Didn’t have any reference images for Merder and the little I knew about him is that he can control animals, is similar to Mordru, and is from the Microverse. So I went all in on the head-cannon stuff. I was going for a twisted Merlin theme and incorporated some design elements from a Micronaught character. I added crazy looking rings into his yellow eyes since I imagine him as an unhinged old man who talks to animals and uses advanced tech to feud with Mordru over dominance (losing bad). He stands out among Aquamans rogues since I haven’t run into any other Microverse characters so far. I made him short in the height chart but he’d be taller when in the Microverse.
In cannon Porpy is just a random porpoise Aquaman uses as a steed. I feel his role could be expanded if he was added to Porm’s pod. Since porpoises are not prone to swimming with dolphins (acc to a BBC article I read about “Dolphin and porpoise pairing seen in Newquay and St Ives”) I think Porm taking in a smaller animal like him would play into her special nature and protective personality that caused her to take in Aquaman. I imagine him as a close “brother” to AM as they would both be outsiders to the pod.
Sardine is a fan/sidekick of the Human Flying Fish from the Super Friends comics, based on the cartoon. He and some friends team up with their villain of choice but turn on their mentors by the end of the story. The idea of an in-universe character who admires someone like the Human Flying Fish is a fun way to expand on his character. I would love it if he was introduced into the mainline comics proper and kept around longer than in the original story. While my take on THFF is an arrogant jobber hired to distract Aquaman I feel that Sardine should be a bigger thinker. He’s got the mind for the villain business and the determination to back it up. Resourceful if not slightly unhinged, he would easily soar above his mentors ability if not for his blind admiration.
Mongo rules the Black City of Necrus, another Atlantean offshoot which appears only when an alien satellite enters orbit and a device onboard opens a rift due to Earth’s magnetic field. Similar to Xebel, they are a militaristic people (whom I think could be even more so and represent how Atlanteans were before Aquaman’s time, like how Atlanna remembers them). He hates surface dwellers so much he will kill any he finds bellow the waves. I draw anyone in or from Necrus with darker, reddish shadows and without shine. Any black becomes solid with a coloured outline. They wear flipper-like shoes but dress as Atlanteans used to since they have limited resources in their other dimension. They have reddish skin in the comics and I enhanced it to be similar to other offshoots like the Tuatha De Danann.
Aquaman week 8 pt3.
#Merder the Microversal warlord, Aquaman’s other steed #Porpy, The Human Flying Fish’s sidekick #Sardine, and #Mongo ruler of the Black City of Necrus.
