Shay Lamden (Earth-2)


 * For ​ episode based around the character, see .

"Zoom wants you dead!"

- Shay Lamden to Barry Allen, many times.

Shay Lamden, nicknamed King Shark by Patty Spivot, is a meta-human with the physical characteristics of a human and a shark. He was hired by Zoom to take out Earth-1's Flash, only to be brought down by Harry Wells and captured and imprisoned by A.R.G.U.S. Though Shay eventually escaped, he was defeated and re-captured again by Team Flash. Formerly, Shay acted as a type of "guard dog" at A.R.G.U.S. Though Shay eventually escaped again, he was defeated and re-captured the third time by Team Flash.

Biography
Shay worked as a marine biologist on Earth-2. Around 2013, Shay was one of the people affected by Harrison Wells' particle accelerator, and the dark matter mutated his cells and he transformed into a half man/half shark creature nicknamed "King Shark". Shay's new nature as a human-shark hybrid also made him a cannibal, eating whoever was unlucky enough to cross his path.

Recruited by Zoom
Zoom later recruited Shay to his group of evil Earth-2 meta-humans.

Shay was brought to Earth-1 by Zoom to kill the Flash. Patty hears about this "man-shark" hybrid and obtains a shark tooth and wants Barry to test it for her. Barry then tests it to find only shark DNA, disproving what Patty was saying before. When the Flash watched Patty Spivot from a distance, Shay suddenly grabbed him and told him that Zoom wanted him dead. Shortly after, Patty walked out and Shay was shot by her several times, though the bullets ricocheted off him. As he approached Patty, he was shot by Harrison Wells with a blast of energy from a special gun stolen from Mercury Labs.

This left him seemingly dead, but he was shown to actually have been unconscious, and was secretly taken into custody by A.R.G.U.S., who planned to use him as an asset and a weapon. Fortunately, this plan died with Amanda Waller. Eventually, he feigned death to get his guards to deactivate the laser grid over his aquarium, allowing him to escape, devouring any A.R.G.U.S. agents unlucky enough to cross his path. He tracked the Flash to the West house. Though the Flash appeared and challenged Shay, the man-shark knocked him down. However, he was forced to flee as A.R.G.U.S. troops arrived. Later, Team Flash and A.R.G.U.S. planned a trap using a Flash dummy mimicking an electrical frequency that Shay honed in on. Shay took the bait, but the tranquilizers hidden inside did not sedate him. He was eventually beaten by the Flash, as the superhero was able to lure him out to the ocean and defeat Shay by electrifying the water, subduing him. A.R.G.U.S. took him into custody, but this time, Lyla Michaels, the new director, vowed to study Shay and find out how he came to be, hoping to cure him.

A guard of A.R.G.U.S.
By May 2017, Shay had become a "guard shark" of a Dominator's power source in an A.R.G.U.S. facility, though was unable to prevent the power source from being stolen by a desperate Barry Allen and Leonard Snart.

Rampage in Central City
Shay is implied to have escaped A.R.G.U.S custody sometime later that year, as he was seen fighting the Flash in the streets of Central City, but was re-captured by Flash, and was presumably sent back to A.R.G.U.S., shortly before Iris and Barry's wedding and the attack of the Earth-X Nazis.

Possible future
At some point in the future, King Shark will fight against Grodd.

Personality
Shay is incredibly animalistic in nature. Once he finds a target, he is fixated on it and will stop at nothing to complete his mission. This is shown when he continuously mutters "Zoom wants the Flash dead" while in A.R.G.U.S. captivity, and later tracks him across a city into a suburb using bio-electric location and smell alone. Despite his insanity, he is somehow intelligent enough to play possum long enough for A.R.G.U.S. to deactivate his laser grid, and was somehow able to distinguish Barry Allen's scent and bio-electricity among other people.

Shay also could have brief moments of almost human pride, telling Flash that he could never run as fast as Shay could swim.

Powers

 * Meta-human/Shark physiology: After Shay was struck by the energy of the Particle Accelerator explosion on Earth-2, this altered his DNA and supercharged his cells and Shay became a meta-human with physical characteristics and abilities of both a human and a shark, augmenting his physiology into well-beyond peak human condition.
 * Accelerated healing factor: Due to his shark physiology; Shay's cells are regenerative in nature, thus allowing Shay to rapidly heal from extensive injuries. Even after losing his entire right hand, he fully regrew it in seconds.
 * Electrolocation: Shay is able to sense the bio-electricity in living creatures, as a normal shark does to allow it to track fish, which allowed him to track down the Flash's powerful electrical signature throughout an entire city (Although he claimed it was scent).
 * Superhuman durability: Shay can withstand very high levels of physical damage, as shown when he was shot multiple times by Patty, but sustained no damage, as the bullets ricocheted off of him. This was proven again when he was able to face off against A.R.G.U.S. agents and get shot at plenty of times and simply remark that guns and bullets can't hurt him. King Shark's durability is far beyond that of average humans as he was able to take several lightning bolts hurled by the Flash.
 * Superhuman speed: Shay is able to move at speeds far faster than normal humans. His superhuman strong legs allow him to run very fast on land, although he is much faster in the water, as he was able to swim at speeds comparable to the Flash. He still isn't as fast as Barry on land.
 * Speed swimming: Due to his shark physiology; Shay is able to swim as fast as an actual shark, allowing him to move in water at speeds nearly equal to The Flash.
 * Superhuman strength: Shay has shown great physical strength when he effortlessly grabbed Barry and held him up with one hand, with Barry being helpless as Shay gripped his neck. He also showed greater levels of physical strength when he tore open the roof of the West house during another attempt to find The Flash. During his attack on the West house, King Shark was able to knock down The Flash while he was running at super speed.
 * Underwater breathing: Due to his shark physiology; Shay is able to breathe while under water.

Abilities

 * Intimidation: Shay's physical appearance is quite intimidating by itself; two A.R.G.U.S. agents were paralyzed with fear when they saw King Shark, which gave him enough time to kill them.
 * Skilled tactician: Shay is a skilled tactician as he was able to escape an A.R.G.U.S. holding tank by playing dead and track down the Flash using his superhuman senses.
 * Stealth: Despite his large size, Shay was somehow able to sneak up on the Flash without being noticed by anyone.

Weaknesses

 * Electricity: Shay has a huge weakness when it comes to electricity, especially in water, which is how Barry was able to beat him.
 * Water dependency:  Due to his shark physiology, Shay must stay in or regularly return to water to re-oxygenate his blood, which restricts his ability to operate on dry land for long periods of time.
 * Mercury Labs Energy Rifle: Being hit by a blast from this energy rifle is enough to render Shay unconscious.
 * Temperature: Due to his partially great white shark-like physiology, like a great white shark, if the temperature of Shay's surroundings drops below 53.6 degrees Fahrenheit, he falls unconscious.

The Flash
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Behind the scenes

 * King Shark was voiced by actor and screenwriter David Hayter, famous for providing the voices of the characters Solid Snake and Big Boss in the Metal Gear video game series.
 * Grant Gustin tweeted about the special effects work done on this creature using the hashtag "KingShark".
 * While it was originally stated by Andrew Kreisberg that King Shark having his own episode would be expensive and difficult to pull off, the Flash producers managed to pull through and do it anyway.

Trivia

 * King Shark's identity as "Shay Lamden" and being a meta-human is exclusive to the series. In the DC comics, King Shark's shark-like features were natural and came from his father, a shark deity, and his real name is actually Nanaue. His origin in the comics is based on a legend in Hawaiian mythology.
 * Ironically, during his debut in the DC comics, characters dismissed his origins as superstition, believing him to be merely a "savage mutation". This was proven to be false in later years, as he was confirmed to be the son of a Shark God.