TIGRESS

Real Name: Kassidy Farrell
Identity: Not Publicly Known
Occupation: Student/Superhero
Group Affiliation: League of Champions, Los Angeles Police Department
Base of Operations: Los Angeles CA
Place of Birth: Boston MA
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Garrison Farrell (father), Lydia Fellini (mother, deceased), Brian Farrell (brother)

Height: 5'6"
Weight: 120 lbs
Eyes: Green
Hair: Red (as Kass), Ash Blonde (as Tigress)
First appearance: League of Champions #36 (v4 #3) (February 2006)

Her name is Kassidy Farrell. Her friends call her Kass. Her father is Garrson Farrell, a newpaper publisher who owns the Boston Herald. Her mother was the famous Egyptian film star, Lydia Fellini. On the day Kass turned eighteen, she graduated high school, ran off to Ensenada with her friends Jennie Cooper and Sally Harris.

In Ensenada, Kassidy Farrell died.

Eighteen years earlier, Kass's mother had been killed by a low-ranking member of the Cult of the Serpent, a quasi-religious paramilitary organization led by the notorious Doctor Seth Adams, a madman who fancied himself the modern-day incarnation of an ancient Egyptian god. Seth Adams had been obsessed with Kass's mother, and had never forgiven her for marrying someone else. Now that Kass had come of age, he was ready to turn his attention to her.

He suspected that Kassidy Farrell, as her mother before had been, might also an incarnation of an ancient Egyptian god. In particular, he feared Kassidy might have the ability to channel the power of the cat goddess Bastet. If true, he would either have to control her, or she would have to die.

An attempt to kidnap Kassidy went badly wrong for the agents assigned to that task. When the kidnap attempt was made, Kass realized something was wrong and proved Adams's suspicions true by instinctively channeling the power of Bastet. She took out her adversaries, but not before being hit with a venomous dart.

Kass was dying. And as she died, she found herself on another plane of existence, where she entered into an ancient temple where a trio of feline gods gave her a choice. Either she could remain mortal and truly die, or she could pass beyond her own death, become a champion of life, the living avatar of the cat, her generation's TIGRESS.

Fearing what would happen, Adams had taken Kassidy's two girlfriends friends hostage. It didn't help. In her new incarnation as the Tigress, Kass picked off Adams's minions one by one, and finally sent Adams himself to his final reward. The Cult of the Serpent does still exist, but it no longer has its charismatic leader to serve as its inspiration.

To be clear, Kassidy Farrell is the Tigress. She's fully capable of doing as Kassidy exactly the same things she can do as the Tigress. The only difference between Kassidy and the Tigress is their appearance.

As the avatar of a cat goddess, Kassidy is quite a bit stronger than any normal human, much quicker, and extremely athletic. She's stealthy, agile, and can talk to cats. Note that talking to cats doesn't necessarily mean she can get them to do anything for her, but they might if they feel like it.

Kassidy's weapon of choice is the bola. She's fully capable of ripping someone's throat out with her claws, but in most circumstances she prefers using a non-lethal attack.

Although she has no particular skills with magic, she is sensitive to it. She can tell when there's magic about, and determine whether or not a particular item is magical.

After leaving Ensenada, Kass went with her two girlfriends to Los Angeles. Thinking she ought to use her new cat abilities to help people, she presented herself as the Tigress to the LAPD's Chief Parker, and asked him if he might like to have a superhero on call. He was a bit skeptical, and advised her that the name "Tigress" might not be a good choice, but did send her to work a case with the LAPD's mystical consultant, Arcanna the WitchGirl.

"Arcanna" is, of course, one of the Black Enchantress's aliases. During the course of that case, Kassidy actually impressed the Enchantress, who later recruited her to help out the League of Champions during a mission into the Realms of Chaos.

The Tigress has since become a reserve member of the League. Since she doesn't live in San Francisco, it would be difficult for her to be an active member, but any time they do need help the Tigress is available.

Kassidy is not the first avatar of the cat goddess. There have been many before her. The reason Chief Parker cautioned her about using the name "Tigress" is because there was a rather notorious villain who used that name. That Tigress was something of an enemy of Flare's mother, the Golden Warrior, and delighted in taking advantage of every opportunity she had to annoy and torment Flare.

That old Tigress is still around. Her name is Katherine Kaat. And even though she's no longer possessed by the spirit of an avatar of the cat goddess, and therefore no longer has any mystical abilities, she can still (as she puts it) jump around on rooftops with the best of them. Katherine is on good terms with Kass, and could very well put on her own Tigress costume if for some reason a second Tigress is needed.

Because of her troubles with that earlier Tigress, Flare has been a bit suspicious of this new Tigress, but is willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Kassidy considers the Black Enchantress a friend. She has a bit of a crush on Doctor Arcane, and definitely likes Icestar, but she already has a boyfriend. His name is Jack Thompson. He's an ex-marine who was originally hired by Kass's father to serve as her secret bodyguard. Of course, when Kass found out who her new boyfriend was working for, she was furious. But she got over it. They do like each other a lot, and Jack no longer takes money from Kass's father.