Lagoon Boy is a male Atlantean with amphibious adaptations. He has green skin, red eyes and webbed ears, claws and feet. He has dark green fins on his head, the ends of which he has tied on a pony tail. He wears black shorts, and a black pouch around his ankle.[5]
In his "puffer mode"[6] his body is inflated like a puffer fish, with glowing mystic tattoos on his arms.[5]
Personality
When he was younger, La'gaan was an eager student who wanted to know a lot about the surface world.[1]
He eventually adopts his superhero sobriquet, Lagoon Boy, inspired in part by his first name, as well as the movie "Creature from the Black Lagoon".[7]
By 2016, his demeanor was still easy-going during more casual situations. However, he has shown frustration at the lack of action he receives during field missions and has demonstrated times of aggressive impulsiveness when it comes to battle. He often uses Atlantean slang and euphemisms in his speech; he is especially fond of using "Neptune's Beard", and calling people who he does not particularly like as "Chum".[5] Some, like Superboy, consider him a jerk, a feeling that La'gaan seems to return, mostly out of apparent jealousy in regards to the past relationship Superboy and Miss Martian shared.[8]
La'gaan was at the Conservatory when Kaldur'ahm arrived with his friends Miss Martian and Superboy. He wanted to know a lot about the surface world, but got no real answers.[1]
With the other students, La'gaan came to Aqualad's aid when they were ambushed by purists. Ocean-Master's magic weakened him, but they won the day thanks to Topo's ink spout and Superboy's infrared vision. La'gaan could not participate in the final fight with Ocean-Master in the S'atiroman Cave.[11]
Lagoon Boy was waiting in the Mission Room when former Team members Zatanna and Rocket arrived. He watched in shock as Zatanna congratulated Nightwing on his birthday by kissing him on the mouth. When that was over, Nightwing commenced the briefing; Lagoon Boy would be in Beta Squad to secure a rally held by Noor Harjavti.[14]
Because he could obviously not fit in the crowd, Lagoon Boy was relegated to back-up. He waited in the cloaked Bio-Ship, and made it clear he did not like being sidelined.[14]
Metropolis December 1, 10:30EST
After Superboy, Superman and Devastation disappeared, Nightwing sent Miss Martian and Lagoon Boy to the Moon to investigate Zeta-radiation that could be the cause of the disappearances.[15]
As the Bio-Ship made it past the Watchtower, Lagoon Boy and Miss Martian received news that a force field had trapped Metropolis. Lagoon Boy reasoned that the two events occurring at the same time could not be a coincidence.[15]
They discussed their travel; Miss Martian thought they were going too slow to save the captured heroes. She inadvertedly showed concern for Superboy in particular, which Lagoon Boy noticed.[16]
Bio-Ship December 1, post-19:36UST
Gamma Squad discovered the location of the captured heroes, and found it was a spaceship, on the move. Miss Martian informed Red Tornado, who instructed Miss Martian and Lagoon Boy to follow, as it was their only option. However, Miss Martian did note that the vessel had a head start, and they could not keep up if it entered light speed.[16]
Bio-Ship December 1, 21:55UTC
Gamma Squad continued to pursue the alien vessel.[17]
Bio-Ship December 1, 22:48UTC
Lagoon Boy expressed his true feelings to Miss Martian of being accepted into the surface world. Miss Martian assured him that she was the same way on Mars, and revealed to La'gaan her true form. Lagoon Boy was unfazed by her appearance, prompting Miss Martian to take on a female form of Lagoon Boy. As the two were about to share a kiss, the Bio-Ship alerted them of an unidentified object in close proximity.[17]
The Bio-Ship moored underneath Kylstar's Vessel. Miss Martian detected no airlocks, meaning only she could phase through, and Lagoon Boy had to stay behind. He accepted his part, and wished her good luck.[18]
Kylstar's Vessel December 1, 23:58UTC
After the heroes convinced Kylstar to release them, he sent all of those who didn't want to join him back to Earth. Despite being underneath the vessel, Lagoon Boy was not overlooked; he was teleported back together with the Bio-Ship.[19]
The Collector's Ship December 1, 19:01EST
The heroes and villains were all teleported into the Collector of Worlds's ship. The first thing Lagoon Boy heard was Nightwing's command to attack the alien robot, and as he was still at the helm of the Bio-Ship, used the ship's cannon to blast the coludroid into bits.[19]
Metropolis December 1, 19:01EST
Lagoon Boy exited the Bio-Ship, eager to know if that was all there was. It wasn't; dozens more coludroids arrived and surrounded the heroes and villains. Nightwing and Atom eventually persuaded their enemy to restore Metropolis and leave Earth.[19]
Metropolis December 1, 22:03EST
Back on the ground, Lagoon Boy checked on people and noticed he didn't see any of the villains who had been with them. Captain Marvel suspected they were teleported by the Collector to a place where they couldn't get them.[19]
Lagoon Boy lost a sparring match with Nightwing, much to his frustration, but claimed he would eventually beat him. When Miss Martian arrived, he greeted her with a kiss.[5]
La'gaan begged to be on Alpha Squad, or even on Beta Squad, but was assigned as Gamma Squad along with Blue Beetle and Robin to capture Kroloteans in New Orleans.[5]
When they arrived in New Orleans, they could not find anything suspicious above ground. They went underwater and reached the base of the Kroloteans. They hid from them, while Robin contacted Mal and informed him that they found the base. They were discovered by the Kroloteans and attacked. Lagoon Boy fought off the Kroloteans, until Blue Beetle took a Krolotean hostage and found the abductees. The abductees, including Secretary General Tseng, were terrified of his appearance, but eventually calmed down when he opened their cage with ease. They made it out of the base before its self-destruct caused it to explode. Back on the surface, their backup, the entire Justice League and Team, arrived.[5]
After the League learned of the location of the last Krolotean stronghold, they set up a plan of attack. Aquaman and Lagoon Boy were Beta Squad. They infiltrated Malina Island from the sea, prying open an underwater door and spying in the docks with a periscope. Manta discovered them, and shot his helmet lasers at them, but they could evade it. They leaped out of the water to stop the Manta Troopers that had started to fire on them.
Aquaman quickly sought out his main foe, but Manta shot him in the shoulder. While he recovered, Lagoon Boy took down Krolotean Mechs. Aquaman recovered, but found himself surrounded by Mechs. Delta Squad destroyed them for him.
Lagoon Boy and Aquaman hold their ground while waiting for assistance.
Lagoon Boy, in his inflated form, stormed at Manta, giving Aquaman the opportunity to attack him from the flank. Manta's helmet was thrown clear, and Aquaman was shocked to see his former friend. Orin and Nightwing tried to reason, but Lagoon Boy and Kaldur'ahm saw only enmity. Kaldur escaped, but did notify them of a bomb that was set to go off. Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl swooped in to carry the two Atlanteans back to the Bio-Ship. They managed to outrun the blast.[20]
M'gann had made crab cakes for her boyfriend, who happily ate them. He was unfamiliar with the snack, but he liked them. Miss Martian fed him one, which he declared "true love" to all present, but mainly Superboy. When Artemis arrived, La'gaan welcomed her, and expressed the pleasure of working with her. Artemis, who was not as close to Lagoon Boy as she was to the others, did not know how to respond.
Nightwing gave all present a briefing on the upcoming launch of a communications satellite that would open up communications between Earth and Mars. Since someone might try to sabotage it, Gamma Squad was dispatched to provide security.[22]
Lagoon Boy did not like his role in the plan: he was relegated to patrolling the water. He was jealous because Superboy was with Miss Martian. He spotted their enemy: Manta Troopers, lead by Kaldur'ahm. Lagoon Boy was ordered to wait for backup, but after Superboy called him a rookie, he ignored his orders and attacked.
Though he took down many Manta Troopers, Kaldur shocked him unconscious. He was captured and taken to the Manta-Flyer.[22]
La'gaan was kept in the brig of the Manta-Sub, and made no effort to hide his disdain for Aqualad and Black Manta. Manta ordered his men to take Lagoon Boy to the Partner. Aqualad sedated him—and secretly tagged him with a tracer—and he was placed in a pod.[23]
For a little under a week, Lagoon Boy was experimented upon. The Reach's scientist exposed him to stress, hoping to learn about the Meta-Gene. As he was an average Atlantean only powered by sorcery, he was treated as a human.
When the Team infiltrated the Reach's laboratory, Batgirl, Bumblebee and Robin allowed themselves to be captured and were stored in the same lab as Lagoon Boy. They freed him, and with the others, they made their way to the loading bay. They made sure the captives boarded the Bio-Ship, and then had to hold off the Reach's enforcer, who Wonder Girl named "Black Beetle". The Team did not fare well against him, and one after the other, they were defeated. Lagoon Boy attempted to attack him from behind in his puffer mode, but he was electrocuted and thrown into a computer array.
Blue Beetle joined the fight, and held off the Black Beetle until the others escaped. The fight destroyed much of the ship, and Blue Beetle was thrown clear. Lagoon Boy swam to retrieve him, then boarded the ship. Once everyone was accounted for, La'gaan looked after his girlfriend.[24]
Lagoon Boy, fellow teammates, and several abducted teenage civilians were required to undergo therapeutic interviews with Black Canary—detailing their time as captives of the Reach.[25]
Lagoon Boy was with the Team members debriefing Green Beetle at STAR Labs. He encouraged a reluctant Miss Martian to psychically link with Beetle in order to confirm his identity.
Once the debriefing finished, La'gaan asked to speak to M'gann, and the two left for her uncle's apartment.[4]
After Zeta-ing to a Chicago junkyard, La'gaan could wait no longer and asked M'gann what was going on between her and Conner. Before he could get a full reply, they were interrupted by Deathstroke and Tigress. Lagoon Boy called for help, then fought Deathstroke. Deathstroke broke La'gaan's leg, then knocked him out. Miss Martian was captured and taken away, just before Nightwing and Superboy arrived to find La'gaan left alone.
Nightwing and Superboy took La'gaan to a hospital. When he woke he insisted on attempting to rescue M'gann, and was enraged Superboy wasn't out looking for her. Nightwing revealed that Aqualad was a not a traitor and that Tigress was really Artemis. La'gaan was initially furious to have been left in the dark, but calmed down once Superboy said he was sure Nightwing had good reasons for keeping the secret from everyone. They then left La'gaan to rest.[4]
La'gaan had gone home to recover from his injury. M'gann arrived to pick La'gaan up, he was excited to see her. She told Lagoon Boy that they needed to talk.[27]
On their way back, Miss Martian broke up with La'gaan. She felt he would only ever be her rebound guy, and he deserved better. He felt they could become more than that in time, but could not persuade her.[27]
The pair returned to the warehouse as Nightwing finished a mission update from Batgirl and the Team. The news that Blue and Green Beetle had been freed from Reach control did little to cheer La'gaan up, and he went to watch TV.[27]
Along with the other members of the Team, Lagoon Boy infiltrated the Light-Reach summit disguised as an agent of the League of Shadows. After Aqualad's betrayal was discovered, Vandal Savage ordered the children to be killed. Lagoon Boy broke cover by knocking out his fellow Shadows, and battled against Ubu while in his pufferfish form. After Black Beetle stabbed Ra's al Ghul through the chest, Ubu disengaged from the battle, and escaped with his master's corpse. Lagoon Boy then assisted Miss Martian, who was reeling from the gigantic fire serpent Klarion transmogrified from Deathstroke's sword. Voluntarily throwing himself into the creature's mouth, Lagoon Boy activated his powers and ripped the serpent's head apart. This broke the spell, and he successfully cushioned Miss Martian from impact with the ground. She thanked him telepathically, and their gazes lingered on each other's faces for a moment before they broke off into different directions. The battle ended with the heroes victorious, with the capture of the Reach ambassador, Black Manta, the Brain, and Monsieur Mallah.[28]
Along with Beast Boy, Nightwing, and Guardian, Lagoon Boy infested the docking bay of the Reach flagship. The squad dispatched the Reach soldiers present with their brute force.[29]
When magnetic field disruptors planted by the Reach threatened the Earth, Lagoon Boy joined 39 other heroes of Earth in a briefing in Metropolis. The heroes would use a computer virus provided by Lex Luthor to safely disable the disruptors. The heroes were paired off with another into twenty squads: one member would run interference against weapons guarding the disruptors, allowing the other to get close enough to plant the virus.[29]
Lagoon Boy was paired off with Aqualad, as Sigma Squad. Aqualad offered to distract the Beetle-tech drones so that Lagoon Boy could plant the countermeasure. Lagoon Boy commented that only now is Kaldur trusting him. Kaldur disagreed, as he had entrusted La'gaan with his position on the Team when he left it. With Lagoon Boy mollified, the Atlanteans implemented their plan. Taking advantage of cover provided by Aqualad, Lagoon Boy forced his way towards the disruptor, easily defusing it.
Within minutes, all twenty squads were successful.[29]
Aqualad summoned everyone to the mission room, where Batman informed the Team that they would now operate side-by-side with the Justice League from the Watchtower. Not because Mount Justice was destroyed, but because they earned the right to do so. Aqualad informed the assembled that although the Team has accomplished much, a lot still needed to be done. He assigned Lagoon Boy to Gamma Squad to investigate Batgirl's lead about the whereabouts of Vandal Savage.[29]
Powers and abilities
Puffer mode.
Atlantean attributes: Atlanteans, although human, have through scientific and sorcerous means[1] developed several abilities which allow them to live comfortably under the sea:
Breathe underwater: All Atlanteans are capable of surviving the aquatic atmosphere under the sea. Some accomplish this without the presence of visible gills.[10][1]
Temperature resilience: Resistant to low temperatures[30] and the effects of freezing,[31] although notably hindered by high temperatures.[32]
Inflation: La'gaan can use Atlantean magic to enlarge his body, dramatically increasing his strength and durability. This is a particular technique that he had chosen to study at the Conservatory.[5][35]Because of the way his lips are pulled tight, La'gaan is unable to talk while inflated.[36]
Hydrokinesis: Through Atlantean sorcery, he has demonstrated a capacity to form hard water constructs, such as a serpent.[10]
When designing his puffer mode, Phil Bourassa's biggest visual inspiration was Kool-Aid Man. The way his lips are pulled back on Bourassa's design lead to Lagoon Boy being unable to speak while in puffer mode.[36]
An Atlantean character in the Teen Titans animated series named Tramm has similar traits to Lagoon Boy, including the ability to inflate his body to enhance his strength.
Lagoon Boy was originally introduced as a minor supporting character in the Aquaman comics in the late '90s. He did not, however, pick up in popularity until his appearances in the Young Justice comic series, during which he appeared in the "Sins of Youth" crossover and even acted as a stand-in member of the team. He made his last notable appearance during the Titans East Special #1, where he, along with the rest of his team, was injured by the demon Trigon. Prior to the events of Flashpoint, he was still in a coma. His current status in the New 52 is unknown.
