History ComicBook / WhiteTigerMarvelComics

* MistakenIdentity: There's a running gag in Pierce's series that Angela's constantly mistaken for other superheroes. First it's ComicBook/EmmaFrost, then ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} jumps her because [[WhatAnIdiot he thinks]] she's the ComicBook/BlackCat.

* PetTheDog: Ayala allowed her sister-in-law Soledad in her house, and it is implied that she is supporting her throughout her depression after her brother's death. Despite the fact that Soledad intended to file for divorce immediately after her husband White Tiger (Hector Ayala) was wrongfully arrested for murder, because Hector had promised her he'd give up being a superhero. And part of the reason Hector had a break down after he was convicted was because during the trial, when the prosecuter questioned their marriage, she couldn't stand the pressure and left the courthouse. Despite all that, Ayala does not hold that against Soledad and still helps her. When Ayala's son Rey protests allowing Soledad in their house after how she treated Hector during his trial, she states that Soledad is Hector's widow, she's family, and she has not been well since Hector's death.

** In ''Mighty Avengers'', Ava stares down the spirit of the White Tiger within the necklace and wins, giving her almost total access to its power. She is now a conduit for one of the oldest, most frightening gods in the Marvel Universe, which means she's fast and strong enough to give ComicBook/{{Thor}} a hard time.

* RememberTheNewGuy: As a member of Hector's family, Angela is {{retcon}}ned as having known ComicBook/LukeCage and [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist Danny Rand]] for long enough that she considers them honorary uncles.

* RoguesGalleryTransplant: Gideon Mace and his paramilitary organization were recurring foes for ComicBook/LukeCageHeroForHire in the 1970s. His single battle against White Tiger remains his most memorable and effective appearance to date, to the point where it overshadows any other appearance he ever made. ''ComicBook/MightyAvengers'' goes as far as to show that Gideon Mace's return sends Ava on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

* RememberTheNewGuy: As a member of Hector's family, Angela is {{retcon}}ned as having known ComicBook/{{Luke Cage|HeroForHire}} and [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist Danny Rand]] for long enough that she considers them honorary uncles.

* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Ava's family kicked her out on account of taking up the same lifestyle that killed her big brother and her niece.
[[/folder]]

!!Tropes:

[[redirect:Characters/MarvelComicsWhiteTiger]]

[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/whitetigers_5364.PNG]]

The White Tiger is a superheroic identity held by three related Puerto Rican superheroes in the mainstream Franchise/MarvelUniverse.

The original White Tiger was Hector Ayala, who happened across the three mystical amulets worn by the now-obscure 1970s super-team the Sons of the Tiger. The amulets were pieces of an ancient artifact from [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist K'un-L'un]]. When Hector wore all three at once, it gave him superhuman strength, speed, and agility, as well as a working knowledge of K'un-L'un-style kung fu, which he used to defend his neighborhood.

The character first appeared in ''Deadly Hands of Kung Fu'' #19 (December, 1975), created by writer Creator/BillMantlo and artist Creator/GeorgePerez. He held his own series up to issue #32 (January, 1977). It included crossovers with other heroes of the time such as Jack of Hearts and Shang Chi. The series ended in a CliffHanger with Hector and the Sons of the Tiger finding themselves mysteriously drawn to the same location. It was never resolved.

Hector was briefly ComicBook/SpiderMan's sidekick in the 1970s, particularly in the early issues of ''Spectacular''. He first appeared there in issue #9 (August, 1977) and was a regular cast member to #32 (July, 1979). All these appearances were written by Bill Mantlo. He made a few other appearances at the time, guest-starring in the title of the ''Human Fly'' and briefly joining ComicBook/TheDefenders.

Then Creator/RogerStern took over writing ''Spectacular Spider-Man''. Issues #49-52 (December, 1980-March, 1981) featured what was supposed to be the last storyline for the White Tiger. Hector returns home one day to find his parents and sister murdered. He goes on a hunt for the killer and finds himself facing [[CapeBusters Cape Buster]] Gideon Mace and his organization. The murders and the investigation were all part of Gideon's trap and the Tiger fell into it. He gets shot twelve times and struggles to survive in a hospital bed. Once conscious enough to know what he is doing, Hector disposes of the amulet and flees UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity for good, ending his career.

The White Tiger disappeared for decades, until Creator/BrianMichaelBendis brought him back for a ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' storyline in 2002. According to this story, Hector eventually retired from superheroics at his girlfriend's insistence. Years later, he put the costume and amulets back on, but wound up as a suspect in a murder trial after intervening in a pawnshop robbery gone bad. Despite his innocence, Hector was convicted, and guards around the courthouse shot him dead while he was trying to escape.

The amulets then passed to Angela del Toro, Hector's niece and one of the {{FBI agent}}s charged with investigating Daredevil's secret identity. She was drawn to the life of a superhero after going into action alongside Daredevil, and was the star of her own six-issue limited series written by Creator/TamoraPierce. Unfortunately, after that Angela was killed and [[CameBackWrong subsequently resurrected]] as an agent of the ninja clan known as the Hand.

After the events of the "Shadowland" crossover, the amulets reappeared in the hands of Hector's younger sister Ava Ayala. In the mainstream Marvel continuity, she was a student at the ''ComicBook/AvengersAcademy''. She also appears as a ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} agent in the ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'' cartoon show.

After graduating from the Academy, Ava took a job working for Luke Cage as part of his Heroes for Hire. During their first outing, during the ''ComicBook/{{Infinity}}'' crossover, Ava used her amulets as a mystic link to an ancient spirit called the Tiger, which represented the "First Enemy" of humanity: the predator in the shadows that early humans quickly learned to fear. The Tiger used Ava as an avatar, but soon came to regret it. Ava engaged the Tiger in a contest of wills and won, pointing out that the Tiger was no longer as frightening to humanity as it once had been, and thus gaining greater access to its power. She served as a member of Cage's volunteer-led, [[ComicBook/MightyAvengers street-level Avengers team]] before the 2015 ''Secret Wars'' crossover.

She then served as a member of Sunspot's "Avengers Idea Mechanics" field team. After an adventure where she successfully managed to purge Angela of the remnants of her Hand brainwashing, Ava opted to retire and destroyed the original White Tiger amulet.

Angela remains occasionally active as a non-powered superhero, appearing in books such as Ta-Nehisi Coates' ''Captain America''.

Not to be confused with the novel ''Literature/TheWhiteTiger''.

[[foldercontrol]]

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!!White Tiger provides examples of:

[[folder:In General]]
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* AcquittedTooLate: Daredevil was only able to prove poor Hector's innocence after he was killed.
* AmuletOfConcentratedAwesome: How the White Tiger gets their power, though Ava regards it as an Amulet of Concentrated ''Evil''.
* AssholeVictim: When Gideon Mace is eventually killed by [[spoiler:a psychopathic Beyonder]], Ava isn't exactly upset, even if she is briefly considered a suspect.
* BadassFamily:
** Angela considers a family backyard barbecue with what looks like fifty or so people to be a "small gathering," and a lot of the kids are studying kung fu under Daniel Rand. Several of them also happen to be cops. That's going to be a very safe neighborhood in a few years.
** And that's just the Del Toro side of her family. Hector and Ava show that the Ayala family can be just as badass.
* BattleCouple: Ava and Victor Alvarez, the second Power Man. Even before they hooked up, they were landing one-two punches that could drop ''gods''. This didn't last long, and they broke up in the eight-month TimeSkip after ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015''.
* BreakTheCutie: One day, little Ava came home to find thugs had broken into her house and killed her parents. Then their leader shot her in the chest before fleeing.
* BrokenBird: {{Implied|Trope}}. Soledad Ayala intended to file for divorce immediately after her husband White Tiger (Hector Ayala) was wrongfully arrested for murder, because Hector had promised her he'd give up being a superhero. Matt Murdock convinces her to hold off divorcing him until after the trial because if she divorces him right now that would just send the message that he's guilty. She agrees to hold off the divorce, admitting both that she knows he's not guilty and that she still loves Hector. But during the trial, when the prosecuter questions their marriage, she can't stand the pressure and leaves the courthouse. Soon after, Hector is convicted despite the efforts of his lawyer, Murdock. Hector is shot dead trying to escape, shortly before evidence emerges that belatedly proves his innocence. In Soledad's last appearance in ''White Tiger'' #6, according to Hector's sister Awilda, Ayala hasn't been right in the head ever since Hector's death, implying that the death and the guilt she has for leaving the trial has destroyed her. She takes the appearance of someone as a new White Tiger as a sign from God that Hector forgives her.
* BroughtDownToBadass: Ava destroyed the amulet during her time with A.I.M., but it didn't stop her and Angela going out to beat up bad guys anyway.
* ColorAnimalCodename: The white tiger.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim:
** Hector hadn't appeared in the comics at all for something like twenty years before reappearing in Bendis and Maleev's ''Daredevil''. [[BackForTheDead He dies six issues later]].
** Angela got a miniseries all to herself, then just dropped off the face of the Earth, only reappearing to be murdered by Lady Bullseye.
* EmotionBomb: One of the powers the Tiger Amulet grants is the ability to induce fear in others, owing to the Tiger God's status as PrimalFear personified.
* EveryoneHasStandards: When White Tiger (Hector Ayala) was wrongfully arrested for murder, his wife Soledad intended to file for divorce immediately because Hector had promised her he'd give up being a superhero. Matt Murdock convinces her to hold off divorcing him until after the trial because if she divorced him right away that would just send the message that he's guilty. Realizing this, Soledad admits that she knows he's not guilty and still loves him, and agrees to hold off the divorce until the trial is over and support him.
* FaceHeelTurn: After her assassination and resurrection, Angela went from a well-meaning rookie superhero to a ruthless agent of the Hand.
** HeelFaceTurn: ''ComicBook/NewAvengers2015'' has Angela's mind restored to normal by Ava.
* FairCop: Angela.
* GoodWearsWhite: All of them are heroes and all have worn white.
* GreatWhiteFeline:
** Hector, Angela and Ava's AnimalMotif is based on a white tiger.
** The second character to use the White Tiger name was an actual white Bengal tigress evolved into a woman of East Indian descent by the High Evolutionary. She was part of the short-lived ''ComicBook/HeroesForHire'' revival in the 1990s.
** The Tiger God that resides within the Tiger Amulets has occasionally taken the form of a white tiger though it has also been depicted as green.
* HealingFactor: The amulets give their wearer superhuman resilience and recuperative ability. While she has the amulets, Angela heals from a broken arm in ten days, sleeps maybe three hours a night, and minor injuries are gone in less than a day.
* HeroWorshipper: Ava has a lot of respect for Spider-Man, since he's the one who stopped Gideon Mace after the man killed her family.
* InstantExpert: Put on all three parts of the necklace, gain the equivalent of twenty years studying mystic kung fu.
* ItsPersonal: Gideon Mace murdered Ava's family, nearly killed her brother and sent him on the run. Yes, it's ''damn'' personal for her, so much so she almost lets the Tiger God rip him to shreds.
* LegacyCharacter
* LightIsGood: All White Tigers are superheroes who [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin have worn white.]]
* LightningBruiser: A White Tiger fully empowered by the Tiger God is capable of putting She-Hulk through a wall, and scratching Luke Cage's skin. Y'know, Luke Cage's ''unbreakable'' skin.
* LogicalWeakness: The Tiger God was the first thing ''humanity'' feared, which means the Tiger Amulet's aura of fear doesn't work on things that aren't human, like Atlanteans.
* MistakenIdentity: There's a running gag in Pierce's series that Angela's constantly mistaken for other superheroes. First it's ComicBook/EmmaFrost, then ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} jumps her because [[WhatAnIdiot he thinks]] she's the ComicBook/BlackCat.
* MySuitIsAlsoSuper: Angela's costume was made for her by a tailor at ComicBook/BlackWidow's request. It's stain-proof, bulletproof, and doesn't wrinkle or tear.
* PetTheDog: Ayala allowed her sister-in-law Soledad in her house, and it is implied that she is supporting her throughout her depression after her brother's death. Despite the fact that Soledad intended to file for divorce immediately after her husband White Tiger (Hector Ayala) was wrongfully arrested for murder, because Hector had promised her he'd give up being a superhero. And part of the reason Hector had a break down after he was convicted was because during the trial, when the prosecuter questioned their marriage, she couldn't stand the pressure and left the courthouse. Despite all that, Ayala does not hold that against Soledad and still helps her. When Ayala's son Rey protests allowing Soledad in their house after how she treated Hector during his trial, she states that Soledad is Hector's widow, she's family, and she has not been well since Hector's death.
* PrimalFear: The Tiger spirit channeled by the amulet is the god of this, being representative of the first thing humanity feared.
* PutOnABus: Angela was quietly shuffled offstage so Ava could take the spotlight, due to Ava's supporting role in the ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' cartoon. Years later, Angela returned in ''ComicBook/NewAvengers'', where she was in high-security prison at "The Cellar," the latest in a series of super-villain prisons, and was still BrainwashedAndCrazy. Thankfully, Ava manages to break the brainwashing, but at the cost of the amulets that grant their White Tiger powers. BroughtDownToNormal, Angela becomes an EleventhHourRanger to the New Avengers.
* RememberTheNewGuy: As a member of Hector's family, Angela is {{retcon}}ned as having known ComicBook/{{Luke Cage|HeroForHire}} and [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist Danny Rand]] for long enough that she considers them honorary uncles.
* RoguesGalleryTransplant: Gideon Mace and his paramilitary organization were recurring foes for ComicBook/LukeCageHeroForHire in the 1970s. His single battle against White Tiger remains his most memorable and effective appearance to date, to the point where it overshadows any other appearance he ever made. ''ComicBook/MightyAvengers'' goes as far as to show that Gideon Mace's return sends Ava on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
* SpicyLatina:
** One of the first things Ava does in ''Avengers Academy'' is go after Reptil for not representing the Latino community. Averted in her appearances in ''ComicBook/MightyAvengers'', where Ava is incredibly restrained almost all the time.
** Angela, on the other hand, is almost always [[AvertedTrope even-tempered]], at least before she's [[FaceHeelTurn resurrected as a murderous ninja]].
* TokenMinority: Hector Ayala is very much a product of 1970s Marvel, complete with an origin that ties heavily into the then-new mystic kung-fu side of the universe, and the writers went out of their way to make sure he spoke a lot of Spanish. Angela and Ava don't tend to do the same, as Latino superheroes are much more visible in 2000s Marvel.
* TookALevelInBadass:
** In ''Mighty Avengers'', Ava stares down the spirit of the White Tiger within the necklace and wins, giving her almost total access to its power. She is now a conduit for one of the oldest, most frightening gods in the Marvel Universe, which means she's fast and strong enough to give ComicBook/{{Thor}} a hard time.
** As of 2016's ''New Avengers'', Angela has been equipped with a copy of the necklace from another dimension, complete with its own conduit to that dimension's Tiger God. When she fought Ava, both Tiger Gods decided they liked Angela better and merged, giving Angela ''twice'' the power and leaving Ava powerless.
* UndignifiedDeath: When White Tiger (Hector Ayala) was wrongfully arrested for murder, during the trial despite his lawyer Matt Murdock's best efforts he was convicted. Hector had a breakdown and tried to escape the courtroom, but was shot down by guards. The only good thing that happened was that Matt was able to find evidence that proves his innocence after his death. And it is clear that Hector's friends and family love and miss him, and they respect his memory.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: For most of his ''Spectacular Spider-Man'' appearances, Hector was in a steady relationship with Holly Gillis. When he flees New York in 1981, Holly flees with him. When he re-appeared in 2002, Hector was married to someone called Soledad. Whatever happened to Holly?
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Ava's family kicked her out on account of taking up the same lifestyle that killed her big brother and her niece.
[[/folder]]

!! The White Tiger

[[folder:White Tiger I]]
!!White Tiger I
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2190328_hector_ayala.jpg]]

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Hector Ayala
!!! '''Notable Aliases:''' El Tigre Blanco
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu'' #19

Hector Ayala is the first Puerto Rican superhero in the history of comics, and Marvel's first superhero of Latino descent. Hector is the uncle of Angela del Toro and the brother of Ava Ayala.
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* DroppedABridgeOnHim: After being unceremoniously shoved onto a bus, he reappeared during Brian Bendis' ''Daredevil'' run, accused of murder and found guilty, and then dies in prison.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:White Tiger II]]
!!White Tiger II
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/white_tiger_heroes_for_hire_marvel_comics_h1.jpg]]

!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Heroes for Hire'' #1

An actual white Bengal tigress evolved into a woman of East Indian descent.
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* HumanityEnsues: She was an actual white tiger that was turned into a human. She eventually returned to being a tiger.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:White Tiger III]]
!!White Tiger III
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/white_tiger_marvel_comics_kasper_cole_black_panther.jpg]]

--> '''AKA:''' Kevin "Casper" Cole
--> '''Debut:''' ''Black Panther'' Vol. 3, #50

See [[Characters/BlackPantherTitleCharacter here]] for more info.
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[[/folder]]

[[folder:White Tiger IV]]
!!White Tiger IV
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/99695309b999c8f7f8d27e7e15c668e2.jpg]]

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Angela del Toro
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Daredevil'' Vol. 2, #58

The fourth character to use the name White Tiger. Angela del Toro is the niece of the original White Tiger Hector Ayala and the niece of Ava Ayala. The source of her powers is the Jade Tiger amulets she inherited from her uncle.
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* BackToBackBadasses: With her aunt Ava when they fought against the New Revengers.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Courtesy of the Hand.
* BroughtDownToBadass: Thanks to some manuevering by Avengers Idea Mechanics, Angela is freed of the Hand's brainwashing, but Ava destroys the Tiger amulets, depriving the two of them of their powers. Still, this leaves Angela with all that FBI and martial arts training.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Angela got an introductory arc in ''Daredevil'', and then a miniseries of her own, before dropping off the face of the Earth, only reappearing in ''Shadowland'' to be killed by the Hand, resurrected as a brainwashed minion, and promptly forgotten for years.
* MySuitIsAlsoSuper: It is, among other things, bulletproof. It's not swordproof though.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:White Tiger V]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/white_tiger_ava.jpg]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Ava Ayala
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Avengers Academy'' #20 (December 2011)
!!! '''Team Affiliations:''' ComicBook/MightyAvengers, [[ComicBook/NewAvengers2015 Avengers Idea Mechanics]]

The fifth character to assume the White Tiger mantle, she is the younger sister of Hector Ayala as well as the aunt of Angela del Toro. By this point, the tragedies that have occured to her family mean Ava is much less enamoured of the super-hero life, and the mantle she's inherited.
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* AnimalThemeNaming: The White tiger.
* BadassFamily: Both her elder brother and niece have had runs as the White Tiger. Neither times ended spectacularly well, which is something that troubles Ava.
* BashBrothers: Has become this with Victor Alvarez, the Power Man, as their powers compliment one another.
* BroughtDownToBadass: She destroys the Tiger amulet, figuring it's better than letting the thing roam free, but she still keeps all her fighting skills.
* CatGirl
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu
* FemmeFatalons
* GenreSavvy: Even after destroying the amulets, she notes that sooner or later, it'll show up again. Something like that ''always'' finds a way back. While it hasn't found a new host (''yet''), it's still out there, lurking in the dark.
* HealingFactor
* HeroWorshipper: Toward Spider-Man, who was involved in the Gideon Mace incident. She holds him in high esteem, and is severely disillusioned when the Superior Spider-Man is demeaning towards her and Power Man.
* ItsPersonal: Her family were murdered by Gideon Mace. Ava was willing to try and murder him in revenge, even going as far as letting the Tiger take over.
* LegacyCharacter: The fifth to hold the title, no less.
* NotSoStoic: While on the job, Ava is completely stoic and serious. When she's not... she's slightly stoic, but she is capable of emotion from time to time.
* OfficialCouple: She and Victor start dating around the time of ''Axis'', but break-up after ''Secret Wars'' because Ava was becoming too distant.
* PracticallyDifferentGenerations: Her niece Angela del Toro was ''older'' than she was she became the White Tiger.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Introduced in 2011 as the sister of Hector, and as having been present when Gideon Mace attacked him.
* SpicyLatina: In her first appearance, she browbeats Reptil for not representing Latino folk enough. Downplayed thereafter.
* StaringDownCthulhu: She manages to browbeat a primordial tiger-god into doing what she wants.
* WillingChanneler: One night a month she allows the tiger god to control her body and run free, up until the tiger takes over and tries to violently murder a man, at which point Ava forces it to give up full control to her.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Her remaining family don't want anything to do with her, on account of the amulet. The last time she tried to reach out to them, they drove her away.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Tiger God]]
A primordial tiger-god, born from early mankind's fear of what lies in the dark, and the source of the White Tiger amulet's powers, forever seeking a host so it can roam free in the world once again.
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* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu:
** During ''Infinity'', it mauls the astral form of Shuma-Gorath, though with the caveat that A: It was getting a power boost from Power Man, and B: in terms of physical presence, it was the equivalent of fighting Shuma-Gorath's ''fingernail''.
** In ''Ultimates squared'', it helps T'Challa maul Logos, the corrupted embodiment of universal law, and then both literally and figuratively tears it apart. This is after having been on the receiving end - T'Challa got it to cooperate by beating the crap out of it.
* DemonicPossession: Well, not a demon, but essentially. It takes over Ava at one point during ''Mighty Avengers'', boosting her abilities to insane levels. We're talking "can put She-Hulk through a wall and scratch Luke Cage's unbreakable skin" strong here.
* PantheraAwesome: It's a giant tiger god.
[[/folder]]

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