Of all of the original Teen Titans, Aquaman's first sidekick is easily the least popular. Garth, now known by his adult alias Tempest, is the most meandering of the five founding Titans, and it shows. Dick Grayson, Roy Harper and Wally West have all had their stories expounded upon over the years, with them all taking on their mentor's mantle's at least for a time. Tempest, on the other hand, is even less remembered than the continuity mess that is Donna Troy.

The former Aqualad recently returned in the pages of Teen Titans Academy, where he’s clearly the odd fish out among the eight other classic Titans. Depicted as little more than a cafeteria worker, Tempest’s history and character should earn him much more respect in the overall DC Universe.

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Why Has Tempest Been Forgotten?

Originally known as Aqualad, the young Atlantean Garth was one of the original Teen Titans alongside Robin, Kid Flash, Speedy, and Wonder Girl. Although Speedy technically came later, he inevitably ended up replacing Garth when the aquatic nature of the latter made him somewhat difficult to use in stories.

This continued in the George Perez/Marc Wolfman era of The New Teen Titans, where the vets were joined by Cyborg, Raven, Starfire and a Beast Boy who was flirting with the codename Changeling. Aqualad was barely used in this iconic run, despite the vastly raised profile of the property. In fact, his biggest moment during the Wolfman era was seemingly dying in the 1990 “Titans Hunt” storyline.

Garth would in fact survive and take on the Tempest identity, his equivalent to Nightwing. From there, he fumbled around the Post-Crisis era, and married Dolphin, Aquaman's former love interest. The New 52 mostly erased his past continuity, and even when DC Rebirth restored it, there still seemed to be an uncertainty about what to do with him. He was written as a sort of generic bruiser on Dan Abnett’s Titans book, which was his biggest push in years. For all of his failure to grab the spotlight, things really should be moving more swimmingly for the first Aqualad.

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Why DC Should Focus on Tempest

Aquaman and Tempest working together

The Aquaman property is doing better than ever, thanks mainly to success in both the comics and on the big screen. No longer seen as a joke, the aquatic hero and his family are finally big fish in the DC Universe, although one lowly minnow needs to catch up.

Despite how much he’s been overlooked, Tempest is unique among the former DC sidekicks. Dick Grayson and Roy Harper have both had issues with Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen, whereas Wally West essentially worships Barry Allen. Garth is different in that he had a more natural falling away from his mentor. He wasn’t mistreated like Roy was at Oliver’s hands, or betrayed like how Dick felt when Bruce chose Azrael to be the new Batman. Instead, he and Aquaman simply drifted apart, especially as the latter sunk deeper into his edgy ‘90s loner persona. Even though he was comforted to hear from Superman how proud Aquaman was of him during "Our Worlds at War," the two have never really had a real reunion. Thus, spotlighting Tempest would make for a unique perspective among DC’s young legacy characters.

Also, despite what the Silver Age attested, Tempest is easily one of the most powerful Titans. This is due not only his Atlantean physiology, which grants him super strength, durability, and the ability to breathe underwater and commune with sea life, but also his magical heritage. The Prince of the Idyllist tribe of Atlantis, his people were known for their arcane magicks. Developing these gifts further with Atlan the Wizard made Tempest even more powerful, giving him elemental control and energy powers along with his others. These are powers that even Aquaman himself lacks.

These gifts and his backstory separate him quite a bit from both his Justice League mentor and the Jackson Hyde Aqualad, making Tempest perfect for some time in the sun. His Idyllist origins are also somewhat unexplored, so now is a good time to showcase more of this to show how seedy Atlantis can be. Plus, with Hyde likely not joining the DCEU for a while, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom could be a good place to introduce Garth into DC's cinematic world. Regardless, Tempest should be treated with respect, and his potential simply should not be wasted.

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