While awaiting transport to Miami, Florida, a young man named Arthur Joseph Curry is washed out to sea when a storm ruptures the tank he was in. This Arthur Curry, whose origin closely resembles that of the Golden Age Aquaman as well as that of Neptune Perkins, is the son of oceanobiologist Dr. Phillip Curry. Arthur's mother, Elaine, died in childbirth, and Dr. Curry was forced to use a mutagenic serum on his son when he was born three months premature. Arthur has lived his whole life in the main tank of his father's research facility at Avalon Cay, his only window to the outside world being television.Shortly after his arrival in the sea, Arthur is mentally contacted by the mysterious "Dweller of the Depths," a deformed humanoid with tentacles instead of hair and a left hand made of water. The Dweller urges him to help King Shark, who still bears scars from a previous battle with Aquaman during the recent Crisis. The Dweller, confusing Arthur for Aquaman and calling him his "charge," tells Arthur and King Shark of a prophecy regarding Arthur's future, a prophecy which seems to be a distorted version of the original Aquaman's history. The Dweller reveals that the original Aquaman was "transformed into one akin to a great and terrible enemy of your people and become the vessel of power strange, ancient and terrible."Arthur's first trip causes him to meet many of Aquaman's supporting characters including Mera, the Sea Devils, Vulko, and eventually Ocean Master. During this adventure, the Dweller progressively realizes that he himself is the original Aquaman, despite having no memory of his former life.Later Arthur finds a humanoid squid named Topo, a naive youth attracted by superheroics, seeking to become a sidekick, and Tempest, now amnesiac, unable to breathe water and implanted with a post-hypnotic suggestion warning of an upcoming battle. The battle soon occurs, and the Dweller/Orin is apparently killed. The whole Justice League is called to evaluate Orin's situation, but are unable to determine if he is truly dead, or if he can somehow resurrect himself due to his new magical nature.In the final issue of Sword of Atlantis (#57), Aquaman is visited by the Lady of the Lake who explains his origins. The original Aquaman had given a sample of his water hand to his father in order to resurrect his dead son, Arthur, whom he had named after Orin. When Orin attempted to resurrect Sub Diego, part of his soul attached itself to the dead body of Arthur Joseph Curry, while Orin's physical form mutated into the Dweller. Blaming himself for Orin's death, Aquaman vows to never be called "Arthur" again, refraining from using the "stolen" name, asking only to be called simply Joseph in future.Arthur is considered as a candidate for the new Outsiders by Batman. After seeing him in action with Metamorpho, however, Batman decides against his induction.In their quest to rid the Earth of all forms of kryptonite, Superman and Batman journey deep below the sea and find a large amount of it. The World's Finest are met with hostility by the Arthur Joseph Aquaman and King Shark. A brief fight ensues, but eventually Aquaman allows them to take what they came for. Before doing so, he points out that not everyone may want Superman to find all of Earth's kryptonite, and that he would have to be at least part human to know that.Arthur makes his next appearance in "Final Crisis: Requiem" at the funeral of J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter. Although initially assumed to have been misdrawn in Orin's appearance, Final Crisis #3 reveals that Arthur has transitioned to wearing Orin's classic gloved costume and has answered the hero draft at Oracle's contact. He is referred to as 'the new mysterious Aquaman' by Oracle(due to this script being penned two years ago and possibly because only a few characters in the Outsiders have ever met him).Powers:
The new Aquaman has many physical abilities in common with the original Aquaman, including underwater breathing, submarine speed, and superhuman strength. Like the Golden Age Aquaman, young Arthur can't survive outside of water for long. He also gained telepathic powers. He now speaks and understands the languages of the sentient sea peoples unaided, and has a limited ability to communicate with nonsentient sea life. He cannot speak directly to them as his predecessor could, but can send and receive emotional impressions and desires, such as communicating a need for help. He is working to expand the latter ability, and in one instance has been able to "see" through the eyes of nearby fish.
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