Dolphin (comics)

Dolphin
Showcase #79 (Dec, 1968). Cover art by Jay Scott Pike.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Showcase #79 (Dec. 1968)
Created by	Jay Scott Pike
In-story information
Species	Human (alien-altered)
Team affiliations	Forgotten Heroes Black Lantern Corps
Abilities	artificially adapted for deep subaquatic life: underwater breathing, superhuman strength, resilience to deep water pressures

Dolphin is a fictional character, a superheroine in the DC Comics universe. Created by writer-artist Jay Scott Pike, she debuted in Showcase #79 (Dec. 1968).

Dolphin was a very young girl when she fell overboard from a cruise ship (Secret Origins #50) only to be saved from drowning when a mysterious alien race abducted her to use as an experimental prototype for a subaquatic humanoid race. In the course of these experiments she acquired gills, webbed fingers and toes, shining white hair, superhuman strength, resilience to deep water pressures, and a slowed aging process.

When the alien scientists abandoned the experiment, Dolphin escaped their underwater lab. Oblivious to her former humanity, the feral young Dolphin scavenged underwater for her livelihood, eventually finding her trademark short blue-jeans and white shirt inside a sunken ship. She has been alone her entire life, constantly swimming and enjoying her personal freedom. As she grew into young womanhood, she became tired of living an isolated, lonely life. One day, the crew of an oceanology vessel saved her from a near lethal encounter with a dolphin-killing shark and took her aboard their ship to help her.

Over time, the crew of the ship tried to educate and care for the girl they'd dubbed "Dolphin", but her utter lack of contact with either humans or Atlanteans had left her mute. Though she grew to understand spoken language fairly quickly, the act of speech itself remained beyond her. Then, a young female doctor on the crew had the bright idea to instruct her in sign language. Finally able to communicate, Dolphin explained what she could of herself and her story, and expressed her desire to resume her undersea life. At some point, Dolphin finally mastered spoken language, (especially when she started having contact with the superheroic community), but never lost her shyness and reluctance to speak. She has since been a woman of few words.