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Fans of Daredevil are soon in for a devilish treat, with the upcoming Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again continuing the story of the Daredevil series from Netflix. One character set to join the fray is White Tiger, who has a torrid history in Marvel Comics. The mantle of the vigilante has been used by several people, with many of them having particularly bleak fates.
The version of White Tiger in Daredevil: Born Again is likely the original bearer of the mantle, given the released set pics. However, there are five iterations in the comics overall, so others could also appear in the Disney+ series as well. Starting as a brutal street-level antihero, the mantle of White Tiger has mostly remained in this scope ever since. Taking down enemies with violent precision, the White Tiger’s roar comes at the cost of loss and death in many cases.
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First Appearances: Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #19 by Bill Mantlo and George Pérez (Ayala); Heroes for Hire #1 by Roger Stern and Pascual Ferry (Heroes for Hire)
White Tiger debuted in the Bronze Age of Comics and was one of many vigilantes and street-level characters tied to heroes such as Daredevil, Iron Fist and Spider-Man. Using Jade Tiger amulets, Hector Ayala could transform into White Tiger and gain superhuman powers.
His physical faculties were upgraded to superhuman level, though only if he wore all three amulets (which were themselves rooted in the world of K’un L’un, where Iron Fist once hailed from). Using these new abilities, Ayala was a force for good on the streets of New York and other areas, aiding against the enemies of Iron Fist and Shang-Chi. After succumbing to the violent tendencies of the lifestyle, Hector attempted to give up being White Tiger.
Unfortunately, the call of the amulets was too great, and these new heroic activities saw him framed for a crime he didn’t commit.
Despite the efforts of Matt Murdock/Daredevil to prove his innocence, Hector Ayala was sentenced and later killed after trying to escape. Worst of all, evidence was just about to be released that would have seen him exonerated, making his death even more tragic.
The second White Tiger was an evolved Bengal tigermutated into a humanoid form by the High Evolutionary. In this form, she replaced Hector Ayala after a fashion and worked with other street-level heroes in the Heroes for Hire team. There, she met and became attracted to Danny Rand, the Iron Fist, but his romantic inclinations were elsewhere. This was only made worse by her turning back into a tiger whenever her bestial instincts took over. Heartbroken and despondent over her condition, she returned to the villainous High Evolutionary and had him devolve her back to her original form. Afterward, she was forgotten; even her former teammates never really remembered her. This gave her perhaps the weakest legacy within the White Tiger mantle.
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The Third White Tiger Was Actually a Former Black Panther
First Appearance: Black Panther #50 by Christopher Priest and Dan Fraqua
In the 50th issue of his popular Black Panther run, writer Christopher Priest took the series in a new direction by shifting the focus away from T’Challa and the nation of Wakanda. Instead, the new protagonist was Kevin “Kasper” Cole, a narcotics officer in New York City who uses a donated Black Panther costume from a museum to clean the mean NY streets.
By the end of the series, however, he was now known as White Tiger, who in the Wakandan culture is a member of a cult venerating the Black Panther. This mantle wasn’t tied to the previous White Tiger heroes but was more analogous to what War Machine is to Iron Man.
Since then, the Black Panther mythos has gone back entirely to focusing on the Wakandan royal court, and Kasper Cole has had only sporadic new appearances.
T’Challa once offered to train him to become a new, more independent hero, but this hasn’t manifested in any renewed popularity or usage in the comics. Likewise, he’s had no appearances outside the comicsdue to the Black Panther property only becoming as big of a deal as it was almost a decade ago through the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
This obscurity is its own sort of tragedy for the character, and given his more street-level tone that has nothing to do with Wakanda, he could offer a different avenue for the brand as a whole. After all, there’s not even a mainstream universe Black Panther book running at this time, which shows how the property has somewhat stagnated under the weight of royal court politics.
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The Next White Tiger Followed in Her Uncle’s Footsteps
First Appearance: Daredevil #58 by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev
Given his status as the main street-level hero at Marvel, it makes sense that Daredevil would be the hero who introduced the next White Tiger. Angela del Toro was the fourth White Tiger and the niece of Hector Ayala, with her uncle’s death being a harrowing event in her life.
With the Tiger Amulets passed down to her, she questioned if she should use them, as she knew full and well where it landed Hector. Nevertheless, she embarked on her own superhero career and was humbled at the gratitude given to her by a shopkeeper that she saved. Inspired by this, she aided Daredevil and other street-level vigilantes by avenging her former partner by defeating the Yakuza member who killed him.
Unfortunately, her life soon took the same tragic course as other bearers of the mantle.
A female version of Daredevil’s infamous enemy Bullseye killed White Tiger and turned her into an evil Hand assassin. While she’s eventually cured of this state, the event still has a major impact on her. She’s soon shown not to be totally cured of the Hand’s control, harboring dark thoughts and homicidal tendencies.
Having lost her powers, she’s given a new set of amulets by the evil Reed Richards incarnation, The Maker. This causes her to fight her successor, and only after a traumatic battle was she freed from the control of The Hand and The Maker’s amulets. Given that Angela had been a hero to measure up to her slain uncle’s legacy, it was a bittersweet victory that came after several other tragedies.
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Ava Ayala Is the Current White Tiger In Marvel Comics
First Appearance: Avengers Academy #20 by Christos Gage and Tom Raney
Appearing as a member of Avengers Academy, Ava Ayala is the younger sister of Hector Ayala, a fierce proponent of her superhero family legacy. Even more so than Angela del Toro, she wishes to respect her brother and the White Tiger mantle, seeing them both as an honor passed down to her.
She’s also quite proud of her Puerto Rican heritage, and this reflects how Hector was Marvel’s first Latino superhero. She also seems to be an activist, which puts her in contrast with teammate Reptil, who’s not as involved with his ethnic community.
For the most part, she’s broken the curse of a tragic life associated with the White Tiger mantle, her brother’s death notwithstanding.
She’s also been one of the characters to have the mantle the longest, with her debut being almost 15 years ago. Her last battle with Angela saw the White Tiger god’s connection seemingly ended, with the two women wondering who would be chosen as the next White Tiger.
This could see a new character introduced to take up the mantle or have Ava continue to be White Tiger. Given the popularity of the Avengers Academy characters, the latter has the most chance of being the case. For now, Ava Ayala has taken things in a much brighter direction for her family, and she’s since redeemed the saddening legacy of her brother. Whether this will remain that way is unknown, but the Marvel Universe has stopped using the White Tiger as a veritable punching bag for now.
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“}]] Daredevil: Born Again is set to feature White Tiger, and the character has a dark but long legacy in the comics books that involves several heroes. Read More