Favorite Female Characters in Literature # 22: Tigra
Favorite Female Characters # 22: Tigra
Ahhh, Tigra. The character for which, perhaps more than any other character that will appear on this list, is most often depicted in images that conflict with safe search. She’s a beautiful cat girl in a bikini, and she was around before furries, so it’s okay to like her. Really… it’s okay. She’s also, sadly, the character whose history, for the main part, I deny the hell out of. Jesus… only the Wasp has gone through more shit storylines. Still… there’s a lot to love about the character… mostly her (when written well) independent spirit and her (when written well) sense of whimsy, and her underlying erotica, which, when written poorly, becomes a fountain of cretinous sex-fantasies. But when written well… when written as a woman rather than a premature ejaculation, she’s a fantastic character.
Technically Tigra's first appearance. See... she was "The Cat" at first, but then she became Tigra and another woman became Hellcat, except Hellcat wore the Cat's costume, and it all makes sense as long as you've had enough whiskey. Why aren't you having whiskey RIGHT NOW?
Tigra's first appearance as Tigra. And look, another of my favorite characters from when I was a kid... Werewolf by Night! If Woodgod and Modok had been in this comic, I'd still be carrying a copy of it around Every Single Day.
Hey Tigra, you doing anything tonight? "Why, yes. I'll be stalking the night as a half-human huntress, preying on those would would prey on YOU!" Ahhh... cool. Well, some friends and I are getting some pizza and watching Arrested Development, if you want to come over later.
And now… since Tigra cosplay (which I whole-heartedly encourage, incidentally) can spill a little into… the strange, I want to provide a helpful guide on how to do Tigra cosplay correctly.
Yes. Nice. VERY well done. I'm sort of in love with you and I don't feel creepy about it. High marks.
Another winner. And nice work with the outdoor setting, lending credence to the animal nature of the character. Gold star for you, young lady.
Hmmm. Well, we're a little bit off track, here. I don't think you're quite capturing the look or feel of Tigra. But, what the hell... CALL ME.
Now I'm just confused. Is somebody playing a joke on me, because I'll have you know that...
... OH CRAP!! Is that Martha Stewart? That's Martha Stewart, isn't it? Damn! Look, let's just abort this cosplay tutorial before...
Oh god damn it! GOD DAMN IT! Tigra, I still love you... but I'm GONE!
THE “FAVORITE” LIST SO FAR…
#25: Scarlet Witch
#24: Chance Falconer
#23: Vampirella
#22: Tigra
——- DOWN BELOW IS JUST A REHASH OF WHY I’M DOING THIS LIST ———
I’ve been thinking about women, lately. Women characters in comics. Women creators in comics. Female characters in literature. And pretty girls riding around on bicycles or walking along the sidewalk, etc, etc. Because of this, I’ve decided to make An Entirely Useless List. Why is it entirely useless? Because it’s my top 25 female characters from comics and literature, and such lists change at whim and at a breakneck pace. It’s IMPOSSIBLE to quantify favorites… the term favorite is far too malleable. A list of my best friends from high school, for instance, would not include anyone with whom I’m currently in contact. Times change. Still… I’m making the list. Why? I suppose I just like thinking about women.
Tigra is one of those characters that I feel a bit weird about liking, for the reasons you’ve stated. Also, I really liked Emma Frost’s line to her in Avengers Academy #22, last week: “Don’t let anyone tell you that’s not an appropriate outfit for a schoolteacher.” Cos she’d know.
Emma ranks quite high on this ongoing list of mine.
Tigra is that one character that I’d have a clear vision for, as a writer. So much terrific storytelling potential there. If a writer ever started treating Tigra as an A-list character, she’d be there in a hurry. You wouldn’t even need to invent any new backstory or modify anything that’s already happened.
As-is, she’s in that severe danger zone. Big enough that they’re well-known to readers and writers, not so big that messing around with the character would damage a licensed property that generates huge profits outside of comics.
You know what I mean? When a writer needs to kill a character off to “make a story more meaningful and illustrate the dangers at hand to the main characters,” when an editor wants to jump onto the a demographic trend by making a character into a vampire, when there’s a point in a mega-event where SOME character has to be revealed to have secretly been an enemy agent all along, who’s been killing off heroes and undermining Earth security for ten years, as a Shocking Twist to the story…they always reach for these characters on the middle shelf.
I know EXACTLY what you mean about that “danger” level of a character. I consider it the “Let’s kill the Wasp!” level.