HISTORY
     Namor was born the hybrid offspring of Princess Fen of Atlantis and an American seaman, Captain Leonard McKenzie. McKenzie's ship was searching for the Lemurian city rumored to house the mythical Helmet of Power at the behest of one of his passengers, Paul Destiny. However, McKenzie distrusted the uses to which Destiny would put the Crown and caused an avalanche to bury the city. Making his way to safety, McKenzie planted explosives to break up the ice flows, unaware Atlantis lay beneath. The damage the city sustained prompted King Thakorr to send his daughter, Fen, to investigate. In a strange twist of fate, the captured princess married McKenzie. When Fen failed to return after several weeks, Thakorr dispatched a rescue party. The ensuing scuffle apparently killed McKenzie, and Fen returned to Atlantis. Nine months later, Namor was born. erous occasions, most frequently opposed by the Fantastic Four.
      Namor grew up with a hostile attitude toward surface-dwellers. When Thakorr discovered men in diving suits near Atlantis, he assumed they were advance scouts for an invasion force and ordered Namor to attack New York, where he fought the original Human Torch. Shortly thereafter, Nazis attacked Atlantis. Namor joined the Invaders, and later, the All-Winners Squad, fighting the Nazi scourge alongside Captain America, the Human Torch, Spitfire and myriad other heroes of the day.
      Atlantis escaped much of the fighting during World War II, but severe earthquakes damaged the city. Namor again was dispatched to New York, where he fell afoul of Paul Destiny, who finally had obtained the Helmet of Power and was causing the quakes. His power destroyed much of Atlantis, killing Thakorr and Fen. Under compulsion of the Helmet, Namor returned to New York with amnesia and became a wandering derelict.
     Johnny Storm, the second Human Torch, eventually discovered Namor in the Bowery. Burning away the extra hair and substantial beard Namor had grown, Storm dropped the Atlantean in the harbor. The immersion restored most of Namor's memory.  When he returned to Atlantis to discover his homeland ravaged by underwater nuclear testing and his people fled, Namor immediately declared war with the surface world. He may eventually come to realize he must put aside his hatred of surface-dwellers on behalf of his undersea nation, but until then, groups such as the Fantastic Four or the Avengers stand ready to do battle with the avenging son of Atlantis.