To my brothers and sisters, I love you. Either stand by my side or die at the feet of Devil Ray. 
- — Devil Ray src
Devil Ray is an upstart aquatic supervillain and disillusioned former henchman of Black Manta. He is a militant black nationalist plotting to take over Atlantis for his people.
History
Devil Ray does not remember his origins, his earliest memory is as a boy watching a fight between Black Manta and Aquaman. He was inspired by a black man who could fight gods and superheroes, and from that point on modelled himself on Black Manta, studying and training to reach the peak of his potential. He eventually became one of Black Manta's Manta Men, believing that they were working to free their people from oppression, but gradually came to realise that Black Manta was not a visionary or a revolutionary, he was just another supervillain concerned only with his own enrichment and his feud with Aquaman.
Devil Ray discovered a boulder of Orichalcum at the bottom of the sea. At first he felt great pain, but then it spoke to him with the voices of the Deserters, a lost tribe of black Atlanteans. They told him that he was a descendant of the Deserters, and taught him how to use the stone's energy. He delivered a sample of the Orichalcum to Black Manta, who suffered the same agony he had, proving that he was a Deserter, but did not hear their ancestors. Devil Ray concluded that Manta's greed and selfishness kept him from hearing the voices and that he was not worthy of the Deserters' knowledge. He struck out on his own, planning to fulfil his former role model's promises himself.[1]
To obtain the tools and assistance he needed, he began working as a henchman for the Human Flame. After a successful bank robbery he slit the Human Flame's throat and forced him to transfer his essence into a bracer on his wrist, as Miller's fire was the only flame hot enough to cut Orichalcum. He also recruited Miller's other henchpeople "Red" and "Orange", an older African-American couple who possessed expertise in explosives and weapons.
At his headquarters hidden in a pocket dimension, they began shaping the Orichalcum, this had the side effect of activating latent Atlantean DNA in surface dwellers with distant Atlantean ancestry, causing them great pain.[2] After the modifications, Devil Ray was able to manipulate the Orichalcum's energy to create duplicates of himself from water around the world. He used the duplicates to announce to the world that the oceans now belonged to black people and detonated them, destroying several targets including Black Manta's undersea base.[3]
Devil Ray sensed that Black Manta was also trying to access the Orichalcum and stepped up his plans. He donned an armored diving suit modelled on Manta's and infiltrated Atlantis, then attacked a meeting of the Atlantean Council with an experimental toxin to determine its effectiveness on Atlanteans before the planned attack on the entire city.[4]
Back on the surface he, Red and Orange attempted to forge an Orichalcum trident, which Devil Ray believed would rival the Trident of Neptune in power. However, when he attempted to melt the Orichalcum, Red and Orange both immediately died, spewing blood from every orifice. His computer informed him that the Orichalcum became highly radioactive when he heated it. Deducing that only people with Deserter ancestry can safely work Orichalcum, he ordered the computer to locate Black Manta.[5]
The computer tracked Manta to Doctor Mist's headquarters in Ethiopia and Devil Ray teleported in and attacked. He proved to be no match for Manta in a one-on-one fight but managed to shoot Manta's assistant Gallous in the chest with a "smart trident". He forced Manta to come with him back to his hideout or he would kill her. Together they forged the Orichalcum trident and Devil Ray revealed his plan to poison the people of Atlantis, then raise the city to the surface as a new black homeland which he would rule as its king.[1]
The power output of the trident was too much for Devil Ray to control. Unprompted, Black Manta installed control circuitry on the trident and calibrated it, even though Devil Ray had promised to kill him with it when it was complete. Devil Ray realised that Manta genuinely cared about Gallous and guessed that he saw her as a substitue for Jackson, revealing that he knew Devil Ray had written but not sent a letter to his son. When the trident was ready Devil Ray was about to kill Manta with it, but Doctor Mist teleported in along with Torrid and Gallous, who had had the smart trident successfully removed. The Orichalcum trident allowed Devil Ray to recognise that Torrid and her demon "Gruff" were two halves of a split soul, and he used the trident to fuse them into their true form of Charybdis, a monster of Greek mythology. He used the trident to command Charybdis to attack the others and teleported away to the shore of the Atlantic Ocean.
He stood on a cliff preparing to set off the poison bombs planted around Atlantis, but found himself unable to go through with it. Black Manta arrived in an ancient Deserter plane which Devil Ray shot down, but Manta survived and tackled him into the ocean. The two fought underwater until Manta used a backdoor he left in the control circuitry to turn the trident's power against Devil Ray. Manta took the trident and Devil Ray said that he only ever wanted the paradise that Manta had promised him. Black Manta told Devil Ray not to waste his life on hatred like he had and allowed him to escape.[6]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Disguise[4]
- Diving[4]
- Firearms[1]
- Genius Level Intellect: Devil Ray is a highly intelligent man with expertise in a wide range of subjects.
- Computer Hacking: Devil Ray was able to hack into Black Manta's computer systems.[6]
- Historiography: Devil Ray is highly knowledgeable about African and Black history, as well as Atlantean history.[3][5]
- Mechanical Engineering: Devil Ray appears to have designed and built most of his equipment himself.[2][4]
- Metallurgy: Devil Ray knows a great deal about the properties and capabilities of Orichalcum, although he was unaware that it becomes radioactive when heated.[2][5]
- Occultism: Devil Ray is able to manipulate mystical energies despite possessing no inherent magical ability.[2]
- Toxicology: Devil Ray can develop poisons designed specifically to target Atlanteans without affecting baseline humans.[4]
- Swimming[1]
- Thievery[1]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Devil Ray's Armor: Devil Ray wears an armored diving suit similar to the one worn by Black Manta.[4]
- Artificial Gills: The suit allows him to breathe underwater.[4]
- Diving Light: His right gauntlet can produce powerful beams of light to help him see underwater.[4]
- Enhanced Durability
- Enhanced Strength
- Flamethrower: The suit includes a wrist-mounted blowtorch powered by the captured essence of the Human Flame.[2]
- Flight[6]
- Hologram Projector: The suit includes a holographic projector that allows him to disguise himself.[4]
- Optic Laser[1]
- Poison: Devil Ray can release poison from the suit at will.[4]
- Portals: Devil Ray stole a source of magical power from the Tower of Fate, which he installed in his suit. It allows him to open portals to his own pocket dimension or any location on Earth.[2][1]
- Orichalcum: (Formerly) Devil Ray possessed a large quantity of the mystical metal Orichalcum.[4] He was forced to abandon it when Black Manta and his allies defeated him.[6]
- Aquakinetic Astral Projection: Devil Ray was able to manipulate the Orichalcum's energy to create duplicates of himself from water, project his consciousness into and speak through them. He is able to control the duplicates from hundreds of miles away. He can also cause them to explode with devastating effect.[3]
Weapons
- Orichalcum Trident: (Formerly) A trident forged from the ancient mystical metal Orichalcum.[1] It was stolen by Black Manta.[6]
- Bio-Fusion: Devil Ray was able to use it to fuse Torrid and "Gruff" into their true form as Charybdis.[6]
- Clairvoyance: The trident was able to show Devil Ray that Torrid and "Gruff" were two halves of a split soul.[6]
- Energy Projection[6]
- Mind Control: Devil Ray was able to use the Trident to brainwash Torrid into attacking her allies.[6]
- Smart Trident: A projectile weapon which lodges in a person's flesh. It is not immediately lethal, but Devil Ray can cause it induce a massive heart attack in the victim at will.[1]
Notes
- Devil Ray was created by Dwayne McDuffie, first appearing in Justice League Unlimited: "I Am Legion". However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Devil Ray first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Black Manta #1 by Chuck Brown and Valentine De Landro.
- The original Devil Ray was created as a substitute for Black Manta in the Justice League Unlimited animated series. Aquaman-related characters were not available to the writers at the time due to them being reserved for a planned TV series which was ultimately never made.
Related
- 6 Appearances of Devil Ray (Prime Earth)
- 6 Images featuring Devil Ray (Prime Earth)
- 4 Quotations by or about Devil Ray (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Devil Ray (Prime Earth)
Footnotes
  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." |
