We assure you, this killer whale is NOT hungry for human.
Last Wednesday, SeaWorld Orlando's 12,000-pound male orca Tilikum accidentally drowned trainer Dawn Brancheau when he mistook her ponytail for food and pulled her under water. Brancheau, whose memorial services are being held today, loved her whales, and wouldn't approve of people using the tragedy to talk bad about them (even though this does make three human deaths that Tilikum is responsible for). As far as Complex is concerned, we all need to put down the harpoons, 'cause killer whales are still killer (as in cool). Doubt it? Check out our five favorite killer whales...
WILLY
• You simply can't hate the star of Free Willy, the Shawshank Redemption of killer whale movies. Not only did he give us a stirring tale of one whale's struggle for freedom, but he also gave us a new term for whipping it out.
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FIN THE WHALE
• Despite looking menacing on the Vancouver Canucks logo, there's nothing vicious about this hockey mascot, who regularly visits terminally ill children (when Pam Anderson isn't stroking him). Not that we'd necessarily want him around our kids. His signature move is blowing steam out of his blowhole, which, given the wrong company, could seriously set off an AMBER Alert.
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ORCA
• What's black and white and red all over? No, not a newspaper. That would be Orca's whale wifey after fisherman harpooned her, causing her to miscarry their seed in 1977's Orca: The Killer Whale. So sure, our boy got on some obsessive, man-eating shit, but we don't hold it against him.
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SHAMU
• There have been dozens of entertaining orcas named "Shamu" at SeaWorld parks over the years, and the vast majority of them have never killed anyone. "Pacifist whales" just isn't as catchy.
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MIGA
• This mascot for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics is a "sea bear," part killer whale, part Kermode bear. She loves to surf and snowboard. And, from what our whale and bear homies tell us, she goes both ways.
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BONUS: FUDGIE THE WHALE
• This awesome Carvel character's species is not known, but anybody who's feasted on his crunchy ice cream goodness at 4 a.m. while blazed out of their minds will tell you, "Duuuude...this is a killer whale!"
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