King Shark is the name of two individual characters that appear in the Arkham Series. One version of King Shark appears in the Arkhamverse Expanded Media film, Batman: Assault on Arkham, voiced by John DiMaggio. He worked as a member of the Suicide Squad that was sent on a mission to assassinate the Riddler, until he was killed by the nano bomb implanted in his head.
The main Arkhamverse King Shark makes his first canon appearance in the series in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, where he is recruited to join the team in order to kill the Justice League.
Incident Reports
Assault on Arkham Incident
King Shark was first seen bathing in a tub of blood in a motel where corpses had been strung up. Amanda Waller sent some of her men to capture him and later forced into the Suicide Squad.
In their first meeting, King Shark attempted to eat Killer Frost. Despite this, the two would develop a friendship over the course of their mission. When the Squad was dispatched and parachuted into Gotham City, Killer Frost's parachute malfunctioned, and she slammed into King Shark. He saved her life when the two of them smashed into a parked car and crushed it.
Soon after, the Suicide Squad entered the sewers via a manhole, and Killer Frost sat atop King Shark's shoulder for the duration of the trek to the Iceberg Lounge. Later, King Shark infiltrated Arkham Asylum via a waterway and killed one of the guards. After a gas explosion activated a yellow alert at Arkham Asylum, he suggested switching security footage to a day earlier in an attempt to delay Batman's arrival.
A pivotal moment in their friendship was when he was told to clear out the guards on the bridge. King Shark refused to do so as he had an extreme case of Acrophobia, the fear of heights. Killer Frost told him that she would guide him across. Trusting her, he allowed her to blindfold him and listened to her directions to guide him across the expanse.
Later, when Riddler began deactivating the bombs in their necks, Amanda Waller triggered them. Everyone was deactivated except for King Shark. As the warning beeps went off, Killer Frost demanded that Riddler shock him again, but Riddler said his skin was too thick and that it was too late. The bomb detonated, killing King Shark instantly.
Arkham Knight Incident
King Shark was referenced in issue 11 of the Arkham Knight Comics, where we found out that he had a son who had taken to become a villain to keep his father's name alive.
Psychological Profile
King Shark
Real Name: Nanaue
Attributes
- Mutated flesh that protected him from the pressures of the deep sea.
- Bulletproof skin.
- Sharp metal set of teeth that increased his bite force.
- Approach with extreme caution.
- Super-Strength, Speed & Stamina
Codex
From the Files of Lex Luthor
If I’m ever tempted to underestimate Waller and A.R.G.U.S., I should remember that they’ve kept a literal demigod under lock and key for decades.
This, of course, presumes King Shark wants to return to the sea. This impressive specimen seems fascinated by the surface world of this Earth. He’s well-read. Cultured. Urbane. Have you ever heard a shark wax rhapsodic about the theory of power? I have, and it’s delightful, if a little digressive.
A ferocious fighter with the soul of a poet – Waller has spent years exploiting these contradictions and sensitivities. What will happen when he’s finally unleashed? Pushed too far? I will certainly be out of reach of those claws and rows of teeth when that happens.
Quotes
- "No bars, no chains."
- "Time for meat." (Killer Frost)
- "You're feisty." (Killer Frost)
- "I don't do freaky-deakies." (Amanda Waller)
- "Do it, and I'll bite it off." (Captain Boomerang)
- "I hate heights!"
- "I hate Italian food." (After eating the Arkham Guard)
- "Play yesterday's footage."
- "Play yesterday's footage at the same time."
- "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!"
- "Finally, some action."
- "Ouch!" (Kicked down by Deadshot)
- "Don't ever do that to me!" (Deadshot)
- "Not for long."
- "Firefly. Killer Moth. Maxie Zeus. Never heard of any of these tools."
- "Huh?" (sees 'Black Spider')
- "You all right?" (Killer Frost)
- "No heights." (Deadshot)
- "I said, no heights!" (Captain Boomerang)
- "Did we win?"
- "You know what you're doing, right?" (Riddler)
- "Uh, guys?" (Suicide Squad and Riddler)
Gallery
Trivia
- King Shark was shown to have Acrophobia, an extreme or irrational fear of heights. Despite this, he apparently had no problems with high-rise motels, considering the opening for the film had him being captured at Palms Beach Motel on one of the upper floors. It's possible he can handle the 2nd floor.
- As we learned in issue 11 of the Arkham Knight Comics, King Shark had a son who called himself Kid Shark.
- In the original comics, Nanaue (also referred to as Trixie) was the demigod son of Chondrakha, the God of Sharks and one of the god's mentally unstable followers who at one point willingly fed her own arm to Nanaue. As King Shark he acted as a serial-killer in the waters of Hawaii who murdered and ate swimmers, surfers and fishermen until his capture. Whether or not this still applies to the Arkhamverse version of the character is unknown.
- It is implied in Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum that Nanaue prefers not to date outside his species, as evident by his statement that he was not sexually interested in humans, after he had misinterpreted a threat by Victor Zsasz as a code for sex.
- King Shark's appearance in Kill the Justice League creates a plot hole as to how he can even appear in the game after having been killed in Assault on Arkham, which is supposed to take place canonically in the Arkhamverse, with no explanation as to how he came back and why he looks so radically different. However, considering the major physical and personality differences between the Assault on Arkham King Shark and the Kill the Justice League King Shark, coupled with Harley Quinn shown not knowing who King Shark is at the beginning of the game's story, and King Shark himself not being familiar with Harley, this implies that Rocksteady might not consider Assault on Arkham, along with non-video game material in the Arkhamverse Expanded Media as being canon to the Arkhamverse itself, making the game King Shark's official debut in the Arkham Series.
- While at a first glance his eyes appear completely black, close up shots of King Shark actually reveal his eyes are a deep blue color.
- While many other characters in the series such as Batman, Catwoman and his teammates find the Riddler's challenges to be a chore, King Shark is the first, and so far only, character to show genuine enjoyment and satisfaction in solving and completing each of the challenges.
| Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League |
|---|
| Characters |
| Heroes |
| Batman/Bruce Wayne - Flash - Green Lantern - Superman - Wonder Woman |
| Villains |
| Brainiac - Captain Boomerang - Deadshot - Gizmo - Harley Quinn - Ivy - Joker (Elseworlds) - King Shark - Lex Luthor - Penguin - Riddler - Toyman - Zalika |
| Other Characters |
| Aaron Cash - Amanda Waller - Jack Ryder - Lois Lane - Rick Flag |
| Locations |
| Arkham Asylum - Batcave (Metropolis) - Gotham City - Hall of Justice - LexCorp - Metropolis - The Batman Experience - Wayne Manor |
| Terms |
| Batarang - Batsuit - Riddler Trophy |