Aqualad

Kaldur'ahm (Atlantean Name)

Kal (Nickname)

Kaldur (Nickname)

## **History**

### **Jackson Hyde: 1996 - 2008**

Jackson Hyde was born in an unincorporated part of New Mexico, near Silver City. He grew up in relative isolation, living alone with his single mother. Though Jackson was never told of his origins until he was much older, Jackson was in fact the son of a Navy SEAL that would go on to become the mercenary known as Black Manta.

Jackson’s mother was an Atlantean who had been exiled from her career as a Royal Engineer for not only showing a surface-dweller the location of Poseidonis but for also designing a suit of armor that would enable her human lover the ability to work his craft underwater. After her exile, Jackson’s mother designed more devices for her lover and even his mercenary lackeys, even designed a fleet of war-subs for their use, but at some point, something happened and she realized that she had done too much, so she fled to one place her lover would not look for her: the desert.

Jackson’s mother was shocked to find she was pregnant as it is rare that human and Atlantean pairings produce offspring, but was even more shocked to discover that her child had the Gift of Kordax, easily noticed from birth with her child’s blonde hair, a trait not natural in Atlanteans. Deciding it was best to conceal her son’s nature from him, Jackson’s mother survived the desert by taking twice-daily baths and regular trips to a small hidden watering hole near their trailer home; but raised Jackson to be afraid of the water and limited his exposure to it, timing his baths and showers, intent to not give his gills time to manifest.

But for all her efforts, eventually the truth came out, when Jackson was twelve and walking home from where his school bus would drop him off. A freak rainstorm drenched the local area and caused Jackson’s gills to form and his fingers to become webbed. When his mother found him and tried to pull him out of the rain, another ability manifested: a powerful electric shock which immediately stopped his mother’s heart. Jackson called 911 but due to his aberrations, police arrested him. Within days, he was just another “metahuman freakshow” in the papers that no one cared about, until the day that Arthur Curry showed up at the jail, intent to take Jackson home.

### **Aqualad: 2008 - Present**

Jackson Hyde was a day away from his sentencing hearing after a quick small-town kangaroo court found him guilty for the death of his mother. Due to his believed metahuman nature, Jackson was being held at the Silver City Jail and was pretty much doomed to unknowingly follow in his father’s footsteps, but was fortunate enough to receive a visitor that fateful day.

Arthur Curry had happened to hear of Jackson’s story via a news report over a television mounted on the wall of a tavern in St. Roch. Recognizing the boy was not a metahuman, but a hybrid Atlantean like himself, Arthur Curry drove all night to reach the Silver City Jail and with nothing but a ski mask and a swing of whiskey, he freed Jackson Hyde.

After freeing the boy, Arthur brought him to Atlantis. Jackson was given the Atlantean name of Kaldur'ahm and was named apprentice page of Prince Orin’s squire Garth. Kaldur'ahm received a proper education at the Royal Academy of Poseidonis and was a dutiful attendant to Garth and Prince Orin, taking care of their equipment and training while the two were off on their adventures as Aquaman and Aqualad. In his downtime, Kaldur'ahm preferred to continue his training in more esoteric matters instead of pursuing hobbies and this led him to become a pupil of Tula and Mera, secretly studying Atlantean sorcery so that one day he could truly impress his prince, sworn master, and future king.

That day did come when Black Manta infiltrated Poseidonis, seeking to kidnap the newborn son of Prince Orin and his wife Princess Mera. Due to his Kordaxian telepathy and an unknown bond, Kaldur'ahm detected the would-be kidnapper in the nick of time and came to the child’s rescue. Though his combined psionic and magical might, coupled with his intense combat training, proved enough to fight off his opponent, it was Black Manta who would deliver the most painful blow that day: revealing to Kaldur'ahm that he was the boy’s father!

After this revelation, Arthur decided to make Kaldur'ahm his new squire, giving the boy the title Aqualad, in hopes that working in the field would help ease the boy’s traumatic anxiety.

## **Appearance**

Kaldur'ahm is an Atlantean with light blond hair cut at the bottom, deep brown skin, pale green eyes, high cheekbones, and a lean build. He possesses black, eel-like tattoos that run across his back and along his arms and glow a bright blue when using his powers. *The visibility of the tattoos is due to the fact that Aqualad dropped out of Sorcery school before progressing to an advanced level; with more advanced sorcerers, the tattoos are only visible when used.* Kaldur'ahm also has webbed hands and feet and possesses a set of gills that allow him to breathe underwater. *The set of visible gills is a trait shared by all Atlanteans.*

As Aqualad, his superhero costume is a skin-tight, full-body, red-and-blue swimsuit that exposes his arms and feet. The costume has a set of small dorsal fins on the back of the calves. Aqualad also carries a water pack that holds twin Water-Bearers and water.

## **Personality**

Kaldur'ahm is a very calm person, a trait unshared by the rest of his teammates. Soft-spoken and clear-headed, he has a tendency to think things through and formulate plans before taking any sort of action. He tries to see the good in all people and often acts as the voice of reason amongst his teammates, who were rarely—if ever—as cool-headed as he was. Kaldur always speaks in a formal manner, with an air of respect to all people, both young and old, and he demonstrates the utmost respect to all of the adult heroes of the Justice League, even when he disagrees with them. He holds Aquaman in the highest regard because he is his king. Despite his calm behavior, Kaldur was still a teenager, and could at times behave rashly and impulsively. This was, of course, what led to the Team's first mission together. Kaldur'ahm was (eventually) considered by all his teammates to be the natural choice for team leader. He considered the position to be temporary and believed Robin would take command once he was ready. Although he had proven to be a natural leader, Kaldur seemed reluctant to take the job, calling it a heavy burden. Still, he accepted the role and had done rather well for the most part.

## **Powers, Abilities, Equipment, and Weaknesses**

### **Powers**

**Atlantean-Human Hybrid Physiology:** The Atlanteans are an offshoot of humanity that is biologically adapted to the deep ocean environment. For most Atlanteans, this means they can breathe underwater, endure the pressures of the deep (among other adaptations), and can only spend a very limited time out of the water. Jackson also possesses superhuman levels of strength, speed, endurance and durability, all by-products of his body being adapted to survive unprotected in the tremendous pressures of the ocean depths. Although other Atlanteans possess similar adaptations, Jackson's royal lineage makes him a super-Atlantean as well as super-human, and as such he has greater physical capabilities than does a typical Atlantean.

* **Aquatic Mode:**
	+ **Aquatic Breathing:**
	+ **Cold Resistance:** Jackson is extremely resistant to cold-based attacks due to his extreme temperature adaptability leaving his skin highly resistant to freezing temperatures.
	+ **Enhanced Swimming:**
	+ **Pressure Immunity:**

* **Supernatural Senses:**
	+ **Supernatural Vision:**
	+ **Supernatural Hearing:**
	+ **Supernatural Smell:**
* **Supernatural Strength:**
* **Supernatural Stamina:**
* **Supernatural Durability:** Jackson's enhanced physiology enables him to withstand impacts that would kill an ordinary human, and critically injure an average Atlantean. He has been seen in ocean depths as deep as 20,000 feet (3.79 miles) below the surface of the water. It seems that Jackson has been able to travel as deep as 36,000 feet (6.82 miles) considering that he claims that his eyes have been adapted to see at that depth. With the pressure of the ocean floor, at its deepest recorded depth, being over 16,000 pounds per square inch Jackson's body is extremely and highly durable to impact blows from even the likes of Mammoth and Amazons as well as Kryptonians. Jackson's skin is able to resist penetration wounds from high-caliber bullets or blades composed of most conventional materials.
* **Supernatural Balance:**
* **Supernatural Reflexes:**
* **Supernatural Agility:**
* **Supernatural Speed:**
* **Telepathy:**
* **Aquatic Life Manipulation:**
* **Electric Water Manipulation:**
* **Magic:**

### **Abilities**

**Peak Human Charisma:** Jackson is a very skilled leader and strategist, arguably just as competent as Dick Grayson or Tim Drake in this regard.

**Atlantean Training:** As former inhabitant of Paradise Island and the current squire for the Queen of Atlantis, Tula is an excellent warrior trained in several combat styles, hunting, fishing, tolerating pain, and many other survival techniques and proves to master them all at high levels even as a child.

* **Magic Intuition:**
* **Omnilingualism:**
* **Supernatural Combat:**
* **Weapons Proficiency:**

### **Equipment**

**Water Pack:** A black metallic backpack that holds an unspecified amount of water that Aqualad can use. It also holds his Water-Bearers.

* **Water Potions:** Aquaman is able to manipulate water to serve any number of uses, e.g. water blasts, whips, waves, shields, or waterspouts to lift him into the air. He can manipulate water from a nearby source, like fire hydrants, lakes, etc. or his water pack. His water blasts are capable of slicing through metal and other materials.

## **Trivia**

* Jackson's rescue by Aquaman was before the JLA was set up so Atlantis wasn't even known about... Arthur just showed up in civilian clothes and wrecked shop, breaking Jackson out and taking him back to Atlantis with him so that he might learn of his heritage. Arthur being half-Atlantean as well was understandably sympathetic to Jackson's plight. Young Arthur accidentally put many people in the hospital due to his strength before he learned of his true nature.
* Jackson Hyde is still wanted by the police.
* Jackson is a horrible liar, when you know what to look for. Not that he has the most expressive face to begin with, but his left eyelid twitches whenever he is telling a falsehood.
* Jackson's favorite food is tacos. He loves fish tacos most of all, but because his teammates tease him about eating fish, he often chooses to save those as a private pleasure when dining alone.
* Jackson struggles with insomnia, and can often be found walking, running, or swimming late at night to help himself fall asleep from exhaustion.
* Jackson is a big fan of zombie movies and literature.
* Jackson identifies as a proponent of the feminist movement and usually has an easier time socializing with female peers.
* Jackson only eats locally grown fruits and vegetables whenever possible and he will never shop at a corporately owned marketplace.