Latest / Vigilante Vibes Podcast / Ep. 201. Who is Namor the Submariner?

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Ep. 201. Who is Namor the Submariner? · Vigilante Vibes Podcast

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Hello Marvel fans, comic geeks and all the nerds in between.
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My name is Megan from Vigilante Vibes where I talk everything
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Marvel from the NCU Marvel Studios to Marvel Comics and say
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I want to talk about another character that falls into the
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mutant category but I want to talk about it is the mutant.
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The Mutant The first mutant published Neymour Neymour was
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created by Bill Everett in April of 1939 for Motion Pictures
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Funnies weekly #1A promotional pamphlet that was given out for
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free at movie theaters. Six months later, Everett
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expanded the eight page black and white story into a 12 page
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color story for Martin Goodman's Marvel Comics #1 talking about
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his creative process, Bill Everett explained.
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I suppose I have always liked water.
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If anything started it, I suppose it was when I got
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interested in Admiral Byrd's expedition to the South Pole.
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I read a lot about that. The more I read, the more
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intrigued up became. So when the opportunity to
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create a character, I naturally thought of water.
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Jack London's adventures at sea were influential too.
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I used to read a lot of sea stories.
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That character was Neymour. He's talking about Neymour back
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when he was mainly known as the Submariner.
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Made his debut during the Golden Age of comics and is often
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considered the very first true anti hero of comic books.
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Fun fact, he was also the first superhero who could fly, so his
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encounter and explosive first fight with the original Human
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Torch, which was the Android Jim Hammond and Marvel Mystery
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comics #8 in June of 1940 ended up making comic book history.
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This issue marked the first time superheroes met, fought, and
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teamed up in the same story, and it helped introduce the idea of
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a shared universe where multiple heroes all exist in the same
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world. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby brought
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Neymour into the Silver Age with Fantastic Four Number Four in
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May of 1962, folding him back into Marvel by tying his Golden
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Age history into modern continuity.
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They also explained that some of Neymour's Wilder Golden Age
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adventures were basically exaggerated stories told through
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comic books. Lee gave Neymour a more formal
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dramatic edge, complete with the pseudo Shakespearean speech
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style he'd later used for Thor. He also coined Neymour's famous
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battle cry, Imperious Rex, and firmly established his
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underwater Kingdom as the legendary city of Atlantis.
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That's all well and good, but who is Neymour?
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We've all heard of him. We've all heard of his toxicity,
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but outside of his obsession with Sue Storm, who is he?
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Neymour the Submariner is the half human, half Atlantean
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Prince of the underwater Kingdom of Atlantis, and people on the
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surface can't quite decide whether to love or fear him.
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Honestly, it kind of depends on the day, which I feel is the
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same for comic readers. If you threaten Atlantis,
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Neymour will absolutely respond with overwhelming force, but if
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you earn his respect, he can be a fierce protector of the
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oppressed. Either way, he's proud,
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stubborn, and never short of confidence.
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He is a cocky M effer. As Atlantean royalty.
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Neymour takes his job super, super seriously.
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Maybe too seriously. He's LED invasions, started
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wars, made alliances whenever it suited his vision of how the
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world should work. He's been a part of just about
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every major superhero team at some point.
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That includes Avengers, Defenders, X-Men, even the
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Illuminati. When teamwork fails him, he's
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not above forming morally questionable groups like the
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Cabal to get results. At the end of the day, Neymour
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answers to no one but himself. Neymour's origin starts with his
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human father, explorer Leonard McKenzie, whose underwater
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explosives accidentally damaged Atlantis.
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They brought him face to face with Atlantean Princess Fen, and
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what started as suspicious turned into love.
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Their son, named Moore, whose name means avenging son, grew up
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to fully embrace that meaning. From a young age.
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He showed signs of a credible power, including super strength,
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longevity, telepathy and eventually flight thanks to the
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little tiny wings on his ankles. But we will get into all
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everything he can do a little later.
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Growing up wasn't exactly peaceful.
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A disastrous quest involving a powerful magical relic led to
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tragedy, corruption, and the birth of a lifelong rivalry with
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the Waterlord Atuma. As Neymour matured, he often
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lashed out at the surface world for polluting the oceans and
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harming his people, clashing repeatedly with humanity's
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heroes, especially the Human Torch.
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During World War 2, Nymor surprised everyone by teaming up
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with the surface heroes like Captain America and the Human
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Torch to stop the Axis powers forming the invaders.
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Even after fighting side by side, though, his relationship
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with humanity stayed very, very rocky, and it seems like that's
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exactly how he wanted it to stay.
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Neymour is incredibly powerful, especially underwater, and has
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gone toe to toe with some of the Earth's strongest beings without
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backing down. Over the years, Neymour's life
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has been defined by shifting alliances, personal losses, and
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hard choices. He's loved deeply, lost
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tragically from Lady Dorma to Marina.
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He's ruled Atlantis, lost it, rebuilt it, and lost it again.
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He's destroyed worlds to save others.
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He's held Infinity Stones, battled gods, invaded Wakanda,
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and been killed and resurrected more than once.
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So he has lived a life. Somewhat more recently, Namor
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has leaned hard into protecting the oceans at any cost, even if
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that puts him at odds with The Avengers again, which he does
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not care about. He's formed his own ocean
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focused teams, issued ultimatums to other sea based heroes,
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walked the line between King Conquer and antihero.
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Sometimes he pulls back from the brink, other times he goes all
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all the way in, balls to the wall.
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Through it all, one thing never changes.
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Neymour believes he knows what's best for his people, and he's
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willing to fight anyone to make it happen.
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Cross him and you'll make an enemy for life.
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Earn his respect and you might just gain one of the most
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dangerous allies on the planet. Neymour is complicated and most
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people don't really get him. He's incredibly arrogant and
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genuinely believes he's better than almost everyone else in the
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world. Pride is kind of his whole
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thing. He hates asking for help,
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especially from anyone he sees as weaker, which is basically
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everyone that's above land. He's blunt, he's
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confrontational. Even with allies, he's more
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likely to bark orders and make threats than politely ask.
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He's also impulsive and hot headed, and his temper often
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gets him in trouble. That said, Neymour isn't all ego
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and anger, just mostly beneath it all.
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He has a strong moral core. He'll always stand up for the
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oppressed and push back against the powerful, even if it means
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turning on his own allies. He's willing to make brutal, no
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win choices and even sacrifice himself if it means saving
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innocent lives. No hesitation, no excuses.
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Even though his pride keeps him from admitting mistakes out
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loud, Namor carries a lot of guilt.
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He feels the weight of his failures and the weight of the
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lives he's taken, even when he's believed that he would had good
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reasonings at the time. He doesn't show it often, but he
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does respect a very, very small circle of people that includes
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Captain America, Cyclops, Reed Richards, and surprisingly had a
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long on again off again friendship with Doctor Doom.
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As a ruler, Neymour governs with an iron fist, but he's fair and
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genuinely devoted to his people, and he's proven more than once
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that he'd die for them without a second thought.
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On a more personal note, Neymour is famously A womanizer.
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While he's known to have a soft spot for blinds, one blonde in
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particular, he's also pretty open minded and adventurous, and
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even forming romantic relationships with beings aren't
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aren't exactly human. Now that you kind of get an idea
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of who Neymour is, what exactly can he do?
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Besides being an alpha level mutant, he also has some pretty
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cool powers that I'm interested to see if they'll make it into
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the MCU. It's probably not.
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He's amphibious Physiology. His body was built for life
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underwater. So yeah, superhuman strength.
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All Atlanteans are strong, but Neymour is on a whole different
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level even compared to his own people.
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When he's underwater or in contact with water, his strength
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has been classified as Class 100, dropping to about class 85
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on the surface and slowly weakening as the longer he stays
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dry. Even so dry, Neymour has
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casually beaten Luke Cage, used him as a weapon, knocked out She
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Hulk with a surprise hit, while also matching the Sang blow for
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blow. Underwater he's dominated the
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Red Hulk, gone toe to toe with Savage Hulk, Hercules, Thor,
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Beta Ray, Bill Aries, Wonder Man, Century, and even made
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Thanos bleed. He's lifted thousands of tons
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with ease, swam against a temporal storm despite
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dehydration, and has been described as one of the most
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powerful beings on Earth, his strength once being called
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supreme beneath the sea. After temporarily absorbing
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Hydro Man's powers, he his strength skyrocketed far beyond
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his wild imaginations. Another thing he has is speed.
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He is faster than any Olympic level human on land, but his
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real speed shows in the water. While most Atlanteans top out
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around 60 mph, Namor hits speeds exceeding 300 knots, which is
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over 345 mph while swimming. He has incredible stamina,
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incredible agility and reflexes. Durability.
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His body is extremely tough. Healing factor.
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He does get hurt, but his body heals much faster and more
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completely than a human's or even an Atlantean's.
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Radiation Absorption. Neymar can absorb certain levels
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of radiation, though his upper limit isn't fully known.
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Longevity. Atlanteans age far more slowly
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than humans, with an average lifespan at about 120 years.
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Neymar is currently considered to be in his physical prime, and
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he just has been for who knows how long.
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Underwater breathing. That's an obvious one.
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Aquatic telepathy. He can mentally communicate with
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marine life and compel sea creatures to follow his
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commands. Electro location.
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Similar to certain fish, Neymour can sense faint electrical
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currents in water. Enhanced senses.
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His vision lets him see clearly through the dark ocean depths
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and murky waters, and his hearing is so sharp that he once
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claimed he could detect ocean currents shifting by a single
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degree. He claimed it Flights Neymour's
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iconic ankle wings allow him to fly extreme speeds fast enough
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to outpace a military jet. So that's kind of cool.
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Water manipulation. After temporarily siphoning
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Hydro Man's powers, Neymour gained control over water
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itself. So he used his ability to part
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massive bodies of water and even flood a prison cell thousands of
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miles away from an ocean as a sub subdivision under that rain
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manipulation. On one occasion, Namor summoned
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a heavy rainstorm powerful enough to douse Johnny Storm's
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flame from mid flight, which is so rude.
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Along with these abilities, he's also an expert in fighting.
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He is a bold diplomat. He has diplomatic immunity as
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the leader of a sovereign nation.
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He often visits the United States or United Nations for
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political reasons. He employs diplomatic immunity
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during these trips, which I would too.
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He's an expert tactician. He's multilingual.
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He speaks virtually every language on Earth.
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He's a skilled engineer. He is a talented business
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executive. And he's actually very talented
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in sculpting. It's something he does not want
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surface dwellers to know. Some of his work includes busts
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of Sue Storm. So, yeah.
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So you know all the good stuff about Neymour, but what are some
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of his weaknesses? You know, besides hot blondes
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who are in a relationship? Oxygen imbalance.
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Neymour has a known weakness. When he spends too much time
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either underwater or on land, staying in just one environment
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for too long can throw his oxygen levels off completely out
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of whack. Bipolar tendencies.
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When that imbalance kicks in, Neymour becomes extremely short
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tempered and has trouble thinking clearly or logically.
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Basically when they say he's seeing red, he's seeing red.
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Head injuries under certain, not fully understood conditions.
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Neymour has shown an odd vulnerability to head trauma.
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In rare cases, a well placed blow like being struck by a lead
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pipe and an by an ordinary human has knocked him out.
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He has major PDSDA. Big reason behind Neymour's
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emotional instability is severe psychological trauma from World
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War 2. Witnessing and participating in
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atrocities on both sides left deep, deep scars.
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Dehydration that is obvious. Pollution.
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Polluted water is bad news for Neymour.
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Exposure to it can harm his Physiology and significantly
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reduce his effectiveness of his physical abilities.
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And his ankle wings. Even though Neymour's ankle
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wings don't provide lift on their own, they're essentially
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his ability to fly. If their damage are destroyed,
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he is grounded, and they also heal very slowly.
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After losing them in the past, it took a long time for them to
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fully grow back. So that is Neymour Mackenzie,
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the submariner. He is a character with the
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biggest back story, which it was very, very hard to put into one
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episode that was not an hour long.
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I don't want to talk for an hour long.
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So, but yeah, he is an iconic character.
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He set the tone for very many, many characters in Marvel Comics
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and other comic publishers. So yeah, that's Neymour.
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He's a toxic little thing, and I love the toxicity.
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So we are getting him in Avengers Doomsday and we're also
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getting Sue Storm in Avengers Doomsday.
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So I'm very, very interested to see that dynamic.
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But I'm pretty sure it's going to be nothing more than him
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checking her out and her rolling her eyes at him.
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It's something more tame than you know, when he wants
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kidnapped her to make her marry him.
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And then Reed was like, I'm going to kill him.
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And then Reed just kind of beat the brakes off on those things.
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Little things. We all go through it.
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It's fine. So I hope you liked this
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episode. I hope you will like and
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subscribe, and I hope you have a marvelous day.