| Sons of the Tiger |
Lin Sun, Abraham Brown, and Robert Diamond were the most skilled students attending the San Francisco martial arts school run by the sensei Master Kee. Kee sustained mortal injuries when the school was destroyed by a group of ninja terrorists. Before he died, the sensei gave Sun three jade pendants in the shape of a tiger's head and forepaws.
Sun, Brown, and Diamond each donned one of the pendants and discovered that, when they recited an ancient chant, each acquired the combined strength and abilities of all three men together. The chant was:
"When three are called and stand as one,
As one they'll fight, their will
be done...
For each is born anew . . . the Tiger's son."
The Sons of the Tiger set out to avenge Kee's death, tracing the ninjas to a rival school which proved to be a front for a heroin ring and an ancient cult worshipping the Silent Ones, long-dead representatives of an ancient and powerful extradimensional race. The cult was defeated, but no clue was found that would lead directly to the Silent Ones.
Attempting to draw the Silent Ones into the open, the Sons attended a well-publicized martial arts competition in New York City. The Silent Ones' agent, Harrison Budge, captured the trio, only to be captured himself when they escaped. He was rescued by a team of ninjas and led the Sons to Welfare Island beneath the 59th Street Bridge. He and his forces were defeated when Lotus Shinchuko appeared and activated an explosive charge that collapsed the bridge. Only their quick reactions saved them and the woman.
Shinchuko explained that she had unwillingly been given to Budge by the Silent Ones. She renounced them and joined the Sons, who decided to settle in New York. Shinchuko and Diamond became romantically involved, but while on an evening stroll through Central Park she proved to still be under the Silent Ones' control, attacking Diamond and later Brown. Sun discovered a device attached to her neck and removed it, freeing her. Focusing the power of the amulets on the device, the Sons transported themselves to a dimension known as the Field of Dharma, where they fought and defeated two sets of guardians, reflections of the Sons created to test the trio. When the Silent Ones revealed a plan to take over the bodies of the Sons of the Tiger, the Sons were able to destroy them once and for all.
Following that encounter, each of the Sons became involved in individual cases. Meanwhile, however, Diamond purchased a Chinatown building to be the new Sons of the Tiger martial arts school. The Sons met the famous martial arts master Iron Fist, with whom they stopped a plot to steal serum needed to prevent an epidemic in the city. They later saved the heroes Spider-Man and the Human Torch from the villains Sandman, the Enforcers, Big Man, and Crimemaster. Spider-Man and the Sons eventually captured the criminals, with the exception of Big Man, who was killed by Crimemaster.
During these incidents, Shinchuko began to draw away from Diamond and closer to Sun. In his anger, Diamond struck Brown, who then tore off his pendant and stormed out. Diamond provoked a physical contest with Sun which shocked them to their senses. Realizing that the Sons of the Tiger were no longer a viable team, they discarded the talismans, which were later discovered by Hector Ayala who donned them and was transformed into the White Tiger.
Lin Sun, Lotus Shinchuko, and Abe Brown maintained the martial arts school and Diamond renewed his acting career. Not wishing to lose his skills, he became the sparring partner of Iron Fist.
Ayala eventually abandoned his identity as the White Tiger and gave the talismans to Blackbyrd, who returned them to the Sons, from whom they were stolen by the mystic entity Master Khan. Diamond was badly injured in the theft, and his former partners were called, reuniting the Sons of the Tiger. Upon recovering, Diamond occasionally assisted Iron Fist and his partner Luke Cage in their profession as Heroes for Hire until Iron Fist's apparent death.
The jade pendants given to the Sons by Master Kee were originally part of a jade tiger figurine carved in the ancient city K'un Lun. Worn by the Sons of the Tiger and activated by a magic incantation, they provided each wearer with the combined strength and abilities of all three. The amulets also provided the wearers clearer vision of alternatives available in any given situation, and provided astral projection that led to other dimensions.
Worn by Hector Ayala, the pendants increased his strength and provided him martial arts abilities. Reattached to the jade tiger statue, they provided mystical transportation to K'un Lun. The statue was enlarged and animated as a living tiger.
The amulets actually create a physical addiction, and if they are separated from their wearers for more than 24 hours, the wearers' begin to die. As such, the Sons the Tiger currently wear non-magical replicas of their original pendants.