Tigra Swipe
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| Tigra Swipe and her Bondling kitten, Kilira | |
| Tigra Swipe | |
| Player: @Darkskye | |
| Origin: | Magic |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Security Level: | ' |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | ' |
| Known Aliases: | None |
| Species: | Human, magically altered |
| Age: | 31 |
| Height: | roughly 5'4 |
| Weight: | ~120 lbs |
| Eye Color: | brown |
| Hair Color: | brilliant white |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Jochian |
| Occupation: | Hero |
| Place of Birth: | Jochia |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon, on this realm |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Known Relatives: | ' |
| Known Powers | |
| Tigra is well versed in the use of many weapons, but her preferred weapon is the Broadsword. Her reflexes are sharply honed, and enhanced by magic and her bonding with Kilira. (ie: BS/SR) | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Can view auras and sense magic, able to control magic during battle to enhance her fighting or to perform elaborate battle-related rituals. She is slowly learning some other magic spells in this realm. Excellent acrobat and very resilient, able to land on her feet without injury from great distance (ie: Superjump). Can focus magical energies into herself to move at a much faster pace than average (ie: quickness, swift, and superspeed). | |
| Equipment | |
| Comm Unit / Holographic Transmitter provided by the Sentinels United; Magical-embued uniform that offers far greater armor protection than it appears; Battle-suit created by DATA and Serge that provides a temporary boost to her fighting abilities and reflexes; | |
| Family: Prince of Light (husband), Serena & Regina (twin baby daughters); Rumored to be nigh-impossible to kill (though certainly easy enough to seriously injure); Apparently has ability to heal herself or others, though this is not registered; | |
((Information in the Hero Box is all freely available IC via the hero registration, except the footnotes, which can be considered available via word-of-mouth. The remainder of the information in this file is not considered public, though is known to her friends and family))
Contents |
Hero Identity
Name: Tigra Swipe
Archetype: Scrapper
Origin: Magic
Species: Human, magically altered
Age: 31
Height: roughly 5'4
Weight: ~120 lbs
Eyes: brown
Hair: brilliant white
Gender: Female
Identifying Marks: Red tiger-stripes on her face; Red cat-ears
"Bonded": Kilira (think intelligent familiar)
"Secret" Identity
Name: Trilana Cameron
Species: Jochian/Human, magically altered (see Bonds)
Gender: Female
Hair: Brilliant white unless hidden by hologram (see Equipment). Then it's brown
Marital: Married
Husband: Ian Cameron / Chaladar / Prince of Light
"Father" (unofficially adoptive): Tolarin
Daughters: Serena and Regina, twins, less than a year old
Alternate Aliases
Tigra Dawnswipe
When Tigra (temporarily? That remains to be seen....) obtained the powers of the Aduran race (see Prince of Light ), she adopted the alias Tigra Dawnswipe to reflect her newfound powers of the Light.
Tigra Ebonshard
After her rescue from the demoness Oroan, Tigra discovered she had obtained power over the Ebon Shadows. She either had to master her fear of the darkness and learn to control these shadows, or let them control her. When she fully works with the Ebon Shadow, she uses the alias Tigra Ebonshard.
Affiliations & Alliances
Sentinels United, Second in Command
The New Heroes of Planet Earth
Protectors of the Light
Personality
Loyal
Tigra is fiercely loyal to her friends and adoptive-family in this realm. Once you have earned Tigra's trust, it is very hard to lose it and she will, literally, fight to the death to help or protect you.
Protective
Tigra is very protective of her friends, family, and all innocents who can't otherwise protect themselves. She fights as a hero not because it's a job, not just because she has the skills to do so, but because she is driven to keep this realm safe. It is a cause of her choosing (as opposed to the cause she was told to fight for in her realm), and as such it is one she will not hesitate to die for if necessary. Though, of course, she'd prefer it not become necessary.
Accepting
Having been trained among people of varying looks due to the Bondings on her realm, not to mention her own physical features that set her apart from any other on her world and among just a few on this, Tigra has learned not to judge by appearances. Beautiful, average, grotesque... obvious angel or apparent demon... it doesn't matter how one looks, it's what one IS inside that matters.
She is also very accepting of others who have a hidden or clouded past. What one did before becoming a hero isn't important. It is what they are NOW that matters. Though she is less likely to accept the "turning over of a new leaf" of fully hardened criminals, once a person has shown themselves to be a hero, the past is not a problem.
Loving
Tigra has a very big heart, and she loves easily. Perhaps in part she is making up for having had to lock her heart away on her world where there was no room for family or love. But since coming to this world, she has learned how to love, fallen totally and deeply in love with her now-husband, and shares her heart easily with her friends.
Strong-willed
Stubborn, willful, strong-willed.... no matter which term you pick to use, it definitely applies to Tigra. Getting her to do something she doesn't want to do is next to impossible without magical or mental coercion, just as it is next to impossible to stop her from doing something once she's made up her mind. Only two people have proven able to dissuade Tigra from doing something dangerous after she'd made up her mind, and those are her husband, Ian aka Prince of Light, and her Bonded, Kilira.
Confident
When it comes to the battlefield or her own abilities, Tigra is extremely confident. That comes from having been trained in the use of her weapons and battle techniques since she was 10 years old. With her newfound abilities controling Light and Shadow, she is less confident, and especially when anything reminds her of the ordeal she suffered at the hands of the demoness Oroan. However, with the aid of her friends and family, as well as the support of her Bonded and husband, she has almost returned to her prior levels of confidence.
Peace keeper
Tigra never considered herself a peace-keeper... until arguments and battles (incited by outside sources bent on destroying the team, unbeknownst to those at the time) erupted between her team-mates. Then, more often than not, Tigra's was the voice of reason urging everyone to calm down, talk it out, hear each other, see each other's point of view, and so on. She was surprised to discover people often listening to her and calming down -- apparently she has a knack for keeping the peace. Beyond that done with her sword.
Leader
Tigra is a trained and natural-born leader. While she is perfectly willing and capable of taking orders from a higher-up, and she tries to recognize when someone knows more about a situation than she does and thus will follow them, more often than not she ends up stepping up unconsciously to be a leader. Without even thinking about it, if she sees a team or group in need of direction, she'll snap into leadership mode and bark out orders or instructions. And, for some reason, more often than not, others will listen to her.
Fury
Word of advice... Do. Not. Make. Tigra. Mad. When it comes to injustice toward others or actions against her friends and family, Tigra can slide into a fury that it would be best to steer clear of. And when she develops a personal grudge, best watch out because it will take a lot to remove the grudge. Most often, this shows itself as a determination to make things right. But at times, she can take it too far and into the realm of a personal vendetta. This has happened less often since bonding with her husband and her friend, Kalen. (see bonds)
Spiritual
Though she rarely brings it up, Tigra does believe in various gods and goddesses. In her realm, she worshiped Lorath, the patron deity of her people. She continues that dedication in this realm, regardless of whether or not he has any domain in this realm. She has also become a follower of Tielekku to a degree, thanks to the gifts granted to her by said goddess following a rescue.
Physical Traits
Inherent (not enhanced by magic or her bond with Kilira)
Even if all magic ability were stripped from her and her bond with Kilira broken, these traits would remain. While all within human standards, they are at peak.
Tigra has been working out and training on the battlefield since she was 10. Because of that, she is extremely athletic, and doesn't sit still well. Her strength is at human peak, able to lift about twice her body weight. She is very fast and agile, and generally is very healthy.
Enhanced Magically
Tigra's true physical power comes from magical enhancement. She is able to focus the magical energy from herself, from Kilira, and from the environment around her to enhance her strength (near-superhuman), enhance her reflexes to super-human levels, focus the energy into super speed and the ability to jump super high. In addition, she is extremely resilient, and regenerates from minor injury at a quick rate even without her healing abilities.
Abilities
Weapons Training
On her world, Tigra went through years of training in the use of all manner of weapons available to her people. These included swords, spears, staves, bow and arrow, crossbow, whips, nets, tridents, knives, and far more than it makes sense to list here. While she is proficient in the use of just about any non-technological hand-held weapon, she is truly an expert in her chosen weapon, the Broadsword, and nearly as adept with the Katana. This familiarity with weapons means that, should the need arise, she could pick up the use of handgun, plasma rifle, and other advanced weaponry with little trouble.
Healing
After rescuing the trapped goddess Tielekku, Tigra was granted the gift of healing both of herself and others. While not as powerful as some healing factors (ie: regen pool), it is still sufficient to often make the difference in the heat of battle, and to allow her to recover from wounds that would kill the average human or even many Supers.
Latent Telepathy
Tigra herself has no active telepathic powers. However, she does have latent telepathy that allows her to easily communicate with one who -does- have telepathic powers. This also allows her to instinctively raise telepathic shields (boosted by Kilira), or to travel the astral plane and mindscape easily when led by one versed in the ways of entering said plane. She has the potential to develop these abilities more fully so that she can be the one to initiate astral travel, but she will never be the powerful telepath that her mentor is.
Weak Empathy
Ever since becoming spiritually bonded with Kalen (see bonds), Tigra has developed a weak empathy. It is just enough to allow her to sense the feelings of those around her if she focuses, or to unconsciously tell when a friend is in need of healing or has been injured.
Covert Operations
Tigra spent several years being trained in the art of subterfuge and covert operations, both solo (primarily solo) and in small groups while on her world. While the technology of this world makes some of her methods ineffective, most of her training still applies so it is possible for her to go undercover should the need arise.
Focus & Trances
Part of her training as a battle-mage and Bonded pair involved learning how to enter trance in a very short period. When not in battle, she can enter a trance in a matter of moments. Even in battle, if she can take a moment's pause, she can step back and meditate and push aside emotions and pain for a short period to allow her to continue to work unhindered.
The Ebon Shadows
Acquisition
In August of 2007, Tigra was captured and held prisoner by the demoness Oroan. She underwent intense torture and conditioning as the demoness tried to bend the warrior to her will. Tigra never fully broke, though she believes otherwise, but she was in very poor shape when her friends and family were able to defeat Oroan and rescue her over a month after her capture. Upon reawakening at home in safety, to Tigra's dismay, she discovered she had had the powers of the Ebon Shadow forced upon her will-she nil-she. She had to quickly learn to overcome her fear of the darkness and learn to control the Ebon Shadows before they controlled her entirely. Her sword even rejected her because of her lack of control, and the danger the Ebon Shadows possessed to her and to those around her until and unless she could learn to control them.
Thanks to the help of some friends and teammates who also control shadow, as well as a situation in which she was the only one able to help and only by becoming one with the Ebon Shadows, Tigra has fully overcome her fear of the dark, and except while the (temporary...?) powers of Light confuse her connection to the Ebon Shadows, she has mastered the ability to 'speak' to them. She still has far to go before she'll know every trick she can perform with the Ebon Shadow, but some skills remain with her at almost all times.
Sword Conflict
Tigra's sword is more than it appears. It is a Tool of the Light, and as such, it rejects working hand in hand with the Ebon Shadows. More often than not, her sword will fight against her rather than obey if she tries wielding the shadows at the same time. The Shadows, for their part, act like a confused puppy who knows the sword doesn't like them but doesn't understand why. Tigra's teammates have likened the battle of Sword and Shadow to siblings fighting for their parents' attention. Luckily, in time of great need, the two Powers have thus far gotten along. But in normal times, Tigra has found that only four tricks with the Shadow will her sword permit before it gets stubborn.
Shadow Sense
Since gaining control of the Ebon Shadows, Tigra has learned to interface with them and communicate on an empathic level. This grants her the ability, when her Shadow Shields (shadowfall) are raised, to gain an even higher understanding of the world around her, and to sense at a minor level what the Shadows sense. Even in complete darkness, she would still be able to navigate, assuming the Ebon Shadows answer her call.
Shadow Shields
When called into form around her or her friends, Tigra's Shadow Shields provide some level of camouflage against visual observation and shielding against psionic attack or meddling. Neither of these are overly powerful yet, but every little bit helps.
Ebon Tentacles
The Shadows often answer Tigra's call in the form of tentacles. These vary in size and in ferocity. When called against enemies, the tentacles burn with a cold fire, winding themselves around the enemy to prevent their escape. When called against a neutral party, the tentacles can just hold, providing no injury at all. And when called around a friend, the tentacles act as protection, shielding, or support.
Teleporting Tendrils
Much to Tigra's surprise and her sword's absolute disgust, Tigra has learned that the Ebon Shadows can pull her and her allies through their realm in a journey of darkness to an area approximately of her choosing. Except in times of extreme stress, they are not as accurate as she'd like. And only when Ian's life was in grave danger did her sword not complain when she activated the teleporting tendrils, so Tigra uses them very sparingly on allies and doesn't use them for her own transport except in grave emergency.
Shadow Blast
Just as the name describes, this is a blast of the Ebon Shadows that Tigra sends out from her hands. Her sword has grudgingly accepted this attack. For now...
Bonds
Something about Tigra, perhaps due to her Bond with Kilira, makes it very easy for her to form spiritual, emotional, and magical bonds with people. In order of strength and impact, these are:
Kilira
Tigra's bond with Kilira goes beyond anything encountered with your normal "bond". It is physical (providing Tigra the ears, stripes, hearing, and faster reflexes), emotional, mental, spiritual, and a soul-bond. This bond is so complete that it is literally impossible to break entirely without killing BOTH Tigra and Kilira. It is possible (albeit very difficult) to suppress it to minimal levels, but impossible to break.
Through this bond, Kilira and Tigra can communicate regardless of distance (though greater distance may require entering a minor trance), they can generally tell the direction to the other individual, and they can pass magical or healing energy to each other. Kilira, when dealing with Tigra, is a rather powerful telepath that can shield Tigra from invasive telepathic or empathic thoughts or emotions.
Their bond is so complete that they are like one, in that Tigra can not block out Kilira and she can not block out Tigra.
Furthermore, they have discovered through an incident with Tigra's foe Setharian, that so long as one lives, the other lives as well. This means that unless both are killed, it is apparently impossible to permanently kill Tigra and Kilira (though short-term death has happened). At least... so they believe...
Ian / Prince of Light
Tigra and Ian's relationship started as purely friendship, then good friends, then grew into a love that developed into a soul-bond around the time of their marriage. Through their bond, they are able to communicate telepathically, know the general health of the other, recognize each other regardless of appearance, and would (with need) be able to locate each other across the bond. Because of this bond, and Tigra's pure and devoted love for her husband, Ian is able to reach out to Tigra in ways that no one else can.
Tolarin
Tigra's adoptive father in this realm is a Master of the Arcane, and acts as her mentor and teacher in the ways of magic. He is slowly teaching her how to expand her magic skills outside the realm of battle magic, and as a part of taking her on as an apprentice, has created a magical bond between them. This bond can (and has been) be broken by another powerful mage, or by magic-dampening effects. It also does not carry across dimensions (except in some cases such as the D, or the pocket-dimension Tolarin has set up as his workshop and their home) other than to allow him to be able to detect Tigra's state of being. While Tolarin has used this bond in the past to pull Tigra out of situations where she was getting out of her depth, as she has become experienced in this realm he has taken to paying attention to the bond only when something urgent is happening. This bond also allows Tigra to 'ping' him magically to let him know she wishes to talk to him, and he will respond to the 'ping' telepathically.
Han'yo Aira Kalen
After the death of Ian / Scarlet Streak but before his self-resurrection as Prince of Light, Tigra was in very dire straights. Her serious depression led to a new Sentinel and friend, Han'yo Aira Kalen, to wrap Tigra in empathic support to help keep her from becoming totally suicidal and to deal with the loss of her soulmate. Kalen stood by Tigra at almost all times, until Ian's return as the Prince of Light a few weeks later. After that, she never fully pulled out of Tigra's soul and now, it is too late to do so entirely. Because of this, Tigra has developed (as an extension of Kalen's powers) weak empathy. Also, Kalen can often tell if something is wrong with Tigra, and send support and help to counter negative emotional forces.
Blaargh
Tigra is apparently the reincarnated soul of Blaargh's one-time soulbonded partner, Eshaala. (Blaargh was a fellow Sentinel, also from another dimension). When the magical pendant once belonging to Eshaala suddenly transformed into a perfect miniature likeness of Kilira, then was given to Tigra, the bond that once existed between their souls was reawakened. Blaargh has since disappeared on a personal quest of his own, and as a result the bond between him and Tigra is all but gone. But should he ever return to Paragon, it will likely be restored.
Setharian (removed...?)
Not all bonds on Tigra are beneficial. Not long after becoming a Sentinel, Tigra was taken prisoner by the psi-mage Setharian. He abused the bond between Tigra and Kilira, using it to force Tigra to do his will. In the conditioning that allowed him to manipulate her, he placed several psychic hooks and traps in her mind. It is believed, after the most recent confrontation with him, that all such hooks have been removed. But a bond that once existed is all the easier to reinstate, and she is still afraid of her tormentor. By that fear alone, Setharian still holds some control over her.
Magic
Battle-magic
Tigra is of magic origin, and can sense and manipulate magical energies, but the vast majority of her spells and abilities relate to battle, preparing for battle, or recovering from battle. In battle, she can draw on the magic energy all around to improve her reflexes, senses, regenerative ability, and strength even beyond where she normally maintains things unconsciously. Outside of battle, her most common rituals involve renewing the magic on her sword or her uniform (see equipment).
Battle-trance
Tigra has the ability to enter what she terms a battle trance. This trance allows her to draw magical energy both from the environment around her and from her inner stores and to act with some heightened senses, strength, and durability for a while, at the cost of her emotions and great exhaustion once the spell is released. She can repeat these trances daily for two weeks before she starts feeling the strain, or a month before she risks falling into a coma.
A battle trance can be held for a few hours or a few days, with the exhaustion and weakness following being directly related to how long she maintained the trance. During a trance, she does not sleep and a long-held trance is a serious drain on her resources. The longest anyone from her world was able to hold a battle trance was for ten straight days, and that person fell into a coma from which he never woke. For that reason, unless the need is exceptionally great, Tigra will not hold a trance for more than a week unless she considers it to be a 'final strike'.
Though she has this ability, Ian aka Prince of Light has been able to convince her that she is strong enough to rarely need it, and that the cost is too great for frequent use. At his request, she rarely enters battle-trance any more.
Auras
Tigra has the ability to shift her gaze into the astral and sense people's auras. Sometimes, the state of a person's aura can tell the observer something about that person, and in those cases she is often capable of interpreting what she sees.
Magic Energy
Tigra also has the ability to sense and manipulate the magical energy that exists all around. She can manipulate the energy floating freely in the air (typically in channels), from her own internal stores, or from others who freely 'feed' magical energy to her, like Kilira or Tolarin. She uses the energy she manipulates to fuel many of her abilities, and some of the manipulation she does is, by now, subconscious.
Magical Focus
As she can manipulate and channel magical energies, Tigra can also act as a magical conduit or focus for other mages. By linking with them, she can provide a steady stream of magic, allowing the other mage to perform the spell without having to also focus on drawing energies on their own.
Rituals
Outside of the battle magic she uses, Tigra knows very few quick-action spells. Most other magic she performs, such as imbuing a new uniform with protective spells, requires elaborate ritual and preparation.
Truth
After having been called one too many times to cast the spell of Truth on someone, Tigra's mentor Tolarin finally taught her how to see Truth for herself. She is far from expert with the spell, and certainly can't force someone to speak Truth, but when the spell is Cast, she can generally get a feel for whether someone speaks the Truth or not.
Covert Transformations
((OOC: This information is ONLY known to approximately 7 people ICly, including Tigra and Kilira. It is a very closely guarded secret, at least for now))
One of the rituals Tigra is able to perform is to transform her appearance and traits from one animal totem to another. Doing so requires a huge amount of preparation and a very elaborate ritual that will remove most of Kilira's essence from her, effectively suppressing their bond to minimal levels. She loses her feline attributes, and takes on some attributes and skills of the new animal that she and Kilira have prepared ahead of time. In her Bonded-pair covert ops training, it was discovered that Tigra has the greatest affinity with felines and reptiles, though she could also perform such rituals with canines, rodents and avians without much difficulty, and other animals are theoretically possible. Once she has completed the transformation, she looks entirely different both in physical appearance and in astral signature, though those intimately familiar (ie: those with whom she shares a bond, or some Sentinels with whom she is especially close) with Tigra would be able to recognize her despite the transformations.
Further Training
Though most of Tigra's magic revolves around battle and being a warrior, Tigra is undergoing training in other magical methods with her mentor and adoptive father in this realm, Tolarin.
Equipment
Standard
As with all heroes in Paragon, Tigra is equipped with a cell phone, city comm, hero ID, and medi-port beacon.
Comm
In addition to the standard city equipment, Tigra's holographic comm has been keyed to the Sentinels United frequencies, and tied into the frequencies of their allies.
Sword
At almost all times, Tigra carries with her a broadsword, her weapon of choice. This is more than your average sword, however. It is a magical sword, with its magic abilities keyed to Tigra only (although the sword almost seems to show some very rudimentary intelligence in that it -might- also work for one of those to whom Tigra has bonded). The sword can transform in size from full size to the size of a small dagger. Magic keeps the blade always clean and as sharp or blunt as she needs it to be. It can cut through minor magicks, and the blade can never be broken (or so she believes). In addition, it can be used as a minor shield to, in effect, cut through a magical or sometimes physical blast to cause it to break around Tigra instead of hitting and harming her directly. Furthermore, regardless of instruction, the sword will not deliver a killing blow to a target that has shown itself to be a friend or to a true, pure innocent (such as a child). Since coming to Paragon, Tigra keeps the sword mostly blunted the majority of the time, due to Paragon's rules about lethal blows. Should great need arise, however, she will not hesitate to drop that configuration and use the sword to its fullest potential.
Traditional Uniform
The usual uniform Tigra wears is more than it appears to be. Though it appears to be a simple robe in the martial arts style, it has been magically enhanced to restrict what damage can be dealt to Tigra. Physical blows are often deflected, poisons and toxins countered, due to the magic on the robe.
Sentinel Uniform / Armor
In a show of unity with the team, Tigra has started wearing a standard uniform designed for the Sentinels by Serge. She has worked with him to imbue the new uniform with many of the same protections her robe carries, and alternates with her latest armor. Her original Battle-suit was lost to the demoness Oroan.
Battle-suit
((This suit has been lost in the course of RP)) Tigra at one time wore an experimental battle suit developed by DATA and Serge, the Icon tailor. This suit provides her with greater protection against the heavy-hitters such as the Rikti or Malta, sluffs off the gunk that comes from the sewers, and comes complete with a few toys.
One of these is a map system that not only allows her to see the layout of the portion of the city (or sewers) she is currently in, but the location of some of her friends and allies who are also nearby. This map is in greater detail than the coordinate system provided by her city comm.
Another feature is that the suit provides limited tactile feedback, so up to a certain amount of pressure, it is as though she is not wearing armor at all. Serge designed it this way because of her hatred of footwear.
And another system in the suit is the ability to provide a short-term strength boost that increases her speed, accuracy, power, reflexes, and dodging ability for a few minutes. Following this short-term boost, she finds herself weak and tired for a short period of adjustment (think trying to walk around after having been in a pool all day).
The suit is also equipped with several sensors and other gadgets that she is only just starting to learn to use.
Solid-light projectors
Tigra is rarely seen without a pair of jade-green earrings. While seemingly innocent, these earrings are actually a gift of solid-light and holographic projectors provided by her friend, teammate, and adoptive-sister, Swath. Keyed only to her, the solid-light holograms can be used to change her appearance at a thought. Where possible, the illusion is solid, up-to and including conforming her usual uniform to her body while giving the appearance and touch of being daily casual wear. Where not possible, such as with her ears, features are simply masked to sight but are still present to the touch.
Pendant
Tigra typically wears a red and white jade pendant around her neck. The pendant resembles her Bondling, Kilira, to the most minute detail, up to and including having a bit of an aura of its own. The pendant once belonged to Blaargh's soulbonded, Eshaala, and was given to Tigra upon the re-emergence of her bond with him when they discovered that Tigra is apparently Eshaala reborn. The pendant is magical in nature, but what exactly it can do has yet to be illustrated, although it has on one occasion acted as a vessel for her soul when she was temporarily killed by Setharian. Also, by grasping the pendant and entering trance, Tigra finds it easier to focus on the (now-suppressed) bond between herself and Blaargh.
Weaknesses and Limitations
Bonds
Having the ability to easily bond with others isn't always a blessing. Her spiritual/soul/magical bonds have been used against her in the past, and it also means that it is easier for an experienced mage or telepath to force a bond with her, should they get past the protections of Kilira, Tolarin, and Kalen. It also means that magical gaes and coercions, until countered, are hard for her to recognize and resist once placed.
Technologically Inexperienced
Tigra comes from a world in which technology was minimal. She has adapted wonderfully to this world, but even still she finds herself fumbling when it comes to computers and electronics. She can use the basics of a computer system, or use electronic tools once shown how, but she has no clue how it operates other than being "another form of magic", and she is very far from a technological expert.
Control Freak
While it may seem contradictory to say Tigra is both strong-willed, confident, and weak-minded, it's true. She is so used to being confident and knowing what to do and how to do it that when she encounters a weakness, she has a tendency to panic. If she isn't in control of herself, it often takes the actions of one of those bonded to her to talk her out of her nervous state and back into control. Sometimes she can regain control with some mental exercises, but especially if darkness, telepathy, or gaes are involved, it takes outside help to bring her back around.
Enemies
Setharian
Tigra's arch-rival in this realm is Setharian. At first, she was simply a tool. He kidnapped her, put her through nightmarish conditioning, then released her to attempt to kill Scarlet Streak. But after his capture at the hands of the Sentinels, then subsequent escape, he made the battle a bit more personal. And after Scarlet Streak tracked him down after his escape and beat him senseless, he has been trapped inside a cage of his own mind created by the subconscious mind of Streak. When he finds his way out of his mental prison, he intends to hunt down and kill Streak, Tigra, and the rest of the Sentinels in payback for what they did to him.
Oroan
Though the demoness Oroan, who at one time took over the body of Tigra's friend and student Hailstorm Witch then held Tigra captive under torture and coercion, has been banished to the depths of the Cavern of Transcendence, Tigra fears that she has not heard the last from her short-term Mistress and tormentor.
Hope's End
For reasons unclear to Tigra (unless it is simply her connection with the New HOPE), the villain group Hope's End has apparently placed a target on Tigra as well. Thus far, she has had run-ins with Static System and Kagyaku, and is under the watch of the hive-mind-nano-bot N E R O.
History
Documented
There are no official records tracing Tigra Swipe's background prior to her sudden appearance in a flash of light September 18, 2006. That's because she's not from this world, or even this dimension. But of all the places in the world for her to land, Paragon City was the best, as the city officials are no strangers to heroes with hidden or lost pasts.
Since her arrival here, she has been very active as one of Paragon City's heroes. She quickly became a member of a super group, where her friendship with a fellow member, Scarlet Streak, developed into a very strong working partnership and affection that eventually led to marriage. When an unknown entity forced the dissolution of the group, Tigra was the first to stand behind Scarlet Streak as the team was rebuilt as the Sentinels United. She is now officially listed as the second in command of the Sentinels United and continues to work to protect the people of Paragon and Earth.
Undocumented
Jochia
Tigra was born Trilana Saley on a world in another dimension, a world she calls 'Jochia' (pronounced "JOE-key-ah"). At a young age, Trilana was discovered to have abilities that singled her out to be a member of the Legions, the fighting forces of Jochia. The civil war raging through the known world required that any found to have any kind of knack with tactics, battle, or anything else that could be turned to use was recruited into the service of the Grand Lord. Taken from their families, the cadets were stripped of all identity and past. It was against tradition to return to the family, for now the Legion was your family and all your loyalty must go first to the Emperor, then the Empire, and then the Legions.
So at 10 years old, following Tradition, Trilana Saley left her family and became known only as Trilana. For the next 8 years, she trained long and hard, drilling with her fellow classmates. She watched year after year as some of her yearmates were promoted with her and others stripped from the training facilities as having reached the limits of their abilities and thus placed into service. By the time she turned 18, only 6 others from her class remained to take the final test that would determine whether they would move on to Elite training, or be sent permanently to the field.
The final test consisted of a grueling battle against all of the trainers of her past 8 years. Without break in between, she had to beat her weaponsmaster in four of the dozen weapons she had been trained in, the riding instructor in both trick riding and battle on horseback, the tactician in a game of strategy, run an octathalon that put every one of her skills to the test, survive 48 hours unaided in the wilderness, and demonstrate mastery of the very basic battle-magic that all those who made it this far must possess.
Of the 6 to enter the Test of the Elite, only 3 passed, and Trilana was one of those. Upon completion of the Test of the Elite, she entered into more specialized training. Thus followed a cycle of 3 more years where she was assigned one of the precious magical swords, one keyed to her. She learned more advanced battle magic, and spent more time in the field.
And then, came the day of Choosing.
Every year, members of the Elite are taken into a facility whose location is known only to a select few. There, they are presented with the Bondlings who have come of age and are ready for the Bonding.
Bondlings are animals that have been specially and magically bred for intelligence, telepathy, long life, and other magical talents. They are very rare, spreading across numerous animal breeds, with a batch of Bondlings rarely numbering more than two or three a year. (At least, that's what the Jochians believe... little do they know there's much, much more to the Bondlings than they know or understand)
At the time of Choosing, those Elite force members who have shown themselves to posses the traits most often selected by the Bondlings are taken into a 3-day training and preparation ritual, then led into the nursery where the Bondlings select the Jochians to whom they will be Bonded. In a ritual that is very secretive, a telepathic and spiritual bond that can never be broken or entirely blocked save by death, is forged between the pair. The Jochian takes on traits of their Bondling, and their lives are changed forever. They take on a new name to go with their new identity and enter into yet another phase of training.
During the second of the Choosings Trilana attended, she was Chosen by a small red and white kitten. Following the Bonding ritual, she emerged as Tigra, and the kitten became known as Kilira. Trilana, now Tigra, developed cat ears and red stripes to match her Bondling, but those were only the visible changes. Her hearing improved slightly, her reflexes quite a bit, and her latent psionic talents -- while still remaining locked beyond her control -- grew in potency. Her ability to work with the magical energies she had been manipulating for years improved by being able to focus through Kilira.
Following the initial adjustment with Kilira, Tigra entered into even more training, this time as a special services operative. Because of her Bonding, she became one of the Elite of the Elite. Bonded pairs were no longer considered part of the general population of the Legions, their talents were too rare to limit to just one group. Instead, they passed from group to group, taking on special tasks and covert operations.
At the time of her unexpected transfer to Earth, Tigra and Kilira were on assignment to the Blades, where she was given the title of Tigra Swipe and acted as Fifth Adjunct to The Blade under Lord Hikashin. She and Kilira were in the midst of a great battle against the Kingdom's greatest adversary. Lord Graelath had employed a team of magicians who unleashed a magical weapon against the Blades, and Tigra and Kilira were caught in the magical explosion that sent them whirling through dimensional boundaries and deposited the pair in Galaxy City, Paragon City, Earth.
Paragon
Just a few days after arriving on Earth, after waking up under the care of one Doctor Apollo, Tigra was taken under the wing of a magician working in Paragon. Tolarin, Protector of the Light, Master of the Arcane, student of the multi-verse had witnessed her arrival and knew she would be facing a very difficult time adjusting to life on Earth.
With his aid, Tigra became a hero of Paragon and began learning the ropes of life on Earth. It wasn't long before she started paring up with other heroes, and fate often teamed her with another newcomer to Paragon City, Scarlet Streak. During one of those pairings, Tigra and Streak joined with a team of superheroes and became Sentinels.
Her time in the Sentinels started out as just another assignment, but slowly Tigra learned to open up, relax, and discovered what friendship was. The Sentinels became more than just teammates, they became family, and as time passed Tigra found herself with less and less of a desire to get back to Jochia.
During her tenure with the Sentinels, Tigra went from being just another member to being selected by the Captain as the third in command, directly behind Streak. It was her dedication to the team coupled with her ability to follow orders when necessary and to get others to follow her instructions that convinced the Captain to bring her into the command rank despite her unfamiliarity with the realm.
When an unknown entity forced the dissolution of the Sentinels and caused the Captain to disappear, Tigra and Streak joined with the other Sentinels to reform as the Sentinels United, and Tigra became the second in command. In action, Tigra and Ian share the leadership equally, and have built the Sentinels United into a force to be reckoned with and a very close-knit family.
In addition to her tenure with the Sentinels (under both incarnations), Tigra has grown emotionally as well and developed very strong relationships. Most notably is that with Ian, once Scarlet Streak, now Prince of Light.
What started out as friendship grew to attraction, love, and finally a soul-bond. And when Streak, aka Ian Cameron, asked for her hand, she knew her life was now forever tied to this dimension. On January 6, 2007, Trilana aka Tigra Swipe became known as Trilana Cameron. And on May 15, 2007, after a pregnancy that was oddly accelerated, Tigra gave birth to two twin girls: Regina and Serena Cameron.
Now, Tigra continues to fight for the safety of Paragon and the world as co-leader of the Sentinels United, while still trying to find time to be a wife and mother. It's quite a challenge, but with her soul-mate Ian at her side, and with the help of her mentor and father figure Tolarin and all her friends in the Sentinels, it's a challenge she's ready for.
