TIGERSTRIKE

Created by: Rik Offenberger
Art by: Gilbert Monsanto

PERSONAL INFORMATION

REAL NAMES: Tony Tarantino
IDENTITY: Public
OCCUPATION: Corporate Security Officer for the Factory
PLACE OF BIRTH: Washington DC
CITIZENSHIP: United States of America
MARITAL STATUS: Single
KNOWN RELATIVES: None
KNOWN ALLIES: Murder Hornet, Dr. Rottman, Ariel-51
GROUP AFFILIATIONS: Aryan Alliance
BASE OF OPERATIONS: Washington DC
EDUCATION: Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
FIRST APPEARANCE: G-Men United #2
HEIGHT: 7’2″ (218 cm) in hybrid form, 5’10” (178 cm) in human form
WEIGHT: 1,045 lbs (474 kg) in hybrid form, 165 lbs (75 kg) in human form
EYES: Yellow in hybrid form, Green in human form
HAIR: Orange with Black Stripes in hybrid form, Red in human form

HISTORY

After losing a bet with his buddies, Tony had to travel east of downtown Washington DC, to Chinatown, and have his karma fixed by a Chinese Shaman. Tony is a Catholic and didn’t believe in the Chinese “mumbo jumbo” but a bet is a bet. In Chinatown, he paid a Chinese Shaman (薩滿祭司), to remove his bad karma (業力). The Shaman wore a tiger skin (虎皮) and performed the ritual to dispel Tony’s bad karma by symbolically devouring it. The ritual would go dangerously wrong, turning Tony into a weretiger (虎人). Afterward, Tony more or less could control his transformation. The shaman explained that Tony was sentenced to eat a number of people for transgressions against “Tian” (天). His ability to return to human form at will would allow him to conspire with his assigned victims. Tony forsook his penance and does not want to remove the curse, he uses his weretiger form as an enforcer for the Aryan Alliance and no longer considers Chinese mysticism “mumbo jumbo”.

POWERS & ABILITIES

Tigerstrike is a shapechanger, weretiger, who can use his action to polymorph into a tiger-humanoid hybrid, and back into its true humanoid form. In the hybrid form, the ears, nose, and teeth became more tiger-like. though the overall shape of the head is still humanoid. A 5 feet (152.4 cm) long tail extends from his spines.

Tigerstrike possesses superhuman strength, enabling him to lift (press) in excess of 100 tons. Tigerstike only attains this strength level when he is in weretiger form. In human form, Tony possesses the normal human strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engages in no regular exercise.

In addition to great strength, In hybrid form, Tigerstrike’s body possesses a high degree of resistance to injury, pain, and disease. Tigerstike’s skin is capable of withstanding great heat without blistering (up to 3,000° Fahrenheit), great cold without freezing (down to -190° F), and great impacts (he can survive direct hits by field artillery cannon shells). However, it is possible to injure him for a time. Tigerstike’s highly efficient physiology renders him immune to all human diseases.

Tigerstike can use his superhumanly strong leg muscles to leap great distances. Tigerstike has been known to cover 3 miles in a single bound. His tail balances him and he always lands on his feet.

WEAPONS & PARAPHERNALIA

As a security officer, Tony carries a Beretta M9A1 9mm semi-automatic pistol, in hybrid form Tigerstike needs no weapons or paraphernalia.