WILLIAM GRANT NELSON
Real Name: William Grant Nelson
Identity/Class: Human-pseudo Hidden race (Cat People)-extraterrestrial (Skrull) hybrid (see comments)
Occupation: None
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Justice (Vance Astrovik), Runaways (Molly Hayes, Klara Prast), Ultragirl (Susanna Sherman), Viv Vision
Enemies: Absorbing Man (Carl Creel)
Known Relatives: Greer Grant Nelson (Tigra, mother), Criti Noll (father), Henry Pym (genetic father), Nadia Van Dyne (Wasp, genetic half-sister), Gregson Grant (grandfather), Janet Grant (grandmother)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly Infinite Avengers Mansion;
formerly Avengers Academy;
formerly the realm of the Cat People
First Appearance: (Pregnancy announced) Avengers: The Initiative#20 (February, 2009); (seen, as William) Avengers: The Initiative#35 (June, 2010); (full name revealed) Unstoppable Wasp II#7 (July, 2019)
Powers/Abilities: William Grant Nelson is a complex hybrid of Tigra (who has been mystically altered to look like one of the Cat People) and a Skrull duplicate who had been genetically modified to replicate Hank Pym. It is unrevealed which parts of these genetics (Skrull physiology, Pym Particles, etc.) may effect William long term. William naturally appears like a young Cat Person, specifically appearing like a tiger. With sharp claws and teeth, William is naturally agile and capable of jumping higher and running faster than human children, though the limits remain unrevealed. William naturally ages quickly as well, born after only two months and growing up quicker than human children.
Height: 2' (by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Green
Hair: Dark orange
History:
(Avengers: The Initiative#20 - BTS) - Tigra discovered she was pregnant with the baby of Criti Noll, a Skrull who had been using the genetic form of Henry Pym, the hero known as Yellowjacket and Giant-Man.
(Avengers: The Initiative#35 (fb) - BTS) - Tigra gave birth to William, her son, two months later. His appearance matched hers, that of a human with cat fur and stripes. With Norman Osborn in control of the government, and having recently been attacked by the Hood (Parker Robbins), Tigra left William with the Cat People for safekeeping.
(Avengers: The Initiative#35) - After Osborn was taken down, Tigra brought William back to Earth, and showed him off to Justice and Ultragirl.
(Avengers Academy#7 (fb) - BTS) - Going through a climbing phase, William began to age too quickly, and Tigra supposed it was due to his Cat People heritage. Worried about William, Tigra asked Pym to run a genetic test on William.
(Avengers Academy#7) - As Tigra held William in Infinite Avengers Mansion, Pym assured her that the genetic tests had no Skrull DNA in them at all, and that William was genetically related to Pym. Tigra explained that William would likely be able to start hunting on his own soon. Tigra confided her desires to be the best mother possible, and asked Pym to raise William if anything ever happened to her. Later, she kept William safe when Absorbing Man attacked.
(Avengers Academy#8) - Tigra tended to William when he had a nightmare.
(Avengers Academy#27) - Tigra introduced William to Klara Prast and Molly Hayes of the Runaways, but warned the girls to watch out as William was known to bite.
(Avengers Academy#28) - Later, William played more with Klara and Molly before climbing on Giant-Man's back.
(Unstoppable Wasp II#7 (fb) - BTS) - William continued growing and learned to talk. Tigra continued telling him that Hank Pym (who was now believed dead) was his father, keeping the truth of his Skrull heritage from him. William learned he had a half-sister through Pym, Nadia Van Dyne, the super hero Wasp.
(Unstoppable Wasp II#7) - Tigra took William to meet Nadia, along with her friend Viv Vision.
(Moon Knight IX#4 (fb) - BTS) - William went with the Cat People for a field trip.
(Moon Knight IX#22) - William hung out at home watching movies with his mom and Moon Knight, and Tigra covered William's ears when Moon Knight discussed a murder. Later, while Tigra worked on tracking the Midnight Man, William asked about his father, who he still believes is Hank Pym. Later, Tigra introduced Moon Knight to William as her boyfriend.
Comments: Created by Christos Gage, Steve Kurth, and Drew Hennessy.
William has a very confusing heritage. Tigra is a human woman who was transformed into one of the Cat People through mystical measures. Criti Noll was the clone of a Skrull who was a genetic duplicate of Henry Pym. So William is a half-Skrull (but also no Skrull cause the Skrull DNA only reads as that of Henry Pym), and a half mystically transformed Cat Person/human hybrid. But mostly he just looks like a super-cute cat kid. But you just know that the Skrull storyline is going to come back to bite him hard. While the circumstances of his birth are not known, Skrulls generally hatch from eggs. Tigra mentions only being pregnant for two months, and William is aging more quickly ever since.
William Grant Nelson is named after Tigra's deceased husband, William Nelson, a police officer.
Profile by Chadman.
CLARIFICATIONS:
William Grant Nelson has no known connections to:
images: (without ads)
Unstoppable Wasp II#7, p9, pan1 (main)
Avengers Academy I#7, p3, pan1 (face)
Avengers: The Initiative#35, p20, pan4 (as baby)
Appearances:
Avengers: The Initiative#20 (February, 2009) - Dan Slott, Christos Gage (writers), Steve Kurth (penciler), Drew Hennessy (inker), Tom Brevoort (Editor)
Avengers: The Initiative#35 (June, 2010) - Christos Gage (Writer), Jorge Molina (penciler), Andrew Hennessy (inker), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Avengers Academy#7 (February, 2011) - Christos Gage (writer), Tom Raney (penciler), Dave Meikis, Scott Hanna (inkers), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Avengers Academy#8 (March, 2011) - Christos Gage (writer), Mike McKone (penciler), Rebecca Buchman (inker), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Avengers Academy#27-28 (May-June, 2012) - Christos Gage (writer), Karl Moline (penciler), Jim Fern (inker), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Unstoppable Wasp II#7 (July, 2019) - Jeremy Whitley (writer), Alti Firmansyah (artist), Alanna Smith (editor)
Moon Knight IX#4 (October, 2021) - Jed MacKay (writer), Alessandro Cappuccio (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Moon Knight IX#22 (June, 2023) - Jed MacKay (writer), Alessandro Cappuccio (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First Posted: 03/20/2021
Last updated: 08/05/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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