was called, survived and was discovered by Orin, the King of Atlantis, known to those on the surface as Aquaman. Aquaman realized what had occurred and took the child into his care. They shared adventures and the youngster was given the name Aqualad.

Over the years, Garth found himself plagued by feelings of insecurity. He was treated by the citizens of Poseidonis like a leper and felt that he was never a priority for Orin, whose time was taken up with ruling the kingdom, being a husband to Mera and later father to Arthur, Jr. their son. During this time, Garth did find a group of peers to hang out with in the members of the Teen Titans, but the scope of his powers and his limitation of not being out of the water more than an hour, did not allow for them to spend much time together.

Aqualad was approached by the Idylists to help them against one of Aquaman's enemies, the Black Manta. Aqualad attempted to help but was captured by the villain. When Aquaman arrived on the scene, he was forced by Black Manta to fight his friend, with the life of his son in the balance. Arthur, Jr. was killed and Garth parted company with Aquaman, feeling betrayed by his former mentor.

Garth stayed with the Idylists for a time and discovered his origins. He also began a relationship with a young Atlantean woman named Tula. She adopted the identity of Aquagirl and both adventured with the Teen Titans. Their romance ended, however, during the Crisis on Infinite Earths when Tula was killed defending New York harbor from the a group of villains.

Garth was depressed by the loss of Tula and kept a low profile for many months. He was caught up with his fellow Titans when the Wildebeests under the direction of Jericho hunted down and captured all of the members both active and inactive of the Teen Titans. Garth was left in a coma and the Titans eventually contacted Aquaman in hopes that the Atlanteans could offer some hope for Garth's condition.

Aquaman brought Garth to the healers of the Idylists and with their help, restored Aqualad to health.

Months later, Aqualad was injured by the villain Charybdis, who was also responsible for the loss of Aquaman's hand to a group of piranha. Garth would have died had not the underwater heroine Dolphin brought him to Poseidonis for healing. During this time, Garth saw someone that in his delerium he believed to be Tula, and after he healed, he returned to the area to find his lost love.

Instead of Tula, Garth discovered a woman who was half human/half shark named Letifos. Despite her warnings, Garth followed her to her home, where he was captured by her people. They sentenced Garth to death and tied him up. He was then attacked by a vortex that stripped the flesh from his bones, leaving only Garth's skeleton.

Garth would have been killed if not for the intervention of Atlan, a Atlantean wizard and father of Aquaman. Atlan rescued Garth's lifeforce and took it to another dimension where he recreated Garth. In this other dimension, Garth learned that he was destined to become the greatest of all the Atlantean wizards and became a student of Atlan.

Garth returned to Earth to gain his birthright as a wizard and after a series of adventures, gained incredible new powers and a new code name Tempest.