Atlantis

Atlantis (Ancient Greek: Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, romanized: Atlantìs nêsos, lit.  'island of Atlas') is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works Timaeus and Critias, wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that besieges "Ancient Athens", the pseudo-historic embodiment of Plato's ideal state in the Republic. In the story, Athens repels the Atlantean attack unlike any other nation of the known world, supposedly bearing witness to the superiority of Plato's concept of a state. The story concludes with Atlantis falling out of favor with the deities and submerging into the Atlantic Ocean.

Despite its minor importance in Plato's work, the Atlantis story has had a considerable impact on literature. The allegorical aspect of Atlantis was taken up in utopian works of several Renaissance writers, such as Francis Bacon's New Atlantis and Thomas More's Utopia. On the other hand, nineteenth-century amateur scholars misinterpreted Plato's narrative as historical tradition, most famously Ignatius L. Donnelly in his Atlantis: The Antediluvian World. Plato's vague indications of the time of the events (more than 9,000 years before his time) and the alleged location of Atlantis ("beyond the Pillars of Hercules") gave rise to much pseudoscientific speculation. As a consequence, Atlantis has become a byword for any and all supposed advanced prehistoric lost civilizations and continues to inspire contemporary fiction, from comic books to films.

While present-day philologists and classicists agree on the story's fictional character, there is still debate on what served as its inspiration. Plato is known to have freely borrowed some of his allegories and metaphors from older traditions, as he did, for instance, with the story of Gyges. This led a number of scholars to investigate possible inspiration of Atlantis from Egyptian records of the Thera eruption, the Sea Peoples invasion, or the Trojan War. Others have rejected this chain of tradition as implausible and insist that Plato created an entirely fictional account, drawing loose inspiration from contemporary events such as the failed Athenian invasion of Sicily in 415–413 BC or the destruction of Helike in 373 BC.

DC Comics
Atlantis (sometimes called the Kingdom of Atlantis or the Atlantean Empire) is an aquatic civilization appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics commonly associated with the superhero, Aquaman. It is one of the numerous depictions of Atlantis within DC Comics and is, perhaps, the most recognizable depiction within DC Comics. The version of the city first appeared in Adventure Comics #260 (May 1959), and was created by Robert Bernstein and Ramona Fradon.

An aquatic nation whose people are human-like creatures with varying levels of biological, aquatic adaptations, Atlantis is considered within DC Universe one of the first and oldest civilizations in the history of the Earth as well as one of the most powerful. In most continuities and stories, Atlantis is a hereditary monarchy that was founded by a powerful race of magic users known as the Homo magi (sometimes referred to as ancient Atlanteans or Atlanteans) and over the course of its history, became an epicenter of magic and science alike. Eventually, the nation would collapse into the bottom of the ocean and its people would adapt and evolved into the modern, aquatic Atlanteans. Overtime, the nation's history would be embordered in conflict with regards to its succession of rulers, the nation's status as a superpower, its fictional cultural heritage, and its relationship with the global world in the modern age.

The Kingdom of Atlantis made its cinematic debut in the 2017 film Justice League, set in the DC Extended Universe, and was later more prominently featured in the 2018 film Aquaman.

Marvel Comics
Atlantis is a fictional location appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is based on the mythical island of Atlantis first mentioned in Plato's initial dialogue the Timaeus, written c. 360 B.C. In the Marvel Universe, Atlantis was a small continent (about the same size as modern Australia) with many human settlements. Over 21,000 years ago, an event called the "Great Cataclysm" caused it to be submerged into the sea.

The inhabitants of ancient Atlantis built an enormous glass-like dome over the capital city, also known as Atlantis. When barbarians sent by the Deviant Lemurian empire attacked Atlantis, King Kamuu opened the magma-pits which were the city's means of heating. This caused the continent to sink. Kamuu was warned of the Great Cataclysm by the seer, Zhered-Na. When she refused to recant, he had her exiled to the mainland, where she was later stabbed to death by survivors of the submersion.

The priests and intellectuals of the city Netheria foresaw the Lemurian attack and fortified their city, and thus it sank intact. Netheria still exists today, ruled by Queen Kala. Other ancient Atlanteans survived the sinking of the continent by various methods, including Dakimh the Enchanter, Varnae, and Stygyro.

About 8,000 years ago, a group of Homo mermanus nomads discovered the ruins of the city of Atlantis. They made the ruins of the human settlements in Atlantis their home and went on to develop a society there, using as much of the material as they could salvage from the wreckage. These people are thus often referred to as "Atlanteans", as it is in the city of Atlantis that their first complex society emerged.

Five hundred years after the settlement of Atlantis, another group of Homo mermanus left Atlantis to find their own city; this time in a part of the ruins of Lemuria, another continent submerged during the Great Cataclysm. These "Lemurians", as they now call themselves, discovered the Serpent Crown in the ruins of their city. The Serpent Crown had been crafted by ancient Atlantean alchemists as a vessel empowered by the demonic Elder God Set. Through their leader Naga's exposure and extensive use of the ancient mystical device, they became more serpent-like in appearance than their Atlantean cousins.

Atlanteans have had little or no contact with their human cousins for millennia. However, the two races came into sustained contact, often hostile, beginning in the 20th century. On occasions, Atlanteans have invaded the surface world. The current Prince, Namor the Sub-Mariner, was initially hostile to the surface world, but fought in alliance with the Allied Powers against the Axis Powers during World War II. Namor defends Atlantis against villains like Attuma and the warlord Krang, who plot to overthrow him and take over Atlantis.

The city of Atlantis was damaged when the supervillain Nitro exploded, taking with him Namor's traitorous son, Kamar.

Following Namor's attack on Wakanda during Avengers vs. X-Men, the two nations engaged in a violent conflict. After much bloodshed, Namor reached out to the Black Panther and extended a peace offering to Queen Shuri. Despite this, Wakanda launched an all-out strike on Atlantis, destroying the city and killing a number of Namor's soldiers in the process.

Individual pages

 * Atlantis (Knottyorchid12's idea)

Marvel Comics

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DC Comics

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