This is a Kaldur appreciation post.
(spoilers for everything up to 2x19 ahead!)
I don’t believe there are any proper words to express my love for this amazing chocolate fish, but let me give it a try.
Kaldur has been my inspiration ever since I saw Targets, I think, and became even more of one when I started roleplaying him and thus unconciously studied his character further. I could relate to him in certain aspects so much, and respected him for the others, and the character of Aqualad became someone I looked up to when I got lost.
So yeah, let me tell you about Kaldur.
Kaldur’ahm, also known as Aqualad has been brought to the surface by his mentor, Aquaman. He was brought into a foreign environment, leaving his family, friends and training behind to enter the hero business and make the world a better place. I like to believe this is where his constant sacrificing for the greater good of those around him started out.
Despite culture shock, he adjusted really well and even befriended some of his fellow young heroes, who then soon came to be members of his Team.
When being called to take the position of Team leader, he did not hesitate to take it upon himself for a second, despite being barely older than some other members. And he carried the burden to the best of his abilities, always putting others’ needs before his own.
And yet no, Kaldur was not perfect. The fact that he left his sorcery training behind meant that he was slowly starting to regress in his skills compared to his fellow Atlanteans. Furthermore, his constant sacrificing lead to, while trying to keep them safe, losing the Team’s trust, as well as to disregarding his own well-being and getting himself killed in the simulation, not regretting the loss of his life itself afterwards, but the fact that it meant him abandoning the Team he felt responsible for.
Kaldur, however, is a quiet and private person, as he’s always been taught. He is composed and will not burden others with his thoughts unless necessary, nor will he do so until thinking everything through. He uses all of his many doubts in himself not to break, but to strive for improvement. So while he kept valuing his teammates’ lives above his own, he never complained or asked for any credit. And somehow, while probably appreciating his actions, the teammates rarely said anything about it out loud.
But the thing is, I don’t think that bothered him. Because even if he’d doubted himself repeatedly, he always believed in what he was doing, believed in its right. He kept doing his best in all aspects, he kept leading, he kept fighting, and every once in a while put on his stunning aquasass. Somehow, he managed to get the grumpiest and most stubborn ginger archer by the name of Roy to actually ask for help and later on even call him his best friend. Somehow, he even believed in him after learning he was a clone. Somehow, he’d always manage to bringt he Team home safe and sound from a mission.
And then, after that, somehow, by making a secret deal with Nightwing, Artemis, and Kid Flash, he decided to take upon the hardest task of his life.
He infiltrated the Light by using his bloodline connection to Black Manta, this time leaving behind not just his friends and teammates, but his whole life and identity. For months, he was forced to have everyone he loves believe he betrayed them, hurt people and pretend to have taken the side of evil.
But he never once swayed.
With the help of Artemis, they exposed the Light’s and Reach’s plans. Even if it meant rejecting his own Father, with whom he had, despite everything, still grown closer, he remained true to his values and triumphed for the side of justice.
The Atlantean still seemed sceptic of their victory, but for once, his actions were louder than words he never quite formed in the past, and Kaldur got the recognition he never really knew he deserved.
Now, I know these paragraphs basically sing to his awesome, but… I don’t love Kaldur because he’s perfect. I love Kaldur because while he keeps striving for perfection, that very exertion is what makes him flawed.
I would just like to applaud and thank the creators for coming up with this character. I know he basically does not exist outside Young Justice Animated, but I could not imagine the superhero world without him.
