The Top 10 Sharks in Pop Culture — Tread Carefully!

Originally published August 17, 2018. This article covers the top 10 sharks in pop culture.

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Have we finally jumped the shark? Or are we just counting down the top 10 sharks in pop culture?

These toothy fishes have certainly made their mark on us humans. In fact, did you know the phrase “jumping the shark” comes from a 1977 episode of Happy Days? A particular plot line featured Fonzie using water skis to jump over a shark, viewed by audiences as a desperate bid for higher ratings. In actuality, Henry Winkler wanted to showcase his water sporting skills, but this was seen as lazy writing and sensationalist television.

This created the idiom, “jumping the shark,” which indicates a decline in popularity, a loss of focus, and the idea of selling out. However, sharks show no signs of losing popularity. To celebrate Shark Week, it’s time to reel in the 10 best and most famous sharks from movies, TV, and beyond.

• Austin Powers Laser Beam Sharks
• Kisame Hogisaki in Naruto
• Shark in Batman ’66
• Street Sharks
• Jabberjaw
• Bruce in Finding Nemo
• Marvel’s Jeff the Land Shark
• DC’s King Shark
• Sharknado
• Jaws

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10. Frickin’ Sharks with Frickin’ Laser Beams

• Franchise: Austin Powers
• Medium: Film

These sharks were just the stuff of dreams for Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers films. He was disappointed to learn that his lair couldn’t have these sharks due to endangered species restrictions. Evil sea bass were no replacement for the sharks with laser beams on their heads.

Eventually, in the third Austin Powers film, Dr. Evil is given a pool full of these frickin’ sharks as a gift from his son, Scott Evil.

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9. Kisame Hogisaki

• Franchise: Naruto
• Medium: TV

With such a high amount of chakra, this anime villain created many problems for Naruto. Partnered with Itachi and part of the Akatsuki, Kisame Hogisaki is not a force to be reckoned with — especially since he can create his own water.

Not only can he transform the battlefield to his advantage, but Kisame is also an enduring opponent. Originally, he was one of the Seven Sworsdmen of the Mist. Later he abandoned them and became an S-rank missing-nin. Teeth, sword, it’s all sharply dangerous here.

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8. The Shark that Attacked Adam West Batman

• Franchise: DC
• Medium: TV

Batman has countless gadgets to stop any of his dangerous foes in their tracks, but Batman: The Movie (1966) pitted Adam West against an all-new breed of bad guy: a shark!

This leg-chomping rubber shark was famously defeated with Batman’s patented Shark Repellant, which was kept alongside his Barracuda, Whale, and Manta Ray repellants just in case. Gotta stay prepared.

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7. Street Sharks

• Franchise: Street Sharks
• Medium: TV

The Street Sharks animated series followed the lives of a group of crime-fighting half-man/half-sharks created by a device known as the “gene-slammer.” These four brothers were transformed by the evil Dr. Paradigm, who used his machine to create aquatic monsters to terrorize the city.

The Street Shark gang is made up of Ripster the great white shark, Jab the hammerhead shark, Streex the tiger shark, and Big Slammu the whale shark.

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6. Jabberjaw

• Franchise: Hanna-Barbera
• Medium: TV

This classic cartoon shark don’t get no respect — except on our top 10 list! Jabberjaw is the star of his own self-titled Hanna-Barbera cartoon, in the same vein as Scooby-Doo, Josie and the Pussycats, and Speed Buggy.

Jabberjaw plays the drums in The Neptunes, a rock group from 2035. He was inspired by the shark mania of the mid ’70s, created after Jaws opened in theaters.

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5. Bruce

• Franchise: Finding Nemo
• Medium: Film

Bruce the great white shark is the leader of the Fish-Friendly Sharks group in the film Finding Nemo. Named after the infamous animatronic shark in Jaws, Bruce tried to reform himself from a mindless killer to a pleasant, friendly ally to the other fish of the sea.

He coined the motto, “Fish are friends, not food,” that was one of the more popular lines from the fishy film.

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4. Jeff the Land Shark

• Franchise: Marvel
• Medium: Comics / Video Game

It’s Jeff! Since his debut in 2018, Jeff the Land Shark has taken Marvel fans by storm. He’s a very feisty, yet capable, playable character in the video game Marvel Rivals. Over in the comics, he’s often associated with the West Coast Avengers, especially Gwenpool and sometimes Deadpool.

Plus, he’s just so darn cute! Look at that winning smile and floppy tongue.

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3. King Shark

• Franchise: DC
• Medium: Comics / Film / TV

Also known as Nanaue, DC’s King Shark is a humanoid shark who was born in Hawaii as the son of the Shark God. He has hybrid physiology, allowing him to survive for long periods underwater as well as on land, plus the use of sharp teeth and claws.

King Shark was originally introduced as an enemy to Superboy, and has appeared on the CW’s The Flash as well as, most famously, Suicide Squad-related media.

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2. Sharknado

• Franchise: Sharknado
• Medium: Film

It’s a tornado full of sharks. Enough said. This science-fiction disaster film quickly gathered a cult following for being a shamelessly silly and gory flick. The original film spawned five sequels including The Second One, Oh Hell No!, The 4th Awakens, and Global Swarming.

The sixth and final Sharknado film, It’s About Time, debuted in 2018, finally putting the cyclone of sharks to rest. For now.

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1. Jaws

• Franchise: Jaws
• Medium: Film

The shark that started it all — the film version of the Jaws shark was based on the novel of the same name, wherein a shark attacks the beachgoers of Amity Island without mercy. For many, this film is the definition of a summer blockbuster, considered to be one of the greatest movies ever made.

The aquatic antagonist of Jaws, nicknamed Bruce in production, launched both a general paranoia over shark attacks and a pop culture explosion of shark-related media. Jabberjaw, Jeff the Land Shark, Finding Nemo‘s Bruce and so many more have this film to thank for their popularity and inspiration in the vast pop culture landscape.

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