Real Name: Namor
Also Known As: The Sub-Mariner; Prince Namor
First Reviewed Modern Appearance: Fantastic Four #4 (1962)
Affiliation: Atlantis
Powers: Great strength, underwater survival and mobility, and flight using the small wings at his ankles.

Namor is a ruler and defender of his people whose conflicts with the surface world make him both an adversary and an occasional ally of its heroes. His pride and sense of royal duty can inspire courage, but they can also justify destructive choices. He does not fit neatly into the role of either conventional superhero or uncomplicated villain.

In Fantastic Four #4, Johnny Storm discovers him living without his memory. Returning him to the sea restores that memory, but Namor finds his undersea home devastated. Believing human atomic testing responsible, he attacks the surface world and brings the sea monster Giganto against New York. His attraction to Sue Storm adds another complication to his already hostile relationship with the Fantastic Four.

Namor’s alliances are no guarantee of trust. He joins Doctor Doom’s scheme in Fantastic Four #6, only to discover that Doom intends to dispose of him alongside the team. Later, Fantastic Four #33 shows another side of the conflict: the Fantastic Four secretly help defend his kingdom against Attuma after Lady Dorma seeks their aid. Namor is capable of being the defender in one story and the threat in another.

In Daredevil #7, he tries a different route to his ambitions, approaching Nelson and Murdock about a legal claim over the surface world. His ensuing battle with Daredevil also reveals an ability to respect an opponent’s courage, even while remaining proud and unwilling to yield.

His own feature begins in Tales to Astonish #70. Returning to Atlantis, Namor finds that Krang has seized the throne and gained popular support. With Dorma’s help he escapes captivity and starts a quest for Neptune’s Trident to prove his right to rule. Krang traps him in the Cave of Shadows, leaving both the quest and the fate of the throne unresolved.

Coverage: based on reviews published on Reviewing Comics as of October 23, 2026.