Black Manta - Fictional Character Biography

Fictional Character Biography

For most of his published history, Black Manta had no definitive origin story. The first was given in #6 of the 1993 Aquaman series. In this origin, the boy who would become Black Manta grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and loved to play by the Chesapeake Bay. As a youth he was kidnapped and sexually abused on a ship for an unspecified amount of time. At one point he apparently saw Aquaman with his dolphin friends and tried to signal him for help but was not seen. Finally, he was forced to defend himself, killing one of his tormentors on the ship with a knife. Hating the emotionless sea (and Aquaman, whom he saw as its representative), the boy was determined to become its master.

A second origin was given in #8 of the 2003 Aquaman series. In this origin, the boy who would become Black Manta was an orphan who has autism and was placed in Gotham City's Arkham Asylum. He felt comfortable in freezing cold water, while cotton sheets were excruciatingly painful. Because the attendants at Arkham did not know how to deal with autism, they would end up restraining him to the bed as he struggled and screamed whenever they tried putting him there. The boy was also fascinated when he saw Aquaman on television.

The boy would end up being subjected to experimental treatments. One treatment seemed to clear the boy's head, but left him violent as a result; he killed the scientist who had administered the treatment and escaped from Arkham.

As an adult, the man who would become Black Manta designed a costume (primarily a black wetsuit with bug-eyed helmet, that was able to shoot blasting rays from its eyes) and fashioned a high-tech submersible inspired by manta rays. Taking the name Black Manta, he and his masked army became a force to be reckoned with, engaging in at least one unrecorded clash with Aquaman prior to his first appearance as a rival to the Ocean Master (and before joining the short-lived Injustice League in the retcon Silver Age third week event).

The fearsome Black Manta and Aquaman battled repeatedly over the next several years. During one of these clashes, it was revealed that Black Manta was actually an African American, whose stated objective at one point was for black people to be dominant in the ocean after having been oppressed for so long on dry land (though this goal was revealed to be a ruse he used to trick Cal Durham into following him, and this objective was not at all evident in either his earlier or later appearances). During most of his appearances, his main goals were defeating Aquaman and gaining power for himself through the conquest of Atlantis. Finally, Manta kills Arthur Curry, Jr., Aquaman's son, which left Aquaman obsessed with revenge.

Black Manta was later transformed into a manta/man hybrid. After a while he went back to wearing his original outfit, which covered his new appearance. At one point he took to drug smuggling from his new base in Star City, where he was opposed by a returning Green Arrow and Aquaman.

In a later confrontation, Aquaman, sporting the Lady of the Lake's Healing Hand, reverses the alterations to Black Manta, and rewired Manta's afflicted brain, making him normal for the first time in his life. Unfortunately, Manta remained a violent criminal, lulling Aquaman into a false sense of partnership and almost killing the Sea King in the process.

In later events, Black Manta was used as a test subject to make water breathers, using genetic manipulation. This succeeded and since then Black Manta has returned to the oceans to face Aquaman once again.

Black Manta caused a disturbance in Sub Diego in which Captain Marley was severely injured. Aquaman summoned various predatory sea-life to attack Black Manta and left him for dead. It was later revealed that he was able to survive by generating an electric charge with his suit.

One Year Later, he took over Sub Diego but was forced to flee when King Shark bit off his face.

When Aquaman died at the end of the 2003 series, Black Manta went to work for Libra as part of the Secret Society of Super Villains. However, after Libra betrayed the group and helped Darkseid conquer the Earth.

In the Brightest Day storyline, Black Manta retired from super-villainy and opened a fish market to earn an honest living. When he discovered that Aquaman had been resurrected following the end of the Blackest Night, he murders the customers in the store and later burns down his shorefront house, as he resumes his criminal career and vendetta against Aquaman. Black Manta is seen later at the grave of Thomas Curry, Aquaman's father, where he is approached by Siren and her Death Squad after demolishing the tombstone. The Death Squad began fighting Black Manta but before the fight can get too far along, Siren stops them. She tells Black Manta that they need to work together to find his son, as she makes a hard water image of Jackson Hyde. Black Manta and Siren track down Jackson and attempt to kill his foster father. Jackson (using his ability to create hard water constructs) defends his foster father, but cannot stop Black Manta from shooting a trident-shaped dart at his foster father. Aquaman then arrives on the scene blocking and crushing the dart. Black Manta prepares to face his old nemesis again. During the battle, Aquaman pulls Jackson and his foster father to safety from Black Manta and Siren. In the flashback that Black Manta was a treasure hunter, who along with his wife were captured while exploring the Bermuda Triangle. Captured by the other-dimensional residents of Xebel, the two were tortured mercilessly and Black Manta's wife, who was pregnant, was experimented on to give him powers similar to those of the residents of Xebel. Fearing the child would be used as a pawn in an invasion of Earth, Xebel princess Mera kidnapped the child and took him to Earth, where she arranged him to be adopted and raised far away from water in order to keep him from her people. Black Manta ultimately escaped from Xebel, though the fate of his wife remained unknown.

After Jackson learns the truth behind his origin, Aquaman and Jackson (now calling himself Aqualad) are ambushed by Siren and the Xebel soldiers. The fight continues onto the beach where innocent citizens get caught in the crossfire. As Aquaman is about to strike back at Siren, Black Manta springs from the water and severs Aquaman's right hand. Jackson attacks his father and berates him for siding with the people who killed his own wife, only for Black Manta to throw Jackson to the ground and coldly states that both he and his mother mean nothing to him. When Black Manta is about to impale his son with one of his blades, Mera arrives with Aquagirl, who saves Jackson by striking Black Manta square in the face. Jackson and Mera are able to work together to seal Black Manta, Siren and the rest of the invaders away in the Bermuda Triangle. Black Manta vows to get his son, Jackson.

In The New 52, the 2011 relaunch and retcon of DC Comics' entire series, Black Manta returns and kills a woman named Kahina the Seer who is a former teammate of Aquaman and steals her specific Atlantean relic. He then vows to kill her entire family before getting his revenge on Aquaman. A flashback shows that Aquaman created a team known as the Others (forged of six Atlantean relics from the Dead King's tomb) who are trying to catch Black Manta, but it fails and Black Manta escapes. Black Manta went after Aquaman's former teammate Prisoner-of-War in Heidelberg. It is revealed that Aquaman had killed Black Manta's father by accident for attacking Aquaman's father. Seeking revenge, Black Manta will attempt to kill all of Aquaman's family (whose Aquaman's son was murdered) and friends. When Black Manta chases Prisoner-of-War, he is confronted by Aquaman in a battle. During the attack, Black Manta steals one of Ya'Wara's Atlantean relics and teleports to Stephen Shin, Aquaman's former friend. Black Manta tasers Mera and pulls Shin to teleport away. Meanwhile, the Others are reunited and discover that there is the seventh Atlantean relic in the Dead King's tomb. Manta has Shin captive in the Dead King's tomb to find the seventh relic. They then locate the seventh relic in the Dead King's throne. Manta prepares to kill Shin, but is thwarted when Aquaman and the Others attack his henchmen. Black Manta kills Vostok-X and escapes with the relic scepter. After Vostok-X's death Aquaman, through tears, swears that he is going to kill Manta for this.