Arthur (Dark Knights of Steel)

Arthur
Dark Knights of Steel
Gallery
Real Name	Arthur
Other Aliases	Lord of the Seas
Relatives	Atlanna (mother, deceased), Jonathan Kent (adoptive father), Martha Kent (adoptive mother)
Affiliation	Lemurian Royal Family
Base Of Operations	Lemuria
Status
Alignment	Good
Identity	Public Identity
Race	Atlantean/Human hybrid
Citizenship	Lemurian
Occupation	King
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Eyes	Blue
Hair	Blond
Origin
Universe	Dark Knights of Steel
Creators	Mort Weisinger · Paul Norris
First Appearance	Dark Knights of Steel: Allwinter #2 (October, 2024)

The first one we took in -- he was like you. A child of two worlds. The son of a man from land and a woman from the sea.

— Jonathan Kent

Arthur is the king of the undersea realm Lemuria. He was raised on the surface by Jonathan and Martha Kent.

History

Origins

Arthur is the son of Queen Atlanna of Lemuria and a man from the surface. His birth split Lemuria, causing a bloody civil war. His mother was overthrown in a coup lead by Emperor Manta and imprisoned.

Atlanna managed to escape with Arthur, then just a baby, and fled to the surface with a small band of loyalists. They were pursued by an army lead by Manta's general Orvax and the two sides clashed on the beach beneath the port city Leguin in the Kingdom of the Waynes. Orvax summoned a tsunami which destroyed the city and scattered both armies, as well as the surface dweller forces in the city.

In the chaos of the disaster, Atlanna lost Arthur and he was pinned underwater by rubble, but due to his Lemurian heritage he was unhurt and able to breathe underwater. Jonathan and Martha, who were captains in the Wayne army at the time, found him and dug him out, amazed that he was still alive. Atlanna, who had been wounded by the wave, found them and collapsed.

Atlanna told them who she and Arthur were and what had happened. She was dying of her wounds and had only moments left. Seeing how Jonathan and Martha had worked so hard to save Arthur, and the love between them, she begged them to take Arthur and protect him until he was old enough to take their kingdom back. With her last breath, Atlanna asked them to one day tell Arthur about her, and that she loved him above all else.

Heir to the Sea

Arthur as a child

Jonathan and Martha were weary of their life of war, and so deserted the army with Arthur. They settled in Gotham Town and loved and raised him as their own, living a modest but happy life. In his early years Arthur seemed to be a normal child, to the point that his parents almost forgot who he really was. The only strange thing about him was that the sensation of fresh water made him uncomfortable as it felt "too wet", and he would only bathe in salt water. However, as he grew older, the signs of his Lemurian heritage began to show. One day when he was seven years old; he and Jonathan were at the market and Arthur heard screams of pain in his head which nobody else could hear. He ran away from Jonathan towards the screams, which were coming from live lobsters on a fishmonger's stall. The fishmonger tried to pull him away, but Arthur easily lifted the grown man over his head and threw him aside. He called on the lobsters to work together to free their claws and they did so. He then told them to jump in a bucket of water and they once again they understood and obeyed him. Jonathan paid for the lobsters and rushed Arthur away from the market.

Arthur's parents knew that the story of what had happened in the market would spread quickly, and they needed to flee to keep him safe from his mother's enemies. Arthur was sorry that they had to leave their home because of him, but Martha told him he had done the right thing when he rescued imprisoned creatures who were calling to be freed and had nothing to apologise for. They left Gotham the very next day, but by that point the rumours had already reached Lemuria and Emperor Manta had sent a crew of pirates lead by King Shark to kill Arthur. The pirates ambushed them on the road and King Shark demanded that they hand Arthur over. Martha got Arthur behind the family's cart and told him to run to the Arkham Orphanage back in the city as soon as he heard the sounds of battle. She promised that they would come for him if they could, and said that if they didn't that she wanted him to know that they loved him.

Jonathan and Martha charged into battle against the pirates to buy time for Arthur to get away. As soon as they joined battle their old comrades Amanda Waller and Jim Gordon, who had also heard the rumours about Arthur and rushed to Gotham to help them, charged out of the woods and joined the fight. They were able to defeat the pirates, but King Shark's strength and savagery was too much for them. King Shark bit Martha in the shoulder, severely wounding her. Arthur ran out from behind the cart and stood between his parents and King Shark. Jonathan and Martha begged Arthur to run but he refused and attacked King Shark in a fury; punching his fist elbow-deep into King Shark's chest as his eyes glowed with power.

When he struck King Shark, Arthur was able to see into his mind and learned the truth about who he was. He also saw a vision of Black Manta ruling over the people of Lemuria and knew then that one day he would need to return to the ocean and free them. King Shark's crew fled but King Shark said that more people would come for Arthur. Jim Gordon told the Kents that his family owned a remote farm on a salt lake which would be the perfect refuge for them and gifted it to Jonathan and Martha. When they reached the farm, Arthur told his parents what he had seen in King Shark's mind, and asked them to teach him everything he would need to know for his mission. He trained with his parents for years until he was grown and ready. The family travelled to the coast, where he said goodbye to his parents and promised that one day he would come back, then dove off a cliff into the water below.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Atlantean Hybridised Physiology:
  • Amphibian
  • Superhuman Durability
  • Superhuman Speed
  • Superhuman Strength
• Telepathy: Arthur has the ability to telepathically communicate with and control sea creatures. He can also read the minds of humans and other sentients.

Abilities

• Diving
• Equestrianism
• Swimming
• Weaponry: Arthur was taught to fight by his adopted parents.
  

Paraphernalia

Weapons

• Trident: Arthur wields the trident which had once belonged to his birth mother.

Notes

• Aquaman was created by Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris, first appearing in More Fun Comics #73. However, the Dark Knights of Steel version of Aquaman first appeared in Dark Knights of Steel: Allwinter #2 by Tom Taylor and Riccardo Federici.
  • He had previously been mentioned in Dark Knights of Steel #7.

Related

• 4 Appearances of Arthur (Dark Knights of Steel)
• 3 Images featuring Arthur (Dark Knights of Steel)
• Quotations by or about Arthur (Dark Knights of Steel)
• Character Gallery: Arthur (Dark Knights of Steel)

Footnotes

Aquaman Family member 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.