Little Mermaid

Origin

Ulla was born in the undersea continent of Atlantis to a mermaid mother from Tritonis the sister city of Atlantis and home to the Mer-People. The city is ruled by King Iqula and Queen Sona. Her father was a legged denizen from Poseidonis, the capital of Atlantis and seat of the royal family.

A mutant, Ulla could change her legs to a fish tail and fly above the water, but could only survive underwater for thirty hours at a time. Due to this limitation, Ulla was raised on land in Denmark by her adoptive parents.

Creation

Little Mermaid was created by Nicholas Pascale. The script writer Nelson Bridwell gave her the name Ulla Paske, the Danish equivalent of Nicole Paschal, as an honor to Nicholas. Her first appearance was in Super Friends #9 - Three Ways to Kill a World published in December 1977. Not until 1982 did the Little Mermaid and the Global Guardians become part of the mainstream DC Universe.

Two other incarnations of the Little mermaid would also later make appearances in publication. One claiming that it was her evil twin that had died appeared in JLE #49-50. Another version a "successor" later joined the Ultramarines. JLA: Classified #2.

Character Evolution

Ulla served as the Danish representative in the Global Guardians for quite some time, being an original member.

When the Global Guardians were disbanded by the United Nations, Ulla was brainwashed along with several other Guardian members by the Queen Bee of Bialya. However the young mutant would end up resisting brainwashing on several occasions, Ulla would be a constant concern to the Queen Bee and her accomplices other Global Guardian members Owl-Woman and Jack O'Lantern.

As the Queen Bee's power grew she allied with Bialyan leader Sumaan Harjavti and ordered the capture of the hero Captain Atom. Harjavti and Jack O'Lantern orchestrated an assassination attempt on the Justice League International's administrator, Maxwell Lord, and replaced him with their operative, Rolf Heimlich. Their power also grew quickly and they planned to overthrow the Queen Bee

During that time several Justice Leaguer members went undercover to Bialya and revealed Heimlich as a spy. In the resulting battle, Little Mermaid was accidentally killed by Jack O'Lantern when he blew her head off with his lantern in front of both the League and the Guardians.

Little Mermaid Twin

Another young woman using the name of Little Mermaid was later encountered while the JLE were fighting the Global Guardians yet again. She stated that she had resurfaced as the original Little Mermaid and that it was her "evil" twin who had died. the members of the JLE were surprised by this new Little Mermaid claiming that the woman killed in combat had been an evil clone created by the Queen Bee after Ulla had escaped captivity.

A statue was commemorated along with the other fallen Guardians. This other Little Mermaid may have been the one to later join the International Ultramarine Corps.

Little Mermaid II

Sometime much later, Ulla's name as the Little Mermaid would be used by another young woman with similar powers. Ulla Paske of Denmark was also a teenage hero born from a Danish lighthouse keeper and an Atlantean woman. This new Little Mermaid would join the International Ultramarine Corps, associated with such heroes as Vixen. Her origins and exact ties to Denmark or the original Little Mermaid are unknown.

Powers and Abilities

Born in the undersea continent of Atlantis to a mermaid mother from Tritonis and a legged father from Poseidonis, Ulla would manifest different abilities than her kin. She had a number of physiological adaptions to underwater living. A mutant, Ulla could change her legs to a fish tail allowing her to swim at speeds of a dolphin which is about 34.5 miles per hour for a Orca, or Killer whale. Ulla was such a powerful swimmer that she could cross vast distances of body's of water without tiring for quite some time. She could also use the same shapeshifted attributes to fly above the water for short distances. Ulla could only survive underwater for thirty hours at a time before needing to return to the surface. Her strength, stamina, and vision are also heightened to be able to deal with the pressure of being underwater. In addition of resistance to cold temperatures.

It is assumed that the other two incarnations of the Little Mermaid also had the same powers and abilities although neither were depicted demonstrating these powers in print.