Real Name: Juan Meroz

Identity/Class: Human magic user; human mutate

Occupation: Treasure hunter

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Kukulcan, Man-God (Maa-Gor), Ramon Dantas, Toloc

Enemies: Ka-Zar (Kevin Plunder), Bobbi Morse, S.H.I.E.L.D., Tongah, X-Men (Angel/Warren Worthington III, Beast/Hank McCoy, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Iceman/Bobby Drake, Professor X/Charles Xavier), Zabu

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Kukulcan

Base of Operations: Currently unrevealed (see comments);
    formerly South America, Savage Land;
    formerly a Mayan pyramid in San Rico, Central America

First Appearance: X-Men I#25 (October, 1966)

Powers/Abilities: While in possession of half the Sacred Pendant of Kukulcan, Meroz demonstrated such mental abilities as telekinesis, telepathy, and a sixth-sense that warned him of danger; while he was possessed by Kukulcan, he had additional powers, as detailed here.

He later used such weaponry as bolas, a spear, a cudgel, and a knife; and Man-God taught him a method to briefly mentally control the sabre-tooth tiger Zabu.

After he was eventually mutated in the Mystic Mists of the Savage Land, he was able to emit an energy burst from his right hand, which melted a rock to a smooth and reflective mirror-like surface.

Height: Unrevealed (6'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Black

History:
(X-Men I#25) - Juan Meroz, also known as el Tigre, was a hunter of ancient treasures. Accompanied by two underlings--Ramon and Tuloc--he eventually discovered the Mayan pyramid of the god Kukulcan in San Rico. The trio soon found the treasure, and Meroz took a glowing stone from it. During the night, Ramon and Tuloc tried to capture Meroz, planning to force him to work unearthing more of the gold before they killed him; but el Tigre was warned by a new sixth-sense about their intentions. Using a telekinetic power he never had before, he bound his treacherous lackeys with their own rope, and threatened them with Toloc's machete unless they swore obedience to him.

   Later during the night, el Tigre discovered he was able to read the hieroglyphics on the base of the Mayan pyramid (because he had the glowing stone), and he learned the history of the artifact--it was part of a magic amulet carved from an enchanted stone to be the Sacred Pendant of Kukulcan, and his mental powers were derived from that fragment of the amulet; when he further read that possessing both halves of the Pendant would grant him power without limit, Meroz swore that he'd find the second half of the amulet.

   Some days later, el Tigre, Ramon and Toloc arrived in New York City, where el Tigre sensed he would find the other half of the Pendent; but his powers stimulated the mutant-detecting computer Cerebro--Professor Xavier suspected that the powers of the mysterious detected person were still incomplete, but might put the world in grave danger, so he sent his X-Men into the city to investigate.

   While unsuccessfully trying to hail a cab in the busy downtown traffic, el Tigre used his telepathy to make a passenger in a taxi feel uncomfortably hot and leave, thus freeing up the cab; el Tigre and his two men then climbed in the unoccupied taxi and were taken to check-in at a good hotel--although the X-Men spotted the trio of "Latin American tourists," they didn't recognize the danger in them.

(X-Men I#25 - BTS) - That night, el Tigre and his men went to a night club on 39th Avenue; apparently for the amusement of himself and his men, el Tigre used his power to start a brawl involving the club's patrons. The trio left in a cab before the police arrived, but they had unknowingly left behind a book of matches with their hotel's name on it, so the police wanted to question them.

(X-Men I#25) - Some moments later, thanks to Cerebro, Professor X  located el Tigre and telepathically followed him. The three men were arriving at their hotel in the cab, but the Pendant warned el Tigre about danger. The cab sped away without stopping, avoiding some cops hidden in the shadows. When the trio reached the City Museum, Professor X tried to enter deeper into the mind el Tigre, but el Tigre raised a mental defense, blinding Xavier's perceptions.

   Hiding in the shadows of the museum, El Tigre saw the X-Men and knew that they were looking for him. He sent Ramon and Toloc to stop the mutant heroes, and animated an ancient suit of armor using his telekinesis to help Ramon stop the Beast. Then he took control of an armed museum guard and had him detain Cyclops. Just in that moment, el Tigre found the second half of the amulet, joined the parts and... el Tigre was no more! He was now Kukulcan!

(X-Men I#26) - El Tigre's mental and physical powers were greatly multiplied, for Kukulcan reincarnated was no mere mortal. Cyclops escaped from the museum guard and shot an optic blast at Kukulcan, but his optic ray was reflected back by the amulet and stunned the X-Man. After having defeated the other X-Men, Ramon and Toloc tried to seize the Sacred Pendant of Kukulcan, but the golden demigod retaliated and struck them with an irresistible wall of heat and force, which knocked them senseless to the floor. Then Kukulcan went to the roof of the building and created a Solar Sphere that surrounded him and transported him to San Rico--in the Midwest, Barney and Albert, two fishermen, saw the trail left by the Sphere in the night sky and thought it to be "one of them flyin' saucers".

   Having reached the site of his temple in the morning, Kukulcan used a minimal effort of his telekinetic powers to uproot trees that surrounded the tower of the Feathered Serpent Idol, which held the Solar Stone. Then he freed the rest of the Mayan pyramids from centuries of jungle overgrowth, restoring the ancient court to its former glory. With the increased mind-power granted him by the Solar Stone, Kukulcan hypnotically summoned the descendants of the Mayan people, and in a few hours, the people of San Rico became worshipers of--and workers for--Kukulcan.

   When the X-Men entered the territory controlled by Kukulcan's pawns, he sensed the mutants weren't under his mind-control and sent some natives to capture them. The X-Men managed to elude Kukulcan's pawns and arrived at the temple, where Kukulcan confronted them. His sixth-sense let him avoid the Angel's air-assault, and his intensely glowing Pendant neutralized the Beast's sneak-attack by temporarily blinding the X-Man. Kukulcan produced a powerful heat-wave that caused Iceman to flee, but his solar blasts missed the high-flying Angel. Playing a hunch that the Solar Stone was the source of Kukulcan's power, the Beast directed Iceman to encase the top of the Idol with a thick coating of ice. When he noticed his powers were weakening, the infuriated Kukulcan used his remaining energy to produce an enormous blast that struck at the foundation of the Idol--this caused a chain reaction that destroyed the Mayan temples and made the Feathered Serpent Idol and the Solar Stone sink and disappear into a large chasm. Without the Solar Stone, Kukulcan's essence faded from el Tigre, and the Beast saved him from the havoc that followed the Idol's sinking. El Tigre was captured, and the Beast kept the Pendant, which was no longer glowing.

(Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#3 (fb)) - El Tigre was fomenting dissent in a country of South America, trying to take control of the region's oil reserves--he was secretly being observed by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Bobbi Morse.

(Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#3) - Maa-Gor, having just become Man-God, pulled el Tigre's astral essence from his body and brought it to the Savage Land; he offered el Tigre half of the natural resources of the Land in exchange for his services.

(Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#3 (fb)) - Having agreed to Man-God's offer, el Tigre's astral form was returned to his physical body; he then commandeered an airplane and flew to the Savage Land.

(Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#3 (fb) - BTS) - Once in the prehistoric jungle, el Tigre met with Man-God. who taught him how to control the minds of the felines.

(Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#3) - El Tigre and Man-God attacked Ka-Zar in his home. El Tigre used bolas and a spear, but wasn't a real threat to either Ka-Zar or Zabu. But when Man-God knocked out Ka-Zar, el Tigre succeeded in controlling Zabu's mind.

   To prove he was good to his word about his offer of the Savage Land's natural resources, Man-God formed a machine and demonstrated to el Tigre how it could extract oil; but Ka-Zar suddenly assailed him and Man-God. El Tigre had Zabu attack Ka-Zar, but Bobbi Morse distracted the two bad guys; using a cudgel, el Tigre knocked down the SHIELD agent, but because of the distraction, he lost his control over Zabu.

(Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#4) - Ka-Zar and Zabu continued to attack the two villains. El Tigre was almost wounded by Zabu because with Ka-Zar now conscious and alert, the less control el Tigre had over Zabu, but el Tigre didn't realize this. Eventually Man-God defeated Ka-Zar by rendering him unconscious again, and el Tigre re-took control of the sabre-tooth tiger.

   El Tigre and Man-God subdued Tongah's village, then tied up Ka-Zar and Tongah to await execution. When Ka-Zar revived, el Tigre threatened to kill a village woman with his knife if Ka-Zar didn't tell him where he could find the Savage Land's Vibranium. But Ka-Zar ordered Zabu to attack el Tigre as he freed himself from the bonds, then he stopped the sabre-tooth from killing el Tigre. Ka-Zar ordered Zabu to stand guard over el Tigre while the jungle lord went to confront Man-God.

(Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#5) - When Zabu sensed Ka-Zar was in trouble, the sabre-tooth left to help him. Seeing this as his chance to escape, el Tigre seized another village woman (Sher-La) and threatened her with his knife, but Tongah freed her, and el Tigre was thumped by several village warriors, leaving him badly injured. He managed to crawl back to Man-God, and pleaded for his help; despite the humiliation of his lackey, Man-God refused and left.

   But having learned of the source of Man-God's powers, el Tigre entered the Mystic Mists, hoping to gain similar powers. In the middle of the Mists, he was struck by a solid light emitted by an extraterrestrial machine. The radiation transformed el Tigre, but he soon realized that his mind was different, for he was thinking slower. When an unexpected energy burst from his hand melted a rock into reflective glass, the mutated being once called el Tigre looked into the primitive mirror and saw his new face. Horrified and unable to accept his new appearance, el Tigre ran to a cliff and threw himself off.

   The mutated and dead (see comments) body of Juan Meroz, el Tigre, was later found by Man-God, who figured out what had happened to him.

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Werner Roth, and Dick Ayers. Killed by Mike Friedrich, Don Heck and Mike Esposito.

In regards to el Tigre's "death": Needless to say, it's always possible for some imaginative writer to come up with a way to have him return... even Bucky (James Barnes)--who was once considered to be "never-to-return dead" for forty years--was eventually brought back.
--Ron Fredricks

Not a great career. Meroz first became a demigod, then served a demigod, and finally became a sub-human. Actually some hard hits to his self-confidence.

Ramon's last name was revealed in Kukulcan's profile in X-Men: Earth's Mutant Heroes (July, 2011)

In the 1960s, pre-Marvel UK, the company Odhams reprinted Marvel stories in their "Power Pack" titles. One of these titles--Fantastic--included posters on the back cover. Many were clipped from US artwork, and redone to make posters. Others were done by a young Barry Smith, not yet using his middle name of Windsor; most of these are of little interest, as they depict prominent characters who have plenty of decent images available from other sources. But one character he drew was el Tigre (Fantastic#46 [December 30, 1967])
--Loki

Thanks to Loki for pointing out the Barry Windsor-Smith el Tigre image! - Proto-Man

New and additional images by Ron Fredricks.

Profile by Spidermay.

CLARIFICATIONS:
El Tigre (Juan Meroz) has no known connections to:

Ramon Dantas has no known connections to:

Toloc has no known connections to:

The Feathered Serpent Idol should not be confused with:

Sacred Pendant of Kukulcan

The Sacred Pendant of Kukulcan was the focus of Kukulcan's powers. It was strongly linked to the Solar Stone atop the Feathered Serpent Idol. The material of which the stone pendant was made is unrevealed, but the Beast stated that it was made of the same material as the Solar Stone. El Tigre stated that he explored two continents in search of treasures, but he never saw a material like it.

The stone fragment found by el Tigre seemed to have its own "intelligence" (or it was just an enchantment), and it seemed to drop from his pocket on its own initiative. When he touched the stone, it allowed him to understand the hieroglyphics on the base of the Mayan pyramid. He soon learned that the stone was only half of a magic amulet, and that it gave him his mind-powers.The fragment also compelled el Tigre to find the second part of the Pendant in a New York museum.

The whole amulet was called the Sacred Pendant of Kukulcan. It transformed the mortal el Tigre into the reincarnation of the Mayan god Kukulcan. It is unclear if the Pendant defended Kukulcan when Cyclops fired his optical blast on the demigod, or if Kukulcan used the amulet to protect himself.

The Pendant, also called the Amulet of the Power, stored the solar energy transmitted by the Solar Stone of the Feathered Serpent Idol, so Kukulcan could use his powers during night as well.

The Pendant intensely glowed of its own accord when it temporarily blinded the Beast, who was attacking Kukulcan from behind; but after the Idol and Solar Stone sank into a chasm, the Beast noticed the Pendent was no longer glowing.

--X-Men I#25 (26

Feathered Serpent Idol and the Solar Stone

The Feathered Serpent Idol was a tower or obelisk which held the Solar Stone on the top. The Solar Stone was made of the same material as the Sacred Pendant of Kukulcan, and it collected solar energy and transmitted it to the wielder of the Pendant.

When Iceman covered the Solar Stone with a thick coating of ice, Kukulcan's powers seemed to fade after a few minutes. Trying to free the idol from the ice, Kukulcan shot a tremendous blast at the base of the obelisk, but the foundation cracked and the Serpent Idol fell in a large chasm that closed upon the obelisk.

--X-Men I#26

Ramon Dantas

Ramon was a normal human; he was skilled in the use of bolas.

(X-Men I#25) - Along with Toloc, Ramon was hired by El Tigre to find the Mayan treasure. He and Toloc later tried to capture el Tigre, but he neutralized them with his mental powers and then they followed el Tigre to New York City.

In the City Museum, Ramon threw his bolas at the Beast, which wrapped around the mutant's feet, and also knocked him unconscious when one of the balls struck his head.

(X-Men I#26) - Ramon and Toloc tried to take the Pendant of Kukulcan, but they were struck down by the solar powers of the demigod.

--X-Men I#25 (26

Toloc

Born in the Amazonian jungles, Toloc was a normal human. He was skilled in the use of the machete; he also carried a blowgun and sleep-inducing darts.

(X-Men I#25) - Along with Ramon Dantas, Toloc was hired by el Tigre to help him in the search for Mayan treasure. He and Ramon later tried to capture el Tigre, but he neutralized them both with his mental powers and then they followed el Tigre to New York City.

In the City Museum, Toloc defeated Iceman by tripping him with a simple rope stretched across a flight of stairs. Hiding in the shadows, Toloc threw a displayed prehistoric spear at the Angel, then used his blowgun to hit him with a dart soaked in narcotic.

(X-Men I#26) - Toloc and Ramon tried to take the Pendant of Kukulcan, but they were struck down by the solar powers of the demigod.

--X-Men I#25 (26

images: (without ads)
Fantastic#46, back-cover pin-up (main image - El Tigre)
X-Men I#25, p13, pan5 (headshot - El Tigre blocks Professor X's mind-probe)
X-Men I#25, p1, pan1 (El Tigre)
X-Men I#26, p9, pan3 (El Tigre possessed by Kukulcan)
Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#3, p9, pan7 (El Tigre mentally controls Zabu)
Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#5, p8, pan1 (El Tigre holds Sher-La hostage)
Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#5, p11, pan3 (El Tigre transformed by Mystic Mists)
X-Men I#25, p6, pan6 (first half of Pendant in el Tigre's hand)
X-Men I#25, p19, pan6 (El Tigre holds one half of Pendant and reaches into pocket for other half)
X-Men I#25, p20, pan1 (El Tigre fits both halves of Pendant together)
X-Men I#26, p8, pan5 (Solar Stone atop Feathered Serpent Idol)
X-Men I#26, p9, pan1 (Feathered Serpent Idol [background]; Kukulcan clears jungle overgrowth)
X-Men I#26, p19, pan2 (Feathered Serpent Idol and Solar Stone sink into chasm)
X-Men I#25, p1, pan1 (Ramon Dantas with bolas)
X-Men I#26, p3, pan4 (Ramon Dantas)
X-Men I#25, p1, pan1 (Toloc with machete)
X-Men I#25, p18, pan1 (Toloc with blowgun)

Appearances:
X-Men I#25-26 (October-November, 1966) - Roy Thomas (writer), Werner Roth (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#3 (May, 1974) - Mike Friedrich (writer), Don Heck (pencils), Mike Royer (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#4 (July, 1974) - Bullpen West (plot), Mike Friedrich (writer), Don Heck (pencils), Mike Royer (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#5 (September, 1974) - Bullpen West (plot), Mike Friedrich (writer), Don Heck (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)

First posted: 03/02/2005
Last updated: 06/22/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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