Bengal

Origin

The boy who would one day grow up to be Bengal grew up in the central highlands near Bang Me Thuot. He watched as his village and parents were killed by American GIs during the Vietnam War. The American soldiers, including William Talltrees, Carl Brasel, Samuel Birulin, and Chin Fong, were good at killing and didn’t leave anything breathing in that village except the child Duc No Tranh, who witnessed the massacre behind a hut. Even though he was shot in the leg, Duc managed to jump onto the runner of the Americans’ dustoff chopper (piloted by Rhodey Rhodes) during their evac, but was kicked in the face by Private Janes, the main instigator of the massacre. Duc fell from the chopper and landed back into the jungle where he vowed revenge for his village and family. Duc became the Bengal and began to murder some of the soldiers that participated in the slaughter. Bengal came into conflict with Daredevil as he tried to protect one of the veterans, a friend named Willie Lincoln. The two masked men would clash in Central Park and Bengal proved to be a formidable opponent, cutting Daredevil several times and impressing him with his speed and tenacity. Daredevil was finally able to best Bengal after breaking his left wrist and disarming his sais. Daredevil carried Bengal to Lincoln’s apartment and placed him on the couch. Duc woke up and jumped out of the window after seeing Lincoln’s face.

Creation

Bengal was created by Fabian Nicieza and first appeared in Daredevil # 258.

Story Arcs

Bengal would come into conflict with Silhouette and Night Thrasher after he attempts to kill a priest named Father Janes. Janes was one of the soldiers that massacred Duc’s family and village in Vietnam. Janes was court-martialed and found guilty so he was sentenced to twenty-five years in Quantico. Janes found God and was paroled after fourteen years in prison. Janes dedicated his life to help the underprivileged but realized he was damned forever after turning that young boy into a killer. Thrasher decided to lure the Bengal out by keeping Father Janes in his apartment. The two warriors fought outside Dwayne’s apartment until the Punisher intervened and stopped the fight. Father Janes apologized to Duc for what happened and the two embraced with tears flowing down their face.

• The Initiative

Bengal has recently joined the Initiative and is in training at Camp Hammond. He was even selected as part of the first Shadow Initiative. The Shadow Initiative was a secret black ops team that consisted of Bengal, Trauma, Mutant Zero, Constrictor and the Scarlet Spiders. This team would take on special assignments and only follow the orders of Henry Gyrich. One of their first assignments was to retrieve the young cadets of the Initiative that broke ranks and went into the battle zone against the Hulk and the rest of his Warbound. Bengal and the rest of the Shadow Initiative act as Gyrich’s personal bodyguards and they would come to his aid when the fifth clone of MVP takes control of an omega class weapon called the Tactigon to become KIA.

Secret Invasion

Bengal is very protective of his wife and young son. One of his greatest fears is the possibility of his family getting killed by his enemies. Duc tells his family to hide and lay low when they discover that the Skrulls have invaded the Initiative. Bengal and his teammates attempt to assassinate the Skrull queen to possibly end the invasion but they end up killing a Skrull posing as the queen.

Dark Reign

Members of the Initiative including Bengal would fight Ragnarok, the clone of Thor when it was activated. The Shadow Initiative was no longer covert ops and consisted of Initiative members deemed expendable. This group was the first wave of Initiative members to assault a prison in the Negative Zone called 42 after it was taken over by Blastaar and his army. This group acted as cannon fodder to soften up Blastaar’s forces before sending in the big boys to clean up. Bengal would survive the assault and continue to serve with the Shadow Initiative.

Siege

Bengal and the rest of the Shadow Initiative were confined to their quarters when the Avengers Resistance raided Camp HAMMER and battle the Hood and his crew. The Hood would use the Norn Stones to upgrade the powers of his crew and things started to look bad for the Resistance. Penance took down two guards and broke out of his quarters. Bengal, Butterball and Batwing heard the commotion and Penance asked them to come with him if they were sick of being used as cannon fodder. The tables were turning against the Resistance until reinforcements arrived with Bengal and the rest of his friends. Bengal threw a sai at the Hood with his resignation papers attached to it. They quit the Initiative and Penance removed his helmet to reveal himself as Robbie Baldwin to the rest of the Resistance. Bengal joined the fray and took down the Ringer with a left uppercut. The Hood received a distress signal and was forced to leave with his Brooklyn crew. Bengal and the rest of the Resistance continued to fight the remaining foes that were left behind at Camp HAMMER. Loki would retrieve the Norn Stones and all of the villains that received power upgrades from the Hood would lose their magic. Bengal and the Resistance took down the remaining villains and HAMMER agents. Norman Osborn is defeated and taken to jail. The President of the United States would appoint Steve Rogers as the new man in charge and his first act is to have the Superhuman Registration Act thrown out. Bengal would move his family to Sunset Park in Brooklyn and open up a martial arts school.

Abilities

Bengal has no superhuman powers but his strength, speed, agility, stamina, durability, and reflexes are at peak human level for a man who engages in intensive regular exercise. Bengal is a superbly trained athlete and gymnast with extensive training in various styles of unarmed combat. Daredevil was very impressed with his fighting ability and tenacity: after watching him soak up a solid, direct punch, and witnessing his overall skills, Daredevil said he as “a piece of work. Like Bullseye with laryngitis.” Daredevil was also amazed by his ability to keep on fighting even after his forearm was broken.

He also possesses great stealth. Daredevil, even with his enhanced senses, was barely able to hear him when he was trying to be silent.

His sense of smell is quite acute which makes him a good tracker.

Weapons and Equipment

He wears a tiger-striped costume to conceal his identity when he is hunting. He typically fights with paired Sais, bow and arrows, or shurikens.