Don Lino

Don Edward Lino is the anti-hero of Shark Tale, but later reformed.

He is voiced by Robert De Niro inside the film adaptation.

Biography

In Shark Tale

Don Lino first appeared feeding his piranhas in his office in the wreck of the Titanic while talking with Sykes to prepare his sons Frankie and Lenny for the day they run the reef, saying that "today is that day". He the asked his octopus second-in-command Luca to play the record radio and Luca fixed the record player, but it went to the song "Baby Got Back (I Like Big Butts)." Lino and Sykes raised their eyebrows as and he turned it off and laughed, saying to Lino, "Hey boss! Big butts!". Lino got annoyed, but he and Sykes soon continued their conservation to have Sykes work for Lenny and Frankie. However, Sykes laughed at that saying that Frankie understands, but Lenny can't be serious; Lino said that that he was "dead serious" and it takes more than the muscles to run things, and that's why Lenny's got the brains, which is something special. But when Sykes tried to explain that Lenny was too much on a vegtable diet to be a killer, Lino frustratedly ordered him fired and to start paying him so that nothing ever happened to Sykes' Whale Wash.

Later at a restaurant, Lino questioned Lenny over his gentle behavior and told him that in order to succeed him as head of the Reef, his son has to be an aggressive shark like Frankie. He tried to make an example of such by persuading him to eat a cup of live coral shrimp, but Lenny refused and instead released all the shrimp out the window. Furious and embarrassed, Lino ordered Frankie to show his brother the ropes and told Lenny that he's "gonna learn how to be a shark! Whether you like it or not." However, when word came out that Frankie was killed and Lenny had gone missing, Lino was devastated, regretting sending them out like that since both his sons probably weren't ready after all. During Frankie's funeral ceremony at the restaurant, Don Feinberg mentioned that rumor had been spreading about the fish who killed him, who was being glorified by the fish population of the ocean as "the Sharkslayer" for being the only fish brave enough to stand up against sharks. When Lino asked where could find him, Feinberg replied "He's from the Southside Reef. That's all we could dig up." Lino nonetheless thanked him for his help and vowed on finding out who the Sharkslayer was to avenge Frankie's death, hoping to get the information from Sykes, who owned his Whale Wash in the same reef and knew about it better than anyone.

Learning that the Sharkslayer was Sykes' top tounge-scrubber, named Oscar, through a conversation on the phone with the pufferfish, Lino asked to speak with the Sharkslayer himself, who he challenged to send his mob to Southside to take down. Unfortunately, Oscar easily scared the sharks off. Later, their superficial lionfish accountant Lola informed Lino about Oscar's feelings for the Whale Wash's receptionist Angie, convincing him that Angie was the Sharkslayer's weakness. So, she arranged Lino to kidnap Angie for Oscar's obedience and, at the sitdown, reveal Angie tied up and gagged, threatening to eat her if theSharkslayer doesn't comply. Oscar insisted he hardly knew Angie, but Lola quickly called him out on his bluffing. Lino then growls to Oscar that "Your sharkslayin' days are over! And there ain't nothin' you can do about it". In response, Oscar had Lenny (disguised as a dolphin) grab Angie and eat her on the spot (grabbing her in her mouth, but not swallowing), but Lenny instead began choking, thus vomiting her out. This caused Lino to recongize his youngest son, but became embarrassed of the situation and accused Lenny of going up against their family. Oscar tried to younger shark, but Lino's sadness quickly turned to fury as he began to chase Oscar, snapping his jaws at him. He tried to catch up with the fish through a porthole but got stuck in it, and the shrimp (the one Lino tried to force Lenny to eat) popped out of another porthole to get his revenge on Lino by having his swarm attack the shark's face. Oscar swam off, but Lino's rage kept him going. The chase ended the Whale Wash, where Oscar pulled down a lever to trap him into a whale clasping device, only to discover that he trapped Lenny by mistake. Lino came up from behind, but Oscar eventually subdued the gangster by trapping him into another machinery, leaving him face to face with Lenny.

While the entire reef glorified him for killing a shark and catching one of the shark mafia boss who was the deceased shark's father, Oscar couldn't take the reputation any longer and confessed that he lied about being a Sharkslayer, and that Frankie was killed when an anchor was dropped on top of him while he was chasing the dishonest fish. Stunned, Lino asked Lenny why he never returned home if there never was any Sharkslayer, and Lenny repsonded "You always wanted me to be like Frankie. I'll never be the shark you want me to be." Oscar gave Lino a speech of how everybody accepts Lenny's behavior and why Lino can't do the same. Remorseful, Lino asked Oscar to free him so he can reconcile with his son, then made a truce with the reef. At the end, Lino, Lenny & the mob visited the Whale Wash, and Sykes tried to give Lino a fin-shake telling him he has to snap his fin. The shark insisted that he was, though Sykes retorted "It's alright a lot of great whites can't do it yo!", then Sykes kept saying "yo! yo yo" repeatedly until Lino got annoyed and threatened him "You say ''yo'' one more time, and I'm gonna yo you!". Sykes sheepishly apologized.

Personality

Don Lino seemed to be an alpha of a gang of sharks and is shown to be quite bossy and demanding to his gang members like the octopus Luca and the puffer fish Mr. Sykes, often forcing them to run errands. When Sykes disagreed about working for Lenny, Lino fired (kicked him out of the gang) him just as quickly after glaring at Luca's mistake on the record tape. Still, Lino cares a lot about his sons, being utterly in pieces about Frankie's sudden death and worried about Lenny's safety when Len swam away from the Titanic to not experience the painful memories that linger there.

Gallery

Coming soon!

Trivia

Don Lino is the main alpha shark inside the film, and one of the only alpha sharks to have followers not only of great white sharks, but also octopuses.