Puma (Marvel)
Puma is a male comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Thomas Fireheart
One day, he was in his people's reservation protecting it from trespassers. He then received a call from the Rose who wanted to have a meeting with Fireheart. This saw Thomas travelling to New York and landed in Laguardia Airport where he was transported via limousine to the meeting site. Once there, the Rose gave Fireheart a challenge which was to eliminate the masked superhero called Spider-Man who had been thwarting his criminal endeavours. Thomas came to accept the offer and was provided a sample of his scent in order to track him down. Finding his quarry, he decided to test Spider-Man by throwing a pipe at her that he had ripped off a roof. Unknown to Puma, Spider-Man was in extreme pain due to him having dislocated his arm that left him incapacitated. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #256) Before he could kill the target, he was interrupted by the arrival of Black Cat who was said to be a love interest of Spider-Man. With his senses, he could detect some kind of aura around her but decided to attack her regardless. It was then that he was struck by a series of bad lucks that made him miss her with this being projected from Black Cat. Ultimately, he came to fall through the roof which separated from both his targets who managed to escape as a result. Despite that, he tracked them to the Black Cat's residence but Puma decided not to kill his quarry. Instead, he reasoned that he was only contracted to kill Spider-Man and planned for the hero to be separated from Black Cat. Fireheart decided to wait at his luxury suite at the Saint Lauren Summit which was one of the city's most prestigious hotels. He would keep the Rose informed of his actions before looking to continue the hunt. Returning to the home of the Black Cat, he waited for her to depart and then struck at the apartment where Spider-Man was recuperating. The two fought where their battle went out into the city. In this time, Puma came to gain respect for his opponent but became frustrated at Spider-Man's mocking antics. This led to him accidentally throwing debris out of an apartment that nearly killed some innocent bystanders. However, Spider-Man saved them but was wounded in the process. Gaining Puma's respect, he decided to leave his quarry until he had recuperated as Fireheart wanted a worthy battle between the pair. Afterwards though, the Rose came to cancel the contract on Spider-Man with Thomas being relieved at being freed from this assignment. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #257)
Puma reached a state of 'harmonious enlightenment with the universe' and was imbued with immeasurable power. However, doubting his own senses, Puma lost the mystical power just as he attacked the Beyonder. Puma sought Spider-Man's help when he discovered that he was destined to fight the Beyonder; Spider-Man refused, making Puma doubt himself and, eventually, fail in his quest against the Beyonder. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #111) Puma was able to learn Spider-Man's secret identity, Peter Parker, thanks to his enhanced senses, and now felt he owed him a debt of honor as a result of the Beyonder affair. He offered Peter Parker a job at his company while Peter was on his honeymoon in France; however, Peter declined the offer. (Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man Annual v1 #7)
Later on, the Mutant powers of Charles Little Sky came to manifest with the man being a kinsman of Fireheart. Fireheart tried to help his fellow tribesman better understand them but Little Sky rejected Thomas's offers of aid. Instead, Portal fled to Ellis Island where Fireheart caught up to him. When Portal's powers activated again and returned the U-Foes to Earth, Fireheart teamed up with the Avengers as Puma to protect Little Sky, helping to defeat the villains. (Avengers v1 #304)
Afterwards, Puma publicly confronted Spider-Man over a story in the Daily Bugle that made it seem as if Spider-Man was a thief; when the story turned out to be false, Puma felt as if he had lost face and was now honor-bound to clear Spider-Man's name. (Web of Spider-Man v1 #50)
During the Civil War, he was seen helping Spider-Man escort Prowler out of the Bar With No Name. (Punisher War Journal v2 #4)
The tribal council continued to ignore his indulgences in contract killer work such as killing a street gang in Madripoor but the final line was drawn when Thomas faced charges of bribery and corruption. As a result, he was brought before the elders who froze his financial assets as they decided his actions had harmed their reputation and were thinking an appropriate punishment. This meant that Thomas had no money for his legal teams to protect himself and he became desperate for a new source of revenue. At this point, M.O.D.O.K. approached Fireheart and offered a large monetary reward in exchange for his aid on a job with him gathering alongside others for the assignment. (Super-Villain Team-Up MODOK's 11 v1 #1)
Puma came to be among the animal-themed characters captured by Taskmaster and Black Ant for Kraven the Hunter's upcoming Great Hunt. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #16)
Overview
Personality and attributes
He also came to be known as the Puma. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #256)
Thomas was shown to be an arrogant and confident person. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #257)
He was noted to have a temper and could fall into a rage. It was shown that he did not like being mocked where he threatened to kill those that did so. Thomas's fury only increased by those attempting to fool him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #257)
As the guardian of the tribe, it was his duty to punish those that dared to hunt on his people's reservation and slaughtered their animals. Despite this role, he also worked secretly as an assassin for hire which he did to entertain himself. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #256)
He found the life of a million entrepreneur had distinct pleasures but found that it had no comparison to his work as the Puma. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #256)
As a businessman, he hated tardiness from employees and said that he only worked with people that were professional. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual v1 #7)
Meanwhile, he operated in secret as a hired assassin where he looked to hide his secret identity from others. For assignments, he looked for a challenge but ultimately aimed to make his targets death quick and as painless as possible. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #257)
Despite being an assassin, he only ever performed his assignment and did not wish for innocent bystanders to be hurt or killed. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #257)
He followed a code of personal honor that guided him and fulfilled obligations even if he did not want to do so. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual v1 #7)
Fireheart took no enjoyment on an easy victory which brought little satisfaction to him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #256) Killing a wounded foe was said to be unworthy of him. Instead, Puma preferred them to recover and re-gain their full strength so he could pit his own might against them at their prime in order to claim a victory worth savouring. Thus, he was shown to leave injured opponents and vowed to return at a later time to fight them. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #257)
Thomas had said that his uncle was like a father to him. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual v1 #7) He knew that his uncle would not approve of his life as an assassin for hire. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #256)
His assistant was the dark-haired woman named Jenna Taylor who worked at the private office of his company. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #256)
Puma first encountered the superhero Spider-Man after being hired by the Rose to eliminate the vigilante. In their initial encounter, he was disappointing as he had hoped for someone bigger, more impressive and more powerful as a challenge. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #256) At the time, Spider-Man was badly injured that made him easy prey for Fireheart. As such, he came to see the hero as a weakling and a coward who deserved to die. He would re-evaluate this though following their fight where Thomas admitted that he had greatly underestimated the Wall-Crawler. This saw him seeing him as a courageous foe who deserved a good death. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #257)
Powers and abilities
He was the culmination of ten generations of breeding and medicine in order to create the perfect warrior of the lost mesa Kisani. (Super-Villain Team-Up MODOK's 11 v1 #4)
As the Puma, he was a superhuman creation of dark tribal magic and the ceremonial protector of the tribe. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual v1 #7)
In time, transformation to his superhuman form became easier but was said to still be painful. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #256) It could be triggered by marshalling all his thoughts and focus inwards with this concentration turning him into his superpowered state. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #257) Through concentration, he was able to institute a metaphysical change from his human to Puma form with this being used to turn him back to normal. In his transformed state, he gained a number of superhuman abilities that he developed as being the Puma. This included heightened natural senses, speed and cat-like agility that made him a formidable opponent. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual v1 #7)
Tracking was noted for being a hard skill for him as he needed to block out all physical and mental distractions as he channelled his entire being into his heightened senses. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #256) His senses could be heightened to the point of being on an almost mystical level. Through proper focus, he could pick up auras around others such as those that generated bad luck. Once picking up a person's individual scent, he could track a person wherever they hid with him claiming they could never escape him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #257)
It was noted that he was fast and agile with his sense of balance being perfect. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #257)
Through his incredibly powerful leg muscles, he got jump over great distances in his transformed Puma state. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #256) It was noted that he could leap 35 feet in the air allowing him to bound across rooftops in a city. Fireheart's speed and agility were said to around the same as Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #257)
He engaged in periodic ritualistic trials orchestrated by the tribe to test his strength. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual v1 #7)
Thomas was the head of a large business empire which was known as Fireheart Enterprises. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #256) This was a multi-billion dollar conglomerate and managed the affairs of the business in addition to his role as the Puma. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual v1 #7)
Notes
- Puma was created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz where he made his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #256 (September, 1984).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man, Puma appeared as an antagonist in the 2017 animated television series starting from the second season episode "Take Two". He was shown as a mercenary member of the Wild Pack who served under Silver Sable. They were hired by a mysterious client with the theft of the Neuro-Cortex from Horizon High leading to confrontation with Spider-Man with the entire group being captured.
Video games
Appearances
- Amazing Spider-Man: (1984)
- The Spectacular Spider-Man v1:
- Wolverine:
- Super-Villain Team-Up MODOK's 11 v1:
External Links
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