Origin
Ava Ayala is the younger sister of Hector Ayala (original White Tiger) and the aunt of Angela Del Toro (former White Tiger). Her brother opened the door for many Latino and Hispanic heroes, and Ava wants to honor his legacy. She is very passionate about her heritage. After receiving the Jade Tiger Amulet, Ava took on the alias “White Tiger” as a means to continue her family’s tradition of using the relic to fight crime. Dissimilar to her brother, she cannot properly control the powerful Tiger God that dwells within the amulet, and is sometimes possessed by it’s power.
Creation
Christos Gage mentioned that Ava Ayala was originally created for the Ultimate Spider-Man tv series, before being brought over into comic book media (similar to Reptil from The Super Hero Squad and Aqualad from Young Justice). Her first comic appearance was in Avengers Academy #20 (2011).
Major Story Arcs
Avengers Academy
Ava enrolled into the Avengers Academy’s California-based Avengers Compound. She was one of the first full-time students and began to have private lessons with Tigra to improve her dexterity and combat prowess. While enrolled at the academy, she often came to odds with former classmate Reptil, about his lack of prominence as a Hispanic/Latino role model. Ava would later go on to graduate from the academy.
Infinity
During the events of Infinity, Ava and former classmate Victor Alvarez, were offered internships by Luke Cage, who was thinking about reopening his Heroes for Hire business. After thwarting Parnival Plunder‘s plan to steal robot parts, the group had a run-in with the Superior Spider-Man. This “superior” Spider-Man is actually Doctor Octopus who, unbeknownst to other heroes, has placed his mind inside Peter Parker‘s body (readers commonly refer to him as “SpOck”). SpOck mentioned that they were no different than “hired thugs,” which led Ava to resign from the internship.
Upon leaving the scene, she stated that she had no real interest in hero-ing for money and mentioned that she felt that they could (and should) be doing more then stopping low-leveled criminals from stealing machinery. Luke respects her decision and Ava ventures off on her own to clear her head.
Later on that day, she is approached by Victor. After she explained the White Tiger legacy to him, the two began to have a heart-felt discussion about their responsibilities as heroes. Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of Thanos‘ forces.
Ava and Victor attempted to locate Luke Cage, who was off fighting a weakened Shuma-Gorath alongside Blue Marvel, Monica Rambeau, SpOck, and “Spider Hero” (Blade). Gorath was released by one of Thanos’ generals, Ebony Maw, who used his abilities to manipulate Dr Strange into summoning him. When Ava and Victor finally joined the fight, Vic calls them the “Mighty Avengers.” During the battle, Victor absorbs the chi energy from his surroundings and uses it to augment Ava’s power, as she uses her Jade Tiger Amulet to awaken the Tiger God. The powerful God was then able to maim and weaken Shuma-Gorth long enough for Monica Rambeau to defeat and repel him back into his own realm.
Amulets of Power
Ava and her now ex-boyfriend, Victor, were recruited by Sunspot for the New Avengers he created using his resources from buying AIM. They earned the ire of The Maker, who stole a similar amulet of power from a neighboring universe to give to Angela del Toro, still brainwashed by The Hand.
When Angela first tried to fight Ava, the Tiger God in Ava’s service saw an opportunity to no longer bend to Ava’s will. The Tiger Gods combined, leaving Ava powerless and scared. Satisfied, Angela departed and joined Maker’s New Revengers.
When the New Revengers raided the New Avengers headquarters. the now human Ava fought her aunt and destroyed her amulet. This not only freed Angela of the influence of two angry Tiger Gods, but it also burned out The Hand’s influence. Now freed, Angela would help Ava take on the Revengers.
When the New Avengers prove victorious over The Maker, Ava decided to retire as The White Tiger.
Return to Patrol
Ava didn’t stay retired long. Ava put on her suit and fought crime, but she found herself at a disadvantage without a connection to the Tiger God. Mister Fear had her on the ropes, when she was saved by a new player, Chimera, who would sneak away as mysteriously as she showed up.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
As the inheritor of her family’s magical Amulets of Power (Tiger Totem), Ava Ayala’s endurance, speed, agility, and dexterity have been enhanced to abnormal levels for a human being. Utilizing her heightened cat-like reflexes and over-all mobility, Ava has become a formidable acrobat, allowing her to evade assault from enemies. The Tiger Totem’s mystical properties can sometimes become vastly overwhelming, augmenting Ava’s strength and causing her to become highly volatile or feral.
Abilities
As the understudy of Tigra, Ava possesses an exceptional combat prowess, complimented by claws built into the gloves of her costume.
In Other Media
Television
Ultimate Spider-Man TV Series
Ava appears as one of the main characters in Ultimate Spider-Man. She will be a trainee at SHIELD under Nick Fury. She’s voiced by Caitlyn Taylor Love. She has shown to be the most mature and level headed of the trainees, and to often be angered and disgusted by there antics (particularly Spider-Man and Nova).She is also shown to be highly intelligent and responsible, being a straight A student who always finds time to get her work done, as well as having good knowledge of S.H.E.I.L.D. tactics and training. On the other hand this is also her biggest weakness as she puts to much faith in training and tactics, being somewhat inflexible and unimaginative when they fail.
This was her biggest difference with Spider-Man, believing his improvisation and habit of thinking up original strategies on the fly as irresponsible. However her opinion changed when they were forced to defeat taskmaster by using misdirection and original tactics. She has also shown to be a feminist, being angry when a disguised Taskmaster did not choose her to come back and run his obstacle course (a trap to find Spider-Man) when her run was one of the best, and thought it was because she was a girl.
This shows she also has strong pride in her abilities. Her totem powers were not explicitly shown until later in the series, with more emphasis being placed on her natural acrobatic abilities. She has also shown to be extremely strong for a girl of her age and build, being able to slice through metal with ease as well having strong leaping and climbing abilities almost as strong as spider man (though this has not been stated to be anything other than natural ability). after she got the totem she is shown to have enhanced strength, speed, stamina, coordination, agility, durability, endurance, and mastery of martial arts. If she is not in control of her emotions, she could go feral and mutate into a humanoid tiger.
Video Games
Disney Infinity: Marvel Superheroes
White Tiger appears as a supporting sidekick character in Disney Infinity: Marvel Superheroes. Voiced by Courtnee Draper
Marvel: War of Heroes
White Tiger (Ayala) appears in several cards in the mobile card game Marvel: War of Heroes. Her cards are:
- [Ava Ayala] White Tiger
Marvel Future Fight
White Tiger is a playable character in the game. She is a combat type, and her description in the game says: When Ava Ayala inherited mystical amulets from her brother, she became the Super Hero White Tiger. The amulets grant her super human powers and reflexes, as well as razor-sharp claws.
Marvel Avengers Alliance
White Tiger is a playable character in the game. She can be recruited by normal purchase. Her bio says: Ava Ayala’s brother, Hector, was the original White Tiger using the Jade Tiger amulet as his source of power. He was wrongfully convicted of murder, and while trying to escape the authorities, was shot and killed. The jade amulet passed to Ava’s niece, Angela, whose career as a Super Hero was all too brief when the Hand captured, brainwashed, and corrupted her into an assassin. Angela was incarcerated, and the amulet now passed to Ava. Determined to avenge and restore her family’s name, Ava Ayala took on the mantle of the White Tiger and has become the avatar of the primal tiger god of fear contained within the jade amulet. Ava wields the power of the White Tiger against Earth’s greatest threats while fighting to contain the addictive and dangerous force that threatens to possess her.
Merchandise
- Hasbro released a White Tiger figure for the Marvel Legends line as part of the Rhino Build-a-Figure wave.
- White Tiger was featured in the HeroClix figure game.
- White Tiger was featured in the Marvel Tsum Tsum series from Jakks Pacific.
- White Tiger was featured in the Minimates line from Diamond Select.
- White Tiger was featured in the “Doc Ock’s Tentacle Trap” Lego kit.