The Bronze Tiger

The Bronze Tiger first appeared in the comics back in 1975 in Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #1. Ben Turner started out as a middle class Black boy with an attitude problem. When he was ten he murdered a burglar that was attacking his parents with a kitchen knife. He ultimately learned to channel that anger using martial arts and of course crime. While still relatively young, Ben journeyed to the far East where he met the man that would train him further, O-Sensei. Under O-Sensei's tutelage, Ben Turner becomes one of the greatest martial artists in the world.
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He later worked for the government organization G.O.O.D. (Global Organization of Organized Defense) and also did some work for the CBI (Central Bureau of Intelligence). It was while he was on a mission for the CBI that he was captured and brainwashed into becoming an assassin called Bronze Tiger. As Bronze Tiger he wore a tiger head mask that covered his entire head. He killed on three continents and earned a considerable reputation as an assassin while his true identity remained secret. It was during this time that he fought and actually beat Batman in hand to hand combat, and trained Cassandra Cain, the girl who would eventually become the current Batgirl. Even now he remains one of the top 5 martial artists in the world.
He was ultimately captured and deprogrammed by Amanda Waller which set the stage for him to become a member of the Suicide Squad. While the squad was mostly made up of villains, Bronze Tiger was considered to be one of the good guys. During many of his adventures with the squad he worked without the mask and instead wore a small amount of facial paint. He and the Black Superheroine Vixen formed a relationship for a time and are still friends.
Bronze Tiger has no real powers as is befit a Black character that originated during the Blacksploitation era of the 70's. I remain grateful that he was not named "Black Tiger". While he may have started out an angry Black man and certainly revisited that stance throughout continuity, he tends to be a relatively centered character possibly due to his martial arts training. Regardless of his checkered past he remains a hero of some renown having earned the respect of the heroes of the DC Comics universe. You can expect to see his animated television debut on the show Batman: The Brave and the Bold. I'm looking forward to it.