Andromeda Attumasen

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Powers & Abilities

An unusually powerful Atlantean specimen, talented and trained in the techniques of the warrior and the military officer. While she is not as powerful a fighter as her father, she is very handy with the traditional weaponry of Atlantean champions.

A favourite trick of Andromeda is to throw her trident at her opponent, then run or swim past it using her high speed and grab or hit her opponent as they concentrate on the trident. In DC Heroes, this is Pressing the Attack ; in DC Adventures it is a Feint.

She also has demonstrated the ability to hit the ground with her trident like a spade, then use the leverage to sent a patch of ground flying – with her opponent on it.

Ms. Attumasen has a highly developed strength, speed and eyesight. She also enjoys a motion sense allowing her to sense movement on the other side of a thick, closed door. Whether Atlanteans are supposed to have this motion sense is unclear, and Andromeda only used it once (possibly twice).

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She also seems to have dark blue nictitating membranes (a second set of transparent eyelids she can lower to cover her eyeballs). This does not seem to be a normal Atlantean trait either.

Andromeda is very knowledgeable about the geography of the Atlantic, knowing about currents, remarkable spots, local histories and the like.

But my instincts tell me to keep breathing

Most Atlanteans are less powerful on dry land than under the waves. But Andromeda uses a special serum that pretty much negates that effect. It also greatly extends the amount of time she can spend on dry ground.

This serum can be breathed through a collapsible mask connected to a pocket of serum – a bit like the pressure drop masks in an airplane. Andromeda always keeps one such mask and pocket in her clothes. The technology was originally developed by Krang, and was known as the OX serum.

A drone from Andromeda’s warship.

However, Andromeda uses a refined version. It apparently doesn’t have the addictive effects OX had, and it turns her skin from blue to pale pink (similar to a common Caucasian skin tone). However, her surface autonomy without breathing in some serum is but an hour or two.

Previously Andromeda had a super-submarine with embarked air/sea drones. It is possible that it carried the chemical equipment to generate the Serum. If so it may have been Krang’s old flagship.

Out of body experience

Andromeda apparently still shares her existence with a human, Genevieve Cross – see the History section for more. This is an alter-ego situation. Andromeda fully turns into Cross and vice versa, and both forms have their normal clothing and equipment when the switch takes place.

Cross seems to be an ordinary British woman – presumably in her mid-to-late-20s and of Jamaican heritage. She lived in Brixton, but fled from her boyfriend (whom she stated was a big man in Brixton) for unrevealed reasons. The circumstances were apparently dire, as she stole his motorbike and rode away as fast as she could with just the clothes on her back. Nothing else is known about her.

Cross generally seems OK with letting Andromeda take over and do the heroic warrior thing. I assume she does not age while Andromeda is in the world.

Cold steel

Back during the 1970s Andromeda carried a trident by hand, had a sword sheathed across her back, and had a dagger sheathed over her bare thigh. As a Peacelord of Atlantis, Andromeda would often just pack a scimitar – and no trident or dagger.

After she had a reconciliation of sorts with her father, she started replacing her old trident and broadsword with a sword-trident quite similar to Attuma’s.

Andromeda apparently carries a concealed knife at practically all times, even when in her civvies and not expecting anything bad to happen.

History

Andromeda is the first-born child of the barbarian king Attuma. She’s his only firmly identified child, though Attuma admitted that he may have had other children he never heard about.

Attuma spent most of his life with an exiled, barbaric Atlantean tribe. It has even occasionally called Sharkan barbarians. The status of Andromeda’s mother, the Lady Gelva, is less clear. Still, one gets the impression that she was an Atlantean noble who had an affair with the barbarian warlord. Andromeda was presumably born in the mid-1950s.

Disappointed that his first-born wasn’t a son, Attuma turned his back on his daughter and forgot about her. Perhaps because of this Andromeda grew up a tomboy. She insisted on following the martial training regimen for a boy her age. Her talent with weapons allowed her to join the military – which is apparently quite rare for an Atlantean woman.

From sea to shore

Andromeda’s military career kept running into problems, which she blamed on the sexism of the Atlantean high command. Despite this resistance she made it to Commander or Major (accounts vary) and earned a number of decorations.

The most distinctive is her heavy tiara, personally bestowed by King Namor of Atlantis over the objections of the brass. This headgear marks Andromeda’s distinction as a “warlord”, though what it means is unclear. It might be an officer who has the privilege to fight at the King’s side in time of war, or something along these lines.

Whether Andromeda participated in campaigns against the surface world is unknown. In any case she was still a kid during the most famous of these, the 1962 invasion of New York City.

Thoughts of the surface

Her anger growing over her glass ceiling problem, Andromeda resigned her commission. Her plan was to join a group of surface heroes, the Defenders. King Namor had earned great glory fighting among the Defenders, and the female members of the group seemed equal to the men.

Andromeda acquired a very advanced submarine (perhaps a special vehicle once used by Warlord Krang). She then studied New York City (perhaps using the ship’s flying drone) until she could pass for a native.

Andromeda had a complete plan to infiltrate the surface world. She emerged from her submarine wearing running clothing, and with a surface skin tone thanks to a special air-breathing serum. She joined other joggers on the waterfront until she pretended to twist her ankle.

A Manhattan stockbroker named Tony helped her hobble to a taxi. He soon became the lover of the striking “Andrea McPhee”. Maintaining her disguise as a surface woman, Andromeda had her flying drone forge credit cards and ID for her based on Tony’s.

The Defenders

While out clubbing in Manhattan, Tony was attacked by a superhuman freak named Hotspur, who cut his cheek open. Incensed, “Andrea McPhee” produced a hidden knife, forcing Hotspur to flee. After she got Tony back home she tracked down Hotspur, presumably using a drone.

Hotspur was fighting the Defenders using complex illusions. Andromeda came to reinforce them, claiming that she was a Defender now. Once the fight was over the Valkyrie agreed to let Andromeda join. ”Andrea McPhee” disappeared, though she left a huge black pearl to Tony for his trouble.

Shortly after Andromeda joined, the new Defenders (Valkyrie, Gargoyle, Beast, Iceman, Angel and Cloud) as well as the spy Seraph helped Cloud remember their past. Cloud, now understanding that they were a sentient nebula, remembered their reason for coming to Earth. They were to defeat Star Thief II, who was slowly engulfing stars throughout the firmament and was thus “shutting off” the cosmos.

The Defenders eventually solved the situation, in part thanks to Andromeda taking command of an alien starship during a battle.

When they came back the Defenders were attacked by the unstable Manslaughter. He wanted to join and briefly neutralised several members to show his skills. Manslaughter gagged Andromeda with desiccant adhesive tape, leaving her to struggle for a while to rip it off and recover.

After the Defenders stopped Manslaughter, the Interloper came to recruit everyone to fight the grave menace posed by the Dragon of the Moon. At the apex of the fight two of the new Defenders (Andromeda and Valkyrie), Manslaughter, and the Interloper sacrificed themselves.

They hurled their life-forces at the Dragon of the Moon to destroy it – and were turned into dust. The Gargoyle and Moondragon were also lost and turned into dust during the fight.

On the border between life and death

The spirits of the four warriors who launched themselves at the Dragon ended up in a limbo dimension  at the border between life and death. There they were forever fighting undead servants of the Dragon of the Moon. The limbo apparently had some sort of Valhalla-like qualities, including medieval halls with wine and venison (and, importantly for Andromeda, some pools)

After an unknowable amount of time, the four were summoned as spirits by Doctor Strange to confront the demon Erlix Khan, whom they forced to flee. However, conjuring dead spirits further pushed Strange down the path of necromancy.

Strange soon returned to the limbo of the former Defenders, perhaps to use the timeless quality of the realm to his advantage. During this stay he was attacked by Cloak (Tyrone Johnson), who had been tricked by the powerful Nightmare.

Being bound to Strange by blood sacrifice, the ex-Defenders came to the rescue. They fought Nightmare and his troops long enough for Strange to defeat the demon using the powers of Cloak and Dagger (Tandy Bowen).

After this, the three-in-one mystical entity, the Vishanti, decided to have the ex-Defenders return to life and Earth. The quartet finally won the timeless battle they had been fighting, and the Vishanti created a path for them to follow – which led to Wales.

The Dragon Circle

The Vishanti indirectly contacted professor of comparative literature Dafydd ap Iowerth. Though he wasn’t aware of it Professor ap Iowerth was a direct descendant of King Arthur and had inherited mystical authority over Britain.

The Vishanti planted among the professor’s books an impossibility. It was a full version of the De excidio et conquest li Britanniae by Gildas , clearly mentioning Arthur and Merlin by name. As expected this led him to visit his colleague Roger Loomis, who was hosting student Sian Bowen. A spectral eagle was then sent to guide the three academics into the countryside, where the met a lorry driver, Will Fanshawe.

The last unwitting participant to the ritual, Genevieve Cross, was delayed due to an accident – which nearly resulted in a catastrophic magical failure. However Dr. Strange, sensing that the Vishanti were active in Wales, came in and flew Cross to the fairy ring where the summoning was taking place.

Local animal spirits came to help and, along with Strange, made it possible for the four companions of Professor ap Iowerth to be possessed by the ex-Defenders. An otter spirit helped Andromeda haunt Genevieve Cross, making it possible for Cross to turn physically and psychically into Andromeda when needed.

The quartet and the professor formed the Dragon Circle, a group of heroes for Britain. The Circle was also a living artefact that would keep the Dragon of the Moon imprisoned. However, the problems during the Circle’s creation allowed the Dragon to attack Manchester.

Dr. Strange and the Dragon Circle swiftly brought the Mancunian situation under control, and Strange fixed the flaws of the Circle to correctly imprison the Dragon.

The adventures of the Dragon Circle are unchronicled, and what happened next is entirely unknown.

• Professor ap Iowerth and the Interloper were never seen again.
• Manslaughter was seen but once (though still as a possessor of Roger Loomis).
• Although Valkyrie has appeared since, we have no idea about what happened to her host Sian Bowen.

The Circle was apparently disbanded, but Andromeda continued time-sharing her existence with Genevieve Cross.

Civil war underneath

After centuries of subjective time spent fighting in limbo, Andromeda wasn’t planning to return to action immediately. However, in 1989, she learned in the press that Namor had been killed, and that her father was now king of Atlantis. Attuma further had allied with Ghaur of the Deviants and Llyra of the Lemurians to obtain the Serpent Crown.

In anger, Andromeda leapt into the Atlantic and irrupted into the throne to confront her father. But her words wouldn’t dissuade Attuma and she had to flee – she couldn’t take on her father and the guard by herself.

Her fighter’s temperament reignited, Andromeda gathered rebellious Atlantean soldiers and officers and led this resistance, warring against loyalists and trying to get their shot at Attuma.

During the civil war Andromeda demonstrated her nobility in front of the rebels and the loyalists alike on several occasions. This was in good part to prove to all that she wasn’t like her father. In particular she refused to kill a loyalist officer she knew, Nautak, until the craven Nautak left her with no choice.

She also destroyed a kraken-summoning conch horn (very similar to the one used to summon Giganto) after accidentally discovering its effects, showing that she refused to employ indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction against Atlantis.

The Brides of Set

As part of their plan to use the Crown of Set, Attuma and his allies captured seven superhuman women, the Brides of Set. One was Jean Grey of X-Factor, which gave Andromeda a clue since she knew only of one place to hold an air-breathing captive in the area. Running into her old ally the Beast (Dr. Henry McCoy), she had him rescue Grey while she engaged her father in a duel.

Attuma was much stronger than her and a better fighter. But Andromeda fought with determination until the duel degenerated into a brawl. However, Ghaur determined that Andromeda was one of the Brides, and whisked the unconscious fighter away from her father, saving her life.

Eventually Ghaur and Llyra assembled the full set (heh) of Brides — Andromeda, Dagger, Invisible Woman, Marvel Girl (Jean Grey), Scarlet Witch, She-Hulk and Storm.

Hypnotised into serving Set, Andromeda and She-Hulk were sent to a sinister place on the Atlantic floor, the Altar of Neptune’s Wrath. There the gods had once destroyed a cult worshipping the seven-headed snake. Despite an encounter with a giant octopus, Andromeda brought back the artefact Ghaur needed.

The whole plot was defeated when a cadre of powerful heroes summoned the Demogorge. The Brides regained their free will and worked together to seemingly destroy the Crown.

Andromeda wasn’t seen for some time and apparently did not return to Atlantis. Perhaps Genevieve Cross resumed her life for a few years, away from the ocean.

Aquaria

By late 1994, Andromeda was leading a band of homo mermani nomads. These guys had some unrevealed connection with the Sharkan tribe ruled by her father. Learning that Prince Namor had established himself at Hydro-Base, she took a band of warriors to Aquaria (later Hydropolis), a settlement under Hydro-Base.

After a skirmish with Atlantean soldiers who attacked the Sharkan-looking warriors on sight, Andromeda obtained to talk with Namor. Andromeda had come to return her tiara to Namor – there was no longer a warlord rank in the Atlantean military and she wanted to properly abandon this insignia.

Touched by Andromeda’s loyalty, Namor returned to the tiara to her. He made it the symbol of a new rank, the Peacelord of Aquaria. As such he entrusted Andromeda with the command of the small defensive Atlantean force in Aquaria, and gave her the right to accompany him on some missions.

Attuma, and the Deep Six

While investigating historical records about Namor’s human father, the Submariner and Andromeda stumbled upon an unconscious Attuma in the ruins of Old Atlantis. Attuma had been defeated by the powerful Sea Leopard. The Leopard easily defeated Andromeda then nearly took down Namor, though the Submariner gained a short respite by having an orca attack.

The Sea Leopard quickly disposed of the orca but was then confronted by Andromeda and Attuma. Engaging him as a duo, they actually fought the Leopard toe to toe. During the fray Attuma, impressed by Andromeda’s qualities as a fighter, came to consider her his daughter for the first time.

Andromeda saved Attuma’s life by interposing her body, and the furious Attuma allied with his mortal foe Namor to avenge his daughter. Andromeda had survived, though, and recovered quickly enough to help the two men finish off the Leopard.

Attuma invited her to join his people, but Andromeda stated that she served Namor. Attuma moodily swam away, declaring her to be banished from his people.

During the mid-1990s Namor and close allies of his formed the unofficial team the Deep Six — Namor, Andromeda, Stingray, Triton, Tiger Shark and Tamara Rahn. Their adventures are mostly unchronicled.

When the Avengers were tricked into attacking Namor and the Deep Six, Namor had to hit the bloodthirsty Tiger Shark to save Thunderstrike. The Shark left and Tamara Rahn swam after him, marking the end of the Six.

The Ebony Blade

Namor later clashed with a manipulated Abomination. The Submariner entrusted Peacelord Andromeda with finding the invisible submarine where renegade Russian officers were holding the Abomination’s wife captive. Andromeda was successful and forced the captain of the sub to surface. He was soon killed by the vengeful Abomination.

Peacelord Andromeda also accompanied her liege during his quest to find the legendary Sword of Kamuu. When Namor fought the Bloodwraith, Andromeda tried to get a human bystander out to cover. But the woman turned out to be an amnesiac Morgan le Fay, who knocked Andromeda out by surprise. While she was out Bloodwraith killed Namor using the Ebony Blade.

Recovering, Andromeda engaged Bloodwraith and Morgan, who eventually overcame her and also killed her with the Blade. When she died, Andromeda’s body became the corpse of Genevieve Cross (though her clothing did not change).

Within the Ebony Blade, Namor and Andromeda’s souls fought their way back to life. Andromeda then sacrificed herself to fully resurrect her liege. Once revived, Namor took Andromeda back to the land of the living.

However, the person in Andromeda’s body was now Genevieve Cross. Andromeda’s soul had deliberately remained in the Ebony Blade. Cross nearly suffocated to death, but Namor deduced what had happened and shoved her face into sea water so she could breathe again.

Cross in Andromeda’s body followed Namor to Atlantis. She spent days learning to breathe using gills, and being unable to speak underwater. Meanwhile, Morgan raised Atlantis from the ocean floor, triggering a major crisis.

Back to life, back to reality

In unchronicled circumstances, Andromeda’s soul was recovered from the Blade. It returned to her body somewhen between 1995 and 2001. Presumably, she resumed her time-sharing arrangement with Cross.

Since Andromeda seemed to live in Atlantis full time, it is possible that they were now able to switch consciousnesses without changing bodies. It is thus imaginable that Cross — who had learned to use an Atlantean body — had her own life in Atlantis.

Andromeda was spotted on various occasions during the 2000s. She was among the Atlantean fighters opposing hordes led by Attuma ; when Namor disappeared from their ranks due to the Defenders curse cast by Yandroth, the Atlanteans were defeated by the Sharkans. Whether something happened between Andromeda and her father during his time as ruler of Atlantis is unknown.

Namor returned once the curse was broken, and liberated Atlantis. The new ruling structure was a triumvirate ruling in Namor’s absence – Namorita representing the nobility, Warlord Seth the military and, oddly enough, Andromeda representing the commoners. How long this arrangement held isn’t clear, though governments in Atlantis tend to have very short lifespans.

By 2010, Namor was back on the throne. While Andromeda’s role was not specified, she seemed to be the captain of the royal guard or something along these lines – and a special agent for Namor. Namor reestablished contact with Old Atlantis, an ancient civilisation hidden under the ice in Antarctica, through his envoy Andromeda Attumasen and with Susan Storm-Richards as the mediator.

Richards went on to negotiate terms for negotiations between the modern Atlantis and Old Atlantis. Not trusting the Invisible Woman, Andromeda wanted to renegotiate the security arrangements, but was overruled by Namor.

Despite this brief clash, Andromeda was present during the negotiations. It was actually a plot by Namor to kill the kings of Old Atlantis, as he had secret information that led him to the certainty that the negotiations would end in war. However, Susan Richards intervened and forced an end to the fighting.

She imposed peace for the time being and Namor, Andromeda and the small guards detail had to leave the negotiation site.

Description

See illustrations.

Personality

Andromeda is a bit of a pulp character – the exotic, secretive, haughty warrior princess from a mysterious civilisation. She is a warrior born and it does not take much for her to produce a blade, shout “Imperius Rex” and start fighting, quite possibly to the death. She talks in a formal, slightly pompous warrior princess way.

Like most Atlanteans, Andromeda is a Neptune worshipper.

Andromeda is big on heroic glory and on being a champion of the common good. She will always want to jump into battle, help people, confront enemies, etc. no matter the circumstances. However she’s not really gung ho when it comes to actually doing those things – she deeply believes in discipline. One of her objectives, though, is a truly valiant death.

Ms. Attumasen seems to fight in a very technical, by-the-book manner, using impeccable forms straight from the Atlantean melee combat manuals. Her tactics, in contrast, are flexible and creative, though well-informed by both experience and Atlantean military science and history.

When serving Namor Andromeda is disciplined and military-like, often standing ramrod-straight at attention behind him and addressing him as “my liege”. This stalwart behaviour, however, is also a front for her unspoken romantic feelings toward the Avenging Son. Whether Namor has realised Andromeda’s feelings is unknown.

There’s a good chance that Andromeda’s distrust of Susan Richards was caused by Namor’s attraction toward Sue. While Andromeda is probably composed enough to handle jealousy, the way Namor acts toward Richards can be facepalm-inducing, especially for an Atlantean patriot like Ms. Attumasen who’d rather see the throne retain some dignity.

Quotes

“Now we shall resume our battle on more equal terms, Hotspur ! Now I stand before you clad as befits a warrior – and a Defender ! Stand and fight — for it shall be Andromeda that lays you low !”

“Hold ! Something approaches !”

(Taking command of a crippled alien spaceship) “Well then, we’ll just have to improvise ! The ship up and to our right — match velocities with it ! Bring us close, Moe — close enough to scrape their paint ! And the rest of you — board the vessel !”

“I shall force open the doors, and confront what lies inside !”

“I am Andromeda, Atlantean warrior and Defender, and I stand and fall with my comrades !”

“Father Neptune — what is this place ? Even death was not like this !”

“Atlanteans ! Attack !”

“Hold again, blue one ! Allies we once were, but you go nowhere until I am satisfied you are not part of my father’s plans.” (whips out her dagger and holds it to the Beast’s throat)

“This is blood ritual ! I claim the first-born’s ancient right of challenge !”

“For have I not been treated as [a male child] ? Was I not raised to hunt and fight and kill, as any Atlantean boy would be ?”

“How dare you address Prince Namor in such a manner ! Watch your tongue, woman, or my blade will [still it for you].”

“That is the Prince of the Realm whom you have so callously manhandled, Avengers. IMPERIUS REX !” (draws sword and charges the Avengers by herself)

By Sébastien Andrivet.

Source of Character: Defenders comics (Marvel universe).

Helper(s): Darci.