Characters: Midnight Tiger
Alter Ego: Gavin Matthew Shaw
Occupation: High school student, adventurer
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Robert Frank Shaw (father), Rebecca Anne Shaw (mother), April King (sister)
Group Affiliation: The Icons (recruit/reserve member)
Base of Operations: Apollo Bay, California
First Appearance: Midnight Tiger #1
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 160 pounds
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
Brief personal history: Gavin Shaw is a young high school senior living in Apollo Bay, one of the toughest cities in California. Gavin's greatest desire was to find a way to do what the police had never been capable of doing: release the stranglehold the gangs and drug dealers had on his hometown. He developed a fascination with superheroes as they often delivered solutions where others fell short.
On his way home from visiting his best friend Dex, Gavin stumbled across the hero known as Lionsblood (a member of the superhero team called The Icons) who had been badly injured in an alley. Quickly running to the hero's aid, Gavin unknowingly placed himself in the line of fire between Lionsblood and the beast known as the Hyena who, moments before, had been gravely injured. After contacting the police and acting as a shield to protect the fallen hero, Gavin suffered a mortal wound delivered by the Hyena before the villain fled the scene.
Gavin awoke in a hospital bed almost completely healed after being in a coma for three days. Surprised that he was still alive, the teenager soon realized that Lionsblood, in an effort to save the boy's life, injected Gavin with the same serum that gave the hero his powers, powers that Gavin inherited. Unfortunately, this would-be mentor died shortly after saving the teenager's life, which left Gavin to figure things out on his own.
Wanting to put his newfound abilities to good use and finally having the means to do something about the crime that ravaged Apollo Bay, Gavin (inspired by heroes like the Doberman and Manticore) adopted the crime-fighting identity of Midnight Tiger. He was approached by the ICONS Project (a government sanctioned superhero team spearheaded by superhero turned cop Lt. Grant Goodrich) for membership, but he turned them down, wanting to focus on saving his city. Soon, he began to catch the attention of major criminals that he was unable to handle on his own. Gavin sought training from the ICONS Project and joined the group of young, moderately experienced heroes to step in on cases where authorities or S.H.E.R.I.F.F. (Super Huan Enforcement, Retrieval and Investigation: Federal Facility) couldn't handle.
Despite his lack of experience, Gavin was determined to protect Apollo Bay from any and all threats and one day to become one of the greatest heroes ever known.
Powers and Weapons: Midnight Tiger possesses a number of superhuman attributes resulting of a genetically altered version of ailuranthropy (cousin virus to lycanthropy) and anomolies found in Gavin's DNA. Professor Thaddeus Hadaway (Lionsblood) had performed genetic manipulations on a direct strain of ailuranthropy after being infected, and after testing for safety, a modified version of the strain was administered to Gavin as a serum during his coma.
Unlike Lionsblood, Midnight Tiger does not undergo an outward physical transformation into a were-cat. Aside from retractable clawa on hands and feet and canine teeth that grow at will (all capable of tearing through about 2" of steel, coupled with his strength) his enhanced abilities are innate on the genetic level and he retains a human appearance.
Midnight Tiger has enhanced strenth, speed, reflexes, balance and agility all into the superhuman range, allowing him to accomplish astounding feats of acrobatics and movement. He as an enhanced healing ability -- not enough to regrow limbs, but at least five times superior to average people while not significantly increasing his metabolism, which is five times more efficient than baseline humanity. He uses a freestyle and wildly improvised version of capoeira that he has limited training in, using his powers to make up for his lack of training.
Created by Ray-Anthony Height