King Shark

*"So smart, me!"*

―King Shark[src]
**Nanaue**, also known as **King Shark**, is a metahuman criminal who is believed to be the descendant of an ancient shark god. While very sweet and endearing, he is a slow and monosyllabic dolt who simply wants people to think he's intelligent. Many dismiss him out of hand as a savage mutation due to his taste for human meat and complete loss of self-control when he's hungry, even around his allies. He became part of the second Task Force X strike team on the Corto Maltese mission.

## Biography

### Early life

*"Some people claim that Nanaue is a descendant of an ancient shark god."*
―Amanda Waller[src]
The exact nature of Nanaue's origin is unknown, although Amanda Waller mentioned that some believe him to be the descendant of an ancient shark god. Nanaue turned to crime at some point in his life, likely acting as hired muscle. Eventually, he was apprehended and taken to Belle Reve, where he became a member of Task Force X.

### Mission in Corto Maltese

#### Recruited by Amanda Waller

*"Hand!""Yes, that is your hand Nanaue, very good."*
―King Shark and Amanda Waller[src]
Following the coup and murder of the Herrera family in Corto Maltese during August 2020, Nanaue joined the team on a mission to destroy the Nazi-era prison and laboratory known as Jotunheim and its Project Starfish in the process. Being recruited as part of the second strike team by Amanda Waller due to his superhuman durability, and a Nano-bomb detonator was hit on Nanaue to prevent him from escaping.

In the prison where King Shark was waiting, he was reading the book *The Varieties of Religious Experience* until Amanda Waller arrived with the recruits Peacemaker and Bloodsport to meet their new partner. DuBois was surprised to see Nanaue's size, ironically asking if he could read, so the shark answered affirmatively saying to be smart. Nanaue accompanied Waller and his team to search and recruit the remaining members, Cleo Cazo and Abner Krill.

Then, Waller led the team to some seats where she explained the mission and history of Corto Maltese, having to destroy all traces of Project Starfish. When Amanda Waller asked if the team had any questions, Nanaue raised his hand, so Waller addressed him, however he only remarked having a hand, and Waller congratulated him ironically.

#### New friends

*"I no friends."*
―King Shark[src]
Upon reaching the island very easily by sea, the squad observed an explosion caused by the Corto Maltese Armed Forces after the failure and murder of the first strike team. Nanaue and the rest of the Second Division infiltrated the jungle areas of the island to sleep that night.

King Shark tried to eat Ratcatcher 2, but Bloodsport was forced to stop him, launching multiple shots that slowed him down even though Nanaue showed some resistance. When asked why he tried to eat Cleo, King Shark replied being hungry, then Cleo asked him if he would eat his friends, he revealed that he has no friends and if he had them he would not eat them, so Ratcatcher 2 convinced King Shark to be friends and King Shark was excited to have his first friend, handshaking her.

#### Massacre of the Maltese Resistance

*"Nom Nom."*
―King Shark[src]
After the group are ordered by Waller to divert their efforts to finding Rick Flag before proceeding with the mission, Task Force X set out to rescue Flag, who they believe to have been captured by the government. They assassinate numerous armed guards as they approach an a settlement/base.

The group is both confused and surprised when they find Flag safe and talking with Sol Soria, the leader of a resistance group; it is shortly revealed that Flag hasn't been captured, but rescued. Regretful for the slaughter of the rebels, Nanaue spat out a bone that he had eaten from one of them.

#### Capturing Thinker

*"I wear disguise.""Oh, you're going to wear disguise.""Sí."*
―King Shark and Ratcatcher 2[src]
Having rescued Flag, Nanaue along with the rest of the team and the remaining resistance continued to walk through the jungle in search of infiltration. A rebel named Milton was in his van with supplies. Then the Suicide Squad arrived to help him where Nanaue brutally murdered some soldiers near a truck window, saving Milton who was very scared at the time.

After that, Sol Soria explained to them that Milton would take them to a club called La Gatita Amable where the scientist Thinker frequented, and that they should use disguises so as not to be betrayed, while King Shark had to stay in the van. King Shark said he would use a disguise, Cleo Cazo was happy for him.

King Shark tried to simulate a mustache by placing his arm on his nose, however his companions pointed out that it did not seem to be a real one, so Nanaue was upset. Finally, the squad finished placing the boxes and they undertook the mission. During the trip to La Gatita Amable, King Shark happily observed multiple citizens through the window of the van.

That night, the squad arrived at the club, however Nanaue was sad in the van waiting while he listened to the music that was playing outside. Finally, Rick Flag, Peacemaker and Bloodsport were captured by the armed forces when they discovered that there were Americans in the bar, while Cleo and Abner escaped with Thinker towards the van where King Shark was waiting for them. The team soon after reunited again when Rick Flag and the others managed to destroy the truck in which they were being driven.

#### Saving Harley

*"Bird.""Nanaue, stay off the com!"*
―King Shark and Rick Flag[src]
Task Force X diverts their efforts to saving Harley Quinn who was captured by the military and is being interrogated. In the Operation, Nanaue used a call to point out that he had seen a bird interrupting the transmission, for which he was scolded by Flag, however, they later found out that Harley broke free on her own. Hardly assembled, the squad took Thinker to the roof of a building where they explained their plan, while Nanaue innocently watched.

#### Destruction of Jotunheim

*"New dumb friends!"*
―King Shark[src]
The group being able to use Thinker as hostage, they forced him to aid them in their mission to destroy Jotunheim, threatening to killing him. Grieves was forced to drive Milton's truck, pretending to go to work at the base, while the squad hid so as not to be discovered while they threatened him with a weapon, Nanaue worried that he was large and tried to cover himself with a blanket so as not to be seen.

The soldiers allowed Grieves to enter by parking the truck, so King Shark and the rest of the squad got out to head to Jotunheim. The squad then attacked the soldiers guarding the entrance in the middle of a heavy rain, where King Shark split a soldier in half with a lot of brutality. Finally, the team managed to get Thinker to open the door, quickly entering the site to implant bombs.

Just entering the base of Jotunheim, the group prepared to destroy the research facility using plastic explosives. King Shark was assigned to help Peacemaker plant bombs, so shortly afterwards while operating on the walls, Nanaue used an explosive to form the figure of Christopher Smith and show it to him, Smith got upset with him for playing with explosives and asked him to put it back on the wall, stating that the figure did not look like him.

He then finished arranging the explosive, but seeing that Peacemaker was gone and not knowing what to do, Nanaue began to explore the Jotunheim base. King Shark met the Bloodsport team about to plant bombs while climbing the stairs, however, he decided to continue going up, caming across an aquarium full of Clyrax believing they were friends, as he approached touching the glass, Nanaue started playing with the Clyrax that gathered to recreate his shape every time he moved.

Accidentally, the explosives exploded prematurely destroying the Clyrax aquarium, and King Shark began to be attacked by them who fiercely bit him removing blood. A structure ended up collapsing causing King Shark and the rest of the squad to fall. On the ground, the armed forces began to shoot Nanaue believing that he had died, however he got up in a rage and began to brutally murder the soldiers. Another structure fell on Nanaue but again he managed to survive and rejoin with the squad, these events also caused the release of Starro.

Starro began to control the minds of multiple soldiers by placing spores on their faces, but the squad was unaffected by wearing helmets and because Nanaue's nature made him immune to being struck by a spore. Nanaue and the rest of the squad watched as Starro began to attack Valle Del Mar, however Amanda Waller contacted them to notify them that the mission was completed by destroying the records that linked the United States with Project Starfish.

#### Battle of Valle Del Mar

*"Nanaue! Monster is Nom Nom""Monster Nom Nom..."*
―Bloodsport and King Shark[src]
However, Bloodsport and Ratcatcher 2 refused to follow this order disobeying Waller by going off the radar trying to save the citizens, Nanaue kept asking them where their friends were going, in that Harley Quinn and Polka-Dot Man also disobeyed. A very angry Waller was about to kill them by exploding the Nano-bomb, but she was knocked out by her assistants.

The squad headed to the area where Starro was attacking while Bloodsport fired at him to distract him. Bloodsport started to lead the Squad and he told King Shark that the creature was Nom Nom, helping him to understand that he should bite him. King Shark tried to confront Starro trying to eat him, but he couldn't as Starro used his whips to throw him towards a building causing damage.

Finally, with the help of Cleo Cazo who ordered an army of rats to kill Starro, he was defeated and killed, while King Shark managed to survive heading to where the squad was, he quickly recieved a hug from Ratcatcher 2 happy to know he was alive. The confront with Starro was a direct violation of an order given by Amanda Waller, but with files pertaining to the US government's involvement with Jotunheim, Task Force X is able to bribe her for their freedom.

The Sheba helicopter took to search for the survivors and take them back to United States of America removing their criminal charges, including Nanaue. The members of the squad then got on the helicopter very exhausted from the recent battle that they had. During the trip, Cleo Cazo fell asleep on Nanaue's arm, so King Shark was happy to know that his friend trusted on him.

## Personality

*"Would you eat your friends?""I no friends."*
―Ratcatcher 2 and King Shark[src]
King Shark displays a child-like manner, following orders without question, mindlessly devouring people out of uncontrollable instinct rather than malice, and proudly proclaiming that he has a hand. Ultimately, though, he is really just lonely as he wants to belong and have friends, and because of this, he is very sweet and endearing. A lifetime of being treated like an idiot and a monster led him to not have any friends, and being filled with overwhelming joy at the prospect proposed by Cleo Cazo. Like Polka-Dot Man and Ratcatcher 2, Nanaue is not a hardened criminal, however in spite of his general friendliness, he has no self-control about eating people based on instinct when he's hungry, but it is never of malicious intent. In one instance, he took his anger out by ripping off a Corto Maltese soldier’s head after what he initially thought to be his “new dumb friends” tried to kill him, which saddened him in betrayal.

## Powers and abilities

### Powers

*"Nanaue's the strongest member of your team. You need him to get into Jotunheim."*
―Amanda Waller[src]
**Shark/meta-human physiology**: Nanaue is an amphibious, shark-like metahuman. He has the physical attributes of a human, such as speech and being bipedal, as well as a shark, such as superhuman physicality and aquatic respiration.

* **Superhuman strength**: Nanaue is superhumanly strong. He was able to pick a man up with both arms and hoist him high into the air with ease before consuming him, as well as tear a man vertically in half with no visible effort. His incredible strength extends to his feet as well, allowing him to jump great heights without much effort.
* **Superhuman durability**: Nanaue, also known as King Shark, possesses a highly durable and resilient body that surpasses that of a regular human. He can endure falls from significant heights, albeit experiencing temporary disorientation upon impact. He has demonstrated the ability to withstand multiple high-caliber bullet hits, although it appears that covering his eyes during the attack is a defensive measure. Furthermore, Nanaue can endure extreme temperatures, pressure variations, and powerful impacts without sustaining harm. However, despite his exceptional durability, Nanaue's skin was unable to withstand the penetration of the Clyrax's teeth. This incident highlighted a vulnerability in his otherwise formidable physical defenses.
* **Superhuman stamina**: Nanaue's advanced musculature is considerably more efficient than that of a human. As a result, his muscles produce far fewer fatigue toxins during physical activity compared to those of humans.
* **Regenerative healing factor**: Despite his body's great resistance, Nanaue can sustain a physical injury. If injured, his metabolism enables him to regenerate damaged bodily tissue quicker and more extensively than an ordinary human being is capable of.
* **Aquatic respiration**: Due to his shark physiology, King Shark possesses gills as well as lungs, enabling him to breathe both water and air.
* **Jaw Strength**: Nanaue has the hundreds of sharp teeth of a shark. They are very strong and can easily tear through flesh and bone, as he was seen easily eating a man and through Starro.
* **Claws**: Nanaue has short yet sharp claws at the end of each of his meaty fingers, which he can sink into enemy flesh.
* Immunity of Starro control: Since his head shape is shark like gives him protection by mind control.

### Abilities

* **Stealth**: Despite his large appearance, Nanaue is capable of stealth as seen he easily sneak around the jungle and devour one of a rebel without even noticing and calling for help.

### Weakness

* **Intelligence**: Nanaue is incredibly child like, being unable to speak in complete sentences, easily distracted and fascinated by birds, butterflies, clyrax, and his own hand, and mindlessly following orders instead of thinking on his own. When he does attempt to think strategically, he seems delighted and very proud of himself, despite always coming up with very simplistic and ineffective ideas, such as disguising himself with nothing but a fake mustache. He also seems to let his hunger for human flesh drive most of his decisions.
* **Clyrax**: Despite King Shark's incredible durability, his skin can still be pierced, with the only known things able to do so being the teeth of clyrax.

## Equipment

* **Extra-large golf shorts**: King Shark wears a pair of extra-large golf shorts as his article of clothing.

## Relationships

Allies* Task Force X - teammates and friends
	+ Rick Flag † - team leader
	+ Abner Krill/Polka Dot Man †
	+ Christopher Smith/Peacemaker
* Robert DuBois/Bloodsport - former team leader and attempted killer turned friend
* Cleo Cazo/Ratcatcher 2 - attempted victim turned friend
* Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn
* John Economos - former mission coordinator and manipulator turned ally
* Flo Crawley - former mission coordinator and manipulator turned ally
* Emilia Harcourt - former mission coordinator and manipulator turned ally
* Maltese Resistance - assistance to Task Force X during Jotunheim mission
	+ Sol Soria
	+ Milton †
	+ Amanda Waller - former manipulator
	+ Fitzgibbon - former physician
* Starro † - target
* Corto Maltese Armed Forces
	+ Silvio Luna †
	+ Mateo Suarez †
	+ Isabella †
* Gaius Grieves/Thinker † - manipulatee
* Clyrax - attempted killers

## Trivia

* In DC Comics, Nanaue is a human-shark hybrid whose shark-like features were natural and came from his father, a shark god from Hawaiian mythology. He eventually became a supervillain named King Shark and an enemy to Superboy and Aquaman.
	+ When introduced, King Shark was seen reading the classical theological text "Varieties of Religious Experience" by the philosopher William James (albeit upside down), a nod to his comics origin as a demigod.

## Behind the scenes

* David Ayer, the director of *Suicide Squad*, originally intended for King Shark to be a member of the initial Task Force X, before replacing him with Killer Croc due to concerns that the CGI to bring the character to the screen would be too expensive.
* King Shark in the DC Universe is the second live-action incarnation of the character, following an incarnation portrayed by Dan Payne and voiced by David Hayter.
* Before Steve Agee and Sylvester Stallone were cast, Michael Rooker was rumored to be in talks to portray King Shark, but the actor had debunked this rumor. Instead he portrayed Savant.
* Given how cheery he is, this iteration likely takes some inspiration from the version of the character presented in the *Harley Quinn* cartoon.
* James Gunn did tests of King Shark with his hammerhead design which he intended to use, but having the eyes so far apart made it awkward shooting interactions with other actors, as you couldn't see him looking at the other person and the shots were too wide.

## References

1. ↑ *Tiburon* is Spanish for shark.
2. ↑ Sneider, Jeff (March 7, 2019). ‘Suicide Squad 2’ Exclusive: Meet the New Characters James Gunn Will Introduce in Sequel. Collider.
3. ↑ Jump up to:3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Gunn, James (writer and director) (August 6, 2021). *The Suicide Squad*.
4. ↑ Gonzalez, Umberto (May 9, 2019). Michael Rooker in Talks to Join Cast of ‘The Suicide Squad’ (Exclusive). The Wrap.
5. ↑ Michael Rooker Denies He's Up for King Shark Role in The Suicide Squad. IGN (May 12, 2019).
6. ↑ James Gunn on Twitter

## External links

The **DC Universe Wiki** has a collection of images and media related to **King Shark**.

* King Shark on DC Database
* King Shark on Wikipedia