10 Things Everyone Always Gets Wrong About Aquaman

6. Lack Of Water Is His Weakness

Aquaman Misconceptions
DC Comics

Where do we start with this one? This isn't a misconception, but more a trait of the character that was done away with. In an era where every super-powered being needed a weakness to counter their immense strengths, Aquaman was given a pretty devastating one: He was required to come into contact with water at least once an hour. If he refused, or was unable to find water in the area, Aquaman would die of dehydration.

Aqualad was affected in the same way, and the weakness was used to creation tension and drama for the duo. What's weird is when he debuted in 1941, Aquaman had no distinct weaknesses. This Achilles' heel was added in the late '50s, in order to level out the character, just like how yellow was added as a weakness for Green Lantern.

Handcuffed by his need for hydration, this weakness further weakened the characterization of Arthur, almost making him more fish than man. Fortunately for the character, the weakness was removed from future iterations of Aquaman after a while. Now the King of Atlantis can be on land for days at a time with no worry, as he did in the Golden Era. Removing this weakness makes Arthur even more of a threat, both on land and sea.

In this post: 
Aquaman
 
Posted On: 
Contributor

I am a veteran of the U.S. Army, comic book fanatic and part-time super hero. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY.