In fiction , a character or personage , is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel , play , radio or television series , music , film , or video game ). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, in which case the distinction of a "fictional" versus "real" character may be made. Derived from the Ancient Greek word χαρακτήρ , the English word dates from the Restoration , although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones by Henry Fielding in 1749. From this, the sense of "a part played by an actor " developed. (Before this development, the term dramatis personae , naturalized in English from Latin and meaning "masks of the drama", encapsulated the notion of characters from the literal aspect of masks .) Character, particularly when enacted by an actor in the theater or cinema, involves "the illusion of being a human person". In literature, characters guide readers through their stories, helping them to understand plots and ponder themes. Since the end of the 18th century, the phrase " in character " has been used to describe an effective impersonation by an actor. Since the 19th century, the art of creating characters, as practiced by actors or writers , has been called characterization .
116-674: Namor McKenzie ( / ˈ n eɪ m ɔːr / ), also known as the Sub-Mariner , is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created by writer-artist Bill Everett for comic book packager Funnies Inc. , the character first appeared in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 (uncirculated). Namor first appeared publicly in Marvel Comics #1 ( cover-dated October 1939). It
232-534: A New York City policewoman introduced in Marvel Mystery Comics #3 (and later known as Betty Dean-Prentiss), who was a steady companion, and his cousins Namora and Dorma . Namor starred in the Golden Age comic book Sub-Mariner , published quarterly, then thrice-yearly, and finally bimonthly, from issues #1–32 (Fall 1941–June 1949). A backup feature each issue starred the detective-superhero
348-617: A princess of the mythical undersea kingdom of Atlantis , Namor possesses the superstrength and aquatic abilities of the Homo mermanus race, as well as the mutant ability of flight, along with other superhuman powers. Throughout the years he has been portrayed as an antihero , alternating between a good-natured but short-fused superhero, and a hostile invader seeking vengeance for perceived wrongs that misguided surface-dwellers committed against his kingdom. A historically important and relatively popular Marvel character, Namor has served directly with
464-636: A branch of the Atlanteans called the Sea Blades to swear their allegiance with him. In addition to incarcerating the criminal Hydro-Man to siphon his hydrokinetic powers which explained how Namor got the Sea Blades to side with him, Atlantean technicians have been fabricating a bomb to target human DNA. When Captain America tries to broker peace, he is violently beaten by Namor and told that next time there will be no mercy. Steve and Jim Hammond turn to
580-404: A candidate, transporting him and many other heroes and villains to another dimension to wait the next match following Captain America's win over Doctor Doom. Because of his unusual genetic heritage, Namor is unique among both ordinary humans and Atlanteans; he is sometimes referred to as "Marvel's first mutant" because, while the majority of his observed superhuman powers come from the fact that he
696-438: A character using the basic character archetypes which are common to many cultural traditions: the father figure , mother figure, hero , and so on. Some writers make use of archetypes as presented by Carl Jung as the basis for character traits. Generally, when an archetype from some system (such as Jung's) is used, elements of the story also follow the system's expectations in terms of storyline . An author can also create
812-521: A couple of friendly encounters with the Marquis de Sade ; and Madame Tussaud makes an appearance in Yellow Fog . Daniels described his works as "tragedy, in which evil consumes itself", as opposed to the melodrama of most contemporary horror novels, in which "customarily good guys meet bad guys and win in two out of three falls". He cited Robert Bloch as an influence on his sardonic style, and
928-736: A deal with Henry to help each other out. In an attempt to discredit Namor in the eyes of the Atlanteans, his cousin Beemer first attacked Sandy and her father and destroyed the oil rig. With the oil threatening to poison them, the Atlanteans had to relocate back to the South Pacific Ocean . Sandy decided to join them, but would disappear. When Namor was a teenager, he witnessed the Chasm People's Swift Tide in combat practice until his royal cousin Lady Dorma arrived. He even witnesses
1044-460: A distinction between the individuals represented in tragedy and in comedy arose: tragedy, along with epic poetry , is "a representation of serious people" (1449b9—10), while comedy is "a representation of people who are rather inferior" (1449a32—33). In the Tractatus coislinianus (which may or may not be by Aristotle), Ancient Greek comedy is defined as involving three types of characters:
1160-429: A fictional character using generic stock characters , which are generally flat. They tend to be used for supporting or minor characters. However, some authors have used stock characters as the starting point for building richly detailed characters, such as William Shakespeare 's use of the boastful soldier character as the basis for John Falstaff . Some authors create charactonyms for their characters. A charactonym
1276-414: A limited empathic rapport with Namorita, but only as a result of being given one of her "magic earrings" (which has long since disappeared). Due to a unique aspect of his hybrid nature, not shared by Namorita , it was theorized that Namor is vulnerable to oxygen imbalances in his blood that trigger manic-depressive mood swings; he can prevent imbalances by regular immersion in water. Namor was educated by
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#17327725698041392-713: A meeting between Atlantis and the Chasm People where he has his first encounter with Prince Attuma . When some Chasm People appear to take on the Imperial Atlanteans and the traitorous Swift Tide, Namor and Lady Dorma are awestruck of the Swift Tide's fighting skills as they and Attuma assist in the battle. When it came to a dark artifact called the Unforgotten Stone, the Swift Tide is sent to retrieve it. In 1939, Namor became friends with New York City policewoman Betty Dean, who pleaded with him to help
1508-818: A member of, superhero teams – most notably the Defenders , which included Doctor Strange , the Hulk, and the Silver Surfer . Other groups he was associated with included the Avengers ; and both the World War II and modern-day versions of the Invaders. Marvel revived The Defenders , with Namor on the team, in December 2011. The series was cancelled after 12 issues. He became one of the main characters, along with
1624-531: A monitor to warn when he has to seek either air or water. This allows Namor to control his metabolism. He collects sunken treasures to finance his secret purchase of a corporation he renames Oracle Inc., which he turns to conservation and environmental purposes. Unbeknownst to the Sub-Mariner, the Machan guilt apparition would secretly influence his actions, leading him to turn willing Atlantean soldiers human for
1740-609: A musician and as a journalist. He was the author of five novels featuring the vampire Don Sebastian de Villanueva, a cynical, amoral and misanthropic Spanish nobleman whose predatory appetites pale into insignificance compared with the historical catastrophes which he witnesses in his periodic reincarnations . These include: the Spanish Inquisition in The Black Castle (1978); the Spanish conquest of
1856-617: A new kingdom near the Pacific Northwest . There, Namor would befriend a young girl named Sandy Pierce, the daughter of wealthy businessman Henry Pierce. During this time, Namor would also meet his cousin Namora , who was named after him. Years later as a teenager, Namor would reconnect with Sandy, revealing his identity to her and starting a relationship. Due to oil leaking from the ground into Atlantis, and Sandy's father facing financial ruin due to problems with his oil rig, Namor struck
1972-401: A new mutant nation. He lends the support of Atlantis to her cause and works with his fellow mutants in the battle against Cassandra Nova as she manipulates national powers against Homo superior on a global scale, once more donning the colors of X to resist a nanorobotic sentinel attack. Relapsing into his human-hating ways, Namor goes back to concocting war plans against the surface nations of
2088-542: A period fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic Books , he is more authoritative, arrogant and solemn than the impetuous youthful character of the 1940s and mid-1950s, speaking in neo- Shakespearean dialogue rather than the more colloquial speech of his youth, often shouting his battle cry, "Imperius Rex!". He was spun off into his own title, the 1968–74 series Sub-Mariner . The super-villain Tiger Shark
2204-523: A persona based on his memories of Thomas Machan, another war buddy Namor had failed to save, hoping that Machan could act as therapist for him. When confronted with the presence of his dead friend, Namor instead suffered a mental break and fled, succumbing to Destine's command once more. Xavier's intervention would solidify the bipolar disorder he would suffer from for decades to come. He was later found by Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four #4 living in
2320-705: A position where he is forced to sign a peace treaty that for a time enabled Hydra to access a fragment of the Cosmic Cube stored in Atlantis. In reality, Namor secretly aids the Underground resistances against Hydra, after finding Winter Soldier falling to the sea out of nowhere and cover his track from Hydra by disguising him as his bodyguard, having had realized that the Steve Rogers-Captain America he and his fellow resistances saw now
2436-520: A reluctant superhero "the Sub-Mariner was perfect for the Marvel Age of angst-ridden protagonists. Noble yet misunderstood, powerful yet thwarted ... [he was] portrayed as a regal monarch – a king without a country." The final issue, #72 (Sept. 1974), was written by Steve Skeates and featured an unofficial intercompany crossover with the last issue of DC Comics ' Aquaman series. A five- to six-page backup feature, "Tales of Atlantis", chronicling
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#17327725698042552-475: A representative of a particular class or group of people is known as a type. Types include both stock characters and those that are more fully individualized . The characters in Henrik Ibsen 's Hedda Gabler (1891) and August Strindberg 's Miss Julie (1888), for example, are representative of specific positions in the social relations of class and gender , such that the conflicts between
2668-481: A thirst for vengeance and a quest for identity – would dominate the Sub-Mariner stories of the 1960s. He was both a villain and a hero – striking against the human race who destroyed his home, but showing a great deal of noblesse oblige to individuals. Initially, Namor variously finds himself allied with the supervillains Doctor Doom and Magneto , but his royal nobility and stubborn independent streak make these alliances-of-convenience short-lived. Namor's revival
2784-546: A time, leaving him with the ability to breathe air but unable to breathe underwater. Other sources have stated that his lungs contain oxygen diffusing membranes that allow him to breathe underwater. Namor possesses a telepathic rapport with all forms of marine life. He is able to mentally communicate with most forms of Ichthyoid, Cephalopod , Plankton, Anthozoa, Csnidarian, etc.; and can mentally persuade them to do his bidding. Namor can mentally communicate with other Atlanteans and give mental-telepathic orders to all his men. He had
2900-481: A time. Succeeding in their mission, Namor and T'Challa would part on friendly terms afterwards, the former being dismayed after hearing of his land-born counterpart's opening suzerainties to the rest of the world later on. While investigating an assault on Atlantis, Namor fell under the control of Paul Destine, bearer of the Serpent Crown , who bade him to fly to New York and wander without his memories until he
3016-562: A triple alliance between Pan, Atlantis and the Sirenas; Namor refuses and resumes battle with the remaining Agents. Brawn talks down the combatants, having hacked Ngyuen's mainframe, and confronts Atlas founder Jimmy Woo for withholding secrets from the team. Woo reveals that for thousands of years, dragons have served as advisors for human rulers, using humans as proxies in their conflicts with one another, making them responsible for almost every major war in history. The Atlas Foundation itself
3132-451: A young American girl in the early 20th century. A six-issue miniseries, Sub-Mariner vol. 2 (Aug. 2007 – Jan. 2008), by co-writers Matt Cherniss and Peter Johnson and, primarily, artist Phil Briones, introduced Namor's heretofore undisclosed son, Kamar. Namor was featured in his own ongoing series, Namor: The First Mutant , in 2011. The series was cancelled after less than a year into its publication. Namor has also served alongside, or even as
3248-458: Is a "walk-on", a term used by Seymour Chatman for characters that are not fully delineated and individualized; rather they are part of the background or the setting of the narrative. Dynamic characters are those that change over the course of the story, while static characters remain the same throughout. An example of a popular dynamic character in literature is Ebenezer Scrooge , the protagonist of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. At
3364-411: Is a hybrid of human and Atlantean DNA, his ability to fly cannot be explained by either side (Atlanteans are an offshoot of "baseline" humanity); however, in terms of in-continuity chronology, there were many mutants in existence before Namor. Namor possesses a fully amphibious physiology suited for extreme undersea pressures, superhuman strength, speed, agility, durability, flight, and longevity. Namor has
3480-598: Is a name that implies the psychological makeup of the person, makes an allegorical allusion, or makes reference to their appearance. For example, Shakespeare has an emotional young male character named Mercutio , John Steinbeck has a kind, sweet character named Candy in Of Mice and Men , and Mervyn Peake has a Machiavellian, manipulative, and murderous villain in Gormenghast named Steerpike . The charactonym can also indicate appearance. For example, François Rabelais gave
3596-736: Is drafted into the Defenders of the Deep, along with Orka, Andromeda, Echidna, the Piranhas, Fathom Five members Bloodtide and Manowar, and King Crab, in order to protect the oceans just as the Avengers protect the land. They encounter the Avengers, where Captain America voices his disappointment in Namor for nearly killing Stingray. Their fight is interrupted by the Winter Guard who are also after
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3712-668: Is killed by the supervillain Nitro . In 2011, Namor joined the mutant superhero team the X-Men . Namor helped with the Curse of the Mutants , and Avengers vs. X-Men events before joining the Illuminati and All-New Invaders . That same year, during the " Fear Itself " storyline, Namor is ousted from his kingdom by Attuma , who was transformed into Nerkodd: Breaker of Oceans. Namor assists
3828-544: Is not attested in OED until mC18: 'Whatever characters any... have for the jestsake personated... are now thrown off' (1749, Fielding, Tom Jones ). Les Daniels Leslie Noel Daniels III , better known as Les Daniels (October 27, 1943 – November 5, 2011 ), was an American writer. Daniels attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island , where he wrote his master's thesis on Frankenstein , and he worked as
3944-533: Is not the man they once knew. Once Captain America returns and gives hope to his fellow heroes to find the Cosmic Cube fragments before Hydra does, Namor tells Winter Soldier that the time has come to remove the latter's disguise and help their fellow allies against Hydra, and returning the real Steve Rogers they knew. Sometime after the fall of Hydra America, Jean Grey of the X-Men implores Namor's backing for
4060-496: Is possible, therefore, to have stories that do not contain "characters" in Aristotle's sense of the word, since character necessarily involves making the ethical dispositions of those performing the action clear. If, in speeches, the speaker "decides or avoids nothing at all", then those speeches "do not have character" (1450b9—11). Aristotle argues for the primacy of plot ( mythos ) over character ( ethos ). He writes: But
4176-408: Is run by a dragon, Mr. Lao. Nguyen intends to unite the world under Pan, proposing to Namor and Woo that by harvesting the combined power of their dragons, they can claim the rest of them. Namor instead returns to Atlantis where Wave brokers a truce with the Sirenas, while Brawn and the other Agents confront Nguyen in his personal bunker. Nguyen attaches a Sirena implant to Amadeus, transforming him into
4292-570: Is still official, she dies as a result of Llyra's machinations. In issues #45–46 (Nov.-Dec. 1971) Namor finally meets his father, long thought dead, only to lose him when Leonard McKenzie gives his life in battle against the supervillain Tiger Shark . Namor allies with the "non-team" the Defenders initially in Marvel Feature #1–3, Dec. 1971 – June 1972, then in the series The Defenders . After being deposed from his throne, Namor joins
4408-661: Is to awaken the Black Tide. Upon Namor's arrival, Iron Man agrees to help him if the Black Tide attack Namor. After the Phoenix Force makes its nest near Avengers Mountain in the North Pole , Namor attempts to reunite with the entity, leading to a clash between the Avengers and the Defenders of the Deep. During the battle, the Phoenix decides to hold a tournament to decide who its next host will be and selects Namor as
4524-788: The Allies ' effort against the Axis powers during World War II . Despite originally denying her pleas, and attacking New York on multiple occasions due to their provocations, Namor decided to join the Allies' cause against the Nazis in September 1940. After the attack on Pearl Harbor and the US officially joining the war in 1941, Namor formed superhero team the Invaders , alongside Captain America , Bucky ,
4640-561: The Angel . Along with many other Timely characters, Namor disappeared a few years after the end of World War II and the decline in popularity of superhero comics. He briefly fought crime as a member of the post-war superhero team the All-Winners Squad , and, through a 1970s retcon , was given a history of having fought with the Allies during World War II in the superhero team the Invaders . Both of these super-groups were built around
4756-594: The Avengers , the Fantastic Four , the Invaders , the Defenders , the X-Men and the Illuminati as well as serving as a foil to them on occasion. Tenoch Huerta Mejía portrays Namor in his live-action debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). Namor was created by writer-artist Bill Everett . The character first appeared in April 1939 in
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4872-870: The Aztecs in The Silver Skull (1979); and the French Revolution 's Reign of Terror in Citizen Vampire (1981). In the later novels Yellow Fog (1986, revised 1988) and No Blood Spilled (1991), Sebastian is resurrected in Victorian London and India , where the horror of his vampirism is again contrasted with non-supernatural evil, now in the person of Sebastian's human enemy, Reginald Callender. A sixth (and presumably final) Don Sebastian novel set in Tibet and entitled White Demon
4988-513: The Hulk in the past. Some stories have mentioned that Namor has gills for breathing underwater, e.g., in Namor, the Sub-Mariner #5, Namor thinks "this New York river water burns my gills and scalds my lungs". and artists such as Salvador Larroca have drawn him with gill slits on either side of his neck. In The Sub-Mariner #18–22 (1969–70), beings from outer space surgically closed Namor's gills for
5104-434: The Serpent Crown under the pretext of protecting Namor from psychic attack. Namor reveals to Bucky that he is aware that Machan has been intermittently been taking over his body throughout the years, creating the plan without his knowledge, but with his ultimate approval. Machan has become a symbol of his failure and righteous anger at the injustices of the world, pushing him to ever more extreme actions. Machan ultimately uses
5220-467: The buffoon ( bômolochus ), the ironist ( eirōn ), and the imposter or boaster ( alazṓn ). All three are central to Aristophanes ' Old Comedy . By the time the Roman comic playwright Plautus wrote his plays two centuries later, the use of characters to define dramatic genres was well established. His Amphitryon begins with a prologue in which Mercury claims that since
5336-399: The one-shot New Avengers: Illuminati (May 2006), Namor is revealed to have been a member for several years of the clandestine policy group the Illuminati , with Mister Fantastic , Iron Man , Doctor Strange , Professor X , and Black Bolt . In the series Sub-Mariner vol. 2 #1–6 (Aug. 2007–Jan. 2008), he discovers his long-lost son Kamar, who attempts to usurp the throne of Atlantis but
5452-399: The original Human Torch , and Toro . In 1944, Namor and the Invaders would go to Wakanda , where they encountered T'Chaka , the king and Black Panther of the nation. Namor would later find both contention and companionship in youthful monarch T'Challa. The pair of kings would briefly work together to track down traitors and enemies along with missing subjects of their respective kingdoms for
5568-446: The social order . In fiction writing , authors create dynamic characters using various methods. Sometimes characters are conjured up from imagination; in other instances, they are created by amplifying the character trait of a real person into a new fictional creation. An author or creator basing a character on a real person can use a person they know, a historical figure, a current figure whom they have not met, or themselves, with
5684-661: The 1970s martial artist superhero Iron Fist , who had been presumed dead. Whereas J. M. DeMatteis saw his series as an opportunity to explore Namor much more deeply than he had been able to in the team book The Defenders , John Byrne felt that the character did not work well outside of a group context and accordingly gave Namor, the Sub-Mariner a massive supporting cast. The 12-issue miniseries Namor (June 2003–May 2004), credited to co-writers Bill Jemas (then Marvel's president) and Andi Watson , and penciled initially by Salvador Larroca and later by Pat Olliffe and others, explored Namor's youth, charting his teenage romance with
5800-546: The Avengers he is approached by then-ally in the war turned adversary in modern times; Captain Steven Rogers, the two catching up about life and times. Namor returns to Atlantis to marry his royal cousin Lady Dorma. In Sub-Mariner #37 (May 1971), the evil princess Llyra of Lemuria , another undersea culture, kidnaps and replaces Dorma at the wedding, hoping to usurp Namor's kingdom. Though Namor's marriage to Dorma
5916-494: The Defenders of the Deep. In the ensuing chaos, the Defenders escape after the sea king makes an example of some piranha men. After battling cybernetically augmented dolphins sent by the Roxxon oil corporation, Namor sits brooding in an undersea tavern, musing on the decline of his kingdom and repeated aggression from the surface world, and considering giving in to the hunger for war. The bartender suggests he focus his strength against
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#17327725698046032-521: The Fantastic Four leads to a long-running romantic triangle for Namor, Sue Storm, and Reed Richards. Namor becomes obsessed with Sue, who finds him dangerously attractive. Prior to Namor's first battle with the Avengers, he comes across a group of Inuit worshiping a figure frozen in ice; someone whom the Sub-Mariner vaguely recognizes from the past just before hurling said monolith into the ocean during an outburst of rage. After his second bout with
6148-527: The Heart of Pan. With some goading from Woo and Namor, Brawn transforms back into Hulk and creates another shockwave to weaken the tsunami with help from Namor, Wave, Aero and Luna Snow . The city is saved, although Nguyen dies protecting a Madripoorian refugee and her young son from the tsunami. One month later at the Heart of Pan, Woo announces to the Agents and Pan's new leadership at a banquet that Atlantis and
6264-412: The Hulk. Nguyen commands the Hulk to kill Namor to ensure Pan's safety, intending to wipe out all kings and autocrats. Namor takes the battle to an island two miles off the Heart of Pan, where Sword Master and Shang-Chi manage to remove the device, freeing Amadeus from Nguyen's control. Namor then reveals that the shockwaves from the Hulk's blows have created a massive tsunami that is heading towards
6380-628: The Illuminati, but believing the group's morality holds it back, he assembles a new group, the Cabal, to deal with interdimensional incursions. Namor and the Cabal eventually escape to another Earth, this one in the Ultimate Universe . The new Squadron Supreme decapitates Namor in retaliation for the worlds destroyed by the Cabal, but this is undone through time travel. During the " Secret Empire " storyline, Captain America puts Namor into
6496-629: The Olympian Pantheon, such as Heracles' Adamantine Mace, the trident is composed of indestructible metal belonging to the gods, able to battle against multiple enforcers of the Thor Corps and their legions of Mjolnir hammers without taking any damage. In the past Namor has interacted with the Serpent Crown throughout his adventures, in later publishing he has regained access to all of its supernatural facilities to augment his own powers. Character (arts) A character who stands as
6612-435: The Petersons, a bedridden Randall and his daughter Nay, in order to find insight into Namor's fits of aggression. Machan urges Namor to dispatch the Petersons to tie up loose ends, and in a confrontation between the three heroes, Randall dies of geriatric complications, much to Namor's distress. Nay and her son, US Navy Commander Roman Peterson, are revealed to be agents of Namor. Namor intercepts Hammond and summarily decapitates
6728-473: The Serpent Crown to transfer himself into the body of Roman Peterson, in order to do what his king will not. When Roxxon mercenaries steal the Genus Compound, Namor is exposed to a variant used to turn Atlantean spies into humans, and loses his powers. He ends up stranded on a seemingly deserted island along with Captain America. Powerless, Namor takes responsibility for everything Machan has done, whereas Steve insists on Namor's fundamental goodness. They discover
6844-526: The Silver Surfer that his offer was an attempt to undermine Kataw's rule and force an alliance, but his arrogance has cost yet another life. Namor prepares for war accompanied by his advisor Machan, who appears to be a blue-skinned Atlantean with the same abilities of flight and air-breathing that Namor does. It soon becomes clear that Machan only exists in Namor's mind, and is in fact the psychic entity based on Thomas Machan that Xavier implanted in his mind years before. Namor developed hydrokinesis in order to get
6960-421: The Sirenas have signed a non-aggression pact, recognizing Pan as an independent nation. Mr. Lao and Woo plan their next move with the Agents: helping Namor fight the King in Black . During the " King in Black " storyline, Namor recounts his history with the Swift Tide and the exile of the Chasm People. When Knull attacks Earth, Namor agrees to help his fellow superheroes. One way to fight Knull's symbiote forces
7076-445: The Sub-Mariner seeks out a long defected splinter sect of Atlanteans known as the Vodani. Namor attempts to forge an alliance by joining with the king's daughter, Kataw, to vanquish an ancient monster, but this turns out to be a ruse by the Vodani king Okun to leave him vulnerable, the Vodani having grown to despise what they see as impure Atlanteans. Namor flings himself at Okun, hoping to surface and use his airbreathing abilities to gain
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#17327725698047192-427: The Wakandan-led Avengers, pointing out the many potential allies among the Avengers' enemies. Unbeknownst to Namor, the bartender is an agent of Mephisto . Taking the bartender's words to heart, Namor uses his lingering psychic link with the Phoenix Force to summon it back to Earth, promising to set galaxies ablaze in exchange for the power to defeat the Avengers. Leaving the Defenders of the Deep to protect Hydropolis,
7308-399: The X-Men, who have relocated to Utopia , off the coast of San Francisco, and sides with them during the subsequent war with the Avengers over the coming of the Phoenix Force to Earth. He becomes one of the Phoenix Five when the Phoenix Force is fractured between himself, Cyclops, Emma Frost , Colossus and Magik . He eventually becomes the first of the Phoenix Five to fall. Namor rejoins
7424-410: The ability to survive underwater for indefinite periods, and specially developed vision which gives him the ability to see clearly in the murky depths of the ocean. Bill Everett, in his first Sub-Mariner story, described the character as "an ultra-man of the deep [who] lives on land and in the sea, flies in the air, [and] has the strength of a thousand [surface] men". No other powers were mentioned. When
7540-465: The android. Roman takes control of a missile base to launch a strike against Atlantis, which the Avengers intercept in order to prevent a war. The missile strike gives Namor justification to retaliate with the Genus Compound, a biochemical weapon which transforms homo sapiens into water breathing homo mermanus . He then floods the town in order to save thousands of lives, including Roman, who joins Namor's side. The Atlanteans provide humanitarian aid for
7656-410: The best. He described the character as an "ultra-man of the deep [who] lives on land and in the sea, flies in the air, [and] has the strength of a thousand [surface] men". When the giveaway idea with Motion Picture Funnies Weekly fell through, Everett used the character for Marvel Comics #1, the first comic book by Funnies, Inc. client Timely Comics , predecessor of Marvel Comics . The final panel of
7772-427: The book Comix by Les Daniels . Namor has the ability to swim at superhuman speeds, even by Atlantean standards. Namor has greater longevity than a normal human being. He is nearly 100 years old, but has the appearance of a male in his prime. His enhanced senses enable him to see in the deepest ocean depths, hear when a school of fish turn a corner from a world away and even feel when the deepest currents change by
7888-432: The carnage he created as he wrecked everything from ships to skyscrapers." Everett's antihero would eventually battle Carl Burgos ' android superhero, the Human Torch , when in 1940 Namor threatened to sink the island of Manhattan underneath a tidal wave. When the U.S. entered World War II , Namor would aid the Allies of World War II against Adolf Hitler and the Axis powers . Supporting characters included Betty Dean,
8004-405: The character's decades of published history. Namor again received an ongoing series in 1990. Namor, the Sub-Mariner , which ran 62 issues (April 1990 – May 1995), was initially written and penciled by John Byrne who took over the inking as well from issues #4–21. Unlike all of Namor's previous series, the cover logo emphasized the character's name rather than the "Sub-Mariner" epithet. From #26–38,
8120-517: The characters reveal ideological conflicts. The study of a character requires an analysis of its relations with all of the other characters in the work. The individual status of a character is defined through the network of oppositions (proairetic, pragmatic , linguistic , proxemic ) that it forms with the other characters. The relation between characters and the action of the story shifts historically, often miming shifts in society and its ideas about human individuality, self-determination , and
8236-453: The characters, but they include the characters for the sake of their actions" (1450a15-23). Aristotle suggests that works were distinguished in the first instance according to the nature of the person who created them: "the grander people represented fine actions, i.e. those of fine persons" by producing "hymns and praise-poems", while "ordinary people represented those of inferior ones" by "composing invectives" (1448b20—1449a5). On this basis,
8352-540: The core of Namor, Captain America, and the original Human Torch. The Sub-Mariner experienced a brief revival in the mid-1950s at Atlas Comics , the 1950s iteration of Marvel. Along with Captain America and the original Human Torch, he was revived in Young Men #24. Soon afterward, Sub-Mariner was revived with issues #33–42 (April 1954 – Oct. 1955). During this time, Namora had her own spin-off series. A planned live-action television program starring Namor did not appear and
8468-529: The displaced townsfolk, Namor's intent being to ultimately transform the entire population of Earth into homo mermanus . During his time travelling with Professor X, Namor had witnessed the police gun down a mutant called Genus who had the ability to transform animals from one species to another, and has used Genus' recovered corpse as the basis for his weapon. The Machan part of Namor's psyche continues to work behind Namor's back, approving additional testing on Russian citizens without his knowledge. He also procures
8584-418: The doomsday engine, Namor intends to take Roman Machan back to Atlantis to be executed, but Steve insists that he be taken into surface-dwelling custody as the world still thinks Namor was behind everything. Recounting how a king sacrifices for the sake of the greater good, Rogers challenges his fellow Invader to forgo his vengeful needs for the sake of his kingdom. Namor invades the portal city of Pan to demand
8700-406: The dragon is safely returned to Atlantis, but abruptly goes berserk upon arrival and attacks the underwater city. Atlantean scientists discover an implant embedded in the dragon's scales. Namor flies to Pan for revenge, but Big Nguyen Company's CEO and Pan founder Mike Nguyen reveals that he has recruited the Sirenas to defend Pan from attack. Namor defeats a Hulked-out Brawn and is about to strike
8816-544: The earlier, unpublished eight-page Sub-Mariner story had included a "Continued Next Week" box that reappeared, sans lettering, in an expanded 12-page story. In his first appearances Namor was an enemy of the United States. Comics historian Les Daniels noted that "Namor was a freak in the service of chaos. Although the Sub-Mariner acted like a villain, his cause had some justice, and readers reveled in his assaults on civilization. His enthusiastic fans weren't offended by
8932-586: The earliest surviving work of dramatic theory , Poetics ( c. 335 BCE ), the Classical Greek philosopher Aristotle states that character ( ethos ) is one of six qualitative parts of Athenian tragedy and one of the three objects that it represents (1450a12). He understands character not to denote a fictional person, but the quality of the person acting in the story and reacting to its situations (1450a5). He defines character as "that which reveals decision , of whatever sort" (1450b8). It
9048-438: The final blow, but is overpowered by the Sirenas and imprisoned. Nguyen proposes all-out war with Atlantis, while Namora discovers that the implant on the dragon was Sirena tech, splitting the heroes' loyalties. Namor breaks free from his restraints and threatens to destroy the entire city upon realizing that Ngyuen has sent a force of Sirenas to attack Atlantis. Nguyen, via hologram, warns of civilian casualties and instead proposes
9164-622: The flophouse Bowery district of Manhattan as an amnesiac derelict. Regaining his memory, he became enraged upon learning that his people's city had been destroyed by nuclear testing, its inhabitants evacuated. Namor vows revenge on humanity, but after several attacks thwarted by superheroes, including in Fantastic Four #6, 9, and 14 (Sept. and Dec. 1962, May 1963), Strange Tales #107 (April 1963), he finds his people and launches an unsuccessful invasion of New York City in Fantastic Four Annual #1 (1963). Namor's experience with
9280-479: The furnace, instead sending it into the freezing void of space. Namor offers to let Kataw use her electricity redirection powers to siphon his bioelectric life force and give the Silver Surfer enough power to save the planet, a sacrifice he is willing to make as king. Furious at his arrogance after killing her father, she sacrifices her own life instead. After being exiled from their world, Namor acknowledges to
9396-585: The human intruders. When Fen did not return, Atlantean warriors attacked the Oracle , evidently killing Captain McKenzie, and returned Fen to her kingdom. The pink-skinned mutant Namor was subsequently born among the blue-skinned Atlanteans. He became the Prince of Atlantis, and a warrior for his people against the "surface-dwellers". At some point, when Namor was a child, the people of Atlantis relocated and built
9512-515: The island hosts a Roxxon testing facility where scientists are experimenting with the Genus Compound to create more humanoid-animal hybrids. Steve uses the compound to restore Namor's Atlantean powers, and an enraged Namor releases the experiments upon the scientists, who are mauled to death before Steve can intervene. Steve calls Namor no better than the scientists, as the Genus Compound was his work to begin with. Steve and Namor reunite with
9628-546: The latter being either an author-surrogate or an example of self-insertion . The use of a famous person easily identifiable with certain character traits as the base for a principal character is a feature of allegorical works, such as Animal Farm by George Orwell, which portrays Soviet revolutionaries as pigs. Other authors, especially for historical fiction , make use of real people and create fictional stories revolving around their lives, as with The Paris Wife which revolves around Ernest Hemingway . An author can create
9744-406: The most important of these is the structure of the incidents. For (i) tragedy is a representation not of human beings but of action and life. Happiness and unhappiness lie in action, and the end [of life] is a sort of action, not a quality; people are of a certain sort according to their characters, but happy or the opposite according to their actions. So [the actors] do not act in order to represent
9860-642: The name Gargantua to a giant and the huge whale in Pinocchio (1940) is named Monstro . In his book Aspects of the Novel , E. M. Forster defined two basic types of characters, their qualities, functions, and importance for the development of the novel: flat characters and round characters. Flat characters are two-dimensional, in that they are relatively uncomplicated. By contrast, round characters are complex figures with many different characteristics, that undergo development, sometimes sufficiently to surprise
9976-406: The narrative structure, unlike core characters, for which any significant conflict must be traced during a considerable time, which is often seen as an unjustified waste of resources. There may also be a continuing or recurring guest character. Sometimes a guest or minor character may gain unanticipated popularity and turn into a regular or main one; this is known as a breakout character . In
10092-465: The notion of "fire and water". His interest in "anything nautical, [and having] to do with the sea", also factored in Namor's creation and origin. Everett stated that the inspiration for creating the character was Samuel Taylor Coleridge 's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798), and came up with "Namor" by writing down noble-sounding names backwards and thought Roman / Namor looked
10208-598: The other Illuminati members, in the third volume of New Avengers beginning in 2013. He appeared in the 2018 Namor: The Best Defense one-shot . Namor was born in the capital city of the Atlantean empire, then located under the Antarctic ice pack. His mother was Emperor Thakorr's daughter, Fen, and his father an American sea captain, Leonard McKenzie, of the icebreaker Oracle ; they had fallen in love and married aboard ship while she was, unbeknownst to him, spying on
10324-459: The play contains kings and gods, it cannot be a comedy and must be a tragicomedy . [...] is first used in English to denote 'a personality in a novel or a play' in 1749 ( The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary , s.v.). Its use as 'the sum of the qualities which constitute an individual' is a mC17 development. The modern literary and theatrical sense of 'an individual created in a fictitious work'
10440-501: The prototype for a planned giveaway comic titled Motion Picture Funnies Weekly , which was produced by the comic book packager Funnies Inc. The only eight known samples among those created to send to theater owners were discovered in the estate of the deceased publisher in 1974. Allegedly, Everett created Namor because he was informed that Carl Burgos had created the Human Torch , who can manipulate fire, and he wanted to play on
10556-408: The purpose of infiltrating governments. Later, Namor loses his ankle-wings during a battle with the animated garbage-monster Sluj, but they are later restored. Namor travels to the dimension of K'un-L'un , where he finds and retrieves the superhero Iron Fist , who had been presumed dead. Namor reclaims the throne of Atlantis, and Oracle begins sponsoring the charitable super-group Heroes for Hire . In
10672-481: The reader. In psychological terms, round or complex characters may be considered to have five personality dimensions under the Big Five model of personality. The five factors are: Stock characters are usually one-dimensional and thin. Mary Sues are characters that usually appear in fan fiction which are virtually devoid of flaws, and are therefore considered flat characters. Another type of flat character
10788-524: The rest of the Invaders to prevent Roman Machan, as he is now calling himself, from unleashing the Omega Sea. By siphoning water from the oceanic world of Vodon, Machan can flood the planet and coerce humanity into taking the Genus Compound to survive. Namor momentarily falls under the sway of the Serpent Crown but reasserts control, declaring he takes commands from no one. After the Invaders disable
10904-503: The return of Atlantis' sacred guardian dragon, which the Big Nguyen Company has stolen in order to power the city's portal technology. The New Agents of Atlas negotiate a truce between Namor and Pan, with Namor being particularly impressed by Wave due to her recent role in defeating the Sirenas, longtime enemies of Atlantis. The Agents successfully develop a new power source to prevent Pan's citizens from being displaced, and
11020-698: The revival of the comic book series was cancelled a second time. Namor returned in Fantastic Four #4 (May 1962), where a member of the titular superhero team, Johnny Storm, the new Human Torch , discovers him living as an amnesiac homeless man in the Bowery section of Manhattan . Storm helps him recover his memory, and Namor immediately returns to his undersea kingdom—later identified as Atlantis in Fantastic Four Annual #1 (June 1963). Finding it destroyed from nuclear testing , Namor assumes his people are scattered and that he will never find them. He again becomes an antihero during this period, as two elements –
11136-606: The royal tutors of the Atlantean court, and speaks many surface languages, Atlantean, and Lemurian. He is a highly skilled business executive. On top of having a slew of vast Atlantean technologies available to him and his forces, Namor also has a slew of powerful mystical relics in his national treasury he regularly makes use of; like the Trident of Neptune, patron weapon of his kingdom's founding sea god Poseidon. The weapon supposedly comes with many replicas as an adversary who held
11252-404: The sea king in resentment due to prior infractions he had in the past utilized a true oceanic scepter while Namor held only a ceremonial copy. Said recipient would study up on the lore of Atlantis's mythical, mystical background and discovered a hidden treasure cove pertaining to numerous magical relics in the ocean deity's possession. One that would enable he and all others who wielded it power over
11368-561: The series was revived in 1954, Namor lost his ankle wings and with them the power of flight; they, and his full strength, were restored in Sub-Mariner Comics #38 (Feb. 1955), in which Everett additionally wrote a flashback story, "Wings on His Feet", detailing their appearance on Namor at age 14. This story was twice reprinted during the Silver Age of Comic Books , in Marvel Super-Heroes #17 (Nov. 1968), and in
11484-406: The series' penciler and eventual penciler-inker was then-newcomer Jae Lee , with Bob Harras scripting from #33–40. After three fill-in issues, the remainder of the series was written by Glenn Herdling and pencilled by Geof Isherwood . This series followed Namor as CEO of Oracle, Inc., a corporation devoted to reducing pollution, particularly in the oceans, and provided the stage for the return of
11600-400: The series' run. Recurring characters often play major roles in more than one episode, sometimes being the main focus. A guest or minor character is one who acts only in a few episodes or scenes. Unlike regular characters, the guest ones do not need to be carefully incorporated into the storyline with all its ramifications: they create a piece of drama and then disappear without consequences to
11716-406: The slightest degree. In all his incarnations, Namor possesses superhuman strength and, with the possible exceptions of Orka and Tyrak at their full sizes, is the strongest Atlantean ever known. The exact level of his strength is dependent upon his physical contact with water, in which he needn't be submerged. It has been shown as sufficient to effortlessly toss a water-filled ocean-liner, despite
11832-450: The start of the story, he is a bitter miser, but by the end of the tale, he transforms into a kindhearted, generous man. In television, a regular, main or ongoing character is a character who appears in all or a majority of episodes, or in a significant chain of episodes of the series. Regular characters may be both core and secondary ones. A recurring character or supporting character often and frequently appears from time to time during
11948-483: The superhero team the Avengers . He is briefly married to Marrina , an aquatic alien and a member of the Canadian super-team Alpha Flight . She is later presumed killed, but she is later revealed to be in a coma, of which Namor is unaware. Father-daughter oceanographers Caleb and Carrie Alexander, theorizing that Namor's propensity toward rage is due to his half-human half-Atlantean blood chemistry, equip Namor with
12064-476: The undersea kingdom from its ancient origins, appeared in issues #62–66 (June–Oct. 1973), written by Steve Gerber , with penciling by Howard Chaykin and later Jim Mooney . After the cancellation of Sub-Mariner , Namor co-starred with Doctor Doom in the Super-Villain Team-Up series. The series suffered from mediocre sales due to its lack of a stable creative team, and following issue #13 Namor
12180-462: The underwater viscosity . His strength diminishes slowly the longer he is out of contact with water, though an extended period on land does not result in his death, as it would for a typical Atlantean, and his power is retained in full as long as he keeps himself wet. Namor possesses superhuman stamina and resistance to injury due to his hybrid nature. Namor's strength level is such that he has held his own in hand-to-hand combat with beings as powerful as
12296-598: The upper hand, but realizes that the tunnel he passed through to reach the Vodani was in fact a portal to another world, and he has unwittingly cast them both into the vacuum of space, where he is only saved by the unexpected intervention of the Silver Surfer . Namor, in conjunction with his colleagues in the Defenders , battles against Nebulon , a demon-empowered entity who has hijacked a cosmic train that burns planets as fuel, and has directed it to Vodan and ultimately towards Earth. Dr. Strange and Hulk manage to rescue Vodan from
12412-449: The waters of the world and the vast metaphysical might of its namesake to which they could accomplish a great many feats. Other powers include that of physical transformation, such as changing a human into merfolk, firing destructive energy beams, commanding the creatures of the brine to act on its wielders behalf, as well as influence both weather and the tides of the world to do their bidding. Like all weapons and reliquary crafted by and for
12528-805: The world. When Professor Charles Xavier offers Namor sanctuary in the new mutant nation of Krakoa , the somber monarch refuses Xavier's request on the grounds that neither Xavier nor the mutant nation actually believed themselves to be superior to those from whom they had finally separated themselves, and demands that Xavier not contact him until Xavier believes in his own supremacy. Elsewhere, in Los Angeles , while explaining her backstory to Gwen Poole , Ramone Watts implies that both she and her brother Johnny "Fuse" Watts are children of Namor, born to exiled Dora Milaje Zobae. Namor crashes Tiger Shark's battle with Stingray, nearly killing Stingray and intimidating Tiger Shark into swearing his allegiance. Tiger Shark
12644-485: Was a hit with readers, but Marvel could not give him his own title due to publication and distribution restrictions that would not be lifted until 1968. Instead, Namor was given numerous guest-appearances – including in Daredevil #7 (April 1965), a rare superhero story drawn by comics great Wally Wood – and a starring feature in the split-title comic Tales to Astonish (beginning issue #70, Aug. 1965). By now, during
12760-580: Was an enthusiast of the works of John Dickson Carr , who in several of his own works combined historical fiction with horror and the detective story. Daniels was also the author of Comix: A History of Comic Books in America (Dutton, 1971) — with illustrations by the Mad Peck — and Living in Fear: A History of Horror in the Mass Media (1975). According to Daniels, at the time he wrote Comix , "there
12876-472: Was dropped from the co-star spot. Marvel published a four-issue miniseries a decade later, Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner (Sept.-Dec. 1984), by scripter/co-plotter J. M. DeMatteis , penciler/co-plotter Bob Budiansky , and inker Danny Bulanadi. The 12-issue maxiseries The Saga of the Sub-Mariner (Nov. 1988 – Oct. 1989) provided a retrospective of Namor's past adventures while tying up loose plot threads and resolving contradictions that had accumulated over
12992-426: Was introduced in issue #5 by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema and the super-hero Stingray in issue #19 by Thomas and Bill Everett. Some of the later issues of this Sub-Mariner series are notable for having been written and drawn by the character's creator, Bill Everett, shortly before his death; as well, they reintroduced a now-older Namora, and introduced her daughter, Namorita Prentiss . By now more of
13108-575: Was planned and is advertised by some sources as being available for purchase, but in fact was never completed: Daniels had begun writing it before abandoning it due to the demands of his non-fiction projects and was told when able to resume that his publisher had lost interest. Daniels also worked with the historical fiction genre. The Black Castle features appearances by Torquemada and Columbus ; in The Silver Skull Sebastian confronts Hernán Cortés ; in Citizen Vampire he has
13224-563: Was summoned. In his amnesiac state, he met the daughter of friend and fellow World War II veteran Randall Peterson, Nay Peterson, who recognized him and took him back to her family home. Namor spent years living with the Petersons, slowly recovering his memories, until he was approached by Professor Charles Xavier and joined him in search of fellow mutants. His travels with Xavier revealed Namor's emotional imbalance due to wartime PTSD. In an attempt to heal Namor's mental trauma, Xavier created
13340-480: Was the first comic book from Timely Comics , the 1930s–1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics . During that period, known to historians and fans as the Golden Age of Comic Books , the Sub-Mariner was one of Timely's top three characters, along with Captain America and the original Human Torch . Moreover, Namor has also been described as the first comic book antihero . The mutant son of a human sea captain and
13456-481: Was very little literature on the subject and, in fact, there was very little being produced by fandom . It was an attempt to say, 'Look, here's what has been done in the medium.' I didn't sit down and talk to creators at great length or anything like that." Both Comix and the more extensively researched Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics – Marvel (1991) were written with a general audience in mind, in
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