The Original Seven, the remaining members who attended the very first Brawl tourney.note
We bring the rain.
From the small Canadian town of St. Marys comes a small group of friends who love to play Super Smash Bros. Melee. On occasion, they host tournaments to test their competitive skills. These videos normally get uploaded to their Youtube channel
. Other miscellaneous videos include come from their Minecraft server and a Mario Party 3 Let's Play. But what really defines the Crew is their love of the dramatic. The humour of Sharkasm is derived from two sources: over-the-top sarcasm that isn't as much snarky as it is downright bizarre; and locally made, locally known, locally used memes born from random thoughts of the Crew. Often the two overlap.
There are a number of eras making up the history of Smash in St. Marys.
- The First Era (1999-08) took place when the members who would come to make Sharkasm were split into mainly two elementary schools in St. Marys: Arthur Meighen Public School (shortened to AMPS) and Holy Name of Mary Roman Catholic (shortened to Holy Name). Little of significance happened here.
- The Second Era (2008-09), starting when the players entered High School, saw the birth of their first collective union: The St. Marys Brawl League. Although tourneys were successfully carried out, devotion waned as interest grew in Brawl's predecessor, Melee.
- The Third Era (2009-12) began with the official formation of Sharkasm and the first Melee tourneys. This lasted from Grades 10 through 12. Most players in the scene were from St. Marys.
- The Fourth Era (2012-Present) was stated to begin after high school, when multiple members left for university in other cities. Tourneys are seeing much more presence from out of town.
The original group consists of:
- Kason Birdman of AMPS (mains Fox).
- Sauxuas of Holy Name (mains Fox and Marth).
- Vyzor, who moved to St. Marys just before starting high school (mains Peach, Dr. Mario, and Ganondorf).
- Alpha Delpha of Holy Name (mains Shiek and Fox).
- Spam of Holy Name (mains Falco).
Others who frequently play with the Crew and attend tourneys include:
- Cephalo the Pod (aka Mogotoo) of Holy Name (Shiek).
- The Notorious Tiggs of Holy Name (Jigglypuff).
- Bearjew of AMPS (Marth).
- Italyins of AMPS (Yoshi).
- 47 and YEAH, from London (both Shiek).
- Herp, originally from St. Marys but moved to London as a kid (Jigglypuff).
Sharkasm has a number of tournament series, each one identified mainly according to the house the tourney took place in.
- Paranormal Activity (PA), normally at Sauxuas's house, finished with ten entries.
- The Greatest in Corneria (TGIC), with three entries and supposedly finished due to Mogotoo no longer living at the house it takes place in.
- Standalone tourneys 7th Heaven Smash Rumble and The Gentlemen's Melee Gathering (both at Vyzor's).
- St. Melee, the replacement series for PA. Meant to revolutionize the St. Marys scene, the tournaments include contestants from all around Southwestern Ontario. Currently has one entry.
Other works, some in progress, by members of the crew include:
- Sharkasia, a series of RPGs to be developed by Kason, Sauxuas and Vyzor.
- Complete Control, a superhero webcomic in very early stages of development, to be written by Cephalo.
- The Adventures of Stixx (and all spin-off parodies), an old series of animations made by Kason with another group of friends.
The Crew have their own forum, The Sharkasm Empire.
Tropes associated with Sharkasm:
- Aborted Arc: The Paranormal Activity series was meant to last 14 entries in accordance to one of the Crew's Arc Numbers. However, things such as university pushed them to finish it at 10.
- Arc Number: 14, the date of June that is Kason's birthday.
- 626, for adding up to 14.
- Hell, pretty much any number whose digits add up or multiply to 14.
- 519, the area code that St. Marys resides in.
- 626, for adding up to 14.
- And I Must Scream: The idea of wishing for everything.
- Berserk Button: Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Not so much the game itself as the changes it made to Melee's gameplay, from tripping to the slower movement to the lack of advanced techniques.
- Breather Episode: A lot of effort is put in to hype up Paranormal Activities and make them the very best they can be. Thus, side tourneys such as TGIC were made.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: No player uses just one colour in general, but they will tend to limit themselves to one colour for each character.
- Kason Birdman uses the blue-shirted Falco and the green Captain Falcon.
- Alpha Delpha's Shiek is green.
- Saux's Shiek is red.
- Companion Cube: When there's an odd number of players for Doubles tourneys, the odd player out plays with a computer-controlled player. This CPU is represented by a piece of paper with a face on it, named Sonjai.
- Ever since Sonjai's death, a new Companion Cube named Mogo (not to be confused with the original identity of Cephalo the Pod) has replaced him.
- Designated Villain: Invoked during Mario Party "Let's Play"s. One player tends to get shunned by the others, usually for having a lucky start to their game.
- Do Well, But Not Perfect: It is a less than uncommon practice for tournament participants to lose a match or two so that they'll be put up against a weaker opponent.
- Friendly Rivalry: Between Cephalo the Pod and Alpha Delpha. It has recently been downplayed as more players of the same skill level as Cephalo and Delpha arrive on the St. Marys scene.
- The Ghost: Cazo! was this before finally showing up at PAX.
- Italyins is often jokingly called a ghost, but it's not this trope.
- Hard Work Hardly Works: There's a joke in the Crew that if you don't train in Melee, you'll get better at it.
- Subverted in that Kason, Sauxuas and Vyzor, the top three members, play Melee the most.
- Killed Off for Real: Sonjai (see Companion Cube), destroyed in a fit of rage by Italyins during PAX.
- Misfit Mobilization Moment: The AMPS crew (see Small Name, Big Ego) tying with Holy Name and Outlanders in PAX Crew Battles.
- Non-Indicative Name: There is no semblance of a shark motif anywhere.
- Put on a Bus: When Cephalo left for his first year of university, his mom moved to Waterford and his Dad had left town a few years ago. Even when Kason and Sauxuas come back to town for the summer, Cephalo will be living in Waterford.
- Sometimes it comes back.
- Small Name, Big Ego: AMPS is easily the most outspoken about their confidence in winning Crew Battles. They never do.
- Take Over the World: The future aspirations of Kason, Sauxuas and Vyzor with their game company. Subverted in that they mean no harm and only seek to revolutionize the industry.
- Those Two Guys: Downplayed with YEAH and 47. They only come to St. Marys for tournaments, but they always make significant placements on the bracket.
- Trademark Favorite Food: During a tourney, most players go to Subway for dinner.
