Drew Van Acker (Pretty Little Liars) has been cast as Aqualad in Season 2 of Titans. Which Aqualad he is playing has not been confirmed but it would appear that Van Acker will most likely be playing Garth the original Aqualad who was later known as Tempest.
Created by Robert Bernstein and Ramona Fradon, Aqualad debuted in February 1960 in Adventure Comics #269; he is an amphibious humanoid who was left to die because of ancient Atlantean superstition and prophecy. He is the prince and heir to the throne of the Idyllists, a colony of Atlanteans who settled in the Hidden Valley 4,000 years ago. There, nestled in the capital city of Shayeris (formerly Crastinus), the pacifist Idyllists became rabid builders and collectors, architects and artisans, and eschewed physical violence at all costs.
Before his birth, Garth’s parents, King Thar and Queen Berra, became the reigning monarchs of Shayeris, the capital of The Hidden Valley of colonies. Thar had inherited the throne and access to ancient magical energies that his brother Zath, a powerful magician in his own right, believed to be rightfully his. Zath later transformed into a disgusting half-human form, Zath, renamed Slizzath, returned to Shayeris twenty years later with an army of undead. He planned to invade the Hidden Valley and transform it into a necropolis he would rule.
Knowing what was coming, King Thar assembled an army to stop him. The Idyllist radicals killed him and banished his pregnant wife Berra back to Atlantis. Before Thar was killed, however, he was able to cast a magical spell that trapped Slizzath in an other-dimensional prison. Unfortunately, this spell was linked to a magical ritual which would give his offspring access to incredible mystical powers and accessing that ritual would give Slizzath the energy required to break free of his prison. So word was sent out that all babies born with purple eyes, the Idyllist mark of power, should be banished and killed, lest they try to perform the access ritual and accidentally free Slizzath and his undead army. The Idyllists also claimed that Thar had gone insane to hide their complex, fearful plan.
Meanwhile, in Poseidonis, Queen Berra gave birth to her baby boy, Garth, who was born with purple eyes. Unfortunately the Atlanteans claimed Garth had been born genetically inferior and sentenced him to death on a seabed leagues away from Atlantis. It has been speculated that with the assistance of Aquaman’s father, the Atlantean sorcerer Atlan, the young Garth not only survived but thrived, learning language and survival rituals to keep the young boy from going feral as he scavenged his way through the undersea.
Eventually, Garth met and rescued Aquaman and became his sidekick, Aqualad. Once Aquaman married his lady love, Mera, and had his own son, adventuring with Aqualad became less important to him, leaving Garth feeling unsure of his role in his mentor’s life. This led to him becoming a founding member of The Teen Titans.
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