Origin
Nemo was the son of an Indian Prince who was educated in England and can speak several languages fluently. Upset with the English domination over India he created the Nautilus, the first submarine on a deserted island. He then starts to refer to himself as Captain Nemo. The name Nemo comes from the Latin word “Nemo”, which translates to “No-one”.
As an Indian he resents England’s imperialism over his country. In his anger he sinks Colonial Ships from England with his ship. At first many people think some sort of monster and send men out to find and if needed and able kill the beast.
Ned Land and others are sent and there very ship is sunk. Nemo not be able to let the men drown ends up saving Ned Land and a few others. Much later when Nemo is an older man he even helps castaways who land on his island filled with giant beasts.
Creation
Captain Nemo first appeared in the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne. He again appears in the Novel Mysterious Island by Jules Verne. These are the two books that are considered canon for Captain Nemo. All other stories are retelling of the same novels or new stories added because of his Public Domain Status.
Character Evolution
League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Once a slave, Nemo escaped to avenge the death of his family. To accomplish his objective, he created the Nautilus, Captain Nemo is known to highly dislike the British race as a whole. His work throughout his adventures with the league have shown to prove this as he many times has thrown slurs to Allan Quatermain, and other English characters in the Book. Also with the coming of the amazing conclusion of the second book the readers get to observe is inner distaste. Captain Nemo is also renowned in his ways of being an inventor. As earlier stated he created the Nautilus: a colossal underwater ship which is the first of it’s kind.
Captain Nemo joins the League in Africa when he saves Allan Quatermain and Wilhelmina Murray. He then takes the two to Paris where they find and capture Mr. Hyde. He also helps the team apprehend Hawley Griffin. Once the League is established. They are set on their first assignment as a team.
Their assignment is to find Dr. Fu Manchu and stop him from using the Cavorite he stole. Their mission is successful and they give the cavorite to Campion Bond of MI6. What they didn’t know was Campion was working for James Moriarty. Not being able to trust Bond sends Hawley Griffin the Invisible Man to follow Bond and discover their betrayal. As it turned out Moriarty was going to do the same thing as Fu Mancu. Quickly the team assembles once more. This time to stop Moriarty.
Other Media
Captain Nemo has been portrayed in several different films over the years, as well as appearing in television shows. One of the most famous ones was in 20,000 Leagues under the Sea (1954) with Academy Award winner James Mason as Captain Nemo and Kirk Douglas as Ned Land.
Later, In League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) Captain Nemo is played by Naseeruddin Shah. He is portrayed as an Indian in this film. One of his assistants in this movie is the character Ishmael from Moby Dick. This is different and perhaps his most accurate portrayal of the character considering he is English in most other films. In Mysterious Island (2005) Captain Nemo is played by Patrick Stewart who is most famously know as the Captain Jean Luc Picard of the Enterprise-D in Star Trek. Patrick also plays Captain Ahab in a television film Moby Dick.