When the alien scientists abandoned the experiment, Dolphin escaped their underwater lab. Oblivious to her former humanity, the feral young Dolphin scavenged underwater for her livelihood, eventually finding her trademark short blue-jeans and white shirt inside a sunken ship. She has been alone her entire life, constantly swimming and enjoying her personal freedom. As she grew into young womanhood, she became tired of living an isolated, lonely life. One day, the crew of an oceanology vessel saved her from a near lethal encounter with a dolphin-killing shark and took her aboard their ship to help her. [4]
Over time, the crew of the ship tried to educate and care for the girl they'd dubbed "Dolphin", but her utter lack of contact with either humans or Atlanteans had left her mute. Though she grew to understand spoken language fairly quickly, the act of speech itself remained beyond her. Then, a young female doctor on the crew had the bright idea to instruct her in sign language. Finally able to communicate, Dolphin explained what she could of herself and her story, and expressed her desire to resume her undersea life. At some point, Dolphin finally mastered spoken language, (especially when she started having contact with the superheroic community), but never lost her shyness and reluctance to speak. She has since been a woman of few words.
Meeting Aquaman and Marrying Tempest
During the Zero Hour events, she met Aquaman, and took part in the battle against Charybdis, a villain interested in the aquatic powers of the two heroes. When Charybdis, after robbing Aquaman of his telepathic powers, stuck Aquaman's hand in a pool of water teeming with piranhas, the normally pacifist Dolphin was forced to shoot the madman. She carried both the wounded Aquaman and Aqualad back to Atlantis for medical attention, saving their lives and earning their trust and love.
Afterwards, she became a supporting character in the Aquaman comic book, and soon won the affections of an Aquaman embittered by the loss of his hand. Over time, she came out of her shell, and displayed a more energetic and bubbly, though naive, personality.
In issue #25 of Aquaman volume 5 it was revealed that Kordax, an evil merman ancestor of Aquaman's, had secretly set Dolphin free from the lab, and used mind control to prompt her to infiltrate the royal court and kill Aquaman as the agent of his revenge on the royal house of Atlantis. The strong-willed Dolphin broke free of his control, and her romantic involvement with the king of Atlantis grew into love.
Dolphin remained Aquaman's lover until Mera, Aquaman's wife, returned from her exile in another dimension called the Netherworld. In the same period, Aqualad, now calling himself Tempest, returned from several years of extradimensional magic studies with increased powers and confidence, winning Dolphin's heart with a kiss. Though initially taken aback, Aquaman blessed the relationship. Eventually, Dolphin became pregnant by Tempest, and the two were married in an Atlantean ceremony attended by Tempest's second family, the Titans. [1]
Dolphin gave birth to a son, whom Aquaman named Cerdian (after Cerdia, a surface nation annexed by Atlantis). The weight of new familial responsibilities initially strained the relationship between Dolphin and Tempest. These tensions came to a head when Dolphin demanded Tempest choose between his duties as a hero and his duties as a father and husband. Tempest complied, and quit the Titans. When Aquaman was exiled for his role in the sinking of Atlantis, the family fell under suspicion as friends of the deposed king. The new sorcerous rulers deemed Dolphin and her family collaborators and put them under house arrest. This government is eventually overthrown, and Dolphin and her family have a brief moment of happiness in a free Atlantis.
When Tempest channels the magic of all Atlantis' sorcerers to undo a spell that had turned Mera into an air-breather, he is noticed by the Spectre, who unleashes his full power on Atlantis. The resulting cataclysmic destruction obliterates Atlantis entirely. Tempest is missing and presumed dead, but Dolphin, sent away during Atlantis' destruction, may have survived, along with the young Cerdian.
One Year Later
Further evidence of her survival is given by the ghost of Vulko. Able to sense the passing of Atlanteans, he claimed never to have felt the passing of Garth, Dolphin, and Cerdian, so the three are possibly alive. However, despite having spent months researching his beloved ones, [5] Garth eventually reveals that he had found the bodies of his wife and son and reasons that Dolphin and Cerdian may have died during the evacuation of Atlantis, buried in the rubble while searching for shelter. Slizzath, his necromantic uncle, confirms this version, hinting a possible return of Dolphin as a Black Lantern [6]
Blackest Night
In Blackest Night #2, Dolphin, Tula, and Aquaman are raised at Mercy Reef as Black Lanterns tasked with killing Tempest and Mera. Tula and Dolphin contend for Tempest's affection and mercilessly taunt him for being unable to save either of them. At the conclusion of the conflict, Tempest is killed and subsequently raised as a Black Lantern. [7] Dolphin appears to battle the Titans. Her body is destroyed by a burst of white light emanating from Dawn Granger. [8]
Rebirth
Dolphin made her return when she joined Aquaman in defending seachanged Atlanteans from persecution and harassment in the Aquaman Rebirth series. She is currently on the run with Aquaman as they hide from the underwater authorities. In the new series, Dolphin is a mutation which is contemptibly referred to as a taintblood in the various tribes of Atlantis, having triggered it while facing segregation from the drift out of self-defense. She and a clutch of other 9th tride denizens were rescued by a ghost of the locale whom was none other than the believed to be deceased Arthur Curry. [9]
