King Shark Became Even More Vicious After the Suicide Squad

As an iconic Suicide Squad member, King Shark is heavily associated with the black-ops team, but it was his short-lived time with the Secret Six that turned Superboy’s old foe into a cannibalistic fan-favorite. Much like his ocean habitat, there’s more to Nanaue than what’s visible on the surface. And though he’s typically seen as a brutish brawler, he’s got a lot of unexpected personality.

Created by Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett, and recently voiced by Sylvester Stallone in The Suicide Squad, Nanaue may be the son of an ancient shark god, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a team player. Not only has he worked with the Suicide Squad, but he even teamed up with Aquaman for a while. But in the end, it was during Gail Simone's iconic Secret Six run that this shark really became a king.

Related: The Suicide Squad Controls King Shark In The Darkest Way Possible

King Shark first encountered his future team long after his time with the Squad when the Secret Six were in possession of the Get Out of Hell Free card. Hunting them down alongside an army of villains, King Shark gets his arm ripped off and his jaw dislocated by the banshee Jeannette. His arm eventually regrows and he clearly doesn't harbor any hard feelings as he later joins a new iteration of the team at Jeannette's request. Alongside the new Six, Nanaue travels to the mythical realm of Skartaris, facing off with his fair share of warlords and dinosaurs and losing an eye in the process. When this splinter team merges with the proper Secret Six, King Shark sticks around, earning his spot in the group as their brutal, seemingly amoral muscle, consuming scores of enemies all the way to the glorious last stand that ends the series.

Though their time together was short, Nanaue still found himself wrapped up in some pretty crazy situations that really helped fans get to know the character. One such example occurs in Secret Six #33 by Simone and Jim Calafiore, when Nanaue finds himself psychically trapped in his own personal Hell: an inescapable vegetarian restaurant. Instances like these gave King Shark's irreverent personality time to shine, and it was in these moments that fans fell in love with the character.

Plenty of on-screen adaptations, from his role in this year’s The Suicide Squad to HBO Max’s Harley Quinn have referenced Nanaue’s Secret Six portrayal in some small way, and for good reason. While his portrayals in other media may not appear as outwardly vicious as King Shark in the comics, they're all still undeniably lovable: a trait they share with their shockingly violent comic book counterpart. While the Suicide Squad are an effective unit, the Secret Six were a family, and as a family, each member of the group gets the opportunity to fully be themselves without focusing solely on Amanda Waller’s mission - it just so happens that King Shark’s self is a vicious, carnivorous demigod who really loves being a shark.

Next: DC Comics' Suicide Squad Is Officially A Failure