White Tiger: 6 Things You Need To Know About The Daredevil: Born Again Character

Contains spoilers for "Daredevil: Born Again" Season 1, Episodes 1 and 2

Marvel's new Disney+ series, "Daredevil: Born Again," reintroduces Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), aka Daredevil, to the MCU years after the Netflix show that spawned it went off the air. Keeping to the same themes of redemption and reinvention, Murdock steps in to save Hector Ayala (Kamar de los Reyes), a man accused of murdering a police officer, when in actuality he stops two crooked cops from killing a confidential informant.

Hector isn't merely a do-gooder in the wrong place at the wrong time — he's a superhero known as the White Tiger. The White Tiger is hinted at early in the series, and it's Matt's investigator, Cherry (Clark Johnson), who learns that Ayala is more than he appears when he discovers the White Tiger costume and amulets under Ayala's bed after he's arrested. Matt comes to his defense, seeing Ayala and White Tiger as a proxy for Daredevil.

Matt gets Hector off, but he's murdered soon after, setting the stage for Matt to reconsider his abandonment of his superhero alter ego. While "Daredevil: Born Again" marks the first time we've seen the White Tiger in live action, he's been around for a long time. The character was first introduced in 1975, so the White Tiger has more than 50 years of history in Marvel Comics. Here's everything you need to know about the character.

White Tiger isn't merely a street-level Marvel crimefighter; he holds the distinction of being the first Puerto Rican superhero. The character was first introduced in 1975's "Deadly Hands of Kung Fu" #19, and he quickly became popular among Marvel Comics readers. In addition to being the first Puerto Rican hero, White Tiger is also the first Latin American superhero, and while that's not entirely uncommon today, it was novel in 1975.

The 1970s saw many superhero firsts, with Marvel characters like Valkyrie, Luke Cage, and others breaking new ground throughout the decade. As the first Latin American superhero, White Tiger had something to offer to a previously ignored demographic, even if it wasn't in his own book. It was common for Marvel to introduce characters in books that weren't their own — Spider-Man first appeared in "Amazing Fantasy" half a year before landing his own series — but it would take considerably longer for "White Tiger" #1 to hit store shelves. 

The first eponymous series starring the character didn't arrive until 2006, a full 31 years after his debut. Despite this, White Tiger was featured in a variety of Marvel titles, including "Deadly Hands of Kung Fu," "Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man," and others. Still, it's White Tiger's place among the Latin American community that distinguishes him from his fellow superheroes, the bulk of whom were Caucasians throughout the 20th century.

Hector Ayala has no superpowers of his own to speak of, but he's not incapable of taking the fight to the bad guys, thanks to three Jade Tiger amulets (or Amulets of Power) he's acquired. The amulets come from the city of K'un-Lun as part of its Jade Tiger statue. Created from extra-dimensional elements, they first empower three men, each of whom takes one, comprising the Sons of the Tiger.

Eventually, all three amulets find their way into Ayala's possession, and he channels their power to become the White Tiger, obtaining superhuman abilities via the amulets' connection to the Tiger God. When he wears the amulets around his neck, Ayala gains several powers, including heightened agility and healing, improved stamina, super strength and speed, and mastery of unarmed combat, placing him on par with Spider-Man in speed and strength.

While these make White Tiger capable of standing up against numerous supervillains he'd otherwise be outclassed by, using the amulets unfortunately comes with a price: they slowly become addictive, and Ayala has trouble stopping their use as time progresses. As a result, he stops wearing them and ceases being White Tiger for years. He effectively disappears from the comics between 1981 and 2002, when he dons the amulets once more as the call to heroism is too challenging to ignore.

White Tiger is a street-level superhero, which means he's not typically the kind of hero who's called in when the planet is threatened (that's what the Avengers are best suited for). Still, White Tiger has gone up against some heavy hitters. In several engagements, he fights the villain known as The Prowler, who is most often associated with Spider-Man. He also battles Jack of Hearts, a hero who's at first perceived as a villain and who believes White Tiger is responsible for his father's death. Hector's early superhero career is difficult, as he goes up against a number of villains with little to no experience on his side.

His exploits bring him into contact with a variety of superheroes, including Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, Daredevil, and many others. Throughout his time as White Tiger, Hector Ayala racks up a considerable rogues gallery of villains who match his street-level status. Some of these include MACH-X, Blackbyrd, Blob, Darter, Fu Manchu, Ox, Slum Lord, Lightmaster, and several more. While these characters aren't the biggest and baddest in Marvel Comics' considerably large library, they helped establish White Tiger as a viable hero throughout the 1970s.

Throughout Spider-Man's early career, numerous villains attempt to unearth his secret identity. Most fail, but one who comes close is Lightmaster. It's fair to say that the low-level, largely forgettable Lightmaster isn't one of Spider-Man's most powerful villains, but he causes quite a ruckus for our friendly neighborhood webslinger and Hector Ayala in "Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man" #20. 

In the issue, Lightmaster determines Spider-Man's age, placing him as a college student at Empire State University. Peter Parker does indeed attend the school at this time but so does Hector, whom Lightmaster incorrectly identifies as Spider-Man. His goal is to publicly out him, ruining his ability to mask his true identity, which is pivotal to Peter's crimefighting career. Lightmaster captures Hector, but Peter learns who he is after he receives Hector's amulets.

Lightmaster then sets up TV cameras and tries to expose Hector as Spider-Man, but the wall-crawler manages to slip Hector his amulets. Instead of Spider-Man's true identity being revealed, Hector steps out to proclaim, "Hector Ayala is not Spider-Man! He is ... the White Tiger!!" This revelation causes some problems for Hector, but it also maintains Peter's secret identity and ruins Lightmaster's plans.

"Daredevil: Born Again" begins with a trial for Hector Ayala, whom Matt Murdock outs in court as White Tiger. This saves Hector from being wrongfully convicted — although in the end, Hector is killed. The comics follow a similar storyline, as White Tiger is arrested in "Daredevil" #38 after he's suspected of a murder he did not commit.

Hector is outed after his arrest, put on trial, and convicted of the murder, so unlike the TV show, Murdock doesn't save him from being wrongly convicted. After he's found guilty, Hector decides his best option is to escape, but in his attempt to regain freedom, he's shot and killed in "The Trial of the Century," the final chapter of "Daredevil" #40. Hector's escape and subsequent death is a tragedy, to be sure, but it's all made worse by the fact that not long after his demise, evidence is unearthed that proves his innocence.

Not only is an innocent man wrongfully convicted and ultimately killed, but a prominent superhero is taken off the streets, further endangering the people of New York City. While this was a tragic outcome for a superhero who, at the time, had yet to receive his own comic series, it helped set the stage for others to follow. Just because Hector Ayala was dead, that didn't necessarily mean that White Tiger had to die with him.

Four other characters follow in Hector Ayala's footsteps as the White Tiger after he's killed. The second White Tiger is a literal white tiger whom the High Evolutionary evolves into a human woman. She's created to hunt down Man-Beast, and eventually joins Heroes for Hire. Later, she asks to be returned to her true form, as her love for Iron Fist is unrequited.

The third White Tiger is Kasper Cole, an NYPD officer who once impersonated Black Panther and eventually took a synthetic heart-shaped herb provided by Erik Killmonger. He eventually assumes the mantle of White Tiger and wears a vibranium-laced suit that gives him enhanced abilities. He's eventually replaced by the fourth White Tiger — and Hector's niece – Angela del Toro. She inherits the Jade Tiger amulets from her uncle and adopts the White Tiger mantle, employing the same abilities as Hector.

Angela is trained by Daredevil in the art of crimefighting and even saves his life in one story, but she experiences some trauma and is eventually replaced by Ava Ayala, Hector's youngest sister. The most recent White Tiger, she first appears in 2011's "Avengers Academy" #20. It's eventually revealed that Ava isn't Hector's sister, and is instead his daughter, making the family legacy of White Tiger all the more stronger.