King Shark

Origin

Nanaue, otherwise known as King Shark, was spawned from the Shark God in the Pacific Ocean near the island of Hawaii.

Creation

King Shark was created by Karl Kesel, writer of the Superboy ongoing series, as a villain for Superboy. In the beginning, it was left ambiguous whether King Shark's origins were actually tied to a mythical Shark God or whether he was actually some kind of scientific mutation.

Character Evolution

King Shark began as simply a member of Superboy's cast of villains, but when Superboy's series came to an end, the character's use for a rogues gallery did as well. This left King Shark cut loose in a sea of other general DC villains, and he would sometimes appear in such large gatherings of villains like the Secret Society of Super-Villains.

Kurt Busiek cast the character in an anti-hero role in the Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis series by having him be a friend and mentor figure to the new Aquaman, Arthur Joseph Curry. The character's background was expanded upon, tying him into the Aquaman mythos by making him a past enemy of Arthur Curry and confirming his origin as the son of the Shark God.

After using King Shark a couple times in past stories, Gail Simone gave the character a bigger role in the Secret Six series when the team split into two opposing Secret Six teams. King Shark was made a member of one of these teams. After the story arc ended and the two teams became one, King Shark was kept around as a new member of the main cast. He is often portrayed as oblivious to any and all severity of any given situation, but always up to participate, joyfully singing about the fact that he's a shark.

Nowadays, we've seen King Shark as a humanoid hammerhead shark, in the new DC title Suicide Squad where he's tortured and forced onto the team.

Major Story Arcs

Nanaue is the son of the Shark God, hailing from Hawaii. In his first appearances he was responsible for the disappearances of several people. This caught the attention of Superboy who stepped in to help get the situation under control. During this adventure Superboy was aided by Inspector Sam Makoa. They managed to apprehend Nanaue, but during the deed Makoa was wounded. While incarcerated King Shark was freed by the Silicon Dragons. They want Nanaue to work for them, however he is not interested and he kills them. After that he heads to his mother's house and eats a piece of her to regain strength. Meanwhile Superboy arrives and manages to stop him again.

Some time after the incident Superboy and Makoa were assigned to the Suicide Squad to destroy the Silicon Dragons.They recruited King Shark to aid them. Knowing he wouldn't help them voluntarily they strapped an explosive belt to his waist. The belt would explode if anything were to happen to Inspector Makoa. During the mission Shark was mainly seen killing numerous henchmen. During the events his belt exploded, but Nanaue's durability allowed him to survive the blast.

After the mission a research team was sent to investigate the remains of the lair. When the team didn't report back, King Shark was made a main suspect in their disappearance. The real culprit was later revealed to be none other than Aquaman's archnemesis: Black Manta. King Shark fought Superboy once more, but he was defeated and driven out to sea.

King Shark later turned up in the Wild Lands and fought Superboy and his allies. He was defeated again, but managed to get away. Hewas next seen as a member of the Legion of Villains led by Manchester Black. In this case, he turned up in Metropolis and attacked Jimmy Olsen. Superman appeared and quickly knocked him out, in the process also punching out a few teeth. King Shark also made an appearance during the Joker's Last Laugh riot with Orca.

Infinite Crisis

For further details: Infinite Crisis and Villains United

King Shark was among the many villains recruited into the Secret Society of Super-Villains, secretly organized by Alexander Luthor. As part of this group, he took part in a large scale attack on the Secret Six's hideout after its whereabouts were given away by Cheshire. However, he was taken out of the fight by a confused Solomon Grundy.

Later, he joined with a contingent of Aquaman's villains to attack Sub Diego where he helped kill Neptune Perkins.

Sword of Atlantis

For further details: One Year Later

Nanaue has since reappeared in Aquaman, one year after Infinite Crisis, bearing a scar from a previous encounter with Aquaman. He is less violent and more talkative than in previous appearances. Saved from a gang of marauders by the young man, he was brought to the mysterious Dweller in the Depths who gave him the role of assisting the new Aquaman in filling his role. King Shark accepted this role, recalling what his father had taught him.

A flashback appears and it details the first meeting between the original Aquaman and King Shark, which occurred several years ago. It took place in Reef's End, a little border town in the Coral Sea, distant from Atlantis. King Shark had been killing of several priests that were members of the Order of the Thorny Crown. He did this to obey his father's will. The Shark God believed that if the Order was destroyed, It's destruction would bring forth great power. But before he could fulfill his father's will, King Shark was defeated by Aquaman. Afterwards he was imprisoned by priests of the Thorny Crown for three years, before achieving to escape.

Unhinged

For further details: Unhinged

He was also one of the villains who participated in the attack on the Secret Six orchestrated by the Mad Hatter. Like his fellow villains, he wanted the get out of hell free card, a card which allows you a one time only ability to get out of Hell. During a fight in Las Vegas, he fought the banshee Jeannette. The fight was short as Jeannette was able to rip off his arm and dislocate his jaw. Not so soon thereafter he was seen again, with his arm regrowing. He was later among the horde of villains who caught up to the team on the bridge leading into Gotham City. He and the other villains saw little reason to continue once it appeared that the infernal card had been destroyed along with Junior and Tarantula.

The Reptile Brain

He was recruited by Bane and Jeannette to be part of a new incarnation of the Secret Six. He joined the new team alongside Giganta, Dwarfstar and Lady Vic. They would soon be drafted into service by Spy Smasher for a mission to Skartaris with the intent of conquering the strange land. This brought the team into conflict with the other Secret Six team, who had been coerced by Amanda Waller into stopping them. During the fighting, King Shark had his left eye pulled out by Ragdoll.

When the situation was resolved, Waller offered a deal to the Secret Six that involved doing jobs for her when she had need. However, she only had use of one Secret Six team. After the fun in Skartaris, King Shark chose to stick around to be a part of this one Secret Six team.

The Darkest House

The Secret Six team votes to follow Ragdoll, who stole the team's Get Out of Jail Free Card, to Hell. King Shark was only half listening when he voted to go. While there King Shark was responsable for biting several demons in half, even though they tasted terrible. At one point Lady Blaze showed up and put each of the team members in their own personal hells, King Shark's was he was out at a 5 star restaurant and there was no meat on the menu.

DC's New 52 Relaunch

King Shark was part of DC's New 52 relaunch. He appears in the ongoing series titled "Suicide Squad" alongside Harley Quinn, El Diablo, Deadshot, Black Spider, and Sportsmaster. The series is written by Adam Glass and first hit the shelf on September 14, 2011. He disappeared during the last mission of the Squad

His appearance also reverted back to that of his original Great White Shark look.

Aquaman: Exiled

King Shark appears as a member of The Hunt Team Siren disguised as Mera sent to capture Aquaman. The members besides King Shark are Scylla, Charybdis, Ch'tok, and Garth who leads the team They fight for a little bit but end up fighting the monster from Thule together. After this they let Aquaman go for now. They confront them again in Amazon Jungle where he was hiding the residents he saved from Thule. Their he teams up with Wonder Woman against them. Wonder Woman ends up putting him out of action.

Alternate Versions

Flashpoint

In the Flashpoint universe, King Shark is a freak in Haley's Circus.

Powers and Abilities

Nanaue, The King Shark is able to breath under water, as well as on land very well making him exceptionally versatile and dangerous. He is (supposedly) the son of a Hawaiian Shark God.

Superhuman Strength / Berserker Strength

Nanaue possesses great superhuman strength. he can lift great amounts of weight, punch through steel or concrete and trade punches with characters like Superboy and Aquaman. Furthermore when King Shark enters a frenzy he is nearly unstoppable under the trance of fresh blood, destroying anything in his way. He might be stronger than Aquaman, which would put him in the 100 ton category. He has also been able to temporarily overpower OMAC during his rage.

Superhuman Durability / Healing Factor

King Shark is nearly invulnerable. He is bullet proof, can withstand extreme cold, crushing pressures and high levels of blunt trauma such as hits from class 100 characters like Aquaman and Superboy or even being dropped from a plane through concrete. In the case he is severely injured or looses his limbs, he can heal quite fast and even regrow the missing limbs.

Underwater Adaptation

Nanaue is at his element underwater. He can withstand the pressures and temperatures of the deep, swim at Super Speed, and function normally at the ocean floor. Additionally he is at his most powerful when in his element.

Claws / Teeth

King Shark has powerful teeth and claws that can cut through concrete and steel alike. In case he breaks some of them, they regrow just like his limbs. He has been able to bite into OMAC's armor, one of DC Earth's most powerful metahumans.

Enhanced Senses / Sonar

King Shark can see in the ocean floor. He also has an enhanced sense of smell and some sort of sonar that helps him navigate or sense his suroundings (even on land). Furthermore he can identify the place he is (anywhere) on the planet just by tasting the water.

Inteligence / Experience

King Shark is as intelligent as a human (though he seems far more animalistic). He can talk normally and also read. In Sword of Atlantis it was revealed he was also very skilled in swordmanship and melee combat and helped train Arthur Joseph Curry, the second Aquaman. He also has a very keen sense of humor and one of his greatest fears is being vegetarian.

Other Media

Animated Film

• King Shark appears in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. He is one of the villains after the 1 billion dollar bounty placed on the heroes. He participates in the battle royale, but is swiftly taken out.
• King Shark appears in the animated movie Batman: Assault on Arkham as a member of Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad. Shark along with other villains is forced to break into Arkham Asylum to retrieve top secret information stolen by the Riddler. He is voiced by John DiMaggio.
• King Shark returns as a member of the Suicide Squad in Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, voiced again by John DiMaggio. It is also revealed that he is John Constantine's ex-lover.

Live-Action Film

• King Shark appears as one of the main characters in the 2021 film The Suicide Squad, voiced by Sylvester Stallone and motion-captured by Steve Agee. He is portrayed as somewhat dimwitted, and is recruited as part of Task Force X for a mission to Corto Maltese.

Television

• King Shark appears in DC Super Hero Girls, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.
• King Shark is a major character in the Harley Quinn animated series, voiced by comedian Ron Funches. This version of the character is highly intelligent, friendly and kind, but is prone to episodes of violent rage whenever he smells blood. He is recruited into Harley's criminal gang as their tech expert in season 1.

Arrowverse

• King Shark makes a brief appearance in the fourth episode of The Flash season 2, titled "The Fury of Firestorm." Under orders from Zoom, he ambushes Barry in order to kill him, but is foiled due a distraction from Patty Spivot. He is then knocked out by an alternate version of Harrison Wells from Earth 2. King Shark reappears in episode 15 of season 2, titled "King Shark". King Shark escapes from a A.R.G.U.S holding tank with the mission to hunt down and kill the Flash. He is voiced by David Hayter in his shark form, and was played by Dan Payne as a human.

Video Games

• The New 52 version of King Shark is a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham as part of the "Squad" DLC pack. He is voiced by Travis Willingham.
• King Shark appears as a playable character in DC Super-Villains, voiced by Fred Tatasciore.
• King Shark appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Dale Dudley.
• King Shark appears as one of the principle characters in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, voiced by professional wrestler Samoa Joe.

Merchandise

• King Shark was featured in Kenner's DC Super Heroes line as part of a two-pack with Superboy.
• King Shark appears in the HeroClix figure game.
• King Shark was featured in Mattel's DC Multiverse line as a Collect-and-Connect figure.
• King Shark was featured in Funko's DC: Primal Age toy line.
• King Shark was featured in the Batman Miniature Game by Knight Models.
• King Shark was featured in Spin Master's Batman line.
• King Shark was featured in the DC Multiverse line by McFarlane Toys as the subject of a Collect-and-Connect wave. A standalone variant was also released as a Walmart exclusive.