Shark Men

Origins and Early Years[]

The Samebito, Japanese for "Shark Men", were a race that lived on the oceans of Earth. In the early stages of Earth, they sensed the power of an Old One, an ancient entity beyond space and time, and actually evolved so they could worship this Dark King.^[1]

The Atlanteans became the ancient enemies of the Shark Men.^[1]

World War II[]

In 1941, as World War II caused indirect yet massive damages to the undersea kingdoms, Namor of Atlantis called for a summit of underwater races, and entered an alliance^[3] of nearly half a dozen undersea races^[4] in order to conquer the surface. The alliance included the Balticans led by Princess Rathia, the Seal People, the Walrus Men and the Shark Men by the Sub-Mariner to join Atlantis in attacking the surface world. Their forces were defeated by the Human Torch and Toro.^[3]

Later, the Shark Men allied with the Thule Society, and supported Japanase forces in the Pacific, but were opposed and defeated by the Sub-Mariner. Driven down, they awaited in their sunken city for their Dark God to return,^[1] the sunken city being a Vril-powered legendary Hell-Carrier"^[2] mostly submerged, at coordinates "47°9′S 126°43′W,^[5] where he remained for decades, waiting to complete his final mission and crash into Honolulu.^[1]

Modern Age[]

The Shark Men re-emerged during the Serpent crisis. They were opposed by a group of young heroes composed of X-23, Spider-Girl, Power Man, and Thunderstrike,^[5] assembled by Amadeus Cho who had studied the threat of the Hell-Carrier.

As the Hell-Carrier took off, heading to finish its World War II final mission and crash into Honolulu,^[1] but the heroes fought off the Shark Men. X-23 and Power Man pierced the Hell-Carrier's hull, allowing Power Man to unload his remaining Chi into the Vril, causing the destruction of the Hell-Carrier.^[2]

The Shark Men likely have similar adaptations as the Atlanteans, namely the ability to breath underwater (they may even be amphibious), strength to survive the oceans pressures, and the ability to see in the depths.

Aquatic

Earth standard

Earth standard

The Shark Men used armors akin to modernized Samurai armors,^[5] energy rifles,^[1] and the Vril-powered Hell-Carrier.^[2]

• The Shark Men were created during the Golden Age in Human Torch #5 (Fall) (September, 1941) where they were not named. They were fleshed out in 2011 event Fear Itself tie-in "The Chosen" in Fear Itself: The Home Front #5 to 7 (August to October, 2011) as a pastiche of the Cthulhu Mythos' races serving the Great Old Ones: The coordinates of the Hell-Carrier in the Pacific Ocean ("47°9′S 126°43′W) are those of the sunken city of R'lyeh as stated by H.P. Lovecraft in "The Call of Cthulhu" (Weird Tales; February 1928), a chant of the same story was pastiched (see bellow). Aditionally, Vril was a mysterious force used by Atlantis and mentioned in "Conan of the Isles" (October, 1968), written by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter.
• In Fear Itself: The Home Front #6 (September, 2011), the Shark Men are named "Samebito" in Japanese, seemingly referencing "Samebito", a shark-like humanoid created by Irish-Japanese-Greek writer Lafcadio Hearn in his short story "The Gratitude of the Samebito". The chant "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Totaro Samebito wgah'nagl fhtagn", pastiching Lovecraft's Call of Cthulhu's chant "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn", also seemingly references Hearn's story which was centered around a man named "Tōtarō".^[6]
• The Shark Men should not be confused with the Shark People, an alien race who came to Earth, took on the form of the Great White Sharks, and could shape-shift into human form.