Tigra

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Background

Powers and Abilities

Tigra’s abilities are mostly unchanged. There *are* evolutions, though :

Money, it’s such a drag

During much of this era, the financial issues that plagued Ms. Nelson since the death of her husband are alleviated.

When she joins the Avengers, she gets full accommodations at the Mansion – plus a stipend. That’s a thousand 1981 dollars, which is about $3,300 USD in 2022.

However, he only gets paid once before she leaves. A few modelling contracts then keep her in the black, but barely.

In San Francisco, Greer works as a PI for Jessica Drew’s agency. She thus finally gets a regular, reasonable income.

She then joins the West Coast Avengers, and resumes the full accommodations and Avengers compensation.

Poise, it’s such a drag

On the other hand, Tigra becomes a nervous person who has difficulties handling fear and stress. She’s markedly below common levels of super-heroic resolve.

Why this is happening is never explained. Especially in light of Greer’s original concept of an early 1970s liberated woman. This profile discusses our hypotheses to have this make sense.

Soundtrack

Something suitable to evoke 1980…

Well, that’s the year where Pat Benatar’s debut album went platinium, and Tigra was the superheroic equivalent of a fantasy heartbreaker, so…

Let’s have a 1982 performance of the song. So we can have those early 1980s aesthetics with big hair and black stretch slit minidresses and stuff.

It’s high-energy, pop-ish 1980s hard rock.

History (part 1)

(This section starts where the History section of the previous profile ended).

Avengers assemble !

In 1981, the Avengers were ordered to pare their active roster down to six.

Moondragon “helped” by telepathically summoning heroes to Avengers Mansion. While most had no idea what they were doing there, some were actually interested in applying.

A new roster was finalised with :

Avenging

As an Avenger, Tigra responded to the Elfqueen situation.

She also was present during the subsequent Yellowjacket court-martial, treason, robot attack and resignation.

Ms. Nelson helped with the apprehension of the Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze) when he went loco.

However being hit by the Rider’s hellfire unnerved her, in a manner unbefitting to an Avenger.

X-Cat

When the X-Men came looking for help against a Shi’ar armada threatening to destroy Earth, Tigra was the only Avenger at the Mansion.

She reinforced them and fought Deathbird.

Though she was surprised by the alien’s strength, Tigra saved Storm (Ororo Munroe) from a sniper. Greer then helped prevent the Brood from establishing a beachhead in Manhattan.

As the sole government-approved hero present, Tigra dealt with angry NYPD officers after the battle. She thus wasn’t teleported aboard the Shi’ar vessel along with the X-Men.

Unbecoming

Feeling flush with money after years of poverty, Tigra used her first comp for a shopping and socialising spree.

However, she attracted unwanted attention and pawing due to her exotic looks. Then gave her remaining money to a street musician, as she felt unworthy of it since the hellfire panic.

The Avengers then clashed with the Molecule Man. Massively outpowered and wrongly believing that all her colleagues had been killed, Tigra panicked. She was reduced to begging for her life, which crushed her morale.

After the Molecule Man was defeated, Greer talked him into surrendering – and into promising that he would undergo therapy.

After this success she resigned. It was her opportunity to leave on a high note.

History (part 2)

For a while, Tigra only appeared in those super-heroes crowd scenes.

Such as the pardon of the Hulk, and the first Contest of Champions  .

Making ends meet

After the loss of her Avengers comp, Greer agreed to star in ads for Kwikkee Burger  .

However, the deal fell through before the campaign was launched. Tigra was attacked by her old foe Zabo, which demolished New York City’s largest Kwikkee location.

The day was also marked by an inept attempt by Spider-Man (Peter Parker) to pick her up (though he did help Greer fight Zabo). Then with Mrs. Nelson successfully (if very unsubtly) flirting with a young policeman who reminded her of her late husband.

She dumped the cop immediately, though. He was as old-fashioned as Bill Nelson had been, which was insufferable for the now-liberated Greer. Tigra also realised that trying to recapture the past was pointless.

Greer then tried her hand at modelling. She reportedly got a handful of minor contracts, but her looks were too unusual for the circuit. Undeterred, she took a bus to San Francisco – where agencies might be more open-minded.

For those who clicked to see the full version of the picture, the answer to your question is “no, they never did”.

Califurnia

Tigra soon ran into Poltergeist (Mickey Silk), a runaway with uncontrolled telekinetic abilities.

Silk’s parents had hired private eye Jessica Drew to find Mickey. Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) and Tigra soon clashed over Silk’s fate – as Nelson opposed returning Silk to his parents.

Spider-Woman ended up agreeing with Tigra.

Tigra, Poltergeist, Spider-Woman and most other superhumans in the area were then captured by Locksmith, a mad jailer. They broke free and stopped their captor. Tigra went on to help Poltergeist control his powers.

La Fée Morgane

Greer, Mickey and Spider-Woman ally the Shroud (Maximillian Coleridge) later saw Drew fall into a cursed coma. This was the result of a magical attack by Morgan LeFay.

They narrowly resuscitated Jessica. Tigra, feeling frightened and out of her depth, then called the Avengers.

Doctor Strange and Dr. Pym came to consult.

Tigra and the Avengers fought LeFay on the astral plane. Though Tigra was scared, the example set by rookie Avenger Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) helped her focus throughout the conflict.

True detective

As Jessica Drew recovered, she hired Tigra to work as a P.I. in San Francisco. This era is unchronicled.

Tigra was reportedly successful. Especially with “the Enselmo case”. Whatever that was.

(This wasn’t a Moonlighting reference, as this comic well preceded the show).

Tigra may also have had a low-key heroic activities. But during the mid-1980s she was skirting comic book limboWhen a character still exists, but hasn’t appeared in comics for years..

The Aladdin Effect (part 1)

However, one little girl in Wyoming remembered her. Photos of her favourite super-heroines in the kid’s scrapbook included Tigra.

Eight-year old Holly-Ann Ember lived in Venture Ridge. But in 1985, this burg was cut off the world by AIM scientists.

AIM had detected a tremendous power source in town and it. However, the locals had no idea what AIM was talking about. They slowly descended into chaos, demoralisation and lack of resources as the blockade continued.

The power source was Holly-Ann herself, but she was too young to realise it. Her superhuman powers manifested subconsciously as she summoned her favourites (Tigra, Storm (Ororo Munroe), She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters) and the Wasp (Janet van Dyne)) to Venture Ridge.

The Aladdin Effect (part 2)

The unskilled teleportation accidentally left the four women amnesiac, but the girl helped them orient themselves. They engaged AIM forces.

Inspired by their example the townsfolks were roused into action, tipping the battle in the heroines’ favour. The job being done and the memory loss having dissipated, the quartet left.

That case may have been what put Tigra back on the Avengers’ radar.

History (part 3)

In late 1985, as Drew was about to make Nelson a long-term job offer, the Vision (“Victor Shade”) called. He offered $1K just to fly to L.A. and listen to Hawkeye (Clint Barton).

Tigra, remembering her disastrous stint with the Avengers, was about to decline Hawkeye’s recruitment pitch.

However there was a scuffle with the Shroud. He had been sent by Drew under the mistaken impression that Tigra was in trouble.

Embarrassed, Greer was talked into joining against her best judgement.

Wackos

(Most of the material for that era is in our Avengers West Coast team profiles. So we won’t repeat it here for brevity’s sake. Let’s instead focus on the Tigra-specific aspects).

Greer discovered that the other recruits were as uncertain as she was.

Greer and Simon may have started a relationship at this point.

Tigra was then instrumental in defeating the crushingly powerful Graviton. She fooled him by disguising herself as Big M/Madame Masque (Giuletta Nefaria).

Nelson, Rhodes and Williams thus overcame their doubts about belonging to the West Coast Avengers.

Avenging anew

During the 1984 Maelstrom crisis, Tigra helped Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) collect herself after she was hit by Phobius’ power. Greer told Monica how Captain America had rallied her after her soul had been burned by the Ghost Rider’s hellfire.

Tigra was among the West Coast Avengers who tried to stop Dr. Doom’s “Emperor Doom” gambit. Howbeit, they were too late.

The plot was only derailed some weeks later by Wonder Man.

Haphazard behaviour

Though her confidence had been bolstered by her victories, things got worse for Tigra.

Though she fought well against the redoubtable Man-Ape, her rashness allowed Ultron-12 to escape.

She took this poorly, leading her to recklessly engage Kraven the Hunter. She was nearly killed, though Mockingbird and Hawkeye rescued her in the nick of time.

Deeper shade of soul

Unable to rein in her pleasure-seeking instincts, Tigra had sex with both Henry Pym and Simon Williams in quick succession. During this era she continued to pounce from man to man.

When Wonder Man later broke off to date a casting agent, she tried her luck with Tony Stark. But he was in a relationship with the Wasp.

Tigra thus ended up with Dr. Henry Pym.

Concerned about Tigra’s mental health, Mockingbird tracked down the Werewolf (Jack Russell) to learn about animalistic shapechangers. She found him receiving treatment from Dr. Michael Morbius.

That was a stroke of luck. Morbius knew about the Cat People. He even had been to the Land Within.

Morbius taught Tigra and Mockingbird the simple ritual to summon the Balkatar. Those West Coast Avengers who could attended the micro-ceremony.

The Land Within

The Balkatar agreed to take Tigra and the rest to the Land Within. Impressed, the locals took Greer and her companions to their King.

Tigra felt comfortable among the Cat People and dated the Balkatar. She even made a deal with the King – he’d have one of her souls removed if she’d kill Master Pandemonium. Greer didn’t mention the killing part to the Avengers.

Ms. Nelson came to consider that it might be best to ask to be rid of her human soul once Pandemonium was dead. Her cat side was the more carefree and enjoyable part of her.

After the demon Riglevio and the entranced Texas Rangers attacked the WCAs, Tigra got a fresh lead on Master Pandemonium.

However her first attempt on his life failed.

The lady or the Tigra

When Graviton returned and defeated the Avengers, he offered Tigra a house-cat-like life of leisure, power and pleasure as his pet and consort.

While that might have worked, Tigra turned into Greer Nelson — who had no animalistic urges — and escaped. She then pitted his henchmen against each other – and freed both Avengers teams.

In the wake of this major victory, Ms. Nelson decided to give up being Tigra and just live a normal life. Possibly with Henry Pym.

Pandemonic return

However, the demon Allatou and her hordes attacked the West Coast Avengers. She mistakenly thought that they were allies of Master Pandemonium.

The latter then came in, to seize the occasion and destroy Allatou.

During the battle, Greer was too afraid of turning into Tigra to kill Pandemonium. Seeing an opportunity, Allatou grabbed Nelson and Pym before returning to her hell dimension.

Pym and Nelson declared their love for each other. But when she reluctantly tried to be Tigra to save Pym from the demons, it didn’t work.

The caverns of Hades

Back on Earth, the Avengers allied with Daimon Hellstrom and his wife Patsy. As the super-heroine Hellcat, Mrs. Hellstrom wore Greer’s old Cat costume.

The Hellstroms and the Avengers rescued Nelson and Pym. But Allatou expelled them all, plus Pandemonium, from her infernal realm. Cast adrift, they returned to the Land Within.

There, the Cat People King revealed what his deal with Tigra had been. This created a big rift between Tigra and her allies, including Pym.

The Cat People then dismembered Master Pandemonium, and demanded one last time that Tigra kill him. She defiantly refused, preferring to remain true to the Avengers rather than solve her problem.

All Avengers, including Tigra, were condemned to death and jailed. The king also took Tigra’s cat soul away from her.

Kitty got soul

While in jail the Avengers mended fences with a human Greer after witnessing her refusal to kill. Patsy lent Greer her costume and the heroes burst out of their cells. Nelson fought the Balkatar, as wearing the costume somehow bestowed her her full Cat abilities.

In the fray, the magic jar holding Tigra’s cat soul was broken. It returned to Greer, stronger than ever. However, this time Ms. Nelson was conscious – and ready. Her human soul retained full control of the merger.

Furthermore, her Tigra form was now different, with a tail and a new stripes pattern.

While the differences were slight to human eyes the Cat People onlookers were in awe, as Nelson now looked just like the original Tigra.

Description

When she wears clothing larger than a bikini, Tigra favours light skirts and light tops (such as a silk blouse). Wearing more constraining clothing on top of her fur is hot and uncomfortable.

If she needs to be discreet she prefers to wear a wide-brimmed hat and long coat rather than use her cat amulet to look human.

Some panels hint at Tigra morphing her hands into something more talon-like when she fights. Though at this point it is presumably just artistic license, she will much later demonstrate a more pronounced version of this.

People allergic to cats sneeze in Tigra’s presence. This doesn’t make much sense, especially since Greer confirmed the obvious – that she doesn’t lick herself clean (presumably she takes sponge baths). This detail might thus be best ignored.

Personality

During this era Tigra is a much weaker person with poor control over her emotions.

As an (East Coast) Avenger she’s not terribly mature, and has poor self-opinion and self-confidence. This makes her brittle against stress and suffering.

Things improved a bit in San Francisco. But in Los Angeles, Greer was at the mercy of her cat instincts. She was lazy, hedonistic, irresponsible, oversexed and oversensualised – with spurts of anger and aggression. Her human side found all of this insufferable and confusing.

The tension between her cat soul and her human soul was unbearable. One had to go.

Examples

During this West Coast Avengers span, Ms. Nelson’s behaviour is altered thus :

Characterisation hypotheses

Here are our No-Prize HypothesisA made-up explanation to plug a plot hole. as to the peregrinations of Tigra’s characterisation.

Tigra starts as a brash and confident adventuress with animalistic vitality. Admittedly she never was very perceptive, but most of her failures in this area were the product of retconsMaking changes to a character or story after the fact..

However, as the years pass her characterisation degrades into a lack of courage, initiative and poise.

A heart full of soul

This is never explained. Yet, the cat soul subplot whose resolution marks the end of this era can be seen as a retroactive explanation of Nelson’s vagaries.

Here is one — hypothetical — framework in which Nelson’s characterisation makes sense.

Step #1

Her initial state is the rather unliberated Greer Nelson. She is then granted enhanced abilities and mentality by Dr. Tumolo, perhaps based on the best qualities of Cat People.

Step #2

She is shot using alpha radiation, and either killed or almost killed.

In our proposed framework, the blast also demolishes the Cat enhancements, who fade away to nothing over the following 10 or 15 years.

Step #3

A cat soul is urgently merged with her by Dr. Tumolo to resurrect or revive her, and Nelson now has two souls.

At this point, she is Greer who is still strengthened by the Cat enhancements. She thus has the strength to cope with her new, additional soul and remain in control. It’s not easy and she is a changed person, but she’s still confident and vital.

Step #4

As the Cat enhancements fritter away, she increasingly is just plain lil’ Greer in Tigra’s body. She learned to cope with the feline soul as she still had her Cat willpower, but she’s no longer making progress and is coasting on her previous gains.

Eventually the situation deteriorates and her strength and decisiveness crumble. Dr. Tumolo’s enhancements are gone.

It is possible that Dr. Tumolo was providing some sort of mystical, mental and/or psychological help in maintaining the Cat’s strength. Since Greer’s characterisation deteriorates after Dr. Tumolo is killed.

Step #5

The feline soul becomes ascendant. During her time in San Francisco and her early West Coast Avengers era this is a good thing. It bolsters her confidence and assertiveness.

However the feline soul increases its hold and Tigra soon loses control. She becomes unable to resist her urges, since her willpower is the cat soul’s.

Step #6

Wearing the Hellcat costume somehow bolsters her in a way very similar to her Cat enhancements. Greer can now handle her soul duality.

How that worked is unknown, but a very similar reinforcement took place when Patsy Walker donned the costume in 1976. Which is odd, since the costume is not *supposed* to be anything special. And yet !

Define “soul”

The nature of the “cat soul” existing within Tigra is something of a mystery.

Here are the — contradictory — clues :

Quotes

“I can’t help it, Jarv ! I’m a creature of passion – half-human, half-cat and all-l-l female !”

(Pouncing on Deathbird in mid-air) “Howdy-doody, flygal. I’m Tigra, new hero on the block ! I’m your basic cat by nature — and you’ll never guess what we do to canaries.”

Bloomingdale’s saleslady: “May we help you… uh… Miss ?”
Tigra: “Yes ! I’m the new anti-rodent security person, girls ! Seen any mice around ? Hmmmm ?”
Saleslady: “M-mice ?”
Tigra: “Just kidding !” (proceeds to shop)

“So much of my life has been just one darned thing after another ! Everything from becoming Tigra to signing up with the Avengers seems to have happened to me by accident. Sure, I’ve made plenty of decisions along the way, but I’ve never really felt in control… not now — and certainly not in my pre-furry days !”

“Hey, tall, stark and handmade… wanna fall for me ?” (smashes a robot off a plane)

“Oh, ‘thinking’ ! I used to do that, but it gets in the way of my instincts !”

“Either way, I’ll match the spirit of the Tigra against your mangy canine spook any day ! I’m a warrior, wolf-man ! A legend !”

“Sheesh ! Some days I wonder why I bothered to get out of my kitty basket.”

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