Tyger Fist
25 years old, 5'9", 151 lbs., Muscular female, Red hair, Blue eyes, Black & Red Polykev Motorcyclists outfit, Black helmet with tiger striped Fist decal over visor. by S.D. Anderson
Art by andi jones
ST 80 [200] DX 16 [80] IQ 11 [10] HT 16 [80]
Stats Total: 370 pts.Advantages: Attractive Appearance [5]; Comfortable Wealth [10]; Contact: Jeff Gilroy, Street/Martial Arts 9- [2]; Contact: Holly Restin, Medical 9- [3]; Flight {+20% instant} [48]; Instant Regeneration [100]; Strong Will +4 [16]; Superflight x 3 {+20% instant} [72].
Advantages Total: 256 pts.Martial Arts Styles: Praying Mantis Kung Fu Style (realistic) [10]
Style Total: 10 pts.Maneuvers: Elbow Strike 16 [1], Hit Location (karate) 15 [2], Jump Kick 15 [1], Kicking 16 [22], Knee Strike 17 [1], Riposte (karate) 13 [1], Spin Kick 16 [1].
Maneuvers Total: 29 pts.Skills: Acrobatics 16 [4], Administration 12 [4], Computer Operation 11 [1], Diagnosis 8 [1/2], Drive (car) 14 [1/2], Drive (motorcycle) 14 [1/2], First Aid 11 [1], Flute 9 [1], Flying 14 [1/2], Intimidation {default 15} 16 [2], Judo 16 [4], Jumping 16 [1], Karate 16 [4], Philosophy (Taoism) 11 [1], Photography 13 [4], Physician 8 [1/2], Professional Skill: X-Ray Technician 14 [8], Savoir-Faire (dojo) 11 [1], Sex Appeal {+1} 15 [1/2], Stealth 16 [2], Style Analysis 11[4].
Skills Total: 45 pts.Disadvantages: Bad Temper [-10], Bloodlust [-10], Bully [-10], Enemy: unknown supervillain 12- [-50], Overconfidence [-10], Secret Identity [-10].
Disadvantages Total: -100 pts.Quirks: Avoids Sex [-1], Loner (quirk level) [-1], Self Hatred Syndrome [-1], Sleeps in fetal position [-1], Wears/buys "tough guy" clothes/items [-1].
Quirks Total: -5 pts.Total: 605 points.
Twenty-one years ago, the woman known as Karla Meaneyton was Sossity Saunders, one of Robert and Sharon Saunders' twin 4-year-olds. Her parents were killed in a car crash and she and her twin brother Ian were separated. Neither Robert nor Sharon had family who could take care of both children. Ian went to live with his uncle Max (Sharon's brother) and his family, while Sossity went to live with her father's sister Monique.
Monique was barely 20 and had a serious drug dependency problem. A few weeks shy of her 6th birthday, Sossity was sold to someone willing to pay $4,000 for her. Sossity became "April." It took a few beatings to get her to accept the change of names.
What happened to her was far nastier than is fit to print here. Use your imagination if you have to. You'll probably come up short of what she experienced.
Aunt Monique managed to disappear for a few years, turning up in an emergency ward and then to prison when the story of the sale finally became known. Since her release she's been a constant guest on many tabloid shows.
Pedophiles have their preferred age groups, and often make arrangements with others of their ilk to pass along victims too old for their tastes to those preferring older children. April grew too tall her her "father's" tastes before a year passed. She went though four more "daddies" or "uncles" by the time she was 12. April became Leah became Violet became Karla, which stuck.
The last of her "owners" was both a pedophile and a budding gadgeteer, a neurobiologist who was working for an organization to help develop super powered beings. In his spare time he developed mind controlling devices and techniques.
"Karla" was both a sex toy to the man and more. She fit a genetic profile he'd been looking for. He had some ideas on how to create super beings, and April's genetic structure was just about perfect for his experiments. By the time she was 15, she was more useful to the man as a guinea pig than as a sex slave.
Using advanced, if brutal, brainwashing techniques, he obliterated the girl's memories and installed a false set of his own creation, including the memory of a plane crash and reconstructive surgery (the last aided by his having her undergo facial reconstruction as a safety precaution against identification -- Aunt Monique was getting a lot of airplay at the time) and physical therapy. (This allowed him to conduct his experiments on her and keep her out of schools under the pretext of injuries.) The organization sponsoring his research provided tutors who would keep quiet and keep the Education board satisfied.
Paradoxically, the mind programming process seems to have strengthened her Will, toughening those parts of her mind that weren't obliterated or altered.
She spent a lot of that time being sick, as viruses tailored to alter her genes were infecting her.
Karla acquired a pair of parents as part of the mind control experiments. Two total strangers were mind-wiped and reprogrammed with memories of having a long and loving marriage, good jobs and a few old friends and relatives, operatives of the organization, along with Karla's birth and early childhood etc. In a fit of humor, he modified the name she called him when she dared show anger at him. "Meany" to Meaneyton. Karla Meaneyton.
As their trusted family physician, he could and did regularly see them all and recondition the brainwashing periodically, and since Karla's health was always thus he could effectively keep them unaware while he "examined" their daughter.
Some final brainwashing to make her forget their times in bed and she went through high school and college, knowing him only as her doctor, taking further treatments, even (with his help) getting a job at the hospital he worked at.
In point of fact he was able to hide his equipment pretty much in plain sight in the hospital, give her his treatments, put her in a modified MRI that irradiated her with specific doses of energies . . . even her own X-ray equipment was rigged to secretly expose her every so often.
Her interest in self-defense began almost as soon as she joined the "Meaneyton" family. Her enemy allowed her to do so. If you're going to design super soldiers, might as well have a prototype who can fight.
Driven by her subconscious angers, hurts and fears, Karla became a formidable black belt and weight lifter (treat her "natural" ST as 16 should it matter).
Four months ago, her coffee was drugged and she collapsed at her work. Her enemy "just happened" to be there and immediately took charge while his underlings got rid of her coffee and any other evidence of foul play.
His people were ready, tests results already prepared came up through the hospital's system with a diagnosis he wanted and without too much difficulty he had her placed in the room he wanted her to be in.
She was now completely in the hands of the people her enemy selected, out of sight of the rest of the hospital's staff. She was put in a bath of mutagenic compounds and exposed to radiation emitted from the room above. This would be the triggering event that would alter her into a super being.
During this period two things happened.
1) Slapping the face of credibility, her brother Ian was admitted to the room below hers with a broken leg and cracked ribs.
2) the radiation emitting device above her exploded. The blast blew open the floor she was on and dropped her and the mutagenic compounds onto Ian. It also drove a wooden beam into Ian's stomach, while general shrapnel ripped into Karla. Ripped pretty badly by the blast, a good deal of her treated blood mixed into Ian's wounds.
In the hours before rescue crews could evacuate them, Ian's very similar DNA make up was exposed to compounds tailored to make his twin a superbeing.
(See Tiger Eye for more on Ian's story.)
Her enemy let it be believed he perished in the explosion, though by sheerest luck he escaped unharmed. Agents in his employ were able to see to Karla's recovery in a private sanitarium her enemy secretly owned and operated. (In truth she'd have been transferred there a day or two later anyway.)
Placed into a quasi hypnotic psionic device her enemy developed, Karla went through power testing in a trance. One power planned for didn't develop. Her body didn't toughen up. She was as bullet vulnerable as a normal. But all in all, she came out better than expected.
Memories of "discovering" her powers in secret were implanted in her. As was the "need" to not let anyone know. With a little mental prompting, Karla became a superheroine, some last perverted fantasy her enemy wants her to act out.
His agents have been toying with her, attempts on her life gave her the opportunity to field test her powers whether she wanted to or not, criminals induced to commit violent acts around her, etc.
Karla herself is a constructed personality, and from most appearances looks and acts the part of a medical technician, driven by her enemy's schemes to act like a superheroine. Behind that facade though is a little girl who's been badly mauled, a wounded animal ready to lash out and share her pain with anyone she can assault.
And lash out she does. She nearly killed one 13-year-old kid who was robbing a liquor store with a full-strength kick. Between her power and anonymity she's getting drunk on power. So far she's kept herself from hurting anyone innocent, but she's forced witnesses to talk by demonstrating acts of violence. Had they not talked, she may well have made good her threats.
Eventually that facade will come apart, and when it does things will likely get very deadly for people around her.
Campaign Role
Any marital arts based group might take an interest in Karla, martial heroes trained in Preying Mantis style kung fu might have encountered her or gone against her in tournaments, regardless of the style they have learned.Police-based characters might be looking to ask her a few questions about some of her rougher tactics.
Personality
The Karla persona is out to do good. Her enemy is still testing her, and sees no reason not to use her against rival criminal interests while he and his own organization lay low. She sees herself as a heroine. Those who agree with that assessment see her as a bad tempered heroine. More than a few see her as being considerably dangerous if not reckless.The Sossity persona is not quite a split personality. It's too far suppressed to ever consciously take over, at least as long as the Karla persona remains intact. It's her emotional state and core. Her anger, desire to hurt anyone "bad" and so forth.
Karla may understand and even use words like Truth, Justice etc. but the Sossity part of her doesn't really understand that other people also bleed. Few things scare parents more than the idea of a small child with superstrength. In many ways this describes Tyger Fist.
Abilities
Tyger Fist can fly and is reasonably stealthy. She's also a pretty good photographer. On more than one occasion the more "Karla" version of her has followed suspects, photographed them in illegal action and apprehended them without excessive violence. She is not really up to duking it out with major villains and is rather vulnerable since the only protection she has is her costume's armor.In campaigns where "Polykev" (GURPS International Super Teams, p. 56) isn't available and especially ones where the optional stun rules aren't in effect, she's likely to end up being a red splotch mark on the pavement fairly quickly. If the stun rules are in effect she's more effective.
Battle Tactics
Tyger Fist is a flying brick, minus the brick's ability to shrug off heavy damage. She may throw heavy objects at someone she can't reach but her primary attack and inclination is to mix it up Hand to Hand. The Karla persona's good girl programming has managed to stop her from finishing off a downed foe, but that may just be a matter of time.
Article publication date: April 30, 1999
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