Kasper Cole
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Kasper Cole is the third fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe to use the name White Tiger. The character was created by Christopher Priest and Dan Fraga in Black Panther vol.3, #50.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] Policeman
The son of hardline African-American cop Jonathan Peyton "Black Jack" Cole and a Jewish mother Ruth Cole, Kevin Cole was nicknamed Kasper by his peers on the police force because of his light skin tone. As a teenager, he saw his father supposedly framed for drug offenses. Kasper once believed this was because Black Jack had refused to go along with corrupt superiors. But it turns out that Black Jack had secretly been Kibuka the mythical leader of the 66 Bridges gang.[1]
Kasper became a narcotics cop in th 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 with Gwen when she had became pregnant with his child.[2]
[edit] Opportunist
Hungry for promotion, Cole and his crew carried out unauthorized drug busts, drawing unwelcome attention from his crooked Lieutenant, Sal Anthony. Around this time, Kasper "borrowed" a bulletproof Black Panther costume being stored by his boss Sergeant Tork, and began wearing it under his clothes instead of his department issued bulletproof vest. Kasper thought that the costume would give him the necessary edge to stand out and get his desired promotion. After failing to recruit Kasper, Sal had Kasper and his fellow officers ambushed. Thanks to the costume, Kasper survived, though the other officers were hospitalized.[3]
Suspended for not wearing his vest, Kasper posed as the Black Panther (T'Challa) to bring Sal down; eventually learning that he was a pawn in the manipulations of T'Challa and his foster brother Hunter also known as the White Wolf, leader of Wakanda's secret police the Hatut Zeraze. His crimefighting eventually pitted him against the 66 Bridges gang and its regional manager Nigel Triage Blacque. Unbeknownst to Cole, Triage is secretly his half-brother.[4]
Mistakenly identified as the "Panther masked vigilante" a title the police had ascribed to Kasper due to his recent actions, Tork was seemingly murdered. But Tork's death turned out to be a ruse orchestrated by the DEA and facilitated by T'Challa. Seeking to control his own destiny, Kasper offered to find Sal's kidnapped son in return for assistance in tracking down Kibuka.[5]
[edit] Hero
Advised by the Falcon (Sam Wilson) 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. The villainous Eric Killmonger, offered him another option, a synthetic version of the heart-shaped herb and help finding Sal's son, in return for Kasper dropping the Black Panther identity, becoming a White Tiger of the Panther Cult, and doing a favor for Killmonger in the future. Kasper accepted, but then tracked down the boy using his newly enhanced senses and help from Queen Divine Justice[6] and Everett Ross, thus lessening his debt to Killmonger. Afterwards, Kasper took on the identity of the White Tiger. He continues to chase promotion, allied with The Crew (a team of inner city superheroes) against 66 Bridges and Triage.[7]
Since Marvel has introduced Hector Ayala's niece Angela Del Toro as the new White Tiger, the final fate of Kasper Cole is currently unknown, but has been seen in the Civil War: Battle Damage Report.
[edit] Equipment
- A pair of 9 mm pistols loaded with non-lethal gel bullets.
- Vibranium microweave body suit capable of dissipating the kinetic and hydrostatic shock damage of bullets or bullet like objects. It also has special vibranium soled boots for scaling vertical surfaces.
- Anti-metal properties of the Antarctic vibranium in his claws and boots will break down any known metal including adamantium.
- Energy based throwing daggers capable of paralyzing or tagging his enemies.
