Tigra
1167 - Tigra is stripped of her rank and imprisoned after Darkseid stages a coup, kills Heggra and becomes the ruler of Apokolips.
1752 - Tigra son Orion is traded away to New Genesis by Darkseid to seal the non-aggression pact with Highfather of New Genesis, leaving her seething with unending rage.
20 years ago - Tigra is freed from her imprisonment on Apokolips by Orion with the help of Bekka, Himon & Lightray, and brought to New Genesis, where she tries to adjust to freedom.
16 years ago - Tigra is found and killed by Kalibak.
Since one of our goals is to have more of a return to the original characterization of Darkseid, one of the most 'humanizing' elements of his early stories was the fact that he was married. It feels like exactly the sort of petty, backstabbing, untrusting marriage that would be right at home in the Greek Pantheon, just pushed to extremes when one of them is the most evil being in existence.
Tigra's StoryTigra made a grand total of one appearance in the original run of New Gods... it's the panel at the top of this page, showing her rage upon learning that Darkseid had traded her son away. It's more of a worldbuilding moment than anything, but her very presence creates so much story just imagining the dynamics that must go on with the wife of Darkseid. When the original run of New Gods was reprinted a new final issue showed Orion's final assault on Apokolips, ending with him having a brief glimpse of his mother. He would go on to rescue her in the pages of Hunger Dogs.
She would have her role in the story expanded in other series that continued the stories of the New Gods, most notably in John Byrne's Fourth World series in 97 where she actually played a fairly sizeable role, and somehow got redesigned to look less like a madwoman and more like... well... a John Bryne character. Tigra's role in the story is perfunctory but also wildly important. Orion's desire to save his mother (who he only barely remembers from his childhood and was probably never that nice to him anyway) is a core part of his early journey, and including her when Darkseid trades away his son makes that moment all the more evil... which is the goal. |