When one hears of Aquaman, one might think of the DC Comics character just talking to fish. As such, some might wonder how come Arthur Curry of Atlantis ended up with the Justice League when his best quality might come solely from under the ocean. Thing is, there’s actually more to Aquaman in DC Comics than just his association with water.
In fact, with the right stories, Aquaman has demonstrated quite a wide array of abilities that proves his worth as a founding member of the Justice League. And with his status as King of Atlantis, Aquaman has more to offer than just being that guy who can talk to anyone’s goldfish.
10 Flight
Weirdly enough, for someone thematically associated with the sea, Aquaman displays the ability to fly. Aquaman seems to derive this ability from the Trident of Poseidon, which also gives him a slew of other abilities as well. Interestingly, a god also gave Aquaman the ability to fly using his powers, but it’s not something he used all the time.
While his maximum speed during flights is unknown, his flying capabilities do seem to put him on par with the likes of Marvel’s Namor the Submariner, their own King of Atlantis that is also a Mutant, with a mutation that provides his feet with wings he can use for flight.
9 Energy Resistance, Survive Lava With Little To No Injury
While Aquaman is essentially a half-Atlantean, the superhuman physiology of his Atlantean roots definitely gives him impressive levels of durability. In fact, such is his durability that Aquaman is seen tanking actual energy blasts without any injuries, as well as dipping himself into open lava beneath the ocean and reemerging without any damage.
This quality is impressive, considering that Arthur is already just half-Atlantean. As such, this implies that full Atlanteans can theoretically have the physiology to be more durable compared to what Aquaman is currently displaying.
8 Supersonic Speeds Underwater
While the Flash is the Fastest Man Alive, Aquaman can hold the title of being the fastest man underwater. Of course, being half-Atlantean, “man” in “fastest man” might be a misnomer. Regardless, Aquaman has demonstrated incredible speeds on land, but more especially so underwater.
In one of his adventures, it’s seen that Aquaman was able to outrun a spy plane used by Doom Patrol’s Tempest, which is known to reach speeds of up to Mach 5. This means Aquaman underwater can achieve supersonic speeds, with Mach 5 equating to 6,174km/h.
7 Dormant Magical Prowess, Resistance
Aquaman isn’t simply the King of Atlantis by royal blood, but he can apparently access his royal lineage’s affinity towards magic. Arthur has on different occasions demonstrated the ability to use magic, or arcanum, through various means. While he mostly does this through an arcane implement, there are also different instances where Arthur is seen tapping into various forms of magic even without the help of magical objects.
Moreover, his affinity with magic comes with some level of magical resistance. Thanks to this, Aquaman has demonstrated an ability to become resistant to some strong spells. This is quite impressive, considering that even Superman is weak to a lot of forms of magic.
6 Latent Telekinesis
Aside from dormant magical ability, it seems Aquaman also has some degree of telekinetic ability. Also described as “mysterious” in at least one account, it seems Aquaman has telekinesis that he seldom uses in battle.
One notable use of this telekinesis is to strengthen the attacks of other teammates, particularly against plasma men, which turned out to be extremely durable constructs. Aquaman is seen contributing his telekinesis to a team-based attack composed of Black Canary’s ultrasonic scream, Flash’s super-seed vibrations, and Green Lantern’s power ring blast.
5 Numerous Hand Types
When Aquaman lost his left hand, he got himself a wide variety of “alternate” hands, each with nifty uses. His most notable replacement was that of a cybernetic hand with a retractable hook, as well as a hand made out of liquid metal. However, perhaps his most notable hand was a special one made out of water, courtesy of the Lady of the Lake.
Thanks to this magical water hand, Aquaman has received impeccable control over water. At its core, the hand allows him to shoot jets of freezing or scalding water, as well as heal others with its magical properties. Given its magical nature, the magic hand can also open interdimensional portals and access to limited magical abilities. Moreover, and most terrifyingly, Aquaman can dehydrate anyone he touches with the hand.
4 Weather Manipulation
When Aquaman uses the Trident of Poseidon, he also receives the ability to control the weather. This includes total control over Poseidon’s usual dominions, such as rain and thunder, as well as the storms. Theoretically, Aquaman should be able to summon winds and lightning as well, as these are forces associated with weather phenomena.
Similar to Storm of the X-Men, Aquaman’s control over the weather easily makes him one of the deadliest forces on the planet. With his weather control, he can potentially create storms and cyclones at a moment’s notice and devastate his opponents.
3 Godly Power Over The Seas
Courtesy of the Trident of Poseidon, Aquaman is seen demonstrating various feats similar to the God of the Seas himself. Similar to Zeus, Aquaman can have the Trident summon blasts and bolts of lightning, as well as generate and project powerful lightning bolts from the weapon. Moreover, Poseidon’s control over the seas allowed Aquaman to control and generate water as well, including control over ice.
Moreover, this uncanny control over the seas allows Aquaman to “teleport” anywhere with an existing water source. Theoretically, this allows Aquaman to be able to teleport almost anywhere on the globe, or at least near anywhere that requires his attention.
2 Connection With The Life Force
While one of the common gags associated with Aquaman is his ability to “talk to fish,” it seems this “talking” extends to various forms of control. In fact, such is Aquaman’s dominion over life that he has a connection with the Life Force, one of the Seven Forces of the Universe. His connection to the Life Force is focused on marine life, with a lot of its abilities still unknown even to Aquaman.
However, at its core, the Life Force can essentially allow its user to communicate with all life telepathically. This “communication” can extend to compel and even control various kinds of life. Aside from Aquaman, Poseidon is another notable user of the Life Force and has been able to control all marine life to do his bidding.
1 Divine Resurrection, Revitalization
Aside from telepathy, it seems one of the best gifts of the Life Force has to do with total control over anything that is living. And in the context of Aquaman’s adventures, it seems his control over the Life Force extends not just to ordinary mortals, but even divine forces themselves.
In one of his many adventures, Aquaman was seen restoring fallen gods into their divine forms. In fact, such was Aquaman’s hidden connection with the Life Force that he’s seen being able to “retrieve” the essences of dead gods that should’ve been infused with the primordial goddess Mother Salt. This means Aquaman has not only resurrection abilities but also resurrection that extends to godly entities themselves.