‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’: Who Is Topo? Meet the Trusty Cephalopod

The events of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ introduced a lot of different characters who ended up becoming integral in Aquaman’s quest to avert a major disaster that would have affected the entire world. One such character was an unlikely creature in the form of a cephalopod named Topo. This creature ended up becoming indispensable to Arthur’s journey in the movie. So, who is Topo in ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’?

Aquaman has a history with Topo

The storyline of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ was full of different characters who have a history with Aquaman in the comics. One comic book character who made his way to the movie was Topo, whose role was indispensable to Arthur Curry’s mission in the events of the sequel film. But Topo isn’t exactly new to the whole ‘Aquaman’ storyline.

Topo made his first appearance in the companion ‘Aquaman’ books entitled ‘Aquaman: Undertow’ and ‘Aquaman: Arthur’s Guide to Atlantis.’ These books told the story of Arthur’s life as a hybrid Atlantean child growing up on the surface.

He was around six years old when he first met a baby octopus named Topo, who was often at Amnesty Bay. At that time, Arthur was yet to become truly aware of his Atlantean abilities. He wondered why the octopus was seemingly capable of understanding him, especially when he waved at it.

Topo continued to visit Arthur at the beach, as the young half-Atlantean eventually named the squid himself. By the time he was 13, Topo appeared to Arthur as the young teenager remarked that it had been a while since they last saw one another.

Topo was a friend to Arthur because he was there whenever the young teenager narrated his problems. In a way, the octopus was an unlikely creature that was more than willing to listen to Arthur’s problems despite the fact that Arthur had yet to become fully aware that he had the ability to communicate with sea life. He even thought that it was ridiculous of him to share his problems with an octopus.

Eventually, Arthur aided Topo when the octopus was caught by a fisherman in Amnesty Bay. At that time, Topo was already easy to spot because he had grown larger than any human. While Arthur tried his best to convince the fisherman to release the octopus, he failed. The fisherman tried to convince him that the aquarium was going to take care of Topo.

However, Arthur mentally communicates with Topo to convince him to escape from the tank. He was able to break free and eventually swim off to safety. Arthur’s encounters with Topo were one of the reasons why he became close to sea creatures, thinking that he had the ability to talk to them.

Topo appeared in the first movie

Topo’s escape from the fisherman allowed him to live a long life at sea. However, he never appeared in Aquaman again. The octopus, however, made an appearance in the first ‘Aquaman’ movie, wherein he was now living in Atlantis. Topo even found employment in Atlantis, becoming a drummer.

During the Ring of Fire duel between Arthur and King Orm Marius, Topo played the drums. However, he never had another role in the movie, as this was his only appearance in the first ‘Aquaman’ movie. So, while he did have a history with Arthur, he became an afterthought in the first movie due to his limited role.

The cephalopod’s bigger role in ‘The Lost Kingdom’

Even though Topo’s role in the first ‘Aquaman’ movie was limited, he seemingly made a return in ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ as an entirely new character despite the fact that he was still an octopus. This happened during the middle portion of the movie when Black Manta and his men infiltrated Atlantis to steal orichalcum from the kingdom’s secret storage facilities.

Black Manta and his men were seemingly successful at infiltrating Atlantis, only for them to wonder whether or not Atlantis had some sort of surveillance system that would have alerted the Atlanteans to their presence. True enough, a cloaked octopus did indeed see Manta and his men infiltrating the storage facility, prompting it to warn the entire Atlantean security force that there were invaders.

Topo’s role was indispensable to Atlantis’ swift reaction to Black Manta’s infiltration. However, the Atlanteans failed to capture the villain because Manta’s crew had a powerful weapon in the form of a sonic cannon.

After Manta’s infiltration, Aquaman decided to go after the villain in the hopes of preventing him from using the orichalcum to damage the atmosphere and the waters of Earth further. He decided that it was best for him to break Orm out of prison so that his younger brother could help him find Black Manta. However, this needed to be a stealth mission as King Nereus and Atlanna didn’t want to start a war with the Fishermen Kingdom, which had custody of Orm.

So, to minimize the chances of the Fishermen Kingdom tracing Orm’s escape to Atlantis, Atlanna allowed Topo to accompany Arthur. This time, Topo was described as a genetically modified cephalopod with incredible communication abilities. He was also capable of cloaking himself, making him the perfect companion in a stealth mission.

Arthur and Topo had disagreements during their mission to break Orm out of prison, as the octopus was a little bit too independent. However, Topo is indispensable to the success of Arthur’s quest as he is able to help him free Orm. Of course, when Orm heard that Topo was involved in the mission, he was equally puzzled, hinting at the possibility that the former king of Atlantis was familiar with Topo before he was forced to abdicate the throne.

The brothers were able to secure information regarding the whereabouts of Black Manta’s base. They allowed Topo to communicate their location back to Atlantis so that Nereus and Atlanna would be able to send back up to the Devil’s Deep.

Arthur and Orm were able to infiltrate Black Manta’s base and give him and his men trouble. Manta had the upper hand during a certain part of the fight, but he lost his base and was forced to flee when King Nereus and Mera arrived with an entire battle force. So, in a sense, Topo was quite helpful to Arthur’s mission as he was the one who served as the liaison between him and Atlantis during his stealth mission.

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