I’m going to explain why Dead Water from the Aquaman comics is not Pure Evil.
Who is Dead Water[]
Dead Water is an aquatic virus-like symbiote that turns people into an eel-like hybrid creature. It takes over their minds, forcing the consciousness of its host to act as a "passenger" while Dead Water takes over. This is the fate which happened to marine engineer Jonah Payne, who was turned into the eel-creature.
Why He Doesn’t Qualify[]
Honestly, this sounds like a "Made of Evil" situation. Dead Water only emerges when its host gets wet. And even when it takes control, its moral agency has to be in question as well. Is Dead Water aware of who it kills? The human that it possesses, Jonah Kendry Payne is from his consciousness while the parasite takes over, and he regrets it when he killed two of his colleagues in a sinking ship while they were fighting over a tank of oxygen. When Dead Water takes over, it kills people who have done Jonah wrong. Also something of note, its previous host was a diver for Scavenger, but only because he needed to pay for child support. Jonah even had Aquaman kill him by ramming his trident down his throat because of his guilt for what he did as Dead Water.
Final Verdict[]
Hard cut.