Real Name: Unrevealed. "Captain Tyger" was a nickname. His real name was undoubtedly that of a French aristocrat
Captain Tyger
Real Name: Unrevealed. "Captain Tyger" was a nickname.
His real name was undoubtedly that of a French aristocrat
Identity/Class: 17th
Century Human/Cat People hybrid;
French citizen
Nature of abilities: Inherited from his mother, reinforced by constant training and practice.
Occupation: Freebooter
Group Membership: Frères de la côte (Brothers of the Coast), including Monbars the Exterminator, Michael the Basque, L'Ollonais, Vent-en-Panne and Boute-Feu
Affiliations: Laurent and Alexandre (former slaves)
Enemies: Boute-Feu
Known Relatives: unnamed human father; unnamed mother (one of the
Cat People)
Doña Elmina (wife, a Spanish noblewoman)
An unnamed grandson
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Port-Margot on Tortuga Island, located off Haiti's
Northern Coast;
active throughout the Caribbean Ocean;
17th Century
First Appearance: Doctor Strange III#17 (May 1990)
Powers/Abilities: Captain Tyger was a prodigious swordsman and had inherited superhuman physical abilities, including cat-like eyes, enhanced strength, speed, agility, reflexes, and senses.
History: (Dr. Strange III#17/2) - Captain Tyger's origins are unknown.
We know that his father was an unidentified French nobleman and his mother was one of the legendary Cat People.
During the mid-17th century, Tyger rose to become the "deadliest" of the notorious French freebooters
known as Frères de la côte (Brothers of the Coast) who preyed on Spanish galleons from their base
on Tortuga Island. Captain Tyger viscerally hated slavery (perhaps because he himself had once been a slave?) and
freed his engagés (a French word for slaves at the time), including the twin native brothers, Laurent and
Alexandre. Perhaps because of this, and other unrevealed reasons, Tyger developed a fierce enmity for the freebooter
Boute-Feu, who trafficked in slaves, raiding his ships and freeing his human cargo. To gain revenge Boute-Feu ambushed
and killed Alexandre. He then dragged the body to the vodu priest Schango who, with the help of the vodu god Sagbata (who himself called upon the elder god Chthon), turned Alexandre into
the first of the vodu zombies.
(Dr. Strange III#20) - Boute-Feu used the zombies raised by Schango to attack Port-Margot, and fought against Tyger. Meanwhile, the vodu gods, appalled by Sagbata's actions sent one of their own, Legba, to help mankind. Legba took Laurent and entrusted him with power over the Loa, the vodu spirits. Laurent then confronted Schango and, using a spell given to him by Legba (perhaps created by Gaea), summoned Alexandre's spirit to merge with him. He then killed Schango. In Port-Margot, Boute-Feu's zombies crumbled into dust and the evil freebooter was killed by Tyger.
Comments: Created by Jean-Marc Lofficier, Roy Thomas (writers) and Geof Isherwood (penciller) and Mickey Ritter (inker#17 only).
Captain Tyger was inspired by an 1869 French swashbuckling novel, Ourson Tête-de-Fer [Bearcub Ironhead] by Gustave Aimard. Boute-Feu and Doña Elmina are taken from the novel.
An unnamed grandson of Captain Tyger took part in French Revolution and was instrumental in the abolition of slavery in Haiti in 1793
The idea of a line of Brother Voodoos throughout history (deliberately patterned after The Phantom's) was Lofficier's, but when Thomas had commissioned the original Brother Voodoo story, he always had in mind that there'd been previous Brother Voodoos.
As confirmed by JML, the date listed as 16th Century in the Book of the Vishanti in Dr. Strange is wrong. It was during the 1600s, which makes it 17th Century.
"Profile by" Jean-Marc Lofficier (yes, that Jean-Marc Lofficier!--Snood).
CLARIFICATIONS:
Captain Tyger should be distinguished from:
Schango should not be confused with
Laurent and Alexandre (no last name)
Twin brothers, native of Haiti, who had been previously engagés (slaves)
and were freed by Captain Tyger and became his devoted right-hand men.
Alexandre was murdered by Boute-Feu and turned into the first vodu zombie.
Laurent was entrusted power over the Loa (vodu spirits) by the god Legba, and later used a spell possibly crafted
by Gaea to cause the spirit of Alexandre to merge with him, becoming the first Brother Voodoo.
-- Doctor Strange III#17/2 (20/2
Vodu priest about whom it was said in the mid-17th
century that he had been born in Africa, which would have made him about 180
years old (since he would have had to have been born before 1492).
When the freebooter Boute-Feu asked him to create an invincible army, Schango saw an opportunity to kill the white
men he hated and invoked the vodu god Sagbata who created the first zombie. Schango was later killed in battle
with Laurent, the first Brother Voodoo.
-- Doctor Strange III#17/2 (20/2
Boute-Feu and the Frères de la Côte
Loose confederation of French pirates and freebooters who preyed on Spanish galleons and ports
from their base in Tortuga Island on the Northern Coast of Haiti during the 17th century, mostly 1650-1670.
The following "Brothers of the Coast" are named in this story:
- Jean David Nau a.k.a. François L'Ollonais (correct spelling) and
- Michel le Basque (last name unknown) were historical figures who really existed;
- Monbars l'Exterminateur (correct spelling) and
- Vent-en-Panne are known through stories and folk tales but we don't have actual historical proof of their existence
and they may have been composite figures based on real-life pirates assembled by story-tellers;
- Boute-Feu is a fictional character introduced in an 1869 French swasbuckling novel, Ourson Tête-de-Fer
[Bearcub Ironhead] by Gustave Aimard.
- Captain Tyger is a fictional Marvel character.
-- Doctor Strange III#17/2 (20/2
Images:
Doctor Strange III#20, p.25, panel 3
Doctor Strange III#17, p.27, panel 4
Doctor Strange III#20, p.27, panel 4
Doctor Strange III#20, p.26, panel 6
Doctor Strange III#17, p.27, panel 1
Appearances:
Dr. Strange III#17 (May, 1990) - Roy Thomas, Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier (writers), Geof Isherwood (pencils), Mickey Ritter (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Dr. Strange III#20 (August, 1990) - Roy & Dann Thomas (writers), Jackson Guice (pencils), Tony Dezuniga (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Last updated: 04/16/04
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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