Everything's Even Worse with Sharks: Difference between revisions

If you're swimming or anywhere near water, the last thing you want to hear is "shark". In fictionland, or rather fiction-ocean, Sharks are unstoppable sea-monsters which devour everything in sight: fish, seals, people...[[wikipedia:Tiger shark|license plates, car tires, suits of armour, car parts, severed human limbs]]. Sometimes they'll even attack ships: that's how [[Badass]] they are. Most animals eat to live, but sharks live to eat. Sharks are the ultimate [[Rule of Cool]]. Perhaps it's because they can sense your bioelectricity, meaning you can't hide from them. Perhaps it's because they have changed very little in the millions of years they existed, invoking a sort of reversed watery version of [[Everything's Better with Dinosaurs]]. Or maybe it's how their mouths are [[More Teeth Than the Osmond Family|literally lined with hundreds of teeth]]. It doesn't matter, they're the most [[Badass]] animal that isn't [[Everything's Better with Dinosaurs|extinct]] or [[Our Dragons Are Different|made up.]] If they ever find a way to take to the land or [http://xkcd.com/585/ air,] it would surely be the end of us all. Really, if [[Sand Is Water]], expect Land Sharks.

In [[Real Life]], it's a little different. Like most predators, [[Not Evil, Just Misunderstood|they're misunderstood]] and [[Animal Stereotypes|not mindless killing machines]]. There are only a few species who have a reputation for attacking humans unprovoked (in fact, basically four species, and three will leave you alone when they taste you and realize you're not their usual food - stay out of [[wikipedia:Bull shark|bull shark]] territory, and ''especially'' open water with [[wikipedia:Oceanic whitetip shark|Whitetip Sharks]]), and recent studies of their behavior have shown many shark species to be very intelligent, social, curious, and even playful. Others are too small to be terribly frightening, avoid humans, or have teeth which are about as sharp as sandpaper and feed exclusively on things too small to see. Also, a shark will rarely be interested in a boat or raft provided nobody is throwing fish overboard. Ironically, the ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' depiction of a Great White sinking small boats has some grounding in truth: Great Whites tend to 'test bite' things to determine if they're food... kinda like how infants try and eat everything they find. They are attracted to the appearance of their prey (a surfer swimming out with arms and legs in the water around the board looks like a seal) or blood. The bad reputation of sharks is not completely erroneous, but it's based mostly on most observed sharks being already attracted to food thrown overboard and on a variety of strange objects often found in a caught shark's stomach. Like many other large predators (such as [[Everything's Worse with Bears|bears]]), some sharks are prone to feeding frenzy - short periods of intense eating that ends in long sated inactivity. Thus, a very hungry shark may indeed indiscriminately bite and even swallow just about anything that fits in its mouth, up to and including an old tire, and later the same shark may be so overfed it will completely ignore a bleeding helplessly splashing swimmer in plain sight, or more conveniently sized fish, for that matter. This gave them reputation of both all-devouring ''and'' acting incomprehensibly erratic.

Their remarkably aquatic forms and resistance to disease are of great interest to science. [[Rule of Cool|Don't expect to see this come up in fiction, though.]] Also, like every other fish in the world, they are completely helpless and practically immobile on land, which for all that sharks are misunderstood and fascinating creatures is probably a mercy...

{{examples}}

== Comics -- Books ==

* ''[[Water Baby]]'' revolves around this. Brody was a surfer, one day she was riding the waves and a shark confused her with something edible. Bit off her leg up the knee and went his merry way... while Brody was left bleeding her life out, she got better but now she has nightmares of sharks, and now [[So Do You]].

* The old British comic ''[[Action(Comics)]]'' had a serial called ''Hook Jaw''. The title character was a great white shark. None of the other characters lasted more than one story... Well, except for the token good human in the first story, though even he got eaten alive about two thirds of the way through the second story.

* ''[[X-Men]]''

== Comics -- Newspaper ==

* The newspaper comic ''Sherman'sLagoon'' stars the eponymous shark.

* ''[[The Far Side]]'' practically predicted this entry and its terrestrial counterpart, with a strip showing a shark attempting to scare humans into the water by yelling [[Everything Is Worse With Bears|"Bear!"]]

* The ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' series is built on this trope.

* As is ''[[Open Water]]'' (the first one, anyway). Slight subversion, since nothing bad happens the ''first'' time a shark appears. The problem is later when it, presumably, gets curious and comes back... with ''friends''. From then on, [[It Got Worse|it just gets worse]]. Also notable is the fact that not only are the sharks all real (even the ones interacting with the actors), but are all species one would have a reasonably good chance of encountering in [[Real Life]], compared to, say, the more-famous-but-rarer great white.

* ''[[James Bond (film)|James Bond]]''

** Movies with a [[Shark Pool]]: ''[[Thunderball]]'', ''[[Live and Let Die (film)|Live and Let Die]]'', ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me]]'', ''[[Licence to Kill]]''...

** And in ''[[Never Say Never Again]]'', SPECTRE villainess Fatima Blush plants a homing device on James Bond that will summon sharks to attack him.

* ''[[Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea|Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea]]'' has a Shark Pool inside a submarine. Yes, really. A villainess meets her end in it.

* ''Mako, the Jaws of Death''

* ''[[Deep Blue Sea]]'' has ''super-intelligent'' sharks. If there's one creature you do not want to give super-intelligence to, you'd think it'd be sharks, but hey, there you go. (They're smart enough to know what dramatic irony is.) The official explanation was that making sharks super-intelligent would cure Alzheimer's. No, really. Most notable is how the character played by none other than {{spoiler|1=''[[Samuel L. Jackson]]'' is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMwmqp3GLMc eaten by one of these sharks] ''while indoors''.}}

* ''[[Austin Powers]]'': Dr. Evil ''wanted'' sharks, with [[Frickin' Laser Beams]] [[Weaponized Animal|attached to their heads]] no less, but logistical problems meant he had to settle for ill-tempered, mutated sea bass. He gets his laser sharks by the third movie, though.

* ''[[My Super Ex-Girlfriend]]'', the title ex-girlfriend throws a shark at the protagonist. The protagonist is ''in his new girlfriend's bedroom'' at the time. Several stories up in an apartment building.

** Mega Shark has returned to face off against another giant prehistoric predator: Crocosaurus.

* Lucio Fulci's ''[[Zombi 2]]'' has a shark fighting a [[Zombie Apocalypse|zombie]].

* The pirate comedy ''Yellowbeard'' plays with this when the title character's wife is taken captive by the Royal Navy and pumped for information offscreen; when she's ready to talk, she says, "I think it was that shark that jogged my memory." {{spoiler|"The Shark" is the handsome ensign (David Bowie in a cameo) who brings her into the office, who has a shark's fin strapped to his back; he "jogged her memory" via sex.}}

* In ''[[Lethal Weapon 4]]'', has caught a small shark (alive) while out fishing with the heroes. When their boat sinks, the shark escapes; rather than booking it for the horizon, as any sensible animal would do, its fin is shown lingering near the swimming characters to add menace to the scene.

** In [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld/The Last Continent|The Last Continent]]'', the wizards, out at sea, see one. One wizard starts to burble about how they are maligned, and list all their wonderful attributes. Unfortunately, it's the list about wolves, not sharks.

** At the beginning of ''[[Discworld/Interesting Times|Interesting Times]]'', a shark tries to attack Rincewind, but is [[Always a Bigger Fish|eaten by the Luggage.]]

* The second ''[[Young Wizards]]'' novel has a ninety-foot long great white shark as a ''protagonist''. While he doesn't make things worse for the good guys, he definitely makes things worse for the bad guys.

** He's not a great white. He's older than that SPECIES of shark, considering that, you know, {{spoiler|he was the original shark to accept the first Silent One's sacrifice.}}

== Live-Action TV ==

* "Adrift", the second episode of ''[[Lost]]'s'' second season, featured Michael and Sawyer stuck on tiny remnants of their exploded raft. Sawyer's gunshot wound eventually attracted a shark, because of course floating in the middle of the ocean on scraps of bamboo isn't jeopardy enough! At one point, Sawyer tried to get from one raft to another, with the shark nearby, which may have been a play on the phrase [[Jump the Shark]].

{{quote|"Candygram!"}}

* [[Discovery Channel|Shark Week]] deserves a mention, since that wouldn't exist if sharks weren't so badass and awesome.

{{quote|'''[[30 Rock|Tracy Jordan]]:''' Live every week like it's Shark Week.}}

** Fun fact: Mythbuster team member Grant Imahara is absolutely terrified of sharks. Naturally, he gets to be the one who goes into the water for every myth involving sharks.

* That episode of ''[[Happy Days]]''. [[Jump the Shark|You know the one.]] Not dangerous for the characters, but the show got wounded pretty bad.

** The ''Decade'' net movies claim that [[Kamen Rider Faiz]]'s suit is partly shark-inspired (hence the sawtooth pattern on the mouthpiece). However, in this case it's a subversion, as Faiz is the main character and is (typically) wielded by a good guy.

* Shows up in the occasional [[Monster of the Week]] in ''[[Super Sentai]]'' and ''[[Power Rangers]]'', but subverted as often as not when there's a shark among the heroes: ''[[Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger]]''/''[[Power Rangers Wild Force]]'' has a shark-themed Blue Ranger and a hammerhead in the [[Sixth Ranger]]'s [[Dark Is Not Evil]] group of zords; ''[[Juken Sentai Gekiranger]]''/''[[Power Rangers Jungle Fury]]'' gives the Red Ranger some shark gear; and ''[[Power Rangers Samurai]]'' has a shark-themed upgrade<ref>It was originally a dinosaur in ''[[Samurai Sentai Shinkenger]]'', but the US production did some tweaking.</ref>.

== Tabletop Games ==

* The old ''[[Arduin Grimoire]]'' had a Air Shark monster.

* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''

** The monster called the Bulette... better known as the "land shark". (Complete with [[Worm Sign|fin cutting through the surface]] of the ''ground'' as it burrows toward you...)

* In Chaosium's ''Stormbringer'' supplement ''Demon Magic'', the adventure "Sorcerer's Isle" had a megalodon that could sink ships by biting through their hulls.

* ''[[World Of Synnibarr]]'', well-known for its [[Everything's Worse with Bears|flying bears with laser-beam eyes]], also has sharks. Sharks with armor-penetrating teeth, and shapechanging abilities so they can climb aboard your ship.

* ''[[Swashbucklers Of The Seven Skies]]'' has skysharks: "Horse-sized, arrow-shaped carnivores (little more than fanged mouths with wings)".

* ''[[Infernum]]'' has Obsidian Sharks, Spawn (a sort of proto-lifeform) that look like sharks made from living volcanic rock which swim through the seas and rivers of flame, magma and molten metal that flow just about everywhere in Hell. And, as Spawn, kill one, and more will promptly tear their way out of its carcass and attack you.

* In ''[[Tsukihime]]'', Shiki can get killed at one point by opening a door, while on land, to find a shark behind it (it's one of Nero Chaos's [[Number of the Beast|666 familiars]]). The doorshark has become something of a meme among the fans.

* ''[[Super Mario]]''

** Played with in ''[[Super Mario RPG]]''. Jonathan Jones and his minions are sharks and you have to fight them for a Star Piece. However, once you win, they cool off and become nice guys, even helping you when another baddie tries to take the Star Piece you just won.

* ''[[Ecco the Dolphin]]''

** Sharks are, of course, some of Ecco's natural enemies, and tough ones, to boot. One of the crazier levels from the first game is Open Ocean: you, a lone little dolphin, vs. about a million sharks, with nowhere to hide. The Open Ocean is cold and dangerous.

** ''[[Mega Man X]] 6'' is worse with Metal Shark Player [[Jump the Shark|in more ways]] [[Scrappy Level|than one]].

* Gran Bruce from ''[[Viewtiful Joe]]''. His entrance is even done with a [[Jaws First Person Perspective]].

* ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker]]'' has the Gyorg, which is very shark-like and competes with the Seahat for title of "most annoying enemy". Both have the distinction of being in a position to knock you into the water, where you cannot fight and must (find and) get back into the boat. Sometimes it's not a second later that they knock you ''right back in again''. Grrr!

* The sharks in ''[[Super Mario Land 2 Six Golden Coins|Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins]]'' are nearly invincible. But [[Homestar Runner|how do they swim with boxing gloves on?]]

* In ''[[Hitman]]: Blood Money'', 47 sets a lady on fire at a party. She then manages to fall into a shark pool and the crowd applauds 47. And the more corpses you throw in that tank, the bigger that shark gets.

* ''[[Wacky Wheels]]'' has Razer the shark. Just like everybody else, he runs over hedgehogs and throws them at other racers.

* One of boss-fights of ''[[Alundra 2: A New Legend Begins|Alundra 2]]'' is [[Amazing Technicolor Wildlife|a giant orange shark]] [[Tractor Beam|with vacuum powers]].

* The ''[[Endless Ocean]]'' franchise features many, ''many'' types of sharks. In the first game, they're all harmless, but Magu Tapah (a very large great white) is good old-fashioned [[Nightmare Fuel]]. In the sequel, ''Blue World'', the carnivorous species will now ''attack'' you, and the new "special" shark -- this one named Thanatos -- cranks Magu Tapah's scariness [[Up to Eleven]].

** ''[[King's Quest III]]'' has a similar ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]''-inspired death.

* In ''[[Dubloon]]'', you can meet sharks when sailing between islands. They attack by charging forward.

** Of course you can't forget the Kirov Airship, a flying shark that drops bombs.

* ''[[EVO Search for Eden]]'' has the Kuraselache, King of the Sea, as the antagonists for the last part of the first epoch, the Age of Fish. The [[Mook]] Kuraselache are about your size and are annoying, but their leader is three times your size, attacks by biting, body-slamming and slapping you with his tail, and doesn't want the world above the water to become inhabitable. As the first major boss and, he's tough. Later on in the final epoch, you meet normal enemy versions of King Kuraselache in the Rogon section, who are still annoying but nowhere near as strong since you're far more evolved now.

* ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters]]'' features a shark named Armaggon as a playable character, whose fighting style resembled an odd mix of Guile and Dhalsim.

* A rare inversion is [[One Hundred and One Shark Pets]], in which the sharks are playfull like [[All Animals Are Dogs|puppies.]]

* In ''[[Batman: Arkham City]]'', you must cross a half-frozen lake inside the Penguin's museum. This, of course, has a gigantic shark in it. Amusingly, you must quietly walk around on the ice, just as you needed to in Killer Croc's lair in ''[[Batman: Arkham Asylum]].'' What's worse than a croc? Exactly.

* In ''[[Fantasy Quest]]'', a shark appears out of nowhere and attacks. It's particularly bizarre because every other threat in the game comes from mythological creatures.

== Web Comics ==

* ''[[Xkcd]]''

* ''[[The Noob Comic]]'' [http://www.clichequest.com/index.php?pos=111 "You haven't really played an online game until you get chased by fish."]

* ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]''

** Xykon entertains himself by feeding {{spoiler|O-Chul}} to an ''acidborn shark''. {{spoiler|He survives.}}

* ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'' gives us [http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/11p13 sharks with wings.]

* ''[[Nedroid]]'' [[Subverted Trope|subverts]] this. There is a shark-like guy with a name that starts with H-something who wears a futuristic space suit. [[Out of Focus|Or was it a 19th century style tweed suit?]] [[In Joke|I can't quite remember, but I believe I've seen a shark-ish guy in that comic.]] [[Running Gag|Or a guy with slightly shark-like characteristics. Maybe I'm just imagining things.]]

* In ''[[Miscellaneous Error]]'', Jack fills his backyard pool with sharks so he can [[Catapult to Glory|catapult the shark]].

* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' had a [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2005-10-09 shark attack arc].

== Web Original ==

* ''[[Cyber Nations]]'': Opethian and his Prism Protection Front. [[Crazy Awesome|No questions asked]].

* [http://pinochan.net/flash/games/shark-with-wheels.swf Sharks clearly possess the ability to give you seizures.]

* And back in 1976, DePatie-Freleng gave us ''[[wikipedia:Misterjaw|Misterjaw]]'', a top-hatted, German-accented Great White, no less. '''''Igotcha!'''''

* Who could forget the marvelous subversion in ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLEIDTUcYRs Jabberjaw!!]''

* ''[[Eek the Cat]]'' had that gag about a shark that can chase you on land on it's "The Thunder Lizards" segment.

{{quote|"Darn this evolution thing!"}}

* ''[[Total Drama Island]]'' featured fresh water sharks.

* Turns up as [[Nightmare Fuel]] in ''[[My Little Pony]] Tales'' of all places. Schoolgirls Patch and Bon-Bon, through a major lapse in judgement by the former, find themselves floating over the ocean in a hot-air balloon, which is then damaged by birds. Just when they think they've hit their bleakest moment (and this isn't even the first time Bon-Bon's been in a life threatening situation), they look down and see [[Oh Crap|shark fins in the water]].

* A shark can be seen chasing Scrooge McDuck's submarine in the ''[[DuckTales]]'' opening theme.

* Averted with Shark from ''[[Word World]]''.

** Many people only know about this from hearing it recounted in ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]''. Or the [[Made for TV Movie]] ''Mission of the Shark''.

* The Megalodon, a ''fifty foot'' long prehistoric super shark. As well as a number of other large (and often freakish-looking) prehistoric sharks.

** The "Typhoon" class ballistic missile submarine is designated Akula in Russia.

** Also, the Russians have the Kamov KA 50 helicopter, known as the "Chornaya Akula" (Black Shark).