NEPTUNIA

Real Name: possibly Neptunia (see comments)

Identity/Class: Olympian Goddess

Occupation:  Goddess of the Sea, Owner of Seacrest Realty

Affiliations:  The Olympian Gods

Enemies:  Venus

Known Relatives: Poseidon (father, alias Neptune), mother (name unrevealed), Triton (brother), Zeus, Pluto (alias Hades), Chiron (uncles), Hera, Vesta, Demeter, Plute (aunts), Hercules, Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Ares, Venus, Hephaestus, Hermes, Dionysus, Helen, Discord, Hebe, Eileithyia (cousins), Asclepius, Deimos, Phobos, Harmonia, Pan, Cupid, Janus (second cousins), 

Aliases:  Diana Seacrest

Base of Operations:  Possibly Olympus or Aegae (Poseidon’s underwater realm)

First Appearance: Venus#18 (February, 1949)

Powers/Abilities: Neptunia possesses the conventional powers of the Olympian gods including superhuman strength (Class 20 perhaps) stamina, vitality, and resistance to injury. She also has a mystical power to control the sea and command storms but her power is nowhere as impressive as that as her father. It is also likely she can survive under water without the physical adaptations of the Atlantean race.

History: (Venus#18)- Neptunia is the daughter of the Olympian sea-god, Poseidon, who was known to the Romans as Neptune.  When she learned that mortals had accidentally killed him at their atomic testing sites at the islands of Bikini and Eniwetok, she lashed out by creating homes along the Atlantic coastline for mortals under the guise of a mortal woman, Diana Seacrest. She would then send tidal waves to destroy the homes and kill the mortals who bought them. Venus in a mortal guise bought one of these homes and confronted her to stop the tidal waves from occurring and to protect any further mortal human beings from being harmed. In their subsequent clash, Neptunia was apparently killed herself when she was distracted and lost control of the storm she had created.

(Venus#18 (BTS))- Neptune revealed his death had never happened or Zeus returned him to life. It is unknown if Neptunia was truly killed herself or returned to life as well.

Comments: Created by Bill Everett

Neptunia obviously took her mortal name from Diana (Roman name of her cousin Artemis) and Seacrest from the fact that she is a goddess of the sea (of which the Greeks, a sea-faring people, had many). While it is not revealed in the story, it is likely the source of her mortal wealth was from ancient Greek treasures and lost sunken ships she knew where to find. (No wonder the treasures of Troy and Mycenae were never found. The Olympian gods have them in Swiss bank accounts !) It’s also odd that she would not recognize her cousin Venus even in mortal clothing.

Since Neptune is alive in the present Marvel Universe, accounts of his death have been obviously exaggerated.

Since Neptunia is a female variant of her father’s Roman name, it is likely a Roman name for herself as well. As such, it is hard to tell what her true or Greek name is to discern her mother’s identity. Poseidon, fortunately, had few daughters. He fathered Charybdis by Gaea, Despoena (Roman name Pomona) by Demeter, and Pegasus (possibly female) by Medusa. Amphitrite gave him two daughters: Benthescyme, who married an Ethiopian or Egyptian king and Rhode, eponym of the island of Rhode, who was loved by the sun god Helios. I’d say that Neptunia was mostly Rhode who was most likely a goddess. (Of course, there is a long shot that Neptunia was actually born during the days of the Roman Empire instead of the Mycenaean Age. And then too, she could be ret-conned too into an Eternal or Atlantean.) 

Here’s another entry for Neptunia courtesy of the Marvel: Lost Generation web-site: http://www.vortex.bridgewater.ac.uk/mtlg/neptunia.htm

by William Uchtman

CLARIFICATIONS: Neptunia is not to be confused with:

• Neptune, God of the Sea, @ Venus#12
• Neptunium, of the Elements of Doom, @ Thunderbolts#8