why can't aquaman fly?

[bearded]

he is able to swim faster and with more force than physical propulsion due to strength and skill would imply.  and air has less viscosity than water. 
possible answers,he doesn't have wings on his feet.  or, more likely, i believe he has psychological limits.  the evidence, of course, being his telepathy limited to sea creatures.  which in some versions, i believe has been overcome.

[pr1983]

i'm pretty sure his telepathy applies to all beings now, as seen when he fought despero before infinite crisis...

i honestly thought he could fly, tbh...

[BentonGrey]

With Aquaman we definitely see a bending of the laws of physics, or more accurately, the application of comic book physics.  He can swim so fast because A) his muscles are zillions of times more dense than an average human, giving him incredible strength and speed, and B) he is perfectly designed for a marine environment.  Now, the first premise works well enough, but the second....well, there is no visual evidence of this design.  A dolphin's entire body is designed to accomadate the kinds of movement needed to swim, but a human's is designed to do a much greater range of movements, and thus we are not naturally so good at any one of them as a creature designed expressly for that purpose.  Aquaman doesn't even have webbed fingers or toes (in most incarnations)!  However, he can still use his prodigious strength and speed to move himself through the water at speeds greater even than animals with obvious design advantages.  You've just got to let it slide, like the fact that a creature simply couldn't have the physical strength that Superman (or even Aquaman!) have in frames so small, and if they were even semi close they would weigh enough to constantly be falling through buildings and such.

As far as his telepathy, I would agree, it probably is a psychological block.  I think that Aquaman should be developed to be progressively stronger mentally, and eventually be so powerful, that he can completely control his kingdom (ALL of it), and easily effect human minds, then he would have to retire (after many great years of adventure) to avoid the temptations to meddle too greatly in the affairs of men, and thus deprive them of their free will.  Then Garth would become Aquaman and take over.

Ohh, also, Aquaman actually HAS "flown" before.  He has "swam" through dense air currents, I think in an old JLA story......ahh...the Silver Age....

[djfredski]

 :lol: you are all wrong.
Aquaman  can fly as seen way back on one of the super friend cartoon long ago. :thumbup: :D
don't ask me witch one, but he did fly.

[BentonGrey]

Haha, that wouldn't be the most ridiculous thing from those toons....

[ow_tiobe_sb]

Haha, that wouldn't be the most ridiculous thing from those toons....

...like the time when Aquaman used his brawny thighs to blend a banana-raspberry smoothie for Gleek...

ow_tiobe_sb
Phantom Bunburyist and Fop o' th' Morning

[herodad1]

maybe superman and aquaman have the telekinetic ability to move only themselves,or in supes case also anything he's in direct contact with.thats why he lifts huge objects and they dont fall apart.aquamans is at a lower level and is used as propulsion through water with the help from his arms/legs.i think dc saw aquaman's powers/physics problems and have slowly started sliding him more toward a submariner superhuman character.i hated the submariner/aquaman battle years back.aquaman swimming circles around namor?no way.a killer whale taking namor out?no way.everything aside ive always liked aquaman!

[bearded]

ok, lets forget about science and physics and superscience.  comic book reality time.
superman can fly, becuase the artists drew him leaping and the writer thought it looked like flying so wrote him flying.
swimming looks like flying, but it didn't stick that way.
what if aquaman were to swim very fast and leap out of the water like a dolphin at seaworld?  how far could he go?  not hard to imagine him soaring across the ocean.

[BentonGrey]

As a matter of fact in (comic book) reality, Aquaman can definitely superleap.  He can jump several stories while standing still, so it is easily imaginable that, given his speed in the water, he could probably launch himself or a mile or so.

[GogglesPizanno]

Its a good thing you are having this conversation AFTER you are married....   :)

[thanoson]

Lol. QFT. 

Benton, you really think he could launch himself a mile in the air? I think that's a bit much. Maybe half a mile sure.

Also, I believe he can't fly because they needed someone for Wonder Woman to carry around in her inviso plane. :D  Funny how on that show, everybody was able to get into space, except for Aquaman. Oh, over at a very mature website (Seanbabies Superfriends page) there's a very indepth look at Aquaman.  :P

[GhostMachine]

Aquaman was shown to be able to use his telepathy on people back during the Justice League Detroit days. I think it either puts a strain on him or he chooses not to use it on people for ethical reasons.

[BentonGrey]

Actually, he's done it WAY more than people realize.  One of the first times was back in 1979, where Aquaman took control of an unconscious Superman to help him fight Ocean Master.  He's done it off and on, but in the JLA:Detroit fiasco he did start using it fairly often on his own teammates.  In that series the ethical issues were JUST beginning to be explored when Aquaman left the book.  The implication with using his telepathy on non-marine animals is that it is somewhat harder, but something that he has learned to do, and in some cases it is also implied (as I like to believe) that the block is mostly in his head.

Ha, well Thanoson, I may be overstating things a bit, but given the speeds he can reach, I believe it is reasonable to assume such a distance.  However, half a mile is, itself, no mean feat.

[Talavar]

I think the better question is: why can Namor?  The first thing I think of when I hear King of the Sea isn't flying.

[BentonGrey]

Ha, yeah, you wouldn't think those tiny wings on his ankles could do much.  I was actually reading an Aquaman comic from the 90's (Adventures in the DC Universe) the other day, and Aquaman is fighting some flying guys; during which he notes that it isn't 'like I have any little wings on my ankles or anything.'  I found that sorta' funny.

[Rubberbandman]

The ability to fly and stronger telepathic abilities would have made him more useful for JLA adventures that didn't include an aquatic element.

[BWPS]

Water covers 3/4s of the Earth's surface. People make fun of Aquaman, but he's the big hitting superhero in the ocean. What's wrong with that? Let's see how Batman fares underwater. There are villains down there, and they're all hilariously evil. Just because Aquaman only has some powers that work well on land (strength, right?), doesn't mean he's bad. Martian Manhunter isn't good at rescuing people from fire, make fun of him.

[thanoson]

Eek, a match. *assumes fetal position*
How's that?

[BWPS]

Eek, a match. *assumes fetal position*
How's that?

Cute and hilarious.

[BentonGrey]

Well, Aquaman was already pretty darn useful for JLA missions.  He's strong enough to throw your car over your house, and he's tough enough to take Wonder Woman on and stalemate her....so, I think he's just fine...when not written badly, and that hasn't happened very often.