Mera, sometimes also known as Aquawoman, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jack Miller and Nick Cardy, the character first appeared in Aquaman #11 (September 1963). She serves as the chief love interest and a recurring supporting cast member of Aquaman and his related titles.
A royal native of the extradimensional, oceanic realm of Xebel (originally Dimension Aqua) and a member of the Xebellian sub-race, Mera is often portrayed as a queen consort of Aquaman who possesses natural hydrokinetic abilities. During her publication history, earlier stories often focused on her relationship with Aquaman the mental impact of the untimely death of her son, Arthur Jr. Following revisions to her character from the New 52 onward, she is portrayed as a respected superhero and protector of Atlantis alongside Aquaman with heroic traits and differs from him ideologically due to being native to the ocean. For a time, the character has also served as the chief monarch of Atlantis as the queen regnant, having ascended following Aquaman's abdication of the role during several crises.
The character has been adapted substantially in various media, she was played by Elena Satine on Smallville and most notably featured in the DC Extended Universe where Amber Heard portrayed Mera in Justice League and its director's cut, reprised the role in Aquaman and returned in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. The character has also been adapted in the animated Young Justice television series.
Publication history Queen Mera's Silver Age debut in Aquaman #11 (September 1963) set her place of origin as the mysterious "Dimension Aqua".Aquaman #11 (September/October 1963) Aquaman and Mera were married in the first on-camera superhero wedding in comic book history, in Aquaman #18 (Dec 1964).
During the 2011 "Brightest Day" storyline, Dimension Aqua was revealed to be the extradimensional penal colony known formally as "Xebel", a place of exile for an ancient faction of Atlantean people, banished along with their descendants after one of the many civil wars among the survivors of Atlantis following the sinking of the city.Brightest Day #6 (July 2010)
Fictional character biography Mera Challa is the former Queen of Dimension Aqua, Queen of Atlantis, and wife of DC Comics superhero Aquaman. Mera also has a twin sister named Hila, who turned to villainy.Aquaman #22 (July/August 1965)
In her first chronological appearance, Mera is shown to be fleeing the criminal Leron after he usurps control of her kingdom. Arriving on Earth, she meets Aquaman and Aqualad, who vows to help her. Leron captures them, imprisoning Aquaman and Mera in Dimension Aqua. Aided by the water spirit Quisp, Aquaman manages to free Mera and defeats Leron. Mera abdicates her throne, allowing V'lana to become Queen, and returns to Atlantis to marry Aquaman.Action Comics #539 (January 1983) Soon after, they had a son named Arthur Curry, Jr., also known as Aquababy.
A few years later, Aquaman's mortal enemy Black Manta kidnaps Aquababy and seals him inside a translucent tank designed to suffocate him.Aquaman #60 (February/March 1978) Royal advisor Nuidis Vulko sends Mera, desperate to save her son, on an ambitious crusade to her homeworld to find a scientist named Xebel, who has the components for a special healing device that could save her son. When she arrives, she discovers that her kingdom has once again fallen under the rule of Leron, who has taken Xebel hostage, casting him and the device into the Great Pit. Mera braves the pit and defeats Leron and his elemental monsters to retrieve the device. Sadly, she returns to Atlantis too late, finding her son dead.Aquaman #57–62 (August/September – June/July 1978)
Although their son's death creates a rift between Aquaman and Mera, they agree to permanently leave Atlantis and travel to a flooded city on the East Coast, intending to start over as a normal couple. However, Aquaman soon leaves to reform the Justice League in Detroit. Becoming more unstable with grief, Mera is returned to Atlantis by Vulko's order and institutionalized. Shortly afterward an alien force of sentient giant jellyfish takes control of the city. During Aquaman's battle to free them, Mera escapes and savagely attacks him, blaming his "weak genes" for their son's death.
While defending himself, Aquaman accidentally impales Mera on a piece of metal. Believing her to be dead, Aquaman has her brought to the royal palace for entombment with the former rulers of Atlantis. Mera is shown to have survived due to the unique physiology of undersea dwellers. Rising from her coffin, she reminds Aquaman how little he knew of her. No longer seeing any reason to remain on Earth, Mera returns to Dimension Aqua and resumes her former duties as Queen.Aquaman vol. 3 #5 (October 1989)
Return of the Queen During Peter David's Aquaman run in the 1990s, Mera is revealed to be in the hellish dimension called the Netherworld, where she is brainwashed by Thanatos, an old enemy of her husband. Time passes differently in the Netherworld and she has apparently had a second son whom she refers to as only "AJ". AJ appears to be about 8–10 years old and it is not known if his father is Aquaman or Thanatos.
Eventually, Mera and AJ break free of Thanatos' control but find that they cannot stay on Earth due to AJ's accelerated aging. Mera and AJ again leave Earth for parts unknown. When next shown later in the series, Mera and AJ are on Oceanid, a water world that is being exploited by aliens for its resources. Mera and AJ team up with Aquaman to defeat the aliens and Mera chooses to stay with her former husband in Atlantis, while AJ remains behind on Oceanid to act as its protector and champion, assuming the role of Aquaman.
Mera and Arthur eventually reconcile, living in Atlantis and continuing to have adventures together, including a trip to Skartaris, where they team up with Travis Morgan, The Warlord. They appear to form a true royal family along with Tempest (Garth) and his wife, Dolphin (Aquaman's former lover). Mera participates in the delivery of Garth and Dolphin's son, Cerdian, during this peaceful time. Unfortunately, the Aqua-family's happiness is cut short due to the events depicted in DC's "Obsidian Age", Infinite Crisis, and "One Year Later" storylines. Arthur's attempts to save Atlantis from destruction by transporting it back into the distant past results in the people of Atlantis suffering fifteen years of slavery, during which time Mera serves as their de facto leader and source of hope. When Atlantis is returned to the present, Mera is duty-bound as queen regent to declare him an enemy of Atlantis and order him to stand trial for treason.
Following these events, Mera is shown leading a rebel faction in the rebuilding of Atlantis, which was destroyed by the Spectre in Infinite Crisis. Mera appears in the Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis series during which Aquaman (having been transformed into the Dweller of the Depths during DC's World War III mini-series) appears to perish. Members of the JLA visit Atlantis to give their condolences and Mera is not referenced in DC comics until the "Prelude to Blackest Night" story in Titans #15, where it is revealed that she is in mourning for Arthur. This story also reveals that Dolphin and Cerdian died during the destruction of Atlantis.
"Blackest Night"
In the "Blackest Night" storyline, at the request of Tempest, Mera reluctantly allows Aquaman's remains to be returned to Atlantis. Before they can do so, they are attacked by Aquaman, Tula, and Dolphin, who have been reanimated as Black Lanterns. Mera and Tempest battle them but are overwhelmed by their power. Tempest is killed by Tula and transformed into a Black Lantern as well. An angry Mera manages to escape and flees to the Hall of Justice.Blackest Night #2 (August 2009) She sends out a distress signal, and Firestorm comes to her aid.
Mera reveals that she was able to evade the Black Lanterns by keeping her emotions in check. The Black Lantern Justice League attacks the group.Blackest Night #3 (September 2009) The Atom helps the heroes escape via a phone line. The Flash tells Atom and Mera that they are the Justice League now. Atom and Mera meet up with the Justice Society, who are battling Black Lanterns.Blackest Night #4 (October 2009) After battling and being nearly killed by a Black Lantern-powered Wonder Woman,Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #2 (January 2010) Mera is chosen as a deputy officer of the Red Lantern Corps to battle Nekron's forces.Blackest Night #6 (December 2009)
A rampaging Mera encounters Wonder Woman, who has been transformed into a Star Sapphire by a duplicate of Carol Ferris' ring, and attacks her. During the fight, their two rings interface, with the violet ring giving Mera some measure of self-control and the red ring giving Wonder Woman with an insight into the reasons for Mera's rage.Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #3 (January 2010) Mera is approached by Aquaman, who now has the reanimated corpse of their child. Aquaman attempts to use their son against her, but Mera states, "I never wanted children," and destroys the Black Lantern version of Arthur Jr. Mera then shows a desire to hunt down Aquaman and destroy him.Green Lantern vol. 4 #50 (January 2010) Following Nekron's destruction, Aquaman is restored to life by the white light. The sight of Arthur alive calms Mera down, breaking her connection to the red ring and causing her to go into cardiac arrest without it. Carol and Saint Walker use their combined lights to heal Mera, who reunites with Aquaman.Blackest Night #8 (March 2010)
"Brightest Day" New origins In the 2009–2010 "Brightest Day" storyline, Mera's origin is revisited with new revelations, expanding upon some elements and writing off others as deceptions and lies fed to Aquaman by Mera herself. Instead of being the Queen of Dimension Aqua, Mera is now the older princess of Xebel, a forgotten extradimensional penal colony for an ancient group of separatist Atlanteans, banished behind a sealed portal in the Bermuda Triangle.
Trained since birth, along with her sister Siren, Mera was sent by the King of Xebel, who was unable to send more than one soldier at a time through a small fissure in spacetime to the main universe. They were to confront the current King of Atlantis and kill him in retaliation for the exile of their common people. However, the plan backfired when Mera fell truly in love with Arthur, deliberately choosing to keep claiming her cover story as her real past to avoid frictions with him. However, on several occasions, like Aquababy's death, Mera's deep-seated hatred for Atlantis and its royal family was re-ignited, sparking the bouts of apparent insanity and angry lashing at her husband for his "weakness". It is also hinted that Black Manta had a long-lasting feud with Xebel's people; despite Aquaman believing for years to have been the cause of Aquababy's death, Mera still thinks that her son was killed to get back at her birth family.
During one of the several attempts to escape en masse from the Bermuda Triangle portal, the people of Xebel are ordered to capture and experiment on several land-dwellers, including the future Black Manta. During these experiments, Kaldur'ahm, the son of Black Manta and an unnamed woman, was born. While Mera's father wanted to experiment on Kaldur'ahm, Mera took pity on him and took him to live on the surface, where he was named Jackson Hyde. Years later, Kaldur'ahm is targeted by the army of Xebel, forcing Mera to return in his aid.Brightest Day #16 (December 2010)
Present day