Sharkface

Sharkface
Nickname(s)	Sharkface
Characteristics
Armor Color	Steel with red trim Steel with maroon trim (formerly)
Species	Human
Weapon(s)	Flamethrower Assault Rifle Magnum Grappling Hook
Professional Status
Affiliation(s)	Charon Industries
Personal Status
Status	Deceased
Media
First Appearance	Planning the Heist
Music Theme	Sharkface/Rooftop, Motivations
Voice Actor	David Jennison

"You can break me, burn me, bury me alive; but as long as I'm still breathing it will never be over. I will hunt you. I will burn you! As long as I'm alive, you're all as good as dead!"

—Sharkface's last words to Carolina in Armonia, Part 2

Sharkface was a former Insurrectionist allied with Charon Industries. He was first seen in Planning the Heist, along with his five other comrades, and then made a more prominent appearance in The Sarcophagus. Sharkface later made a return (along with Aiden Price, who shares the role,) as the quaternary antagonist of Season 13, aiding the space pirates.

Role in Plot

Fighting Project Freelancer

Sharkface alongside his comrades.

Sharkface first appears in Planning the Heist, during a glimpse of a squad of Insurrectionists walking down a highway. When the Freelancers infiltrate the 110 story building the Demo Man tells Sharkface to head to the vault and attack them, which he does. He makes a bold entrance and fires his flamethrower at Wash and Carolina, forcing them behind cover. They open fire but Sharkface deflects their attacks with his bulletproof armor and continues to fire at them, managing to knock back Carolina. Wash grabs a Fuel Rod Cannon and fires at Sharkface, but the round bounces instead of exploding at Sharkface's feet, frustrating Wash.

Sharkface using his flamethrower.

As a result, Carolina runs along, dodging Sharkface's flame, and jumps onto a Banshee hanging from the ceiling. She fires at Sharkface in order to get his attention. He fires at her again, causing the ropes holding the Banshee up to burn and snap. She sticks a grenade in the Banshee, causing it to explode and hit Sharkface, knocking him over. A Gravity Hammer lands near Carolina and she throws it at Sharkface as he tries to stand, knocking him unconscious. Afterward, the Mother of Invention fires an enormous laser, collapsing the building Sharkface was in and burying him in the remains.

Alliance with the Space Pirates

Sharkface in his cell.

Several years later, Sharkface became imprisoned in the UNSC Tartarus. He still bore a deep-seated hatred for the Freelancers, as they had wiped out the other Insurrectionists while he was in physical therapy. When Felix and Locus raid the ship to recruit the prisoners into their ranks, Aiden Price mentions him in passing and leads the mercs to his cell, where his face is seen for the first time. Later, both Aiden and Sharkface are sent to Chorus at Crash Site Alpha, where the former Counselor states that he is currently conducting psychological sessions with the former Insurrectionist to prove his worth to Locus and Felix.

During one of their sessions, Sharkface prepares for his mission to kill Washington and Carolina and expresses his anger towards them for killing his comrades to the Counselor. He then asks Price how he ended up on the Tartarus in which Price explains that he believed in the wrong people and, when asked by Sharkface, admits that he would kill those who wronged him if he had the chance. After Sharkface dons on his new armor, he leads a band of space pirates to ambush Carolina, Dr. Grey, and the Blues at the Jungle Temple, having eavesdropped on the intel Santa gave them regarding a Purge and the location of a key to activate it.

After Sharkface informs Felix and Locus about this, he and Felix venture to the east mountains to obtain the key. However, they soon discover that Doyle has already obtained it and begin looking for him. Just then, Sharkface encounters Carolina and her squad and flees to find Doyle, with Carolina giving chase. The two quickly then engage in battle, with Sharkface managing to overcome several of her attacks. As he begins to beat her, Carolina attempts to face him head on but falls off a cliff after she pushes herself and Epsilon too far. After Felix gets the key from Doyle, Sharkface and the rest of the pirates return to base.

However, they quickly learn that the key will remain inoperable until Doyle is killed, prompting Felix to blame Sharkface for not informing them of this earlier. Just before a fight breaks out between the two, Locus intervenes and orders them to return to their objectives, which they do. Afterward, the Space Pirates take the Tartarus to Armonia, with Sharkface leading a squad in the attack on the city. While the other mercenaries attack the Feds and Rebels, Sharkface goes directly to where Carolina is. Carolina, partnered with Kimball and Washington, convinces Sharkface to spare the other two and fight her alone, which Sharkface agrees to.

Death

As their battle escalates to the streets, Carolina suddenly apologizes for what Project Freelancer did to Sharkface and his friends in the past, much to his surprise. She then alludes to how they were just two armies with different goals and how the Freelancers thought they were the good guys. Sharkface, however, refuses to accept her apology, saying it won't change what's happened. Despite Carolina pleading to end their fight, Sharkface attacks her. As they battle, Carolina hops aboard a monorail and Sharkface takes chase. However, after a lengthy battle, Carolina defeats him by throwing him out of the monorail. Sharkface is then confronted by Carolina, Washington, and Kimball and tells them that as long as he is still breathing he will continue to hunt them down until they're as good as dead. As a result, Wash and Kimball gun him down, finally killing him.

Personality

During his initial appearance, Sharkface was presented to be a muscular brute who talked very little, wearing heavy-set armor and utilizing heavy-mech weapons. However, with his return in Season 13, Sharkface is presented to be very threatening, fearless, and quick-thinking. These traits spawn from his hatred towards the Freelancers, due to what they did to his fellow Insurrectionist comrades, people he saw as family. In the end, this proved to be his downfall, as he was so driven by his own quest for revenge that it clouded his judgment, spurning Carolina's attempt to apologize and continuing to make threats when badly injured and facing multiple armed opponents.

Sharkface also appears to often get the job done with maximum amounts of flair. Sharkface seems to also be both a masochist and a sadist at the same time, enjoying inflicting pain specifically on Freelancers, which he saw as revenge. He also kept getting up from beating after beating, claiming that pain was something he had learned to deal with, meaning either after his injuries, he no longer can feel pain, or he simply does not care and ignores it completely. If the former, then he has suffered from an artificial form of congenital insensitivity, which appears to fuel his reckless charging into combat and lack of concern when fighting. He also can relocate his dislocated bones, shake off major injuries, and still carry on fighting, which would support the theory for his congenital insensitivity. All these conditions combined make Sharkface unfearful of pain or injury, meaning that he is far more willing to take part in dangerous operations.

Sharkface is also very standoffish. While many other Space pirates would not speak out of line around Felix and Locus, Sharkface was more than willing to argue with Felix, completely unafraid of him, and even challenged him to attack him. He is unforgiving and immovable, as he refused to accept any apologies, even going as far as to aggravate his enemies so they would carry on the fight, and, failing that, would launch the fist strike. All in all, Sharkface is an utterly fearless character, whose determination and pure hatred towards Project Freelancer make him an absolutely terrifying opponent for anyone he has declared as his enemy.

Relationships

Sharkface has built very rough, mostly negative, relationships with other characters, due to the loss of his comrades leaving him a man seeking revenge. Because of this, Sharkface has been shown to be unable to connect with others.

Counselor

Sharkface did not seem to have much of a relationship with Price, however, from their one interaction, it was clear they were not friends. It also appears that the Counselor may have been afraid of Sharkface as he does not let him know of his connection to Freelancer, obviously because Sharkface would kill him. When Felix threatens to mention his connection to Sharkface the Counselor is silent, indicating he is indeed fearful of the pyromaniac.

Felix

Felix seems to have a low amount of respect for Sharkface. In No Fighting in the War Room, Felix jokes about his name, comparing it to a Batman villain's. In Temple of the Key, after Felix tells him to stay outside the temple, Sharkface asks a Space Pirate about his attitude, in which the pirate replies saying "You just kinda learn to tune it out." After learning that the Great Key of Chorus is linked to Doyle, Felix becomes furious with Sharkface for failing to mention this; insulting, and even threatening to kill him. Even though Locus intervenes, a great deal of hostility remains between the two.

Locus

Sharkface and Locus don't interact much but there is definitely a relationship between the two. Locus appears to merely regard Sharkface as a business partner but does know how much Sharkface can help in their operations. Sharkface, however, seems to have little respect for Locus and likely only does what he is told by Locus in order to get to Carolina and Washington.

Carolina

After Carolina and Washington left Sharkface for dead at the Insurrection Building, Sharkface grew a violent hatred for the two and Project Freelancer all together, for what the faction did to him and his comrades. However, it seemed Sharkface hated Carolina more as she is the one to have defeated him during their first encounter. When Sharkface is given a second chance to take down Carolina he accepts it and tries to kill Carolina first. Carolina on the other hand at first thought of him as nothing more than another Space Pirate, but after learning of his true identity she has since then slowly begun to feel sympathetic toward Sharkface, possibly due to her losing the Freelancers and her fear of losing the Reds and Blues. In Armonia, Part 1, she apologizes to him for killing his friends and says she doesn't want to fight him, subtly warning him of the impending nuclear explosion. In Armonia, Part 2, after besting him, she gives Sharkface another chance to walk away, but Sharkface refuses.

Epsilon

Epsilon is shown to greatly dislike Sharkface, announcing his hatred of him during Armonia, Part 1. Like the other members of the Blood Gulch Crew, Epsilon sees Sharkface as an enemy. 

Skills and Abilities

Combat

Sharkface was shown to be a lethal opponent in Season 9, despite being seen in combat once in the entire season. He was extremely skilled with his flamethrower, using it to overheat Covenant weaponry, which would cause it to explode and knock Carolina back as well as destroying a grenade thrown at him by Washington. Being heavily armored, bullets had no effect on him as demonstrated when Carolina and Washington opened fire on him. Another example of his resilience was when Carolina launched a Banshee at him with a grenade, which only succeeded in knocking him down and somewhat dazing him. He was only defeated when Carolina threw a Gravity Hammer into him, with the sheer kinetic energy from the melee weapon knocking him unconscious.

He has also shown skill in hand-to-hand combat being able to hold his own against Agent Carolina in a direct duel, in which he demonstrated an extremely high tolerance for pain when he relocated his shoulder, making a joke while doing so. As stated by Epsilon his body is so heavily modified by pins and metal plates that he is nearly unbreakable. However, he is a far more brute-force fighter than Carolina who relies on more finesse. In Dish Best Served, his more traditional flamethrower has been seen to have been replaced with a pair of smaller wrist-mounted flamethrowers.

"You're gonna burn for what you did to me, Carolina!"

These new flamethrowers effectively do away with several of the disadvantages regarding how cumbersome traditional flamethrowers are, as he can still move at normal speeds and engage in melee combat while they are active, and he can even use the two flamethrowers as fiery jet streams to propel himself. Though due to the placement, throwing grenades while they are active is most likely unwise. In addition, another downside to the smaller flame throwers is that an opponent can block the attacks by forcing the firing mechanisms shut, as demonstrated by Carolina. In addition, the lighter nature of the flamethrowers meant that they were affected more by winds, causing them to be utterly ineffective (if not dangerous to Sharkface, himself) when facing the air coming in the broken windows of the train car.

Appearance

Sharkface initially appears to have a customized red visor with teeth and an image of a flaming horns emblem on his chest plate. He is physically large and hulking, and wears a suit of what appears to be MJOLNIR powered armor, complete with commando pauldrons and grenadier chest plate, with an ODST helmet. In Locus of Control, Sharkface dons new armor similar to the space pirates but adds a red trim and black visor to it.

Sharkface's skin is covered in tattoos and burns, including half of his face being burned off. His tattoos consist of a shark swimming and an excerpt from Sun Tzu's The Art of War down his back, a flaming horns at the base of his neck (the same emblem as on his armor breastplate), and shark jaws surrounded by flames on his chest, a barcode below flames on his right bicep, an indistinguishable mark on his left forearm, and the word "REDEMPTION" across his collar bone. His left eye is a black glass eye due to complications from burns on his face.

Gallery

"No. This is the part where I get you!"

"Sorry doesn't change what you did."

"Sorry doesn't bring them back!"

"Something's gotten into you... and I'm going to rip it out!"

Trivia

• The design of his flamethrower resembles the "Hellbringers" from Halo Wars while its cosmetic appearance is similar to the Flamethrower from Halo 3.
  • Historically, his Season 9 armor and flamethrower design resembles the nose paint of the fighter planes of the Flying Tigers, American pilots fighting alongside the Chinese during World War II.
• Aside from the visor and flame equipment, the flamer's armor can be recreated in Halo: Reach. The required armor is as follows; ODST Helmet (no attachments), Collar/Grenadier [UA] chest piece, Commando left shoulder, Commando right shoulder, and Grenadier knee guards.
• Sharkface draws some resemblance to Jorge-052, the heavy weapons specialist of Noble Team from Halo: Reach.
• His new appearance can be recreated in Halo 4. The required armor is as follows; Enforcer helmet, Stalker torso, Prefect left and right shoulders, ODST legs, and Ricochet forearms. It also draws some resemblance to the Space Pirates' armor, just with red trim to show his affiliation with the Insurrection. 
• Due to the fact no flame-based weaponry exists in the Halo 4 engine, Sharkface's armor redesign for season 13 instead focuses more on his shark theme, using the Teeth (TTH) Skin for his Assault Rifle. While he does have flamethrowers installed in his gauntlets, they are a CG-only effect. 
• Miles Luna, while discussing Sharkface's new flamethrowers calls them, Assassin's Creed flamethrowers which is an obvious reference to the Assassins who use hidden weapons concealed in the same way Sharkface's flamethrowers are. 
• Because of the shark teeth painted on his visor and the song Sharkface / Rooftop plays during his battle with Carolina and Washington, many fans originally assumed his name was Sharkface. The assumption was finally made official in No Fighting in the War Room.
• According to Price's psychoanalysis sessions with him, Sharkface has a deep-seated sense of contrarianism.
• The Art of War passage Sharkface has tattooed to his body reads: "So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss. If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose. If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself."
  • Ironically, what the tattoo describes ties in with Sharkface's fate; in his fight with Carolina in Dish Best Served, he wins due to using her competitiveness against her. However, when Carolina apologises to him in Armonia, Part 1, Sharkface even admits that he "[doesn't] know what's gotten into [Carolina]", alluding to the tattoo's "If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose" line. Ultimately, it proves to be the latter in Armonia, Part 2, when Washington and Kimball finally gun him down.
• According to the Red vs. Blue: Season 13 Midseason Live stream, writer/director Miles Luna named Sharkface "Terrence" while performing mocap for Season 13. Rooster Teeth staff members Gus Sorola, Kerry Shawcross, and Patrick Rodriguez then jokingly joined in and provided the character with a full name: Terrence Ephemera Sharkface (pronounced Shark-fa-say). The name then quickly became popular among fans.
• In the episode No Fighting in the War Room, Felix jokes "What is he, a Batman villain?". Ironically, he seems to have similarities with the Batman villain Firefly, as they both wield flamethrowers, have severe burns on their body and appear to have an interest in fire. It also has something to do with having "face" in his name like Two-Face and Clayface, who are also Batman villains, though he has more resemblance to the former due to both having their faces being half disfigured. His name is also similar to the Great White Shark, another Batman villain, and King Shark, a minor villain in the D.C. Comics.
• When discussing his unarmored character design, Miles Luna said that he originally was going to have the classic milky white blind eye appearance, but then Burnie Burns proposed making it black to further reinforce the shark motif.
• David Jennison, the voice of Sharkface, was originally told that the character's identity was Razorhead. Jennison also thought of Sharkface as a tragic character and portrayed him as a soldier come back from war.
• Further reinforcing Sharkface being a tragic character, his musical motif, heard in almost all his appearances in Season 13, shows similarities to Carolina's theme in that they are both tragic sounding and are even played counterpoint during their fight in Armonia, Part 2. However, Sharkface's theme is heavier and darker sounding, reflecting his status as a tragic villain, compared to Carolina's, which is more melancholy and reflective of her status as a tragic hero.
  • Their similar sounding themes also reflects the fact that Sharkface and Carolina are intended to be foils of each other and victims of circumstance.
• Many fans compare Sharkface to the popular Star Wars bounty hunter Boba Fett, as the two are very similar. For example, both use flamethrowers and have a jet pack like system (Sharkface was shown using the flamethrowers as jet packs at the end of Counseling), both use advanced body armor that have undergone modification and both are all in all ruthless antagonists.
• Since he was part of both the Insurrection and the Space Pirates, he could be considered one of the longest known characters employed by Charon Industries.
• Sharkface shares similarities to Temple, the main antagonist of Season 15, as both are tragic villains who wanted revenge on Project Freelancer (mainly Carolina) for losing people they cared about (Sharkface's friends and Temple's friend Biff).