Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created by: Christopher Priest and Andy Kubert
1st appearance: Black Panther #50, 2002
Alias: Bi-Racial Black Panther, Black Panther, The White Panther, White Tiger
Nationality: American
Team Affiliations: The Crew, the Panther Cult, NYPD
Legal Status: U.S Citizen with no criminal record
Weight: 195 lbs Height: 5’11
Eyes: Brown Hair: Black
Relatives: Jonathan Peyton “Black Jack” Cole/Kibuka (Father), Ruth Cole (Mother), Gwen (Fiance), Nigel Blacque/Triage (Half Brother)
Skills and abilities: Skilled marksman with firearms, trained detective, trained in a unique acrobatic wakandan fighting style.
Powers: All his natural abilities have been enhanced to peak human levels thanks to a synthetic version of the herb shaped herb which grants the Black Panther’s their power.
Equipment: His vibranium weave costume renders him bulletproof. His gloves house anti-metal claws that dissolve other metals and he carries and energy dagger and Kimiyo card which can pick up satellite signals and block radio transmissions. His vibranium alloy boot soles allow him to run up walls, land without injury from heights of 50 ft or slice through metal.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGeB4qzQSTE&feature=related]
Biography
His hero lost
The son of hardline African-born New York cop “Black Jack” Cole and a Jewish Mother, Kevin Cole was nicknamed Kasper by his Harlem peers for having his light skin tone. As a teen he witnessed his father framed for drug possession. Kasper believed this was because Black Jack refused to go along with corrupt superiors, but there might have been other factors, such as Black Jack secretly being the powerful 66 Bridges gang’s mythical leader,Kibuka [All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2].
Kasper became a narcotics cop in the 74th precinct’s Organized crime control bureau, supporting both his mother and his girlfriend Gwen; he still pined for his high school sweetheart Grace,but stayed loyal with Gwen because he had gotten her pregnant [All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2].
Becoming the Black Panther
Cole was a reckless cop hungry for promotion as a result him and his crew carried out unauthorized drug busts drawing the attention his crooked Lieutenant, Sal Anthony. Around this time,Kasper stole a bulletproof Black Panther costume being stored by his boss Sergeant Tork and began wearing it under his clothes for extra protection. After failing to recruit Kasper, Sal had Kasper’s crew ambushed; thanks to the costume Kasper survived, though the rest of his crew was hospitalized [All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2].
Suspended, Kasper posed as the Black Panther/T’challa to bring Sal Down. He eventually learned that he was a pawn in the manipulations of T’challa and his brother Hunter; his crime fighting pitted him against the 66 Bridges and its regional head Triage/Nigel Blacque, whom Kasper was unaware was his half-brother [All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2].
Mistakenly identified as the Panther masked vigilante,Tork was seemingly murdered (Though this proved a ruse on T’challa’s part). Seeking to control his own destiny, Kasper offered to find Sal’s kidnapped son in return for assistance in tracking down Kibuka [All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2].
Advised by the Falcon that he needed to be more than just a man in a cat suit to achieve his goals, Kasper sought permission to eat the Heart-Shaped herb and gain enhanced powers like T’challa by undertaking the Rite of Ascension. he sought to gain control of his own destiny [All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2].
Killmonger who was head of the wakandan council at the time offered him another option: a Synthetic version of the herb and help finding Sal’s son, in exchange Kasper would be indebted to him, drop the Black Panther mantle and instead become the White Tiger of the Panther Cult [All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2].
Kasper accepted, but then tracked the boy using his newly enhanced senses and help from Queen Divine Justice and Everette Ross,lessening his debt to Killmonger. Afterwards, Kasper took on a new costume as the White Tiger [All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2].
White Tiger and The Crew
Joining together with James Rhodes, Junta and Josiah X, he continued to battle the 66 bridges and Triage [All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2].
The White Tiger is the Chinese spirit of change, perhaps something of this should be reflected in the character.