Paula Nguyen

Paula Nguyen

Tigress

## Biography

### Early Life

Paula Nguyen was born on August 14th, 1956 in Hanoi. Both of her parents were negligent and scarcely around. It made it easy for Paula to fall into the wrong crowd. She became a dealer for a local crime family. Her codename was Miss Menace.

In 1971, Doctor Manhattan ended the Vietnam War and ended it. Paula was displaced, and rather than stay in the country, she chose to emancipate herself and move to America, striving to find a new opportunity, where she was instantly met with prejudice. She was eventually able to secure a housekeeping job in Blue Valley. It is here where she learned of the Black Dragon Society, a Japanese crime family who took an interest in Paula. One of their agents brought her before the Dragon King himself and asked her to join their crew, a desperate Paula accepted.

### Tigress

The Black Dragon Society trained her in martial arts and made her their go-to assassin, under the identity of Tigress. She carried out a number of operations for them, most of them involved theft. She eventually was tasked on an away mission to Gotham City, where she first crossed paths with JSA members Wildcat and Sparrow, narrowly escaping defeat by them.

This scuffle with the JSA is what got Paula tangled up in some nasty business. Dragon King introduced Paula to Icicle and Brainwave, two foes of the Justice Society who were putting together a team. The plan was simple, the team would send one agent after a relative or friend of a member of the JSA, spreading the team thin and making them easier to pick off.

However, this proved to be a mistake. Paula broke into Laurel and Quentin Lance’s apartment and stole their baby daughter, Dinah. While retreating, Quentin caught up to her and shot her in the back. She suffered severe spinal damage, and used this as wiggle room to wind her way onto parole.

However, the Injustice Society’s Operations made Paula an outcast. The Black Dragon Society seemingly vanished overnight, and Paula was forced to leave Blue Valley. Disillusioned, she found herself shuffling from city-to-city, looking for work. To distance herself from her past identity, and increase her chances of employment, she changed her name to Paula Brooks. Slowly, she felt her back deteriorating from her injury.

In the dawn of the 80s, she found herself in Metropolis, working in a diner, when a handsome, square-jawed blonde man approached her. He told her he had been watching her from afar and thought she was special and wanted to talk to her about an employment opportunity. He set up and interview with his boss, and a few days later was awkwardly sitting next to Henri Ducard.

Ducard showed her photographs, depicting her work as the supervillain Tigress, in addition to mugshots. He gave her a choice; come with him or he turns the pictures over to her boss. With no option, she boarded a plane with him to the Arabian Peninsula.

Upon arrival in ‘Eth Alth’eban, she was taken to one of the Lazarus Pits, where she bathed for hours, and felt power restoring itself to her aching back. She was given a bed, warm food, and several days rest. The blonde man who recruited her, identifying himself as Crusher, helped care for her in those days. Indebted to their gifts, Paula felt she had no choice but to train with them.

She became a high-ranking member of the Black Glove, and her blossoming romance with Crusher proved fruitful, and the two were married in a small, private ceremony, officiated by the O-Sensei. Paula was soon with her first child, and in 1989, Jade Nguyen was born.

Paula continued to serve herself in the name of the Demon’s Head, staying with them through a second child, and the desertion of two top recruits. She was so loyal, in fact, that Ra’s al Ghul himself requested Paula and her husband accompany Master Vordigan to kill Oliver Queen. Paula accepted, and during the ensuing fight, was face-to-face with the child she had attempted to kidnap before.

However, the fight did not go as well. Paula was injured and had to be carried out by her husband. Upon return to ‘Eth Alth’eban, it was found that Paula’s back injuries had worsened, and she was now paralyzed from the waist down. She begged her husband to kill her, but he refused. Instead, he requested they and their daughters be transferred to Star City, so he could keep an eye on the Green Arrow.

### Retirement

Their wish was granted, in a move that resulted in Jade’s turn to the same criminal lifestyle and subsequent arrest. Paula had made the FBI most wanted and was detained one day while going home from the market. They offered her a deal; she and her youngest would be placed in witness protection if she gave up Lawrence’s location. She agreed, and Lawrence was arrested.

She was on the outs from the League of Assassins, and so witness protection moved her and Artemis to Gotham, giving them the new identities of Joan and Tabitha Sanders. This disguise worked, until Jade and Lawrence found them again. They agreed not to turn them over to the League of Assassins but convincing them to return to Star City.

There, Artemis became entangled with Team Arrow and later the Titans. Lawrence and Paula’s relationship grew abusive, as he made sure Paula remained wheelchair-bound, but her daughter helped convince her to flee, putting Crusher behind bars for years this time. Paula was finally free to live her life, but now too old to properly enjoy it, she’s focused on being a good grandmother to Arty and Jade’s kids.