#tygrus

[DCAU Edition]

-Bruce Wayne-

“I need it to be different now.”

(TNBA)

Batman: The Animated Series - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

Doctor Dorian 

Emile Dorian was a former geneticist in Gotham City where he was Kirk Langstrom's tutor. Upon creating the T-99 mutigen, Dorian turned to criminal activities. He was quickly found out and was forced to flee Gotham. He relocated to an uninhabited island somewhere off the coast of South America where he continued his experiments. He managed to create Garth, a genetically-altered gorilla and later Tygrus, a half-man, half-tiger hybrid possessing greatly augmented attributes.

Dorian believed Tygrus represented a pinnacle in evolution and that his kind was destined rule the earth.  Yet Tygrus yearned for a mate.  As such, Dorian dispatched Garth to abduct Selina Kyle, the notorious Catwoman of Gotham.  Once she was in his clutches, Dorian used the T-99 to transform Selina into an anthropomorphic cat-woman.  

Discovering Selina’s abduction, The Batman followed her trail to the remote island.  There Batman was forced to reckon with Tygrus who nearly defeated him.  Tygris proved to possess a nobel spirit, he did not want Selina to forced to stay with him if she did not want to.

A furious Dorian concluded that it was Selina who had made his creation weak.  He attempted to kill Selina, an act that caused Tygrus to fly into a rage that destroyed Doran’s laboratory.  Ultimately, Tygrus chose to spare his creator’s life and he handed Dorian over to Batman.  Selina was returned to her human state and Tygrus wandered off into the jungle.  Dorian, meanwhile, was tried in a South American court and sentence to life in prison.  

Dorian had a line about twenty years of work going down the drain. he also says that Tygrus is not his first attempt at a human/animal hybrids?? so even if we assume he meant slightly more than twenty years Tygrus is still probably barely 20 at most. he's like Dick's age. wtf. (I know he probably matured faster than a normal human would cause cat genetics but my god.) he refers to Dorian as his father, Batman assumes he was made in a test tube (and he's probably right) but even so like ???? did he raise him. how fast did he age. does he know how to read. he knows how to talk, what other skills did he learn from his father.

and then there's fucking Garth. who I think we're meant to assume was born human and forcibly altered, like Selina? he wears clothes. why does he get clothes but Tygrus doesn't 😭😭. it's also equally plausible that he was created as a monkey/human hybrid, no cat DNA whatsoever, since it is mentioned Dorian experimented on other primates before his retirement. but he's a lot more human-passing, a lot less feral than how Tygrus and even Selina in her half-cat form behave. who is he. where did he come from. I don't think he ever calls Dorian "father" and his design makes me think that he's closer to middle aged ?? was he just a guy?? why doesn't he grapple with his humanity. how long has he been working for Dorian. was it willingly?? is he just a furry hired goon that was down for whatever as long as he got to be monkey? Where did Batman take him. did he put him in prison. what is the ethical way to punish a half ape man criminal.

And then at the end??? Tygrus hands his father over to Batman bc he figures that Batman will help him?? and also opts to stay on the secluded island with the burning remains of his father's lab??? does he just live out the rest of his life as a wild animal? He's clearly capable of sentient thought. does he resent his humanity? does he resent his creator? Batman says Dorian has to be punished for his genetic crimes- do you think Tygrus sees himself as an affront to nature. does he have internalized furryphobia

So Doctor Emile Dorian was a renowned geneticist and biologist specializing in CRISPR / transmutation. He was a scientist celebrity of sorts, known for his miraculous work with curing many previously untreatable diseases and his unparalleled love for cats — until he was fired and exposed following many scandals.

Firstly, his involvement with unethical scientific experimentation on animals was discovered, along with records of him selling his CRISPR technology to the US military industrial complex, which resulted in many deaths from failed attempts at creating a super soldier, and even more deaths following the creation of a successful one. But that’s a story for another time.

After he was fired from his position as head scientist, he became a recluse, retiring to a lab built on a secluded island and was not seen in the public eye again. Behind closed doors, though, his experimentation did not cease. Instead, it had only just begun.

Using all the skills he accumulated throughout his career, he channeled them all into perfecting his transmutation through experimentation. now that he doesn’t have the SPCA and Gotham Medical Board breathing down his neck, he can do whatever he wants!

After years of failed experiments, he gets comfortable enough to use his technology somewhat freely, even transforming himself into his favorite animal: a cat!! Kinda just for fun. Eventually, Dorian made his magnum opus: Tygrus, a being made from the perfect mix of animals. Dorian hailed Tygrus as his ultimate achievement, and, though unspoken, his son.

But after Dr Dorian discovers Batman, that all changes. Dorian thought Tygrus was the most advanced splicing if DNA that the world had ever seen; but one look at the Bat, and he became entranced. The Batman of Gotham was obviously manufactured by someone using genetic technology, but the level of skill and advancement is so far above his own. And Dorian needs to know how they did it. He needs to capture this beast and figure out its secrets, even if it means he must tear it apart by the seams. He sets out on a quest to capture and reverse-engineer the biology of the Batman by dissection.

Batman The Animated Series Original Production Cel: Batman and Tygrus