ATTUMA
Created By: Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The Fantastic Four #33 (Dec. 1964)
Role: Namor's Personal Big Bad
Group Affiliations: Deep Six, The Lethal Legion, Atlantis
PL 11 (163), PL 12 (163) Underwater
STRENGTH 10
STAMINA 10
AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 11
DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 3
AWARENESS 3
PRESENCE 4
Skills:
Athletics 1 (+11)
Deception 4 (+8)
Expertise (Atlantean Warrior) 10 (+13)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 5 (+9)
Perception 4 (+7)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Vehicles 4 (+7)
Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Benefit 2 (Leads Atlantean Horde), Chokehold, Equipment 3 (Atlantean Weapons), Fast Grab, Favoured Environment (Underwater), Improved Critical (Atlantean Weapons), Great Endurance, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7, Takedown
Powers:
"Atlantean Physiology"
Swimming 8 (120 mph) [8]
Immunity 3 (Drowning, Cold, Pressure) [3]
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Aquatic) [2]
Senses 1 (Low-Light Vision) [1]
Power-Lifting 1 (50 tons) [1]
"Underwater Boosts" (All Have Flaws: Limited to Underwater)
Enhanced Strength 2 [2]
Enhanced Stamina 2 [2]
Equipment:
"Atlantean Weapons"
"Trident" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Reach) (2)
"Underwater Blaster-Thingies" Blast 6 (12)
Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Trident +11 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Underwater +11 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Underwater Trident +11 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Blasters +10 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +3
Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +10 (+12 Underwater), Fortitude +11 (+13 Underwater), Will +8
Complications:
Motivation (Power)- Attuma is extremely power-obsessed, and has repeatedly made a move for the throne of Atlantis.
Weakness (Lack of Water)- If left without water, Llyra will grow progressively weaker. After a long period of time, she will becoming Fatigued, Impaired, Disabled, Stunned, etc. (in addition to dropping Strength & Stamina consistently).
Enemy (Namor)
Total: Abilities: 94 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 21 / Powers: 19 / Defenses: 13 (163)
-Attuma's been such a recurring foe to Namor over the years that I've gotten entirely sick of the guy- seriously, how many times can you take over Atlantis in one lifetime? The recurrence of losers like Attuma is what makes Namor books impossible to keep afloat, in my opinion. The whole "Atlantis Is Boring" trope (exacerbated because most super-heroes & villains in comic 'verses can't come and visit) really holds back any kind of
Sub-Mariner or
Aquaman book, and a never-ending stream of Attuma Clones (plenty of potential usurpers to Prince Namor out there) really only adds to it.
-Attuma was born into a tribe of barbaric Atlanteans who were banished from Atlantis ages ago. Attuma, for some unknown reason, was born with strength far beyond any normal Atlantean, and quickly became the leader of his tribe. Declaring his ambitions to rule Atlantis, he was confronted by a daughter he never knew existed- Andromeda- but beat her. His invasion of Atlantis was stopped by Namor and the Fantastic Four, who'd decided to ally with the Sub-Mariner. And so began the routine- Attuma would attack Atlantis, and then be driven back. Sometimes quickly, sometimes after a long arc, but pretty regularly, even in the '60s. He was stopped by Iron Man once, then a teaming of Namor & Doom, and more, until he finally took power when Namor was exiled from Atlantis by their Ruling Council. Happy to rule, Attuma only occasionally struck out at his old enemy.
-Attuma allied with Ghuar and Llyra, and their respective armies (the Deviants & Lemurians), in
Atlantis Attacks!, which featured countless undersea skirmishes between these guys and superheroes. Though he abducted Marvel Girl for the "Brides of Set", he is betrayed when his allies sacrifice thousands of Atlanteans to awaken Set. He goes into a stupor for a while, then loses and regains the throne from Namor. He forms the "Deep Six" (with himself, Nagala, Orka, Piranha, Sea Urchin & Tiger Shark) to defeat Atlantis from Namor and the Defenders in a renewal of THAT book, but Namor eventually retakes his home. This is basically the last time Attuma REALLY matters- he pops up in 2000s-era books as an invader once more, being beaten by the Avengers, beheaded by the Sentry, restored by Doctor Doom, then transformed into "Nerkodd: Breaker of Oceans" thanks to a super-weapon given him by The Serpent in
Fear Itself. There... he just fights Alpha Flight and is handily defeated in the debut of their Limited Series (that became an Ongoing, then dropped back to Limited Series). Attuma appeared a couple more times before being slain in Atlantis by the Squadron Supreme's invasion (in revenge for Namor's part in the incursions that destroyed their worlds)- Power Princess kills him.
-So Attuma is one of those guys with FIFTY YEARS of history, but absolutely nothing to him. There's no nuance, shades of grey, or deeper intentions to Attuma- he's just some asshole out for power, whose only scheme is "Invade with military force". You need guys like this occasionally, I suppose, but this is probably Namor's BIGGEST VILLAIN, and he's never been worth much more than a simple story here or there. Hell, I wrote more about FRIGGIN' ORKA than this guy!
-Attuma is Namor Lite like many other characters he fights, but he's still more powerful than the typical character. He's no physical threat to Namor in this form, however- PL 11 isn't gonna cut it on land. However, a recent power-up boosted him to Namor's stats (ST 13/14 and STA 13/14) and gave him Flight, so he equals PL 12 these days... until some writer forgets those power-ups of course, and he becomes just another Namor Punching Bag (also called "Wrecking Crew-ing" after how THOSE dudes got a power-up and then immediately started jobbing again). Attuma is also prone to wielding whatever Super-Tech the GM can muster- it varies with each appearance.