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pluckyredhead · 7 months

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Character Profile: Koryak

And so we come to the last (but never least, not in my heart) Lost Titans profile: Koryak! My terrible, damp boy.

Look at him pout! How I love him.

Koryak debuted in the 1994 Aquaman series. (Note: I'm not sure what his last name is - his mother's is never mentioned, and even though I sometimes tag him as "Koryak Curry," I don't think he would use Arthur's last name, especially since even Arthur didn't use that name very much at the time.)

As I've mentioned before, Arthur has had a lot of different origins, but in the post-Crisis era, which the only era Koryak appeared in, Arthur's mother was the queen of Atlantis, and his father was Atlan, an ancient Atlantean sorcerer who impregnated her in a dream. Arthur was abandoned at birth because of the infidelity/his blond hair, was raised by dolphins (yes), and briefly lived with a human man named Arthur Curry who taught him English and gave him a human name to borrow.

Then Arthur - still a teenager at this point - went to Alaska, where he immediately rescued a teenage girl named Kako from a polar bear. Kako and her family took Arthur in in gratitude, and he and Kako fell in love. (Kako's family is sometimes said to be Inuit, sometimes Inupiat.)

Anyway, Arthur and Kako lose their virginities to each other. IN THE SNOW, FOR SOME REASON:

This is such an infuriating racist, sexist trope (the WOC with the broken English throws herself at the white hero, logic be damned - why isn't she wearing anything under her coat??? - but of course she will never be his wife, or anything more than a footnote in his story).

Immediately after this, tragedy strikes Kako's family, Arthur is blamed (it's not his fault), and he's thrown out. He returns to the ocean, and eventually goes on to become Aquaman, king of Atlantis, etc.

Years later, he returns to Alaska for plot reasons not worth going into, and that's when he meets Koryak, THE MOST NINETIES BOY OF ALL:

The shirtlessness, the swords, the hair! Truly a man of his era. (Boy? I always assumed he was about 18 here, but a Secret Files issue claims he was 16.)

Koryak is not Arthur's biggest fan, but after Kako turns into a fire elemental because this is the DCU and these things happen, Koryak decides to go to Atlantis with Arthur. Or, well, technically the city was called Poseidonis at the time, which will be important later.

Anyway, the Poseidonians are a little wary of a stranger at first, until Koryak saves a child's life and suddenly they love him. Koryak, who didn't really fit in in Alaska, is basking under the attention, but it doesn't go over well with the current king, Thesily (Arthur had stepped down a while back for Reasons), who is wildly jealous of Arthur, and fears Arthur is looking to take his throne back and now comes complete with heir.

So Thesily leads Koryak into a side room and tries to stab him to death. Luckily, a sudden earthquake causes a pillar to topple over and trap Thesily. Koryak gloats and leaves him to die. What a brat! I adore him!

The earthquakes aren't stopping, and the people of Poseidonis want to flee. Arthur tells them not to because a prophecy said they should stay, but Koryak leads the Poseidonians out of the city and to their sister city, Tritonis, which is where the merpeople live. There, the Poseidonians immediately proceed to be huge assholes to the Tritonians, using up their resources and being racist to them. (Introducing Koryak, an indigenous man and literally the only character of color underwater at this point in time, and having him lead a bunch of racist colonizers was...maybe not Peter David's best choice.)

Anyway, Koryak decides to open up some forbidden tunnels because he feels like it, and they turn out to be forbidden because they were imprisoning Kordax, Arthur and Koryak's evil immortal blond lizard man ancestor. Naturally.

Arthur rolls up with his crew (his girlfriend, his dad, and Garth) and Koryak and Garth throw down. It doesn't go well for Koryak:

I LAUGH EVERY TIME.

Anyway, Arthur's side wins, Kordax is killed, the Tritonians are freed, and Arthur decides that to make it up to them, the Poseidonians are going to serve them as slaves indefinitely. That...seems like compounding human rights violations on top of human rights violations, but okay. Anyway Koryak volunteers to stay and serve the Tritonians as well, because he feels guilty about what he's done.

...for a little while. Then he gets bored and decides they should leave. The king of Tritonis is like "Says who?" and Garth shows up out of nowhere and is like "Says me" and the king's like "Oh shit, okay" and lets them go, leaving Koryak both grateful and resentful towards Garth. I am eating this up with a SPOON btw.

Koryak returns to Tritonis, where he immediately falls back into old habits of resenting his father. Vulko, an advisor of Arthur's who is currently mad at him, sees this and decides to use it as an opportunity to overthrow Arthur:

(The scar across his nose is from Kordax. Later artists forgot it and I wish they hadn't.)

Vulko and Koryak plot for like...a really long time without anything coming of it. Arthur knows perfectly well that it's happening but doesn't do anything about it, even though he could put a stop to it by simply, like...showing Koryak five minutes of positive attention, ever, in his life. Because it's really, really obvious that Koryak just needs positive reinforcement, and would be fully Team Arthur if Arthur would just give him a reason - at one point when Arthur briefly dies (he gets better), Koryak is willing to die to try to avenge him and save Garth and Dolphin from torture. He's not all bad! He's just drawn that way!

Anyway, Arthur comes back to life and Poseidonis decides to make him king again. Just as he's about to be crowned, GARTH tries to overthrow him and steal the throne - but that's just because Garth has been holding Arthur's magic trident and was possessed by him. Arthur overpowers him, and then tells him that he's not mad and in fact, he's proud of Garth for holding out as long as he did.

Then Koryak tries his hand:

And like...yes, Garth only tried to steal the throne because he was possessed and Koryak did it willingly, but Koryak also tried to help Arthur when Garth went rogue. Again, it is so, so clear that Koryak's loyalty was Arthur's for the asking, but Arthur never asked. Instead, he praised Garth for trying to overthrow him and then told Koryak to his face how much he sucked.

Arthur is at least merciful enough to commute the normal sentence for treason from death to banishment, and Koryak is kicked out of Atlantis. Arthur then literally never thinks about him for the next SEVEN YEARS. (Okay, Koryak shows up very briefly for three issues in 1999 and Arthur thinks about him while he's looking directly at him, and then forgets he exists again. But then, Arthur also repeatedly forgets about his own wife. Arthur is terrible.)

Anyway, seven years later, Arthur has also been banished from Atlantis, and is now living in Sub Diego, which is what happens when half of San Diego inexplicably falls into the ocean and a small percentage of the traumatized people discover they can breathe underwater. Koryak, meanwhile, has returned to Atlantis to fight with Garth some more:

Love this for them!

Koryak, btw, is arguing that the survivors of Sub Diego should be allowed to move to Atlantis, and Garth's like "Uhhh they wouldn't fit in" and Koryak's like "Wow, racist." Ahem. In general, Koryak during this period is a lot calmer and more mature than he used to be, and also a lot more willing to forgive Arthur for All the Bullshit:

Also, there's a joke that implies Koryak might be queer?

Literally that's the joke here: Koryak is talking about a guy named Malrey (half-shark, half-cop, and no I am not kidding), and Lorena, who has a crush on Koryak, is clocking that she may not have a chance. I don't know if this was just a throwaway gay joke, which happened all the time in 2005, or if it was going somewhere, but we'll never know. (For the record, even though Garth says Koryak has a crush on Lorena, that doesn't appear to be true, especially since Lorena is underage and Koryak is definitely an adult by now. I don't think we should take Garth's line there as anything but dismissive of Koryak's outreach to the Sub Diegoans. Also, back in the 90s, Koryak definitely had a crush on a minor character called Deep Blue, a.k.a. Debbie Perkins, but that never went anywhere, which is good because SHE WAS ARTHUR'S HALF-SISTER. (She and Arthur made out a bunch before they knew, because Arthur loves kissing girls his sons have crushes on. YIKES ALL AROUND.) (Also just kidding, Arthur doesn't pay enough attention to any of his kids to know who they have crushes on.))

Anyway. Back to the plot. Mera is very sick because of Evil Magic, and Garth decides to perform a massive spell to save her, and Koryak agrees to help. This spell attracts the attention of the Spectre, who was evil at the time, and he, uh...destroys Atlantis, killing Koryak, Garth, and almost everyone else. Arthur finally acknowledges that he was a shitty dad:

Immediately after this issue, the book's title changed from Aquaman to Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis. The main character is not the Arthur we know, but a new, younger Arthur, Arthur Joseph Curry, who turns out to be a cousin of our Arthur. His mentor is a guy called the Dweller in the Depths, who has a tentacle face like Davey Jones from the Pirates movies. It is eventually revealed that the Dweller is actually Regular Arthur, with traumatic amnesia. Why? Why does he have a tentacle face now? NEVER EXPLAINED.

Anyway, we also meet this guy:

Narwhal's character design is...suggestive, let's say? Also suggestive: Garth has also turned up alive, and like "Narwhal," he now has albinism and partial amnesia. And Narwhal knows the name "Orin," though he can't place it. (It's Arthur's Atlantean name.)

Anyway, Narwhal is sent to kill this "Orin":

Narwhal kills Arthur/Orin/the Dweller, but it doesn't bring him peace, because he still doesn't know who he is - and Orin did, at the last minute. He goes to Atlantis for answers, and Mera confirms it, at least for the reader:

...and that's the last issue of Sword of Atlantis. WOMP WOMP. All of the Aquaman characters disappeared until Blackest Night (when Arthur returned). Koryak never appeared again, and was retconned out with the New 52. Oh well, at least the narwhal tusk spear is pretty dope.

As of Infinite Frontier, the pre-52 universe has been pretty much restored, which should mean that Koryak is back in continuity...but DC is still keeping Arthur's New 52/Rebirth origin intact, which means he did not spend any of his teenage years in Alaska, which means Koryak was never conceived. So things could go either way - any writer who feels like bringing him back could do so easily, but they don't have to.

I call Koryak "my terrible boy" a lot, and he's undeniably pretty obnoxious: immature, bratty, petty, unforgiving, and, uh...awfully on board with murder, let's say? He is also extremely young when we first meet him, and is instantly slammed with trauma: his mother essentially dies, someone tries to murder him, he's physically and mentally violated by Kordax. I'll say again that the slightest bit of positive attention from Arthur probably could have changed his entire life, but he never got it. SO HE'S GONNA GET IT FROM ME INSTEAD.

Anyway, I love Koryak very, very much, and have already written fic about him. And I have another Koryak fic in the works for after The Lost Titans is published. And I will never stop whining at DC to bring him back. If Koryak has one fan (he does), it's me. But maybe now it's you, too?

#koryak #koryak curry #character profiles #aquasplaining #the lost titans #i write things

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leoruby-draws · 11 days

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Some art from my TrWh au, showcasing the friendly rivalry between Koryak and Jason (plus a bonus Tula!). Felt like posting more stuff today, despite posting something yesterday.

Just wanted to show the many ways Koryak and Jason might interact with eachother. Koryak is the fourth member to be added to the outlaw team, joining out of both loneliness and a want for some allies for his goal to become King of Atlantis. Koryak will often push to lead missions, more than other teammates but he sees it as a way to expand his leadership skills. But he's willing to take a backseat, so long as he's second or third command. I should probably do a post on how leadership is handled in my au outlaw team. Suffice to say, its loose and messy.

Koryak can find Jason very annoying no doubt, what with his needling and secretive ways, but enjoys the thrill of a good fight with and beside him. Despite him finding Jason kinda suspicious in some ways, he sometimes with confide in him as well. Gunning for the throne will require allies of course, and Koryak will probably want the kinda skills Jason will have. Plus Jason understands that to reach the top of the food chain might require some less than virtuous methods...

Look how handsome Koryak looks in the third pic, love drawing his hair!

Also the first pic was actually my second try, did not like the way I drew it or how scrunch up it all felt, just wanted to show it here to compare them both:

Also! Bonus Tula! Looks like she brought Koryak over and stopped for some girl talk with Barbara. Looks like she might help out the Birds of Prey with underwater trouble.

Anyways hope you find this fun, later!

#DC Comics #Koryak Curry #Jason Todd #Tula #Barbara Gordon #Duke Thomas #my art #just a little cameo tho #Training Wheels au #by the way their playing mahjong there #i like it #its a very relaxing game for me

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fancyfade · 13 days

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Aquafam apology card that says "sorry about the attempted murder"

#it PROBABLY wont happen again #dc comics #aquafam #arthur curry #aquaman #mera #koryak

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dcuninterrupted · 2 years

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Characters to expect coming up in Aquaman #1, out July 13th!

Aquaman (Arthur Curry)

Dolphin

Tempest (Garth of Shayeris)

Aquawoman (Mera Challa)

Narwhal (Koryak)

Cerdian

Nuidius Vulko

???

#Lineups #DC Uninterrupted #Aquaman #Arthur Curry #Dolphin (dc)#Tempest #Garth of Shayeris #Mera Challa #Koryak #Cerdian #Nuidis Vulko

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dc-worse-dad-poll · 5 months

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Round One, Part Nine!

Who’s the worse dad?

View the brackets here. Reasons for submission under the cut.

Ted Kord:

says he has kids but we have never seen them. absent father slay

Arthur Curry:

The amount of disrespect he gives Garth, Koryak, and A.J. is incredible

Was murdered by his son and honestly, might have deserved it. Justice for Garth and Koryak.

#polls #round one #ted kord #arthur curry

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green-arrxws · 1 year

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📂| AQUAFAM READING GUIDE

The ones I've already finished have a link under them that redirects to their respective reading guide pages; once I finish the others, they'll be linked with their respective links as well.

Arthur Curry/Aquaman

Atlanna Curry/Queen Atlanna

Garth/Aqualad/Tempest

Mera/Queen Mera

Arthur Curry Jr.

Orm Marius/Ocean Master

Tula/Aquagirl

David Hyde/Black Manta

Dolphin

Koryak

Debbie Perkins/Deep Blue

Lorena Marquez/Aquagirl

Jackson Hyde/Aquaman

Andy Curry

#dc families

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pluckyredhead · 1 year

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hypothetically, if you could give jason a titans team (like maybe in an au where he doesn’t die?), who would you put in the lineup?

Friend, you are in luck, because I have thought about this EXTENSIVELY. (I may or may not be trying to figure out how to write an extremely long fic about this team. I am invested. Let Jason have friends!!!)

Kid/Red Devil (Eddie Bloomberg): Eddie was canonically Jason's only superhero friend during his Robin days and had almost as terrible an adolescence as Jason did and I just want them to be besties so bad. They deserve to be happy! Also they are both nerds!!! I love.

Ravager (Rose Wilson): Rose has been frequently linked to Jason in multiple universes, often romantically and often in a way that implies that they are peers. (She's also been on books with Dick, Tim, and Damian, but this is my team and I do what I want.) She also has a long history with Eddie, who is canonically smitten with her. Do the three of them have a messy triangle going on for much of their adolescence in my universe? Oh boy do they. 😈

Green Arrow (Connor Hawke): God only knows how old Connor is supposed to be right now, but pre-Flashpoint, he fits right into Jason's mini-generation, being younger than Roy (Dick's generation) but older than Mia and Cissie (Tim's generation). I know he wasn't a superhero yet when Jason was Robin but this is an AU and Connor needs friends his own age almost as badly as Jason does. Also, Jason, Connor, and Rose sparring together on the regular? I would like to see it dot gif.

Koryak: My terrible boy! Kory also fits into Jason's mini-generation (younger than Garth, older than Lorena) and needs friends even more desperately than everyone else on this roster, which is saying something.

Damage (Grant Emerson): Yes, Grant was on a team with Bart, but he always came off a bit older than Bart, and clearly reached adulthood before Tim did (although who hasn't?). He's also been on two separate teams with Rose (sort of). Most importantly, I love him. Also, this team needs some muscle. I mean, Koryak and Eddie are pretty strong, but still.

Argent (Toni Monetti): Toni is the same age as Grant and a former teammate of his (and Rose's, sort of) and they are best friends in my heart. She's also the closest the team has to a flyer. She despairs of how much orange the others are wearing and also Eddie's everything.

ANYWAY I LOVE THEM AND SOMEDAY I WILL WRITE THE FIC. (Or...the comic???)

#jason todd #red hood #eddie bloomberg #red devil #kid devil #rose wilson #ravager #connor hawke #green arrow #koryak #koryak curry #grant emerson #damage #toni monetti #argent

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leoruby-draws · 7 months

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Now that I've finally posted Duke's friends Riko and Dax, I can show off this comic that's been gathering dust for about 3 months now.

A sequel to this comic I made way back, made mostly to observe to see how far my art's improve (which is... barely, geez..). What do you guys think? Maybe I should save up for art school, but I don't think that's gonna happen tbh.

Sometimes I look at the drawings I've made for this silly little au of mine and think, wow! What a completely different world from canon, I do try to keep it in line with the comics (tho I do mix in other sorts of continuities as well). But I mostly do whatever suits my fancy.

Well, the aftermath for this:

Eddie's so nice to them, he's a good dude!

And a bonus comic, nobody never did answer this question from my last post lol:

Koryak's just messing with them, maybe!

Anyways hope you like this, tell me if my art's improve guys!

#DC Comics #Duke Thomas #Riko Sheridan #Dax Chill #Jason Todd #Koryak Curry #Owen Mercer #my art #Training Wheels au

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fancyfade · 9 days

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I don't know what Aquamen is gonna be about yet (b/c i haven't read it) but imagine if it had all the previous potential aquamen candidates in there. Arthur. Garth. Koryak. Jackson. I'd love to see them all on page at once

#I know it wont have koryak bc dc doesnt remember he exists #but still #dc comics #aquamen #arthur curry #koryak #garth #jackson hyde #aquaman

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dailydccomics · 10 months

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