Who is Shark Boy? Where has he gone? We won’t forget him the way Poptropica did…
For years, Shark Boy has been a prominent icon in Poptropica’s arsenal of characters — the lovable little shark dude has been with the game since 2007, when Shark Tooth Island (the second island) first came out. In addition to being an actual character inside the island’s Shark Museum, he was also among the team posting on the Creators’ Blog, and his personaĀ could be seen in various places.
We knew the “Shark Boy” alias belonged to a Creator called Nate Greenwall because Shark Boy had posted on the Creators’ Blog a picture of him (as Shark Boy) in his office withĀ Poptropica on his computer screen. Meanwhile, a picture of Nate working on Poptropica was also on his personal blog — and the offices are the same. Check out the comparison:
However, starting from mid-April 2014, Poptropicans began to noticeĀ Shark Boy slowly being alienated from the Poptropica world — and it began with the changing of his name. First, anyone who had added his user (SharkBoyCreator) to their friends list would now see his name as Shark Guy, and instead of the dead fish he usually carried, he now held the movie camera from the Back Lot Island bonus quest.
There’s a little trick that allows you to view the usernames of the people in your friends list, and doing it onĀ the character of SharkBoyCreator (for those who added him years ago) will show that his username is now SharkGuyCreator. If you look up Shark Boyās old username now, youāll just get a random Poptropican named Young Catfish whoās wearing the Aztec mask and Tiger Shark body ā whereas before youād get Shark Boy with his name and costume. (first reported by the PHB on April 19, 2014)
One theory from PHB author HPuterpop is thatĀ it might be a cover-up for some kid who got access to Shark Boyās account, becauseĀ those who had his old username friended but not his new one would see it replaced with Shark Guy (but with the name āPoptropicanā).
Less than a week after the PHB posted this finding, the Poptropica Creators started being more diligent in covering up the existence of Shark Boy altogether — starting with the icon beside each Daily Pop sneak peek, which has featured Shark Boy holding a giant pencil ever since the Daily PopĀ was first releasedĀ in 2010. But now, he’s been replaced by the dastardly grinning villain of 24 Carrot: Dr. Hare.
Oh, but the shark-crushing crusade doesn’t stop there…Ā the Shark Tooth plush and plastic toys have also been removed from stores and the toy page!
If that wasnāt enough, the Shark Boy costume that you get from buying the Shark Boy plastic toy now shows up as āShark Costumeā, even though that the original costume was named āShark Boyāā¦
Those who were around in Poptropica’s earlier days may remember that along with other Creator aliases, “Shark Boy” occasionally posted on the official Creators’ Blog as well. Here’s an example of one of his posts shortly after we (the Poptropica Help Blog) pulled an April Fool’s prank on our site back in 2009 by pretending to be the Club Penguin Help Blog:
Nowadays it’s almost always Captain Crawfish doing the posting, but herein lies the scandal: all of Shark Boyās previous posts on the Creatorsā Blog have been replaced with Captain Crawfish listed as the author! Hereās an example from a cache from the Wayback Machine, and compare that to the current version on the Creatorsā Blog. Other posts (like this one, or even the one above about the PHB) have just outright been deleted.
Another Creator alias who sometimes posted on the Creators’ Blog was Comic Kid, whose icon was Ned Noodlehead from Super Power Island. However, one of the posts in the blog’s archives lists him as Comic Boy – a typo that may relate to the Shark Boy mystery.
Then in August 2014, during Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week”, Captain Crawfish made a post promoting Shark Tooth Island, and perhaps more importantly, hinted towardsĀ the whole Shark Boy scandal. Sort of.
The second Island we ever released, way back in 2007, was Shark Tooth Island, which featured the massive Booga Shark, a helpful medicine man, and one very special boy whose name we no longer recall.
At least good old Captain Crawfish, Shark Boyās successor, afforded him one last shoutoutā¦ š¦ #momentofsilence
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Now, as to why the Creators decided to remove all traces of Shark Boy’s name, there are a couple ofĀ theories (Poptropica has not explicitly given any reason for their part):
- As mentioned above, the original Shark Boy account may have been hijacked and the Creators wanted to cover it up by replacing it on people’s friends lists with another shark character – but this doesn’t explain why they called the new one “Shark Guy” instead.
- Poptropica may have gotten into some legal issues regarding the use of the name “Shark Boy”: 1) there was a court case against Pearson Education and aĀ wrestler called āShark Boyā concerning the use of the name on our beloved Shark Boy, but it was dismissed and Pearson (which owns Poptropica) was not fined; or 2) the (unintentional) infringementĀ came from the title of aĀ 2005 kids’ adventure movieĀ called The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.
Update: In late November 2015, a tweet from Poptropica confirmed the disappearance to be because of the latter reason ā that a wrestler already owned the name, so they couldn’t use it. Case closed!
These days, you can still find Shark Boy in the Shark Museum on Shark Tooth Island, oneĀ random sock drawer in CJ’s bedroom on Shrink Ray Island, and any Shark Boy merchandise you might own (such as a T-shirt or plush). Other than that, though, it seems the Creators have left no stone unturned when it comes to eradicating him from the world of Poptropica.
We here at Poptropica Help NetworkĀ won’t forget you so easily, Shark Boy. You were truly an icon of Poptropica’s earliest days, and you’ve made your mark in theĀ hearts of many long-time Poptropicans.
in loving memory of Shark Boy (2007 – 2014)
š Poptropica Help Blog šŗ 
R.I.P. Shark Boy! š¦ Poptropica may not recognize you anymore, but some of us still will. ā¤
(Btw, if you enjoyed this PHB article, check out the mystery of Monster Carnival!)
I still have a Shark Boy plush from 2013 (In real life, not in game)
By the way, if anybody wants to add me, I’m QuietlyInsane :3
I added you and my user is Perfect Tiger…
Or kawaiipanda_ c;
I love your username @Sneaky Cheetah (QuietlyInsane.) I’ll add you. my usename is goldenshadow911
What happened to him?? who would get rid of him! Its like one direction without harry styles.
I sent poptropica an email asking about what happened saying i was a parent whoops! but i did you my mom’s email…
poor sharkboy he will be in our hearts for you guys,sorry for not posting a comment for a long time
R.I.P. to shark boy and condolence to all shark boy fans.
p.s. we all love shark boy xoxo
He was always on when I played like few years ago but we remember him in our hearts (and our game).ššš
Preach.
Bye Sharky :c
….Why. Just….Why poptropica!
Can there be a another way for the creator to get him to come back.
what?
Also, Poptropica removed the post with Shark Boy’s high score on Shrink Shot. Shark Boy will always be remembered. š¦
Seriously, I feel like crying- wait am I- crying.
*Bows head reverently*
We miss you Shark Boy! >.< I hope the Creators will bring you back (or at least give an explanation on your disappearance) someday… :c
R.I.P Shark Boy. 2007-2014.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to say goodbye to Shark Boy, a Poptropica legend.. He won the hearts of millions… and made some enemies. Still, he shall be missed..
He will be an honor for all poptropicans # loved
Waaa!! *Room floods with tears* Waaa!!!!
Unless They Get Shark Boy Back, I HATE YOU POPTROPICA CREATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wE mIsS yOu sHaRkY WAAAAAA
i miss shark boy , if this was because of Nate Greenwall i hate you ill never play again
Slanted Fish: I’m pretty sure it’s not Nate’s fault, but other theories are listed on this page. š
This hurts me deeply because Shark Boy was the VERY FIRST poptropican I ever talked to on the game.
whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HOW COULD YOU CREATOR HE IS A FRIENDS FOR EVERYONE AND IT MAKES ME NOT PLAYING ANY MORE.
poor sharkboy! i’m gonna cry
I actually felt sorry for him when I met him in the museum,because of that joke about him needing to work for the money. I’m serious. I cried about it in bed once.
aww come on why sharkboy! he’s best poptropican AND shark tooth island was the island the was posted on the year of my birthday =(
POPTROPICA BRING BACK SHARKY BOY!!!!! who’s with me? :0
slanted fish are there any other mysteries? I would like to check all mysteries in poptropica š
Slanted Fish: Check out the PHB’s Mystery of Monster Carnival Island article. š
Maybe he’ll come back one day…..
IF ALL IS RIGHT WITH THE WORLD!!!! Which is a somewhat erroneous assumption, based on the fact that Shark Boy disappeared in the 1st place. š¦
Dude he’s not here anymore you only see him shark tooth island
well hes still in the shark place lol the well u know
Fishy where are the cheats *scratching my head*
Slanted Fish: Cheats for what? If you’re looking for a specific page on the PHB, use the search bar at the top. š
fishy, maybe nate greenwall got fired… thats sad but maybe true!
Slanted Fish: Nate still works at Poptropica – you can see some recent Poptropica works on his portfolio site. š
nate greenwall can still use poptropica at his house
tell us poptropica! we wont hate u… or maybe we will…
No promises.
I say we all wear shark-themed stuff and have a party.
I’m not trying to be mean but what’s the big deal and for those of you who are sad get it together we are poptropican s we are tough!!
Wow that takes me back. I’ve been playing Poptropica since the beginning, and I remember when Monster Carnival was on the map. But I think I agree with the legal issues theory, and that Poptropica just covered it up just to be safe. Lots of mysterious things in Poptropica. Another one is why does Binary Bard have two accounts? Great post PHB!
As I first logged onto poptropica in 2009 I talked to shark boy. he will be missed
RIP my favrouite poptropican
he a kind sir
Shark Boy… all gone. š¦
just ask nate guys
O.K
I think there might be more to this mystery than any of us know about. I’ll start investigating this myself.
looks like we have why shark boy replaced by captain crawfish because captain craw fish live in the sea and shark boy add me erik_ethan
I hope the guy behind the “Shark Boy” alias on the Creator’s Blog didn’t die. I know it seems a little far fetched but that’s just the first thing that popped into my head. I hope it was just legal issues….
It was. There’s a wrestler named Shark Boy who sued them so they had to change the name.
Now known as Shark ‘Lame Name Change,Creators. I mean,seriously,Guy?! Are you f-‘ Guy.
Yeah, but now “Shark Guy” is in the Shark Cartoon.
I was in my closet and I am not a member, so when I clicked on one of my costumes, a little page about membership appeared. On the the 1st guess what I saw? Shark Boy! I guess the creators forgot to cover that little appearance up.
After 1st I meant to put page.
Now that it’s impossible to get the Shark Boy toys now, I have two super rare collectibles.
In 30 years or so I’ll be rich as heck because of Shark Boy
Both the character and the wrestler.
Umm guys look what i found they changed the name in shark boy with shark guy because shark boy is the name of a professional wrestler search it up
R.I.P Shark Boy. Rest peacefully forever…
Shark Boy is with Fiona, Valiant, Count Bram,that dude from Arabian Nights, and some i cant remember now. R I P Shark Boy