Nanaue, the King Shark, is the offspring of a human mother and the hawaiian shark god, Kamo; "The King of All Sharks".
While undoubtedly strong, others dismiss his claimed origins as superstition and refer to him as a "savage mutation" instead, implying that he is one of the animalistic "Wild Men" instead of the truth that he is an aquatic demihuman.
Background[]
Born the half-human son of the Shark God, Kamo, hailing from Hawaii, Nanaue first encountered Aquaman in Reef's End, a little Atlantean border town in the Coral Sea. Nanaue had been killing several Atlantean priests that were members of the Order of the Thorny Crown. He did this to obey his father's will who believed that if the Order was destroyed, it's destruction would bring forth great power. But before he could fulfill his father's will, Nanaue was defeated by Aquaman. Afterwards he was imprisoned by priests of the Thorny Crown for three years, before managing to escape.
Nanaue became responsible for the disappearances of several swimmers in the region before catching the attention of Superboy who had volunteered to find the source of the disappearances. Aided by Inspector Sam Makoa, the hero managed to apprehend Nanaue, but, while incarcerated, Nanaue was freed by the Silicon Dragons; a vicious criminal organization that dominated the Hawaiian Islands. They invited Nanaue to work for them, but he refused and killed them before returning home where his mother allows him to bite her arm off to feed. Superboy later manages to take the demigod down again with his heat vision glasses.
When the situation with the Silicon Dragons began to escalate, Inspector Makoa was ordered to report to Amanda Waller and use her Suicide Squad to attack the gang's lair. Makoa reluctantly allowed Superboy to join the team and was outraged when Waller insisted that "King Shark" be included on the team. Ensuring the villain's compliance with an explosive belt wrapped around him that was keyed to Makoa's heartbeat -- if anything happened to Makoa, King Shark would be blown in half. The mission quickly went bad and the team was split up upon their arrival at the Dragon's lair on the ocean floor. King Shark toyed with Makoa and murdered a team member, Sidearm, when Sidearm tried to force Makoa to abandon the mission. Although the mission was a relative success, King Shark was thought to have been killed during the fighting when Knockout purposefully knocked him into the reactors of the underwater base and crushed the belt. The resulting explosion completely destroyed the lair, leaving no trace of either Knockout or King Shark.
After Knockout later turned up alive in Hawaii and several scientists investigating the ruins of the Lair went missing, Makoa worried that King Shark had survived too. Bringing Superboy with him back to the lair, the pair met with Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) and fought Black Manta and Scavenger, who were scavenging the lair's wreckage and killing whomever happened upon them.
King Shark turned up alive and well shortly thereafter, duking it out with Superboy, but he was defeated again and driven out to sea before later turning up in the Wild Lands (an uncharted island located in the Pacific Ocean between the continental United States and Hawaii) and fought Superboy and his allies. After a fierce battle he was defeated but no body was recovered.
He was next seen as a member of the Legion of Villains led by Manchester Black. Turning up in Metropolis and attacking Jimmy Olsen, Superman appeared and quickly knocked him out. King Shark also made an appearance during the Joker's "Last Laugh" riot where it was revealed he had been incarcerated in Slabside Penitentiary in New Jersey with Orca (Grace Balin).
King Shark was among the many villains recruited into the Secret Society of Super-Villains. 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.
On orders from his father, one year after the Infinite Crisis incident King Shark had allied himself with the Atlantean monarchy and Aquaman as "For good or ill, he will shape the coming oceanscape. You will protect him. You will be my agent in his camp. Close enough to guard against others who seek to control him. And close enough, when I decide the time is ripe... ... to strike, and kill him without warning".
Now a gang leader in the Ninth Tride of Atlantis, King Shark leads a band of aquatic beings and Sea-Touched Atlanteans who have been shunned by the higher-class Atlantean pure bloods that live in the city's upper trides.
Combat Statistics[]
- King Shark (Crown of Thorns)
Involvement[]
- He is a mission giver for heroes and villains in the Atlantis open world, on King Shark's Turf.
- King Shark and Aqualad are allies in the Atlantis: Silent School alert.
- In Atlantis: Crown of Thorns, he opposes the player team and attempts to take the Trident of Poseidon from Mera so he can fight for the Sea-Touched and depose Corum Rath himself. After defeating him, Mera convinces him to become their ally again.
Associated Equipment[]
- King Shark Doll Accessory
- Shark Chibi Accessory
- King Shark Head (style)
- Shark Fin (style)
- Shark Gloves (style)
- Shark Maelstrom Uplink Device
Trivia[]
- King Shark first appeared in Superboy #0 (October 1994).
- King Shark often seems oblivious to the severity of any given situation, but is always up to participate, joyfully singing about the fact that he's a shark. He also has the habit of referring to those he considers weaker than himself as "Chum" (a type of bait consisting of fish parts, bone and blood, which attract fish, particularly sharks, owing to their keen sense of smell).
- King Shark is able to breath under water, as well as on land, very well.
- Like a shark, King Shark can enter a "frenzy state" when detecting fresh blood, during which he is nearly unstoppable. During this state he is stronger than Aquaman and has also been shown to be able to temporarily overpower an OMAC unit through physical power alone.
- In addition to strength and durability, King Shark also possesses an advanced healing ability and can regrow missing limbs.
- King Shark has powerful teeth and claws that can cut through concrete and steel alike.
- King Shark has an enhanced sense of smell and a type of sonar that helps him navigate or sense his surroundings even on land. Furthermore he can identify the place he is on the planet just by tasting the water.
Gallery[]
.jpg "Silent School (2).jpg (211 KB)")
.jpg "Silent School (16).jpg (201 KB)")
External links[]
- King Shark Wikipedia
- King Shark DC Database
| v · e · d | |
|---|---|
| Characters | |
| Affiliates | Amanda Waller - Bane - Black Adam - Captain Boomerang (George Harkness) - Captain Boomerang (Owen Mercer) - Captain Cold - Deadshot - Doctor Light - Duchess - Harley Quinn - Killer Frost - King Shark - Mirror Master - Oracle - Parasite - Penguin - Poison Ivy - Power Girl - Solomon Grundy - Speedy - Steel - Superboy - Vixen |
| Adversaries | Batman - Lois Lane |
| Other | Chemo - Vicki Vale |
| Items | |
| Bombshell Belle Reve's Poster | |
| Weapons | |
| Apparel | Expert Marksman - Punchline |
| Vehicles | |
| Locations | |
| Belle Reve Federal Penitentiary | |
| PvE | Suicide Squad Training |
| PvP | Belle Reve Sanitarium |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Checkmate - United States of America - Justice League of America - Justice Society of America | |