tiger_minn-mask-hair tiger_minn-mostly-fullTIGER MINN

Real Name: Unrevealed; possibly Tiger Minn (or Minn?)

Identity/Class: Human technology user;
    citizen of New Timbetpal and Timbetpal (Asian nations)

Occupation: Disciple of Ho Yinsen, educator, priest

Group Membership: Formerly the Sons of Yinsen, the Twelve

Affiliations: The Church of Yinsen, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Jocasta, Ho Yinsen, people of New Timbetpal;
    the surviving people of Wong-Chu's village;
    formerly Iron Man Model 16 "sentient armor" / Ultron Mark Twelve

Enemies: Wong-Chu and his guards;
    formerly Antigone, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Jocasta, Sun-Tao

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly New Timbetpal (mobile throughout the Asian skies for most of its existence, and eventually mobile throughout the USA (notably Manhattan, New York, and Las Vegas, Nevada) in recent years);
    formerly Wong-Chu's base in Southeast Asia;
    formerly Timbetpal

First Appearance: (Unidentified) Iron Man Annual 2000 (October, 2000) - see comments;
    (identified as Tiger Minn) Iron Man III#46 (November, 2001)tiger_minn-confronting_tao

Powers/Abilities: Tiger Minn was trained in the martial arts and technology used by the Twelve of the Sons of Yinsen.

    As a former servant who had recently joined the Twelve, he may not have had the genius intellect and/or advanced martial arts skills of the other members.tiger_minn-accepted

    Tiger Minn wore a version of the Iron Man model 16 armor, which would grant him superhuman strength, durability, flight, and energy projection (repulsor blasts), and presumably other abilities.

    Within the Iron Man model 01 drone armor, he would likely have had similar, although lesser, abilities.

    He also possessed the Sons of Yinsen's cloaking technology.

    He was most easily identified by his wearing of a white Iron Man face mask, while the others wore yellow/gold masks.

Height: Unrevealed (he looked to be 3-5 inches shorter than Sun-Tao, who towered over Tony Stark, so perhaps 6'2" - 6'4")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 200 lbs.; approximately 400 lbs. fully armored)
Eyes: Unrevealed (likely brown)
Hair: Black (formerly shaved)

History:
(Iron Man III#31 (fb) - BTS / Iron Man Annual 2000 (fb) - BTS) - The man who would become known as Tiger Minn was apparently one of the thousands of residents of Timbetpal who were converted to"Yinsenism" by the Twelve/Sons of Yinsen.

(Iron Man Annual 2000 (fb) - BTS) - "Like rainfall, the master (Ho Yinsen)'s words quenched the people's parched souls. Before long, they had thousands of followers of "Yinsenism."As the people converted, the Sons shared their secrets with them, and the people formed a work force to hasten their efforts.

(Iron Man III#32 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, all but Sun-Tao took a vow of silence.

(Iron Man III#32 (fb) - BTS / Iron Man Annual 2000 (fb) - BTS) - Eventually moving to the floating city of New Timbetpal, the man who would become Tiger Minn became a servant to the Twelve.

(Iron Man III#32 (fb) - BTS) - With the exception of the Twelve disciples/prodigies, who wore variations of the Iron Man armor, the people of New Timbetpal were raised solely in the ways of Yinsen; as such, they had no knowledge of combat.

(Iron Man Annual 2000 (fb) - BTS) - The servant later identified as Tiger Minn fell in love with the female member of the Twelve; this love was described as secret, but it is unrevealed whether it was mutual or unrequited.tiger_minn-drone_armortiger_minn-drone_armor-machete

(Iron Man III#32 - BTS) - The Twelve led Iron Man in invading Wong-Chu's camp, but they surrendered and gave up their armors to Wong-Chu when he threatened innocents.

(Iron Man Annual 2000 (fb) - BTS) - Wishing to help rescue the Twelve, the servant later identified as Tiger Minn entered one of the Sons of Yinsen's Iron Man model 1 drone armors.

(Iron Man Annual 2000 - BTS) - Utilizing one of the Sons of Yinsen's cloaking cards he had hidden, Stark (Iron Man) escaped from Wong-Chu's clutches and signaled a summoning of a large number (Stark estimated "hundreds") of the Sons of Yinsen's Iron Man drones as the planned cavalry.

    As programmed, the drones took out Wong-Chu's weapons towers and soldiers all without actually harming anyone.

    After Iron Man defeated Wong-Chu, the tyrant vowed he would die before leading the Sons to Yinsen. Sun-Tao sent the female member of the Sons into Wong-Chu's bunker, but she tripped a sensor and was killed in the resultant explosion, leading Wong-Chu to mock her death.

(Iron Man Annual 2000) - As Wong-Chu continued to laugh, however, the Sons' servant who had stowed away inside one of the drones picked up a machete, rushed forward, and slew Wong-Chu with it before anyone could stop him.

    As Iron Man collapsed from loss of power to his artificial heart, the servant removed his helmet.

(Iron Man Annual 2000) - After the Sons recovered Yinsen's brain and a recharged Iron Man departed, Sun-Tao summoned the servant, told him the time for judgment had come, asked if he realized the consequences of his actions, and instructed him to kneel down.

    After the servant showed his respect, Sun-Tao instructed him to rise, embraced him, and then gave him the armored collar that had belonged to their fallen sister. Sun-Tao then welcomed the former servant into the Twelve, replacing her.

(Iron Man Annual 2000 - BTS) - Days later, New Timbetpal arrived at the island in which Stark had buried his "sentient armor," the Model 16 sentient armor (actually controlled by Ultron, as it had been installed there by Jocasta; this was the more benevolent Mark 12 that had been in control due to a premature awakening caused by a lightning strike, although none of this was not known at the time).

    Sun-Tao advised the Sons that from the ashes of the spirit and the flesh, and from the ashes of the immortal god of science, the master would rise again; and a new dawn of the Iron Man would also arise, as Yinsen had prophesied.tiger_minn-drone_armor-face

(Iron Man III#46 (fb) - BTS / Iron Man III#47 (fb)) - The Sons of Yinsen recovered Iron Man's incapacitated Model 16 armor and implanted Yinsen's brain within it to give him a proper vessel through which to act/live.

(Iron Man III#48 (fb)) - Once the Sons of Yinsen reactivated the "sentient armor," the primary Ultron established contact and transferred his mind/program into this new host. 

(Iron Man III#47 (fb)) - The Sons of Yinsen were ecstatic to have seemingly brought their holiest of missions to fruition, but "Yinsen" was more arrogant and aggressive, and the orders he gave the Sons grew stranger each day; among these was the mass production of Iron Man's Model 16 armor as if he was preparing for war.

(Iron Man III#46 (fb) - BTS / Iron Man III#47 (fb)) - Believing "Yinsen" to not be himself, Sun-Tao attempted to stop him, but was overwhelmed, branded a heretic and ex-communicated from their order.

tiger_minn-kneeling(Iron Man III#47 (fb)) - As "Yinsen," Ultron convinced the other Sons that a great madness had come over Sun-Tao and that their holy technology was the only way to dispel it.

    In reality, "Yinsen" used the opportunity to strip away Sun-Tao's mind, leaving "Yinsen" free to proceed without opposition.

(Iron Man III#46 (fb) - BTS / (Iron Man III#47 (fb) - BTS) - As Tiger Minn, the former servant became the leader and public figure of the Sons of Yinsen and the newly founded Church of Yinsen, recruits of the Yinsenism religion.

(Iron Man III#46 (fb)) <Three weeks before the main story> - Ultron, controlling the armor inhabited by Yinsen's brain, arrived with the Sons of Yinsen in New Timbetpal above New York City and decloaked.

(Iron Man III#46 (fb) - BTS) - Under Ultron's control, the Sons of Yinsen set up the Church of Yinsen, with their main office in New York. The religion Yinsenism caught on quickly, especially among the celebrity set, swiftly becoming the most chic new religion. 

    Tiger Minn reported that Sun-Tao had disagreed with the Sons of Yinsen going public, and had parted ways with the order.tiger_minn-interviewed

(Iron Man III#46 - BTS / Iron Man III#47 (fb) - BTS) - Ultron sent Sun-Tao, in an Iron Man model 16 armor replica, to break into Askew Electronics, providing a distraction to allow the other Sons of Yinsen to steal the SKIN (Synthetic Kinetic Interfacing Nanofluid; digital fluid, generated by Askew Tronics).

(Iron Man III#47 (fb) - BTS) - Ultron had the Church of Yinsenism's New York City congregation horrifically altered, with SKIN used to turn them into his personal army of mindless cyborgs.

(Iron Man III#46) - After Iron Man defeated and captured Sun-Tao, Ultron (posing as Yinsen controlling the sentient armor), alongside Tiger Minn, led the Sons to confront Iron Man and demand Sun-Tao and his armor's return.

When Iron Man questioned the true nature of "Yinsen," refusing to completely believe him and refusing to surrender Sun-Tao until the matter had been resolved, "Yinsen" told Iron Man he and his allies would surely take Sun-Tao over his dead body.

(Iron Man III#47) - As the other Sons attacked Iron Man while their cloaking protected them from being attacked in return, Iron Man fired a blast at the uncloaked Tiger Minn and "Yinsen." Tiger Minn protected "Yinsen" with a force field, but "Yinsen" advised Minn that the blast would not have harmed him. Meanwhile, Iron Man's assault left him open to attacks by the other Sons.

    Though Iron Man magnetically trapped the others, "Yinsen" stunned Stark and fried his armor's systems, freed the Sons, had them incapacitate Stark, and then sent them to recover Sun-Tao. 

(Iron Man III#47) - Arriving alongside the Sons and breaking into Stark Enterprises, Tiger Minn asked Brother Tao not to make it any harder than it must be. While fighting back, Sun-Tao continued to try to convince them that the one they believed to be Yinsen was not their lord and savior. Sun-Tao struck Tiger Minn at least twice, but ultimately Tiger Minn struck down Sun-Tao, denouncing him as a blasphemer.

    Praising Tiger Minn as bringing honor to his name, "Yinsen" instructed him to gather Sun-Tao and prepare him for the ceremony.tiger_minn-vs-tao

(Iron Man III#47 (fb) - BTS) - Minn had Sun-Tao brought to the local Church of Yinsen in New York City.

(Iron Man III#47) - Before a crowd of kneeing worshippers, Minn denounced and prepared to sacrifice Sun-Tao while announcing that "Lord Yinsen" had seen in him a new beacon by which their religion would shine brighter than ever before.

    However, as Minn's dagger began to plunge toward Sun Tao's chest, a recovered Iron Man stopped him. Accusing Iron Man of having desecrated their church with his presence, Minn had the Sons cloak and prepare to slay Iron Man. With Jocasta's aid, however, Iron Man caused the Sons' cloaking function to malfunction and instead absorb light, burning them. When the SKIN-mutated congregation confronted him, Iron Man decided to flee, planning to return with the Avengers and subdue them without injuring them.

    As Iron Man prepared to depart, "Yinsen" then used his control of the "sentient armor" to control Stark's new artificial heart (which that armor had created), incapacitating Stark with pain and cardiac dysfunction. "Yinsen" then unmasked, revealing itself to actually be Ultron in control.

(Iron Man III#48 - BTS) - Ultron revealed how he had come to control the armor and then discussed his plans to conquer Earth, forming Church of Yinsen branches across the planet and then using the SKIN to control the Church members. The Twelve departed with Ultron after he instructed his congregation to kill Iron Man and Sun-Tao.

    After their departure, however, Iron Man used his control of the SKIN distributor in his own armor to incapacitate the entire congregation.

(Iron Man III#48 (fb) - BTS) - Ultron and the Sons returned to New Timbetpal, and Ultron outfitted its entire population with SKIN and then transported it to Las Vegas (or perhaps it was already there), where they developed a new Church of Yinsen.

(Iron Man III#48 - BTS) - Iron Man and Sun-Tao incapacitated the SKIN-bonded population of New Timbetpal via enhanced SKIN distributors with which they had rigged their armors.

    Iron Man downloaded his artificial intelligence Jocasta into Ultron's armor, distracting it while Iron Man engaged Ultron externally. Together, they drove off Ultron,

    With Ultron ousted, the Sons of Yinsen and the rest of the population of New Timbetpal regained their wits. Sun-Tao welcomed his brothers back, assuring them that while there was much to discuss, the Great Devil was gone.

    Sun-Tao had the Iron Man helmet containing Yinsen's brain reattached to the armor Ultron had evacuated, and the armor began to move anew. However, Ultron's contingency plan then activated: The entire city of New Timbetpal was rigged to detonate, and there was nothing the Sons, Yinsen, or Stark could do to prevent it.

    Iron Man prepared to evacuate everyone, but Yinsen or whatever was now controlling the armor countered that this city was the ultimate extension of his people's belief system and that they would not leave. Iron Man refused to believe this was Yinsen and argued that it could be the "sentient armor" back in control, tricking them into mass suicide. Yinsen reluctantly used the armor's control over Stark's heart to incapacitate him to stop him from interfering with his plans, then had Sun-Tao -- whom he said must survive so that their ways would live on in some form -- depart with Stark. Yinsen then gathered his followers together to pray.

    After Sun-Tao departed with Iron Man, New Timbetpal detonated over the desert and then presumably crashed.

Comments: Created by Joe Quesada & Frank Tieri; Dan Panosian and/or Paul Ryan; Bud LaRosa, Walden Wong, Harry Candelario, and/or Mark Pennington.

    As I first started reviewing the issues for the Sons of Yinsen profile, I thought that the servant who was bringing tea to the Twelve in Iron Man III#31 was an earlier appearance of Tiger Minn. It's certainly possible, but that servant had a mohawk-like streak of hair down the middle of his head, while the servant who slew Wong-Chu in Iron Man Annual 2000 had a shaved head. He certainly could have shaved his head, but I'd imagine the Twelve had more than one servant, and these two aren't a perfect match. It's hard to compare their features, because the artists were different in the two issues.
    I'll include that servant in a sub-profile in the Sons of Yinsen profile.

    However, as I was finishing up the Sons of Yinsen profile, I spotted the bald/shaved-headed servant standing by as the Sons plotted with Iron Man against Wong-Chu. If that's him, then his first appearance is Iron Man III#32.

    It is not 100% clear whether Tiger Minn and the rest of the Twelve were merely duped by and blindly followed what they believed to be Yinsen or whether Ultron was controlling them somehow. The story states it as the former, and it appears that Ultron took control of them sometimes towards the end of #47, when Sun-Tao was brought back to the Church of Yinsen. It's not clear whether Minn was just fanatically devoted to Yinsen and was willing to kill Sun-Tao for him, or whether he was mentally controlled by Ultron.

    They seemed to have forgotten about Tiger Minn in Iron Man III#48...following the revelation that "Yinsen" was actually Ultron, I never saw his silver faced armor again. Presumably he was with the Twelve when Ultron returned with them to New Timbetpal. If not, it is possible he survived...

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Tiger Minn should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads)
 Iron Man Annual 2000, pg. 30, panel 5 (in drone armor, with machete);
       panel 8 (in drone armor, full);
    pg. 31, panel 1 (in drone armor, removing helmet);
    pg. 35, panel 2 (unarmored, kneeling);
        panel 5 (face);
Iron Man III#46, pg. 7, panel 2 (Minn interviewed, seated);
            panel 3 (Minn face);
    #47, pg. 3, panel 4 (mostly full, standing beside "Yinsen"/Ultron);
             panel 5 (protecting "Yinsen" with force field);
       pg. 10, panel 4 (armored upper body with other Twelve in model 16 armor);
       pg. 11, panel 6-8 (vs. Sun-Tao);

Appearances:
Iron Man III#31-32 (August-September, 2000) - Joe Quesada & Frank Tieri (writers), Alitha Martinez (penciler), Rob Hunter (inker), Brian Smith (assistant editor), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Iron Man Annual 2000 (October, 2000) - Joe Quesada & Frank Tieri (writers), Dan Panosian & Paul Ryan (penciler), Bud LaRosa, Walden Wong, Harry Candelario, & Mark Pennington (inkers), Brian Smith (assistant editor), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Iron Man III#46 (November, 2001) - Frank Tieri (writer), Keron Grant (penciler), Rob Stull (inker), Mark Sumerak (assistant editor), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Iron Man III#47 (December, 2001) - Frank Tieri (writer), Keron Grant (penciler), Rob Stull, Rich Perotta, Rick Ketcham (inker), Mark Sumerak & Jeff Youngquist (assistant editors), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Iron Man III#48 (January, 2002) - Frank Tieri (writer), Omar Dogan, Udon Studios (pencilers & inkers), Mark Sumerak & Jeff Youngquist (assistant editor), Tom Brevoort (editor)

First posted: 01/17/2019
Last updated: 02/02/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters