Tom Curry, and ex-sailor and lighthouse keeper, spotted a woman on a raft during a hurricane and rescued her. She told him her name was Atlanna, and it was love at first sight. The two had a son, Arthur, who had mysterious powers over sea life.
Upon her deathbed, Atlanna admitted that she was an exile from Atlantis, and charged her son to become ruler of the oceans. With his father's help, Arthur trained to do just that. As he learned to use his telepathy, he used it to help the sea life who then pledged obedience to him.
Tom Curry remarried and had a second son, Orm, who was jealous of his half-brother's abilities, and took to petty crime to get attention. But he was always being bailed out by his older brother, which only made him more bitter. Orm eventually became the sea-going villain Ocean Master after losing his memory, remembering only his hate for Aquaman, and not the reason behind it.
Arthur also met a fellow exile from Atlantis, young Garth, who was exiled because he was afraid of fish. Garth also had purple eyes, a rare condition in Atlanteans that usually indicated that they would eventually stop being able to breathe underwater. After curing Garth of his fear of sea life, Arthur adopted him as a sidekick and son.
After years of protecting the oceans, Aquaman's contact with his mother's homeland became more frequent, to the point where the Atlanteans eventually elected him their king. He married Mera, a queen from another dimension, and settled into royal life. He had a son, Arthur Jr, and his ward Garth found a girlfriend, Tula, and joined the Teen Titans.
But his villains refused to let him enjoy his accomplishments, and one by one he lost his son, his kingdom, and his wife. Even Garth abandoned him when he chose to try to kill Garth to save Arthur Jr, and attempt which failed in both respects. As the Silver Age came to a close, Aquaman was a broken man who had lost everything that ever mattered to him.
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