Tiger Man (deceased)

Strength 6c

Agility 8c

Intellect 4d

Willpower 9x

Hand Size: Edge:

3 (17) 1

Origin:

After losing his arms in a factory accident, the German-born Gustav Hertz began training himself to utilize his feet and teeth in place of his arms. Somewhere along the way, however, something went wrong... as unlike most normal folks, this basic life training... changed Gustav. He is likely a psionic believer, having changed his very body just by wanting it badly enough.

Powers:

Claws (s): though his fangs are his most immediately obvious personal weaponry, one must never discount Gustav's claws. Hardened and sharpened toenails, Gustav's claws can be used to inflict +2 slashing damage with his feet. Though he may like biting and kicking his enemies more, Gustav isn't above rending their flesh with his freakish toes - since it's usually the last assault people expect.

Fangs (s): the most obvious aspect of his transformation (other than, of course, his horrid looks), Gustav has developed a set of long, sharp fangs, deadly 'natural' weapons that he can use to inflict damage as per a +2 weapon on a foe. Gustav prefers to stomp his opponents to death, of course, but doesn't mind softening them up first with, say, a sharp assault to the jugular.

Hindrances / Augmentations:

Monstrous: the most distinct affect his madly intensive training has had upon him, this hindrance describes the extreme change to Gustav's facial features that he has experienced. His face now a 'hideous mass of bone and flesh', Gustav scares children on sight, and if attempting to do so, can easily disgust regular humans (i.e., zero (0) edge folk) into fleeing on sight of his horrific visage.

Physically Disabled / Amputee: though it most likely goes without saying, Gustav is a double amputee, having lost his arms in a factory accident. As such, he has zero (0) Strength for the purpose of any action involving his missing limbs. He's undertaken training that allows him to substitute his feet and teeth for hands, but still, it should be noted for posterity that he has no arms.

Equipment:

(none)

Skills:

Acrobatics (a): a large portion of his personal life training post-accident has involved Gustav learning how to leap around like a madman while in the perpetration of all manner of destructive acts. As such, he is now incredibly limber, and can lower the difficulty of actions meant to dodge attacks and reduce falling damage by one difficulty level - and he can also perform all sorts of death-defying leaps, bounds, and such.

Boxing (s): in addition to simply learning how to use his feet instead of hands for basic functions, Gustav has trained extensively in the use of his feet as deadly weapons. Either when stomping a helpless opponent into the ground or with any other unarmed melee maneuver (body check, head butt, etc...), Gustav may divide his pre-card play action score between two attacks, the last of which will be a contingent action.

Flinging (a): one of the more lethal talents that Gustav has picked up is his skill with all manner of thrown weapons. When wielding virtually any small weapon with his feet, he can fling them at a foe with surprisingly deadly accuracy, doing so at one difficulty level lower than is usually necessary. Of course, the sheer surprise factor when Gustav does such things enhances the effect further.

Languages / English and German (i): unlike a lot of the oddball terrorists and other super-human scumbags the Nazi regime unleashed upon America during the second World War, Gustav has a competent command of the English language in addition to his native, German tongue. He speaks without extreme slurring of words with a heavy German accent as is usually the case with Nazi super-thugs.

Natural Weapons (s): while he does prefer to stomp an opponent to death in almost all his battles, Gustav nonetheless can use his teeth and nails as deadly weapons should he find it more convenient to do so. When attempting to bite or slash a foe, Gustav may do so at one difficulty level lower than is otherwise required - this helps him to do so in more lethal locations, too.

Contacts:

Gustav has very few friends when you get down to it. Though he was used by the Gestapo against America, Gustav initially got on their bad side by trashing various German factories. The Red Skull had no problem working with Gustav to make use of his... unique... abilities, however, and did just that when he attempted to take over the secretive African nation of Wakanda.

Calling:

Demolisher: more than anything else, Gustav is driven by the desire to destroy all things mechanical. His lust for the destruction of all mechanical devices is what got him in trouble with the Gestapo in the first place, and subsequently got him trounced by the Angel, too. His mania pushes him to smash the biggest examples of mechanical devices he can find - all other actions are secondary to him.

Costume:

At virtually all times, Gustav wears a yellow body suit - one that allows him the maximum range of movement - whether he's 'on the job' or not. This suit covers everything on his body save for his head, neck, heels, and toes - including his arm stumps. Of course, he complements this outfit with a pair of blue trunks, and occasionally wears a brown cloak and fedora when attempting to go unnoticed.

Personality:

Gustav is an odd man, driven to action against all machinery in retaliation for the accident that took his arms away from him. This, naturally, indicates a bizarre mental dysfunction, in that he seems to loathe machinery with a passion - and has no compunctions about destroying it if he can get his hands (or feet, rather) on it. Somewhat sadistic, Gustav has also demonstrated a taste for human flesh.

Real Name: Gustav Hertz
Occupation: ersatz saboteur
Legal Status: German citizen with a criminal record in the United States, legally deceased
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: none
Group Affiliation: none

Height: 5' 10"
Hair: black
Eyes: black
Weight: 140 lbs
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: his training regimen having changed him in a manner unexpected by modern science, Hertz has developed several rather odd features. For one thing, his face is equipped with way too many muscles, allowing him to do amazing things with his jaw, his eyes have changed into more catlike orbs, his ears grew pointy and elflike, and he has cultivated long, sharp toe nails.

Story:

The sad, sordid tale of the Tiger Man began with Gustav Hertz, a young man in Germany who, while working in an ordinary factory one day, managed to get both of his arms caught in a powerful mechanism. This device proceeded to tear them off just below the shoulders, leaving him a double amputee - an incident that left him in the hospital for months while he recovered.

When he was finally discharged, a doctor offered Gustav a book that would teach him how to utilize his feet and teeth in place of his hands, to allow him the ability to at least partially live on without external assistance. This was a simple, ordinary tome, mind you - nothing magical or mysterious about it. However, something about the exercises described within changed Gustav.

Since said exercises alone couldn't have possibly caused anything extraordinary to occur, it is likely that Gustav himself was somehow different, either having some sort of undocumented physical abilities or, more likely, his growing anger towards all things mechanical fueled his obsessive training beyond a rational level, and caused him to change... and how!

His legs and teeth developed abnormal strength and agility - but at the price of becoming obviously over-muscled and horrific to the human sense of beauty. Furthermore, he adopted several almost tiger-like features, including slitted cat pupils, pointy ears, long, claw-like fangs, and all-too deadly fangs. When he was finally ready, Gustav christened himself the Tiger Man!

With his potent new physical prowess, he began a one-man crusade against all things mechanical in Germany, at least until the Gestapo caught up with him. When he explained his inexplicable rage against the machine, they got the bright idea of letting him loose in America. So, armed with enough money to support himself, Gustav found himself in the United States in no time flat.

With the booming war-time production going on, Gustav found himself literally surrounded by factories - factories that he felt the overwhelming need to destroy! He began to do so, but killed an informant in the process, thus alerting the Angel to the fact that something was amiss. When confronted by the detective soon after, Gustav fled straight to his first target in the States - only to be followed.

He smashed the place up real good, but in the end was defeated by the Angel, who had figured out where he was going by the evidence Gustav left in his hotel room, and then beat him senseless once he got there. After turning him over to the Feds, the Angel pried an origin out of the sullen Gustav, and then cracked wise as the Man took Gustav away to serve time for his many crimes.

This was not to be the end of Gustav's story, however, for Hitler himself had need of the Tiger Man. Wanting to take over the secretive African nation of Wakanda for its Vibranium reserves, Hitler nonetheless did not wish to expend valuable soldiers on the plot. Thus, the fascist leader had the Red Skull extricate Gustav from prison, and the two joined forces with both Master Man and Warrior Woman.

Accessing Wakanda with the aid of the White Gorilla, the super-powered Nazis might have pulled off their nefarious scheme, but were foiled by both Captain America and the Black Panther of the time - not to mention Nick Fury's Howling Commandos. It was these mundane, human soldiers who finally ended poor Gustav's life, when they gunned him down while he attempted to hold the Panther's son hostage.

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