[Zalis]

Tiger Shark



Todd Arliss was an Olympian swimmer, and damaged his spinal cord when he rescued a drowning man. Desperate to regain his swimming ability, Arliss willingly participates in an experiment by the scientist Doctor Dorcas, who "cures" him by blending his DNA with that of Namor the Sub-Mariner and a tiger shark. Although successful, the process changed Arliss both physically and mentally: he now had razor-sharp teeth and gills and had become savage and predatory.

Becoming a supervillain and calling himself Tiger Shark, he finds and threatens the Lady Dorma and is then crowned Lord of Atlantis. The Sub-Mariner, however, soon deposes Tiger Shark and the two become implacable foes. Tiger Shark returns to fight Namor time and again, often with allies such as Warlord Krang, Llyra, and Attuma, although the battles come at great cost: Tiger Shark is buried for months, Namor's father Leonard McKenzie is killed and Dr. Dorcas is crushed to death.

Tiger Shark goes to fight other superheroes such as the Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Wolverine, and later as a member of the Masters of Evil, the Avengers and the Thunderbolts. For a time Tiger Shark renounces crime, and renaming himself Arlys Tigershark marries a woman from an undersea tribe of nomads. Tiger Shark, however, reverts back to his old ways when his pregnant wife and her tribe are slaughtered by savage undersea creatures called the Faceless Ones.

Tiger Shark has also mutated into a more shark-like being (complete with grey skin and a natural fin as opposed to a costume ornament) and then inexplicably back into human form. No explanation is given regarding this metamorphosis. Tiger Shark's next appearance involves the theft of an artifact called the "Horn of Gabriel", which he uses to summon huge sea monsters and then direct them against the surface world. Tiger Shark, however, is defeated by the Sub-Mariner and the Mighty Avengers.

When Al Kraven, the son of Kraven the Hunter, began collecting a zoo of animal-themed superhumans, Tiger Shark is seen as one of his captives in a water tank. Tiger Shark is later hired by the crimelord the Hood to take advantage of the split in the superhero community caused by the Superhuman Registration Act.

Before gaining his powers, Todd Arliss was a record-breaking Olympic swimmer but otherwise an ordinary human. After Dr. Dorcas' experiment, he becomes an amphibious humanoid with the traits of a human, an Atlantean (Homo mermanus), and a tiger shark. As Tiger Shark, he possesses the same superhuman strength and durability as Namor, although he weakens if not submerged in water. Tiger Shark also possesses an innate hunting instinct inherited from his shark genes, as once he locks onto prey he cannot stop tracking it until it has been captured or he has been forcibly repulsed.