Atlantis (DC)

Revision as of 08:27, 2 March 2015

Atlantis is a place that features in DC Comics.

History

Origin

Post-Crisis

Early groups of explorers from Atlantis went out into world that became lost to their city's history. (Aquaman v5 #19) In time, there were the Seven Golden Cities of Atlantis. However, five lost cities of Atlantis that resided in the world that were practically incarnations of different aspects of Atlantean history. (Aquaman v5 #21) These included:

• Thierna na Oge : was the third of the five lost cities and served as a mystic city of magic users that was once the stronghold of Atlantean sorcery. (Aquaman v5 #21)
• Tlapallan : a city populated by yellow skinned Atlanteans in Mayan designs and was the site of one of the pieces of the Zodiac Crystal. (Aquaman v2 #4)
• Hy-Brasil : was named after the ancient high warlord Basil which was a place of potent weaponry, scientific defense and offense. (Aquaman v5 #21) One of the kingdoms of Atlantis was Hy-Brasil that was considered the most heavily armed city of the realm and held as the nucleus of protection of the continent. (Aquaman v5 #18)
• Dreaming City : situated in the Himalayas where it became a place of spirituality. (Aquaman v5 #21) Half a dozen Atlantean tribes migrated here where they combined magic and science to fashion a home for themselves within the mountain. (Aquaman v5 #19) However, Orm and Neron would eventually blacken the soul of the place along with its people. (Aquaman v5 #21)
• Sharaia : a city that was inhabited by a race of aquatic manta-people. (Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis v1 #48)

Since the sinking of Atlantis, each of the undersea cities developed their own unique culture as they all operated in isolation. (Aquaman v2 #1)

The New 52

After the Flashpoint, the history of Atlantis was altered in the new timeline. Within the revised history, Atlantis once was a surface based civilization long ago where its first king and architect was Atlan. During his reign, Atlantis was at war with the inhabitants of the deserts but a peace would be forged whereby the deserters would share their arcane secrets. In time, Atlan would open his kingdom to the rest of the world to create a single great nation and his fear of outsiders would diminish. However, his brother Orin who led a sect that opposed Atlan's decisions that harmed Atlantean culture and he orchestrated a plot to kill him. King Atlan was wounded and fled but his wife and children were slain by the betrayal. A distraught Atlan would adopt a vow of silence whilst being hunted where he used the secrets of the deserters to forge the six Artifacts of Atlantis. After being equipped with them, he returned to Atlantis where he killed his brother and his wife whereupon he was attacked by the other Atlanteans. With his revenge accomplished, Atlan plunged his trident into the ground and shattered Atlantis which sank beneath the ocean. The cataclysm killed 90% of the population but the fragments that survived became the Seven Kingdoms of Atlantis with the survivors mutating to adapt in their changed environment. Four of these kingdoms were lost to modern times and the remaining three became occupied by the Atlanteans of Atlantis, the exiled people of Xebel and finally the monstrous Trench. (Aquaman v7 #24)

Overview

Leadership in Poseidonis was held by the council of seven who by the rule of law conducted debates on the appointment of a new leader should the king die without an heir. (Aquaman v5 #11)

A number of locations within Atlantis include:

• Caves of Death : a forbidden location with anything living that entered it having its life ripped from it and left as bones. (Atlantis Chronicles v1 #3)
• Leviathan Gate : one of the gates that served as an exit Atlantis. (Aquaman v7 #36)
• Nautila Theater : site of a bloody battle hundreds of years ago where there was a rebellion with a theater being built as a symbolic gesture of change. (Aquaman v7 #36)

Atlantis was unlike any other landmass in the world as when its Atlantean's inhabitants died their electrical impulses and essence itself was absorbed into the strata where it became part of a city wide system. As such, it was able to sense the rule of Atlanteans only otherwise it would tear itself apart. This system was only in place when the previous ruler passed away whereupon control was transferred to the new reigning monarch. (Aquaman v7 #35)

The Royal Seal was an important relic to their people and seen as a national treasure as well as a symbol of the old ways. (Aquaman v2 #1)

Inhabitants

• Atlanna :
• Vulko :
• Dardan : male leader of the Shalakites who sat on the council of seven who cautioned against leaving Atlantis that was suffering from an upheaval. (Aquaman v5 #11)

Notes

• Atlantis within DC Comics was created by Gardner F. Fox and Fred Guardineer where it was first mentioned in Action Comics v1 #17 (October 1939) but depicted in Action Comics v1 #18 (November 1939).

In other media

Television

• In The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure, Atlantis appeared as a domed city at the bottom of the sea populated by Atlanteans and ruled by Aquaman who was the sovereign of the seven seas. During ancient times, it was revealed in the episode "The Return of Nepto", a race of undersea Viking styled giants once lived underwater with their leader being a red bearded one called Nepto who once was a tyrant at Atlantis and armed with a black trident that could fire energy blasts. However, by unknown means, he along with his three warriors fell into a deep slumber by a volcano until the modern day when they were awakened and defeated by Aquaman. In "The Rampaging Reptile-Men", the Atlanteans had established a power station to feed Atlantis energy until it was sabotaged by the villainous Reptile-Men who intended to conquer the city until they were sealed in their cave lair by Aquaman and Aqualad. In "The Deadly Drillers", a race of technologically advanced mole people from the center of the Earth had sent automated drill crafts from underground into the ocean were dispatched by their king to destroy Atlantis only to be driven back by Aquaman. The episode "Vassa - Queen of the Mermen" introduced a race of green skinned Mermen led by Queen Vassa who had constructed robotic whale ships that she launched to destroy Atlantis only for her forces to be defeated by Aquaman.
• In Young Justice, Atlantis and its inhabitants would make their appearance in the show with Kaldur'ahm raised there. The episode "Downtime" depicted the underwater kingdom with its capital being Poseidonis. A number of locations within Atlantis included the Conservatory of Sorcery that was a magical institution maintained by the Atlanteans with Queen Mera teaching its students in the use of magic and included combat sorcery that was said to require improvisation. Another site was the Science Center where Vulko was studying the echinoderm that they had discovered frozen in the ice. Black Manta was dispatched by the Light to recover the organism and laid siege to Atlantis causing widespread destruction until he was thwarted by Aqualad and Garth.

Film

• In Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, the underwater city was said to had once been on the surface until a cataclysm caused it to sink beneath the ocean. It was the king of Atlantis that saved his people and the city by using magic to turn the Atlanteans into an aquatic race. Powerful mystical seals were created that hid Atlantis from the rest of the world allowing the Atlanteans to live isolated for centuries until the modern age.

Appearances

• Aquaman v7:

External Links

• DC Database Entry

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