Mera (DC)

Revision as of 09:27, 19 September 2021

Mera in Mera: Queen of Atlantis v1 #1.

Mera is a female comic character who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Origin

Encountering Mera in Aquaman v1 #11.

Mera

She had a twin sister by the name of Hila though the two were very different in personality. (Aquaman v1 #22) During their youth, Mera promised her father that she would never abandon her sister and would be there whenever she needed aid. However, Hila came to be considered the black sheep of the family who was always in some kind of trouble. At some point, her sister became involved with a man called Kandor where she claimed to love him and followed in his schemes. This eventually led to Hila's exile from Xebel by Professor Kreon with her sister and Kandor being banished from their dimensional water world despite Mera's pleas. Nearby was an abandoned ship that she learnt contained explosives hidden within its hold and nearby it were the superheroes Aquaman along with Aqualad Garth. The two were near the vessel battling a sea-beast when Mera sought to protect them from the dynamite by causing it to detonate whilst the vessel was still far away. At first, the heroes believed she had destroyed the ship but she revealed that she was only trying to protect them. In that moment, her powers began to fail her but she was rescued by Aquaman where she revealed her past. It was then that the three were attacked by Leron who had followed Mera to Earth and was using his aquakinesis to control the water around them. He demanded that the two heroes hand over Mera to him or that they would perish at his hands. (Aquaman v1 #22)

Upon her fathers death, she was crowned the new ruler by the people and she took the throne as Queen. During this time, the pretender Leron laid siege to the castle doors and her advisers bade her to flee. They took her to a discovery by the scientist Xebel that was a temporary portal into another dimension with Mera escaping through it. This allowed her to escape from Leron who then came to lay claim to the kingdom whilst the exiled Queen Mera was trapped in the waters of Earth's oceans. (Aquaman v1 #11)

Within her kingdom, she received word that the doorway connecting her dimension and Earth was closing. Thus, it meant that she could potentially not see Arthur for many years. With the blessing from her kingdom, she left her dimension to be with Aquaman but was pursued by Oceanus. He long had a mad obsession with her and wanted to marry her but she rejected him as she saw him as an evil being. Thus, she tried to flee from him whilst he pursued her with the chase being interrupted by Aquaman who was out on patrol. Arthur helped rescue her where she revealed what had happened and that she was in love with him. However, Aquaman had recently become the king of Atlantis with Atlantean law stating that he could only wed a woman from the kingdom. As such, he had to reject her advances leaving Mera distraught and she came to be anger at Arthur. Leaving, she went to a nearby island with Oceanus approaching her and offering his love to her. Mera came to accept it and Oceanus took over Atlantis where he made himself king with her as his queen. Oceanus then enslaved Aquaman and Aqualad along with the people of the kingdom. Ultimately, she came to see Oceanus's actions as being evil and turned against him forcing him to flee. Aquaman then used his position to make Mera as an honorary Atlantean allowing him to marry her with them inviting others to the wedding. (Aquaman v1 #18)

For Garth's sake, she took them to Amnesty Bay in order to take Arthur's remains so that they could be taken to the tombs of Atlantis. They came to find his grave disturbed and found an undead Aquaman waiting for them who had been resurrected as a member of the Black Lantern Corps. In this time, the universe was suffering from the long prophecised Blackest Night that was turning the deceased into undead Black Lanterns. Mera came to be the only survivor of their attack where she managed to flee the scene as the others were turned into undead by black Power Rings. (Blackest Night v1 #2)

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Mera was the daughter of King Ryus and his wife who were the rulers of the kingdom of Xebel that was one of the seven kingdoms of Atlantis. Similar to others of her kind, she was able to harness the power of water and manipulate it to achieve a wide variety of effects. This trait that was available to the royal family allowed them to pierce through the barrier that kept their homeland imprisoned from the rest of the world. During this time, she came to be betrothed to Nereus who was the highest ranking warrior within Xebel. (Secret Origins v3 #5) In her youth, she was shown to had been close to her grandmother and trained by her father's chief taskmaster Leron to become the perfect warrior. (Mera: Queen of Atlantis v1 #3) However, Mera was being groomed by her father to serve as an assassin with her to be sent into Atlantis itself and use her abilities to assassinate its ruler. When the time came, she pierced the barrier and went for the surface where she began her search for Atlantis. Through surface dwellers, she came to learn of a hero known as Aquaman with ties to the kingdom and thus she sought to approach him. She then met Arthur Curry where she became impressed by the man at his heroics along with his non-regal nature. This led to an attraction to him and she came to learn from a message from her father that he had intended for her to be free from the demands of royalty. Thus, he entrusted her the mission to assassinate the ruler of Atlantis but after that she owed no further duties to Xebel and instead he urged her to go live a life of freedom according to her own desires. (Secret Origins v3 #5)

She continued her attempts to shatter the dome in order to be re-united with Arthur leading to her being confronted by the Justice League when she had unintentionally created tidal waves from her attack on the Crown of Thorns. This led to a lengthy battle with the League until she calmed down after hearing how her actions threatened millions of civilians. Batman came to be impressed at her hydrokinetic abilities and skills in combat leading to Mera being invited to join the Justice League as Aquaman's replacement. (Justice League v3 #24)

During the Xebellian Trial by Combat, she fought Orm in the arena in a battle that was meant to be to the death. Initially, she was overpowered by her foe until she started to control the water entering his body thus forcing him to surrender. This saw her secured as the winner where she ordered Orm to be sent into the prison as she believed he squandered his second chance at life. With her victory, Nereus was forced to agree to Mera's terms in bringing the war host of Xebel to help in freeing Atlantis from Coram Rath. (Mera: Queen of Atlantis v1 #6)

The fight caused her to overuse her aquakinesis putting her body through incredible strain to her and put her life at risk. Arthur then took Mera to Atlantis where she gave birth to a daughter but the queen had to be put into a coma until her body recovered from the strain put on it. (Aquaman v8 #57)

The call was made to all the sea nations to attend the royal wedding of Mera with attendees including delegations from the kingdoms of the Brine, the Wrights, the Trench, Xebel, Sea Lights and the newly Dagon. The Widowhood pushed for Queen Mera to prepare for the wedding but she had Cetea detained for questioning her decisions. At the royal gathering, Mera emerged when King Orm attempted to take control when everyone believed the queen was still comatose. Upon arriving, Mera then gave a speech about the dangers of power and then urged all the attendees to dissolve the monarchies that ruled their kingdoms. This shocked the delegates with Orm using this as an excuse to attack where he unleashed his hidden forces as he intended to bring an end to the age of Atlantis. (Aquaman v8 #61)

In the chaos of the fighting, Ocean Master had Lernaea to restrain Mera in place with Arthur arriving at the scene to battle his brother in a duel. At first, Aquaman was seemingly winning but treachery from the Dagonian warriors allowing Orm to secure a trident strike that left Arthur badly injured. (Aquaman v8 #64) Despite the injury, he came to use his telepathy to summon his allies including the Justice League and the sea gods at Unspoken Water. Gathered behind him, they prevented any further treachery as Arthur defeated Orm but he had Lernaea maintain her trap on Mera. This was until the Dagon sea-changed Pilot revealed the depths of his masters treachery that Lernaea disobeyed Orm. Thus, the crisis was averted and Mera set about creating a new Atlantis with the support of all the kingdoms that were to help those that were suffering in this time. She then resumed her relationship with Arthur Curry where they stayed at the Lighthouse to care for their daughter. In this time, she was tricked into responding to a call for help from a passing ship with this actually designed to bring her to a place where Arthur could wed her leading to the two officially getting married. (Aquaman v8 #64)

Overview

Personality and attributes

In appearance, Mera was a beautiful young woman whose most noted feature was her long red hair with her normally attired in a green costume. (Aquaman v1 #11) At one point, she briefly wore a costume similar to Aquaman and went by the name of Aquawoman. (Aquaman v7 #49)

She was capable of bluffing in order to get a psychological advantage over an opponent. (Justice League v3 #24)

Her father was King Ryus who was the ruler of the kingdom of Xebel. (Secret Origins v3 #5) Her grandmother was Lammia who was the wife consort of the king of Xebel that preceded Mera's father. Though married to its ruler, she was neve acknowledged as a queen but only as a consort and after his passing Mera's father took the throne. In that time, Lammia came to be referred to as the dowager matriarch of Xebel who kept her own network of intelligence to keep aware of various events and was noted for breeding fearsome beasts. (Mera: Queen of Atlantis v1 #4)

She was in love with Arthur Curry with the two eventually getting married. (Aquaman v1 #18) One incarnation of the couple were known to have had a son that was blonde-haired child they named Aquababy. (Aquaman v1 #23) The pair later had a red haired daughter who they named Andy. (Aquaman v8 #58)

Powers and abilities

Displaying her hydrokinesis in Aquaman v7 #6.

Her strength allowed her to choke an adult human with only one hand (Justice League v3 #24)

Similar to others in her home, she had the ability to will water to do her bidding. (Aquaman v1 #11)

She could use her aquakinesis for precision work rather than brute force where she was able to use a skin of water to separate a ring from a person's finger. (Justice League v3 #24)

Mera was able to use her abilities to dehydrate a superhuman in order to nullify them. (Justice League v3 #24)

Her aquakinetic ability was noted to be quite powerful as she was able to create city-destroying tidal waves. (Justice League v3 #24)

The physiological basis for her aquakinesis was not entirely understood but it was said to be part of her metabolic system. Thus, it required energy in the form of glucose or fat along with a mineral component. If these reserves were used up, typically the power failed and her body shut down in order to protect itself. However, in some cases, Mera was able to use sheer will power to override her self-preservation instinct allowing her to use her powers even when her body lacked the necessary fuel for it. Such a use of her power was dangerous and put her life at risk as her body began to consume that fuel from vital organs such as the brain. (Aquaman v8 #57)

The rage she held in her heart made her a candidate to receive a red power ring that turned her into a berserker Red Lantern. (Blackest Night v1 #6)

Notes

• Mera was created Jack Miller and Nick Cardy where she made her first appearance in Aquaman v1 #11 (September, 1963).
• Writer Geoff Johns said in an interview on IGN that, "Well Mera is like Aquaman. She's caught between two worlds – Atlantis and the land. She's been the queen to Aquaman's king for decades. A lot of people know of her but I really wanted to play up the sense of regal power in her, and all of the things she's had to deal with. She's lost a child. She's lost a husband. She's lost her world and seen Atlantis fall. And yet despite all that she's still standing tall with her trident. I think she's one of the toughest and most resilient characters in the DC Universe if you look at what she's gone through. So I wanted to showcase her. I think she is one of the most powerful, most interesting characters in DC."

Alternate Versions

• In Justice League v3 #27 (2017), it was shown that in an alternate timeline that Arthur Curry and his wife Mera had a daughter named Eldoris Curry who went by the nickname Dory. She operated under the codename of Serenity where she became the Queen of Oceania and sat on the throne of Atlantis with her uniting the Seven Seas. Around 22 years in the future, the world was conquered by the Sovereign with Serenity going with her friends that were the children of the Justice League members in order to go back in time to get the aid of their missing parents.
• In Future State: Justice League v1 #1 (2021), an alternate version of Mera was shown in the possible timeline of Future State. It was shown that her and Arthur's daughter came to be the new Aquawoman whilst Jackson Hyde took over as Aquaman. Her daughter was late revealed to possess telepathic powers but unlike her father who communicated with sea life she actually took control of it.

In other media

Television

• In The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure, Mera appeared in the animated television series and was voiced by Diane Maddox. The opening narration referred to her as "an Atlantean woman".
• In Justice League, Mera appeared in the animated television series set in the DC Animated Universe where she was voiced by actor Kristin Bauer. She was Queen of Atlantis and shown to be married to Orin who was known as Aquaman with him ruling as king. Mera was shown to had born his son who was a baby and cared for by her whilst Atlantis remained isolated from the rest of the world.
• In Young Justice, Mera made an appearance in the animated series in the episode "Downtime" where she was voiced by actor Kath Soucie. She was the wife of Aquaman and Queen of Atlantis with her teaching Atlantean magic such as combat sorcery at the Conservatory of Sorcery with Garth, Tula and Kaldur'rahm being her students. During Kaldar'rahms visit to Atlantis, the royal couple revealed that Mera was pregnant with Aquaman's child who would have a royal heir. At this time, Black Manta staged an assault against Atlantis with Mera participating in the defense by producing hard water constructs to attack the Manta Men.

Films

• In Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Mera appeared in a minor non-voiced in the animated movie. She was shown in an alternate timeline where she was in love with Aquaman but a marriage was arranged between him and Wonder Woman. This was meant to unite the two kingdoms of Atlantis and Themyscira. However, Mera grew angry at seeing the two together and later confronted Wonder Woman and attacked her. Wonder Woman responded by killing Mera where she cut of the Atlantean woman's head and took her crown as a trophy that she wore. Her body was later given back to the Atlanteans whete Aquaman grieved fir her and swore vengeance. This led to him declaring hostilities against Themyscira and started the Amazon/Atlantean War thar ravaged the world.
• In Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, Mera made an appearance in a supporting role where she was voiced by actor Sumalee Montano. This version was shown as being an Atlantean who was a warrior and operated as the royal guard for Queen Atlanna. She was dispatched by the Queen to go to the surface and recover her half-human son Arthur Curry where she helped stop an assassination attempt by rogue Atlanteans. Mera later provided Arthur with Atlantean gear as he became Aquaman and helped fight off the Trench. She later took Arthur to Atlantis to meet his mother but Atlanna had been killed by her younger son Orin who had become the Ocean Master after staging a coup to take the underwater city. Mera participated in stopping Ocean Master from his war against the surface world and by the end of the film she was shown to be romantically involved with Aquaman.
• In The Death of Superman, Mera made a minor appearance in the setting of the 2018 animated film. She was shown accompanying Aquaman to investigate the crash of a meteor onto Earth where they discovered the dead bodies of numerous Atlanteans at the site.
• In the DC Extended Universe, Mera made multiple appearances in the shared continuity setting:
  • In Justice League, Mera appeared in the 2017 live-action film where she was portrayed by actor Amber Heard. She was shown as being an Atlantean with aquakinetic abilities to manipulate water who was said to had been taken in by Queen Atlanna during an Atlantean civil war. As a result, Mera was fiercely loyal to the queen and stood guard at the temple holding one of the three Mother Boxes on Earth. Steppenwolf through a Boom Tube arrived at the scene where he sought to claim it and killed the Atlantean guards with Mera only managing to oppose him with her powers. However, she was defeated and nearly killed until Arthur Curry arrived on the scene whereupon Steppenwolf departed after claiming the relic. Mera scolded Arthur Curry for him not taking his duty seriously as well as chastised him for his anger towards Atlanna. Arthur in the mean time decided to aid the other Earth heroes and asked for Mera's help in getting equipment to assist him in the coming battle.
  • In Aquaman, Y'Mera Xebella Challa appeared in the 2018 live-action film where she was once more portrayed by actor Amber Heard. She was an Atlantean Princess of the kingdom of Xebel and the daughter of its monarch King Nereus. When she was young, she was raised by Queen Atlanna of Atlantis and came to admire her. By adulthood, she was forced to be betrothed to Atlanna's second-born son Orm despite not loving him but she did so because it was her royal duty. Orm was arranging events so that he could unite the seven kingdoms under his rule and with their combined military might wage war against the surface world. Mera sought to undermine him with the aid of Vulko by bringing Atlanna's first born son Arthur Curry to take the throne though he rejected their attempts at bringing him involved in this matter.

Video games

• In Injustice 2, Mera was referenced in dialogue by Aquaman and Harley Quinn in the setting of the fighting video game.
• In DC: Legends, Mera appeared as a playable character in the setting of the iOS video game. Her backstory mentioned her as being an inhabitant of Xebel who was sent by her people as an assassin to kill the ruler of Atlantis. Mera was on her mission but ended up falling in love with her target who was Aquaman.
• In DC Unchained, Mera appared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.

Appearances

• Aquaman v1: (1963)
• JLA v1:
• Blackest Night v1:
• Brightest Day v1:
• Justice League v2:
• Aquaman v7:
• Justice League United v1:
• Secret Origins v3:
• Aquaman v8:
• Justice League v3:
• Mera: Queen of Atlantis v1:

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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