Superhuman strength, speed, durability, agility, senses, and reflexes
Flight via wings on her ankles
Aquatic adaptation
Longevity
Namorita Prentiss is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer and artist Bill Everett, the character first appeared in Sub-Mariner #50 (June 1972). Namorita belongs to the subspecies of humans called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities,[1] and to the species of humanoid aquatic beings named Atlanteans, who are born with supernatural powers.
Publication history
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2010)
Namorita debuted in Sub-Mariner #50 (June 1972), created by writer and artist Bill Everett.[2] She appeared in the 2006 Civil War series.[3]
Fictional character biography
Birth/creation
Namorita's mother, Namora, was the first cousin of Namor, and, like Namor, was a hybrid with superhuman strength. but she lacked ankle wings on her feet, and so could not fly. Also unlike Namor, her mother was human and her father Atlantean.
Namora's sterility created tension with her husband Talan. Upon meeting Vyrra, an Atlantean scientist who had been exiled for practicing the forbidden science of cloning, she requested that he make a clone of her to which she could give birth. Vyrra was even able to overcome the birth defect that prevented Namora's ankle wings from developing, to prevent the clone from looking too much like Namora.[4]
After the clone, Namorita, was born, Talan was killed and the subpolar kingdom destroyed by an atomic explosion. Consequently, Namora fled to the underwater kingdom Lemuria, where she raised her child.
Namora developed a rivalry with the lemurian lady Llyra for the affections of the Lemurian prince Merro, that resulted in her (presumed) poison death at the hands of Llyra. Namora did not reveal to her daughter that she was a clone before her death. Llyra married Merro, who also died mysteriously, and ascended to the throne, becoming the empress of Lemuria.
After Lemuria
Llyra allied with the atlantean exilee Byrrah, another cousin of Namor, and they decided to deploy Namorita in a plot against Namor, threatening that they would destroy Namora's seemingly dead (but actually only frozen) body if she did not lure Namor into a trap. In her first encounter with Namor since reaching adolescence, Namorita was captured by Byrrah, but rescued by Namor. Namor and Namorita would eventually unite to defeat Llyra and Byrrah. She revealed her past to Namor, and developed an infatuation with Namor. She convinced Namor to free Byrrah.[5]
Namor, not feeling equipped nor inclined to be the guardian of Namorita, introduces her to his long-time friend Betty Dean Prentiss, whom Namorita would eventually consider a guardian and second mother.[6] Namorita used Prentiss for her surname while in the surface world.
Betty Prentiss would eventually be killed by Dr. Lemuel Dorcas, Namor's enemy.[7]
Namorita rescued the drowning alien Wundarr from his people, the Dakkamites. She left him with the Thing as a guardian,[8] who soon returned this arduous assignment to Namorita.[9]
In the crossover story arc Atlantis Attacks, Namorita allies with the New Mutants, who accidentally found the Horn of Doom and gave it to Namor. He entrusts Namorita to guard it in her quarters in Atlantis, but three Deviant Mutants steal them by order of their leader Ghaur and his ally Llyra. Since the three thiefs where chosen by Ghaur because of their resemblance to three of the New Mutants, Namorita first thinks that they are the thiefs, but is soon convinced otherwise. When Ghaur uses the Horn to summon a sea monster to destroy Atlantis, they defeat it together, saving most of the population. Namorita tasks herself with the support of the Atlantean, who fled their destroyed, polluted and inhabitable city.[10]
A short time later Namorita was abducted by Deviants and reappears in the final battle of this story arc, when Llyra nearly succeeded in tricking Namor into killing her. However, Namorita was rescued by him instead, as were all kidnapped heroines.[11]
The New Warriors
Some time later, Namorita enrolled in college at Empire State University. During a trip, she was forced to battle long-time Fantastic Four foe, Terrax. She was joined by five other young superheroes, and after Nita and Nova subdued Terrax by severing his contact with the ground, the six formed the New Warriors.[12] When Namor decided to start a financial empire a short time later, Nita joined him as a member of the board of Oracle, Inc.[13] Around Namor, Namorita was always deferential, but around the Warriors she would act tough.
Namorita, as a New Warrior, aided Thor in battling Juggernaut.[14] She was engulfed and subsequently rescued from Sluj by Namor.[15] She and her fellow Warriors first battled Psionex,[16] then fought the third Star Thief and journeyed to the Blue Area of the Moon, where they encountered the Inhumans Royal Family and the Watcher.[17] Namorita was beaten by Neo-Nazis in Berlin. She escaped to England, where she was reunited with Jacqueline Crichton and Union Jack, and fought Warrior Woman.[18] She then discovered that she was a clone.[19] After being severely beaten by the scavenger known as Sea Urchin, she first swapped her usual green bathing suit for Atlantean armor, then soundly beat the Urchin in a rematch.[20]
When team founder Night Thrasher took a hiatus from the Warriors, Namorita led the team.[21] However, the stress of leading the Warriors, the revelation of her cloned nature, and ruling Atlantis during Namor's absence all proved to be too much for her. She became drunk at a nightclub and left with the leader of the Poison Memories gang, who wanted to gain vengeance against the Warriors. He stole information from Namorita's apartment which was used to kidnap many of the Warriors' family members.[22] After the surviving family members were rescued, Namorita's guilt over the incident forced her to leave the Warriors.[23]
Namorita returned to Atlantis, only to be denied entry as the Atlanteans discovered her clone nature.[24] This seemed to be the final catalyst for Nita. An over-saturation of oxygen, coupled with the DNA Vyrra spliced into her at the time of her creation, caused her to change into a closer version of the original Atlanteans. Because of this, Namorita gave herself the name Kymaera.[25] While fighting alongside the Warriors, she was captured and brainwashed by a terrorist organization,[26] only to be rescued by Night Thrasher (who received a tip from the Mad Thinker).[27]
On one occasion, Namorita became covered with pus-filled boils. Her lover Nova saw her in this state and did not speak in time to reassure the emotionally vulnerable Namorita that his feelings for her had not changed. His hesitation sent her over the edge, and she left.[28] A crestfallen Namorita went to take a shower and, to her surprise, her skin returned to its original pink tone. She also shed her pointed ears, webbed hands, and glassy black eyes.[29] Following this transformation, Namorita continued to mutate and developed new powers. She found that she could secrete burning acid or a paralytic toxin and could become transparent.[30] After her breakup with Nova, Namorita briefly dated Johnny Storm (the Human Torch),[31] and co-ruled Atlantis in a Council of Three with Warlord Seth and the warrior Andromeda.[32] Ultimately, Namorita and Nova came to terms over the break-up.
Namorita was among the four New Warriors whose actions sparked the public backlash against masked superheroes which is at the core of Marvel's Civil War. The new Warriors are trying to film a reality show, and find four villains on the FBI Most Wanted List, who they attack. Slamming Nitro into a school bus, Namorita taunted him until he caused a massive explosion. Namorita was within a foot of Nitro when he exploded, killing 612 people.[33]
Subsequently, she was listed as "deceased" on the website revealing the secret identities of the surviving members of the New Warriors,[34] and Speedball is then confirmed as the only survivor of the blast.[35]
Three undercover Atlanteans track down Nitro under orders from Namor to avenge the murder of a member of the Atlantean Royal Family.[36] When the Invisible Woman asks for help from Prince Namor, he tells her that the only reason he would help is due to Namorita's death, and he has already avenged that.[37]
Namorita's remains, along with Dwayne's and Microbe's, are later recovered by the New Warriors and Justice's Counter Initiative team, and given a proper burial.[38] During Hercules' journey to the underworld, Namorita was seen in Erebus gambling for her resurrection.[39]
In Nova, a time displaced Namorita was rescued by a time displaced Nova within the Fault, having been summoned alongside time-displaced versions of Mister Fantastic, Black Bolt and Darkhawk by the Sphinx to battle his younger self.[40] Through some sort of paradox after Nova defeated the Sphinx once more, Namorita is brought into his present.[41]
Thanos Imperative
While having slow adjustment to her rebirth, Namorita was kidnapped by the Revengers, a facsimile of the Avengers originating from the Cancerverse, after determining that she was a quantum anomaly.[42] She was later rescued by Nova,[43] and mourned his death after he and Star-Lord stayed behind in the collapsing Cancerverse to contain Thanos. As part of the effort against the Cancerverse, she teamed up with an aged version of her old ally Vance Astrovik, otherwise known as Major Victory.[44]
Powers and abilities
Namorita is a genetically altered clone of her mother, Namora.[45] Her powers comes from being a hybrid of Atlantean homo mermanus and mutant homo superior physiologies.[46] She possesses superhuman strength, speed, durability, agility, senses, and reflexes. Her Atlantean heritage grants her an amphibious physiological adaptation. She is able to see, heal, breathe, and survive cold temperatures underwater. Namorita can fly via wings on her ankles.[47] She can also live longer than regular human beings and does not age at the same pace. Additionally, she has the ability to absorb electricity.
Reception
Deirdre Kaye of Scary Mommy called Namorita a "role model" and a "truly heroic" female character.[48]
Other versions
Marvel 1602
An alternate version of Namorita appears in the Marvel 1602. This version is known as Rita and is the sister of Numenor, this reality's version of Namor. She lives in Bensaylum, this reality's version of Atlantis.[49]
Various items have been marketed featuring Namorita. In June 2007 Wizkids marketed through their Avengers line a Namorita HeroClix figurine with card. Namorita was featured in Marvel Universe Trading Cards — Series 1 (1990, card #85), Series 2 (1991, card #156), Series 3 (1992, cards #49 and 174), Series 4 (1993, card #22), and Series 5 (1994, card #167). Namorita was also included in several T-shirts, posters, and art prints featuring the New Warriors.[51]
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