Shark
- This article is about the enemies from Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. For other uses, seeShark (disambiguation).
| Shark | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Artwork fromSuper Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins | |||
| First appearance | Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992) | ||
| Latest appearance | Super Mario Story Quiz Picture Book 1: Chase Wario (1997) | ||
| |||
Sharks[1][2] are underwater enemies inSuper Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins that wear boxing gloves. They are large-bodied sharks with toothy maws and narrowed eyes. Additional details are present in artwork and paratextual material that are absent in the game itself, specifically lavender dorsa, white underbellies, and a white star-shaped pattern on the tips of their snouts. A shark is one of three enemies on the box art forSuper Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, with the other two being aNoko Bombette and aBattle Beetle. Though sharks have not appeared outside ofSuper Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins and related media, they are the first shark enemies in theSuper Mario series, predatingSushi's debut inSuper Mario 64 by four years.
History[edit]
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins[edit]
Sharks are uncommon enemies found only in theTurtle Zone, occurring in theCheep Cheep Course and theSunken Ship Course. The sharks are the largest fish enemies in the game and swim in straight lines. When they reach an opposing wall, they turn around. Sharks normally swim slowly, but quicken whenMario is directly above or below them. Direct contact damages him. Despite wearing gloves, the sharks do not appear to attack by punching. In the first part of the Cheep Cheep Course, a shark occurs in such a narrow corridor of water such that Mario's best option to avoid contact is bycrouching.
Sharks are impervious tofireballs tossed byFire Mario. They are only defeated if he makes contact with them in hisInvincible form or by striking them with aKoopa Shell. There are seven sharks in the game: five in the Cheep Cheep Course and two in the Turtle Zone level.
Super Mario-kun[edit]
Involume 9 ofSuper Mario-kun, Mario,Luigi, andYoshi encounter a shark during their boat trip. The shark attacks them, but Mario throws Yoshi to the shark to defeat it, although Yoshi gets injured.
Profiles and statistics[edit]
Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten[edit]
| ジョー (JP) / Shark (EN) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Original text (Japanese) | Translation | ||
| アクア | Tribe | Aqua clan | |
| まっすぐ | Disposition | Direct | |
| ランド２ | Game appearances | Land 2 | |
| ファイアも ボクシンググローブをはめたサメのモンスター。 | Fire doesn't work on these awesome guys. A shark monster wearing boxing gloves. It will suddenly dash out and attack you. Fire is ineffective, so you will have a hard time in the water. It moves only horizontally, so you will have to change your position. | ||
Gallery[edit]
Key artwork fromSuper Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Artwork fromSuper Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Artwork fromGame Boy - Nintendo Switch Online
Sprite fromSuper Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Kellogg's trading card
Scan fromSuper Mario-kun
Cover ofSuper Mario Story Quiz Picture Book 1: Chase Wario
Naming[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Unlike most mainlineSuper Mario titles,Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins did not receive officially localized enemy indexes at the time of its release on the Game Boy and not all enemies are listed in its instruction booklets. For this enemy, it has only been generically referred to as a "shark" inNintendo Power,[1] and theClub Nintendo magazines distributed in Europe follow suit for their respective languages.[4][5][6]Der Hai ("The Shark") is applied with categorical intent in the German magazine.[6] "Shark" is utilized as the enemy's name in the 2018 English localization of theSuper Mario Bros. Encyclopedia[7] andMario Portal circa 2022.[2] By contrast, the Japanese name for the enemy is 「ジョー」(Jō, "Joe").[8][3][9]
Names in other languages[edit]
Unless they are the only name available, names unique to theSuper Mario Bros. Encyclopedia are denoted as such in the "notes" column.
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ジョー[8][10][11][3][9] Jō | Joe; a potential play on 「矢吹丈」(Jō Yabuki), the boxer protagonist of the mangaAshita no Joe, and「ジョーズ」(Jōzu,Jaws) | |
| Dutch | Haai[4] | Shark | |
| French | Requin[5] | Shark | |
| German | Der Hai[6] | The Shark | |
| Italian | Squalo[12][13] | Shark | |
| Joe[14] | Romanization of the Japanese name | Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia (first edition) | |
| Spanish | Joe[15] | Romanization of the Japanese name |
References[edit]
- ^ab"Sharks cannot be stopped. Swim around them . . . carefully." – Dec. 1992.Nintendo Power (Volume 43).Nintendo of America. Page 49.
- ^abSuper Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins entry on the official Mario Portal.nintendo.co.jp (English). Retrieved August 13, 2022. (Archived December 21, 2025, 19:32:03 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^abc1994. 「パーフェクト版 マリオキャラクター大事典」 (Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten).Shogakukan (Japanese). Page91.
- ^abSmith, Mark, editor (1992). "Super Mario Land 2" inClub Nintendo, vol. 4, ed. 6.Catalyst Publishing, Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Dutch). Page 26.
- ^abSmith, Mark, editor (1992). "Super Mario Land 2" inClub Nintendo, vol. 4, ed. 6.Catalyst Publishing, Nintendo Co., Ltd. (French). Page 26.
- ^abcKämmerer, Andreas G. (1992). "Super Mario Land II - 6 Golden Coins" inClub Nintendo vol. 4, is. 6.Nintendo of Europe GmbH (German). Page 43.
- ^Roberts, Rachel, and Cardner Clark, editors (2018). "Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins" inSuper Mario Bros. Encyclopedia: The Official Guide to the First 30 Years (First English Edition). Milwaukie:Dark Horse Books. ISBN978-1-50670-897-3. Page 76.
- ^abスーパーマリオランド２ ６つの金貨／敵キャラクター.Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Japanese). Retrieved 8 Jul. 2024.
- ^abSakai, Kazuya (Ambit), kikai, Akinori Sao, Junko Fukuda, Kunio Takayama, and Ko Nakahara (Shogakukan), editors (2015). "Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins" in『スーパーマリオブラザーズ百科: 任天堂公式ガイドブック』. Tokyo:Shogakukan (Japanese). ISBN978-4-09-106569-8. Page 75.
- ^Itoi, Shigesato, Takashi Watanabe, Hiroyuki Jinnai (APE), Jin Kobayashi, Ryuji Osawa, and Shigeo Tanabe, editors (1992). 『スーパーマリオランド2: 6つの金貨任天堂公式ガイドブック』. Tokyo:Shogakukan. ISBN4-09-102413-0. Page 16.
- ^Kazuki Motoyama (6 July 1993).Super Mario Land 2 - 6-tsu no Kinka 1.KC Deluxe (Japanese). ISBN4-06-319398-5. Page7Media:KC Mario Super Mario Land 2 Enemies.jpg.
- ^Fletcher, John, editor in chief (1992). "Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins" inClub Nintendo, vol. 6.Linea Gig S.p.a., Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Italian). Page 26.
- ^Sakai, Kazuya (ambit), kikai, Akinori Sao, Junko Fukuda, Kunio Takayama, Ko Nakahara (Shogakukan), and Marco Figini, editors (2025). "Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins" inSuper Mario Bros. Enciclopedia (2nd ed.). Translated by Alessandro Apreda. Milan:Magazzini Salani (Italian). ISBN979-1259575760. Page 75.
- ^Sakai, Kazuya (ambit), kikai, Akinori Sao, Junko Fukuda, Kunio Takayama, Ko Nakahara (Shogakukan), and Marco Figini, editors (2018). "Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins" inSuper Mario Bros. Enciclopedia. Translated by Marco Amerighi. Milan:Magazzini Salani (Italian). ISBN889367436X. Page 75.
- ^Sakai, Kazuya (ambit), kikai, Akinori Sao, Junko Fukuda, Kunio Takayama, and Ko Nakahara (Shogakukan), editors (2017). "Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins" inEnciclopedia Super Mario Bros. 30ª Aniversario. Translated by Gemma Tarrés. Barcelona:Editorial Planeta, S.A. (European Spanish). ISBN978-84-9146-223-1. Page 75.
