Tobias Whale is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, Play (theatre), play, Radio series, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or b ...

appearing in American comic books published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

. He is the

archenemy In literature, an archenemy (sometimes spelled as arch-enemy) is the main enemy of someone. In fiction, it is a character who is the protagonist's, commonly a hero's, most prominent and most-known enemy. Etymology The word ''archenemy'' some ...

of Black Lightning. Whale appears in the live-action

Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American superhero media franchise and a shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series on CW Seed ...

series '' Black Lightning'', portrayed by Marvin "Krondon" Jones III.

Publication history

Created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden, the character made his first appearance in '' Black Lightning'' #1 (April 1977).

Fictional character biography

Tobias Whale is an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

kingpin with

albinism Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino. Varied use and interpretation of the term ...

, who works his way up from the rackets to head the Metropolis branch of the

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

. A school teacher named Jefferson Pierce speaks out against the 100's drug trafficking, and, as a respones, theymake an example of one of his students: Earl Clifford. Joey Toledo leads his men into attacking Earl and hits him with a car. Seeking to avenge the murdered student and receiving help from his tailor friend Peter Gambi, Pierce becomes Black Lightning and attacks Joey and his men. After defeating his henchmen, Joey Toledo is grabbed by Black Lightning, who arranges for Toledo to meet him at Garfield High School's gymnasium to inform on the 100 to him. When Black Lightning meets with Joey Toledo, Malcolm Merlyn the Dark Archer also appears after being hired by Toledo to kill Black Lightning. Their fight is crashed by

Talia al Ghul Talia al Ghul ( ar, تاليا الغول; ) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. The character was created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Bob Brown, and fi ...

and the League of Assassins, who are after Merlyn since he left the group after failing to kill

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...

. The resulting battle ended with Joey Toledo being killed by a League of Assassins operative. Afterwards, Pierce is so successful in avenging Earl's death that Tobias Whale is sent to jail. When he breaks out of prison some months later, he teams up with Syonide II in order to distribute a new highly addictive drug. The drug's formula was supposedly in the possession of a woman named Violet Harper. Tobias sends Syonide to retrieve the formula. Unable to gain any information or find any trace of the formula, Syonide kills Harper. Violet Harper later comes back to life when an Aurakle possesses her lifeless body; this new being called herself

Halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * Halo (franchise), ...

. Once he learned of Harper's resurrection, Tobias assumed that she must have memorized the formula. But since Harper had no memories from before her death, a frustrated Syonide killed her parents during the Outsiders' fight with Tobias Whale's henchmen. Often called "the Great White Whale" behind his back, Tobias Whale weighs close to 400 lbs. However, most of his considerable bulk is muscle. It is unknown whether Tobias Whale ever was associated with the 100's successor group, the 1000. Whale returned in the miniseries '' Gotham Underground'' and has moved to Gotham City, where he is attempting to become the Capo di tutti capi boss of bosses, following the death of Black Mask I. After taking over both the Galante and Odessa crime families, he ends up in a gang war with

Intergang Intergang is a fictional organized crime syndicate appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Armed with technology supplied by the villainous New Gods of the planet Apokolips, they consistently appear as enemies of various DC s ...

. They buy him out and make him the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

Kord Enterprises Theodore Stephen "Ted" Kord is the second Blue Beetle, a superhero who was originally published by Charlton Comics and later picked up by DC Comics. This version of the character was created by Steve Ditko and first appeared as a back-up feature i ...

which has become a front for Intergang's criminal activities. In September 2011,

The New 52 The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero American comic books, comic books. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint (comics), Flashpoint" Fictional crossover, cross ...

rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Tobias Whale is re-introduced when he gets word that a drug deal done by his representatives was disrupted by both Black Lightning and Blue Devil. He decides to have them hunted down in order to get revenge on them. In

DC Rebirth DC Rebirth is a 2016 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles. Using the end of The New 52 initiative in May 2016 as its launching point, DC Rebirth r ...

, the real Tobias Whale was seen in the pages of ''Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands''. This version was not an albino and the Tobias Whale that encountered Black Lightning and Blue Devil was his unnamed nephew who used his identity during his reign in the Los Angeles criminal underworld. Tobias respected his nephew enough as a blood relative to kill him personally. Tobias later told his unnamed sister that her son was dead for using his name for his "half-assed" ventures and that he was an idiot.

Powers and abilities

Tobias Whale does not possess any superhuman abilities but has strength and muscular prowess far exceeding that of a normal human being. He has fought Black Lightning on several occasions with nothing but his bare hands. Whale is a master hand-to-hand combatant who is skilled in

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

street fighting Street fighting is hand-to-hand combat in public places, between individuals or groups of people. The venue is usually a public place (e.g. a street) and the fight sometimes results in serious injury or occasionally even death. Some street fig ...

and

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...

. Combined with his great physical strength, this makes him a highly dangerous foe for Black Lightning and several other heroes in the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lante ...

and

Booster Gold Booster Gold (Michael Jon Carter) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Dan Jurgens, the character first appeared in '' Booster Gold'' #1 (February 1986) and has been a member of the Justice League ...

. Tobias Whale is a highly intelligent criminal strategist who is a skilled planner and mastermind. Whale has vast knowledge of criminal strategies and planning and possesses vast knowledge in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

. Even though Whale is a formidable physical opponent, it is his strategic mind and wealth that makes him a true force to be reckoned with. Whale has access to a variety of weapons, but his personal favorite weapon is his

harpoon A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal ...

which he is dangerously skilled with.

Other versions

''Convergence''

During the 2015 '' Convergence'' storyline, the Pre-'' Zero-Hour'' version of Tobias Whale has been trapped in his Metropolis for a full year. He has taken over the criminal underground. He struggles to gain influence over the mysterious food deliveries, as this is something the city values. Tobias Whale is opposed by the vigilante

Jean-Paul Valley Jean-Paul Valley Jr. is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Dennis O'Neil, Denny O'Neil, Joe Quesada, and Peter Milligan. He debuted in ''Batman: Sword of Azrael'' #1 (October 1992) as ...

and the stranded playboy Bruce Wayne. Whale is unaware that Wayne is secretly Batman.

In other media

Television

* Characters based on Tobias Whale appear in series set in the

DC Animated Universe The DC Animated Universe (DCAU; also referred to as the Timmverse or Diniverse by fans referring to the creators and producers Bruce Timm and Paul Dini respectively) is a shared universe consisting primarily of superhero-based animated televisi ...

: ** Steven Mandragora, a character who is partially inspired by and resembles Whale, appears in the ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is a 2004–2006 United States, American superhero fiction, superhero List of animated television series, animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. ...

'' episode "Double Date", voiced by Glenn Shadix. Mandragora is a crime lord with immense strength and endurance who killed

Helena Bertinelli The Huntress (Helena Rosa Bertinelli) is a antiheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She is the third DC character to bear the name Huntress. Originally introduced as a new interpretation of Helena Wayne, no longer d ...

's parents when she was young, which led to her becoming the Huntress and join the

Justice League The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...

. After discovering he is in federal custody as an

informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informant ...

, Bertinelli sets out to kill him despite being ousted from the League. Upon reaching him amidst an escape attempt however, she relents due to Steven's son and sees him put back in federal custody. ** Steven's son Edgar Mandragora appears as a child in the ''Justice League Unlimited'' episode "Double Date" and as an adult in the ''

Batman Beyond ''Batman Beyond'' (known as ''Batman of the Future'' outside the United States) is an American superhero animated television series developed by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation in collaborati ...

'' episode "Mind Games" and '' The Zeta Project'' episode "Ro's Gift", voiced by Brian Tochi and

John Rhys-Davies John Rhys-Davies (born 5 May 1944) is a Welsh actor best known for portraying Sallah in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise and Gimli in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. His other roles include Michael Malone in the 1993 series ''The Untouch ...

respectively. Following the events of "Double Date", Edgar developed telepathy and telekinesis as he grew up and joined the Brain Trust, a secret society of psychic metahumans who secretly kidnap children with similar gifts, claiming to the parents that they will help them. When

discovers their operations during the events of "Mind Games", Edgar lures him into a trap, but he is defeated by Batman and arrested by Neo-Gotham authorities. As of "Ro's Gift", Edgar and fellow Brain Trust member Bombshell have escaped prison in an attempt to continue their operations, only to be foiled by Rosalie "Ro" Rowan and the children the Brain Trust had kidnapped at that point and arrested by the authorities once more. * Tobias Whale appears in '' Beware the Batman'', voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley. This version is

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his allies and foes. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, t ...

's leading crime lord who employs criminals such as his lawyer / enforcer,

Phosphorus Rex Phosphorus Rex is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Publication history Phosphorus Rex first appeared in ''Batman'' #666 and was created by Grant Morrison and artist Andy Kubert. Fictional character ...

. In addition, Humphry Dumpler used to work as his accountant before Whale launched a failed attempt on Dumpler's life, leading to Dumpler seeking revenge. * Tobias Whale appears in the '' Black Lightning'' live-action series, portrayed by Marvin "Krondon" Jones III. This version received his anti-aging serum from Dr.

Helga Jace Dr. Helga Jace is a fictional character in the DC Comics Universe. She is a supporting character of the Outsiders and was the scientist responsible for bestowing the different earth-controlling powers upon Princess Tara/Terra and her elder brot ...

and is a former politician who rose through the ranks of Freeland's local government through corruption before he was brought down by Black Lightning's father, Alvin Pierce. After killing him, Whale was removed from the government and became the leader of the

after receiving ownership from crime boss Lady Eve, with Joey Toledo and Syonide serving as enforcers and Whale's sister Tori (portrayed by Edwina Findley) as support. Over the course of the series, Whale battles Black Lightning alongside different allies until the former is eventually killed in battle against the latter when he attempts to throw Black Lightning out of a window.

Film

* Tobias Whale appears in '' Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay'', voiced by Dave Fennoy. This version is a crime lord and underboss in the Black Mask Mob. He battles Task Force X, who were sent by

Amanda Waller Amanda Blake Waller (née White), also known as "the Wall", is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''Legends'' #1 in 1986 and was created by John Ostrander, Len Wein, and ...

to recover a flash drive in his possession, until

Count Vertigo Count Vertigo is a supervillain created by Gerry Conway, Trevor Von Eeden and Vince Colletta as an enemy of Black Canary and later Green Arrow in the DC Comics Universe. Count Vertigo is the last descendant of the royal family that ruled the s ...

weakens Whale enough for

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

to force the crime boss to kill himself. * Tobias Whale appears in '' Catwoman: Hunted'', voiced by

Keith David Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as '' T ...

. This version is a member of

Leviathan Leviathan (; he, לִוְיָתָן, ) is a sea serpent noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Amos, and, according to so ...

References

External links

Tobias Whale
at the DCU Guide {{DEFAULTSORT:Whale, Tobias Characters created by Tony Isabella Comics characters introduced in 1977 DC Comics male supervillains Fictional African-American people Fictional characters with albinism Fictional gangsters DC Comics metahumans