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Meet Dylan Dunbar, AKA Garth/Aqualad (DCU)
May. 2nd, 2016 12:49 pmThis is Garth
Garth should have been a prince. In fact, he was born one, but the people of his city—the undersea kingdom of Poseidonis—claimed his purple eyes marked him as cursed, and he was thus abandoned on a seabed to die.
Somehow, though, he survived, and was eventually rescued by the superhero Aquaman, who made the young boy his sidekick. They had many adventures together, but when Aquaman married and had a baby boy, he grew less interested in Garth, who felt more and more abandoned emotionally as the years went on.
In a rough handful of years, Garth helped found the Teen Titans—becoming an off-and-on member—went to school, was nearly killed a bunch of times, and met his first love, Tula, who was killed while fighting a superhero. Things shifted drastically in his early adulthood, when he was kidnapped by a wizard and trained in elemental powers in another dimension, returning older and scarred. Then Aquaman’s girlfriend Dolphin left him for Garth, and the family dynamic got more complicated.
Garth and Dolphin went on to have a son, Cerdian, but his family was killed when the Spectre attacked Atlantis. After a very brief stint as king of Atlantis, he died in battle as well.
Now Garth is Dylan Dunbar
Dylan was born in a religious commune in Northern California. He has no idea who his biological father is—probably a man his mother was trying to convert—but as a child it didn’t matter to Dylan, because everyone was a child of the Father, the sect’s charismatic leader.
Is it a religion or a cult? That’s a question that Dylan will likely have mixed feelings about for the rest of his life. During his childhood, the focus was on sermons about love, harmony, family, and coexistence, which are things he still thinks are important. But as he got older, the Father talked more and more of the coming apocalypse and how only his children were guaranteed salvation, and the need for converts (and tithing) grew apace.
Growing up in the commune, though, was in many ways idyllic. The area was beautiful, full of redwood trees and lush scenery, and there was never any shortage of playmates. Though his mother was usually busy—she was one the the Father’s most devoted followers—there was always other adults to offer a hug or bandage up a scraped knee. Schooling was minimal and mostly focused on nature and the Father’s teachings.
Once he reached his teen years and became a full member of the church, shy, sweet Dylan was judged not a good fit for evangelizing and was assigned childcare duties instead. When most kids his age were planning for homecoming or deciding on college, Dylan had a baby on his hip and other small children following him around like ducklings.
But he grew more and more uncomfortable with the church. People he’d known all his life, loyal members, were expelled for questioning the Father about the slightest issues. The Father’s loyal wife was cast out for “idolatry” and replaced with two much younger wives (privately, Dylan’s mother was deeply disappointed at not being one of the chosen). The use of sex to win converts became more and more flagrant, which led to CPS making regular check-ins to make sure children were not involved. (To Dylan’s knowledge, children were not systematically abused.)
When he was seventeen years old, Dylan hesitantly asked his mother about these upheavals, and she assured him it was all according to the Father’s plan. The next day, the Father ordered Dylan to be driven to the nearest town and abandoned. His mother had reported on him.
The next few years were a muddy mix of culture shock, depression and nearly constant change as he scraped by for survival. Luckily, though, former church members were willing to help, and he bounced around their homes for a few years until he found himself on the East Coast and on his own. He found he liked New York City—it was about as different from the rural forest commune as he could get.
He’s had some crappy jobs, managed to make rent on a tiny studio apartment, and made friends, including an older couple with a baby living in the same complex. When the woman left, Dylan offered to watch the baby until a nanny could be found, and somehow that turned into a full-time, long-term gig. He’s comfortable, and mostly he passes as a normal person, but he suspects he’ll always be a little bit weird.
23 years old, nanny
Garth should have been a prince. In fact, he was born one, but the people of his city—the undersea kingdom of Poseidonis—claimed his purple eyes marked him as cursed, and he was thus abandoned on a seabed to die.
Somehow, though, he survived, and was eventually rescued by the superhero Aquaman, who made the young boy his sidekick. They had many adventures together, but when Aquaman married and had a baby boy, he grew less interested in Garth, who felt more and more abandoned emotionally as the years went on.
In a rough handful of years, Garth helped found the Teen Titans—becoming an off-and-on member—went to school, was nearly killed a bunch of times, and met his first love, Tula, who was killed while fighting a superhero. Things shifted drastically in his early adulthood, when he was kidnapped by a wizard and trained in elemental powers in another dimension, returning older and scarred. Then Aquaman’s girlfriend Dolphin left him for Garth, and the family dynamic got more complicated.
Garth and Dolphin went on to have a son, Cerdian, but his family was killed when the Spectre attacked Atlantis. After a very brief stint as king of Atlantis, he died in battle as well.
Now Garth is Dylan Dunbar
Dylan was born in a religious commune in Northern California. He has no idea who his biological father is—probably a man his mother was trying to convert—but as a child it didn’t matter to Dylan, because everyone was a child of the Father, the sect’s charismatic leader.
Is it a religion or a cult? That’s a question that Dylan will likely have mixed feelings about for the rest of his life. During his childhood, the focus was on sermons about love, harmony, family, and coexistence, which are things he still thinks are important. But as he got older, the Father talked more and more of the coming apocalypse and how only his children were guaranteed salvation, and the need for converts (and tithing) grew apace.
Growing up in the commune, though, was in many ways idyllic. The area was beautiful, full of redwood trees and lush scenery, and there was never any shortage of playmates. Though his mother was usually busy—she was one the the Father’s most devoted followers—there was always other adults to offer a hug or bandage up a scraped knee. Schooling was minimal and mostly focused on nature and the Father’s teachings.
Once he reached his teen years and became a full member of the church, shy, sweet Dylan was judged not a good fit for evangelizing and was assigned childcare duties instead. When most kids his age were planning for homecoming or deciding on college, Dylan had a baby on his hip and other small children following him around like ducklings.
But he grew more and more uncomfortable with the church. People he’d known all his life, loyal members, were expelled for questioning the Father about the slightest issues. The Father’s loyal wife was cast out for “idolatry” and replaced with two much younger wives (privately, Dylan’s mother was deeply disappointed at not being one of the chosen). The use of sex to win converts became more and more flagrant, which led to CPS making regular check-ins to make sure children were not involved. (To Dylan’s knowledge, children were not systematically abused.)
When he was seventeen years old, Dylan hesitantly asked his mother about these upheavals, and she assured him it was all according to the Father’s plan. The next day, the Father ordered Dylan to be driven to the nearest town and abandoned. His mother had reported on him.
The next few years were a muddy mix of culture shock, depression and nearly constant change as he scraped by for survival. Luckily, though, former church members were willing to help, and he bounced around their homes for a few years until he found himself on the East Coast and on his own. He found he liked New York City—it was about as different from the rural forest commune as he could get.
He’s had some crappy jobs, managed to make rent on a tiny studio apartment, and made friends, including an older couple with a baby living in the same complex. When the woman left, Dylan offered to watch the baby until a nanny could be found, and somehow that turned into a full-time, long-term gig. He’s comfortable, and mostly he passes as a normal person, but he suspects he’ll always be a little bit weird.
23 years old, nanny
