Ocean Master

Ocean Master
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Aquaman #29, (September 1966)
Created by	Bob Haney (writer) Nick Cardy (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Orm Marius
Species	Half-Atlantean
Team affiliations	Anti-Justice League Injustice Gang Secret Society of Super Villains
Notable aliases	Orm Curry
Abilities	Uses a magical trident and high tech equipment and can control sea life.

The Ocean Master is a fictional supervillain published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Aquaman #29 (September 1966), and was created by Bob Haney and Nick Cardy.

Fictional character biography

Pre-Crisis

Orm Curry was Aquaman's fully human half-brother, the son of Tom Curry (Aquaman's father) and a woman named Mary O'Sullivan. He grew up under the shadow of his heroic half-brother and resented the fact that he had none of Aquaman's powers, being fully human, and he was already a petty criminal when he was stricken with amnesia and forgot all about his former life, disappearing shortly afterwards.

Several years later, the self-named Orm Marius reappeared as the Ocean Master, a high-tech pirate who initially attacked ships but quickly moved on to causing natural disasters in order to hold the world at ransom. Aquaman and Aqualad were captured by Ocean Master but managed to escape. Aquaman was then unable to fight Ocean Master after having seen behind the Ocean Master's mask and realizing that he was his half-brother Orm, although he did stop his plan.

In his subsequent appearances Ocean Master, believing Aquaman was afraid of him, had decided to overthrow Aquaman and usurp his throne. Unable to survive underwater, he made a special costume and helmet to help him breathe while in the ocean and clashed with Aquaman many times. Ocean Master regained his memory when Deadman took possession of his body and unlocked Orm's memories in Aquaman #50 (March-April 1970), but he continued to plot against his half-brother.

Post-Crisis

The Ocean Master's origins changed following Peter David's reinvention of Aquaman. He is still Aquaman's half-brother, but since Aquaman is no longer the son of Thomas Curry, Orm is now the son of Atlan the wizard (Aquaman's true father) and an Inupiat woman.

He first appeared in #3 of the miniseries Aquaman: Time and Tide (February 1994), in which Aquaman recorded the story of his life. This told how one of his early encounters with humans was when he rescued a girl named Kako from a polar bear. Her family were all traditionalists, except her cousin Orm, who had no time for the old ways. When Kako and Arthur began a sexual relationship Orm attacked her in a jealous rage. Although she survived, she did not recall what had happened to her.

Orm appeared in his Ocean Master costume in the next issue, which is set early in Orin's career as Aquaman and his rule of Atlantis. As in pre-Crisis continuity, Ocean Master desires the throne of Atlantis, having learnt his father was an Atlantean wizard. At this time neither he nor Aquaman knew of their relationship, although Aquaman would make the connection while recording the events.

During the Underworld Unleashed storyline, Ocean Master later started using mystical powers when sold his soul to Neron for a powerful trident which gave him great power, but caused agony if released. With this, he conquered the Dreaming City, a nation of Atlantean offshoots. He has been found by Aquaman, who was seeking to unite all the tribes of Atlantis. Aquaman convinced Ocean Master that they were half-brothers, however the pressure of this caused Orm's mind to snap.

Following this he briefly joined Lex Luthor's Injustice Gang, an "all archenemies" counterpart to the "Big Seven" Justice League. He also attempted to aggravate the tensions between Atlantis and the surface country of Cerdia.

Ocean Master clashed with the JLA again when he attempted to claim the remains of Atlantis following Aquaman's apparent death in Our Worlds At War.

Orm was last seen having used his mystical talents to alter reality so that he was Aquaman and Orin was Ocean Master. As Aquaman, Orm held Sub Diego under his evil rule. However the heroic Ocean Master was able to defeat him.

The Atlantis Chronicles suggests that brothers battling for rulership is a recurring theme in Atlantean history.

In Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis, Ocean Master has enslaved the Atlanteans who survived the Spectre's destruction of Atlantis, and is using them to mine industrial materials for the surface world.

In Infinite Crisis, Ocean Master became a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains.

In Final Crisis, he is placed on the new Society's inner circle by Libra.

Powers and abilities

Ocean Master is a master of magical manipulation and can utilise it for many effects including magical bolts and telepathy. After making a deal with the demon Neron, Ocean Master can now manipulate even larger amounts of magical energy.

The price of this however is a horribly scarred face and he was given a trident as a focus for his power.

If Ocean Master is separated from the trident he suffers excruciating pain. He also wears a helmet that lets him breathe underwater and also wears special body armor that lets him withstand the pressures of deep water and offers some resistance to physical attacks.

Other versions

Flashpoint

In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Ocean Master aids his brother Aquaman in attacking the pirate Deathstroke.^[1] After they take them out, Ocean Master attempts to kill the leader Deathstroke, but is then stopped by his brother, Aquaman, who forces them to leave as he had other work to do.^[2] Unbeknownst to Aquaman, it was also revealed that Orm was one of those responsible for the war between the Atlanteans and Amazons, as he had joined forces with Artemis and Hippolyta's sister, Penthesileia to prevent the union of the two civilizations. The plot ended with the death of Hippolyta, Diana's mother, who took Artemis's strike (meant for Diana) on the wedding day.^[3] Aquaman reassigns Ocean Master and Siren to assassinate Terra in New Themyscira. The mission failed, with Siren being killed by Penthesileia.^[4] Ocean Master is later revealed to had been caught by Wonder Woman, after she saw him and her aunt kissing which prompted in her discovery that the war between the Atlanteans and the Amazons was a ruse planned by them. Later, they say they plan to stop each of the opposing powers, meaning they will be thought of as heroes, and they plan to rule the world together.^[5]

In other media

Television

• Orm (not using the names of Ocean Master, Marius or Curry) appeared in an episode of Justice League voiced by Richard Green. In this portrayal, he is a full Atlantean and a member of the royal court. When Orm went to the surface, he hired Deadshot to assassinate Aquaman so he could claim the throne as his own and took action against the surface dwellers by melting the polar ice caps. He was eventually defeated by Aquaman and is presumed dead after plummeting down a ledge. In the Justice League season one DVD box set Bruce Timm said they considered bringing Orm back in costume but scratched the idea because they thought the name "Ocean Master" was too corny as well as having to deal with bringing him back after he had fallen from the cliff in his last appearance.

• Ocean Master makes an appearance in the animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold voiced by Wallace Langham. Here, Aquaman's brother Orm has returned to Atlantis after Aquaman gives him a second chance. After an attempted assassination on Aquaman's life is thwarted by Batman, the Dark Knight is hesitant to believe that Orm has turned over a new leaf. Later on, it is revealed that he is working with Black Manta to steal the throne from Aquaman, and he even succeeds in capturing his brother (donning the mantle of Ocean Master during the process). Black Manta betrays him however, leading to the two putting aside their differences to save Atlantis. Orm is imprisoned in the end, and is forced to listen to tales of heroism from Aquaman (much to Orm's dismay). Despite what happened, Orin gives Orm a second chance (because "they are family").

• Ocean Master is mentioned in the Young Justice episode "Downtime". It is revealed that Aqualad first came to the attention of Aquaman by helping him in a battle against Ocean Master. The identity of Ocean Master is not revealed in the episode, but Prince Orm (voiced by Roger Craig Smith) appears later and shows no visible signs of hostility towards his brother. None the less, Ocean Master later appears in the episode "Revelation" where it is revealed that he is L-5 of "The Light" (Project Cadmus' Board of Directors).

References

1. ^ Flashpoint #2 (June 2011)
2. ^ Flashpoint: Deathstroke and the Curse of the Ravager #2 (July 2011)
3. ^ Flashpoint: Wonder Woman and the Furies #1 (June 2011)
4. ^ Flashpoint: Emperor Aquaman #2 (July 2011)
5. ^ Flashpoint: Emperor Aquaman #3 (August 2011)

External links

• Biography on Orm
• Alan Kistler's Profile On Aquaman - A retrospective by comic book historian Alan Kistler tracing Aquaman's history from 1941 all the way to the present day.
• Ocean Master on DC Database, an external wiki, a DC Comics wiki