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"I adhere to the law of the jungle. Kill or be killed, eat or be eaten. Either you're dining or you're dinner."
—Tobias Whale to Kwame Parker[src]

Tobias Whale (born April 20, 1946)[1] was a criminal and the leader of The 100.

Biography

Tobias was born on April 20, 1946, to Eldridge and an unnamed woman. They also gave birth to a younger sister, Tori. The woman left the family at some point, leaving Tobias and his sister to be raised by their father. However, their father was constantly abusive towards them, especially Tobias due to his albinism.[2]

Many years later, Tobias began working as a member of Freeland's city council,[2] but eventually lost his position, going underground and pursuing a criminal career, eventually being given leadership over The 100.[3] Having a newspaper article about his corruption written by Alvin Pierce, he approached Alvin in his home, having him held down and stuffing his mouth with shredded bits of his article, killing him.[4] He was wanted by the police for the murder.[5]

At some point, Tobias seemingly killed Black Lightning,[5] dumping his body in a river. He paid a coroner to confirm that the body that had been pulled and biopsied was indeed Black Lightning.[3]

The return of Black Lightning

Over nine years later, Tobias was the leader of The 100. He had an underling killed by feeding him to carnivorous fish. He then proceeded to watch a news report regarding the possible return of Black Lightning. Shortly following, after Lala antagonized the vigilante, Tobias had Lala brought to him, injuring him and threatening death.[5]

Tobias kills Lala

Tobias kills Lala

Wishing to extinguish the "bootleg Black Lightning," Tobias ordered some of his people to up their security around the town. Wishing to punish Lala, he had him gagged. Later on, after Lala was arrested for the murder of Lawanda White, Tobias entered his jail cell with the help of some corrupt police officers. Tobias refused Lala the chance of ratting him out and promptly strangled him in his cell.[6]

Sometime later, Tobias visited Lady Eve at Blackbird Funeral Parlor, bringing money as an apology for Lala's actions. Lady Eve informed him that Reverend Jeremiah Holt had organized a rally throughout Freeland as a protest against The 100, and asked him to take him out. Tobias appointed a gunman, stabbing him in the hand to assert fear over him. Although, his attempt failed when Black Lightning interrupted the shooting. Tobias quickly discovered Black Lightning to be alive, having his henchwoman shoot for the vigilante, instead of the bullet reaching the vigilante, it hit the reverend and Khalil Payne.[7]

Shortly following, Tobias visited Lady Eve again, who reminded him that his reputation was built upon him having killed Black Lightning, a fact which now meant it was dwindling. Soon after, Tobias' sister Tori came into town, greeting his brother. They hatch a plan to get rid of Black Lightning, with Tobias taking a visit to Khalil Payne's hospital room, assuring him that his paraplegia was due to the vigilante.[3]

Tobias visited Gambi's Custom Tailoring, hoping to gain the identity of Black Lightning from Peter Gambi, but was unsuccessful. He returned home, revealing to Tori that he'd gone to see Gambi. His sister scolded him, before revealing that she'd found his first enemy, Eldridge. They went to pay him a visit. Initially, Tobias called his father out for being a terrible father but appeared to come round. The two embraced, before Tobias, however, crushed his father's back, allowing him to die slowly. Not long after, Tobias was sent an envelope full of dust, calling back to a prior conversation with Lady Eve and her references to ritualistic grinding up of albinos.[2]

Because of the threat, Tobias had a protection team tail Tori. Shortly following, Joey Toledo returned, explaining that he'd come face to face with Black Lightning but let him go. This angered Tobias, holding him up by his neck, but when he explained that he'd tipped off the police, Tobias let him down, mildly annoyed. A couple days later, Tobias was called in by his doctor, Henry Mayfield, who wished to test him for psoriasis. Later that night, Tobias rode in a car with Syonide and Khalil Payne, assuring Khalil that he would help him walk again, despite being paralyzed.[4]

Joey organized a fight for him. Taking longer than usual, he finally knocked him out, the pair discovers that the man was high on Green Light. Two days later, Tori broke the news of Joey Toledo's death to Tobias, having found a box of albino dust along with his body. Later that night, Tobias attended 555. He and his crew were ambushed by Black Lightning, but before Tobias could fight him, he was shot with a blast of lightning. As they attempted to escape, Tori was shot, with the bullet also penetrating Tobias, escaping without his sister.[8]

Tobias was later healed by the A.S.A. Martin Proctor, the leader of the A.S.A. of the Freeland area, asked him to pay him back by bringing him Black Lightning alive. Tobias accepts the mission. After his return, Tobias killed Dwayne, the man who saved him during the shootout at 555 because he did not save Tori. Tobias attacked Garfield High School with Syonide, Khalil Payne, who can then walk with a technology A.S.A. provided. They lured in Black Lightning to Garfield and killed him.[9]

Tobias, Khalil and Syonide breach the A.S.A

Tobias, Khalil and Syonide breach the A.S.A. headquarters

Tobias decides to kill Martin Proctor. He brings in Lala, who was revealed to be resurrected by him. He made Lala docile with the phrase, "The devil deals the card" and sent him to Proctor by implanting a bomb in him. Tobias comes to know, Martin survives the explosion and breaches the A.S.A. headquarters along with Khalil and Syonide. He could not kill Martin but he retrieved his briefcase. Meanwhile, Peter Gambi kills Martin Proctor. With the death of Lady Eve and Martin, Tobias is now the most powerful person in Freeland.[10]

Kara Fowdy breaks into his office in an attempt to kill him and secure the briefcase. Tobias, angered by Synonide's murder, shoots Kara in the stomach with a harpoon and pulls her towards him. Kara manages to cut herself loose and throws herself out of a window to safety.

Tobias gets arrested

Tobias gets arrested

Tobias eventually gets arrested by the Freeland Police Department after an anonymous tip.

Personality

Tobias is shown to be ruthless and has little tolerance for failure. He is clever in doing business and would kill anyone who would come in front of it. Although he does have one exception to killing people, mothers, he calls it “a no mamas rule.”. Although being ruthless and merciless, Tobias is shown to have a caring attitude towards Tori. He was also generous enough to take in Syonide and grow her up. However, he seems to display a strong hatred of other African-Americans with few exceptions. He often refers to them with stereotypes and racial slurs.

Powers and abilities

"He takes a kind of a serum which is like a super steroid. It makes him age slower and get stronger over time. At this point, he's got the strength of three men."
Peter Gambi to Jennifer Pierce[src]

Powers

  • Enhanced longevity: Through the Anti-Aging Serum Tobias was granted a lifespan that seemingly never ends nor causes him to show any signs of physically aging. While in his physical prime thirty years ago, he remains looking exactly the same.[2] After his incarceration by the A.S.A., without the serum, his body reverted to its natural age. However, since Lynn Stewart started to administer the serum again, this power has been restored.

Former Powers

Tobias uses a serum

Tobias takes a serum that enhances his strength

  • Enhanced strength: Tobias has shown immense strength, which he gets from the serum, enabling him to strangle and lift into the air a full-grown man with a single hand,[7] as well as snap and break the back of another with a pressure of strength through a hug.[2] According to Gambi, Tobias has the strength of three men.[11]

Abilities

  • Expert hand-to-hand combatant: Tobias is shown to be a highly proficient barehanded fighter. Against a massive man with an extensive fighting history, Tobias was able to defeat him with relative ease, even when it was revealed that he was boosted on Green Light.
  • Leadership skills: Tobias has demonstrated leadership both on the political and organized crime fields. Tobias is a rather shrewd, calculating ruthless leader especially when it comes to his duty as the crime lord and leader of The 100.
  • Weaponry: Tobias is a very skilled shooter, shooting Lala from a distance with a harpoon. He also has an IMI Desert Eagle Mark XIX as his main weapon. Using it to kill many of his victims.

Weaknesses

  • Power-dampening tech: The A.S.A. invented power-dampening collars to dampen meta-humans’ powers
  • Withdrawal from the serum: If Tobias goes without injecting himself with the serum for a prolonged time, his body will revert to its natural age and he will loose his powers.

Appearances

Black Lightning

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3


Trivia

  • Tobias appears to be an atheist, as when asked by Lady Eve if he was a churchgoer, he responded that his life hadn't led him down a "spiritual path."[7]
  • According to Jefferson, Tobias is 6 feet tall.[12]
  • Tobias likes Jazz music, and also considers it to be "One of the only things brothers got right."[13]

Behind the scenes

Gallery

Promotional images

References