Everything's Even Worse with Sharks: Difference between revisions

[[File:Shark Helicopter.jpg|link=This Is Gonna Suck|frame|The ''one day'' you decide not to bring [[Batman: The Movie|shark repellent...]]]]

 

 

[[As You Know]], [[Everything's Worse with Bears]]. Want to make a situation dangerous? Just add a bear. But sometimes that's simply not enough. If you really want to make a situation utterly without hope, there's only one answer: ''sharks''. (And if that's still not enough, there are always [[Homestar Runner|bears]] ''[[Homestar Runner|holding]]'' [[Homestar Runner|sharks]].)

 

 

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.

* Sharks go from even worse to hilarious in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOgJnFQFeFE this ad] for Nicorette lozenges.

* There's also a Snickers Peanut Butter Squared [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpyyXTywNek commercial].

 

* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'': Viral. He is a Beastman that Gainax has explicitly stated is a shark with [[Cats Are Mean|feline]] genetics. Besides his claws and cat eyes, he's got a [[Slasher Smile|mouth full of shark teeth]]. They grow back if they're pulled out. His smiles tend to make viewers rather [[Nightmare Fuel|uneasy]].

* Shark Fujishiro from ''[[Seto no Hanayome]]'' is a literal shark with a human guise from a group of mermaid [[Yakuza]]. His motto being that all problems can be solved by eating the cause of the chaos. He's constantly trying to eat the main character of the series, Nagasumi. The fact he can turn into a shark on land doesn't help matters much either.

* ''[[Bleach]]'' has {{spoiler|Halibel's release, "Tiburon". Which she uses to ''cut Hitsugaya('s duplicates) clean in two''.}}

* ''[[One Piece]]''

* ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'': Apparently inspired by the pirates of ''[[How to Kill a Mockingbird]]'', Squalo rides a flying burning shark as his box weapon. Seriously.

* BrokenGao in ''[[GaoGaiGar]] FINAL'' forms the right shoulder of Genesic GaoGaiGar and represents destruction in all its glory.

* Ryoga "Shark" Kamishiro of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal|Yu-Gi-Oh Ze Xal]]'', introduced as the school bully and a major [[Jerkass]]. He also uses a marine deck, including sharks. Later inverted after he joins Yuma's group.

 

* ''[[wikipedia:The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living|The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living]]'' by Damien Hirst is a piece of art (in a wide sense) consisting of a dead shark preserved in blue-colored formaldehyde, made in 1991.

 

 

* German comic ''Haiopeis''.{{context}}

* Subverted in ''[[Tintin|Red Rackham's Treasure]]'', where Professor Calculus builds a small submarine in the shape of a shark. Haddock first sees it when trying to take a potshot at a bunch of circling sharks.

 

 

 

 

* ''[[Shark Tale]]'', obviously by its name. Features a subversion of this trope though, a vegetarian shark who actually gets nauseated at the very taste of a fish.

* Another one for sharks that don't eat everything in sight, ''[[Finding Nemo]]''. Not quite vegetarians, it's hinted that they eat dolphins, and they have a "slip" every now and then and eat a fish. The heroes run into three, including one named Bruce, a [[Shout-Out]] to the ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' prop.

* The ''[[Tintin]]'' animated film ''Tintin and the Lake of Sharks'' has, wait for it, a lake... full of sharks. [[Diabolical Mastermind|Metaphorical ones]], that is. It's actually a ''Balkan mountain lake''. The villains' [[Underwater Base]] may also have a [[Shark Pool]] or two.

* ''[[The Land Before Time]] V'' has a prehistoric shark-like swimming "sharp-tooth".

* 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.

* ''[[Undercover Brother]]'': At the end, {{spoiler|Mr. Feather}} falls from a helicopter and chomped by a shark just before falling into the ocean.

* ''[[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]]''...

* One word: [[The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl|Sharkboy.]]

* ''[[Sharktopus]]'' combines this with [[Everything's Squishier with Cephalopods]].

 

== Literature ==

* ''[[Discworld]]''

* The brain sharks of ''[[More Information Than You Require]]''.

* 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.

* Subverted in Sergey Volnov's ''Army of the Sun'', where sharks and whales have been [[Uplifted Animal|artificially given intelligence]] and develop [[Psychic Powers]]. The sharks actually become deeply philosophical, benign creatures, able to open portals from one planet to another, as long as both feature large bodies of seawater.

* Charlie the intelligent, bipedal, amorphous mutated great white in ''[[Slimer]]''.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* ''[[The Bionic Woman]]'' episode "Deadly Music". A villain plants a homing device on Jaime Sommers that will summon sharks to attack her. Hey, wait a minute!

* ''[[The Six Million Dollar Man]]'' episode "Sharks". A villain group has learned how to train and control sharks.

* Chevy Chase's "Land Shark" sketches on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''.

{{quote|"Candygram!"}}

* On said network, the ''[[MythBusters]]'' have done multiple shark myths rooted both in real life anecdotes and popular fiction.

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

** The shark-based monster in episode 36 of ''[[Samurai Sentai Shinkenger]]'' may be a [[Monster of the Week]] like usual, but it delivers a very brutal beatdown within that brief time. One hero gets sent sliding across the floor ''after his weapon is smashed.''

* [[Subverted]] on ''[[Walking with Dinosaurs]]''. During "Cruel Sea", there are plenty of sharks ([[All There in the Manual|called Hybodus]]) about, but they aren't the top predator. That would be ''[[Giant Swimmer|Liopleurodon]]'', one of the few creatures that is proven to ''always'' make things even worse than they are with sharks.

* ''[[Spin-Off|Sea Monsters]]'' has sharks as well. ''Stethacanthus'' in the Devonian barely even registers as a threat. There's also the obligatory ''Megalodon'' in the Pliocene. (For reference, the babies are the size of an adult Great White.) The Jurassic still has ''Hybodus'', and the Cretaceous has more sharks that barely register as a threat. There are also ''Xiphactinus'' (a.k.a. The Ugliest Fish in History) and giant mosasaurs, just to make the sharks look irrelevant.

* In ''[[The Future Is Wild]]'', a distant-future flooded Earth has as its top predator a charming critter called the Sharkopath, a highly intelligent aquatic pack hunter that communicates with its packmates using flashes of bioluminescence.

 

 

* Averted in Polynesian mythology, in which the sea gods are usually portrayed as benevolent shark shaped guardians of the sea. Examples include Ukupanipo, Kamohoalii and Dakuwaqa.

 

 

* The ''[[Hero Clix]]'' miniatures game set of Arkham Asylum had a figure of Black Manta, who while being a decent playing piece, was pushed into the category of awesome by having his sculpt feature him surfing on the head of a shark with frikkin' laser beam on it's head.

* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''

** ''D&D'' also has sharks that live in acid and lava. Because even when you're drowning in acid or lava, sometimes it's just too easy. The monster entry for the Acid Shark sums it up pretty well: "What's worse than a pit full of acid? A pit full of acid with a shark in it."

** It also has regular sharks, the megalodon (giant prehistoric shark) and weresharks as well as Sekolah, the sahuagin deity in the form of a giant shark.

* Minor tidbit from the history of ''[[BattleTech]]'': The totemic animal of Clan Sea Fox got all but wiped out by a new predator introduced into its native oceans by a rival Clan. The Sea Foxes turned insult into opportunity and simply adopted said predator as their ''new'' totem instead; today, they're known as Clan Diamond Shark.

** The Diamond Sharks somewhat subvert this however; they generally would [[Arms Dealer|rather do business with you than fight you]] and treat their civilians well by Clan standards. The Rim Worlds Republic played it straight; their government was often brutal and they eventually gave rise to an [[Evil Chancellor]] who would destroy the Star League and plunge human space into 300 years of war. The symbol of the RWR? A shark.

 

 

** Takea sharks have been there since the line's beginnings.

** [[Complete Monster|Pridak]] has an army of said Takea... Mutant Takea.

* Meta example: The ''[[Beast Machines]]'' Hammerstrike toy (hammerhead shark beast mode) has elbow joints prone to cracking at the sockets, rendering both modes unworkable (each forearm has half the shark mode's lower jaw).

 

** Considering that Azeroth's oceans contain many huge and frightening beasts, monsters, humanoids, and abominations, carnivorous whale sharks are the most mundane seagoing terror. Hell, in Vashj'ir the whale sharks share the waters (and "giant OHKO-ing beasts" title) with a titanic eel and a monstrous leviathan.

** Then there is [http://www.wowpedia.org/Epicus_Maximus Epicus Maximus] which is almost certainly an inversion of this trope.

* The [[Big Bad]] in ''Crayola Treasure Adventure'' is a ''shark pirate.''

* ''[[Miami Shark]]'', a Flash game on [[Newgrounds]] where you play as a shark who eats people and animals, makes boats explodes and pulls down things from helicopters to a stealth bomber. It has a sequel [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/533302 set in Sydney]. And somehow, the Shark manages to get at Koalas, Kangaroos and a '''nuke'''.

* Naturally, you can summon sharks in ''[[Scribblenauts]]''. A single Scribblenauts shark is enough to defeat ''Cthulhu''. You can also summon [[Megalodon]].

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

* You would think that being in a fire fight is bad enough. But what if your enemy has a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHPvT8zVXT0 gun that fires sharks] which seeks out enemies at will? Yeap, you're screwed.

* ''[[Illusion of Gaia]]'' subverts this when Will and Kara's raft is circled by sharks, only to have them swim away without attacking, leading Kara to conclude they aren't hungry because (she believes) [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|only humans hunt for sport]]

* ''[[Monster Hunter]] Tri'' gives us the Sharq, which inhabits the waters on the northern end of the Deserted Island area. A subversion in that they don't make things worse, and only attack when you invade their territory. Then again, they're among the ''least'' dangerous things you can find in the water...

* ''[[King's Quest]]''

** In ''[[King's Quest IV|King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella]]'' you are a princess trapped on an island. You may swim to a few limited locations, but it takes a lot of trial and error, swim into the wrong screen and ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' music starts and you get mowed over by a shark fin. Que the [[Have a Nice Death]] screen. This is especially unnerving when you're going at top speed. That fin comes out of nowhere!

* ''[[Half-Life (series)|Half-Life]]'' has "Ichthyosaur", which is an aquatic alien creature - shark-like, except with big head and claws, moves in circles and sometimes slightly breaks the surface. They mostly ignore you until provoked, but not enough that you could ignore them, and they are quite tough. That's where you get crossbow in the first game, too:

{{quote|Did you see it? They said it was hauled from the Challenger Deep, but I'm positive that beast never swam in terrestrial waters until a week ago. There's a tranquilizer gun in the shark cage, but I'm not sure it would work on this species. You're welcome to try.}}

 

== Web Animation ==

** [http://www.xkcd.com/585/ AAAAAAAA!]

* ''[[The Noob]]'' has river sharks in ClicheQuest™. Who [[Super-Persistent Predator|will follow you for miles]]. [http://thenoobcomic.com/comic/111/ "You haven't really played an online game until you get chased by fish."]

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

** In a heroic subversion of this, Paladin [[Action Girl|Lien's]] Celestial Mount is a shark. It certainly makes it worse for the giant demon-octopus she's fighting, though.

* The poster image for this page is a photo [[Urban Legend]] that's been floating around the Internet for a long time. It shows a diver climbing up a helicopter's rope ladder and a shark is jumping out of the water to eat him whole. [http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/shark.asp It's fake.]

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

* [[Nimportequi|Remi Gaillard]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRXJf-ANy2A parodied this].

 

** And then there's the episode where they are trapped in an underwater cave with their oxygen supply running out, with a [[Super-Persistent Predator|very persistent Great White]] waiting for them at the only way out. They end up dying at the end of the episode when they run out of air.

* ''[[Kenny the Shark]]'', where the titler shark is a household pet, subverts this trope and somewhat plays it straight. While Kenny does cause a bit of trouble, he usually has good intentions when causing it.

** A season 2 episode features a game set underwater. The User's submarine is very shark-like. Not to mention a scene where mer-Bob and mer-Dot are surrounded by a school of sharks until Bob cuts one in half and scares the rest off.

* Played with in an episode of ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' where SpongeBob accidentally becomes the new lifeguard.

{{quote|'''SpongeBob:''' ''Emergency! Everybody out of the water!''

* ''Octonauts'' averts this besides being a kids' show with [[Surfer Dude|Lemmy the Lemon Shark,]] who after being [[Androcles' Lion|helped]] by [[The Medic|Peso]] ''twice,'' [[Big Damn Heroes|rescues the cute little penguin (and the cuter littler starfish said penguin came to rescue) from a volcanic sea vent.)]] After its over [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|and Lemmy is finally reunited with his fellow lemon shark "dudes," he's given a sticker on his nose by Peso.]]

* The ''[[House of Mouse]]'' short [[Goofy|"Goofy's Extreme Sports:]] Shark Feeding."

 

== Real Life ==

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

** There were a number of shark attacks after the Samar Island battle. In both cases it was a matter of a large number of desperate people in the water many of them dead or injured rather then a few confidant swimmers or surfers.

* The most modern Russian attack submarine, the Project 671B Schuka-B has the NATO name "Akula" (Russian for shark).

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

** It should be noted that they did catch a Great White Shark that had human remains in its stomach. Which means that there ''was'' more than one shark involved, since great whites can't tolerate fresh water (two attacks occurred several miles upriver).

** What's really scary? Bull sharks are among the most dangerous sharks despite being generally in the six-to-eight-foot range. A ''thirteen-footer'' was caught, three full feet longer than the biggest anyone had seen before that.

*** That's primarily because Oceanic Whitetip sharks are the species that are typically involved in attacking victims of shipwrecks or airplane crashes. They rarely come close to shore, much less far into river systems the way bull sharks do.

* Ragged tooth sharks bear live young... which eat each other while still in their mother's womb. Out of the original 15 fetuses, only two generally survive until birth, and even that is only because the womb is split in two sections.

* During the [[World War II|Battle of Midway]], three U.S. pilots who had to ditch their fighters were floating around in a couple of inflatable life rafts. When a shark came swimming by, the fliers discovered the scary way that the shark's dorsal fin was '''sharp''' -- it sliced through the bottom of one of the rafts, dumping the two guys inside into the water ... and slashed one's hand open at the same time. Then, for some reason, despite the blood in the water, the shark just swam away.

* Sharks eat humans once in awhile? Yeah. Guess what eats sharks? [[Humans Are Warriors|Humans!]]

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Aquatic Animal Tropes]]

[[Category:The Seventies]]

[[Category:Everything's Better with Indexes]]