King Tiger

Background

Advertisement

Powers and Abilities

King Tiger is solidly trained, with an improbable breadth of action skills :

• Armed and unarmed melee martial arts (particularly Hung Gar Gung ).
• Acrobatics.
• Occultist  and mystic expert.
• Gunfighting (usually with a pair of high-cap 9mm pistols).

All these support his main asset, which is archery. King Tiger is talented enough with his bow and magic arrows to “double tap”, in a way. That is, the second arrow hit the first arrow, driving hit further into the enemy’s skull (in DC Heroes RPG terms this is a fancy Critical).

If there are multiple opponents though, like an irremediably possessed crowd or enemy soldiers, he’ll go for the twin pistols.

Other assets

His unique heritage gives him a peculiar ability to detect and even predict demonic ability. Tiger will hear a tearing sound when reality is being ripped by demonic reality.

If the infernal events are going to happen close by, he can predict them in advance. If they happen far away he relies on conventional news sources, but will normally be able to locate the events once he gets close enough. His supernatural senses extend to non-demonic stuff, though they are far less keen in such applications.

Advertisement

His most common use of magic is to enchant his arrows to endow them with demon-slaying properties. These force the defeated evil creatures to leave Earth’s plane. After he started using firearms, he also started enchanting bullets.

Though the scene is not very clear, I think King Tiger can, with the proper supplies (which Rikki can carry around in a big leather bag) operate on himself (even conducting surgery). In this way he can fully recover from even grave wounds in an amazingly short time.

Tiger seems incredibly resilient to pain and damage. Rikki was unimpressed when Ghost brought him with a table leg rammed into his chest, indicating in a blasé manner that her lover had survived much worse wounds. Indeed, through obviously wounded and in pain, King Tiger could walk and be somewhat active within two days of being nearly killed.

History

King Tiger was raised by a secret sect of Tibetan monks, led by his father. He was brought up believing that the ritual sacrifice of his life on his 20^th birthday was necessary to forever close a portal between Earth and an infernal dimension.

During his childhood and teenage years, he extensively practised the religious disciplines of the sect. That included a heavy martial arts regimen. On the eve of the sacrifice, the youth learned that his mother was actually a demon. Thust, the spilling of his blood by his demented and corrupt father would actually open the gateway rather than close it. Rebelling, he escaped.

Hitting the jackpot

After he escaped his sacrificial fate, King Tiger became a knight errand. He would divine the presence of supernatural threats then to destroy them. He dedicated his life to the destruction of demons and their ilk. Under unknown circumstances he eventually established himself in an hacienda in Nevada with girlfriend Rikki and assistant Milo.

He likely wanted to be close to the Cinnabar Flats US Army Research Centre, where the Vortex was secretly being studied. The place attracts supernatural weirdness. Apparently, King Tiger used magic to win big at the local casinos (Hoyo Grandé being a sort of mini-Vegas) and spend it on the house. He was eventually blacklisted by the aforementioned gambling dens.

Another factor drawing him to Nevada was the presence of Szothstromael, a shape-changing demon lord. King Tiger found the thing and fought it. He managed tocast it back to the demon plane and seal the way with paper chains, fire, and an ancient British dagger he had used to harm the demon in the first place.

The man from the Vortex

When the alien Seekers came to destroy the alien Man from the Vortex and invaded the Army base, a ball of light shot out of the Vortex and over the desert. This had been predicted by an alien computer at Cinnabar, who warned his human host, young David McRae, of the danger.

As Hero Zero, McRae intercepted the intruder, who turned into a giant Chinese-style dragon. Hero Zero fought until the dragon exploded into five more or less Tibetan-style demons, who fled from the young hero.

But King Tiger’s fortune-telling showed him where the demons would be. Thus, he ambushed them into the desert. He managed to kill two, but things were not looking good until Rikki rammed the remaining demons with her car. This saved Tiger but allowed the surviving demons to flee, since she had broken the mystical circle.

Will to power

Due to the Man from the Vortex’s mystical nature, King Tiger foresaw how Titan would come after the alien. Tiger spent a week crafting and enchanting a special arrow. When his visions got more precise, he had Rikki and Milo bring him to a specific spot. He knew Titan would crash at one point in his battle against the alien within the Vortex.

King Tiger confronted the demented powerhouse. To general awe, his arrow fatally wounded Titan.

At the peak of his monstrous power, Titan managed to resuscitate himself though sheer force of will. He ripped away and incinerated the arrow. But his brief death had badly weakened him and the alien from the Vortex managed to kill him, this time for good.

Tiger left, regretting the deed/ But he knew that there was no other way and that Titan was just too uncontrollable and murderous a menace, having already killed hundreds.

Enter Ghost

King Tiger continued his aggressive watch for demonic deeds. Reading about a series of bizarre murders in Arcadia, he came there to investigate. The entity, oddly enough, did not register on his demon-sensing senses. After he found it via the police band his special arrows proved to have little effect on it. Tiger ended up with a table leg rammed into his torso but was saved by Ghost.

While bed-ridden, he told Ghost that she was probably tied to the demon – which called itself Cameron Nemo. Tiger thought that he was going to keep coming after her, but that there was a way to destroy it. He then gave Ghost an inscribed .45 bullet.

Ghost was seemingly destroyed by the creature. Tiger sensed this. Though still badly wounded and weakened, he located Ghost with Rikki’s help, and freed her from a jade prison. Tiger could not detect anything demonic going on, and Ghost was in a pretty bad coma of supernatural origin, about which he could not do much.

Ghost eventually awakened on her own, having beaten Cameron Nemo in her mindscape.

Still puzzled over the fact that he couldn’t sense a thing and that Cameron Nemo was not obeying any of the ethereal rules, King Tiger reached the conclusion that it was all a creation of Ghost’s mind. Howbeit, this conclusion was later proved incorrect. He also gave her some advice about meditation to help her resist her own demons.

Motorhead

King Tiger was next seen tracking the demonist and fake stage magician Gui Xian. Like Tiger, Gui was a demonic hybrid who could use magic to open gates to the demon plane. Tiger tracked the warlock along the Mississippi. But his first attempt came in too late. The demon hunter had little choice but to shoot dead a dozen people who had been irremediably possessed.

His next confrontation was more successful. He beat back the three terrors summoned by Gui Xian with Motorhead’s help. Then the heroes used the Abattoir Key to stop Gui once and for all.

King Tiger’s plan worked. The demon-summoning artefact Gui was using was telekinetically transferred to King Tiger. KT used the mystical properties of his dual heritage to open a gateway just long enough to suck the demons that were already there in, then slam the door behind them.

Ghost returns

Some months later, Ghost called King Tiger for assistance about how to handle a guardian golem. At that point Ghost was also working with a a female covert agent codenamed Focus.

Focus and Tiger were immediately attracted toward each other. Focus started flirting with him. The attraction (possibly enhanced by Focus’s unique gifts) was strong enough that Tiger was unfaithful toward Rikki. He and Focus started making out at the first opportunity.

Soon after that, a shadowy silhouetted guided them into Arcadia’s underground, bringing them where Ghost, X and several goblins were clashing with the heavily-armed forces of a superhuman crimelord. Ghost and her allies won the war, though Focus suffered from several gunshot wounds.

When King Tiger left Arcadia to go back to Nevada, he was ambushed and captured by Doctor October. She used stolen paranormal powers to do so. Ghost eventually killed October and rescued those allies the madwoman had captured.

Chi  unravelled

King Tiger would soon hit his lowest point. The guilt over his affair with Focus greatly affected him. And when he told Rikki, she threw him out of her home. King Tiger’s inner balance was wrecked. He started drifting and neglecting his duties, becoming a booze hound and a hotel detective for the local casino industry (though he still couldn’t play).

This lasted about a year. Early during that period, Szothstromael could act despite his confinement – in part thanks to King Tiger neglecting his duties to keep the mystical wards up, and in part due to power pulses emanating from the Vortex. The demon lord thus gathered his offspring, who had grown up very quickly whilst he was imprisoned. They came to Hoyo Grandé.

Thus, when Ghost came to consult King Tiger about the shade Silhouette, she found him dramatically diminished and unable to help much. At this point the demon shapechangers started to strike around Hoyo Grandé. It became obvious that KT lacked the focus to successfully engage them, though he did try.

Ghost and several friends accompanying her, including Concordia Leveche and Ghost’s dead sister Margo, were sucked into the problem. Thus, they ended up helping him. As he talked a bit with Ghost (who also had been hurt by Focus) and started taking his responsibilities seriously, Tiger’s senses and acumen started returning to him.

Chi restored

After King Tiger sent Ghost to negotiate with the alien in the Vortex to put an end to the energy pulses, Rikki, Milo and Ghost’s friends were attacked the full pack of shapechangers. Rikki used a telepathic ritual to call Tiger for help.

When Tiger burst in he was obviously back in full form. Milo instinctively reacted to their usual partnership and passed a mystical sword to him with a perfect sense of timing.

Obviously back at the top of his game, King Tiger killed all the shapechangers with Ghost’s help. He even prevented the murder of one of the demons, whom he was sure was not a monstrous murderer like the others and was basically innocent.

King Tiger has not been seen since. But it seemed that he was fully recovering from his ordeal and that Rikki would accept him back.

Description

King Tiger is a young, good looking Asian man. He dresses in modified Tibetan garb : blue-black tights, a loose-fitting orange tunic and soft hide boots. He moves with perfect balance, his body language conveying great ease and assurance.

He has green dragon tattoos on his forearms, which seem to have some slight reflecting/day-glo properties. His body type and exceptional muscle definition are quite reminiscent of Bruce Lee’s, and seem to be a hit with many women.

When he starts crawling out of his sorry state after betraying Rikki, he starts wearing black robes instead of his usual outfit, though it’s still more or less the same cut.

Personality

King Tiger is almost a stereotyped “Inscrutable Oriental™”. He is somewhat taciturn, and obviously believes in the Comic Book Magician’s Code of not telling non-mystics (including his own friends) more than he thinks they need to know.

He does however have a reasonable sense of humor and a recognition of the fact that his crusade against all things demonic borders on obsession. And the more time he spent in the US, the more he drifted away from his Young Inscrutable Master thing and the more he became a wise-cracking cinematic action hero with one-liners and spectacular entrances.

King Tiger’s mains weakness is probably that he’s a bit too cocky and confident in his numerous skills and abilities. He has a certain tendency to show off and jump right in front of the danger, unreasonably assuming he can handle more than he actually can. His confidence in his abilities also leads him to draw firm conclusions even when he should be more careful.

Basically, while King Tiger is very competent and pretty smart, when he makes mistakes those tend to be big ones. Since he doesn’t really consider the possibility he might be wrong or lack information.

In the thick of it

His “flippant action hero from a B-movie” persona feels a bit forced at times. From some of his remarks, I would *assume* that he’s a bit like a 14-year-old who wants to be cool and admired and has a bit of a power fantasy. The only reason he calls himself “King Tiger” is because… it sounds cool.

He spent his life sheltered in a Tibetan monastery working out and meditating upon his necessary death. As a consequence, getting out of this presumably austere environment to be thrown into the modern US may make him a little giddy and performing below his normal maturity level, driven by all the entertainment and shallow role models he sees.

Presumably, that will eventually makes him stronger as he genuinely moves beyond the culture shock and becomes truly dual-cultural, rather than just wanting to be like Jet Li and Bruce Willis.

In the meanwhile, of course, he really enjoys all the stuff you don’t usually find in a monastery (such as partying, alcohol and sex). Yet his mission remains of course a strong priority over having fun.

Tiger seems to generally prefer Asian food, neighbourhoods, etc. but to have a weakness toward Caucasian women.

Quotes

“I’m serious. You must not cross that line in the ground — no matter what.”

“DIE, demons !”

Titan (standing Superman-style in front of KT): “What do you think you’re going to do with that bow and arrow, kid ?”
King Tiger: “Kill you.”

(Taunting a demon) “Leave that host, coward ! Face me on your own !”

“Nothing can bring them back. But King Tiger can bring them vengeance — and maybe that will let their souls rest easy.”

“I’m hungry. Never fight demons on an empty stomach. Know a good noodle shop ?”

(After having unexpectedly produced a holdout pistol) “You’d be surprised at the things I have in this robe. Why do you think it takes me so long to get dressed ?”

“Looks like you and your boyfriends brought along a new plaything, deviltry… fortunately, I brought enough ammo for everybody ! Chewing gum, too, if anybody wants some.” (Boom Boom Boom !)

King Tiger: “It’s better to have a weapon and not need one, than to need a weapon and not have one.”
Ghost: “What’s that from ? The Tao of John Woo ?”

“We encountered the bastard child of a pleomorphic demonlord and a human host.”

“I’ve neglected my duty. I’ve been distracted by material intemperance. My chi is as tattered as these robes. I have to tell you, I regret my tryst with Focus.”

Ghost: “You’ve got Excalibur stored in your garage.”
King Tiger (cleaning the sword and correcting her) “I have King Arthur’s mystical sword in my garage, yes.”

DC Universe History

Instead of having Ghost as one of his closest allies he presumably would have worked with Hawkgirl before she met Hawkman, helping her deal with mystical menaces from her past lives.

He could also have occasionally collaborating with the JSA, at one point appearing to kill Johnny Sorrow with an arrow to the amazement of everybody present.

By Sébastien Andrivet.

Helper(s): Lost to time (Rafael ?) ; later Jackson, John M. Kahane ; later still Capita_Senyera.

Source of Character: Dark Horse’s Comics’s Greatest World.