Jackson Hyde was born Kaldur'ahm to Lucia Inaego, a homo mermanus from the underwater kingdom Xebel and the treasure hunter David Hyde. The two met when David was exploring Xebel in search for a powerful artifact, the Black Pearl. They quickly fell in love, and it was through that love that Lucia began to help David with his quest. However, Lucia soon realized that his intentions with the pearl were not to merely catalog the artifact. Whoever possessed the Black Pearl would gain control the seas, capable of crushing their foes beneath massive waves. Realizing what needed to be done, Lucia took the map that led to the treasure's burial site and barely escaped with her life from David, who Lucia soon found out was the criminal pirate Black Manta. It was only once she emerged from the water that she found out that she was pregnant with Black Manta's child.

Moving to a land locked location in New Mexico, Lucia gave birth to Jackson and raised him without divulging any knowledge about his true origins. Jackson's early life was filled with questions without answers, like where did those tattoo-like markings on his arms come from, or why do the fish at the aquarium seem to gravitate towards him. When the Reach revealed their ulterior motives, Jackson watched events unfold from the TV. People disappearing with no end in sight, until the work of Superman put an end to the alien's plans. The burgeoning age of superpowered individuals caused by the Meta-Bomb's activation prompted Jackson to explore his own anomalies more intensively. It was while experimenting outside in a field on a rainy night that Jackson set off a chain of events that would change his life forever. Without intentionally trying, the young man activated his hydrokinesis and began gravitating all the raindrops around him, forming a car sized glob of water above himself. A passerby witnessed the phenomenon and posted the display of power online, quickly garnering media attention.

Lucia was shocked by the news. The quiet life she had spent almost two decades to create was suddenly upended. There was no telling what would happen next or who would get to them first: the government or Black Manta. But the video didn't just attract the attention of humanity. A day later, a tall, blonde and bearded man greeted the Hydes at their doorstep. He introduced himself as Arthur Curry, and by the markings on Jackson's arms, they had a lot to talk about. It was then, without any more chances to deflect or delay the conversation, that Lucia revealed the truth about Jackson's identity as part Atlantean and Arthur. While on the surface trying his hand to ease the rapidly xenophobic political atmosphere with diplomacy, Arthur saw the footage of Jackson and tracked him down to New Mexico. And seeing some of himself, a man between two worlds, he wanted to take him under his wing and train him in the use of his powers. And with meta-human sentiment plummeting by the day around the world, Arthur offered his hometown of Amnesty Bay as a place for the Hydes to hide and a suitable spot next to the ocean for Jackson to begin embracing his roots.

Fast forward to a year later, and Jackson is still getting the hang of his powers. He gets visits from Aquaman, but they're becoming briefer and lowering in frequency. As the United States government continues with their use of the Agency and President Lord with his agenda, Atlantis and the people of the sea require his presence more and more as they begin to look at all their options. And as much as Jackson's been listening to his mother keeping his head down to avoid another New Mexico incident, it seems like life is about to thrust him into the light for good this time, whether he's ready for the responsibility or not.

With Maxwell Lord's 'Humanity First' platform, I really wanted to play a character with a non-human element in their backstory for some added flavor. And in wanting to try my hand at a subject I don't know much about, my mind zeroed in on the underwater world. After perusing some options, I finally chose Aqualad and worked from there. Having spent most of his life secluded in New Mexico before moving to Amnesty Bay and training with Aquaman, Jackson is ready to spread his wings and explore his place in the world. There's a lot of potential for storylines where the idealistic hybrid seeks to bridge the gap between humanity and homo mermanus, which can produce mixed results like successful interactions or further demonization by the government. For the aquatic royalty, my idea is that Aquaman is King of Atlantis, with Prince Namor controlling his own territory as the second most powerful underwater entity. They both have common ground, but as the leaders on land intensify their efforts, Aquaman's talks of finding peace and Namor's talks of 'proactive defense' sets them apart. As far as a roadmap goes, I have some arcs set up, but I want to focus on writing as many team ups with other players as possible. Jackson is still very wet behind the ears, so I think he'll definitely pick up skills working alongside the different characters in the cast.