Name: Namor McKenzie

Superhero Name: Namor The Sub-Mariner

Created By: Bill Everett

Played By: Tenoch Huerta

Powers: Mutant/Atlantian hybrid DNA, meaning that Namor has all the powers of an Atlantian, but also the ability to fly, due to this, he is seen as an Alpha-Level mutant. As for his Atlantian powers, Namor has superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes and durability. On top of this, his body is specially adapted to living underwater – as in, he can breathe underwater, see even at murky depths, and withstand freezing temperatures. He can also live on land if he wishes, though he would still need contact with water on occasion to survive.

Namor also heals faster than most humans and Atlantians and heals even faster when he’s in water. He can also absorb radiation to a currently unknown level, has decelerated ageing (Atlantians live to about 120), can telepathically communicate with aquatic life, including Atlantians, and can navigate by sensing faint electrical currents in the water.

He has also been able to manipulate the weather, much like Storm of the X-Men.

Mini Bio: Namor is the son of a human father and an Atlantian mother. His father had been on a ship looking for vibranium, and his mother, Princess Fen, had been sent by her father, the Emperor, to investigate disturbances in the water. The two fell in love and fell pregnant with Namor. But, before he could be born, his father’s ship was attacked by Atlantian soldiers and was presumed dead after the battle.

The Emperor hated Namor’s father, and did his best to instil hatred in surface dwellers into Namor, and also made sure that he knew how much his grandfather hated the human part of him. From this, Namor has had a lasting distrust for men in power.

Namor was raised in Atlantis and was sent out on various diplomatic missions to protect Atlantis. One such mission was to New York, where he discovered that Nazis were diving near Namor’s kingdom. To stop them, Namor teamed up with Captain America, which he would do several times more throughout the years.

During the ’50s, the Emperor of Atlantis and Princess Fen were killed in a battle, and Namore had his memory wiped, leaving him alone on the surface world until Charles Xavier and Johnny Storm helped him regain his memories. When Namor tried to go back to Atlantis, he found that and output had been destroyed by nuclear bomb testing and assumed his people were scattered across the world, and he would never be able to find them again. For this, he vowed revenge on the surface world, which lead to him fighting the Fantastic Four while teaming up with Doctor Doom. He also teamed up with the Hulk while he was on a rampage, going up against the Avengers, where Namor discovered the still-frozen body of Captain America.

In a rage, he threw the body into the sea, where the Avengers soon found him and thawed Steve Rogers out, which won Namor the respect of the team, to the point where they offered him a place on the team, which he declined.

Due to the war, Namor has PTSD, which means he constantly has flashbacks to the horrors he saw during the war.

Since then, Namor has resided as King of Atlantis and has made a name for himself as a bit of an anti-hero. He’s worked with the Avengers and Defenders, though his pride (and rivalry with Hercules) always got in the way. It was really only Namor’s respect for Captain America that kept him on the team. When he joined the Illuminati, he was very arrogant and hostile against his fellow team members, and eventually left that group too, after disagreeing with them about sending the Hulk into space.

His tensions with T’Challa, and Wakanda as a whole, come from tensions rising between the two nations during some multiversal incursions – the countries were on the edge of all-out war until Namor put forward a peace treaty, which T’Challa agreed to. But, Queen Shuri did not trust Namor, and while Namor was celebrating peace with T’Challa, Wakandan soldiers attacked Atlantis. The city was left in ruins, and things have never been the same between Namor and the Wakandans.

Interesting trivia: After the Wakandans attacked Atlantis, Namor actually teamed up with Thanos and the Black Order, which lead to the destruction of another reality’s Earth. Namor is also named Marvel’s First Mutant, as his character pre-dates all other mutants in terms of publication history. If you go by how old each character is, then mutants like Apocalypse and Wolverine are far older.

I should also mention that Namor is considered by a far few people that he has Bipolar Disorder, which can cause him to fly into violent rages – this is an incredibly harmful stereotype which surrounds the illness (as well as conditions like PTSD), so please keep in mind when you read Namor’s comics that his behaviour is not a usual part of any mental health issue. There is more information here about Bipolar disorder, and more about PTSD here, if you wish to read more about the conditions.

First Comic Appearance: Marvel Comics issue 1 (1939)

Most Common Team Ups: Avengers, Defenders, X-Men, Invaders, Phoenix Five, Fantastic Four, The Cabal

Comic Recommendations: Namor The Sub-Mariner (1941) by Bill Everett, Invaders: Eve Of Destruction (1998) by Roger Stern, Namor: The First Mutant (2003) by Andi Watson and Sub-Mariner: The Depths (2008) by Peter Milligan