Arion (comics)

Post Crisis

He later appeared during and after the Crisis on Infinite Earths event where he was made part of Power Girl's post-Crisis backstory^[9]. Later, an aged Arion is revealed be immortal and to have lost his magic and is living in Greenwich Village along with several former Atlantean gods and goddesses, including Chaon, Deedra, Gemimn and the Weaver. His companion, Mara, was trapped in canine form when the magic was lost.^[10] Arion renews his old rivalry with his brother, Garn Daanuth, and works to stop the return of Atlantean magic by preventing Darkworld, revealed to be a sentient being, from slumbering.^[11]

After Zero Hour, Arion aided The Justice League America against Scarabus^[12]. He eventually turned up in the present day where his body was taken over by Mordru and his spirit imprisoned in Gemworld. His spirit was finally released and allowed to go to the afterlife by Power Girl and Hawkgirl (along with a recently awakened Dove), in order to weaken Mordru. Before his soul departed, Arion revealed to Power Girl that she was not his granddaughter and thus not an Atlantean.

Arion seemingly reappeared in Infinite Crisis as one of the mystics gathered in Atlantis to keep the Spectre at bay, and later in the Day of Vengeance tie-in special as one of several magical beings summoned to help rebuild the shattered Rock of Eternity. No explanation was given for Arion's involvement at the time. It was later revealed that this Arion was, in fact, a pretender, a native of Akron named Bill Knightley who had decided to trade on Arion's name and reputation to build himself up in the mystical community.^[13]

Camelot Falls

A past version of Arion later appears. In the year 1659, Arion is awakened from a night of debauchery by visions of a cataclysmic future centered around the presence of Superman. Cut off from his natural magics, Arion employed certain artifacts to propel himself forward to Superman's present. Arriving in Metropolis, Arion subjected Superman and his friends at the Daily Planet to a vision of a possible future where Superman and other alien heroes' involvement in humanity caused people to become dependent on them, ultimately producing an apocalypse as their alien intervention held back the 'natural cycle' of civilisations falling upon reaching their peak, culminating in a mass apocalypse as the darkness they had held back for so long came at them with full force. Arion hoped to force Superman to retire and prevent the predictions from coming true.

Superman was given two weeks in which to decide how he would deal with Arion's request, during which Arion illustrated his point by magically steering a "field trip" of adolescent New Gods, chaperoned by Lightray and Fastbak, to come crashing into Metropolis and go wild with their divine powers, causing untold havoc and general interference with the populace. Superman defused the situation with Lightray's help and deduced Arion's involvement. At roughly the same time, Arion kidnapped Bill Knightley from outside the Oblivion Bar, interrogated him, and nearly killed him. The only thing that saved Knightley was his knowledge of the recently begun "Tenth Age of Magic," a tumultuous change in the world's mystical equilibrium. Knightley claimed to be studying the shift and Arion decided he might have some value alive.^[14]

At the end of the two weeks, Arion and Superman met again; Superman chose to remain active as part of Earth's defense and deeply involved with humanity, refusing to give up hope that he could make a difference. Arion's vicious response was to cast a powerful mind manipulation spell, with the intent of using Superman as a weapon to remove the threat of other alien heroes. Superman was able to resist thanks to training from the Martian Manhunter after his period under the control of Maxwell Lord.^[2] Given a mystic shield by the Phantom Stranger to protect him from direct assault by Arion's magics (during which the Stranger revealed that, while Arion's prediction could come to pass, the loss of life and experience that would result if Superman simply allowed civilisation to fall meant that mankind had to try to find another way), Superman was able to defeat Arion and disarm him of his rings, amulets and charms from which he derived his magic. Arion was returned to 1659 where he plans his next move on Superman in the future.

New 52

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this continuity, Arion makes a brief cameo in the 2014 Secret Six relaunch. In a flashback, he is revealed to be the wizard that sealed away elder gods only known as the "Dark Giants", the antagonist that appear in the modern day threaten to be freed due to Black Alice's condition siphoning magic in the world and undoing the seals made to keep them in place.

DC Rebirth

Following the company-wide rebranding in DC Rebirth, Arion makes his debut in the 2016 Blue Beetle series. Sharing similarities to his previous version such as being a former king of Atlantis, he is changed to be a Atlantean-related god and mage whom turned into an insane villain from exposure to the Blue Beetle scarab and gains a more demonic appearance from usage of more malevolent magic.

After being sealed away by Doctor Fate long ago, he uses his apprentice Mordecai Cull to lure Doctor Fate. Jaime Reyes, and the Blue Beetle scarab into undoing his sealing, stealing the scarab for himself to use its power to destroy the world. With the help of Doctor Fate and his allies, Jaime Reyes manages to defeat the sorcerer and his Atlantean demons created by his magic.