Tiger Shark (Marvel)
Tiger Shark is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Todd Arliss who was a male human where by adulthood he came to be a swimmer that took part in the Olympic Games. One day, he was on a ship when one of an old man fell overboard and was drowning. Arliss dived in and managed to save the man but a wave sent Todd hurling into the hull. This damaged his back and though he was saved he found that he could never swim again. For weeks, he came to spend a small fortune on specialists in an attempt to heal his injuries. In the end, he came to find meet the scientist Dr. Lemuel Dorcas who claimed that he could fix Arliss's injuries. Desperate to regain his swimming ability, Arliss willingly participated in Dr. Dorcas's experiment with him spending the last of his fortune. Accompanying Todd was his sister who had her doubts but took part for the safe of her brother. Dr. Dorcas came to blend Arliss' DNA with that of Namor the Sub-Mariner and a tiger shark. Although successful, the process changed Arliss both physically and mentally thus gaining razor-sharp teeth and gills and had become savage and predatory. Becoming a super-villain and calling himself Tiger Shark, he found and threatened Lady Dorma and was then crowned Lord of Atlantis. (Sub-Mariner v1 #5) The Sub-Mariner, however, soon deposed Tiger Shark and the two became implacable foes. (Sub-Mariner v1 #6) Namor and Dorma travelled to the surface to tell Tiger Shark's sister Diane Newell that he was still alive. (Sub-Mariner v1 #7) Later, Namor came to see Arliss in prison where Todd came to shout threats at the Sub-Mariner. By this point, Namor had sought Lord Seth's help to find the Herb of Healing to help restore Tiger Shark to human form, but Namor failed his quest. (Sub-Mariner v1 #9) Tiger Shark was next seen near the Sargasso Sea. Namor confronted Tiger Shark who had allied himself with a group of Immortals bent on ruling the world. However, when the Immortals left the mists of the Sargasso Sea, they began to age instantly and die. Tiger Shark attempted to unleash a deadly virus, but Namor and the sacrifice of Dr. Newell ensure that it caused no harm. Tiger Shark escaped, but Namor vowed to kill him when they next meet. (Sub-Mariner v1 #16)
Tiger Shark came across Dorma and Vashti trapped in a cave and surrounded by killer whales. After Dorma agreed to marry him and give him the throne of Atlantis, Arliss defeated the killer whales and returned Vashti to Atlantis. Arliss marshaled the Atlantean forces to prepare for battle, though they were resistant to follow his lead and he had to remind them of Dorma's pledge. He discovered that Dorma believed Namor dead, and kissed her goodbye as he left for battle. When Orka led a fleet of killer whales against the city, Namor was strapped to one of the whales as a hostage and Arliss ordered them to fire on him anyway. Namor was seemingly slain, and Arliss focused on battling the whales. Soon, Namor attacked Krang, and Arliss attacked Namor, hoping to form an alliance with Krang. Orka mistook Arliss's attack on Namor as an attack on Krang and rushed to defend his master. As Arliss and Orka battled, they were both seemingly swallowed up and buried in a massive seaquake. (Sub-Mariner v1 #24) Tiger Shark began losing his powers to breathe underwater, and realized he would need to capture Namor in order to have his powers recharged. He formed an alliance under unknown circumstances with Gerard Lymondo. When Llyra contacted Arliss about an alliance, he agreed to meet her, realizing that she would have the machines that Dorcas had created and that, when Namor was captured, his powers could be restored. (Sub-Mariner v1 #44) Tiger Shark met up with Llyra, and the two formed an alliance to take down the Sub-Mariner. (Sub-Mariner v1 #43)
Llyra informed Tiger Shark that the bioscope of their ship had tracked Namor. Lymondo wanted to kill Llyra, but Arliss knew Llyra still served their purpose and so refused. Llyra sent a magno-beam beneath the seas to awake the sea monster, Krago. While Namor and his ally, the Human Torch, battled Krago, Arliss tried to snag Namor in a tractor beam to bring him aboard their ship, but got the Torch instead, whom they spit back out into the ocean. The Torch's heat affected the ship's controls, and sent it plummeting when it was caught by a thrashing Krago. The ship crashed beneath the waves and sank to the ocean floor. (Sub-Mariner v1 #44) Llyra shone the Lemurian Crest over the Boston Harbor to draw Namor into a trap, not knowing that the Human Torch, Stingray, and Diane Arliss would also come to investigate. Equipping a jetpack and an energy-gun, Tiger Shark fired on Namor whilst the hero was distracted by the Human Torch. Before Arliss could capture Namor, though, the Torch blasted Arliss's jetpack. Llyra soon captured Diane, though, and used a Mind Vortex to hypnotically pull information from Diane's mind. They learned the location of Namor's long-lost father, and decided to force Namor's hand by kidnapping Leonard Mackenzie. Arliss and Lymondo kidnapped Mackenzie, Diane was released, and Namor arrived on the ship to save his father. (Sub-Mariner v1 #45) When Namor refused to surrender, he began battling Tiger Shark until Llyra and Lymondo pushed Namor and Arliss into the sea to battle. After pulling them back into the ship, Llyra used a machine to restore Namor's powers to Arliss. When Stingray burst through the wall, he and Arliss battled while the ship started sinking around them. Namor broke up the fight and tossed Arliss to the side. After Mackenzie stopped Llyra from firing a gun at Namor, Arliss tossed a pipe at Mackenzie and hit him in the head, a blow that killed the man. Arliss and Llyra fled, escaping while Namor grieved. (Sub-Mariner v1 #46)
Tiger Shark went on the run, figuring that Namor was after him for revenge where he eventually ended up at Niagara Falls. When the Hulk leaped over Niagara Falls, Tiger Shark assumed the hero was there to get revenge for Namor. Arliss then attacked the Hulk and, after a brief underwater battle, the Hulk knocked rocks toward Arliss and sped for the surface. Arliss leaped out at the Hulk again, but the Hulk caught him and smashed him into a rock, discarding him into the water and leaping away. (Incredible Hulk v1 #160) Seeking revenge on Namor, Tiger Shark again allied with Dorcas, who designed him a special water-suit to help him operate better on land. Dorcas, in an undersea lab, developed some Men-Fish that he wanted Namor to power-up, so Dorcas hired some men with Arliss to lure Namor into a trap. Tiger Shark barely escaped the pursuing Namor and Spider-Man, and rushed back to Dorcas's base. There, Dorcas showed him the Men-Fish, then they set up decoys of themselves. When the two heroes attacked the decoys, they were poisoned and knocked unconscious. After the heroes escaped, Namor, still angry over the death of his father, savagely attacked Arliss. He ripped Arliss's suit, draining the water out, and Arliss was defeated. Arliss was believed dead when the base later exploded. (Marvel Team-Up v1 #14)
Tiger Shark again allied with Dorcas, and the two of them helped Attuma take over Hydro-Base, home of the Hydro-Men, with an ionic ray and Octo-Meks. Attuma's soldiers, including Kor-Konn and Saru-San, kept the island secure with only Dr. Jennings escaping the scene. When Namor arrived on the base and found Jennings, Tiger Shark hit Namor, and Dorcas and Attuma revealed themselves. Namor savagely attacked Arliss and Attuma and traded blows with them beneath the waves inconclusively until Dorcas vanquished Namor with an electric blast. (Super-Villain Team-Up v1 #1) After bringing Namor to shore, Tiger Shark noticed a mechanical fish and destroyed it, not knowing that it was a camera planted by Doctor Doom. Namor was placed in a Dorcas-designed room to keep Namor dehydrated and weak. When Doom arrived on the island, the villains considered making him an ally. Doom soon attacked, with Betty Dean Prentiss at his side. Doom knocked Arliss and Attuma aside with a blast, and Dorcas accidentally killed Betty Dean with a blast meant for Namor. (Super-Villain Team-Up v1 #2) When an enraged Namor moved to kill Dorcas, Tiger Shark and Attuma did their best to hold Namor back. Doom zapped the villains aside, though, and retreated with Namor. Later, Arliss and Dorcas searched for the missing Dr. Jennings when Doom attacked anew in an airship. Doom drained Arliss's powers with a painful electronic harpoon, then destroyed all of the island's Octo-Meks. Attuma joined them, then Namor caught all three villains in a Doom-designed energy shell, effectively defeating them. Namor released them, though, seeking to defeat the villains in hand-to-hand combat. When Namor threw Arliss's body aside, it struck an Octo-Mek that then fell and crushed Dorcas thus killing him whereupon the Hydro-Men agreed to cage Arliss. (Super-Villain Team-Up v1 #3)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Following Dorcas's experiments, he decided that Todd Arliss no longer existed and he began to adopt the name Tiger Shark. (Sub-Mariner v1 #5)
Swimming was regarded as his life and his whole reason for being. He would go to any lengths to have this ability restored to him. (Sub-Mariner v1 #5)
Todd Arliss was known to have a dark haired sister by the name of Diane. (Sub-Mariner v1 #5)
Powers and abilities
Originally, Todd Arliss was born an ordinary human being with no special powers. By adulthood, he became the greatest swimming star of the decade and a noted figure in the world of sport. He was said to had led America to some of its greatest Olympic victories. His swimming career came to an end when he injured his back when trying to save a man from drowning thus preventing him from ever being a swimmer again. (Sub-Mariner v1 #5)
After meeting Dr. Dorcas, he went through an experiment that was intended to restore his ability to swim. This started with shock treatments that strengthened his back and increased his strength to the point that he could easily lift a grown Atlantean. The next stage of treatments involved the Morphotron whereby the traits of sharks and Namor were merged into his physiology. He was thus turned into a hybrid with amphibian qualities where he was able to survive both on land and deep underwater. (Sub-Mariner v1 #5)
Following his transformation, he was a special suit and mask provided by Dr. Dorcas. (Sub-Mariner v1 #5)
At one point, Todd came to be temporarily mutated via mysticism into a twin-headed monstrosity through the craft of the Undying Ones. (Fear Itself: The Deep v1 #2)
Notes
- Tiger Shark was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema where he made his first appearance in Sub-Mariner v1 #5 (September, 1968).
Alternate Versions
- In Exiles v1 #61 (2005), Tiger Shark appeared in the setting of the Age of Apocalypse universe set on Earth-295 in the Multiverse.
In other media
Television
- In The Avengers: United They Stand, Tiger Shark appeared in the setting of the animated television series in the episode "Command Decision" where he was voiced by actor Carlos Diaz. This version was shown as being a member of the Masters of Evil.
Video games
- In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Tiger Shark appeared as a boss level antagonist in the setting of the video game where he was voiced by actor Beau Weaver.
Other
Appearances
- Sub-Mariner v1: (1968)
- Avengers:
- Villains for Hire v1:
- Hulk v2:
- Avengers v8:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
