The 20 Greatest Sharks in Pop Culture History By Robert Wabash [55 more lists]

In honor of Shark Week 2011, here, in no particular order are the 20 greatest sharks in pop culture history, including some of the greatest clips of over-the-top sharks from B-movies, real-life sharks who've acheived badassery, shark memes and, of course, sharks we all grew up with. Happy Shark Week everyone.

Be sure to check out Ranker's lists on diamond shapes, brain diseases and bronze star recipients list.

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1

The Shark from Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus

The IMDB synopsis for this movie goes as follows:
The California coast is terrorized by two enormous prehistoric sea creatures as they battle each other for supremacy of the sea.

If that isn't enough for you to want to see this movie, then you hate sharks and freedom. This shark makes the list because it is a MEGA Shark (or, a Megalodon, as is more accurately named in Shark Attack 3: Megalodon -- also on this list). You don't get more awesome than a motherf*cking MEGA Shark.

Especially a shark that can jump as high as this one. Out of all the over-the-top movie sharks in this list, the Mega Shark from Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus takes the cake.

Why?

Because he takes down a plane (watch the clip).
2

Sharktopus

Getting Roger Corman, one of the reigning kings of B-cinema, to direct Sharktopus was one of the smartest things that Syfy ever did (although nothing will ever redeem them for changing their name to "Syfy").

They embraced the kind of film making that is, at this point, synonymous with Syfy Channel and took it to a whole new level. A weird, genetically-engineered half-shark half-octopus (that can, for some reason, walk on land) attacks a beach community in Mexico while the guy who created him (played by none other than Eric Roberts) tries to hunt him down.

Sharktopus is one in a long line of over-the-top B-movie sharks, but is by FAR one of the most memorable. A little bit after news that came out that this was being made, though, the internet decided to one-up the movie by creating this image.

Who is the better shark? YOU DECIDE!
3

The Shark That Fonzie Jumps in Happy Days

If you've ever heard the term "Jump the Shark" and didn't know where it comes from, here's where it comes from.

In the fifth season premiere of the famous American TV show Happy Days, the gang visits Los Angeles. And Fonzie, ever the cool dude, wearing his swimming shorts and yes, his trademark leather jacket, jumps over a shark just to prove he was brave.

It was at this moment that any Happy Days fan knew it was over. The show was going to suck from here on out. So, from there on out, whenever a good, well-respected or widely-loved television show does something so over-the-top that you know the writers have lost it or stopped caring, it is called "jumping the shark".

Because he contributed to such a huge part of television history, and because he's entered our lexicon as a society, the shark that Fonzie jumps over in this scene from Happy Days, gets the crown as one of the greatest sharks in pop culture history.
4

The Shark That Poops All Over the Deep Sea Divers

This shark doesn't give a crap. Well, he does, and that's what makes him so awesome.

Showing the caged divers who are taking close-up flash pictures of him, this shark decides to leave them a little gift behind.

But because the poop he leaves behind is so powerful, mighty, and dare-I-say, shark-like, it not only gets all over anyone filming him, but scares off a nearby school of fish. Which is awesome. No. Jawesome.
5

The Singing Shark from The Singing Shark Meme

The Singing Shark meme came from a website called Hockey Zombie, that's about two friends. One day, this comic you see above randomly showed up as the day's post. This was funny/random enough in of itself. But when it became the coveted 33000000th post on 4Chan, it started going truly viral.

People then took the meme and either put the original form/text in different contexts:

The comic even got some merchandising:

And, of course, someone made it into a short, but quick song.

And thus, the meme has been fondly remembered.
6

The Shark That Jump-Eats the Seal from Planet Earth

You've seen this before. It's one of the greatest shark clips ever caught on video and if you've ever seen a commercial for Planet Earth (or gotten high to Planet Earth), then you've seen this amazing footage of a shark jumping out of the water to catch a seal which it then devours while in mid air.

It's one of those moments that reminds you why people like sharks so much and why the absolutely and undoubtedly deserve any attention they get.
7

Street Sharks

These four Jawsome dudes were part of a 90's answer to the popularity of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We had stuff like Battletoads, Biker Mice from Mars, and then we had Street Sharks.

If you grew up around that era, you remember street sharks. They were the cool, realistic-looking, rubber toys whose arms/legs couldn't move, but looked totally badass. You had four sharks, much like you had four turtles, and just like the turtles, all of them acted like surfer dudes/grunge guys/tough guys. These are the three types of acceptable men that existed in the early 90's, and cartoons made sure that we were one of these. You could always be the "smart" one, but that means you'd always have to play as the lamest-character with the wussiest weapons.

Nonetheless, these guys had some awesome stuff going for them other than cool toys. It almost felt like the Ninja Turtles turned up a notch. I mean, it made a lot more sense that SHARKS would be surfer dudes for one thing. And it also allowed us to get some pretty awesome toys, even if they were designed in an incredibly impractical way.

And most importantly, they gave us the term "Jawsome". Because sharks have jaws, you see.
8

The Sharks Gang

If you had to be in any gang in Westside Story, it'd be The Sharks.

First of all, they were Puerto Ricans, and in any universe where people burst out into song and dancing is how you fight, you want to be part of the Puerto Rican gang.

For safety.
9

The I Say Reaction Face

A reaction face (meaning, a face that is posted as a visual representation of a reaction to a post on a message board or to an article on the internet), the "I Say" shark is a sophisticated man with not only fancy clothes, but a monocle and a pipe.

When something is severely over the top on a message board, or whenever something is surprising or offensive, one of the best things to post, just to show that you have acknowledged said thing, but disapprove of it, is the "I Say" shark.

It shows that you have some class.
10

The Shark That Eats Samuel L. Jackson in Deep Blue Sea

So there's this movie you might've heard of. It's a horrible movie and came out in a year where Hollywood really just wasn't trying anymore. It was before the rush of Superhero movies and after the slahser thing was huge. Remakes were on the horizon and someone somewhere decided to make a movie called Deep Blue Sea, a movie about a group of idiotic scientists who are looking into Alzheimer's become isolated on a research facility with a group of hyper-intelligent sharks.

In one of the greatest, most memorable and random scenes in film history, one shark is smart enough to break through the glass while Samuel L. Jackson's character is making a speech, and eats him whole.

This shark deserves to be on this list because pretty much everyone has seen this and because the seen rules ass. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor, put on your headphones if you're at work (or around people that respect you) and enjoy.
11

The Sharks from Sharks in Venice

Have you ever seen the calm, soothing, beautiful canals of Venice, Italy? One of the most beautiful places on Earth filled with culture, fun and general peace/love?

Well, what if that place's canals were riddled with hyperactive sharks with a taste for human flesh and the ability to jump out of the water as if they'd been trained/beaten at Sea World for decades?

This is what Sharks in Venice is about, and the Sharks from this movie deserve a spot on this list because although unwatchable (because of its mafia-oriented "plot"), the action scenes from this movie are not only memorable, but astounding. The fact that people got paid to make this, at all, is astounding.

When they're not using the crazy/hilarious CG footage of sharks jumping onto bridges and eating people whole, they use what is seemingly the same stock footage of a single shark swimming through the waters.
12

Shark Attack 3: Megalodon

In yet another extreme shark B-Movie (starring Doctor Who/Torchwood's John Barrowman), A Megalodon (which is just a huge, prehistoric shark) terrorizes people who, for some reason, can't just take a hint and stay the hell out of the water.

And, as always, there's a huge jerk who gets what's coming to him.

It's really one of the most satisfying movies because at the end (spoiler alert, I guess?), John Barrowman says the following line. And yes, once again, people are paid to make these movies:

After all is well and people are safely on a boat where they're not going to die, he says "... Megalo-WHO?" followed by laughter from him, the people around him, the audience and God (at you) for spending money and/or time on seeing this.
13

Bruce the Shark

In Finding Nemo, an underdog story about a family getting back together, one of the people standing in the way, and one of the most endearingly evil/hilarious antagonists in any Disney/Pixar movie is Bruce the Shark.

The great part about this character is that he talks to the smaller fish exactly like you would a Cheez-It if it came to life, calling them "Morsels" and "Bites".

Then, when it comes to the part where you think they're going to be eaten, it turns out that Bruce is bringing them to the equivalent of an AA meeting for sharks who eat other fish, bringing hilarious adult themes to a very sophisticated and Oscar-worthy movie.
14

Dinoshark

Yet another in the ridiculous shark movies, this is a film (yes, I'm calling this one a "film") that is essentially what it sounds like:

It's a shark with a T-Rex head that is so huge that it can consume entire boats in one gulp (yet in one scene, only bites a chick's neck).

This is all I have to say about the film, and it is all that I need to say.

Oh, and then that guy from Skyline and Six Feet Under hunts him down with a grenade while jumping off of a jet ski.
15

Jabberjaw

Back when The Three Stooges were still remembered by children, and people still thought that adding a laugh track to lame cartoons made them funnier, Jabberjaw was created in order to appeal to a mass audience. I mean, if there's a laugh track and it sounds like your parent's heroes, then this should work for all ages, right?

Jabberjaw was a direct ripoff of Curly from The Three Stooges and even used some of his catch phrases like the whole "nyuck nyuck nyuck" thing and even the "woop woop woop woop!". He even took Curly's accent.

But even though he was a total ripoff, he warmed our hearts as children and tried really, really hard.

Oh, he was also in a band with his friends, just like any animated creature from the 60's/70's.
16

Overbite

One of the Seacon Targetmasters, Overbite/Jawbreaker is an awesome Transformer that turns into a badass shark monster.

His primary objective is to hunt and he is part of a race that is essentially always looking for their next prey.

He's part of the Seacons, who were brought to Earthy by Shockwave, a Decepticon, to man their sub-aquatic headquarters. This is why he's a shark monster, not a shark, but a sharkmonster. Because they're supposed to live underwater, not taking the form of fish, but looking vaguely like them.

80's toy logic is brilliant.
17

Land Shark

In response to Jaws and the shark hysteria that came along with the success of that movie, SNL made up a character called the Land Shark.

One of the most classic recurring sketches in Saturday Night Live history, Chevy Chase's Land Shark character was basically a shark who would coerce its victims into opening their doors by pretending to be plumbers, repairmen or, in this clip, a member of Unicef.

Once the unsuspecting people opened their doors, the Land Shark would eat them whole, making a comment on the ridiculousness of the hysteria over sharks after the release of Jaws.
18

The Shark from the Batman TV Show Movie

In the 4th to best live-action Batman movie ever made, Batman: The Movie (based on the popular 60's Batman television show), Batman and Robin are in a helicopter flying over the sea.

They're on a high speed chase, trying to track down a boat. When they're right behind the boat, they lower a ladder which Batman climbs, while Robin continue to fly down the helicopter. They then switch spots as if it were a car on cruise control: because that's how helicopters work.

Batman is lowered to sea level via the ladder and then gets close to the boat. He's about to finally get to where he needs to go when it turns out it's an illusion!

Batman gets bitten by a shark, which in real-life would have bitten off his leg (I mean he's only wearing pajamas with this suit). As Adam West fights off a painfully rubber-looking shark, he asks Robin to send him down the "Shark Repellent Bat-Spray", which at that point, using the word Bat is entirely unnecessary.

What the hell did they put in there that's so different from other shark repellents?

Anyway Robin does this, slowly, and Batman sprays it on the shark.

Then, as soon as it hits the water, the shark explodes.
19

Jaws

Of course. Of course the shark from Jaws is on here. He's the first awesome shark in the history of pop culture and what really spawned the fear/fascination with sharks outside of people who are really just into marine biology.

Sure, sharks have always been cool, and yes all the most worn out DK Eyewtiness books were always this one:

But sharks were never huge until Jaws. And they were never as scary on film. The first, and the best, Jaws makes the list as the one who started it all. With countless parodies made about this, it's hard to zero in on one, but the one that comes to mind first is Family Guy's Jaws 5: Fire Island clip:

Hats (and legs) off to the shark that started it all.
20

The Infamous Shark Caught with Human Remains Inside of It

So, if you click here, you'll see a picture series which includes a shark that was caught, opened up and then found to have human remains in it.

This is disturbing, badass and absolutely disgusting. You see an entire foot. You've been warned.

Be careful out in those waters. And happy shark week.