Tigra appeared in 1972 Marvel Comics called The Cat. Greer Nelson (née Grant) formerly worked as the costumed vigilante known as the Cat, enhanced by Dr. Joanne Tumolo who gave her cat-like powers tied to her costume. She was later mutated into Tigra, a Human/Tiger hybrid, created through a mystic ritual that bound her soul to one of the Cat People, a race of humanoid cats created during the Middle Ages. Powered by the Cat's Head Amulet, she can transform from her human form to Tigra, and became the Cat People's champion. She was later recruited into the Avengers and became a prominent member of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Born the only daughter to Gregson and Janet Grant, Greer Grant lived in Chicago all her life, and eventually fell in love with a policeman, William Nelson while attending her sophomore year of college. As Will was protective of her, wanting to be the hero in their relationship, Greer chose to drop out of college to be a housewife. However, when they came upon a robbery in progress after a night out, Will was fatally shot and died in her arms. Being unable to afford her home and unable to get a job due to her dropping out, she found good luck in becoming the laboratory assistant to Dr. Joanne Tumolo, her college professor.
Out of financial desperation, Dr. Tumolo had accepted private funding for her project from Malcolm Donalbain, an eccentric who planned to use her conditioning equipment in his nationwide chain of health clubs. Not trusting the test subject that Donalbain had coerced her to use, Tumolo had Greer secretly undertake the experiment alongside Donalbain's test subject, Shirlee Bryant, and Greer Nelson emerged from the treatments with superhuman physical capabilities, and heightened senses. However, after Tumolo discovered Shirley dressed in one of Donalbain's specially designed cat costumes, Bryant died in a test of her abilities. After Donalbain had his henchmen set off explosives in the laboratory staged like an accident, Tumolo was injured. Believing her mentor to be dead, Greer was determined to stop Donalbain's plans, she donned a stolen costume, and went calling herself the Cat. She thwarted Donalbain's plans, but due to his intense haphephobia, he committed suicide. Sometime after this, Greer learned that Tumolo wasn't killed but rather hospitalized for apparent brain damage. During this time, Greer continued as the Cat and pursued a very brief career under the alias as a crime-fighter, operating mostly within the Chicago area.
Following the Man-Killer after her assassination of the Mayor of Chicago, Greer barely survived their inaugural encounter, and ventured to New York City hot on her trail. As most men would dismiss her, Greer had a short "spar" with Spider-Man over the city to prove her ability. After informing Spider-Man of her mission, he gladly joined her, and the pair ventured to Harlem to stop Man-Killer's attack on a power plant, but lost sight of her after immobilizing her compatriots. When plant manager Watkins informs the heroes that Man-Killer escaped with radioactive materials, Spider-Man intercepted her, and following a short skirmish, The Cat informed Man-Killer that her exo-suit was designed by men from A.I.M. which causes the villain to go into a rage, then a mindless state upon the realization.
Unbeknownst to Greer, Tumolo was a member of the Cat People, a race of humanoids magically evolved from cats in Europe during the Middle Ages. Prior to the explosion, Donalbain had engineered, Tumolo had become aware of a Hydra plot to steal an ancient bacterial culture developed by Tumolo's ancestors: The Black Death. Hydra had discovered Tumolo's secret ancestry and suspected her of possessing the formula for "The Final Secret," but Tumolo had feigned brain damage to evade them, but they abducted her from her private home during her 'recovery'. Greer put on her Cat costume and pursued them. Hydra agents fled from the Cat's attack, but during the confrontation managed to shoot her with "alpha radiation." To save Greer's life, Tumolo and the Cat People mystically transformed her into the legendary half-human, half-cat warrior they called the Tigra. As Tigra, Greer helped the Cat People defeat the Hydra agents.
Although she was able to use the Cat's Head amulet to change back to her human form, Greer became so accustomed to and enamored of her feline form that she seldom made the transformation. Moving from Chicago, she became a full-time adventurer, encountering and defeating such menaces as the Rat Pack led by the Super-Skrull in his human guise as Joshua Plague, Kraven the Hunter, and Tabur. She also briefly worked with Red Wolf, the Thing, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four. When back in Chicago, she was pursuing Kraven but was caught in his trap for her. She was made into his pet to fight Spider-Man, but the wall-crawler instead freed her from the mind-control collar, allowing the duo to best Kraven in his own hunting grounds.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Feline Physiology: Tigra's feline physiology grants her a number of superhuman physical capabilities.
- Superhuman Strength: Tigra possesses superhuman strength sufficient to lift about 10 tons. Her physical strength also extends to her powerful leg muscles in lesser degrees, allowing her to perform a standing jump of 12 feet in height.
- Superhuman Speed: Tigra can run and move at speeds superior to that of even the finest human athlete and reach 70mph in a chase.
- Superhuman Stamina: Tigra is capable of performing at peak condition for more than 90 minutes straight without growing tired.
- Superhuman Durability: Tigra's physical durability allows her to withstand blows from most attacks, such as melee and ranged attacks from Super Skrull, or a point-blank headshot from a repulsor blast by Frank Castle. With this durability comes a minor healing factor, leaving her in pain for a short duration before recovering within a day or so.
- Superhuman Agility: Tigra's scientific and mystical augmentations afford her the agility of her namesake, able to move gracefully and swiftly across a scene whether it be concrete cities like New York and Chicago or lush locations like the Savage Land.
- Superhuman Reflexes: Tigra is able to detect threats and can react at faster speeds than normal humans with her feline physiology.
- Superhuman Senses: Tigra's senses are about ten times as keen as an average human's, and about five times that of an average cat's. Tigra's eyesight extends into the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, granting superhuman visual acuity and even allowing for night vision. Her vertically-slit pupils allow a greater range of vision above and below her, which allows her to more easily detect the movements of an opponent. Tigra's hearing is sufficiently acute as to detect a ball of tissue paper being dropped at a distance of 40 feet. With her highly developed sense of smell, she can selectively sort through various odors so as to follow a quarry's trail. She can detect subtle alterations in the composition of perspiration that reflect mood or emotions, and is highly sensitive to pheromones.
- Fangs and Claws: Tigra's fangs and claws are extremely sharp and tough, enabling her to rend through a variety of substances including a variety of metals such as steel.
- Empathy: Tigra has the ability to enhance and control the emotions of others to a degree, even affording her power to restore and sense people's repressed memories. This ability has the added advantage of granting a slight resistance to telepathic attacks.
- Tigra is a good hand-to-hand combatant and pilot. Her senses also afford her impressive tracking skills.
Arsenal[]
- Cat's Head Amulet: Tigra wears a cat's head amulet around her throat which serves as a talisman for her change from feline form to human and vice versa.
Weakness[]
- With her enhanced senses, she is especially vulnerable to sonics and high-pitched noises.