Man O War

(Active 1940 - 1949; 1977; 2006 - date)

Little is known about the Atlantean-human hybrid known as Man O War. He appeared in 1940 in British waters; enraged that German destroyers, aircraft and U-boats were laying mines in "his" waters. Together with Miss Victory, he relentlessly attacked the German navy. In 1941, for his own reasons, he joined Freedom Battallion.

Apparently responding to internal conflicts in the undersea kingdom of the Atlanteans and sickened by the impact that both sides of the war were having on the seas, he left the group for a time. Out of loyalty to his comrades, rather than any specific committment to the Americans, he aided in the final invasion of Japan.

Until the invasion of AltEarth by the aquatic aliens, the Nomos, he had not been seen on the surface publicly since the end of the war. He joined with the League of Heroes, however, in 1976 to coordinate a sea and land defense plan for AltEarth and helped to fight off the Nomos invasion the following year.

He returned once more, over thirty years later, to inform the New League of Heroes of a revolutionary, anti-surface-dweller movement in Atlantis; the group was allied with and, at least in part, inspired by Doctor Destroyer. He led a task force of aquatic heroes (Eel, Pisces, and Siren) to put down the rebellion and restore the Atlantean oligarchy.

Man O War is deeply ambivalent about his role in the Atlantean restoration. Atlantean society is deeply hierarchical, with a rigid and oppressive caste system. Although he sympathized with the grievances of the "scalleless ones," he could not support them so long as they supported Destroyer's genocidal plans and participated in unprovoked aggression on the surface.

Despite his efforts on their behalf, Man O War is not trusted by the Atlantean aristocracy because of his half-human ancestry; the revolutionaries believe he is nothing more than a tool of the ruling caste. Thus, all but exiled from Atlantis, Man O War is concerning himself with the affairs of the surface world once more and helping to lead the fledgling New League of Heroes.