Aqualad

> *"I feel like a prisoner in my own life. I want to understand why I'm like this--who I really am... but my mother won't tell me anything about my father. I want to stop hiding myself... but I've grown up in a place where "different" is a bad word. I want to soak myself in water... but I live in an ocean of sand. I want to escape this prison... and start something new."*
>
> Aqualad

**Kaldur'ahm (Atlantean Kαλδυρ'αμ)** is the former Aquaman protégé, who operates as **Aqualad** next to his king. Finally, he abandoned his mentor and joined the Titans team, after discovering that his father Black Manta was part of the Organization. For a while, he worked briefly as his father's loyal lieutenant, Black Manta, to bring down the Organization.

## Biography

### Early life

Kaldur'ahm came from the Atlantean city of Shayeris, where he was raised by Sha'lain'a, a native of that city, and Calvin Durham, a henchman of Black Manta who was genetically altered to infiltrate Atlantis. However, his actual father was Black Manta himself. He completed his education and began mandatory military service at age 12. At 14, he was transferred to the Conservatory of Sorcery in Poseidonis.

One day, the villain Ocean-Master attacked Atlantis, causing Aquaman to battle with him. During the fight, Aquaman was defeated but was suddenly helped by the combined forces of Kaldur'ahm and Garth. Using a combination of Garth's magic and Kaldur's fighting abilities, the two attacked Ocean-Master. Though they were easily defeated, this allowed Aquaman precious time to recover and defeat Ocean-Master. After the victory, Aquaman offered the boys the opportunity to become his protégés. He became a superhero two years before his tour of the Hall of Justice.

## Physical appearance

Kaldur'ahm is an Atlantean with black hair cut at the bottom, caucasian 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 not shared by most Atlanteans from Poseidonis, but common among the residents of Kaldur's hometown of Shayeris.

## 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. However, he did not accept and said that Dick Grayson would be a better leader.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Hybrid physiology**: Due to his heritage, he is part Atlantean and part human, giving him superhuman abilities, such as superhuman strength, stamina, durability and underwater speed.
	+ **Superhuman strength**: As an Atlantean, Kaldur possesses a superhuman strength, as he was able to get through solid concrete, throw opponents flying through the air with his punches and was able to fight Superboy for quite some time.
	+ **Superhuman durability**: Due to his Atlantean blood, Kaldur is able to sustain multiple hits from both Superboy and Blockbuster without getting tired. This also allows it to withstand water pressure.
	+ **Toxin resistance**: Kaldur'ahm has a partial immunity to poisons of sea creatures, such as jellyfish toxin, which was used by Black Manta.
	+ **Underwater speed**: Like all Atlanteans, Kaldur has strength in his hands, as well as webbed feet to swim in the depths of the ocean at super sonic speeds.
	+ **Underwater breathing**: All Atlanteans are capable of surviving the aquatic atmosphere under the sea. Some accomplish this without the presence of visible gills.
* **Atlantean sorcery**: Before becoming the original Aquaman's sidekick, Kaldur'ahm was trained in the mystical arts by Queen Mera. While he was in the top class along with Tula, his skills have fallen somewhat behind those of Tula and Garth due to focusing his studies as a hero, but his water-bearers compensate somewhat.
	+ **Electricity generation**: Kaldur has the power to generate electricity from the eel tattoos on his arms, which he can channel through water or use as a direct offense against opponents.
	+ **Hydrokinesis**: Kaldur 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.
	+ **Hard-water constructs**: Kaldur has the unique ability to solidify water into a myriad of different weapons for physical attacks. So far he has created swords, maces, sledgehammers, a small shield, and a large eel. This ability, like his hydrokinesis and electricity generation, is powered by his eel tattoos.
	+ **Translation spell**: Kaldur can cast a spell which makes an individual speak and understand atlantean instantly. A spoken incantation is required to use a spell.

## Abilities

* **Expert hand-to-hand combatant**:
* **Multilingualism**:

## 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-bearers**: Twin hilts that can hold onto water which Aquaman then uses to create his hard-water weapons. They are also used as a type of water gun to shoot water from his water pack and can be used to help manipulate sources of water.
* **Stealth-tech**: Technology that is integrated into a piece of clothing and can shift the color of that clothing from the original color to a darker color. Aqualad can access it by pressing the "A" belt buckle on his waist, his "blend" color is dark gray/blue and green.

## Trivia

* Because the character was originally created for the animated series before being brought into Brightest Day, he has a different origin from his comic book counterpart, including being a citizen of Atlantis rather than living in New Mexico.
* He is gay.
* He loves classical music.
* Him crush are Dick Grayson.