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Sharks in popular culture

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Representations of the shark are common in popular culture in the Western world with a range of electronic media having them shown in the image of eating machines and threats.

Contents

Examples of representation

The following sections of this article are meant to give an approximate sample of the many forms of representation of the shark in popular culture:

Cartoons

  • Sharks are sometimes seen in Tom and Jerry
  • Jabberjaw
  • The anthropomorphic tiger shark from Kenny the Shark
  • Sharky the Sharkdog from Eek! The Cat
  • Sharky & George
  • Rin Matsuoka, Free!
  • The DIC Entertainment series, Street Sharks, featured crime-fighting man-shark hybrids
  • In a season two episode of Captain Planet, sharks are the main focus
  • In a season one episode of ThunderCats, a cross between a shark and a black widow was featured
  • Sharks appear in several episodes of the animated series Aquaman
  • TigerSharks
  • Zig and Sharko

    • Comics

  • King Shark, a humanoid shark supervillain created by DC Comics
  • Tiger Shark, an enemy of Namor the Sub-Mariner
  • Warren White, an enemy of Batman
  • Tiger Shark, an identity assumed by two separate DC Comics characters
  • The Shark, an identity assumed by three different DC Comics characters
  • Sharks are sometimes seen swimming in Aquaman comics

    • Film

  • The Jaws franchise follows a series of man-eating shark attacks. The first film, directed by Steven Spielberg, stars Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss, three men who set out to kill a bloodthirsty great white shark. The film spawned a sequel, which in turn made enough profit to create two more sequels without Scheider, Jaws 3-D and Jaws: The Revenge.
  • Various James Bond films depict sharks as man eating predators, e.g. Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only and Licence to Kill, used as violent forms of execution for traitors or alleged traitors to Bond's enemies.
  • A shark makes an appearance in Batman: The Movie, attacking Batman as he ascends up a helicopter ladder, and explodes after being sprayed with Bat-shark repellent
  • Shark!, a 1969 action film
  • Bruce, Anchor, and Chum, a trio of sharks from the 2003 computer-animated film, Finding Nemo
  • The family of great white sharks from the 2004 DreamWorks Animation film, Shark Tale
  • A shark was briefly shown in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
  • Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers film series is quite displeased when he is unable to acquire sharks with laser beams attached to their heads. He does get his wish in the third film.

    • Internet

  • Helicopter Shark, a composite photo of a shark leaping out of the ocean attacking military personnel climbing a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter ladder.

    • Magazines and literature

  • Jaws, the book by Peter Benchley that the 1975 movie was based on. It tells a tale of a great white shark that terrorizes the small resort town of Amity Island, and three men who set out on a boat to track it down and kill it.
  • Jaws 2 and Jaws: The Revenge, two film novelizations both written by Hank Searls
  • A pregnant great white in another Peter Benchley novel, White Shark
  • I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916, a book by Lauren Tarshis
  • The Devil's Teeth by Susan Casey
  • Close to Shore by Michael Capuzzo about the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916
  • Twelve Days of Terror by Richard Fernicola about the same events

    • Music

  • Grooveshark, an online music streaming service
  • Sharks, an album by British hard rock band UFO
  • Fins, a song by Jimmy Buffett
  • Pool Shark, a song by Sublime
  • In the Belly of a Shark, a song by the hardcore punk band, Gallows
  • Fast as a Shark, a song by the German thrash metal band, Accept
  • "The Shark Fighter!", a song by American comedy rock band The Aquabats

    • Music groups

  • Sharks, a British rock band
  • Sharks, an English punk rock band
  • The Sharks, a new wave band formed in Pennsylvania
  • Sharks, a song by Test Icicles in their debut album, For Screening Purposes Only
  • Shark Island, an 80s hard rock band

    • Roleplaying games

  • The weresharks of Dungeons & Dragons
  • The Rokea weresharks of Werewolf: The Apocalypse

    • Schools

  • A shark is the mascot of UNLV
  • Razor the Shark of Nova Southeastern University

    • Sports

  • The Camden Riversharks, a baseball team based in New Jersey
  • Named after the thresher shark, the Clearwater Threshers, are a minor league baseball from Florida
  • The Cronulla Sharks, an Australian Rugby League team
  • The East Fremantle Sharks, an Australian Rules football team
  • The Hull F.C. (once known as Hull Sharks), an English Rugby League team who have now reverted to the name 'Hull F.C.'.
  • The Jacksonville Sharks, the reigning champion of the Arena Football League
  • Named after the hammerhead shark, the Jupiter Hammerheads are a minor league baseball team
  • The Orlando Sharks, a U.S. Indoor Soccer team
  • The NSU Sharks, NCAA II Athletic teams of Nova Southeastern University
  • The Sale Sharks, an English rugby union team
  • The San Jose Sharks, a U.S. National Hockey League team
  • The Shanghai Sharks, a Chinese basketball team
  • The Sharks F.C., a Nigerian football team
  • The Sheffield Sharks, an English basketball team
  • The Sharks, a South African rugby union team
  • The Worcester Sharks, a professional ice hockey team

    • Television

  • Shark Week
  • Shark Tank, a reality show with a title card and name based on sharks
  • Several myths about sharks were tested in MythBusters
  • "The Shark Fighter!", an episode of The Aquabats! Super Show! featuring a gang of mutant legged "land sharks" who attack a beachside city.
  • Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy, features a hammerhead shark called Todd Lagoona played by Richard Ayoade.

    • Video games

  • Jaws, a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System
  • Jaws Unleashed, a game for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows
  • Jaws: Ultimate Predator, a game for the Wii and Nintendo 3DS set 35 years after the events of the original 1975 movie.
  • Sharpedo is a Pokémon from Generation III of the game series that is the evolutionary successor to the Pokémon known as Carvanha
  • Sharks are underwater enemies in a few entries of both the Mario and Donkey Kong franchises
  • Sharks are occasional enemies in the Ecco the Dolphin series of games
  • Shark Jaws, a single-player arcade by Atari, Inc.
  • Shark Attack is a game by Apollo for the Atari 2600.
  • Tiny is the name of a great white shark featured in Batman: Arkham City. Tiny was an attraction at Gotham Museum's "Terrors of the Deep" aquarium before the Penguin bought the building and turned it into his hideout.
  • Whale sharks can be found in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
  • Sharks can be seen underwater in Tomb Raider: Underworld
  • Sharks are seen as both enemies and hunting opportunities in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
  • Sharks appear in Grand Theft Auto V
  • Tiger Sharks can be seen underwater and attack in Call of Duty: Ghost

    • References

    Sharks in popular culture Wikipedia
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