Who Is Aquaman’s Love Interest in the Comics & Who Is He Married To?

Aquaman is one of the most popular DC comics characters with a long and storied history. Despite going through several retcons and multiple continuity changes, some aspects of his character remained the same with every change and have stuck around for more than 80 years. One of Aquaman’s seemingly unchanging aspects seems to be his love interest. We know that he has a rather complicated but stable relationship with Mera, and this is what we’re going to focus on. 

Mera was introduced as Aquaman’s stable romantic interest back in the 60′ 

Mera as a character was introduced back in ‘Aquaman’ #11 released in 1963. Almost from the start, her story was tied to Aquaman’s. Mera was introduced as a princess from the underwater Kingdom of Xebel. Xebel, once a region of the Atlantean empire, became a mystical penal colony in another dimension after internal conflicts. Over time, renewed contact between present-day Atlanteans and Xebel led to the restoration of its original name.

When Aquaman and Mera first met, she was fleeing from her Kingdom and sought refuge on Earth from Leron, a Xebel who had aspirations to take the throne of the Kingdom and usurp Mera’s position. 

Mera was lucky to run into Aquaman and Aqualad, as they were willing to help her. Leron managed to imprison all three of them, but the water spirit called Quisp saved the day and freed Aquaman and Aqualad, which subsequently freed Mera and defeated Leron. 

But, in a turn of events, instead of claiming the throne of Xebel following the Usurper’s downfall, Mera decided to abdicate her birthright and hand it over to V’lana. She decided to return to Atlantis and marry Aquaman. The pair were even blessed with a child soon after, naming him Arthury Curry Jr. 

Aquaman and Mera separated after the death of their son

Black Manta is one of the worst Aquaman villains for a good reason. He was responsible for the death of Aquaman’s original son, Arthury Curry Jr.  

Black Manta managed to kidnap Aquababy, trapped him in a translucent tank, and left him to drown. Mera initially attempted to make a trip to Xebel, which was known to have the technology needed to save Aquababy. Still, when she came to Xebel, she discovered that Leron had once again taken over her Kingdom. 

Mera fought Leron and won but lost something far more precious. When she returned to Atlantis, she found her only son dead. This is the major reason why Aquaman’s and Mera’s relationship fell apart.

They struggled to overcome the trauma; they even wanted to relocate, but all was fruitless. Mera and Aquaman were becoming increasingly unstable, with Mera going as far as to blame Aquaman’s weak genes for their son’s death. She attacked him, and under unfortunate circumstances, Aquaman accidentally pushed Mera onto a piece of metal that impaled her. 

Aquaman truly believed that she had died and loaded her into a coffin, only for Mera to wake up in the coffin on her way to the royal Atlantean palace. Mera mocked Aquaman for not being aware that she has a healing factor, revealing how little he knows about her after all. She returned to Dimension Aqua and remained there for the time being. 

Mera and Aquaman were re-united during The New 52 

In ‘The New 52,’ Aquaman faces rejection from Atlanteans and ridicule for his perceived shortcomings. He decided to return to Amnesty Bay with Mera, who turned out to be a real companion and shoulder to cry on. Mera herself struggles to adapt to society, dealing with anger issues and her personal past that Aquaman has no idea about. 

Aquaman later discovers that Mera was sent by the King of Xebel to destroy him, but she accidentally falls in love with him. During ‘Throne of Atlantis, ‘ Mera faced arrest for assaulting her betrothed, Nereus, in Xebel. The Dead King’s involvement complicates matters, freezing Mera and Nereus in ice.

Aquaman attempts to help Mera only to reveal the Dead King’s true identity as the first king of Atlantis, seeking domination. Mera’s loyalty is tested as Xebel soldiers betray her to the Dead King. Returning to Atlantis, they face attacks by Scavenger, and Mera’s powers shine as she refuses Nereus and warns him that her vengeance will be swift.

During Thule’s invasion, Mera turns against Aquaman, but it turns out that it is her sister Siren. The true Mera managed to escape, reuniting with Aquaman to close the connection between worlds. 

With the latest retcon, Aquaman & Mera were unmarried, only to marry again 

With ‘DC Rebirth’ came another twist to Aquaman’s and Mera’s story. Her character remained largely the same, except instead of being married to Aquaman, she was engaged to him. And things flowed smoothly until she revealed to him that she was expecting a baby. 

Aquaman’s reaction was shocking to this revelation. Instead of being overjoyed, he told Mera that he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to give his child a normal life, and he was having doubts about all of that. 

Mera got incredibly angry and attacked Arthur, exiling him to the surface. They were separated for a large part of Mera’s pregnancy, but things changed when Black Manta attacked Atlantis again, and things got serious this time. Black Manta destroyed a large portion of Atlantis. While Mera was defending the Kingdom, she used so much of her power that she fell into a coma, even giving birth to a baby girl called Andrina “Andy” while succumbing to weakness. 

When Aquaman saw his child for the first time, he was overjoyed, and all of his doubts disappeared. He raised the baby girl for the first ten months of her life while Mera was in a coma. When Mera woke up from the coma, she dissolved the Atlantean monarchy, gave power back to the people, and was free to marry Aquaman once again, which they did. 

They married in Amnesty Bay with all their family and friends present, venturing into the sunset happily ever after. 

What do you think about Aquaman’s and Mera’s relationship in the comics? Let us know in the comments below!

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