In the mid-1990s, four young anthropomorphic brothers fought crime – but we aren’t talking about turtles. Street Sharks is an animated series about a family of half-man/half-shark heroes who fight other animal-like characters on a weekly basis. Created by Phil Harnage and Martha Moran, it ran for three seasons from 1994 to 1997.

The show began when Dr. Robert Bolton and Dr. Luther Paradigm created a machine that can mutate the DNA of aquatic animals and turn them into humanoids. When Paradigm wants to use the machine for personal gain, Bolton tries to stop him and is turned into unseen creature. Paradigm then turns Dr. Bolton’s sons into anthropomorphic sharks, and Paradigm’s DNA becomes entangled with a piranha. Much of the show centered around Dr. Paradigm creating mutant animals to attack and defeat the Street Sharks.

The Street Sharks are led by Ripster, the oldest and smartest brother who likes to invent things. Streex is the cool brother who likes rollerblading, snowboarding, and playing drums. Jab enjoys boxing and mechanics, though he is also the lazy brother. Big Slammu is the youngest and strongest brother whose signature move is the Seismic Slam. Ripster is a great white shark, Streex is a tiger shark, Jab is a hammerhead, and Big Slammu is a whale shark.

Villains they face include the anthropomorphic Slobster (a lobster), Slash (a swordfish), Killamari (a squid), Shrimp Louie, and Repteel (formerly human turned eel). They also fight the SharkBot (which is exactly what it sounds like), aging mafia boss Maximillian Greco, big game hunter Malcolm Medusa III, and the Raptors (Velociraptor-like criminals).

Mattel released a line of Street Sharks action figures from ’94 to ’97 to coincide with the TV show. The line included all of the heroes and several of the regular villains. Archie Comics published a miniseries based on the first few episodes of the show, followed by a few issues of original stories. IDW recently announced plans for a limited series to be released in 2025.