This is a backstory for one of the characters, a tiger/girl I created for the very cool comic-style mmorpg game, Champions Online.
Tigrrrl, born Tina G. Earl, spent her first years being brought up by her father, a well meaning man but ultra intelligent and workaholic research scientist named Arcturus Earl. His specialty was in the area of anthropomorphism science. In short, Arcturus believed that all animals have souls, although different than humans, that guide their actions and emotions the same as we have.
During his scientific research, Arcturus kept his beloved Tina close by, with the hopes that as she grew, she would learn to love science as he did and become an avid researcher as he had been all his life. As his research continued, his understanding of animals grew substantially, to the point where he was on the brink of a major breakthrough – the proof he needed, the proof of animals as spiritual creatures! Through his research, he was able to create devices that seemed to “capture” the essence of the creature in question*, which, in turn he was able to apply to another living creature! Of course Arcturus, being the humane scientist he was, he limited his test applications to plants and amazingly, inanimate plants took on the life of an animal!At such an amazing discovery, the great scientist exploded with great excitement as his beautiful child looked on, in big-eyed wonder, curious as to what her daddy was so happy to have found… And this is where the story took a turn for the worst for the Dr. and the one thing on Earth he prized the most, his precious Tina, for at that very moment he burst into joy, as his hand flailed outward, he hit one of the flasks of “animalia essence” as he called it. Most of it ended up in the direction of his daughter, which, initially just seemed to be a mess to clean up. But this was only the beginning for Tina.Tina was 5 at the time. Over the next several years, she continued to grow, as a child does, but in some ways not as a typical child does. Some of her behaviors began taking on the qualities of what could only be described as beastly, and more specifically, she was slowly becoming cat-like. By 10, a lot of her days were spent playing alone in the park, having scared the other children away she was left alone and confused. Eventually she was able to cope with this and learned to control much of her behavior, slowly earning friends’ trust once again. At 16, her actual appearance had changed drastically, and once again, she found herself left with only those few true friends that always stuck by her. Still, she suffered, as her need for companionship and a social life was at its peak. She struggled futilely as she attempted to cover her naturally “feline” skin and light fur with make-up and cool fashions.Finally at the age of 23, with her newly “acquired” kitty ears that lay prominently on her head, she’d come to terms with herself. Along the way, with every phase, came newfound maturity and understanding in herself and her uniqueness, and with every new change, came new strength and power. Having had to stand on her own for most of her life following the accident – her father refused to risk further exposure of Tina to his work, but being the busy scientist he was, she hardly saw him – she had become exceedingly independent.One day on her way to on of her college classes, “Applied Animal Behavior Science”, full of confidence and bravery she took a new route, not realizing the rundown neighborhood it would take her through. The gang of the area, whose name, to this day is unknown, attacked her. Although taken by surprised, this became the single most significant moment for Tina in her final transition to Tigrrrl. In what seemed to her a lifetime, but was actually less than 2.5 minutes, she found herself not only defending herself, but taking down no less than 15 would-be muggers. In the brief moment following the brawl, Tina stood, ruffled, but surprisingly unharmed. At first, onlookers stood with mixed feelings of awe and fear, but soon, the growing crowds began cheering at the sight of having been avenged against the horrible criminals that had terrorized them for so long. Right then she knew her place, her place in society. Although it took her some time to create “Tigrrrl” as her name, this was the moment she truly became the hero that Tigrrrl is today.Although she still loves her father dearly and understands his absence, the fact that his love for his research was stronger than his need to care for her left her raw. In spite of this, she knows the day will come when she returns, as the “prodigal daughter” and reconciles with her “daddy”. She knows the day will come when she can accept what he is just as she has accepted who she is. She is what she is because this was what she was supposed to become. Although at the time it was an accident, it all fit into the plan, as some would call it, and her father only played his part, though unwillingly at the time. Although the incident caused her a lot of pain and suffering along the way, it is also the thing that gives her life purpose today.
Sometimes life’s miracles can only be created by accidents, but everything hindsight is in 20/20 vision. Tigrrrl is proof that miracles can happen even as a result of mistakes.Tigrrrl's Profile on Champions Online
* It is important to note, for the sake of the Dr. Earl’s reputation, that at no such time, did his research
involve deliberately harming or killing any of the animal test subjects.
** Tigrrrl’s name is, in effect, a pseudo-acronym of her full name, Tina G. Earl. Ti + G + rrrl (Earl).
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