Varying origins . Black Manta had no definitive origin story until #6 of the 1993
Aquaman series. In this origin, the child who would become Black Manta grew up in
Baltimore,
Maryland, and loved to play by the
Chesapeake Bay. In his youth, he was kidnapped and forced to work on a ship for an unspecified amount of time, where he was physically abused by his captors. At one point, he saw Aquaman with his
dolphin friends and tried to signal him for help but was not seen. Finally, he was forced to defend himself, killing one of his tormentors on the ship with a knife. Hating the emotionless sea and Aquaman, whom he saw as its representative, he was determined to become its master. An alternative version was given in #8 of the 2003
Aquaman series. In this origin, the boy who would become Black Manta was an autistic orphan placed in
Gotham City's
Arkham Asylum. He felt comfortable in freezing cold water but found cotton sheets excruciatingly painful. Because the attendants at Arkham did not know how to deal with autism, they would end up restraining him to the bed as he struggled and screamed whenever they tried putting him to bed. In this version, young Black Manta was also fascinated when he saw Aquaman on television. The boy would end up being subjected to experimental treatments. One treatment seemed to clear the boy's head, but left him violent as a result; he killed the scientist who had administered the treatment and escaped from Arkham.
Criminal career As an adult, Black Manta designed a costume (primarily a black wetsuit with a bug-eyed helmet, that was able to shoot rays from its eyes) and fashioned a high-tech submersible inspired by
manta rays. Taking the name Black Manta, he and his masked army became a formidable force, engaging in at least one unrecorded clash with Aquaman prior to his first appearance as a rival to the
Ocean Master (and before joining the short-lived
Injustice League in the
retcon Silver Age third-week event). Black Manta and Aquaman battled repeatedly over the next several years. During one of these clashes, it is revealed that Black Manta is actually black, whose stated objective at one point was for
black people to dominate the ocean after having been oppressed for so long on dry land; though it was soon revealed by
Cal Durham, one of his more idealistic henchmen, that Manta was more obsessed with his own personal desires. During most of his appearances, his main goals are defeating Aquaman and gaining power for himself through the conquest of
Atlantis. Finally, Manta kills Arthur Curry, Jr., Aquaman's son, which leaves Aquaman obsessed with revenge. Aquaman summons various predatory sea-life to attack Black Manta and leaves him for dead. It is later revealed that Black Manta was able to survive by generating an electric charge with his suit.
One Year Later, he overtakes Sub Diego but is forced to flee when
King Shark bites off his face. When Aquaman dies at the end of the 2003 series, Black Manta begins working for
Libra as part of the
Secret Society of Super Villains. However, after Libra betrays the group and helps
Darkseid conquer the Earth, Black Manta quits. In a 2011
Brightest Day storyline called "Aquawar", Black Manta has retired from his criminal ways. He has opened a fish market to earn an honest living. When he discovers that Aquaman has been resurrected following the end of the
Blackest Night, Black Manta murders the customers in the store and burns down his shorefront house as he resumes his criminal career and vendetta against Aquaman. Black Manta is seen later at the grave of
Thomas Curry, Aquaman's father, where he is approached by Siren and her Death Squad after demolishing the tombstone. The Death Squad battles Black Manta, but before the fight continues too long, Siren stops them. She informs Black Manta that they need to work together to find his son, showing him a hard water image of
Jackson Hyde. It is also revealed during this time that Black Manta's real name is
David. Black Manta and Siren locate Jackson and attempt to kill his foster father. Jackson fights back but is unable to stop Black Manta from shooting a trident-shaped dart at his foster father. At the last moment, Aquaman intervenes, blocking the fatal shot. Black Manta then faces his old nemesis again. During the battle, Aquaman pulls Jackson and his foster father to safety. In a flashback, it is revealed that Black Manta was once a treasure hunter who, along with his wife, was captured while exploring the
Bermuda Triangle. Their captors were the other-dimensional residents of Xebel, and the two were tortured mercilessly. The captors experimented on Black Manta's pregnant wife which gave the unborn child powers similar to those of the residents of Xebel. Jackson attacks his father, berating him for siding with the people who killed his own wife, only for Black Manta to throw Jackson to the ground and coldly state that both he and his mother meant nothing to him. As Black Manta prepares to impale his son with one of his blades, Mera arrives with
Aquagirl, who saves Jackson by striking Black Manta in the face. Jackson and Mera work together to seal Black Manta, Siren, and the rest of the invaders away in the Bermuda Triangle. Black Manta vows from within the prison to get his son, Jackson.
The New 52 In 2011, "
The New 52" rebooted the DC universe. In this continuity, Black Manta's real name is
David. In David's early life, Aquaman killed Black Manta's father by accident in retaliation for attacking Aquaman's father
Thomas Curry when
Stephen Shin contracted David to obtain the DNA of Aquaman, who later mistook Jesse for David when exacting vengeance. Black Manta kills a woman named Kahina the Seer, a former teammate of Aquaman, and steals her Atlantean relic. He then vows to kill her entire family before getting his revenge on Aquaman. A flashback shows that Aquaman created a team known as the Others (forged of six Atlantean relics from the Dead King's tomb) who are trying to catch Black Manta, but they fail and Black Manta escapes. Black Manta goes after Aquaman's former teammate Prisoner-of-War in
Heidelberg. Seeking revenge, Black Manta attempted to kill all of Aquaman's family and friends. When Black Manta chased Prisoner-of-War, he was confronted by Aquaman in a battle. Manta prepared to kill Shin but was thwarted when Aquaman and the Others attacked his henchmen. Black Manta killed Vostok-X and escaped with the relic scepter. After Vostok-X's death, Aquaman, through tears, swore that he would kill Manta in revenge. Black Manta delivered the relic scepter to
a mysterious Atlantean, who was revealed to be his employer, but the Others ambushed them and attacked. The mysterious Atlantean managed to grab the relic scepter and escape while Black Manta was forced to battle the Others, resulting in Manta and his henchmen being taken away by the authorities. While in
Belle Reve, Black Manta refused to join
Amanda Waller's
Suicide Squad. During the
Forever Evil storyline, Waller approached Black Manta again to join the Suicide Squad. Black Manta declined again at the same time as
Deathstorm and
Power Ring invade Belle Reve. After hearing Waller's offer to join the Suicide Squad, Black Manta retrieved his equipment during Belle Reve's prison break and accepted the Secret Society's coin. At the Justice League's Watchtower, after claiming Aquaman's trident, Black Manta tossed the coin in the ocean. Black Manta took the trident to his father's grave stating his quest to kill Aquaman was over. Looking up, he witnessed
Ultraman moving the moon in front of the sun resulting in the creation of massive tidal waves. The waves washed the grave of Black Manta's father away which gave him a new purpose: to destroy the
Crime Syndicate. After retrieving
Black Adam's body from the ocean, Black Manta met up with Lex Luthor,
Subject B-0, and
Captain Cold, where he informed them of what Ultraman's actions did to his father's grave. Lex Luthor realizes that with the help of B-0, Adam, Black Manta, and Captain Cold, he might be able to stop the Crime Syndicate.
DC Rebirth In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "
DC Rebirth" which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52".
The Drowning Black Manta's first
DC Rebirth appearance was in the one-shot
Aquaman: Rebirth #1, acting as the narrator until he reveals himself at the very end. Manta later appeared in
Aquaman vol. 8 #1, in which he attacks Spindrift Station, an Atlantean embassy built by Aquaman near his hometown of Amnesty Bay to promote relations between Atlantis and the surface. Black Manta fights with Aquaman, and even wounds him, but the fight is ended with words about how hollow and empty Black Manta's purpose in life truly is. He is eventually taken into custody by the U.S. military, but the vehicle transporting him is attacked by
N.E.M.O. forces. A woman named Blackjack takes him to the organization's base in Antarctica, where he meets the Fisher King. N.E.M.O plans to discredit Aquaman in the eyes of the world by manipulating conflicts with the United States and other surface nations, and Black Manta decides to continue this mission after killing the Fisher King and claiming the title for himself. In
Aquaman vol. 8 #7, Manta appears at a meeting of the N.E.M.O board in Venice, Italy, where he kills those who oppose his rule as the Fisher King and commands the
Shaggy Man to attack Atlantis. Later, Manta oversees N.E.M.O's usage of Atlantean pretender forces against the U.S., which prompts the nation to declare war on Atlantis. After a team of American Aquamarines, super-soldiers who can take on the form of sharks and other aquatic creatures, fails to assassinate Aquaman, the Atlantean king attacks Black Manta on his ship in the Azores in issue #15. Rather than surrender, Black Manta blows up the ship and all aboard, but Aquaman and Blackjack escape.
Rise of Aqualad/Blood of Manta It is revealed that Manta survived the explosion, perhaps with the help of Blackjack, and has become obsessed with finding his illegitimate son Jackson Hyde, who has joined the Teen Titans. Manta's desire to find him stems from his remembrance of a lost relic with power over the sea itself,
The Black Pearl, a weapon which can bend the oceans to the user's whim, which once belonged to a notorious Atlantean pirate who died in Xebel. Knowing only a denizen of Xebel had the map to its keep and only Xebelian hands could unseal it, he nearly murdered Hyde's mother to get to him. With his son in tow, Manta and Jackson set out to find his prize, needing his son to unlock the trove that the pearl was sealed in. Eventually, a clash broke out between him and the Teen Titans after achieving his goal and with it, power to dominate the world. He was finally bested by
Aqualad, who near fatally electrocuted him before taking the pearl ring from his hand.
Year of the Villain During the "
Year of the Villain" event, Lex Luthor's Apex Lex form visited Black Manta. He gave him a gift in the form of the Mecha Manta which was programmed with the farmed data and DNA of Jesse Hyde.
Gaining the Trident of Orichalcum While at
Doctor Mist's headquarters, Black Manta was approached by his former underling
Devil Ray for aid in completing the Trident of Orichalcum that is made from the
Orichalcum stone that he found as it can only be wielded properly by someone of Deserter heritage as it is revealed that Black Manta's heritage comes from Atlantis' Deserter branch. After fighting Devil Ray who was unable to go through with detonating the poison bombs around Atlantis, Black Manta confiscated the Trident of Orichalcum and allowed Devil Ray to leave while advising him not to go down the same path as him. ==Skills and abilities==