Tempest

Origin

The Idylists were a group of pacifists living in self-exile from Atlantis in the Hidden Valley for over 4,000 years. They knew no violence; Peace and serenity were their way of life. King Thar came into power and ruled from Shayeris, the Idylist capital city. Thar had inherited much of his ancestor's mythic power, and practiced sorcery alongside his brother, Slizzath. The history of Atlantis is fraught with a recurring theme: brother against brother. King Thar was no exception.

A lonely child

Before Thar died, he was able to use his magics to trap Slizzath in an other-dimensional prison. It was, however, an imperfect imprisonment. Slizzath would be able to manipulate particular spells as a means of escape. Such a spell was Garth's birthright ritual - which he would one day perform to seal his mystical powers. Upon giving birth to Garth, Berra gazed upon his purple eyes - the Idylist mark of power. At that moment, her son's destiny seemed clear: Garth would one day perform the very spell that would free Slizzath. Feeling she had no other choice, Berra left her son to die.

Aqualad and the Teen Titans

The original Teen Titans

While on a quest to assist Aquaman, Garth was kidnapped and forced to fight a giant sea beast to the death, surviving just long enough for Aquaman to defeat the monster. Little did Garth know that, before long, he would be forced to defend himself in a life or death struggle against his mentor over the survival of the infant Arthur Jr .Betrayed and abandoned by Aquaman, Garth stayed in the Hidden Valley to search for links to his identity, eventually finding out he was the lost prince of the Idyllists, though it would be several more years before he learned the truth about his father's murder and his mother's complicity in his exile at the hands of the Poseidonians.

Also as a teenager, Garth met and fell in love with Aquagirl, the impetuous and feisty Atlantean ward of Aquaman's predecessor, King Juvor. They dated for years, aiding Aquaman as defenders of the undersea realms, until Tula's tragic death at the hands of Chemo during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Grief-stricken, Garth left Atlantis, rejoined the Teen Titans on a number of occasions, and saw his relationship with Aquaman become violent and strained.
As a result of his grief and repeated telepathic abuse by Mento, among other factors, Aqualad lost his ability to control marine life. While he later regained this power during the Millennium event, it came with the condition that his commands must now be phrased as requests to the creatures to perform desired actions, although the animals apparently need little persuasion.

Garth nearly joined the list of casualties during the Titans story arc "Titans Hunt," an all-out attempt to wipe out the former teen sidekicks and their allies. While trying to free the ascending Golden Eagle from the clutches of a member of the Wildebeest Society, Aqualad fell from a great height, his body mangled and his bones shattered on the rocks of a sea wall below. Rescued by the (then) reformed Steve Dayton and Deathstroke, Garth was confined to a tank and left to be cared for by STAR Labs physicians, who found that they could do little for him due to his Atlantean physiology. After he nearly died twice, the Titans called for Aquaman, who took Garth to the Idyllists in the hopes that their metaphysical cures might save him. While at the edge of death, Garth saw Tula and begged to join her in the Great Beyond, but was instead revived by Tusky the walrus. Angered that Arthur had yet again abandoned him and, worse, with people he thought hated him, he came to blows with Aquaman and Garth severed his ties to his mentor.

Tempest

Upon his return, Garth encountered his uncle - Slizzath - who had transformed himself into a demonic sea creature through dark magic. Slizzath sought to escape his mystical imprisonment using Garth as a conduit. Slizzath created a mystical a doppelganger of Tula, who was created to trap Garth and siphon his new powers. Garth saw through the plan and was able to defeat Slizzath, and once and for all maintain a sense of closure about Tula's death. Garth also adopted a new identity as Tempest.
 
During this time, Garth also discovered his mother Berra was still alive, and living with a group of Idyllists. This forced Garth to confront his feelings of abandonment by his mother, and mother and son began to take tentative steps toward rebuilding their relationship.

With Dolphin and baby Cerdian

Father and Husband

 Shortly after this, Garth began a relationship with Dolphin, who was once romantically involved with Aquaman. Initially, Garth and Dolphin concealed their relationship from Aquaman, unsure of what his reaction would be. Eventually, Aquaman learned of their relationship and gave them his blessing.

The Titans later gathered together to save their former member, Victor Stone, from alien influence. The original five Titans - including Tempest - decided to re-form the team with five additional recruits.

Dolphin later discovered she was pregnant. Garth was happy at the news and proposed marriage. Garth and Dolphin were married in a traditional Atlantean ceremony with friends and family in attendance. Dolphin has since given birth to a son. Dolphin and Tempest's first child was named Cerdian by Aquaman as a gesture to the surface-country Cerdia, which had recently fallen under Atlantean control.

together again

Garth moved his family to New Atlantis, where he was greeted with suspicion from the new rulers and placed under house arrest. Leaving his wife and small child behind, Tempest used his wizardry to escape Atlantis and sought Aquaman for help. Eventually, the sorcerers' rule was overturned and Atlantis was restored. Before its citizens could celebrate, Atlantis was attacked by the Spectre, who was driven mad when he lost his human host. As Spectre razed Atlantis to the ground, Tempest and several Atlantean mystics unsuccessfully tried to combat him. With Atlantis destroyed, only Tempests' tattered costumed was found - leaving his fate in question. Garth was found however his wife and remain missing.

One Year Later

Final Crisis

While the fate of his Wife and son are still unknown, Tempest has since regained his powers. He was able to escape the clutches of the Anti-Life Equation when Darkseid's elite released it on Earth. He continued to fight alongside the resistance, taking part in the final stand. During the battle he fought from the ramparts, launching magical bolts as well as heat and ice bursts at their assailants. He saved Hawkgirl, using his ice powers to douse the flames on her wings.

BLACKEST NIGHT

Powers

A very powerful guy

In complete control

Tempest also has magical abilities; he can project powerful purple energy blasts from his eyes; he can manipulate water currents he can create whirlpools and tidal wave’s  and can boil or freeze vast bodies of water he can also uses these powers to create powerful blast of energy. His powers also include sensing magical energies, postcognition, telepathy [talking to sea life], dimensional travel, limited telekinesis and astral projection. Tempest's powers are so great that he was once able to teleport the entirety of Atlantis into the past during the Imperiex War; further, the villainous Darkseid used him as a conduit to help open a Boom Tube powerful enough to send Imperiex back to the beginning of time. Whether he still possesses any telepathic abilities is debatable.

Animated Version

Aqualad appeared in the animated series of the teen titans

In the series he demonstrates that he has the ability to control the water at free will

He later appears as a member of "Titans East" with Speedy, Bumblebee and Mas y Menos

Episodes in which he appears:

Deep Six

Winner takes all

Calling all Titans

Titans Together

What people think of him

Nick Cardy:

Series artist Nick Candy admits that he was not above playing a few favorites as he designed the book. "I had drawn the Aquaman book for a while" he chuckles, ‘so I had a soft spot in my heart for Aqualad and I would always give him a boost by placing him as one of the strangest elements on the page. And I've always liked drawing pretty girls, so I paid special attention to Wonder Girl."

Nick Cardy, on the introduction of Tula: "I think it stemmed from the idea that the Aquaman character had Mera, while Aqualad was sort of left out. So George and Bob wrote in a young girl character, Tula. Like with Mera, I designed Tula's outfit and overall look. She was Aqualad's companion, being of the same age, they could relate to one another, or oppose the elders. We played up the fact that she was this wild, "hip" 1960s modern girl and Aqualad was more reserved and introverted."

George Pérez:

"Speedy and Aqualad? Nicest guest stars. I like Speedy/Aqualad because of the limitation of his powers. He's nice - nice visual - but now that Robin's wearing his Nightwing costume, he's the only one that's showing his bare legs. Again, a nice little sexiness about him. I always like that kinky hair, and I deliberately gave him a more Italian looking face- Actually, I based it on a girl's face. I dated a girl, she had very strong features, and I matched them, made them a little more masculine and made Aqualad out of her."

Devin Grayson:

"Garth, as the new financier of the team, has more of a voice in this incarnation than he's used to having... and I think he kind of likes the feeling. Especially when things start getting complicated in his personal life back in Atlantis. I could have told you more last week, before Erik Larsen quit Aquaman - now, to some extent, I'm just as clueless as you are about what his future holds in store for him. But hopefully we'll find out soon!"

"Tempest [aka. Garth] is a man with something to prove. He's another one of the members who'd just as soon do his own thing, but he's gaining a sense of confidence, although he may be the quietest one on the team. He becomes the Titans' treasurer. That's a new position for hire, and he'll find he has more of a voice than he ever had before."

Jay Faerber:

"I think Tempest always gets a bad rep as the weak Titan or the wallflower. But I really like Garth and think he's always fun to write and read. I like, how thanks to Phil Jimenez, Garth has gone from being one of the weakest Titans to one of the most powerful. His mystical powers can open up some great stories."

"Garth isn't quite the wallflower he used to be. Maybe it's his increased duties in Atlantis, maybe it's his increased powers, or maybe it's his new role as father and husband. Whatever it is, he's coming out of his shell a little more these days. He's considered by everyone to be the man you can count on when the chips are down -- Garth would sooner die than let any of the Titans be harmed, and he enjoys his role as the Titans' powerhouse, because it lets him protect his friends. While he's always had a long friendship with Dick and Donna, he's probably closest to Argent, of all people. Since he sometimes felt like an outsider back in the early Teen Titans days, he could recognize that Argent was having similar feelings in this version of the Titans -- especially after Damage left. So he made it a point to be there for her, and he's come to genuinely like her, in a kid sister kind of way. Roy gets under his skin more than any other Titan, but he loves him like a brother. He thinks Jesse needs to slow down and loosen up. "