Black Manta (Prime Earth)

"*I'll show you the same mercy you showed my father. And gut you like the fish you are!*"
―Black Manta to Aquaman[src]
**David Hyde** was a pirate and a mercenary who goes by the name **Black Manta**. Formerly the second-in-command of the Devil Rays pirate crew led by his father, he came into conflict with Aquaman after he refused to save his father's life. Following his father's death he took command of the crew and began his crusade of revenge against the Atlanteans.

Growing a permanent resentfullness at Aquaman, he dedicated his life as the Black Manta to ruin Aquaman's life before.

## Personality

David is a vengeful person, so vengeful that he dedicated his life as Black Manta to take down Aquaman.

## Powers and abilities

### Powers via the Black Manta suit

David Kane does not possess any innate powers. Instead, he uses bleeding edge technology supplied by a shadow organization to provide him with superhuman strength, endurance, durability, and a variety of weapons.

#### Support powers

* **Superhuman Strength**: Black Manta's armor grants him incredible superhuman strength, on par with that of high-born Atlanteans, such as Aquaman. This is shown when he kicked Aquaman off his feet, successfully headbutted him, kicked him out of a house, and - with the help of his jetpack - rammed him off a building.
* **Flight**: Black Manta's suit incorporated the firing mechanism of the plasma cannon onto its back and legs, allowing Manta to fly and hover in mid-air as well as to cover immense distances rather quickly, as seen when he swiftly landed beside a subdued Aquaman in mere seconds despite having sent the latter plummeting over a massive cliff.

#### Defensive powers

* **Superhuman durability**: Black Manta's armor grants him incredible durability, to the point that he can survive tremendous underwater pressures. It can withstand, albeit not unscathed, mighty blows from Aquaman. The armor's durability also allowed him to survive a direct explosion followed by a large fall off a cliff, though he was left badly injured and the armor was severely damaged.

#### Offensive powers

* **Optic Blasts**: The helmet of Black Manta's suit fires thick beams of red plasmoid energy from its eyes, similar to kryptonian heat vision. These beams are so intense, that Aquaman was sent flying an immense distance by them, with his body left slightly blackened.
* **Retractable Blade**: Black Manta keeps a retractable blade in the left forearm. The blade is of Atlantean steel, which makes them sharp enough to slice right through the body of a high-born Atlantean.
* **Wrist-Mounted Harpoon Gun**: Black Manta's suit also boasts steel weaponry, such as the spear hook on his right arm, which was sharp enough to pierce Aquaman's flesh. Moreover, the spear hook can also be charged with a strong electric current, which makes it glow red.

### Abilities

* **Gifted Intellect**: Black Manta is extremely intelligent, mostly regarding his pirating, engineering, and leadership skills. He is also well-read and has a good memory, reciting a verse from H.P. Lovecraft's *The Call of Cthulhu* whilst confronting Aquaman.
	+ **Expert Engineer**: Black Manta has an innate knack for understanding the most complicated technological function of any mechanism. Hence, his being able to take apart, modify and reassemble his Atlantean wet-suit into the powered armor he now adorns, turning the Plasma Gun the suit came with into a helmet-based heat ray and a thruster system. This is particularly noteworthy as Atlantean technology is radically different and more advanced than human technology.
	+ **Expert Pirate**: Having been trained by his father Jesse Kane, Black Manta is an immensely skilled pirate, to the point that Orm hired him to stage an attack from the surface dwellers upon the Council of Kings in Atlantis. Indeed, Manta and his father would have successfully overtaken the Russian submarine had Aquaman not intervened.
	+ **Leadership**: Black Manta is a highly skilled leader, being the new leader of his father's pirate crew, the Devil Rays.
* **Master Combatant**: Black Manta is extremely skilled in both armed and unarmed combat. He is able to keep up with Aquaman when donning his new armored suit and gained the upper hand against his high-born Atlantean opponent when he began employing his Atlantean steel blades for an extended period of time, although it must be noted that Aquaman also had to protect civilians before ultimately being tossed down a cliff but still leaving Aquaman grievously wounded.
	+ **Sword Mastery**: Black Manta is an extremely skilled swordsman since even before he donned the armor, Aquaman was only saved from a fatal stab from Manta by his Atlantean durability. Black Manta successfully managed to land severe wounds on Aquaman with his new weapons.
	+ **Knife Mastery**: Black Manta is skilled a using a knife in combat. This was seen when he stabbed Aquaman in the shoulder before the latter could react. This skill even extends to knife throwing. This is seen when he threw his knife at a picture of Aquaman while sitting down and using one eye.
* **Expert Marksman**: Black Manta is an expert marksman, being highly skilled with firearms, as seen when he shot Aquaman multiple times during their first encounter, though the shots didn't affect him. His marksmanship extending even to accurately shooting his wrist-mounted harpoon into Aquaman's back. He can also accurately shoot his helmet's optic blasts at any target.

## Equipment

* **Black Manta suit**: Created with Atlantean steel, the suit is sealed so completely that it cannot be entered even at the atomic level. It greatly increases his underwater mobility, primarily through the use of some sort of diver propulsion vehicle, and allows him to leap great heights when shooting out of water.

## Relationships

Allies* Devil Rays - subordinates
* Task Force X
	+ Rick Flag
	+ Deadshot
	+ Harley Quinn
	+ Captain Boomerang
	+ Mirror Master
	+ Mindboggler
	+ June Moone / Enchantress
* Mera
* Aqualad

## Trivia

* The storyline of him being an autistic child who was enslaved was considered.

## External links

* Black Manta (Prime Earth) on DC Database
* Black Manta on DC Extended Universe Wiki
* Black Manta on Wikipedia