| NOTE: This page is only about Black Manta's Post-Crisis incarnation, as his New 52 incarnation was not voted Pure Evil, and thus only the Post-Crisis version of Black Manta's info should be put here. |
| “ | Y'see, deep down, in my most secret heart of hearts, I'm still a totally depraved sonuvabitch whose main goal in life is to watch you die. Slowly and painfully. Just like your kid. | „ |
| ~ Black Manta to Aquaman. |
David, better known as Black Manta, is one of the main antagonists of the DC Universe, and one of the two arch-nemeses (alongside Ocean Master) of Aquaman. Out of Aquaman's entire rogues gallery, Black Manta is the one that holds the strongest grudge against him.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- In what's arguably one of the biggest Moral Event Horizons in all of DC Comics, Manta forces Aquaman and Garth to fight (and nearly kill) each other under the threat of suffocating the former's infant son to death in an air bubble. Despite Aquaman taking the third option to escape the arena and bust open his son's air bubble, it was sadly too late, as the baby had already died from suffocation beforehand. Queen Mera became mentally unstable and left Aquaman for several years because of this.
- In Aquaman Vol. 1 #35 and Vol. 4 #6, he poisons the whole ocean around Atlantis in his attempts to raze the sea kingdom to the ground.
- In Adventure Comics #477-478, he nearly destroys New Venice with missiles just to spite Aquaman. This plan, if successful, would absolutely destroy the peace between Atlantis and the surface world and thus start World War III.
- In the exact same story, Manta gathers a small army of fellow African-Americans in an attempt to conquer Atlantis, claiming that he wants to liberate them by giving them their own kingdom. However, said claims are clearly mere propaganda rather than anything else since Manta outright states that he's irrelevant to racism or any other particular prejudice and just wants to rule Atlantis.
- In Brightest Day, he aids Siren and the Xebelians in their like-minded goal to take over the world by destroying all surface dwellers, starting with a beach full of people in California. He even amputates Aquaman's right hand when he comes to save the people, sadistically mocking him for it afterwards.
- He rejected two possibilities of redeeming himself twice:
- When Aquaman uses his healing hand to "cure" Manta's autism (blaming his evil solely on the disorder), he returns the favor by traitorously shooting Aquaman in the back while he's in the middle of fighting Prime Minister Hagen, casually saying "heh cool" when Hagen states his plan to destroy the entire surface world.
- Following Aquaman's death in Blackest Night, Manta seems to have turned over a new leaf by working as a butcher at a fish market in Massachusetts. However, upon seeing news of Aquaman's resurrection on TV, Manta slaughters all of his customers and then burns down the store in a fit of anger, thus resuming his quest to destroy his archenemy as he later demolishes Aquaman's father's tombstone.
- He doesn't even love his own family. While fighting and trying to kill Kaldur'ahm in Brightest Day, Manta coldly states that his wife and son both mean nothing to him, hence why he's siding with the Xebelians despite them murdering his wife. He even promises to gut Kaldur'ahm in front of Aquaman one day out of simple spite.
- His rough childhood, which involved him being shanghaied at Chesapeake Bay (where he tried to call Aquaman for help but the sea king was too far away to hear the poor child), experimented on by the incompetent doctors at Arkham Asylum, and afterwards learned he had to kill what he hated in order to survive, does not justify his petty sadism towards Aquaman and attempted genocides on the surface world. He knows he’s evil and is proud of it.
Trivia[]
- Only the Pre-Crisis version of Black Manta is Pure Evil, since New 52 Manta genuinely loves his father and wants to avenge him after he was killed by Aquaman in the New 52.
External Links[]
- Black Manta on the Villains Wiki.
- Black Manta on the DC Wiki.
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 Pure Evils
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 Pure Evils
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