King Shark also known as Nanaue and Trixie is a super-villain known to clash heads with Batman and is a recurring member of the Suicide Squad as-well as former member of the Secret Six.
History[]
New Earth[]
Origins[]
Nanaue's exact origins are left a mystery. One origin attributes him to being the demigod son of a mentally ill polynesian woman and Chondrakha, an ancient Shark God of the Pacific (made up by DC and not appearing in real life myth). Another story attributes him to simply being a "savage mutation" species similar to the "Wild Men" found in DC's Kamandi series.
Regardless, Nanaue was born in Hawaii to a mentally ill Hawaiin native woman who believed his father to be the afformentioned shark god. Aided by his mother, he was responsible for many disappearances and deaths before being captured by Hawaiin special-agent Sam Mokoa, although the encounter left Sam with several permanent scars. After being incarcerated, King Shark was brutally tortured by his captors for being different. Eventually he was was broken out by the criminal syndicate known as the Silicon Dragons only for Shark to murder them upon escaping. He then refufe with his mother who harboured him and even fed him her own arm.
As Shark took more victims, Agent Makoa teamed up with Superboy (Kon-El) to hunt down King Shark where they succesfully defeated him and took him into custody.
Task Force X[]
Shark was put under the wardenship of Amanda Waller who forced him to become a member of the Suicide Squad. Assigned with Captain Boomerang and Deadshot, Knockout and Sidearm along with Makoa and Superboy, they were all sent out to find the base of the Silicon Dragons under the sea. On the job, Shark was a crazed murder machine who had no qualms murdering Sidearm when he got in his way. Eventually Knockout tried to kill Shark by detonating his explosive belt but in the resulting explosion, there was no trace of Nanaue.
Super-Villainy[]
Shark was found alive some time later by Superboy but after a fight he managed to disappear into the open ocean. The two met again when Superboy discovered a colony of "Wild Men" who Shark may or may not have been related to. They fought again but once again he disappeared into the oceans. Some time later he joined the Secret Society of Supervillains and started fighting Aquaman.
King Shark began a recurring enemy of Aquaman where he was recognized as a demigod son of Chondrakha. In addition to this he began a much more open and talkative character who would talk about his abuse at the hands of humanity. Nanaue became a disciple of Chondrakha and began trying to bring about the end of Atlantis but was defeated before seeing out his father's goal.
Prime Earth (New 52)[]
Origins and the Suicide Squad[]
In the New 52, King Shark was characterized as a humanoid Hammerhead shark (originally he was a tiger shark or great-white). He was also re-characterized with a more tragic personality that overcompensated for his sadness through being a goofy character with a love for violence and shark-related humour. This version of the character was the demigod son of a shark deity called Kamo. Nanaue was stolen as an egg by Amanda Waller and raised with the distinct purpose of being a member of Task Force X.
He had a torturous, horrible childhood in Belle Reve Penitentiary and eventually joined the Suicide Squad alongside criminals like Deadshot, Harley Quinn, El Diablo, Yo-Yo and Light. Here Shark was given the same offer as the rest of Task Force X (reduced prison-time for compliance, immediate death if faced with treachery) but Waller had no incentive to see the offer through as she saw Shark as being nothing but a monster.
Eventually Shark renamed himself "Trixie" and managed to escape from Task Force X to go rogue.
N.E.M.O. and Atlantis[]
King Shark came to join the eco-terrorist group NEMO (The Nautical Enforcement of Macrocosmic Order) under the leadership of Black Manta. In this group, he started coming to conflict with Damian Wayne's Robin and the Teen Titans who would become recurring enemies of his.
Some time after joining the group he decided to become a peaceful nomad but was framed for crimes on false allegations by the government of Markovia. In reality the true perpetrator was a Markovian general and King Shark's innocence was proven by Wonder Woman. Following this, Wonder Woman and Aquaman decided to give Trixie a new life in Atlantis.
In Atlantis, King Shark became a prominent crime-lord in the city-state's lower levels. When Aquaman was usurped by a racist, xenophobic tyrant named Corum Rath, Shark allied his forces with Aquaman to start a rebellion. Together, they were able to bring down the mad king.
All-Star Batman[]
Following Two-Face's failed attempt to start an acid-rainfall in Gotham City, Batman took him captive with the intention of taking him cross-country for effective therapy. Two-Face revealed to Batman however that he had been bugging wi-fi relayers across Gotham and had acquired black-mail on much of Gotham's populace and that if he proceeded, he would release it all.
Trixie was hired by former Suicide Squad teammate Killer Croc to help him fight Batman and reclaim Two-Face to prevent the information leaks. Along with this, Shark hired Amygdala to aid both of them in taking down the Dark Knight. They were all defeated however by the Batman with Trixie in particular being taken down with Shark Repellant.
Powers and Abilities[]
King Shark is a large humanoid shark creature.
- Claws:
- Durable skin:
- Sharp teeth:
- Shark communication:
- Super-Strength:
- Swimming:
- Water-breathing:
Appearances in Other Media[]
Film[]
- Superman/Batman: Public Enemies: In this DC universe film, King Shark is one of many super-villains hired by Lex Luthor to hunt and kill Batman and Superman after Lex becomes president of the U.S.A.
- Batman: Assault on Arkham: See King Shark (Arkhamverse).
- Suicide Squad (2016): King Shark was planned to appear in the film Suicide Squad where he was meant to be a humanoid hammerhead shark who dressed in a hawaiin shirt. Ultimately they combined some of his character traits with Killer Croc but the King Shark personality remains largely unchanged. As a result Croc had many of Shark's personality traits rather than his own (E.G. Killer Croc is a famously dysphoric character but in the film expresses a love for his body, additionally Croc is considered in the film to be an inhuman animal despite Croc only having a skin-condition).
- Justice League Dark: Apokolips War: Shark cameos in this film where he is shown to be John Constantine's ex-boyfriend.
- The Suicide Squad (2021): King Shark appears in this film with his Polynesian Demi-god origins being referenced as a possible origin. He is amongst the Task Force X members put under Bloodsport to invade Corto Maltese.
Television[]
- The Flash (CW): In the TV series the Flash, King Shark was originally a scientist named Shay Lamden. Here he injects himself with shark DNA as an attempt at curing cancer, resulting in him becoming a giant shark humanoid.
- DC Superhero Girls:
- Harley Quinn: In the animated comedy series Harley Quinn, King Shark is a recurring member of the supporting cast. Here Nanaue is intelligent, goodhearted and culturally aware with him pushing himself as being a hacker above being a shark-person. He is hired by Harley Quinn to join her crew alongside Dr. Psycho, Clayface and eventually Poison Ivy and Sy Borgman. When he smells human blood he loses control to blood-lust and at one point Batman defeats him with Shark Repellant.