Tobias Whale

Tobias suffers from albinism.

**Tobias Whale** was a main character and serves as the antagonist in the CW series *Black Lightning.*

## Early Life

Raised by in Freeland, both he and his sister Tori were the victims of mental and physical abuse from their father Eldridge on a daily basis. This experience, along with being one of the few black albinos in Freeland, only fueled his resentment and need to rise to power. At one point in his life, Tobias was a politician who rose through the ranks of local government through corruption. He was later brought down for this by Alvin Pierce, Jefferson's father, who Tobias then killed by "literally shoving his articles down his throat until he died". However, after killing Alvin, Tobias was exiled and became the leader of the gang known as The 100.

## Throughout the Series

### Season 1

In The Resurrection, he was first seen in his hideout. Syonide called him to come check out the news report on the Black Lightning incident at Club 100.

Later on, he's was sitting at his desk as Lala was being brought in. When Lala attempted to speak, Tobias shushed him. He took his harpoon gun and shot Lala in his shoulder. He tortured Lala by pulling on the harpoon's rope. He told Lala to handle the situation he got himself into or he would.

In LaWanda: The Book of Hope, he was at his hideout giving orders to Syonide and Lala. He told them to increase security at all of their businesses and making racial slurs. When Lala commented that Toobias really did hate black people Tobias told him he loved black people he just hated people like Lala as they acted like "Newly freed slaves!" When Lala tried to speak Tobias had Syonide gag him and told Lala that if the people of Freeland started to perceive the 100 were no longer a threat they would no longer fear them. When Lala is arrested for the murder of Lawanda White a corrupt cop tips Tobias off allowing him to see Lala in the police station. He visits Lala in his cell dressing him down about shooting "Someone's mama" ! Fearing that Lala will ratt him out to the authorities Tobias ultimately strangles him to death in his cell, then exits the police staition.

In LaWanda: The Book of Burial, Tobias visits his superior Lady Eve at her funeral palour offering her more money for the 100's set back. However, she is unimpressed with Black Lightning's constant interference. She tells Tobias that Reverend Holt is planning a march in protest against the 100 she tells Tobias that she doesn't mind people believing in God but they couldn't believe they could take back their streets, urging Tobias to deal with it. Tobias is later seen with one of his men arranging for him to kitll the protesters. When the man shows reluctance to pick up his weapon due to the fact that he's not wearing gloves Tobias hands him a handkerchief. When the henchman goes to pick it up Tobias stabs him through the hand telling him to send a message that "No one takes our streets"! When the henchman agrees he dismisses him. Later watches the protest from a distance. Much to his chagrin not only did the killing fail but he sees Black Lightning still alive. He orders Syonide to kill Black Lightning. While she narrowly misses the shot hits both Reverend Holt and Khalil (who ends up paralyzed as a result).

In Black Jesus, Tobias appears once again with Lady Eve at her funeral parlour.
She dresses Tobias down by telling him the story of how Albinos in Africa are considered magical . How they are kidnapped and have there bones grinded into magic dust. She tells him how he did a good job taking over the 100 however his inability to take down Black Lightning was proving troublesome. When Tobias commented that he'd earned her millions of dollars, she told him that her partners were beginning to feel deceived. She proceeds to chide Tobias for bringing unwanted attention to them ( in particular shooting Reverend Holt and paralysing Khalil) she tells him to wrap everything up with Black Lightning quickly using "Some of that Albino Magic"! Threatening if he doesn't her partners would turn him into dust. Tobias later vists the coroner who confirmed Black Lightning's death and tortures him for information. The coroner ultimately admitts that the body he saw burn wasn't in fact Black Lightning. Tobias then has him killed by Joey Toledo. Tobias goes back to his hideout feeding rats to his piranhas, when his sister Tori arrives. He greets her and they discuss how they are going to kill Black Lightning. Later on Tobias and Tori watch the news in particular about former track star the now paralysed Khalil. Tori suggests that if the public saw Black Lightning as a menace instead of a hero they could kill him. In particular she mentions how Khali is a town hero and if convinced that Black Lightning was responsible could convince the people of Freeland to turn against him. In the upcoming days Tobias anonymously donates gifts to Khalil at the hospital as well as paying for his medical bills. He later visits Khali unbeknownst to anyone else , telling him that Black Lightning is the reason he's paralysed and that he can help Khali "Kill" his pain.

In And Then the Devil Brought the Plague: The Book of Green Light Tobias and Syonide visits Peter Gambi in his shop hoping to extract information on Black Lightning's identity. Here it is revealed that Gambi actually works for the ASA, it's also revealed that Tori and Tobias take a serum that prevents them from aging. When Gambi tells him knowing things about Black Lightning gets people killed and that he makes it his business not to know things to get him killed, Tobias cryptically threatens to do just that if he's hiding anything from him. As Tobias approaches him Gambi reaches for his gun though Syonide draws hers on Gambi. After a brief standstill Tobias exits the shop telling Gambi he'll see him around. He later appears in his hideout. When Tori scolds him for visiting Gambi as Lady Eve will be displeased, Tobias reveals his resentment of having lost his political career and being looked down on by Lady Eve. Tori tells him he feels this way because he never dealt with his worst enemy Eldridge Whale ( his father). It's revealed that Eldridge abused Tori and Tobias both psychically and mentally when they were children. Tori reveals she knows where he is and assures him that once all is said and done he will be a new man. Both him and Tori visit Eldridge where Tobias greets him with a punch to the face. When Eldridge asks why they came Tori tells him to talk about his parenting skills. Eldridge retorts by saying at least he stayed where their mother hadn't and that he fed and clothed them even trying to fix "Those twitchy ass eyes of yours". Seemingly coming round to Eldridge's way of thinking Tobias tells him he can appreciate that and extends his arms in a hug which Eldridge accepts. Tobias then proceeds to ask why Eldridge stayed. "Was it so that you could have someone to torture? To beat on for all your failures? Or was it about to collecting money from the state? Because it certainly wasn't about love". He then crushes Eldridge's spine. Tori draws a gun on Eldridge as he is writhing on the floor however Tobias prevents her from shooting him. He informs Eldridge that his back is broken and that he will die slowly. He and Tori then leave the house to let Eldridge die in agony. Later Tobias receives a letter at his hideout. He opens the envelope only to reveal dust and a note (implying that Lady Eve intends to make good on her threat of turning Tobias into dust).

## Physical Appearance

Tobias is a tall African American man with albinism.

## Personality

Tobias Whale is a ruthless and corrupt politician-turned-crime lord. He is sadistic, taking delight in shooting Lala with a harpoon gun and watching a mouse get eaten by his pet piranhas.

Tobias is shown to be arrogant as he believes he can kill Black Lightning with ease while having a wall of henchmen to protect him from the vigilante. In spite of his ruthless nature it seems that Tobias did care deeply for his sister, Tori. The pair were close and protective of one another throughout their lives and he was visibly affected and devastated by her death.

## Powers and Abilities

### Power

* **Longevity**: Through the use of a longevity serum, Tobias is able to extend his life without experiencing the effects of aging and deteriorating.
* **Immense strength:** Tobias is shown to be vastly stronger than an ordinary man. He is shown to be able to strangle someone using only one hand and break his own father’s back while giving him a simple hug. During Painkiller's attack on Garfield High School, Gambi told Jefferson that it was ill-advised to fight Tobias man-to-man due to his strength. Ironically enough, Tobias nearly loss the fight due to Black Lightning's superior hand-to-hand combat skills surpassing Tobias’ brute strength. Tobias only succeded in defeating Black Lightning thanks to the intervention of Painkiller, allowing him to get the jump on Black Lightning and hold him long enough for Painkiller to finish him off.

### Abilities

* **Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant:** Despite him rarely getting his hands dirty, Tobias is shown to be an incredibly skilled melee fighter. Though he primarily relies on his fists and shear strength, he is still a powerful combatant nonetheless. He was able to single-handily fight a larger, more muscular opponent in a cage fight defeat despite the man currently being on the Green Light drug. As a testament of his fighting abilities, Tobias was able to evenly match Black Lightning in terms of skill during Painkiller’s attack on Garfield High School despite Black Lightning‘s disadvantage in terms of physical strength. In the end however Black Lightning managed to defeat Tobias but Tobias was able to get the drop on him and defeat him only thanks to Painkiller’s intervention.
* **Leadership:** Tobias has an organized crime influence as he's the leader of The One Hundred. As leader, he is very ruthless and extremely merciless. Excluding Joey Toledo and Syonide, all of Tobias’ subordinates are terrified of him and know all too well not to fail him otherwise they will suffer severe punishment or even death as a result. He proceeded to feed one of his henchmen to his pet piranhas even as them man pleaded for his life. When Lala failed to kill Black Lightning at the Seahorse Motel, Lala immediately tried to apologize for his failure only for Tobias to shoot him with a harpoon in his shoulder and callously ordered him to kill both Will and Black Lightning. When Lala failed a second time, Tobias simply walked into his cell at the police station and killed him with his bare hands before calmly leaving the cell afterwards.
* **Harpoon Gun:** Tobias owns and is skilled with a harpoon gun. He mainly uses this weapon as a means of torture when his henchmen, such as Lala, fail him. He usually shoots people in their left shoulder (above the heart) before harshly pulling them towards him by the rope attached to the harpoon.

### Equipment

* **Longevity Serum**: It was revealed in And Then the Devil Brought the Plague: The Book of Green Light, that Tobias and Tori were given a serum to slow their aging. His serum was later to change to render him immune from Black Lightning's electric attacks.