C&C APPLICATION
[PLAYER INFO]
NAME: Cris
AGE: 23
JOURNAL: nerditude
IM: ffffudgesicles
E-MAIL: ensigncris@gmail.com
RETURNING: themouthymerc (Marvel 616), phobiapathic (Marvel 616), mightymortal (DCU/Shazam!), midnighting (Wildstorm/The Authority)
[CHARACTER INFO]
CHARACTER NAME: Namor McKenzie AKA The Sub-Mariner
FANDOM: Marvel 616
CHRONOLOGY: During "The Deep" (his Fear Itself tie in title.)
CLASS: Anti-Hero
SUPERHERO NAME: The Sub-Mariner
ALTER EGO: Civilian?! He is a King, you cretin!
BACKGROUND:
Terms-
Atlantis: Marvel's city of Atlantis is portrayed... extremely inconsistently. It has been destroyed, abandoned and moved nearly a dozen times, whether by attack, accident or nature. Each and every time without fail it is treated as though its people are leaving their ancestral home, if only for the heightened drama that might provide. In any case, the term "Atlantis" is used to refer to whatever city is currently being inhabited, regardless of its location. Atlantis has a history of combining magic and science into one field of study, and is therefore (excepting only Wakanda, which had a wealth of of Vibranium at its disposal) the most technologically advanced of all the Earth civilizations in the Marvel Universe. Despite this monumental advantage, the entire population of Atlanteans (not just in the capital City but in the few pockets of tribes across all the oceans) number below one million, which has allowed for repeated military defeats by lesser powers (read: by everyone.)
As the story goes, long ago the center of all Civilization was Atlantis. Favored by the Gods (the Greek ones, for the record), the magicians of Atlantis sought to cement their place of power for eternity and attempted to chain Atlas to their city, so the meeting of the sky and the earth could never be anywhere else. For their hubris, the Gods and Titans sank their civilization into the sea; the only ones to survive were the mages who could grant themselves the ability to survive and breathe in the crushing depths. This ability would pass on to their children, and their children's children, eventually drumming out the species' ability to survive on land.
Atlanteans: Atlanteans are a blue-skinned aquatic race called homo mermanus; they are exceedingly long-lived, as their lifespans are capable of stretching over a couple hundred years. On average, they each possess the "strength of ten men," and speak a language seemingly understood by fish.
Lemurians: Another aquatic species, Lemurians often clashed with the Atlanteans but in recent Marvel have been declared a Protectorate of the Atlantean crown.
Mutants: In the Marvel Universe, Mutants are people born with a gene that gives them supernatural powers. They are generally viewed with scorn by the rest of the population. Though half-Atlantean, Namor is also considered a mutant, for the X-gene which gave him his ankle wings that allow him to fly.
History-
Leonard McKenzie, a human man, was on a vessel in the early 1920's exploring the arctic circle when the explosives his crew was using to break up the ice inadvertently wreaked havoc on the undersea city Atlantis below it. The King Thakorr ordered his daughter, Princess Fen, to take a group of warriors to the surface to see what was causing the destruction. Headstrong and impulsive, Fen went alone, and was quickly captured by the men on the ship. Despite a language (and species) barrier, Fen and Leonard fell in love as a couple 'a crazy kids will do, and Namor was, ahem, conceived.
Unaware of what had happened to his daughter, King Thakkor took a party of warriors to the surface and fought the humans on this ship; Leonard died in the attack, and heartbroken, Fen returned home. Fearful that the rest of the men that they had let live might use their knowledge of the location of Atlantis against them, the king ordered everyone to move from the City, and they set up shop next along the coast of Florida. Princess Fen gave birth to Namor, who grew up exceedingly curious about the mysterious surface world of his Father, often sneaking away to visit the beaches and watch the land-dwellers as soon as he was able to swim on his own. Despite being the lone pink-skinned Atlantean among his blue-skin brethren, he was accepted by his people as the heir to the crown and only teased lightly by his peers for it.
He grew up there, and though by the time he was sixteen the pressures of royal responsibility were beginning to weigh heavily on his shoulders, Namor was rather happy. He continued sneaking to the beaches to surf with other teenagers his age during the summers, where he met and became enamored with a human girl named Sandra. It was through his courtship of her that she learned of oil beneath the surface of the ocean floor, which had begun to leak out through cracks into the new city, confounding the Atlanteans. She accidentally revealed this to her Father, who immediately set out building an oil rig under the guise of helping them to stop the oil from leaking.
Eventually, the Atlanteans realized that the oil rig was only making the problem worse by digging up more oil than was already at the surface, and after destroying the drill they relocated again, this time much farther up North and closer to Europe.
This move would ultimately lead to their discovery by Nazi scientists, who would capture and perform experiments on them with the help of Merrano, an Atlantean who had betrayed the underwater City's newest location. After finding a ship with hundreds of dead Atleanteans, all grotesquely experimented on, Namor swore revenge on the surface world. Unaware that humans weren't all one unified people, Namor unleashed his rage on the first major City he comes upon; it happens to be New York.
His first assault is stopped by Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch, and this humiliates him so much that he spends months preparing his revenge. Spurned on both by his own defeat and by the memories of his people that he saw in the Nazi ship, his second assault is both misdirected and terrible. He raises a tidal wave as tall as the skyscrapers themselves to crash into the New York harbor, and comes close to killing the Human Torch before the newly empowered Captain America appears on the scene and knocks him out from behind.
He is subsequently held by the American government in chains for months, refusing to speak to anyone until the day that Captain America showed back up... with a captured Merrano in hand.
Discovering that his rage had been aimed at the entirely wrong people, Namor quickly agreed to lend his considerable strength to America's fight against the Nazis, both for revenge for his own people and an attempt to atone for all the lives he'd taken in New York. He, along with Captain America, Union Jack, Bucky Barnes, Vision, Human Torch, Toro and Spitfire became The Invaders.
After World War II, he returns home and finds a new surface love in Betty Dean, another spunky blonde who was not afraid to stand up to him. Enamored with her courage and spirit, he enjoyed a relationship with her for a number of years, but fell into a cycle of neglecting her and then attempting to control her when he returned. Frustrated by his lack of commitment, and also his frequent month-long disappearances, she broke it off with him in the end.
A man calling himself Destiny had come upon a Helmet of Power in the Antarctic near where the old city of Atlantis used to be, and using the fantastic abilities it bestowed upon him he tracked down the new (new) Atlantis and caused a series of Earthquakes to destroy this one, too, killing both King Thakorr and Princess Fen in the process. Namor rushed into battle with him one-on-one and lost; Destiny then wiped his mind clean and sent him to live as a beggar on the streets of New York. This lasted for years, until Johnny Storm happened upon him after running away from home (as teenagers do). Wowed by the casual feats of enormous strength exhibited by the strange bum who didn't even know his own name, Johnny noticed the pointed ears and ankle wings and on a hunch dragged him out and dumped him into the ocean.
Healed and revived by the seawater, Namor immediately swam for Atlantis only to find it completely destroyed and deserted. Returning to the city, he was affronted to find that he recognized the face of the newest presidential candidate "Paul Destine;" it was really Destiny. Enraged, Namor attacked the City during one of his campaign speeches and was stopped by the Fantastic Four. He immediately set eyes on Susan Storm and backed down from the fight after some sweet-talking on her part to return to the sea and begin to search in earnest for his lost people.
When he was finally reunited with them, Namor found that he had caught eye of fellow Atlantean noble Lady Dorma, who pursued him aggressively despite his seeming complete disinterest. It was after repeated crossovers with various other Marvel titles pulled him to the surface world again and again that Namor began to notice unrest stirring in his people, who accused him of spending too much time up there and not enough time in Atlantis. Knowing that he could not cut his people off from the surface world again with how much exposure they had received during his involvement in WWII, Namor ignored the discontent and was therefore (rather easily) usurped by his trusted General Krang while he was off doing something or another with the Fantastic Four.
Unaided by his disgruntled people upon his return (those jerks!!!), and immediately arrested and jailed, he escaped the dungeons with Lady Dorma's aid and set about the only course of action that he thought would get his throne back: he went on a quest to earn the Trident of Poseidon. A powerful weapon that would allow him to summon the seas (which is a fancy way of saying blasts of water) while on land, it had long been revered by his people as a weapon only capable of touching the hands of Gods and kings. The trials he faced to retrieve it were dangerous and took him long enough for the Atlanteans to learn they didn't much like the way Krang did things either. When he returned he was hailed as the true king.
At some point after this, Namor joins forces with the Hulk in attack on the Avengers (an enemy Namor had clashed with repeatedly in the past), but he loses the fight when Hulk ditches him halfway through to go brood on an iceberg or something. Escaping the Avengers through the sea after seeing that he wasn't likely to win on his own, Namor stumbled across frozen body of Steve Rogers being worshipped by an Inuit tribe, and... well that made him super mad so he screamed at them a bit and then threw it into the ocean. That's how he rolls. Luckily, Avengers (still looking for him) found it and the rest is history!
Anyway, Namor returned to Atlantis to marry Dorma, who had impressed him by being a bro while Krang was in power, but it turns out that Llyra (a Lemurian) captured and took Dorma's place at the wedding in an attempt to take Namor's throne. Since that plan was stupid and he wasn't just going to hand over the kingdom to some strange broad after discovering that she wasn't, in fact, Dorma, Llyra killed her hostage and Namor was nearly driven mad with grief.
He got over it though. He teamed up with quite a few villains over the years, and quite a few heroes, striking an odd balance between the two and becoming one of the first anti-heroes in comics, siding with whatever would of the most benefit to his people rather than "good" or "evil." He lost his kingdom god knows how many times, but always gained it back by the end of the issue, and continued barging every so often into the Fantastic Four's life to hit on Sue and get sideeyed by Ben and Reed. He joined with the Avengers, though his tenure on the team was rocky both due to his attitude and his rivalry with Hercules, then helped found the Defenders, which seemed to work out better for him. He married Marrina of Alpha Flight before she went evil and (apparently) died, too, so that was fun. At some point he had an affair with an unnamed woman of the Atlantean court, giving birth to a son named Kamar. The woman was assassinated, and after being entirely unable to find the terrorist responsible, Namor sent the infant away with a council member named Zoran so that he could raise the boy in safety until he was old enough to be ready for the crown.
Attuma, a barbarian warlord from one of the scattered tribes of Atlanteans that had never integrated into the main society, and Atlantean dissidents attacked the city, and though Namor was assumed to have been killed during the battle, he surfaced months later in a state of near madness. He was rescued by Caleb and Carrie Alexander, and through Caleb's research he discovered that his unique half-human mutant, half-Atlantean physiology was responsible for his occasional crazed states of outright dramatic 60's villainy, and that he could regulate the oxygen imbalance in his blood by spending closer to equal amounts of time above water as below it. This helped him to become a more responsible ruler, and he continued to work closely with the two for a good deal of his 90's title run after buying up a company called Oracle and running Heroes for Hire out of it.
When cursed by a sorcerer, Yandroth, Namor, Doctor Strange, the Hulk and Silver Surfer (the core members of the Defenders), spent an extended period of time being jerked across the globe to the scene of every deadly crisis, they attempted to take over as The Order to stem the tide of danger in the world, but their plans were interfered with by the rest of the world's heroes. Eventually, the curse was lifted. Namor promptly proceeded to join up with the New Invaders team, and then with the Illuminati, a secret organization consisting of himself, Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, Charles Xavier and Black Bolt, who tasked themselves with being the world's first line of defense. He broke with the group (violently) when they decided to send Bruce Banner into outer space, hoping to eliminate the Hulk's threat once and for all, but returned and participated in it up until it disbanded during the Skrull Invasion.
Leading to the outbreak of the Superhero Civil War, Namor's cousin (once removed) Namorita was killed in an explosion caused by Nitro, and he activated sleeper cells he'd posted across America to hunt Nitro down. Though he was ultimately found by Wolverine first, Namor assumed custody and kept him for trial in Atlantis. He refused to join either side in the Civil War, until Sue came down to Atlantis personally to plead with him, and he joined the final major battle before Captain America surrendered.
After the events of the Civil War, Namor (rather unpleasantly) discovered the fate of his son; turns out, Zoran had designs on the crown and had filled Kamar's entire childhood telling him lies about his father and preparing him to assume the throne. He saw his chance when the sleeper cells activated, and began perpetrating acts of terrorism on American soil under the guise of being ordered by the Atlantean crown, including an explosion in a residential area, killing 900 men women and children. Immediately targeted, Namor escaped a S.H.I.E.L.D. blockade around Atlantis and attempted to enlist the aid of his allies on the surface in order to stop the rogue cell from killing even more innocents, but was refused by both the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, good job guys. He barely managed to stop the group, killing all the members but his son, whom he brought back to Atlantis.
When Tony Stark made it clear that military presence would not be backing away from Atlantis despite the fact that the immediate threat was gone, Namor ordered his people out of the City and used Nitro to destroy it to keep its highly advanced technology out of American hands. He left his son there to die for his crimes against humanity, and for his attempt to doom Atlantis to an all out war with the surface world. As Doctor Doom was the only of his allies on the surface to offer him aid through the whole ordeal, Namor formed an alliance with him, and stationed the core of his military in Latveria.
This eventually lead to him joining "The Cabal," a group made up of himself, Doom, Norman Osborn, Loki, the Hood and Emma Frost. When one of the scattered Atlantean groups launched an unauthorized terrorist attack on California, Osborn demanded that Namor publically denounce them and parade them before the public before execution; Namor angrily refused and stormed away from the Cabal, aiding Emma in betraying Osborn/taking down his Dark X-Men after Osborn sent the Sentry in to kill the rogue Atlanteans for him.
In retaliation, Osborn unleashed Marrina, no longer the woman that Namor had married but a monstrous creature without the ability to think of anything but pain and rage, and unleashed her on the Atlanteans. She killed thousands before Namor was forced to go to the X-Men to help him defeat it, and afterward he recalled all of the Atlanteans to build (another) new Atlantis beneath the X-Men's floating island nation of Utopia.
Namor was forced to contend with the Aqueos (basically the Atlantean version of Vampires) while the X-Men were dealing with their Vampire problem. He discovered his grandfather, King Thakorr, had inexplicably survived Destiny's attack and was turned into an Aqueos, and he was forced to kill the former King. He briefly began dating Abria, an Atlantean from his court, and adopted the mutant Loa into the Atlantean populace after she was transformed into a water-breather by a magical amulet passed down from her mother (once a roommate of Betty Dean, from whom she had gotten the amulet after Betty split with Namor). Magical amulet shenanigans dragged Namor into Hell for awhile, but Doctor Doom showed up to save him, reinstating their alliance after the whole Cabal debacle.
Then Fear Itself started. Attuma, long time enemy of Atlantis, received one of the Hammers of the Worthy and proceeded to devastate Atlantis (AGAIN FOR CHRISSAKE). He completely and unquestionably defeated Namor in combat, forcing him to escape and seek out the new iteration of the Defenders (Doctor Strange, Loa and Lyra) for help. They all go down to Atlantis, tridents blazing.
It's from there that he gets dragged into the City! Yaay!!
PERSONALITY:
At first... and second... and third glances, Namor seems like a complete jerk. And he is! So at least that's justified. But he's a jerk with a heart of gold, or at least silver. His temper is downright infamous, and he constantly makes a show of proclaiming the evils of surface-dwellers, but he does not enjoy the taking of innocent life, and will step in to prevent it whenever he can, whether it's the lives of surface-dwellers or his own people. This puts him at odds with some of his on-again off-again allies like Doom, who don't shy away from doing anything they have to, to achieve their goals.
He is willing to go farther than most, though, which puts him at odds with his other on-again off-again allies like the X-Men or the Fantastic Four. Because of this, he tends to gravitate towards the company of other leaders, people who understand that the things he does he feels he has to, for the advancement and defense of his people. He is often in the presence of influential men, such as it was in the Illuminati and the Cabal, but he doesn't tend to last long in any group where his ego has to share space with others that are equally large. He's got a very controlling personality type, but is inexorably attracted to people who cannot be controlled. He tends to like the fight more than the victory, which really explains most of his romantic relationships.
Though Susan Storm has been the longest standing in his varied history dominated by hot blondes who don't take his crap (it's his ~type~), she's the one who got away. Otherwise, once he is in a relationship with a woman, he immediately begins to neglect them and pursue other things. He realizes this about himself, and regrets it, but attempts to change it still have a tendency to go awry.
Above all other things, Namor is honorable. Once he gives his word, he won't go against it, no matter what the situation is. He always makes good on his debts, and nothing enrages him more than the flippant way that many surface-dwellers will ignore their own. Namor never lies, no matter how socially inappropriate it is to tell the truth. He can't just let anything go without voicing his opinion on it, and he's extremely pigheaded about just about everything. He is more than a little prideful, which often blinds him to the things around him, and he always, always takes himself seriously.
He's very loud, and very pompous. When he's not constantly reminding people how much better he is than they are, he's passing judgement on anything and everything in his purview. He hates being wrong, or losing arguments. He is loyal, though; incredibly so. It takes a great deal to earn his respect and friendship, but it's not given lightly because he will go so far for it. Though he only really exhibits any "softness" with women he has a romantic interest in, he has a gruff sort of affection (especially for old teammates) that will occasionally rear its head for everyone else without his notice.
He despises being manipulated, which is unfortunate, considering the fact that his temper makes him a constant target of manipulation by quite a few different parties. He hates having his mind read, especially without his permission, and has been known to react violently to intrusions.
The burden of ruling weighs heavily on him, especially in recent years; the very first thing he considers before any action he takes is how it will affect his people... if his temper doesn't get in the way, of course. He puts his kingdom before himself, his happiness, his friendships and even his family; he no longer remembers how to act independently of his political agenda, and every move he makes is calculated for the purpose of keeping it afloat.
POWER:
Atlantean Physiology: As part of a species that evolved to survive in the tremendous pressure at the bottom of the ocean, Namor exhibits greatly enhanced strength, agility and durability (shown to be approx. on par with Thor), the ability to breathe indefinitely underwater and see even in its murkiest depths. His physiology helps him to withstand extremes in temperature, going so far as to allow him to survive bare-assed in space as long as he has an oxygen supply.
Hydrokinesis: Namor was shown to be able to flood New York by creating massive tidal waves in the ocean and directing them at the island. Contact with water (even the smallest amount) also greatly increases his strength, stamina and ability to recover from wounds. (On the flip side, dehydration will drain his strength, stamina and ability to heal.) He can apparently sense things through water (he told Sue that he could feel her heartbeat speed up through the water between them) and can also propel himself through water at speeds "faster than any torpedo."
Flight: Those manly little ankle wings he sports help him to fly, fancy that.
[CHARACTER SAMPLES]
COMMUNITY POST (FIRST PERSON) SAMPLE:
[When the video clicks on, it's clear that Namor has been working himself up into a good rant with excess stomping and fuming for a few minutes already (since attempts to /flip the Porter didn't go quite as planned), so the moment as he's sure the comm is good an on he starts barking vitriol at it.]
I have neither time, nor patience for your problems, surface dwellers. Grovel to your fellow air breathers if you wish them solved without expending the effort to fix them yourselves. I will not waste any more of my energy protecting the mewling, ignorant masses of your wretched, pollution belching cities, when calls for the aid of my kind constantly go unheeded.
[Oh, except those surface guys (and gals!) that stepped up to help with his little Attuma problem like 2 issues ago-- Namor hesitates long enough for his lips to purse in distaste at the notion of shirking a debt, and then he narrows his eyes down at the communicator.]
Very well. Clearly, that is too much to ask. Direct me to your current disaster so I may do everything for you and be on my way.
[TURNS UP NOSE AND ENDS THE POST, SO THERE.]
LOGS POST (THIRD PERSON) SAMPLE:
Namor scowled at everything in his view as he stood on the edge of the docks. The whole place seemed... dirtier than usual. More primitive. It was definitely 2011, but the everything was still a bit off. He hated alternate dimensions, nearly as much as he hated to be jerked around by unseen forces.
Who did they think they were?! He is Namor, avenging son, King of Atlantis. They- it- whomever or whatever it was that was responsible had no right to his time or personage.
Namor sneered impatiently, slamming the base of his trident into the wood beneath his feet as he lands, his want for violence in the face of this development having gone unabated. Most unusually, too. Jaunts to strange new worlds or time periods usually at least provided one with something to hit at the moment of entry, but this one had been strangely uneventful so far.
Well, no more. The Atlantis here may not be of his dimension, but surely its people will welcome him regardless - he jumps off the pier into the pollution-thick water and speeds out towards the Panama Canal so he can loop back up to Utopia Island on the United State's other side. The second he clears the coast, he feels better; the water is cleaner, rushing past him and building into tight pressure against his skin. It's familiar, soothing. He doesn't see blood in it, the touch of Attuma and his devastating hammer. He doesn't feel the fear pounding in the currents, like he had for the past three days. Maybe uneventful wasn't so bad. Maybe the Atlanteans of this dimension were still hidden, still happy.
Maybe there had been none like him to throw turmoil into their lives.
He frowned and shed the thought, closing his eyes. He could turn against himself, or he could do what he'd always done: everything he could to make it up to them. Ever the proactive solution appealed to him, and he pressed forward with speed borne of determination.
He arrived to find nothing. He circled the planet for hours, nearly a day; his speed was born, then, of desperation in increasing volume. The fish knew nothing of the people he asked for - blue, tall, proud. Fierce and hardy, ancient and strong.
And vulnerable, without him. Because of him.
Not here at all.
NAME: Cris
AGE: 23
JOURNAL: nerditude
IM: ffffudgesicles
E-MAIL: ensigncris@gmail.com
RETURNING: themouthymerc (Marvel 616), phobiapathic (Marvel 616), mightymortal (DCU/Shazam!), midnighting (Wildstorm/The Authority)
[CHARACTER INFO]
CHARACTER NAME: Namor McKenzie AKA The Sub-Mariner
FANDOM: Marvel 616
CHRONOLOGY: During "The Deep" (his Fear Itself tie in title.)
CLASS: Anti-Hero
SUPERHERO NAME: The Sub-Mariner
ALTER EGO: Civilian?! He is a King, you cretin!
BACKGROUND:
Terms-
Atlantis: Marvel's city of Atlantis is portrayed... extremely inconsistently. It has been destroyed, abandoned and moved nearly a dozen times, whether by attack, accident or nature. Each and every time without fail it is treated as though its people are leaving their ancestral home, if only for the heightened drama that might provide. In any case, the term "Atlantis" is used to refer to whatever city is currently being inhabited, regardless of its location. Atlantis has a history of combining magic and science into one field of study, and is therefore (excepting only Wakanda, which had a wealth of of Vibranium at its disposal) the most technologically advanced of all the Earth civilizations in the Marvel Universe. Despite this monumental advantage, the entire population of Atlanteans (not just in the capital City but in the few pockets of tribes across all the oceans) number below one million, which has allowed for repeated military defeats by lesser powers (read: by everyone.)
As the story goes, long ago the center of all Civilization was Atlantis. Favored by the Gods (the Greek ones, for the record), the magicians of Atlantis sought to cement their place of power for eternity and attempted to chain Atlas to their city, so the meeting of the sky and the earth could never be anywhere else. For their hubris, the Gods and Titans sank their civilization into the sea; the only ones to survive were the mages who could grant themselves the ability to survive and breathe in the crushing depths. This ability would pass on to their children, and their children's children, eventually drumming out the species' ability to survive on land.
Atlanteans: Atlanteans are a blue-skinned aquatic race called homo mermanus; they are exceedingly long-lived, as their lifespans are capable of stretching over a couple hundred years. On average, they each possess the "strength of ten men," and speak a language seemingly understood by fish.
Lemurians: Another aquatic species, Lemurians often clashed with the Atlanteans but in recent Marvel have been declared a Protectorate of the Atlantean crown.
Mutants: In the Marvel Universe, Mutants are people born with a gene that gives them supernatural powers. They are generally viewed with scorn by the rest of the population. Though half-Atlantean, Namor is also considered a mutant, for the X-gene which gave him his ankle wings that allow him to fly.
History-
Leonard McKenzie, a human man, was on a vessel in the early 1920's exploring the arctic circle when the explosives his crew was using to break up the ice inadvertently wreaked havoc on the undersea city Atlantis below it. The King Thakorr ordered his daughter, Princess Fen, to take a group of warriors to the surface to see what was causing the destruction. Headstrong and impulsive, Fen went alone, and was quickly captured by the men on the ship. Despite a language (and species) barrier, Fen and Leonard fell in love as a couple 'a crazy kids will do, and Namor was, ahem, conceived.
Unaware of what had happened to his daughter, King Thakkor took a party of warriors to the surface and fought the humans on this ship; Leonard died in the attack, and heartbroken, Fen returned home. Fearful that the rest of the men that they had let live might use their knowledge of the location of Atlantis against them, the king ordered everyone to move from the City, and they set up shop next along the coast of Florida. Princess Fen gave birth to Namor, who grew up exceedingly curious about the mysterious surface world of his Father, often sneaking away to visit the beaches and watch the land-dwellers as soon as he was able to swim on his own. Despite being the lone pink-skinned Atlantean among his blue-skin brethren, he was accepted by his people as the heir to the crown and only teased lightly by his peers for it.
He grew up there, and though by the time he was sixteen the pressures of royal responsibility were beginning to weigh heavily on his shoulders, Namor was rather happy. He continued sneaking to the beaches to surf with other teenagers his age during the summers, where he met and became enamored with a human girl named Sandra. It was through his courtship of her that she learned of oil beneath the surface of the ocean floor, which had begun to leak out through cracks into the new city, confounding the Atlanteans. She accidentally revealed this to her Father, who immediately set out building an oil rig under the guise of helping them to stop the oil from leaking.
Eventually, the Atlanteans realized that the oil rig was only making the problem worse by digging up more oil than was already at the surface, and after destroying the drill they relocated again, this time much farther up North and closer to Europe.
This move would ultimately lead to their discovery by Nazi scientists, who would capture and perform experiments on them with the help of Merrano, an Atlantean who had betrayed the underwater City's newest location. After finding a ship with hundreds of dead Atleanteans, all grotesquely experimented on, Namor swore revenge on the surface world. Unaware that humans weren't all one unified people, Namor unleashed his rage on the first major City he comes upon; it happens to be New York.
His first assault is stopped by Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch, and this humiliates him so much that he spends months preparing his revenge. Spurned on both by his own defeat and by the memories of his people that he saw in the Nazi ship, his second assault is both misdirected and terrible. He raises a tidal wave as tall as the skyscrapers themselves to crash into the New York harbor, and comes close to killing the Human Torch before the newly empowered Captain America appears on the scene and knocks him out from behind.
He is subsequently held by the American government in chains for months, refusing to speak to anyone until the day that Captain America showed back up... with a captured Merrano in hand.
Discovering that his rage had been aimed at the entirely wrong people, Namor quickly agreed to lend his considerable strength to America's fight against the Nazis, both for revenge for his own people and an attempt to atone for all the lives he'd taken in New York. He, along with Captain America, Union Jack, Bucky Barnes, Vision, Human Torch, Toro and Spitfire became The Invaders.
After World War II, he returns home and finds a new surface love in Betty Dean, another spunky blonde who was not afraid to stand up to him. Enamored with her courage and spirit, he enjoyed a relationship with her for a number of years, but fell into a cycle of neglecting her and then attempting to control her when he returned. Frustrated by his lack of commitment, and also his frequent month-long disappearances, she broke it off with him in the end.
A man calling himself Destiny had come upon a Helmet of Power in the Antarctic near where the old city of Atlantis used to be, and using the fantastic abilities it bestowed upon him he tracked down the new (new) Atlantis and caused a series of Earthquakes to destroy this one, too, killing both King Thakorr and Princess Fen in the process. Namor rushed into battle with him one-on-one and lost; Destiny then wiped his mind clean and sent him to live as a beggar on the streets of New York. This lasted for years, until Johnny Storm happened upon him after running away from home (as teenagers do). Wowed by the casual feats of enormous strength exhibited by the strange bum who didn't even know his own name, Johnny noticed the pointed ears and ankle wings and on a hunch dragged him out and dumped him into the ocean.
Healed and revived by the seawater, Namor immediately swam for Atlantis only to find it completely destroyed and deserted. Returning to the city, he was affronted to find that he recognized the face of the newest presidential candidate "Paul Destine;" it was really Destiny. Enraged, Namor attacked the City during one of his campaign speeches and was stopped by the Fantastic Four. He immediately set eyes on Susan Storm and backed down from the fight after some sweet-talking on her part to return to the sea and begin to search in earnest for his lost people.
When he was finally reunited with them, Namor found that he had caught eye of fellow Atlantean noble Lady Dorma, who pursued him aggressively despite his seeming complete disinterest. It was after repeated crossovers with various other Marvel titles pulled him to the surface world again and again that Namor began to notice unrest stirring in his people, who accused him of spending too much time up there and not enough time in Atlantis. Knowing that he could not cut his people off from the surface world again with how much exposure they had received during his involvement in WWII, Namor ignored the discontent and was therefore (rather easily) usurped by his trusted General Krang while he was off doing something or another with the Fantastic Four.
Unaided by his disgruntled people upon his return (those jerks!!!), and immediately arrested and jailed, he escaped the dungeons with Lady Dorma's aid and set about the only course of action that he thought would get his throne back: he went on a quest to earn the Trident of Poseidon. A powerful weapon that would allow him to summon the seas (which is a fancy way of saying blasts of water) while on land, it had long been revered by his people as a weapon only capable of touching the hands of Gods and kings. The trials he faced to retrieve it were dangerous and took him long enough for the Atlanteans to learn they didn't much like the way Krang did things either. When he returned he was hailed as the true king.
At some point after this, Namor joins forces with the Hulk in attack on the Avengers (an enemy Namor had clashed with repeatedly in the past), but he loses the fight when Hulk ditches him halfway through to go brood on an iceberg or something. Escaping the Avengers through the sea after seeing that he wasn't likely to win on his own, Namor stumbled across frozen body of Steve Rogers being worshipped by an Inuit tribe, and... well that made him super mad so he screamed at them a bit and then threw it into the ocean. That's how he rolls. Luckily, Avengers (still looking for him) found it and the rest is history!
Anyway, Namor returned to Atlantis to marry Dorma, who had impressed him by being a bro while Krang was in power, but it turns out that Llyra (a Lemurian) captured and took Dorma's place at the wedding in an attempt to take Namor's throne. Since that plan was stupid and he wasn't just going to hand over the kingdom to some strange broad after discovering that she wasn't, in fact, Dorma, Llyra killed her hostage and Namor was nearly driven mad with grief.
He got over it though. He teamed up with quite a few villains over the years, and quite a few heroes, striking an odd balance between the two and becoming one of the first anti-heroes in comics, siding with whatever would of the most benefit to his people rather than "good" or "evil." He lost his kingdom god knows how many times, but always gained it back by the end of the issue, and continued barging every so often into the Fantastic Four's life to hit on Sue and get sideeyed by Ben and Reed. He joined with the Avengers, though his tenure on the team was rocky both due to his attitude and his rivalry with Hercules, then helped found the Defenders, which seemed to work out better for him. He married Marrina of Alpha Flight before she went evil and (apparently) died, too, so that was fun. At some point he had an affair with an unnamed woman of the Atlantean court, giving birth to a son named Kamar. The woman was assassinated, and after being entirely unable to find the terrorist responsible, Namor sent the infant away with a council member named Zoran so that he could raise the boy in safety until he was old enough to be ready for the crown.
Attuma, a barbarian warlord from one of the scattered tribes of Atlanteans that had never integrated into the main society, and Atlantean dissidents attacked the city, and though Namor was assumed to have been killed during the battle, he surfaced months later in a state of near madness. He was rescued by Caleb and Carrie Alexander, and through Caleb's research he discovered that his unique half-human mutant, half-Atlantean physiology was responsible for his occasional crazed states of outright dramatic 60's villainy, and that he could regulate the oxygen imbalance in his blood by spending closer to equal amounts of time above water as below it. This helped him to become a more responsible ruler, and he continued to work closely with the two for a good deal of his 90's title run after buying up a company called Oracle and running Heroes for Hire out of it.
When cursed by a sorcerer, Yandroth, Namor, Doctor Strange, the Hulk and Silver Surfer (the core members of the Defenders), spent an extended period of time being jerked across the globe to the scene of every deadly crisis, they attempted to take over as The Order to stem the tide of danger in the world, but their plans were interfered with by the rest of the world's heroes. Eventually, the curse was lifted. Namor promptly proceeded to join up with the New Invaders team, and then with the Illuminati, a secret organization consisting of himself, Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, Charles Xavier and Black Bolt, who tasked themselves with being the world's first line of defense. He broke with the group (violently) when they decided to send Bruce Banner into outer space, hoping to eliminate the Hulk's threat once and for all, but returned and participated in it up until it disbanded during the Skrull Invasion.
Leading to the outbreak of the Superhero Civil War, Namor's cousin (once removed) Namorita was killed in an explosion caused by Nitro, and he activated sleeper cells he'd posted across America to hunt Nitro down. Though he was ultimately found by Wolverine first, Namor assumed custody and kept him for trial in Atlantis. He refused to join either side in the Civil War, until Sue came down to Atlantis personally to plead with him, and he joined the final major battle before Captain America surrendered.
After the events of the Civil War, Namor (rather unpleasantly) discovered the fate of his son; turns out, Zoran had designs on the crown and had filled Kamar's entire childhood telling him lies about his father and preparing him to assume the throne. He saw his chance when the sleeper cells activated, and began perpetrating acts of terrorism on American soil under the guise of being ordered by the Atlantean crown, including an explosion in a residential area, killing 900 men women and children. Immediately targeted, Namor escaped a S.H.I.E.L.D. blockade around Atlantis and attempted to enlist the aid of his allies on the surface in order to stop the rogue cell from killing even more innocents, but was refused by both the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, good job guys. He barely managed to stop the group, killing all the members but his son, whom he brought back to Atlantis.
When Tony Stark made it clear that military presence would not be backing away from Atlantis despite the fact that the immediate threat was gone, Namor ordered his people out of the City and used Nitro to destroy it to keep its highly advanced technology out of American hands. He left his son there to die for his crimes against humanity, and for his attempt to doom Atlantis to an all out war with the surface world. As Doctor Doom was the only of his allies on the surface to offer him aid through the whole ordeal, Namor formed an alliance with him, and stationed the core of his military in Latveria.
This eventually lead to him joining "The Cabal," a group made up of himself, Doom, Norman Osborn, Loki, the Hood and Emma Frost. When one of the scattered Atlantean groups launched an unauthorized terrorist attack on California, Osborn demanded that Namor publically denounce them and parade them before the public before execution; Namor angrily refused and stormed away from the Cabal, aiding Emma in betraying Osborn/taking down his Dark X-Men after Osborn sent the Sentry in to kill the rogue Atlanteans for him.
In retaliation, Osborn unleashed Marrina, no longer the woman that Namor had married but a monstrous creature without the ability to think of anything but pain and rage, and unleashed her on the Atlanteans. She killed thousands before Namor was forced to go to the X-Men to help him defeat it, and afterward he recalled all of the Atlanteans to build (another) new Atlantis beneath the X-Men's floating island nation of Utopia.
Namor was forced to contend with the Aqueos (basically the Atlantean version of Vampires) while the X-Men were dealing with their Vampire problem. He discovered his grandfather, King Thakorr, had inexplicably survived Destiny's attack and was turned into an Aqueos, and he was forced to kill the former King. He briefly began dating Abria, an Atlantean from his court, and adopted the mutant Loa into the Atlantean populace after she was transformed into a water-breather by a magical amulet passed down from her mother (once a roommate of Betty Dean, from whom she had gotten the amulet after Betty split with Namor). Magical amulet shenanigans dragged Namor into Hell for awhile, but Doctor Doom showed up to save him, reinstating their alliance after the whole Cabal debacle.
Then Fear Itself started. Attuma, long time enemy of Atlantis, received one of the Hammers of the Worthy and proceeded to devastate Atlantis (AGAIN FOR CHRISSAKE). He completely and unquestionably defeated Namor in combat, forcing him to escape and seek out the new iteration of the Defenders (Doctor Strange, Loa and Lyra) for help. They all go down to Atlantis, tridents blazing.
It's from there that he gets dragged into the City! Yaay!!
PERSONALITY:
At first... and second... and third glances, Namor seems like a complete jerk. And he is! So at least that's justified. But he's a jerk with a heart of gold, or at least silver. His temper is downright infamous, and he constantly makes a show of proclaiming the evils of surface-dwellers, but he does not enjoy the taking of innocent life, and will step in to prevent it whenever he can, whether it's the lives of surface-dwellers or his own people. This puts him at odds with some of his on-again off-again allies like Doom, who don't shy away from doing anything they have to, to achieve their goals.
He is willing to go farther than most, though, which puts him at odds with his other on-again off-again allies like the X-Men or the Fantastic Four. Because of this, he tends to gravitate towards the company of other leaders, people who understand that the things he does he feels he has to, for the advancement and defense of his people. He is often in the presence of influential men, such as it was in the Illuminati and the Cabal, but he doesn't tend to last long in any group where his ego has to share space with others that are equally large. He's got a very controlling personality type, but is inexorably attracted to people who cannot be controlled. He tends to like the fight more than the victory, which really explains most of his romantic relationships.
Though Susan Storm has been the longest standing in his varied history dominated by hot blondes who don't take his crap (it's his ~type~), she's the one who got away. Otherwise, once he is in a relationship with a woman, he immediately begins to neglect them and pursue other things. He realizes this about himself, and regrets it, but attempts to change it still have a tendency to go awry.
Above all other things, Namor is honorable. Once he gives his word, he won't go against it, no matter what the situation is. He always makes good on his debts, and nothing enrages him more than the flippant way that many surface-dwellers will ignore their own. Namor never lies, no matter how socially inappropriate it is to tell the truth. He can't just let anything go without voicing his opinion on it, and he's extremely pigheaded about just about everything. He is more than a little prideful, which often blinds him to the things around him, and he always, always takes himself seriously.
He's very loud, and very pompous. When he's not constantly reminding people how much better he is than they are, he's passing judgement on anything and everything in his purview. He hates being wrong, or losing arguments. He is loyal, though; incredibly so. It takes a great deal to earn his respect and friendship, but it's not given lightly because he will go so far for it. Though he only really exhibits any "softness" with women he has a romantic interest in, he has a gruff sort of affection (especially for old teammates) that will occasionally rear its head for everyone else without his notice.
He despises being manipulated, which is unfortunate, considering the fact that his temper makes him a constant target of manipulation by quite a few different parties. He hates having his mind read, especially without his permission, and has been known to react violently to intrusions.
The burden of ruling weighs heavily on him, especially in recent years; the very first thing he considers before any action he takes is how it will affect his people... if his temper doesn't get in the way, of course. He puts his kingdom before himself, his happiness, his friendships and even his family; he no longer remembers how to act independently of his political agenda, and every move he makes is calculated for the purpose of keeping it afloat.
POWER:
Atlantean Physiology: As part of a species that evolved to survive in the tremendous pressure at the bottom of the ocean, Namor exhibits greatly enhanced strength, agility and durability (shown to be approx. on par with Thor), the ability to breathe indefinitely underwater and see even in its murkiest depths. His physiology helps him to withstand extremes in temperature, going so far as to allow him to survive bare-assed in space as long as he has an oxygen supply.
Hydrokinesis: Namor was shown to be able to flood New York by creating massive tidal waves in the ocean and directing them at the island. Contact with water (even the smallest amount) also greatly increases his strength, stamina and ability to recover from wounds. (On the flip side, dehydration will drain his strength, stamina and ability to heal.) He can apparently sense things through water (he told Sue that he could feel her heartbeat speed up through the water between them) and can also propel himself through water at speeds "faster than any torpedo."
Flight: Those manly little ankle wings he sports help him to fly, fancy that.
[CHARACTER SAMPLES]
COMMUNITY POST (FIRST PERSON) SAMPLE:
[When the video clicks on, it's clear that Namor has been working himself up into a good rant with excess stomping and fuming for a few minutes already (since attempts to /flip the Porter didn't go quite as planned), so the moment as he's sure the comm is good an on he starts barking vitriol at it.]
I have neither time, nor patience for your problems, surface dwellers. Grovel to your fellow air breathers if you wish them solved without expending the effort to fix them yourselves. I will not waste any more of my energy protecting the mewling, ignorant masses of your wretched, pollution belching cities, when calls for the aid of my kind constantly go unheeded.
[Oh, except those surface guys (and gals!) that stepped up to help with his little Attuma problem like 2 issues ago-- Namor hesitates long enough for his lips to purse in distaste at the notion of shirking a debt, and then he narrows his eyes down at the communicator.]
Very well. Clearly, that is too much to ask. Direct me to your current disaster so I may do everything for you and be on my way.
[TURNS UP NOSE AND ENDS THE POST, SO THERE.]
LOGS POST (THIRD PERSON) SAMPLE:
Namor scowled at everything in his view as he stood on the edge of the docks. The whole place seemed... dirtier than usual. More primitive. It was definitely 2011, but the everything was still a bit off. He hated alternate dimensions, nearly as much as he hated to be jerked around by unseen forces.
Who did they think they were?! He is Namor, avenging son, King of Atlantis. They- it- whomever or whatever it was that was responsible had no right to his time or personage.
Namor sneered impatiently, slamming the base of his trident into the wood beneath his feet as he lands, his want for violence in the face of this development having gone unabated. Most unusually, too. Jaunts to strange new worlds or time periods usually at least provided one with something to hit at the moment of entry, but this one had been strangely uneventful so far.
Well, no more. The Atlantis here may not be of his dimension, but surely its people will welcome him regardless - he jumps off the pier into the pollution-thick water and speeds out towards the Panama Canal so he can loop back up to Utopia Island on the United State's other side. The second he clears the coast, he feels better; the water is cleaner, rushing past him and building into tight pressure against his skin. It's familiar, soothing. He doesn't see blood in it, the touch of Attuma and his devastating hammer. He doesn't feel the fear pounding in the currents, like he had for the past three days. Maybe uneventful wasn't so bad. Maybe the Atlanteans of this dimension were still hidden, still happy.
Maybe there had been none like him to throw turmoil into their lives.
He frowned and shed the thought, closing his eyes. He could turn against himself, or he could do what he'd always done: everything he could to make it up to them. Ever the proactive solution appealed to him, and he pressed forward with speed borne of determination.
He arrived to find nothing. He circled the planet for hours, nearly a day; his speed was born, then, of desperation in increasing volume. The fish knew nothing of the people he asked for - blue, tall, proud. Fierce and hardy, ancient and strong.
And vulnerable, without him. Because of him.
Not here at all.