Weretigers are a type of lycanthrope, humans infected with a supernatural virus which allows them to take the the power and appearance of a specific species of animal, in this case, tiger.
Tiger lycanthropy is one of the harder-to-catch strains, and the weretiger culture sees attacking outsiders as an abomination. Being given tiger lycanthropy is seen as a reward for a job well done, and they think it is a sin to give it to someone not worthy. It is also one of the few forms of lycanthropy that can be inherited, as well as caught. Consequently the weretiger culture is strongly divided into pureblood clan tigers, who are inherited lycanthropes, and attacked ones, whose coloring matches natural tigers. However, according to the Mother of All Darkness, all of the clans started off as survivors of attacks, and have just forgotten this because the power breeds true. It is hinted that the Yellow Clan might still possess this power of spreading all strains of tiger lycanthropy, which could explain why Anita caught all of them, although there are too few recorded survivors of yellow tiger attacks to draw any conclusions.
Tigers tend not to announce they are infected, and entire families may stay in "the closet" for generations. Intermarriage is common in order to keep the bloodlines pure, and forced marriages between clan members aren't unheard of. Most weretigers have arranged marriages, and they have been known to abduct known tigers if an arranged marriage cannot be done. There used to be only four known clans of tigers within the United States, and they all kept mostly to themselves, although as the series proceeds we meet tigers from all five clans.
They are a matriarchal society (led by a woman/queen), unlike most of the other lycanthrope societies which are patriarchal (led by a male/king).
Quote[]
"Do you actually believe the stories of tigers mating with humans and having offspring? No, fairy tales. They were all survivors of different strains of tiger. They have convinced themselves they are better because they breed true, but they have forgotten their own truth. They were once as you are, nothing more. They smell the gold tiger on you, Anita. The gold clan ruled them all, once, and they still respond to the power. If you were not true golden tiger, then they would not react to you, as they do." Father of the Tigers describing the tiger clans to Anita in Skin Trade
History[]
At one point in their history all weretiger clans were found in China and were ruled by the Queen of the Yellow Clan, and through her by the Father of the Tigers. Marmee Noir killed the last known High Queen of the Yellow Clan and weakened the powers of the Father of the Tigers, permitting her to defeat him and steal his powers. The Mother of All Darkness then influenced the First Emperor of China to hunt down the weretiger clans, forcing them into exile.
The Dark Mother permitted her servants, the Harlequin, to keep their yellow tigers as their animal to call, but continued to hunt the Yellow Clan to extinction. Secretly some of the Harlequin spared some of the yellow tigers and hid them from Marmee Noir, breeding the bloodline until the day they can put the Darkness back to sleep. Because of all of this, it's no surprise that there aren't more known survivors of a yellow tiger attack.
After over two thousand years, some of the clans settled in the New World, including the White and Red Clans. The Blue and Black clans have dwindled to only a few individuals (also helped along by the Harlequin), while the yellow is still believed to be extinct when Anita starts learning about the clan tigers. In Bullet we learn better, when Jake brings a small group of yellow tigers to St. Louis, both to safety and to aid in the fight against Marmee Noir, but blue and black lines are still severely endangered.
Prophecy[]
Spoilers: Crimson Death
This article or section contains spoilers for 2016 novel Crimson Death.
Proceed with caution. |
There is an ancient weretiger prophecy that says the next vampire that can control weretigers will kill the Father of the Tigers and the Mother of All Darkness. Because by vampire customs everything a human servant accomplishes is counted as being done by the vampire master, Anita killing those two ancient vampires counts as fulfilling the prophecy, or at least that part of it. The rest of the prophecy is less clear, but implies that if the tiger isn't married to the king and queen, whatever that means, the Mother of All Darkness might find a way back.
The metaphysical community interprets the prophecy to mean that to be on the safe side at least one tiger must be included in the commitment ceremony Anita, Micah and Nathaniel are planning to have after Anita marries Jean-Claude. At the end of Dead Ice it looks like Dev might become that tiger if his inclusion in their poly group continues to go well, although it's still unclear whether Micah's own new tiger form would be enough.
In Crimson Death we learn that marriage isn't what the prophecy meant, after all, and that the oldest translations actually speak about joining life forces and mingling souls. This turns out to mean the sacrifice and drinking the blood of a clan tiger bound to Anita. After Domino is killed in front of her eyes, and she is forced to swallow some of his blood, the power inside her shifts, and she becomes Marmee Noir's heir in full.
Powers[]
- Heart Link: The 'call' is the ability of dominant tigresses to attract lovers and eventually mate. The stronger the weretiger's power the larger the distance a call can travel. Only the strongest dominant queens are able to block another queen's 'call'.
- Enhanced Physiology: Heightened hearing, agility and endurance; they are significantly stronger and faster then normal humans.
- Accelerated Healing Factor: While regular weapons can cause them injury, they will heal most wounds given time, but are still vulnerable to silver.
- Lycanthrope Fertility: Weretigers can give their beast to another tiger avoiding transformation. This allows females to carry a pregnancy to term. Although this is initially a clan tiger secret, Anita's tigers to call eventually help and teach these skills to other lycanthrope groups in St. Louis, like wolves and leopards, allowing them to keep their fetuses throughout their pregnancies as well.
Lost powers (Partially Recovered)[]
Spoilers: Crimson Death
This article or section contains spoilers for 2016 novel Crimson Death.
Proceed with caution. |
While the weretigers were ruled by the Master of Tigers they were more powerful and had special abilities specific to each clan. The powers are initially listed like this:
- The Black Clan had the power to control water.
- The Blue Clan could control the earth and all energies upon it, and were capable of provoking earthquakes..
- The Yellow Clan could control the air. They could raise storms and make them obey their will.
- The Red Clan had the power of pyrokinesis. Alex Pinn awakens this power after sleeping with Anita.
- The White Clan could create electricity.
However, in Crimson Death the powers have been reallocated a bit:
The actually gained signs of legendary powers fall thus:
- Crispin, as Anita's white tiger to call, can call small lightning to his hands
- Alex, as Anita's red tiger to call, can call small fire to his hands
- Cynric, as Anita's blue tiger to call, gains ability to crack the stone floor at the bowels of the Circus of the Damned
To Giacomo's knowledge tigers of mixed clan heritage have never manifested clan powers, which explains why Domino never gained any such powers.
Known Clans[]
Once there were hundreds of weretiger clans, one for each colour the tigers could have, but most have gone extinct or have dwindled.
- Red Clan - Located in Seattle, Washington. A notable member is Alex Pinn. Ethan was born into this clan, although he is not pure red tiger.
- White Clan - Located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Notable members are Crispin, Bibiana, and Victor Belleci.
- Yellow Clan - Located in St. Louis, Missouri. Long thought to have gone extinct, they were kept in hiding. Notable members include Dev, Pride, and Envy.
- Black Clan - The only known surviving members are Sebastian and Jade.
- Blue Clan - The only known surviving members are Cynric and Fortune.
Weretiger Terminology[]
- Chiang or Chang - Queen of a Clan.
- Li Da - Tiger prince of the Red Clan.