King Shark

> So smart, me!
>
> King Shark, The Suicide Squad

**Nanaue**, also known as **King Shark**, is a metahuman criminal who is believed to be the descendant of an ancient shark god. Despite him being a very sweet and endearing, but 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

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 to others' crimes. 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

 File:King Shark hand - TSS.png
In 2021, he joined the team on a mission to Corto Maltese to destroy the Nazi-era prison and laboratory known as Jotunheim and its Project Starfish in the process.

#### New friends

 File:King Shark tries to eat Ratcatcher 2.png
Upon arriving on the island, King Shark tried to eat Ratcatcher 2, but was stopped by Bloodsport and 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.

#### Finding Rick Flag

 File:King Shark nom nom - TSS.png
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.

#### Capturing Thinker and saving Harley

 File:The Suicide Squad in the snow.png
Having rescued Flag, Task Force X diverts their efforts to saving Harley Quinn, who has been captured by the military and is being interrogated for information. The group are able to save Harley and take the Thinker hostage, forcing him to aid them in their mission to destroy Jotunheim.

#### Infiltration in Jotunheim

 File:King Shark and tank of Clyrax.jpg
The group later infiltrate Jotunheim and destroy the research facility using plastic explosives. King Shark helped Peacemaker plant bombs, but Peacemaker was gone and King Shark came across an aquarium full of Clyrax believing they were friends.

#### Facing Starro

 File:King Shark vs Starro.png
Accidentally, the explosives exploded prematurely and King Shark was attacked by the Clyrax and this also caused the release of Starro, however, and the team are forced to take him down and save a nearby city settlement from danger. 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.

 File:King Shark and Ratcatcher 2.png
King Shark managed to survive and gave Ratcatcher 2 a hug. This is 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.

## Personality

> **Would you eat your friends?**I no friends.**Ratcatcher 2 and King Shark**

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, The Suicide Squad

* **Shark 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**:  File:KingSharkRipMan.jpg   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's body is much hardier and more resistant to conventional forms of physical injury than the body of a human. He can withstand falls from great heights, exposure to extremes in both temperature and pressure, high caliber bullets, and tremendous impact forces without sustaining injury. However, despite his great durability, Nanaue's skin was not able to resist the Clyrax's teeth penetrating his skin.
	+ **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 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.
	+ **Amphibiousness**: King Shark possess gills as well as lungs, enabling him to breathe both water and air.
	+ **Fangs**: 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.
	+ **Claws**: Nanaue has short yet sharp claws at the end of each of his meaty fingers, which he can sink into enemy flesh.

## 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 †
* 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.

## 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 Extended 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.
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 Extended Universe Wiki** has a collection of images and media related to* **King Shark***.*

* File:Favicon.png King Shark on DC Database
* File:WP favicon.png King Shark on Wikipedia

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