I think it doesn’t necessarily have to be related with something evil or bad.
I think it might have to do with his origins and being adopted, as if he suffered a lot as a kid. “From a darker place” might be that he saw his parents getting killed.
Or, maybe he was abused by his father, who confronted Claudus when the king tried to protect cub Tygra and got killed by him (maybe without intention), so Claudus decided to raise the kid out of remorse.
I would be very surprised if the cartoon wanted to take on the topic of child abuse.
I would expect we’ll eventually learn the history of the tigers and what became of the tiger we saw Leo interact with.
He did say something about his upbringing and how he actually feels like Lion-O is better than him or something. Like he has an inferiority complex when it comes to Lion-O. I forget the specifics of what he said. He also hinted that Tygra will have more and more to do as the show goes on instead of being in the background like he is now and that a lot of his favorite episodes haven’t aired yet and he couldn’t talk about them.
That’s odd considering the premise of the show was that he didn’t think Lion-O should be king because he was better for the position. At least that’s what I thought. 
I didn’t mean sexually abused, but maybe phisically or psychologically.
Why are you implying a specific kind of abuse? When I said child abuse, I was not being specific. I would be surprised if the people making this cartoon wanted to tackle the topic of child abuse - any kind of abuse. It’s just a really deep and serious topic for a cartoon designed for kids and I’ve never seen a cartoon, that I’m aware of, touch the topic.
Nice! Thanks Balgus! Can’t wait for those eps and learn more about him… and for him to come in peace with himself (because it’s frustrating of 8 episodes of nada lol)
I don’t agree here. Many shows show boys and girls being exploited for example, having to work hard and a lot for their parents. Or being punished for almost nothing. That’s child abuse as well.
Can you name these shows? I’m interested in knowing if I’m familiar with them at all.
Sometimes, underrating someone is precisey the consequence of feeling inferior to him/her. To me, it souds pretty logic that Tygra feels inferior to Lion-o and tries to deny it with an apparent superiority complex. Kind of a reactive formation.
Many of them I think. I saw it in D&D, Oliver Twist (a child animated movie I watched as a kid), and many others that don’t come to my mind right now (but will think of them, promise ;))
Of coruse, not the whole show was about it, but at least one episode.
What if Tygra was forced by an abusive father/mother to work 14 hours a day, and if he didn’t bring enough money, he was grounded or phisicaly punished? That would qualify as child abuse for me, and I have seen that before in TV shows.
I don’t know. I’d just be surprised if they go in that direction with his back story. But we’ll see. My two favorite things about Tygra’s character so far - he stood up for the twins saying they couldn’t just leave them behind and he takes care of Snarf when there’s danger. 
Well, there we agree
I wonder what Lion-o’s reaction will be to that aspect of Tygra once we find out about it. Will he be understanding towards his brother, or a total ass like he has shown to be in these 8 eps? Make your bets 
And here’s another idea following my abused kid theory: wht if his whip was the whip his father used to punish him with? :o
Honestly I think its going to be either
A) Tygra’s parents were killed. Tygra’s father was once one of Claudus’ close friends and so he adopted him. I have a feeling tiger’s (and any other distinguishable cat) may be pretty high up on the tier.
B). His parents are/were evil and he was saved from that upbringing by Claudus.
I really hope its not B. I dont like the implications behind it and with all the theories pointing at Tygra developing into a misguided villain…just doesnt paint all that pretty of a picture.
I cant wait to see Tygra get his chance to shine. If he didnt have it before, he’s got one heck of a fanbase now and were all waiting to learn more about him and how he relates to the rest of the TCats.
Here’s the vid of the Panel I watched so that everyone can hear exactly what was said. I remember hearing Celestia say that recording was allowed (though I can’t remember if she said it before this panel or before the Larry Kenney/Gerriane Raphael panel) and it was posted on ThundercatsNOW’s FB page so it shouldn’t break any forum rules. If it does please feel free to delete it.
[I](About Tygra “coming from a darker place”, maybe it simply means he sees the world in a darker way? I mean, in Journey to the Tower of Omens, when they were facing Mumm-Ra and Cheetara was hit, we saw Lion-O wanting to rush to her side, but Tygra made him leave her behind so that he could get to the book before Mumm-Ra did. While Lion-O wants to save everyone, Tygra seems to think that sometimes people need to be sacrificed for the greater good. And that’s definitely a darker way of seeing things. So maybe his “darker place” isn’t an evil side or a tragic childhood, it could just be him knowing that war is an ugly thing where happy endings for everyone is highly unlikely or not even possible at all if you want to win, making him a bit more ruthless and ready to kill and make sacrifices than Lion-O for example. Which the gun could symbolize, it being a more pure killing weapon than the majestic and heroic sword.)
[/I]After watching the video, I take all that back. Sounds like his darkness comes from a sense of rejection, and the gun shows that he’s closer to the bad guy side than the others, because it’s Mumm-Ra technology.
I really hope they’re not going to do some All Tigers Are Evil Because They Are Tigers thing. That would really leave a bad taste in my mouth. Though it kinda looks like that’s what they’re doing so far, what with Tygus not appearing to be on Leo’s side and Tygra being closer to the evil side than the other cats.
Thanks again Balgus. Do you remember approximately the time mark?
That’s my hope as well.
I think the latter is very likely. Go back in time to when Leo took the stone from the tiger. That might have very well caused a parting of ways and it’s possible the tigers colonized somewhere else thus not living in unity with the lions and the rest of the cats. As Tygra is clearly pure bred, he is likely from a royal tiger line.
It would be interesting if Claudus found Tygra as a baby with no one around, thinking perhaps he was abandoned. Or if someone fled with him. Perhaps to give him a better life, stop a cycle of hatred or what not. Hopefully Claudus didn’t kidnap him. And pehaps Claudus thought Tygra would bridge the gap between their people. I know that sounds a lot like the movie Thor.
Just a thought.
I think if that was the case, then Tygra might not have been so loved by Thunderians, as they might always have in mind that tigers are “evil”.
Not necessarily. That history could be just as forgotten as the history about technology. Or if the awareness is there of the tigers, if they’ve never had any conflict with the tigers in their lifetime, they’re not likely to harbor hateful feelings toward them. Thus if Tygra knows the history, it could explain his insecurity and feelings of not being worthy as Matthew Mercer alludes to.
Might be… whatever it is, can’t wait to see what they have planned for Stripy. It sounds really interesting! 
Showing more love for Tygra with another of my fan creations. http://www.thundercatslair.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=46&pictureid=599