Atlan
9833 BCE - Atlan is born in ancient Atlantis.
9818 BCE - 15-year-old Atlan becomes a Magi.
9799 BCE - 34-year-old Atlan becomes the very first Master Sorcerer
9780 BCE - 53-year-old Atlan first taps into the magic of Darkworld, becoming the most powerful Magi in all history.
9666 BCE - 167-year-old Atlan first detects the Upheaval. Darkworld is beginning to awaken, heralding the end of the world.
9579 BCE - 254-year-old Atlan begins laying the groundwork for the first Shadowpact by awakening the Lords of Chaos & Order with the help of Jebediah. The interdimensional space once occupied by Chaos & Order begins to populate with the infinite worlds of the Paths Beyond
9563 BCE - 270-year-old Atlan contacts Nommo Balewa to assist in creating the first Shadowpact to save the world.
9518 BCE - 315-year-old Atlan casts the spells of the first Shadowpact, allowing the Homo Magi of the world to flee Earth into the Paths Beyond, populating worlds like Gemworld, preventing Earth's destruction by Darkworld. Atlantis becomes a refuge for the Homo Magi trapped on Earth. The city is sunk in the aftermath, it's people altered to become sea-dwellers. Atlan himself is sealed within the Paths Beyond.
7 years ago - Atlan finds Garth lost in the Paths Beyond. He takes him as a student, training him for years in their space beyond time before helping him return.
First of all, we should just acknowledge that the character we're presenting here really isn't adhering to any existing continuity. What we're doing is combining bits of three different figures from DC's history into one character that will fill a major role in the ancient history of our DC continuity. The intention here is that this new character, Atlan, will serve as the founder of Atlantis, the Shadowpact, and of the modern concept of magic as it exists in our mythology.
Rather than follow the familiar format. let me just try to break down the three characters we're building our own version of Atlan from.
Rather than follow the familiar format. let me just try to break down the three characters we're building our own version of Atlan from.
Atlan's Comic HistoryAtlan, as he appeared in regular comic continuity, first appeared during Peter David's 1990 The Atlantis Chronicles miniseries. He was set up as a great figure in Atlantis's history, although he was also a rebel against the forces slowly diminishing the city into a shell of its former glory. In the new continuity being established by David, blonde hair in an Atlantean was a sign of the 'curse of Kordak'. It would later be the reason that in infant Aquaman would be abandoned to die on Mercy Reef. Therefore, the fact that Atlan also has blonde hair is a pretty significant bit of foreshadowing.
Low and behold: as the series goes on we discover that, centuries after his death, Atlan appeared in a dream to Aquaman's mother Atlanna They had a pretty graphically-depicted affair that lead to the birth of her son, making Aquaman the child of a historic Atlantean wizard. This take on Aquaman's history was only in-continuity during this post-crisis, pre new-52 era. Atlan would also appear a second time in a miniseries featuring Aqualad's transition into Tempest, when Garth traveled into another dimension to learn magic from this classic figure of Atlantean history. What were really taking from Atlan is the name, and the connection to Tempest's story. |
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Orin's Comic HistoryOrin ALSO debuted in the Atlantis Chronicles. The series started during the time of the sinking of the city. Orin was the king of Atlantis, and he was responsible for saving the city by erecting it's dome, and also initiated the work to adapt it's people so that they could survive underwater.
Orin would also appear later in the post-new-52 era of Aquaman comics. This version of the character was far more complex, establishing a plot suggesting that he actually usurped the throne... we're not paying attention to it. What we're taking here is the idea that our character, Atlan, was responsible for saving Atlantis, and that his magic set up everything that empowers the city leading up to modern continuity. |
Arion's Comic HistoryArion... the first character we're using that predates the Peter David era of Aquaman. Arion was introduced as a back-up story in Warlord comics before he would go on to star in his own ongoing series. He was a great king and mage whose stories were set 25,000 years ago in ancient Atlantis before it sank. His stories would go on to include him becoming one of the Lords of Order, and he would appear constantly across continuity whenever anyone wanted to make a reference to an ancient magical hero.
This is the character we're drawing on the most. Arion is an incredibly powerful character. His magical prowess can absolutely be the catalyst for all magic to follow across the history of our DC universe. The idea is that this ancient mage that lived in the super-advanced city Atlantis tapped into an extra dimensional energy source, the Darkworld, which allowed him to perceive that it was gaining sentience. This would have caused the end of the world, but Atlan created the very first shadowpact, the web of spells that saved the word. In this case, he awoke the Lords of Order and Chaos, permitting him access to other magical realms, and was able to breach them, dissipating the magic of Darkworld, but at a very high cost. People who wield magic were largely driven out of the earth we all know, most of them going to places like Gemworld or Nightshade, with only a few remaining here on Atlantis. The city was sunken, but Atlan's magic also protected it and its people, adapting them to thrive in the ocean. By combining all three of these characters into one, we get a single ancient hero who plays a huge role in defining our world as we know it. |
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