Lori Lemaris
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Lori Lemaris is a fictional character in the Superman comic books published by DC Comics. Lori is a mermaid from Tritonis, a city in the undersea lost continent of Atlantis.
Lori was first introduced in the story "The Girl In Superman's Past" in Superman (volume 1) #129 in May 1959. The story revealed that while attending Metropolis University, Clark met Lori, who was attending as a student and hiding her mermaid identity by posing as a wheelchair-bound student (with a blanket covering the lower half of her body). Clark and Lori soon fell in love with each other, but Clark started to wonder why Lori would repeatedly cut their dates short every night to return home at a preset time. Clark eventually decided to propose marriage to Lori, but Lori told Clark that she couldn't marry him, and that she also had to return to her native country. Heartbroken, and growing suspicious of why Lori had to return home every night at a preset time, Clark investigated, and discovered Lori's mermaid secret. Lori, in turn, revealed that thanks to her people's mental telepathic powers, she knew that he was really Superman all along, but promised to keep the knowledge of his identity a secret. Lori also stated that since the two came from such different worlds, they could never be wed. After a parting kiss underwater, the two bid farewell to each other.
Lori made various appearances throughout the Silver Age Superman comics. Like many other minor DC characters, Lori was killed in the 1985 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, but she was soon brought back in a revised incarnation after John Byrne's 1986 Man of Steel miniseries, which revised Superman's origins. Her post-Crisis incarnation first appeared in Superman (volume 2) #12 in December 1987. Lori's post-Crisis origin story and her relationship with Clark remained similar to the original, except that post-Crisis, Clark hadn't adopted a superhero career at the time he was in college. Additionally, in the modern version, Lori also had a mission to discover other cities of the continent of Atlantis, a quest completed when Superman later met Aquaman, who revealed he was a native of just such a city.
In Lori's appearances in the mid-to-late 1990s, Lori had been magically altered so that she would be human when dry and a mermaid when wet, much like Madison, Daryl Hannah's character in the 1984 movie Splash. Lois Lane agreed to let her stay at her apartment for a while during a trip to Metropolis; however, Lori being an old flame of Clark's put a brief strain on Lois and Clark's relationship, though things were soon straightened out. Lori remained a recurring character through the rest of the 1990s, and made an appearance in a recent Justice League of America comic storyline involving her native Atlantis.
Lori's name was possibly created by combining the name of the Lorelei rock in the Rhine river with the Latin word mare meaning ocean.
Lori is one of several Superman characters with the initials "LL", including Lex Luthor, Lana Lang, Linda Lee, Lyla Lerrol and Lois Lane.
External links
- Biography about the Silver Age Lori Lemaris (http://www.dcuguide.com/DCP/Lo.htm#LORILEMARIS)
- Biography about the modern Lori Lemaris (http://www.dcuguide.com/DCP/LoriLemaris_Index.htm)
- Supermanica: Lori Lemaris (http://supermanica.info/wiki/index.php/Lori_Lemaris) Supermanica entry on the Pre-Crisis Lori Lemaris