Black Manta
Black Manta is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Black Manta was a male human who came to live in the modern age. (Aquaman v1 #35)
One account said he lived in Baltimore where he was a young boy who loved the sea. He was kidnapped where he was forced into menial tasks on ships where he would sometimes go without food or water for days cause of the people that abused him. This period saw him developing a hatred for the sea and he learnt to channel the pain he suffered into the will to live and kill those that had hurt him. This saw him turning on his tormentors one day and killing them with a knife. (Aquaman v4 #6) Another account claimed that he was an autistic boy who was placed in a mental institution to cure him of his 'affliction' but instead he was treated cruelly by the staff at the facility. In this time, he came to be immersed in water which he saw as sublime ecstasy whilst the softness of cotton sheets on a bed bored him and caused him to suffer excruciating pain. In one case, the attendants strapped him to a bed despite the pain he felt and stifled his screams by smothering him with pillows until he passed out. The boy could barely speak and often repeated certain words on a regular basis. Doctors began to perform experimental procedures on him during this time with these causing him a lot of pain. This was until one such procedure was seemingly a success and caused the boy to be able to speak in complete sentences. With his newfound speaking ability, the boy managed to put the doctors at ease to the point that they unstrapped him from his restraints. He then used this opportunity to grab a syringe and murder the man whereupon he used his clothes to escape the mental institution. (Aquaman v6 #8)
In time, he came to be regarded as an old foe of Aquaman. (Aquaman v1 #35)
He later began a series of more vicious personal attacks on Aquaman that started with an assault on Atlantis's agricultural system. (Adventure Comics v1 #435) Part of his plans involved enlisting the aid of an Atlantean robots engineer named Weisbogg with the intention of creating a mechanical beast called the Bugala that was sent to destroy the city's dome but this plot failed. (Adventure Comics v1 #436) Aquaman came to be buried under tons of rubble but managed to escape through a network of underground caves. (Adventure Comics v1 #437)
Fighting his enraged nemesis again after Mera and Aquababy had been kidnapped, Manta knocked him out and gave him to Karshon in exchange for information about the City of the Lost Tribes. (Adventure Comics v1 #448)
This was the home of the pacifistic Idylists, and he easily conquered it with a team of mercenaries. Revealing himself to be African American, he explained that he hoped to create an underwater colony where his people could be free from the persecution they faced on the surface world. Aquaman and Aqualad were put into an arena and forced to fight each other to the death. Manta placed Aquababy into a chamber where he would slowly suffocate until one of them had killed the other. The two heroes managed to break free while he escaped, but the baby died and they were too late to save him. (Adventure Comics v1 #452) Aquaman pursued revenge with the intention of murdering his nemesis, and Manta almost managed to kill him but was betrayed by one of his disillusioned mercenaries named Cal Durham. Broken and pleading for mercy, Manta was spared by Aquaman who decided that it was not worth compromising his ideals and had him arrested instead. (Aquaman v1 #57)
Manta prepared to buy a large shipment of cocaine in Star City that he intended to peddle in Atlantis when he was interrupted by Green Arrow and Aquaman. He taunted Aquaman about killing his son, and Aquaman nearly killed him before Arrow dragged him off Manta. (Green Arrow v3 #4)
With the reappearance of a ruined Atlantis after the Imperiex War, Ocean Master teamed with Black manta to claim the deserted city for their own. They were defeated by the JLA. (JLA v1 #68)
Manta and a number of other supervillains attempted to collect the billion dollar bounty President Luthor placed on Superman’s head but failed. (Superman/Batman v1 #3)
Dr. Psycho inducted Black Manta into 'Lex Luthor’s' Society. (Villains United v1 #1)
Brightest Day
At some unknown point, he had a child with a woman with their offspring being taken by the inhabitants of Xebel. They experimented on the child in the hopes of using him as a doorway to escape from their prison but was freed by Mera. She gave the child for adoption where he was unaware of his parentage and was raised as Jackson Hyde with Manta unware of his son's existence. (Brightest Day v1 #20)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. David Milton Hyde was the son of Jesse Hyde whose wife left the family when the boy was young. It was said that the pair lived in Baltimore in the 1980's where he had to learn to be tough due to his rough environment. (Aquaman v8 #62) As a child, it was known that David's mother had passed away and he was raised by his father. (Aquaman v8 #54) He later became a diver who worked alongside his father who served as captain of their ship. (Aquaman v7 #10) As a boy, he accompanied his father on illegal salvage operations in the sea even during turbulent weather that claimed the lives of some ship crews. (Justice League v4 #11) At some point, he learnt of pirate captain from the 1700's named Madame Langrock who had a mystical black pearl that could control the oceans themselves causing humans and Atlanteans to turn on her. She was banished to Xebel along with the pearl with obscure legends speaking of her. Manta had discovered that location of Xebel and infiltrated the other-dimensional prison where he encountered an Atlantean named Lucia. She was fascinated by him as an outsider with the two engaging in an affair with Manta promising to take her to the outside world after he completed his mission. Lucia later traded the pearl with Black Manta becoming enraged at being denied the pearl with him seeking to kill her for her betrayal. Unknown to him, Lucia was pregnant with his child with her hiding on the surface world to keep her son away from the father. (Teen Titans v6 #10) He was hired by Doctor Shin who was looking for evidence on the existence of Atlantis after he discovered that Arthur Curry was a child of a human and Atlantean. To do so, he forcibly broke into Thomas Curry's Lighthouse only for him to accidently kill the man. He escaped as Arthur Curry arrived to see his father die before his eyes and he sought revenge against the man responsible. He journeyed and found the boat thinking he would confront the person he sought when he was attacked with Arthur lashing out at his attacker. This caused him to accidently kill the ship's captain causing Black Manta to swear revenge against Aquaman for killing his father. (Aquaman v7 #10)
He was later recruited by Lex Luthor to join his Legion of Doom. (Justice League v4 #2)
His son Jackson came to him once again looking for the remaining pieces of the Mecha Manta. This was because he wanted to convert the helmet into a submarine and intended to travel to Xebel to learn more of his past. At first, Black Manta refused leading to a fight between him and Aqualad. This was only partially stopped by the A.I. of Black Manta's father in the Mecha Manta. He ultimately agreed to help Jackson but only if he helped breached the barrier into Xebel so that Manta could embark on his own mission within the underwater city. (Aquaman v8 #62)
Overview
Personality and attributes
After killing the former head of N.E.M.O., Manta came to inherit his title as the Fisher King. (Aquaman v8 #4)
Black Manta claimed that he was born to conquer and to gain ultimate power. (Aquaman v1 #35)
One account said that as a boy he loved the sea but his early rough years caused him to hate it. He saw it as cold emotionless where he felt that all it did was leave him. This led to him looking to kill what he hated the most. (Aquaman v4 #6)
His father was said to had taught him that he did not need to rely on anyone in life. Thus, he did not believe in helping others or to be helped in turn. Jesse Hyde claimed that this was not his intention but that he wanted to divert his son's resentment that he carried with him. He said that the world was not made for people to succeed and in fact wanted them to fail. (Aquaman v8 #62)
He claimed that his son Jackson Hyde and his mother had meant nothing to him. (Brightest Day v1 #20)
One of his crew was Gallous the Goat who served as one of his subordinates where she was both his pirate and his broker. (Black Manta v1 #1)
Powers and abilities
The suit was shown to be electrified allowing him to shock a target that grabbed him. (Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis v1 #53)
From above his wrist, he was able to fire harpoons some of which had explosives in them. This allowed them to detonate after hitting a target allowing him to wound a person that managed to escape being pierced by the harpoon. (Aquaman v7 #7)
Part of his arsenal came to include ultrasonic blasters that were effective underwater as conditions allowed sound to propagate through the water much better. Another weapon were chest-mounted plasma-pulse cannons that fired a powerful blast. (Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis v1 #53)
He had numerous armed soldiers that served him and were known as Manta-Men. (Aquaman v1 #35) Manta, Inc. was said to pay a generous survivor benefits for his Mantanaut employees that ensured that their children were well cared for if they died on a mission. (Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis v1 #53)
Black Manta was later inducted to the ranks of the Nautical Enforcement of Macrocosmic Order (N.E.M.O.) that was a secret society which sought control over the world through the seas. It was founded in 1872 where they operated secretly behind the scenes to maintain their rule over the seas. (Aquaman v8 #4) It operated an agenda that ran for decades that was part of a programmed structure of global manipulation. Black Manta came to rule the organization after killing the ruler of the society and took their title of Fisher King. (Aquaman v8 #6)
For movement under the sea, he and his followers made use of the Manta-Ship that could survive the underwater depths. (Aquaman v1 #35)
Lex Luthor later came to provide him with the Mecha Manta that was a large Black Manta shaped mecha suit. It was equipped with an artificial intelligence using the DNA and farmed mind of Manta's fathers thought processes. This was all housed in a weaponised aquatic casing that was noted to be incredibly powerful. (Aquaman v8 #51)
At one point, he came to wield a powerful Atlantean relic named the Black Pearl that allowed him to control the oceans at will. (Teen Titans v6 #11)
Notes
- Black Manta was created by Bob Haney and Nick Cardy where he made his first appearance in Aquaman v1 #35 (September, 1967).
- Brightest Day v1 #9 (2010), Siren referred to Black Manta as David but did not provide a last name.
- Character profiles of the Legion of Doom shown in DC Nation v2 #1 (2018) referred to his real name as being David Hyde.
Alternate Versions
- In Justice v1 #1 (2005), an alternate version of Black Manta appeared in the Elseworlds reality.
- In Flashpoint: Legion of Doom v1 #2 (2011), an alternate version of Black Manta was shown to inhabit the reality of Flashpoint. He was shown as being a prisoner at the Doom facility until a prison break.
- In Ame-Comi Girls v1 #8 (2013), an alternate version of the character appeared in the Ame-Comics reality set in the Multiverse. This version was female named Nautica who was an Atlantean criminal.
In other media
Television
- In The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure, Black Manta appeared as a villain in a number of episodes of the Aquaman segments where he was voiced by actor Ted Knight.
- In Justice League Unlimited, a character by the name of Devil Ray who was voiced by actor Michael Beach.
- In Young Justice, Black Manta appeared as a regular antagonist and was voiced by actor Khary Payton. He hated Aquaman and sought the destruction of the King of Atlantis. Black Manta was also secretly the father of Aqualad Kaldur'ahm though the boy was unaware of his parentage and instead he grew up as an Atlantean.
- In Harley Quinn, Black Manta appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Phil LaMarr.
Films
- In Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Black Manta appeared as a minor antagonist with a non-voiced role. He was shown as being part of Emperor Aquaman's forces and participated in the battle against Deathstroke's pirate crew. Black Manta arrived in time to save Garth from being killed and defeated Deathstroke.
- In Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, Black Manta appeared as a supporting antagonist where he was voiced by actor Harry Lennix.
- In Aquaman, David Kane appeared in the 2018 live-action film set in the DC Extended Universe where he was portrayed by actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. He was shown as a treasure hunter, mercenary and a pirate who along with his father led a crew that pillaged ships or other undersea treasures. At some point, he came to encounter undersea Atlanteans where their leader King Orm offered treasures to David in exchange for him stealing submarines for him. During one of their missions, they captured an experimental stealth submarine from the U.S. which they used in their raids. During one such attack, they struck against a Russian submarine where they gained control of it only for their efforts to be thwarted by the Aquaman. David attempted to kill Aquaman but failed to damage his tough skin and was overwhelmed by his foes greater strength. During the fighting, his father was wounded and pinned in the submarine with Aquaman refusing to help them. David's father then sacrificed himself so that his son could escape with him vowing revenge against Aquaman as a result.
Video games
- In Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis, Black Manta appeared as an antagonist in the video game.
- In DC Universe Online, a Black Manta inspired costume appeared available to players in the villain faction in the setting of the MMORPG. Later on, Black Manta appeared as a boss level antagonist in the setting of Raid content.
- In Young Justice: Legacy, Black Manta appeared as a boss antagonist in the video-game tie-in to the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Khary Payton.
- In Injustice: Gods Among Us, Black Manta was referenced in the video game where the One Earth Regime after encountering his normal Earth counterpart believed him to had been sent by Black Manta or Ocean Master.
- In Injustice 2, Black Manta initially appeared in a cameo role as a stage transition in Atlantis and was mentioned in dialogue in the fighting video game. He was later introduced as a playable character in DLC where he was voiced by actor Kane Jungbluth-Murry.
- In DC: Unchained, Black Manta appeared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game. The characters profile revealed his real name in this setting to be David Hyde.
Appearances
- Aquaman v1: (1967)
- Aquaman v4:
- Brightest Day v1:
- Aquaman v7:
- Suicide Squad:
- Aquaman v8:
- Teen Titans:
- Justice League v4:
- Aquaman v8:
- Black Manta v1: (2021)
External Links
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