Tigress

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Background

Powers and Abilities

Tigress is fast, vicious, smart and practically never misses (though it is possible to cut, smash or snatch her bolts in mid-flight). Although she is a remarkable fighter (especially at a range, but she’s also very good in melee), it is comparatively easy to take her down.

It is not known where the Tigress gained a superhuman sense of smell, but her right eye now seems to be cybernetic. Thus, it might be cybernetic systems replacing her sinuses. Her sense of smell allows her to sense fear and other emotions through the sweat of the subject.

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She seems very handy with technology, but there is no tangible information saying she builds her own gear. At the very least she uses all kinds of electronics, explosives, computer equipment, etc. as a power user.

Her Unluck will often manifest itself as a sudden, potent attack coming out of nowhere and knocking her out by surprise :

• Killer Wasp’s blast.
• Her mother in the tribunes trying to shoot Jones.
• Hawgirl’s reincarnation memories.
• Etc.

History

Artemis is the daughter of two famous Golden Age costumed criminals, the Sportsmaster (a foe of the Green Lantern) and the second Tigress (aka the Huntress – a foe and lover of Wildcat, and a former member of the Young All-Stars).

Named after the ancient Greek goddess of the hunt, she followed in the footsteps of her parents and became a teenage costumed criminal. She fused the signature styles of her parents. Like her mother she was an archer and acrobat (though she used a crossbow instead of a bow) and like her father she was an excellent all-round athlete.

For her early biography and career using the name “Artemis”, see the previous profile.

Face it, tigress…

When Artemis Crock returned after years spent off-panel , she sported a new code name and look, and seemed even more dangerous. Johnny Sorrow picked her as one of the footsoldiers sent after the newly-reborn JSA. She likely took the contract for a shot at foes of her parents, such as Wildcat or Sentinel.

Being noticeably more competent than her colleagues, she nearly defeated Wildcat with a baseball bat and a skipping rope. However, her teammate Killer Wasp semi-accidentally zapped her with a bio-electric discharge.

After recovering, Tigress joined the Summer Olympics delegation of the tiny rogue state of Zandia, where she was apparently a resident. The impressive Zandian archery team starred Merlyn, his protégé Turk, and Tigress, using a bow for a change. During the games Tigress was also reunited with her colleague and friend from Injustice Unlimited, Hazard.

The Zandian team clashed with Young Justice, and Tigress was easily defeated by Impulse. Still, she managed to compete against Cissie King Jones (formerly Arrowette). However, Artemis’s mother decided to intervene and discreetly graze Jones with a poisoned arrow, despite her promise to her daughter that she would do no such thing.

The plan failed due to the vigilance of Jones’s own mother. Both Tigress and Merlyn (who was the one hit by the arrow) had to step down from the competition, leaving an easy victory for Jones.

King of Sorrow

Tigress’s next documented contract was to accompany the return of the Sorrow version of the Injustice Society. For a new assault on the JLA, she teamed up with her old friend Icicle II and newcomer Shiv. Within seconds Tigress put a wooden bolt (made of a shaft taken from Blackbriar Thorn) right in Sentinel’s chest.

She also managed to defeat Hawkgirl. She entangled her wings with a weighted net then gleefully beat her up and pried her mask open with a knife. However Hawkgirl then coincidentally exploded with mystical energy, knocking Tigress out.

Tigress then joined Circe’s army of female supervillains in New York City. She had the time of her life, since Circe teleported many male heroes there and transmogorified  them into animals to be hunted.

Wonder Woman organized a counterstrike with a army of superheroines. Tigress fared pretty well – she and Cybercat took out Chrysalis. Crock then started hunting down Rusalka and a wounded Firebird. Subsequent events are unrevealed.

The game’s afoot

Tigress later came to work for Kristopher Roderic, one of the foremost dealers in art and antiquities. She joined a small team of killers along with Shadow Thief and Copperhead. Most of those mercenary assignments were not documented, but they once hunted Danny Evans, an American archaeologist who was looking for a legendary artefact in Punjab.

Evans proved to be a resourceful and elusive target, but they eventually caught him. However, the hawks were there. Huntress tried to get her revenge on Hawkgirl – but the winged wonder was now much more martially adept. Hawkgirl snatched Tigress’ bolt in mid-flight bare-handed, then engaged her in a brawl.

The Tigress managed to escape with the book Evans was using to locate the artefact. However, Hawkgirl and Evans soon repossessed the book. The Tigress was stalking the pair to snatch it back when Roderic’s troops turned against them. Crock killed their officer but was forced to retreat from the heavily-armed team (though one suspects she eventually killed them out of anger).

The mercenary trio grew tired of Roderic’s treacherous ways and late payment. A few weeks after the Evans job, they all quit and went their separate ways.

Legacy of injustice

Tigress (as well as Icicle II and Shiv) joined the Legacy version of the Injustice Society, which again confronted the JSA. The operatives’ job was just to stick teleportation disks onto the old-timers. Hating the hawks, Tigress was the one who took them on and slapped a disk on Hawkman’s chest, sending him away. Legacy then teleported his successful team away.

Legacy was later revealed to be the same man who had organised Injustice Unlimited, Artemis’s first known group – the Wizard.

Crock’s next employer had her run various missions, including beating up and denying payment to a group of mercenaries in Hub City for a breach of contract. Her services were then required by Icicle, whom the badly damaged Wizard had reached for help.

She was but the beginning – Icicle, the Wizard and Tigress then reunited with the Rag Doll and then the Thinker. They then recruited the Gentleman Ghost, who took them to Grundy. Grundy accepted to join them when Rag Doll lied and told him Icicle was being mean toward Tigress.

The Wizard wanted this team to steal the Cosmic Key from the JSA vaults. He hoped to use this powerful artefact to exorcise the powerful that was haunting his astral form, making him powerless and slowly killing him. Despite the danger involved, the team had a good esprit de corps  and took the mission on.

A cosmic heist

The team set up a series of false alarms to send away the JSA’s heavy hitters. They then invaded their headquarters, and procured the key. The Gentleman Ghost even determined which entity was killing the Wizard. It was their former employer, Johnny Sorrow.

The super-villains army called the Society then betrayed the Wizard’s Injustice Society, complete with a sudden yet inevitable betrayal by the Rag Doll. The Injustice Society got out fo this mess by the skin of their teeth. In the fracas, Tigress fought Wildcat and earned a Pyrrhic victory – she wasn’t knocked out as badly as Grant was. In the end :

• Tigress and her team mates escaped from both the JSA and the Society.
• The Wizard fully recovered.
• The Key gave them access to Prometheus’ Crooked House to use as a base.
• They brought Johnny Sorrow back by letting Rag Doll betray them and be incinerated by the eldritch energy of Sorrow’s return.

Tigress and Icicle nearly fought when she realised that everybody but her had counted on Rag Doll betraying them to bring Sorrow back. However, Icicle confessed that his goal as team leader had been to impress her in the hope of winning her heart back. This mollified her, and they eventually renewed their relationship.

Tigress (and Icicle II) were last seen when robbing a bank in New York City, quite possibly to fund an exotic romantic vacation. However, they were jumped by the new version of Infinity Inc.. They hey started fighting but Infinity’s superhumanly strong member Matrix appeared behind them and knocked them out by surprise.

Description

The warpaint over her right eye, while not always very well drawn, is a stylised tiger paw. I *think* this is a tattoo that she can cover with makeup in the rare cases she wants to go incognito.

Tigress was deemed “pretty” by an expert on the matter, Solomon Grundy.

Personality

As the teenage Artemis she was brusque, brash and businesslike. She had strong killer instincts, and would in fact engage in Killing combat unless ordered not to.

Tigress is older, and she is now a professional killer. She retains something from her Artemis days, though. She seems to dislike other costumed adventuresses, and will make them her preferred target, often picking the prettiest one.

Tigress is not a nice person. She kills brutally, hunts mercilessly, and tends to cruelly taunt her preys. She is possessive toward her targets, and hates the possibility of somebody interfering with her kills.

She seems to dislike being in her civvies, and feels she looks stupid when she’s not in costume and has to hide her facial tattoo.

Relationship

Her parents seem very important to Artemis, perhaps because they spent so much time away from her in prison. When she is between contracts, she will often attempt to avenge defeats her parents met decades ago. As a part of this, hates the JSA and anything connected with it (such as Infinity, Inc.).

Like the other Injustice Society members (Icicle II, Gentleman Ghost, the Wizard, and to some extend Grundy) she feels strong loyalty toward her teammate. She was in fact the one person who would have refused to sacrifice their psychotic traitor member, the Rag Doll.

Apparently her relationship with Icicle has been on-again, off-again, with at least one bad breakup. They tend to range the gamut from bickering constantly, to ignoring each other, to pretending they never were were in a relationship, to badly wanting to be with each other.

Their relationship seems more stable and mature now, though, and they have various projects together. Artemis’s temper could make things difficult, but she seems more mature than she used to be and Icicle II definitely is.

Quotes

“I can smell him… his adrenergic response is working overtime.”

(Hitting Wildcat with a baseball bat to the face) “This one’s for dad !‘

“Winged wonder is mine. Is the brat dead yet ?” (POOM)

“I can taste your fear, Kendra. Your sweat is full of it.”

“Last words, birdie. Smoke ’em if you got ’em.”

“My mother always loved the hunt.”

“Cash only, Roderic. And double. That’s for sellin’ me out to your little Army buds.”

(Facing the hawks) “The lovebirds. You two lay eggs together yet ?”

“You mercs never seem to get what that [clause] means. ’Margin of error‘ means when I show up, you don’t die.”

(Voice trembling slightly) “I’m good. Think I’ve got a couple cracked ribs, though.”

By Sébastien Andrivet.

Source of Character: DC Universe.