Jonathan Kent is a peasant in the Lands of El. He is the husband of Martha Kent and the adoptive father of Arthur.
History
Heir to the Sea
Twenty-five years ago, Jonathan and Martha were captains in King Thomas' army. They were decorated veterans known as the "Cleavers of Rothfus" and revered by their fellow soldiers, but had grown jaded by years of fighting and regretted the things they had done and people they had killed. They were in love but neither of them ever acted on it, as they could see no future for them together while they still had their duty to the king. Jonathan's only hope for the future was to die in battle alongside Martha.
After they and a squad of soldiers cleared out some bandits in the woods, their commander General Grant told them that there had been a civil war in the undersea kingdom Lemuria; and therefore they were being reassigned to the port town of Leguin to guard the coast against potential invasion if the winner proved hostile. That night they met a young recruit named Amanda Waller, who was awestruck to meet them and considered them heroes. However, they frankly told her that they were not, as true heroes would not fight in wars that amount to petty squabbles between monarchs.[1]
At Leguin, the Wayne army watched from the city walls as two armies of Lemurians rose from beneath the waves and began fighting on the beach. Grant ordered them to be ready to defend the city but hold position until attacked. The leader of one of the Lemurian forces summoned a tsunami and sent it crashing into the battlefield and the city walls, destroying Leguin and scattering Lemurians and surface dwellers alike.
Jonathan regained consciousness half a mile from the city, surrounded by rubble and water. He quickly found Jim Gordon alive and revived him, and the two then discovered Grant's dead body. Jonathan revealed to Gordon that Grant had the power to return from death and had done so before. He told Gordon to get Grant to safety and guard him until he woke up, then went to look for Martha. He found her desperately trying to free a baby boy pinned by rubble underwater. Although he believed the boy was dead, he helped Martha dig him out. Martha lifted the baby out of the water, and to their amazement found that he was unhurt and breathing. An injured Lemurian woman in gold armour carrying a trident stumbled up to them and said that he could breathe both water and air. The mysterious woman collapsed and asked them to listen as she had very little time left.[2]
She revealed that she was Atlanna, the queen of Lemuria; and the baby was her son Arthur. Atlanna asked them if they loved each other; Jonathan hesitated but Martha replied without hesitation that they did, the first time either of them had said it out loud. She asked if they had room in their hearts for another and Martha again replied that they did. Atlanna begged them to take Arthur and protect and raise him as their own until he was old enough to take back their kingdom. She gave them two valuable golden medallions to provide for them and asked them to keep Arthur away from the ocean, let him be a child rather than a political pawn and to teach him kindness. Martha swore that she would.
With her last breath Atlanna asked them to one day tell Arthur about her, and that she loved him above all else. Atlanna died and Martha promised her that Arthur would be loved. Jonathan asked her if she was seriously considering going through with it, pointing out that they would be deserters, but Martha told him that many soldiers would be dead or missing after that day, and nobody would question it if they disappeared too. Deciding it would be better to help someone they loved than fight someone their lord hated, they abandoned their duty and snuck away with Arthur, although unbeknownst to them they were observed by Amanda Waller.
Jonathan and Martha married and moved to Gotham, where they purchased a modest house and tried to disappear amongst the townspeople. They loved and raised Arthur as their own, and for a while almost forgot who he really was, as he seemed to be like any other child. The only unusual thing about him was that he disliked the touch of fresh water, calling it "too wet", and would only bathe in salt water.
However, as he grew older the evidence of his birth began to show. One day when Arthur was seven, he and Jonathan were in town buying salt, when Arthur suddenly broke away and ran towards a stall of live lobsters, saying that he could hear them scream in pain. The fishmonger tried to pull him away, but Arthur threw the man aside with unnatural strength. Arthur was able to command the lobsters to work together to free their claws and climb into buckets of water, the creatures somehow understanding and obeying him. Jonathan gave a stack of gold to the merchant and they left quickly with the lobsters. Jonathan realised that, although they had forgotten the danger Arthur was in, it had not forgotten him.[3]
The Kents knew that the story of the boy who could speak to fish would spread quickly, and they needed to flee with Arthur to keep him safe from Atlanna's enemies. They left Gotham the very next day, but by that point the rumours had already reached Lemuria and the usurper Emperor Manta had sent a crew of pirates lead by King Shark to kill Arthur. The pirates ambushed them on the road and King Shark demanded that they hand Arthur over. Martha got Arthur behind the family's cart and told him to run back to the city as soon as he heard the sounds of battle.
They squared off against the pirates, even though they were hopelessly outnumbered and would surely die, to buy time for Arthur to get away. However, as soon as they joined battle Amanda Waller and Jim Gordon charged out of the woods nearby and joined the fight. Waller revealed that she had seen them desert all those years ago and when they had heard the rumours they had rushed to Gotham to help them. The four soldiers were able to defeat the pirates, but King Shark's strength and savagery was too much for them. King Shark bit Martha in the shoulder, severely wounding her. Arthur ran out from behind the cart and stood between his parents and King Shark. Jonathan and Martha begged Arthur to run but he refused and attacked King Shark in a fury; punching his fist elbow-deep into King Shark's chest as his eyes glowed with power.[4]
The four adults charged the pirates, who fled in terror after seeing what Arthur had done. Gordon realised that King Shark was still alive and so he and Jonathan questioned the pirate while Waller tended to Martha's wounds. King Shark told them that he worked for Emperor Manta, the man who had overthrown Arthur's birth mother and the leaders of all the other undersea kingdoms. He told them that Arthur was the last threat to Manta's rule, and that others would come after him. Shark then threatened Martha and Jonathan punched him out. Jim told Jonathan that he would make sure King Shark was imprisoned for his crimes and would never report back to Manta, but they and Arthur would still need a hiding place. He gifted the Kents a remote farm on a salt lake belonging to his family to be their refuge, in gratitude for all the times they had saved his life.
When they reached the farm, Jonathan and Martha expected to settle into a life of obscurity where they could keep Arthur hidden and safe forever, but he revealed that he had seen inside King Shark's mind and now knew the truth about who he was. He said that one day he would need to return to his mother's kingdom and free them, and asked his parents to teach him the skills he would need. They reluctantly agreed and spent years training Arthur to be a warrior and leader. When Arthur grew up he left them to take back Lemuria, but promised that he would return one day.[5]
Titans
After Arthur left them the Kents continued to take in lost children over the decades. The latest of these were the Titans, four children hiding from the Bat-Prince and King Jor-El's persecutions of magic.[6]
One day, they found the Bat-Prince on the side of the road with a strange crystal driven into his chest. Jonathan wanted to leave Bat-Prince for dead due to all the innocent people he had thrown in prison for the crime of possessing magic, but Martha insisted they needed to help him. The crystal appeared to be poisoning him so Jonathan pulled it out. Bat-Prince woke up with a scream of pain shooting fire from his eyes. From this the Kent's correctly deduced that he was the son of Jor-El. Bruce told them he could not take him back to the castle, then passed out again.
The Kents took Bat-Prince to their farm.[7] One of the Titans, Raven, told them that his wound was poisoned and was killing him. She reluctantly decided to save his life and removed the fragment of rock that was killing him from the wound, allowing him to heal. When Bruce woke up the Titans confronted him for what he had done to their kind, and Jonathan and Martha told him that not everyone different was a monster. The farmhouse was attacked by the League of Shades, who were seeking to capture the Titans for their own purposes; but the Kents, Bat-Prince and the Titans fought them off.[6]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Chainmail
Weapons
- Axe
Notes
- Jonathan Kent was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, first appearing in Superman #1. However, the Dark Knights of Steel version of Jonathan Kent first appeared in Dark Knights of Steel #5 by Tom Taylor and Yasmine Putri.
Related
- 7 Appearances of Jonathan Kent (Dark Knights of Steel)
- 3 Images featuring Jonathan Kent (Dark Knights of Steel)
- 1 Quotations by or about Jonathan Kent (Dark Knights of Steel)
- Character Gallery: Jonathan Kent (Dark Knights of Steel)
Footnotes
  This character is or was an ally of Aquaman, and a member of the Aqua-Family and/or its supporting cast. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Aquaman Supporting Cast" category. See also: Aquaman Villains. |