Kingfin

Kingfin is a boss in Super Mario Galaxy. In the Prima Games guide, an issue of Nintendo Power, and in his Super Mario Galaxy trading card, he is called "the Bonefin", possibly because the name of his galaxy is Bonefin Galaxy. His name is most likely a pun on the word "kingpin", which refers to the most important person in an undertaking or organization, such as a galaxy boss. Kingfin is the only boss in the game to be fought underwater and in a galaxy unlocked from a ? Block.

Kingfin commands a legion of Bonefins and is himself a colossal skeletal shark, although he appears to consist of bone rather than cartilage like real sharks. Kingfin also has beams of light shining out of his eyes when battling Mario. However, if the player uses Luigi, his eyes do not shine (though this is possible with Mario through a glitch).

In battle, Kingfin has the power to summon large hoards of angry Bonefins from the craters in the center of the planet, which attack in the same way as Torpedo Teds, homing in on the player from all directions. The more damage Kingfin takes, the more guards he will summon to attack Mario. The theme music in the battle with Kingfin is the same with Bouldergeist. However, when Mario or Luigi comes closer to Kingfin, a percussion beat is added to the background music. The music speeds up once Kingfin has taken damage three times.

Battle
When Mario enters the waters of Kingfin's planet, Kingfin will appear with some Bonefins that track Mario down to attack him. There are only two ways for Mario or Luigi to defeat these guards; they must lure them to the surface or into a wall, or throw a shell at them, which causes them to drop three Star Bits upon impact. If the fish touch the surface they will automatically explode. The only way to defeat Kingfin is to grab a Green Shell or a Red Shell from the seafloor of the planet and spin to launch it at Kingfin. After one hit, two guards will attack Mario. After two more hits, four guards appear to attack him. Once Kingfin has been hit a total of five times with shells, he will explode and release a Power Star. The battle can be made easier with the help of a Life Mushroom hidden in a pillar, as well as a submerged treasure chest, which contains the only 1-Up Mushroom in the level. The pillars are destroyed by Kingfin ploughing through them; he destroys two shortly after getting hit once, and he destroys two more after taking another two hits.

Super Mario-kun
Kingfin appears in volume 40 of Super Mario-kun. Here, he eats several Toads that appear intact afterwards, much to his surprise.

Trivia

 * During Kingfin's intro, the camera switches to his point of view for a short period of time, a shot similarly employed for the shark in the 1975 film .