It is said we know more of our Moon than we do our oceans. What could exist hidden within those depths? Perhaps long-lost kingdoms alien to our knowledge...and perhaps brotherly rivalries all too familiar to us. These two exiled princes of the waves, angry at the surface-dwellers and their brothers who ally with them, believing they should be rightful king of the oceans are two of the secrets of the ocean that the surface world will wish were never found.
Prince Gaito, Lord of the Panthalassa.
Prince Orm, the Ocean Master.
I'm Imperator100, and this is a Death Prediction.
Prince Gaito:
Long ago, there lived in the oceans a powerful tribe of magic-wielding psychic humanoids called the Panthalassa. In their blind ambition, they sought to take control of the entire Earth, bringing war and suffering to the ocean world. In a desperate attempt to restore peace and order, the goddess of the oceans, Aqua Regina, used all her power to seal the Panthalassa away; down, down, down into the depths of the dark sea, the hidden sea below every other sea.
Born deep in the darkness were a pair of twin males to inherit the leadership of the Panthalassa. To prevent the possibility of the two using their combined power to single-handedly conquer the world, the twins were separated at birth, one of them set adrift into the ocean as a babe to wash ashore among the humans. Meanwhile, the young prince Gaito grew in the most desolate isolated part of the Earth. A land deprived of light, deprived of love. There he stewed in loneliness for those years. However, one day a mermaid princess, Sara, in despair at the destruction of her entire kingdom swam down to the very depth of the ocean and discovered the lonely sealed Panthalassa prince.
Feeling solidarity in their isolation and despair, Sara sang her sad mermaid song of hatred at the desolate world and unsealed Gaito, telling him of the hateful world of the humans. Infatuated with this girl who had freed him physically and mentally, Gaito sought to reclaim his brother to use their combined power to take vengeance on the whole world and take what he viewed as his rightful birthright to the world.
Panthalassa Biology:
While Panthalassa look like humans, they have different biologies. It is noted that Kaito, Gaito's twin brother with his exact same powers, recovered from sickness and wounds with amazing speed. This is particularly notable when Gaito stabs into Kaito's shoulder, yet Kaito simple removes the blade and his shoulder is already healed by his power. This would be considered a fast-acting mid-low regen factor.
Panthalassa also developed superhuman stats in order to survive the depths of the oceans with even baby Panthalassa being able to be born to the dark sea at the bottom of the ocean. The Deep Ocean is a frigid cold place and at the bottom of the ocean with pressures of 110 Megapascals or 16,000 psi. However, as a royal, Gaito's stats are beyond the level of even most Panthalassa.
Enhanced Strength:
Gaito is physically strong enough to easily overpower Lucia and was able to overpower and harm his brother Kaito with a physical blow using a sword, a person as durable as him.
Enhanced Durability:
Gaito is durable enough that he completely tanked the power of Lucia while he was in her castle. This was immediately after Aqua Regina had given Lucia a power-boost that made her voice (as mermaids powers are based on their singing) sound like a goddess'. This Lucia should be stronger than Sara who in a rage accidentally destroyed her own kingdom of the Indian Ocean, an area of 70.55 million square kilometers, larger than any of the continents. Sara also threatens that she can destroy the kingdoms of the other seas, seemingly quickly. This scaling to Sara is also supported by the fact that Sara asks Gaito why he didn't try to block her attack on him, showing her confidence he could have blocked her power.
Lucia and Sara are also both Mermaid Princesses who use the power of their Mermaid Pearls to facilitate their singing whose power can be seen in their ability to, as mentioned numerous times, illuminate the seas, stated as far back as the very first page of the manga. Even the Black Beauty Sisters, members of Gaito's Suiyo and his underlings can fight relative to mermaid princesses including Lucia. Gaito's durability can be argued to be even higher as he and Kaito can withstand each others' and the emanations of their lights, suggesting his durability might scale to his full attack potency.
Enhanced Speed:
The Panthalassa Princes are top tiers of speed in the Mermaid Melody-verse. Kaito has outpaced an attack from Mikeru to save Lucia, moving fast enough to surprise Mikeru, Mikeru being considered a divine transcendent power and generally being the top tier of the verse. As such Kaito and Gaito should easily scale speed-wise to the speed feats of Lucia and fodder mermaids, consistent with him completely destroying the mermaid kingdoms himself and beating Lucia personally.
Lucia without even having her pearl was able to swim so far out into the sea that land wasn't visible in the time between thinking two words in her mind, a likely supersonic to hypersonic feat consistent with her ability to easily swim from Japan to Hawaii if she wanted, quickly enough that anybody who doesn't know her secret identity wouldn't notice her missing. Even faster, the nameless mermaid mother of Caren and Noel was able to give birth to the twin girls on opposite sides of the world. The time between the birth of twins is, on average, 17 minutes. Using the google distance between Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic of over 17,892 kilometers, to do this in 17 minutes would be around Mach 51.55. Nothing is known about their mother, but Gaito would certainly scale to this speed given his brothers speed comparing to the transcendent power Mikeru, especially as their mother was literally doing this while in labor.
Gaito himself was able to destroy the Mermaid Kingdoms one at a time quickly enough that despite having modern (as of the 00s when MMPPP was written) technology, they didn't know what was happening and didn't have warning. This would likely be a hypersonic, possibly massively hypersonic speed to go through the 6 remaining kingdoms and destroy them quickly, although how much he was relying on teleportation is unknown.
Hydrokinesis:
Gaito has the natural Panthalassa ability to control water. Gaito was able to cause disasters in the oceans across the world. After absorbing the power of his brother, doubling his power, he agreed to Sara's plan to flood the entire world with the water of the dark sea. Flooding the world has been calced to numerous values between the double digit petaton value to single digit exaton value, but generally is agreed to be multi-continent level.
Gaito also gave his minions the Suiyo their abilities and should likely be able to replicate themselves including his minion Izuuru who can make draconic serpents out of water.
Dark Sea Manipulation/Sleep Inducement:
Gaito as mentioned can manipulate the water of the dark sea which can induce a deep sleep. Gaito made his brother unconscious off-panel via an unknown method requiring Lucia's love to wake him up. It's possible, even likely he did this via the dark sea manipulation rather then having a completely unrelated second form of sleep manipulation.
Ice Manipulation/Freezing:
One of the Suiyo, Maria, demonstrates the ability to attack with ice and occasional of freezing.
Storm Creation:
Both Gaito and his minions have demonstrated the ability to create storms, even drowning cities in rain.
Light Emanation:
The most distinctive power of the Panthalassa, Gaito passively emanates an aura of light that can be used for illumination and as a surge of raw energy. When a Panthalassa uses their light actively, a golden cross appears on their forehead. Gaito's light power is the same as his brother's which was able to hurt Mikeru, a metaphysical transcendent entity scaling above the rest of the verse and was said to have threatened the survival of the whole planet and was able to make Mikeru's holy sanctuary world waver out of existence. Mikeru's plan was to merge and replace his world over the human world which he succeeds in doing, suggesting that his dimension is multi-continent to planetary in sized.
It's pretty consistent that Panthalassa light can hit nonphysical entities, even spiritual projections.
Empowerment:
Gaito's magic is somewhat dependent on physical objects which can bolster his magic; specifically, his rod, the ancient Rod of the Panthalassa, and his castle, where he is stronger within. However, his strongest form is when he reabsorbed the power of his brother Kaito, a power that was destroying his castle from his sheer aura, something he didn't care about as with Kaito's power he no longer needed it. As Kaito's power is his other half, it's likely with it Gaito's twice as strong as he is normally.
Sound Manipulation:
The distinctive power of the Mermaid Melody-verse, Gaito has the power like most of the verse to create magical music, in particular the Dark Rose Requiem which creates pain like one's head is being crushed. After tanking Lucia's voice enhanced by the Aqua Regina, Gaito says his voice can still easily surpass hers suggesting his sound manipulation scales to hers at that point. The Dark Lovers, part of Gaito's Suiyo were also able to create their own magical music, particularly the Dark Lovers Orchestra which seems to combine their powers and bolstering their power from roughly joke level compared to the transformed Mermaid Princesses to strong enough to overpower them.
Binding:
Gaito can throw a rose which turns into a vine that entraps people, even mermaids strong enough to swim at the bottom of the ocean.
Teleportation/BFR:
Both Gaito and his Suiyo have demonstrated teleportation abilities. With the power of his castle, Gaito showed the ability to teleport 3 of the mermaid princesses to separate locations. It's possible this was done by the Black Beauty Sisters, but as part of Gaito's Suiyo they should scale to Gaito regardless.
Transmutation:
With the power of his castle, Gaito can transmute objects. He was the one who transmuted various normal sea life into his Suiyo, the Dark Lovers and the Black Beauty Sisters, and can turn them back again. It's likely this means that in any random environment he should be able to recreate his minions if he needs them out of random sea life around as a form of summoning. He also transmuted the mermaid princess' clothes to be more suited for the occasion.
The Suiyo:
As mentioned above, Gaito can hypothetically recreate his Suiyo from random sea life if need be, constituting a form of summoning. They also possess hydrokinesis and storm creation and teleportation. They are divided into 2 groups.
The Dark Lovers are a group of 4 mostly joke villainesses that are Gaito's harem and fanatically devoted to him. Izuuru summons draconic serpents out of water, Maria controls ice, Eriru and Yuuri both have different forms of mind manipulation. They can also combine their powers in the Dark Lovers Orchestra making them a serious threat to the Mermaid Princesses. That said usually they comedically squabble.
The Suiyo also includes the Black Beauty Sisters Sheshe and Mimi. Not particularly devoted to Gaito, mostly caring for each other, these two eventually joined Mikeru. Much stronger, the two of them can create dark magical music capable of overpowering three Mermaid Princesses at once.
Energy Absorption:
Gaito absorbed the energy from his dormant brother's body to strengthen himself. Gaito's ultimate plan was to capture the 7 mermaid princesses to use their power to summon Aqua Regina which also suggests some way of using the energy of others.
Power Nullification:
Gaito can use his castle to nullify powers, even nullifying the powers of the Mermaid Pearls and Aqua Regina, reverting the Princesses to their mermaid forms and keeping them from using their powers.
Telepathy:
Panthalassa are also known for their psionic powers starting with a vague sense of telepathy of when important things are happening. As shown above Kaito could detect when Lucia was in danger. Gaito, even when sent into a deep sleep by the dark sea, was able to detect his brother's memories being sealed away and the cause, knew about the threat posed by Mikeru, and guided a Panthalassa far removed from him to help stop the threat by getting Kaito to accept his birthright duty.
Aquazoolingualism:
Much like a certain superhero, Panthalassa can speak to sea animals.
Telekinesis:
Gaito has enough telekinesis strength to lift his castle into the air and keep it hovering. He was accidentally causing it to break apart with his telekinesis and raw power.
Potential Illusions:
Gaito states as he was growing at the bottom of the sea everything around him was a mirage and he was completely alone however it's possible he's talking metaphorically as the objects he refers to; the castle and the Suiyo were at the very least later actually existed. It could be either he's talking about the fact that everything felt transitory and unreal, unable to really connect with him, or that as a child he created an illusory environment to be around but it could not satisfy him because it was just his mind and later he actually created his childhood desires. Both fit thematically in the story. I should note as a point in the "illusions" argument, Gaito was sealed at the bottom of the sea and the Suiyo are made from sea life, most of which don't go that deep in the ocean.
Limited Memory Manipulation:
Kaito demonstrated the ability to seal away his memories so they couldn't be stolen by Mikeru. It's unlikely this can be used offensively.
Mind Manipulation:
Yuuri of the Dark Lovers demonstrated the ability to control crowds of people with her music, commanding them to attack the Mermaid Princesses. Eriru of the Dark Lovers also has mind manipulation with her music, although instead of straight brainwashing it makes people go all derpy and braindead, a form of intelligence diminishing.
Mental Plane Combat:
Gaito can move around on and control the mental plane, such as invading Kaito's dream and showing him a situation where he would have to choose between human Lucia and the mermaid who rescued him (Kaito being unaware at the time they were the same person.) Even within Kaito's dream, Gaito showed he could absorb his energy and said he could show him the destruction of all he loved. Gaito can also mentally project his mental self into the physical world, even when asleep by the waters of the dark sea.
Resistance to Emotional Manipulation:
As mentioned before, Gaito completely tanked Lucia's song. The song of the mermaids is a magical force that not only controls the waves but express love and hope, and washes away sadness and hatred. Even the song of the 7 Mermaid Princesses together, the power of Aqua Regina which actually was the force that beat Mikeru, while it had some effect, did not actually beat Gaito. Gaito never technically "lost", only voluntarily allowing himself to return to the dark sea upon realizing with Sara and Kaito turning against him, even if he did win, he'd still be alone.
Intelligence:
While not actually that much more intelligent than your average young man; Gaito sure can make it seem like it with his absurdly high charisma. He is very good at manipulating others; manipulating the Dark Lovers into being his personal harem despite his awful treatment of them and almost convincing Kaito join his side by tactically avoiding mentioning part of his plan. He is especially good at manipulating members of the opposite sex with the good looks he shares with his brother.
He also has a sword and seems to be decently proficient at using it.
Weaknesses:
Gaito's powers reside partially within other sources; his brother Kaito, his castle, and his rod, and without them his power is not quite as strong.
Psychologically Gaito is bound by an obsessive need for revenge masking an internal sense of insecurity at being alone again. He can also be kind of lazy, preferring to let the Dark Lovers fight for him if he can and has a major tendency for flair and theatrics such as changing the Mermaids clothes as a show of his power or teleporting in with his Dark Lovers behind him like backup singers.
Personality:
Gaito presents a charismatic regal air but acts cruel and sadistic, hateful of the world. He is vengeful and quick to anger at his minions' incompetence. It's clear that with the destruction of the world would come the destruction of not just the human world but all the seas' peoples as well, something Gaito doesn't seem to care about. However, behind that devil grin is a broken crying face.
Gaito refers to him and Kaito as the ones who fight fate. Living in the world of the Goddess who sealed their people away, forced to live in a hostile world wandering alone for the first several years of his life, Gaito came to view the world itself as his enemy, and the first kindness ever shown to him, was by someone who reinforced these views, telling him the world hated them and that they should get revenge.
Gaito's heart is that of a sad child angrily yelling at a seemingly indifferent world and indulging himself in what little joys he can. This is the source of his will, a will that could battle the world and not break against it. It is why even the power of the goddess of the oceans could not break his will, only the realization that his own actions would lead to him being alone again that could finally defeat him.
Ocean Master:
Humans like to believe they have conquered the world, but the land only comprises about one quarter of the Earth's surface. Under the waves lies Atlantis, a kingdom stretching across the oceans, a kingdom greater in size then any human kingdom that has ever existed, treating the surface-dwelling world as the fringes of society. To lead such a kingdom requires a great type of person, to maintain order across such a size. Born to such a royal family was Prince Orm, later to take the moniker of "Ocean Master."
Prince Orm was the first full blooded Atlantean of the queen of Atlantis Atlanna, however only her second child, for she had a scandalous love affair with a surface dweller. Orm desperately wanted to reclaim his brother from the horrid surface world but was denied every time. Orm's father Orvax was abusive, beating his wife and child, drilling into Orm's mind that the surface world was evil and that his duty was everything. To protect herself and her son the queen killed Orvax on Orm's 12th birthday when Orvax said he killed Atlanna's surface family. Orm took the throne and began building up Atlantis' military for an excursion into the surface world to rescue his brother Arthur, only for his brother to arrive on his own accord.
Orm tried to convince Arthur to stay, even offering him the throne but Arthur's heart belonged to the surface world, the two coming to a shaky understanding. However, when it seemed the surface dwellers declared war against Atlantis, and Ocean Master launched a retaliatory invasion of the surface, the two brothers came to blows. Arthur, with the help of the Justice League, repelled the invasion and begrudingly took the throne of Atlantis, Orm being taken as political prisoner. Stripped of his home, his title, exiled from his own kind, the Ocean Master brooded on his hatred of his brother who he considered a traitorous usurper and began his one-man campaign against Arthur's rule.
Atlantean Biology:
Atlanteans are amphibious, able to survive dry land and the bottom of the ocean, though they are most adept in the mid-space, in the open ocean. This adaptation gives them numerous strengths compared to humans, including enhanced senses of sight, hearing, and smell allowing them to do things like perceive and communicate at the bottom of the ocean as well as gives them superhuman physical capabilities.
Enhanced Strength:
Ocean Master is an extremely powerful supervillain, called "one of the most dangerous men on the planet" by Mera and is considered an Alpha-Class Threat by the Justice League. It has never been explained precisely what the Threat Class Levels correspond to, but Alpha-Class seems to roughly correspond to a metahuman of planetary scale importance.
Orm has battled his brother Arthur numerous times. He was even able to do so in the Pre-Crisis Age when Orm was treated as powerless, however this is pretty inconsistent with the era as Arthur was treated as massively stronger then Orm during the Pre-Crisis period. In the Post-Crisis period, Orm was initially weaker than his brother to a similar extent but after gaining magic power from Neron he was generally depicted as nearly as strong as his half-brother. In the New 52 Period the two were consistently treated as about equal. As such he should easily scale to his brother's feats. Aquaman is strong enough to move oceanic plates and was able to catch a blow from King Atlan that could sink the continent of Atlantis, supported by a separate statement that King Atlan's scepter can sink continents.
Enhanced Durability:
Ocean Master has been stricken full force by Aquaman on several occasions without dying and so should scale to the same continent level potency as his physical strength. He also has been stricken full force by Rebirth Mera's hydrokinesis and was able to continue fighting. People get it confused thinking that Mera was "weakened" during this encounter and so Orm doesn't actually scale to Mera's hydrokinesis. However, while Mera was weakened during "Mera: Queen of Atlantis", it's not that she can't use it's full force but that if she does it very quickly fizzles out temporarily, a problem of stamina not potency. This is exactly what it seen in her fight with Orm where she throws him with her water's full force but her hydrokinesis suddenly fades after the impact. The same Mera has, with great effort, held up an entire ocean with her hydrokinesis and protected Atlantis from a global flood supporting Ocean Master's physical stats being continental.
Enhanced Speed:
Ocean Master is fast enough to combat the royal family of Atlantis; Aquaman and Mera, on equal grounds. In a battle with Mera, Orm fired lightning at her who avoided it at close range. In this same fight he is seen moving at similar speeds to her. Lightning has variable speed although the accepted conservative speed for lightning is Mach 291. This is consistent with Ocean Master being similar in speed to Aquaman who quickly swam to the four corners of the World. This is pretty clearly massively hypersonic speed of some description.
Hydrokinesis:
Ocean Master's crown gives him the power to control water. He can flood cities, and "throw the oceans down upon them". In this confrontation he was overpowering a younger inexperienced Mera who was trying to hold the water back, only stopped because Zatanna turned the water to ice. This would be at least city level hydrokinesis, and possibly much higher as Ocean Master was confident he had greater control of the oceans and would overwhelm even Superman despite him just seeing Superman have the power to "boil an ocean" which could be as high as continental Hydrokinesis.
This would be consistent as this was when he was King of Atlantis and in Post-Crisis when he was able to draw from Atlantis' power, he claimed to have the power to sink Atlantis. With the power of Atlantis, Orm's water even takes Superman and Wonder Woman aback although Superman pretty much immediately overpowers it when he gets serious. That said to even stun Superman and Wonder Woman speaks to incredibly powerful hydrokinesis.
Ocean Master was also able to trap Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman in water vortexes.
Lightning Manipulation:
While Orm's crown controls water, his trident conjures lightning. His magical lightning was able to harm an Early New 52 Superman and Wonder Woman. This took place during the Justice League: Throne of Atlantis storyline from November 2012 to February 2013. December 2012 New 52 Superman would, in his own series, lift the weight of the Earth for five days without sunlight suggesting this lightning could have planetary level potency, although it may just be Superman's "weakness" to magic. If it was however, you'd think it wouldn't work on Wonder Woman who was treated as a peer to Superman in durability but has no weakness to magic.
Storm Creation:
With usage of both his crown and trident, Ocean Master can conjure storms, even typhoons.
Minor Light Manipulation:
Orm learned the basics of magic including the ability to create light shows.
Fire Manipulation:
After making his deal with the demon Neron, Orm gained numerous magical abilities including the ability to conjure blasts of fire capable of harming Tempest, the original Aqualad whose generally was treated as only a bit weaker than Aquaman. He could also use it to create a flaming binding whip.
Energy Projection:
Ocean Master can use magic to project energy, using it to collapse a city. He did this with the ancient Gems of Atlantis; however this should be still applicable because the Gems are only a power source, the spells performed with their usage were learned by Orm. Neron's magic is strongly implied to be a stronger energy source, called immeasurable by Ocean Master, and was given to grant Ocean Master's wish to defeat Aquaman, something he couldn't do with the Crystals. With Neron's magic, Orm also destroyed the top of a mountain in an energy nova without meaning too.
Teleportation/BFR:
Ocean Master can teleport using his magical power. His teleportation range is strong enough to bring him from America to the Antarctic. Ocean Master also showed the ability to teleport others along with himself.
Summoning:
Ocean Master can use his magic to summon up an army of monsters he believed could destroy the United States Navy. However, he also has a far greater force he can summon, the ocean elemental Lernaea.
Lernaea:
Lernaea is an ocean elemental of enormous power. King Dagon in the ancient past had made pact with Aquatic Demons to bind such a powerful elemental to an orb but before he could summon his powerful slave, his people slit his throat and threw it in the deepest trench they knew off. The poor ocean elemental suffered in loneliness for untold centuries there until Orm found her amulet, summoning her to aid him. At first it was assumed Lernaea only served Ocean Master due to him having her amulet, however, to prove this wrong Ocean Master destroyed the amulet. Lernaea is loyal to Ocean Master because she has the personality of a lonely young child, forsaken for many years, and Ocean Master treated her with actual kindness (and doesn't tell her to do anything he knows will make her question her loyalty.)
Lernaea is stronger than Ocean Master and it's implied she could tear the Earth to little bits. However due to her sweet childish personality, she prefers to immobilize enemies by wrapping them up in her sentience, binding them.
Technically Lernaea left Ocean Master at the end of the last arc with Ocean Master in it after realizing he wanted her to kill people. However Peak Ocean Master would be Ocean Master with Lernaea's amulet giving him the ability to summon and if necessary control the ocean elemental.
Paralysis:
Ocean Master has other ways of immobilizing enemies without resorting to Lernaea. He can create immobilizing energy and paralyzing neural blasts.
Telekinesis:
Ocean Master can use telekinesis strong enough to lift his castle into the sky and suspend it there or telekinetically move debris to bury Mera.
Illusions:
Ocean Master can use illusions such as disguising himself as another person as well as whole illusory environments that notably also feel physical suggesting his illusions can fool the sense of touch as well as sight and sound.
Higher Plane Combat:
Ocean Master can engage people in combat on an astral and a mental plane combat, a battle of their emotions conflicting drawing power from the hatred of the combatants. Later guidebooks describe their battle as having happened on the astral plane, the plane of emotions and that Orm was able to "exist" on at least the spiritual level, reaching unknown energy sources.
Limited Reality-Warping:
Ocean Master was able to use a spell to warp reality and switch lives with Aquaman for a while, however this clearly required a large amount of prep and would not be normally combat applicable.
Weaponry:
Ocean Master doesn't just rely on his abilities, but on a wide set of equipment, especially back in the Silver Age when he was more of a supergenius inventor type. His various weaponry has varied but the equipment that seems to be built into his costume and would thus be standard include blades on his wrists, magnetism-powered belt-buckle armed tridents, an electrical shock field he can use to generate an electric aura to repel swarms of fish summoned by Aquaman and a black light built into his helmet which he uses to shoot inky blackness like an octopus to blind an enemy.
Ocean Master also has access to an "electro-net", a "ray gun", a sonic pistol that is even stronger underwater, and of course what Silver Age Supergenius Villain would be complete without a Jetpack to make a get-away with. However, by far his most iconic and powerful weapon is his trident.
Trident:
Ocean Master's trident is his most common weapon and the one he is by far the most skilled with. The Trident as mentioned before gives him the power to create lightning, but it also provides him with his magical power enchanted as it is by the Demon Neron. It was forged in primal elements before the sinking of Atlantis and is strong enough to go up against Aquaman's trident without breaking. Usually. Technically this trident was broken once by Aquaman however I think he got it repaired off-panel or something? He shows up next with it again without it being explained.
Skill:
Ocean Master has trained to protect himself since the age of 8. In Pre-Crisis he was able grapple with Black Manta and arguably won as next time they're seen Ocean Master claims Black Manta fled. However, given Ocean Master's arrogance and Black Manta's focus, it's possible Black Manta simply disengaged and Ocean Master interpreted it as such. That said it's clear the two are at least relative, with Black Manta being stated to be proficient in all underseas forms of combat suggesting he'd be a B Tier or Master Tier Fighter. This is consistent with Ocean Master being stated to be able to match "most humans" in a fight. If he's trained since the age of 8 being a master tier with his trident sounds very likely as it "only" takes 8 years to become a black belt in most martial arts.
Intelligence:
Ocean Master's most undervalued quality by far is his sheer intelligence, being described "as smart and charismatic as (his) mother, but as vicious and cruel as his father." It is his sheer intellect that made it so that even in the period when Ocean Master had no powers, when the greatest foe of each member of the Justice League was gathered, Ocean Master was sent for as foe of Aquaman. Mera calls Orm one who knows the oceans almost as well as she and it was Orm and Arthur together who wrote the Atlantean War Plans showing his tactical ability.
In the Silver Age, Orm would often invent his own sci-fi type technology, showing his scientific super-genius including all the weapons mentioned above. Many of these were technology of Type 1-Type 2 civilizations such as in his introductory comic creating tech to make a ship sail through the air, light as a feather. However, his two greatest pieces of technology quality for Type 3 superintelligence; he created a molecular remote delocator alongside a telepathic transmission blocking device capable of blocking Aquaman's telepathic signals and on a separate occasion he bioengineered a telepathic jellyfish monster capable of holding Superman prone by feeding off Superman's own emotions. It was only beaten by Superman ceasing to fight, causing it to release him.
However arguably none of this is as dangerous as his trickery and ability to manipulate.
Trickery:
Ocean Master is particularly proficient at manipulation having grown up in the difficult world of Atlantean politics. Mera admits Orm is "very savvy" and even Batman calls Ocean Master "cunning." He's manipulated Arthur on numerous occasions, inciting anger from him to draw from his energy and even managing to turn him against his advisor Vulko.
However he particularly excels at manipulating other villains and morally corrupt types. He easily manipulated a dictator into doing his bidding and he and Mera working together managed to manipulate the king of Xebel to going to war for their sworn enemy. In the Silver Age, Orm would manipulate the other supergenius scientist type villains of Aquaman such as deceiving Scavenger into thinking they were working together when he was really leading him into a trap, perfectly predicting his motions.
Weaknesses:
Ocean Master's weaknesses vary depending on the time period but as of Rebirth he seems to have lost some of the weaknesses of his Pre-Flashpoint self. That said like all full-blooded Atlanteans from Flashpoint and beyond, Ocean Master, while he can survive on dry land indefinitely, tires easier in the dry world, dehydrating easier. Their eyes have a harder time adjusting to the bright Sun and their super senses can be overwhelmed by intense light and sound. While Orm has the magic he learned from his Post-Crisis period, he's not actually that skilled a mage mostly relying on raw magical power. Orm's magic is described as limited and one-dimensional since it's only based in his anger and hatred and when Ocean Master and Aquaman get into a magical battle on the astral plane, Arthur drew Orm's power into him and beat him via the power of his love, having a far deeper fullness of emotions.
That said, Ocean Master's biggest weakness across the ages has always been his pride. Ocean Master is extremely arrogant, viewing it as his destiny to be king of Atlantis. He has claimed he is like the sea itself, eternal and unbeatable, says he answers to no one, and claimed to be "the power of Life and Death! The Alpha and the Omega! The Beginning and the End!" During the Pre-Crisis period it was stated Ocean Master hated Aquaman for he alone in the ocean world did not fear Ocean Master. He's mellowed out some with time, but he still views himself so above Mera, who at the time was Queen of Atlantis, that just recently he became angry when she addressed him informally and when she touched him became so angry at her "peasant hands" touching him that he attacked her.
Personality:
Prince Orm is an arrogant and cold person, yet he can be surprisingly noble. In the Pre-Crisis he fairly regularly teamed up with Arthur to take on other supervillains and he has a large number of moments showing his moral code including: rescuing and returning Arthur's son to him while refusing to take advantage of Aquaman's weakened state, standing up for Garth when Atlanteans threatened him for matching an ancient prophecy of a destroyer, rescuing Tommy, an 8-year old surface child, and voluntarily allowing himself to be turned into a monster to protect Atlantis. He doesn't do this out of a deeper goodness, but seemingly because he views acting otherwise as "beneath" him.
Ocean Master once told Aquaman when he was himself 8 he was told he had a brother trapped in the surface world. He wept and for years pleaded with the Royal Guard to rescue his brother. It's not hard to see Ocean Master now acts on the same protective feelings only this time for Atlantis. Raised his whole life to believe his duty was his highest purpose and slowly brought to hate the surface world that took his brother from him, it is no surprise he would come to act vindictively and proactively to protect his beloved Atlantis. But such fear forms into hatred.
Ocean Master's heart is hateful and angry, viewing it as his destiny to take the throne of Atlantis again and crush all resistance to their rule. This is the source of his pride and his envy, his disdain now for anyone weaker who might hold the throne, who lets his precious Atlantis slide further towards ruin.
Alright the combatants are set, it's time for a Death Prediction!
The seas were unsettled over the Pacific. Down far below, a great maelstrom stirred in the heart of the ocean. There a prince of a kingdom long since sunken stirred in his castle, a new peak of power coming to him as he felt his dormant brother's energy surge into him.
Approaching the strange castle that had risen from the depths settling upon a shallower part of the ocean floor was a man dressed fully for war...the disgraced former king of Atlantis and the king of the land of outcasts Dagon...truly an outcast king in all respects. The castle had landed on the muddy sea floor in a dark remote part of the ocean. Even here though there was life, strange mollusks and fish scurrying across the sea floor that kept from his path.. in his mind recognizing his right to rule.
The scouts had reported this was where the vortex unsettling the seas was originating and Prince Orm knew only he could stop it, coming with full accompaniments of war. The Ocean Master would put a stop to this threat to his rightful kingdoms.
Meanwhile Gaito looked sadly at his brother...Kaito was dressed as a Panthalassa once again...but he had not the mind...nor the heart of one. A light emanated from their foreheads.... "Intruders?" Thought Gaito. "But Sara went out to engage those mermaids...they shouldn't be back yet. Hmmm" he thought to himself "Well just in case, I should go out and 'attend' to my unexpected guests nonetheless."
Gaito appeared outside his castle and looking up he could see a man dressed in strange armaments come down from the upper sea, his silhouette casting a great shadow against the distant sun's light. Given his weaponry and his angry defiant expression, Gaito knew immediately that this man meant to battle. Meanwhile, Ocean Master saw a strange castle in the darkness and as though spawning from the darkness was a strange youth wearing pitch black garb, glowing with a dim shine like the fish of the deep sea, with a suspicious grin. A wave passed over them, and with the current of the ocean comes the ebb and flow of destiny.
"Declare yourself!" Ocean Master barked at Gaito. "Who are you and what are you doing unsettling my seas?"
"YOUR seas..." Gaito said incredulousy "I see the oceans have come under new management since my people's imprisonment..." turning his attention to Ocean Master, a cross of light shimmered onto Gaito's face, indicating his preparation to battle "Listen well... I am here to reclaim my birthright. Your world is at an end. Flee now and warn others, or be smashed against the rocks with the tide." Gaito's telepathy buzzed in his mind, giving him a general sense of the arrogant aura of this man that would be so interesting to humble. He hoped that he would be foolish enough to stand and fight.
Orm gripped his trident, glad this boy was making his intentions so clear. That made this easy. Orm declared his intent loud enough that it would echo across the oceans, a formal rite of battle against this attempted usurper. "Welp!" he declared "You threaten my kingdoms and so you have invited death upon yourself!"
Fight!
Prince Orm acted first, charging towards the youth, causing the water to burst away from his fast motion in a loud "Boom!". He raised his trident slamming the jagged edges of his trident towards the boy, throwing the two down into an underseas cliffside, but the king of Dagon found himself suddenly flung away by the water itself, gripping his leg like a hand.
The Panthalassa looked down at where the man had struck him and he was already fully healed. "Hmph...what a pity, it seems your little toy there didn't do anything." Gaito said mockingly.
He raised his rod, the royal insignia of his clan, prepared to show this interloper true power but grimaced to himself as Ocean Master deftly dodged the second watery concentration with a quick dash to the right.
Meanwhile the Ocean Master's infamous mind was planning and scheming. He recognized scientifically the way the water was moving, the patterns it was forming resembling the subtle patterns of the brain...telekinesis? This boy was a psychic of some description!
As another water fist was deftly dodged by the Ocean Master Gaito grew frustrated quickly and applied his mind to his target directly....
A sudden clenching motion was felt upon the Atlantean Prince's body, causing his opponent to grin sadistically. However, that grin was shattered as a green energy engulfed Ocean Master's body and his grip break. Gaito was taken aback, and for the first time in this fight, felt this might be an actual challenge. Ocean Master smiked recognizing the breaking of enemy moral and raised his trident defiantly.
"Give up now!" He continued "You can not stop me, I am destiny itself!"
Gaito expression changed mildly and to himself he muttered "So it has always been." Unbeknownst to him, the keen eyes and ears of the Ocean Master registered the slight motions and noises. Putting on a display of dominance he announced "Simpleton! Do you think you are the only one who can control the waves?"
The Ocean Master raised his trident and Gaito suddenly found himself surrounded by all sides by some kind of tight water prison meant to contain him. However as Ocean Master closed in, Gaito smiled and simply raised his hand. And with that swift motion the water completely melted away like foam into the sea again. As the water rushed away from Gaito the cliffside fell to bits behind him and the water rushed away in a chaotic display. The noise and flash of light and colors were strong but intense. Orm refused to break concentration though, lest his enemy register his weakness. The two exiled royalty looked at each other meancingly.
The ocean stilled for a moment at the Panthalassa's command and as Ocean Master prepared to charge again, he suddenly disappeared as the Panthalassa flung him far beneath the Earth. Orm found himself suddenly deep underground, buried as though inside some kind of underground tomb.
"Hmph...a childish trick" he thought to himself as his trident glowed and he teleported back.
Gaito laughed slightly to himself at the seeming undignified defeat of his enemy when he heard from some nearby seahorses and anemone that the Ocean Master had returned. Gaito realizing what was to happen, teleported backwards from his position at the last moment as he saw Ocean Master charge through the area where he had just been. In surprise Ocean Master saw Gaito flicker out of existence and turned to find Gaito just floating there... menacingly.
Above the ocean as the two combatants caused the seas to stir and shake alongside their passions, a storm brewed...an unnatural storm that came in with a supernatural fervor. Wild winds touched the frantic waves of the ocean, causing the humans across the shores of the Pacific to flee for cover.
Gaito felt the cross on his forehead burn but paying it no mind he attempted again a hydrokinetic assault on his enemy. The water hit his foe dead on...knocking him back and back with surely enough force to end any enemy... until he suddenly vanished. Gaito felt a blow hit him from behind. Spinning he saw the strange masked face of his enemy just before Orm grabbing him and darted downwards faster than the swift sailfish, caused a boom in the water and the two to glow an otherworldy light as he sent the two of them spiraling towards the sea floor.
However, before they collided, Gaito teleported himself out of Orm's grasp. Gaito looked around and saw several of his opponents around him. "Illusions?" Gaito asked in surprise.
Orm nodded "I have many powers commonly unknown." and saying so his trident swirled with purple cracking energy...the demonic power of Neron.
Gaito responded calmly "Well, you're not the only one who can make illusions." and saying so, illusory duplicates of Gaito appeared to match the Ocean Masters. Orm was quiet for a moment and Gaito presumed this was the moment before he begged vainly for his life, but instead one of the Orm suddenly darted to one side, faster than anything Gaito had ever seen, hitting the real Gaito directly in the chest with his free fist before he could react.
"Wha...how?!" Gaito demanded
"Because...you can only fool the eyes, your silent images can't fool the ears."
Ocean Master in a swift motion tried to move his trident to skewer Gaito only for Gaito to, in a swift telekinetic burst, throw his enemy off him roughly, the sheer telekinetic energy causing the water to rush away in a massive wave enough to make a whilrpool at the distant surface. The sound ringing in Ocean Master's ears, he tried to capitalize again and raised his sound gun in his other hand, sending an ultrasonic wave through the ocean at his already disoriented enemy. However, Gaito simply gritted his teeth, and gripped his hands into fists as the sound wave pushed his form back slightly.
"You think you can use sound to fight me?!" Gaito demanded angrily. "Dark Rose Requiem!"
A haunting dark sound filled the ocean, a horrific display unfolding from it. Orm felt every muscle in his body clench in pain as it felt like his head was going to burst. As he did, he could see all nearby sea life perish in the wake of this horrible attack. Rage filled him...but pain filled him equally...
Gaito slid his sword from his sheath gracefully, allowing its sharp weight to fill his hands, delighting in the retribution he was about to take. He approached his prone enemy with speed but as though expecting every step, at the exact right moment Orm performed a spin with his trident, gripping Gaito's sword blade in between two prongs of his trident. Completing the motion, Orm threw his foe's blade out into the ocean.
Angry at being deceived Gaito's light energy blared angrily, causing Ocean Master to guard his eyes with his hands. Wanting to end this quickly now, he called forth the paralyzing demonic energy of Neron firing a bolt directly into Gaito's head.
Gaito struggled, his mighty will fighting the binding of his body but.... the Panthalassa began to panic ... his body... it wasn't moving! He had this enemy on the ropes once more, but again he managed to squirm free and threaten his life. Laying prone he fell to the ocean floor, not even feeling the pain on his numb body.
The king of Dagon approached the prone boy only to find he had teleported the two of them again, bringing them to a strange castle... there Gaito's magical aura nullified the piece of demon magic holding him still, and Gaito rose again. The two floated in the air unsure of each other. Ocean Master was preparing a new strategy until he saw below another prone human...was this one another illusion? But no... he wore different clothing...and he could see energy coming out of him...
Orm teleported down to Kaito and knelt over him, seeing his sad sleep as his energy was being utilized by Gaito. Orm was faced away from Gaito, trying to waken the boy. Gaito didn't like him so near to his twin and spoke "I see you've found one of my power sources...Don't bother sympathizing with him...he's a surface dweller."
Ocean Master was still and silent for a moment before turning with a dramatic twirl of his cape, holding his trident aloft. "Even a surface dweller child is not a weapon. That is the way of Atlantis!"
"Hmph." Gaito responded at the Ocean Master's lack of vision, telekinetically bringing the captured mermaids into focus... his face illuminated at the display as though lit by candle in a dark room. "You're like the rest. You don't understand. Soon you will join them..."
Saying so, Gaito teleported the two of them again to the Arctic Ocean and pushed the ice to capture his opponent. Ocean Master threw a punch, shattering one approaching glacier to bits, but more seemed to come from every direction. Seeing his opponent struggle, Gaito laughed to himself. "So...can't control ice, can you?" He watched as the Atlantean struggled to crack all the approaching ice coming up. His dramatic flurry of blows betrayed his incredible strength and skill but the ice began to enclose on his position. Gaito grinned to himself. Soon this pointless distraction would be over.
His smile faded however, as a glow came to Orm's trident. From the end of Orm's trident came a blazing flame that reduced the ice of the nearby sea to boiling water.
Orm spoke sternly. "Your madness ends here!"
Orm raised his arms to the sky, ancient magicks flowing through his body. "Come minions of the deep sea! Bring an end to the false king!" His purple crackling magic spiraled downwards to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, digging deep into the abyssal basin. And from far below, as if formed from the mud and the sand came an army of impish monsters, flowing out growling and cackling and slithering.
Gaito could sense them, his cross burning on his head, an army of monsters approached. However deep below was his greatest weapons as well...
The ancient black sea arose from the depths swirling and cascading over the army of Orm's, lulling them back into the sleep they had just awoken from, causing them to fall back into the seabed, cracking and merging back into the ground.
"Hehe" Gaito said. "I can summon my own henchmen as well..." and saying so he turned wandering sea life around him into the Suiyo. Their fishy forms distorted and shifted until the 6 of them stood dramatically and battle-ready behind their prince. The Black Beauty Sisters embraced each other once more lovingly and the Dark Lovers attended to their master Gaito displaying their love. Orm saw all this and took note of it... Gaito saw his opponent's hesitation and took it for fear.
"What's the matter? Is Fear's cold grip on your spine?" He asked.
Orm didn't know how strong his enemy's reinforcements were however he had a force he trusted was even stronger.
In response to Gaito's question, Orm raised a small blue orb, unremarkable to appearance but which made Gaito's head pulsate from sheer power. Gaito keeled over from the sheer aura emanating from the tiny orb, a power unlike anything Gaito had ever felt, beyond even Aqua Regina. The Dark Lovers rushed to Gaito's side worried for him. Gaito wondered "What kind of power is this and can it be taken for my vengeance?" But as a storm fell over the environment and the Suiyo took position around Gaito, as the waters of the ocean turned turbulent in a moment and the winds hissed at ancient rites beign summoned Gaito felt for the first time in many years...fear.
"Lernaea" Ocean Master almost whispered.
At his word it was as if the sea itself came to life. The water whirled around and around in a giant vortex. The waves trembled and converged, two glowing eyes appearing from the abyss looking into the soul, stirring and coalescing into a humanoid figure. As the elemental appeared before Ocean Master, she took a defensive posture around Ocean Master.
Lernaea came to her king's side and looked at him expectedly, alarmed at his pained expression. "That boy..." he said to her "He has enslaved his brother; he has threatened me and he has threatened our kingdom...we must stop him!" Lernaea, alarmed, exclaimed her agreement and loomed over her king, her sheer power causing massive waves that pressed the Panthalassa prince and his retinue.
Gaito, worried at this level of power, angrily yelled to his Suiyo "I don't care how, just kill him!" making the Suiyo scramble to his will.
Orm called up to Lernaea "Lernaea, Plan Kappa!" making Lernaea call out to him "Right!"
As the Suiyo approached Gaito's position, Lernaea like the shell of a tortoise took defensive position around Orm as they approached Gaito's position, slowly but steadily.
The powerful waves of the water elemental, strong enough to form massive tsunami if unchecked pushed the Suiyo back, keeping them off her king. Eriru tried to call down a storm to disorient her enemies, a flash storm of great rain and thunder approaching to engulf the environment. However, Orm could see through the storm, used to as he was to the environments of the deep sea.
And Lernaea was the storm, the sea, and the rain itself.
With singular strikes Lernaea's power was easily enough to keep the Dark Lovers at bay. Lernaea was fast enough, if she chose, to kill them all, but she didn't want to kill anyone and focused only on protection.
Maria tried to freeze the water around the Ocean to halt the titanic movements of the elemental but with the fiery shine around Orm's trident the ice melted away from infernal magic. Izuuru's water serpents were likewise returned to the sea from which they formed. Yuuri saw this and grinning to herself at the chance to prove her superiority conjured her piano and began to play her music causing Lernaea to instinctively cover her ears.
At this action, the Black Beauty Sisters took their chance and teleported inside, preparing to hit Ocean Master from behind, but Lernaea in fear for Orm surged forth and engulfed the two protesting struggling girls in her consciousness.
"I'm sorry." she said to them, her watery voice like a stream over rocks "But I can't let you hurt him."
Meanwhile the Dark Lovers teleported together, quickly calling up a combined attack for Lord Gaito.
"Dark Lovers Orchestra!" they sounded in perfect chorus. But Orm felt the tingles of the water at their chorus and guessing at the incoming attack, darted to one side, easily avoiding the attack. Lernaea was frightened watching this display, but she couldn't move or the two stronger ones inside her mind would be released. Even now she could feel them struggling and straining against her awareness.
"Well done..." Orm said to the Dark Lovers. "You have certainly proved your power against me...but there's only one of me....and surely you realize that the one who presents me to your king will get your master's love."
The Dark Lovers looked at each other in confusion and then back to Lord Gaito, watching the situation calmly before beginning to argue and bicker with each other. Orm took this advantage and surged as fast as the tide, knocking each of the Dark Lovers out with a swift strike each.
Gaito was angry at Orm treating his minions like such and with a wave of his hand teleported the Black Beauty Sisters free. However, perceiving the power of Ocean Master, the two sisters hovered in confusion for a moment, unsure of who to ally with. Gaito laughed at their foolish betrayal turned the two back into anglerfish.
Gaito turned his attention to his advancing foe, and the advancing being of water. Gaito spoke to the girl "One who is of the sea...your power great as the ocean...why do you fight for such a villain?"
To Orm's surprise, Lernaea stopped and said defiantly "He's not a villain! I was all alone at the bottom of the sea, in the darkness, and he saved me! He cares very much."
Gaito was taken aback and using his illusory abilities he recreated the empty sea from his childhood "But I was of the same..." shifting the illusion to show Ocean Master's rage and lethal attacks during their battle "He has tried to kill me, one who just wished to escape that darkness!" His voice echoed this time with honesty.
Orm angrily yelled at Lernaea "Don't listen to him! He is a deciever. Do you not remember how I found you, I rescued you! I sheltered you!" and as he did so, he used his own illusion abilities to depict the events of him saving her.
Lernaea hovered in the water, confused, looking between the two.... tears started to come to her giant eyes, not used to the chaos of conflict.
Orm became furious at this ingratitude and took out her orb. "You WILL obey me!" and with a yelp suddenly Lernaea's mind went silent, and she was enslaved to the will of Orm. Gaito saw this display, and for the first time in this whole fight, he felt a surge of real hatred.
"Lernaea! KILL him! Now!" Ocean Master demanded, and Lernaea showed her true power, as the oceans and the lands shook with her fast powerful motion. The sea quacked with great species unknown to man hiding far underseas, with islands sinking and a great vortex forming at the surface. She moved with speed and power that even Gaito could not respond to, and he felt her watery form upon him so quickly it was like the fall of lightning.
Gaito knew he could not spare her much, or he would surely perish. "Suffering child...I'm sorry" Gaito said before calling up the ice, causing Lernaea's body to quickly freeze into a solid form. Orm tried to thaw her quickly but Gaito teleported Lernaea down to the bottom of the sea where Ocean Master would never find her. "May a gentler lord find you next..."
The Panthalassa looked at the Atlantean with a seeing malevolence. "Had you surrendered, your death would have been swift but now.... I will make it painful!"
Ocean Master felt the oceans sway around him, his whole body tingling from the force as the oceans surged to the hateful heart of the Panthalassa.
Massive surges of water capable of wiping out cities and kingdoms compressed and fired at faster speeds at the King of Dagon. He could only barely dodge them this time...it was clear his enemy was enraged. His tactical mind was racing...while this made his enemy's psychic powers more focused, it could maybe be exploited....
However, Gaito wasn't planning on using these attacks to kill his enemy, but merely to give him time to telekinetically lift his castle into the air. Suddenly Orm found the two of them teleported to Gaito's floating castle, far above the clouds, the distant seas calling for him again.
Orm tried to teleport back, but immediately felt something wrong.
Gaito teleported near him and said, "This is MY Castle, here your powers are nothing!" before tossing a rose to bind Orm. Orm felt his Atlantean strength at his disposal and knew if needed he could break the binding, but felt it better to conceal his hand at the moment. Instead, he thought back recalling something said minutes ago.
"I don't understand!" He declared angrily. "I can control fate itself! How are you defying my powers!"
Gaito took a cup of wine and brought it to his lips, happy to have the chance to explain before slowly killing this rival power. "It's simple...I am the one who defies fate itself!"
Gaito stepped forward, so close to Orm, that Orm could feel his breath, slightly toxic from alcohol.
"And I suppose that means your fate is over!" He laughed sadistically.
The Ocean Master was silent before suddenly saying "No one determines the Ocean Master's Fate!" saying such he sprayed, like a squid, a burst of darkness from his helmet into Gaito's face, causing the Panthalassa Prince to stumble backwards. While the darkness quickly faded from the Panthalassa's face, burned away by Gaito's light, Orm took the momentary opportunity, activating his hidden jetpack, breaking his bonds and shooting forward at his enemy. Passing by Gaito's side he brought one of his old weapons out, holding it stretched out from his body. His electro-net grabbed the prince's leg, as the king of dagon spiraled the two through the air into the dry open air outside the castle, wobbling now from Gaito's lapse in concentration as sparkling electricity shocked him.
In the painful dry air, the beating sun burning down on the two, Orm made a graceful mid-air turn towards his incapacitated foe and with his trident fired divine lightning at Gaito.
One moment Gaito had felt in control, the next he was spiraling through the air, burning shocking coursing sparks flowing through him, the smell of his own burning flesh reaching his nose. In hatred Gaito raised his hands and suddenly the lightning was crackling... sparking within ....burning but being directed like cold fire though his veins as electricity through water, fired back at Orm.
Orm saw the lightning incoming and tried to teleport away but wasn't quite fast enough and while Gaito saw his foe disappear he could see the lightning dig into him and sear into his side, tearing through part of his armor. Orm yelled in pain and disappeared as he teleported away.
Gaito's light cross burned with the need for revenge, and he followed with the burning passion of youth.
Aboard Orm's submarine, the prince limped, the lightning having damaged his midsection badly, and blood coming from him. If the Panthalassa appeared...he would have only one recourse...
Sure enough, Gaito did appear before Ocean Master now lying on the ground prone. Gaito angrily took a step forward, then another...
"Just one more..." Orm thought...."it all depends on if he takes one further step."
Gaito's light blazed with warning, but his heart full of retribution, he took one step further and suddenly from the side of the submarine came a mass of tentacles which bounded him. He yelled in surprise and struggled but could not seem to break from it.
Orm painfully got to his feet and hobbled towards his prone enemy. "That Jellyfish...was designed...to stop Aquaman" he said painfully. "It cuts off psychic powers...." Orm grinned thinking of what power would now be his. "Now your power will be mine.... let us see where it comes from..." and despite Gaito's struggles in protest, Orm reached his position and his mental body slipped into Gaito's mind.
Within the Panthalassa's mind, all was dark, dark like the oblivion of loneliness. His mental form was similarly dark, his body as invisible as his clothes in the blackness, fading into the loneliness. All that distinguished him was the light atop his forehead...his sense of identity and royalty in the depths.
In that depth transgressed the Ocean Master, his spiritual form a glaring blazing red contrasted against the surroundings. The two were silent in this mind space. Orm's mind was more agile, faster, more advanced than the young Panthalassa's and he tried to quell the ocean of Gaito's mind, tried to calm it so not a single emotion could fill his soul.
Yet somehow the ocean roared even greater in response, Ocean Master dodged desperately great oceans of solitude that threatened him, the black depths trying to swallow him up. In desperation, he reached deeper, his spirit's red misty form submerging down into the abyss of Gaito's soul...
A vision appeared before them... a vision of a mermaid swimming down, beautiful against the horrific infinitude, like an angel flying down into Hell, singing a sweet, sad song.
Gaito's light rose in intensity, burned with a power and a light immense, invigorated by love transcendent, burning away even Orm's spirit. "How?!" Orm thought to himself..."Impossible!"
At the light overwhelmed his vision, he could feel the black form of Gaito reach out....and the purple magic was pulled from Orm's form to Gaito's... Orm quickly tried to escape this nightmare, but it was too late.
The Atlantean emerged from the mindspace to find the jellyfish dead, burned by demon magic as Gaito looked at him with contempt, Neron's purple magic swirling around him. Gaito raised his hand, and the two were teleported.
Orm found himself deposted on the sands near Atlantis. Before he could react, he could feel the water around him converge, gripping him like a fist and smashing him against the ground before throwing him down in front of Atlantis.
Gaito floated in the water staring down Atlantis. Dark waters swirled around him like a massive aura. The great oceans surged at his whim and began to swallow the lands...whole cities and continents were invaded by great surging of water...with yells of terror echoing down to the very depths of the sea. Great vortexes engulfed small islands, and a storm unlike any that had ever been emerged at the surface, with thunder and winds capable of crushing whole cities. The outcasted psychic king hovered there, a purple demon aura about him, the whole world at his grip. He tightened his fist in anger, at all the oceans of the world, even the dark sea of hate, converged flowing at speeds fast enough to split the skies and break the ground flowed to one hemisphere, shaking the very planet itself.
"With this I will destroy you and your precious Atlantis!" Gaito said angrily. "Die."
Orm painfully stood, blood gushing from his side, his armor broken, his body weary, his whole body weak, his whole spirit wavering. Pained, he held aloft his trident. "Atlantis..." words flowed like a small stream in his mind against the ocean of experience, of chaos... "This boy threatens the sea and the land together.... Tommy...." Orm's mind raced to the boy who had once called him father..... "Atlantis....please....if ever you will.... GRANT YOUR LOYAL SON YOUR POWER!"
As the surge of all the oceans drilled towards the Ocean Master, the Ocean Master dived straight through it towards Gaito. His trident glowed and miraculously the oceans split apart before Ocean Master. Ocean Master in desperation engaged his jetpack, and held his trident towards Gaito putting all his strength into this one blow...
The Panthalassa had no time to prepare for the impact and as Orm hit Gaito's unbraced body, the two were flung, their bodies pushing past water and air, burning the environment, the force of the impact evaporating the water nearby, embedding the trident into Gaito's body. The two were sent spiraling across the seas and the continents from this blow that split the ground and made the waters shriek into mist, retreating into the sky. Before Gaito appeared the image of the Aqua Regina, whose power, whose spirit seemed to appear behind the Ocean Master. To Gaito it was the force of the whole ocean world hitting him...causing his body and mind to retreat in shock...
But the will of Gaito did not break and despite the blood rushing now from his midsection he grabbed the Ocean Master's shoulders and brought their heads close, shining his light directly into the helmed face. The burning will of Gaito was like a sun come to Earth, burning blazing light seen as far as the far lands, the black sand bed of the ocean, far away as in the void of space, and deep in the spiritual realms where Angels wept. Ocean Master only had enough time to react as the bright light like the sun burned into his eyes, blinding him and melting his helmet around his head along with his eyes turning to liquid before it fried his brain, and the light passed through his head, drilling through it wholly.
The surviving prince kicked the body of his enemy down to sink to the bottom of the ocean. He gazed out at the devastation of their battle that had ravaged the planet, holding his wounded midsection and spoke to himself:
"This world has tried to defy me, and it has suffered in consequence."
K.O.
This was a really complex fight that depended a lot on a large number of very small interactions. That said while I think there is a good argument to make for both sides, I think the largest amount of critical advantages were Gaito's, and that overall there is a more solid argument to be made for him.
Power is a complex topic for this matchup, but overall Gaito seems to have a general power advantage. This is because most of Gaito's powers either scale to casual ocean-wide feats like the Mermaid Pearls illuminating the oceans or Sara being able to destroy an ocean-wide kingdom on accident, or to even higher multi-continental+ feats like flooding the entire Earth or scaling to Kaito's light that can cause a dimension big enough to fused with the human world to waver out of existence. Conversely, Ocean Master scales to singular continental feats like Arthur stopping the blow from King Atlan or Mera being able to lift an ocean, although in both cases these were treated like absolutely massive feats and while Orm scales to it, it's clear this is treated like as the upper level of their ability. As such the power comparison is generally around the scale of single continental vs casual continental+ or multi-continental+ showing, while not an insurmountable power advantage, a clear edge for Gaito.
Conversely in speed, the inverse is true. Gaito has either performed or scales to feats in the mid double digit mach, while Orm scales to feats in the lower triple digit mach. Using the roughly Mach 50 figured vs the roughly Mach 300 figure, this would put Ocean Master at roughly six times faster than Gaito. This is about the difference between average human running speed (~5 meters per second) compared to a cheetah or a car (~30 meters per second). A clear speed difference, but also not insurmountable. And the gap is probably less than even that. Both speed values are lowballed, but for Ocean Master while the actual feats are lowballs (lightning can be much faster then Mach 300, and Arthur traveling to the four corners of the world could be higher into MHS), these are people that Orm is at most equal in speed with and sometimes a bit slower than. Conversely for Gaito both the speed feat and the scaling is lowballed, as not only did the nameless Mermaid do the feat while in labor, but Gaito is far faster, able to move fast enough to surprise the God Tier of the verse Mikeru and outpace his attacks scaling from his brother. As such it's likely the gap is even less.
So, one of the first things I considered for this fight is whether either side could telekinetically remove or destroy the things that grant each other their powers. Both have shown roughly equal level of telekinesis at large building level, suggesting to me that a telekinetic battle between them would be essentially a mental grapple. Ocean Master does seem to have something an advantage here though in precision. Orm has shown fine telekinetic control enough to pick up debris to bury Mera with it. Gaito conversely has only ever shown the ability to lift his castle, and even then he was accidentally destroying it with his telekinetic power. That said Gaito doesn't actually need such. So long as Kaito remains asleep, he can draw from his power and replace the power of his castle and his rod, completely, and it's unlikely Orm would be able to awaken Kaito as Kaito was awoken by his love for Lucia. Even if he did however, even the loss of Kaito would only halve Gaito's power from his peak, and even then his light should easily scale to multi-continental from Kaito's. However, Orm's fine telekinetic control may allow him to resist Gaito just telekinetically shattering his weapon and armor with a big telekinetic wave.
The reason this is very important is Gaito has a fairly reasonable sized arsenal of offensive haxes that could just immediately kill Ocean Master that seems to depend on his castle, which is why he could use them on the Mermaid Princesses there. I initially thought power nullification wouldn't actually matter this fight because all of Orm's abilities are either natural abilities of his species (just a peak example), abilities of items, or magical abilities granted by the transcendent entity Neron, things that wouldn't normally be able to nullified since they either aren't powers or come from a being that can continually maintain the power. However, Gaito's power explicitly nullified the magic of the Mermaid Pearls and the powers of the Goddess Aqua Regina that gave the mermaids their powers suggesting strongly it would actually nullify the magic of Orm's equipment like his helmet and trident, and the magic given to him by Neron, leaving him with only his natural abilities and his more science-fiction Silver Age equipment. Now granted, some might argue that nullifying Aqua Regina's power shouldn't give the capacity to give Neron's power as Neron is a far stronger entity then Aqua Regina. Neron is an entity is lowballed universal while Aqua Regina is an entity that is highballed planetary. That said not only do I not really agree with the idea that having greater power giving one some resistance to power nullification (in the same way I don't view greater speed as giving resistance to time stop), but it's not like this is nullifying the full power of Neron or Aqua Regina, it's nullifying the portion given to Ocean Master which by feats is not as strong as the power Aqua Regina gave the Mermaid Princesses.
Gaito also possesses transmutation. He transmuted random sea life into his minions, transmuted them back at his displeasure, and casually transmuted the mermaid princess' clothes. There's no real reason he couldn't just transmute Orm outside of "if he could just do that, he would have just transmuted the mermaid princesses." However, Gaito had several reasons not to do just that. Gaito needed the mermaid princesses as his plan was to use their power to summon Aqua Regina, and he was also sadistically toying with them which was the point of him changing the mermaid princess' clothing, to show them that he was in complete control. On the other hand, transmutation might not one-shot Orm as Orm can exist solely on the spiritual plane. That said, while it's unclear if he can survive that, if Orm lose his physical body, he would lose access to his equipment including his strongest weapons; his trident, his helmet, and his orb that can summon Lernaea. Even if Gaito just did what he did to the princesses and changed Orm's clothing, it would rob him of his strongest weapons.
This complements Gaito's biggest overall advantage, his sheer offensive advantage. With enough hydrokinesis to flood the Earth and Light Emanation that is even stronger, Gaito can essentially one-shot at any time. So, the question then becomes can Ocean Master kill Gaito faster, and/or prevent Gaito from hitting him with his strongest attacks.
Looking at Orm's forms of offenses, most of them seem relatively inefficient. Orm's primary form of attack is physically striking someone with his trident. While Orm using his speed and skill to hit Gaito to his numerous times, it might seem like he could make up the difference between his strength and Gaito's durability. It depends on whether Gaito's dura scales to continental+ or multi-continental+, but even in the former case it would be very difficult given Gaito's regeneration. However, it'd be even harder given this fight would take place almost certainly underwater. Underwater, all weapons experience far greater degree of drag, which is the reason weapons with small surface areas like spears or tridents are most efficient. It also means that weapons' kinetic energy would be more dispersed in a melee.
Looking at Ocean Master's other forms of attacks, his hydrokinesis normally probably wouldn't do anything as by feats its weaker than Gaito's. If he was bolstered by Atlantis, it would probably be stronger. Being strong enough to stun Post-Crisis Superman and Wonder Woman is probably more then Gaito can handle. That said that is highly non-standard for Orm and was only given one time during the Post-Crisis period, lost as soon as someone else took the Throne of Atlantis.
His lightning manipulation is very likely an immediate threat and could potentially kill Gaito. That said lightning is actually not a very efficient way to kill. Lightning bolts contain over 1 billion joules of energy making them easily more than 1 million times more energy than a human strike, yet 9 out of 10 humans actually survive a lightning bolt because most of the energy passes over one's body in a "flashover" and the energy is on one's body for such a brief period of time. While Orm's lightning is planetary, around the level of 2e32 joules, that's actually less than a million times stronger then Gaito's attacks and suggest, especially given his regen, that he'd be able to survive at least one lightning. It would threaten his life surely, and cause immense pain, but the fact that Gaito would most likely survive a single lightning strike gives him an immense advantage since it means that in most scenarios after he'd get a chance to counterattack and take majority from there. This is especially true because underwater, lightning is even less efficient a weapon. Water is an extremely good conductor of lightning and lightning in water actually spreads omnidirectionally meaning that while it would be much harder to dodge, it would do far less in terms of damage. This isn't even taking into account the fact that at long range Gaito's fast enough to potentially teleport away from a lightning attack, and that Gaito might be able to absorb it with his energy absorption.
While this isn't technically a lethal attack, Orm could use a paralyzing attack to try and paralyze Gaito to try to kill him after he's helpless. It's possible Gaito would have a greater than average resistance to it since Orm at one point implies Arthur is resisting it via his heroic will, and Gaito for all his faults does have a massive will, plus Panthalassa naturally strong recovery. But I also don't think it would really cripple Gaito that much. Gaito's powers seem mostly psychically based and crippling his body might not actually diminish his powers much. He could also potentially nullify the effect as mentioned above.
Orm could summon Lernaea to kill Gaito. Thing is, Lernaea would not kill in-character, she would try to immobilize Gaito, which gives Gaito plenty of time to teleport away to attack from a different angle. Orm forcing Lernaea to kill is probably the most efficient way of killing Gaito that he has given the implied power level of Lernaea being well above what is needed to one-shot Gaito and being faster than him. That said this is a highly unlikely strategy for Ocean Master who doesn't want to lose Lernaea's loyalty. And even then, this isn't completely uncounterable to Gaito.
I don't think Gaito would be able to control Lernaea even if she is made of water. Not only is she likely just strong enough to overpower his control, but in Mermaid Melody, the Princesses were unable to use their hydrokinesis to control the living water of Izuuru's serpents. However, the way they were able to win was by freezing them, and I see no reason Gaito couldn't apply this same strategy. One of the initial arguments for Gaito I considered was him freezing the water like Zatanna did in order to keep Orm from controlling it since Gaito does have ice manipulation. That said, nobody in Mermaid Melody has freezing on that scale and Gaito doesn't really need help overpowering Orm's hydrokinesis. However, freezing would work here, to freeze Lernaea's body. While Orm could thaw it with his fire, Gaito could teleport her body away somewhere unknown to keep it away. It is unknown if Orm can "summon" her with her orb if she can't respond and given it works by sending his instructions to her, it would seem that would stop her.
That brings me to their other summons. Orm's other monsters don't really have the feats to make a large difference, although there's a strong argument to be made that summoning a large army would be a massive distraction for Gaito's side. That said Gaito has lots of large area of effect attacks with his hydrokinesis which likely counters that efficient. Gaito has his own minions and while less in hypothetical numbers, they actually have attacks available to them that can threaten Ocean Master. Izuuru's serpents could likely be dispersed by Orm even if they are strong enough to harm him, Maria's freezing might be countered by Orm using fire to thaw himself faster then she can freeze him, and his natural supergenius intellect possibly acts as a counter to Eriru's intelligence dampening as even having his intelligence reduced by a set amount would likely still be a superhuman intellect. That said Sheshe and Mimi are probably strong enough to hurt Orm with their sound manipulation and Yuuri's music could likely brainwash him. That means even with summons this battle goes to a 3 on 2 battle of credible threats (unless Gaito acts lazy and lets his minions fight for him). The other Dark Lovers can help make it less even, distracting Lernaea with water serpents, freezing her, or reducing her intelligence. Gaito could also strengthen any one of them with his rod, which he doesn't need with his Kaito boost.
It's true however that both Gaito and Orm can easily manipulate each others' minions. Gaito could use his charisma to manipulate the emotionally immature Lernaea, especially if he can relate his own experience of growing up alone at the bottom of the ocean to her. Conversely while the Dark Lovers are incredibly devoted to Gaito, Orm could easily pit them against each other and manipulate the Black Beauty Sisters into defecting or staying neutral out of self-interest. As such having the ability to forcibly keep his own minion on his side is an advantage for him, although as mentioned it's something he would be highly discouraged from using.
The only other lethal means Orm has to use against Gaito is, and I'm not even sure this should be counted, the jellyfish monster he made that feeds off emotions. This isn't standard equipment but since both characters can teleport themselves and others, it's theoretically feasible for Orm to teleport Gaito into the area with this, I would imagine. Even if this is counted, while Gaito would absolutely not figure out how to escape, as the solution is so completely against his nature, I'm not sure what powers of Gaito's would be nullified as the powers of his that are psionic are not clearly explained.
So overall Orm definitely has some ways to take down Gaito, but most of them are uncertain in their efficiency and are definitely not his A-plan. Ocean Master's standard tactics, his A-plan, are to just go right up to his enemy and melee theme as is his Atlantean training. The only one of these that Orm would possibly try within a short range of time is his lightning manipulation.
That brings us to Orm's biggest advantage. Orm would absolutely manipulate Gaito, and extremely well. Gaito's psychological flaws; his vindictiveness, his complacency, his theatrics...all of these are classic supervillain traits that Orm is really good at manipulating. And that's really the core of this fight to me: would Orm be able to use his manipulation in conjunction with his speed and his skill long enough to find a way to win?
That said while Orm's speed and skill and intelligence can counter Gaito's raw power advantage, especially if he uses Lernaea to block key strikes, Gaito actually has a few more key advantages that suggest to me he would take the majority. In particular, Gaito not only has less debilitating physical weaknesses, but Gaito is likely to use Orm's biggest weaknesses without even realizing. Gaito's power being diminished to at least half his own power isn't too troublesome for him in this fight. Similarly, Orm's lack of stamina on land isn't a huge weakness as Gaito has no particular stamina feats either. That said Orm's weakness to sensory exposure is a massive weakness, given Gaito has powerful light and sound manipulation as his default attacks. Also given that Orm is using some kind of powerful magic, it's not unlikely Gaito would want to try to drain his energy, and if they are above ground this may drain him of his stamina as well. That's not a huge point since energy-draining doesn't neccesarily quickly tire an enemy out without feats, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
Beyond this while both have teleportation and illusions to manuever and decieve each other, Gaito has better teleportation and while Orm has better illusions Gaito can better counter Orm's illusions. Gaito and Orm can both teleport themselves and others, but Orm has only ever shown teleporting others along with himself with Gaito can teleport others without going himself (spatial BFR) meaning if there's any BFR strategy to have such as teleporting someone into space, into the sleep-inducing dark sea, into a toxic/radioactive area, only Gaito can really take advantage of it. Gaito also BFR-ed multiple people to different places meaning he could maybe disarm Orm this way, teleporting Orm's armaments to different places from him. While Orm has significantly better illusions due to incorporating auditory and sensory components as well as a superior ability to use them, Gaito's ability to hear sea animals, and more importantly his telepathy and his mental projection attacking light mean he can also resist illusions much better. Granted Gaito's illusions probably wouldn't do much to Orm given Orm's intelligence and super senses, so it's more of a neutral point but still.
In general, Orm might be much more skilled and notably faster, but Gaito has the powers that best counter that; attacks with massive area of effects and attacks that move faster than the other character can dodge. You can maybe dodge an arrow, but you can't dodge a bullet or the blast of a grenade. Similarly, if you can dodge lightning, that doesn't neccesarily mean you can dodge a mountain sized tsunami heading for you or a beam of light moving thousands of times faster than lightning. Gaito also can just converge all the water in an area on Orm at any time. While I would say that the longer the fight this goes on, the more likely Ocean Master is to win due to his manipulation, neither of these two are the type to let this fight drag on. Ocean Master is an arrogant fighter who typically engages enemies head on and in melee and Gaito is typically the type to try to overwhelm an enemy with superior power right away and leave if there's any risk posed at all. It's a very real scenario for this fight where Ocean Master tries to melee, hits him a few times without much damage and then gets damaged too severely by Gaito's light emanation to continue fighting.
However, the final point is that if it gets to a mental combat, Gaito almost certainly wins. Ocean Master has emotional attacks, but Gaito has tanked stronger emotional attacks, even withstanding the same emotional attack that defeated the final villain of Mermaid Melody. Conversely Arthur beat Orm on the mental plane by overpowering his will via genuine love for his brother and absorbing his power. Gaito is almost defined by his love for Sara and still has some love for his brother, helping him beat Mikeru, Gaito is known for his strong will, and he can absorb energy even on the mental plane as shown when he appeared before Kaito in his dreams and absorbed Kaito's power. It would be an almost exact repeat of this scenario which already left Orm dying, however in this scenario Gaito's light can also hit spiritual entities and would essentially erase Gaito's consciousness while absorbing Neron's magic. Even if Orm survives and escapes, Gaito would have stolen all his magical abilities and it would be relatively easy for him to win at that point.
Overall, Orm lost to Mera almost entirely due to her hydrokinesis, able to control all the water around them the whole time. While Gaito isn't quite as fast or skilled as Mera, he has even better hydrokinesis and way more broken abilities many of which counter Orm's. Conversely the Panthalassa tribe in Mermaid Melody were so undefeatable it took all the energy of the Goddess of the Oceans herself to stop them, who did have access to most of Ocean Master's abilities in some way or another, one of the Panthalassa (Gaito) was the main antagonist of the first arc and was never actually beaten instead beating himself, and his twin was instrumental in beating the villain of the second arc with Gaito's help. I think the argument is much more solid for Gaito to win.
The winner is.... Prince Gaito
Next Time:
Special thanks goes to my friend ThorGundersen1058 as always for making this unfathomably good next trailer and providing the amazing soundtrack for this matchup.
