Tiger Mask ( Japanese : タイガーマスク , Hepburn : Taigā Masuku ) is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Naoki Tsuji. The series was first published in Kodansha 's Bokura Magazine from 1968 to 1970 and was later published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1970 to 1971. It was later adapted into an anime series by Toei Animation which first aired on Yomiuri Television on October 2, 1969 and ended its run on September 30, 1971, airing 105 episodes. In real life, the name has been used by a succession of Japanese professional wrestling characters as a gimmick . The Tiger Mask persona is instantly recognizable by its trademark mask, designed to look like a tiger's head, as well as the combination of high flying attacks and martial arts in the ring.
32-461: Tiger Mask, whose real name was Naoto Date, was a feared heel wrestler in America who was extremely vicious in the ring. However, he became a face after returning to Japan when a young boy said that he wanted to be a villain like Tiger Mask when he grew up. The boy resided in an orphanage, the same one that Tiger Mask grew up in during his childhood. Feeling that he did not want the boy to idolize
64-549: A heel (also known as a rudo in lucha libre ) is a wrestler who portrays a villain , "bad guy", "baddie", "evil-doer", or "rulebreaker", and acts as an antagonist to the faces , who are the heroic protagonist or "good guy" characters. Not everything a heel wrestler does must be villainous: heels need only to be booed or jeered by the audience to be effective characters, although most truly successful heels embrace other aspects of their devious personalities, such as cheating to win or using foreign objects. "The role of
96-433: A low blow on his distracted opponent. Other heels may act overpowering to their opponents to play up the scrappy underdog success story for the face. Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Book Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from
128-583: A clear and correct way, studying Tiger Mask's style against some fighters chosen by him. When he finally fights with Tiger Mask, he reassumes his old name: Tiger the Great . The third master of the Tiger's Den. He was considered the strongest fighter ever. He was forced to retire because nobody was capable to fight him on an even basis. Adding to his considerable technique, King Tiger is the absolute master of illegal moves. His fight with Tiger Mask rapidly escalates to
160-488: A different public image, such as The Rock 's turn from a clean-cut face to self-absorbed narcissist in the Nation of Domination heel stable, or Tetsuya Naito 's fan rejection of his babyface causing him to drastically form Los Ingobernables de Japon . The term "heel" does not, in itself, describe a typical set of attributes or audience reaction, but simply a wrestler's presentation and booking as an antagonist. Depending on
192-525: A dramatic heel is the wrestler The Undertaker , who, on many occasions throughout his career, has switched between portraying a heel or a face. During his period as the leader of The Ministry of Darkness , he appeared as a priest of the occult in a hooded black robe and literally sat in a throne, often in the shape of the symbol used to represent him. Occasionally, faces who have recently turned from being heels still exhibit characteristics from their heel persona. This occurs due to fans being entertained by
224-507: A fictional song over the series opening sequence renaming it 'Namer HaKesef' ("The Silver/Money Leopard"), reaching over 400 thousand views on Youtube and becoming a cult phenomenon in Israel. Telling the story of businessman Esteban Himenez, hit erroneously by a laser beam from the star Zorigon-5, changing his molecular structure and his destiny forever - businessman in the day, Leopard in the night, while his new rivals have learned to call him by
256-594: A heel is to get 'heat,' which means spurring the crowd to obstreperous hatred, and generally involves cheating and any other manner of socially unacceptable behavior." To gain heat (with boos and jeers from the audience), heels are often portrayed as behaving in an immoral manner by breaking rules or otherwise taking advantage of their opponents outside the bounds of the standards of the match. Others do not (or rarely) break rules, but instead exhibit unlikeable, appalling, and deliberately offensive and demoralizing personality traits such as arrogance, cowardice, or contempt for
288-460: A live-action film adaptation for the international market was announced by Italy's Fabula Pictures, Brandon Box, and Kodansha. While the Tiger Mask character has appeared in a number of wrestling video games, such as Fire Pro Wrestling D , Toukon Retsuden 3 , Sunday vs Magazine: Shūketsu! Chōjō Daikessen and Virtual Pro Wrestling 64 , the games are not directly based on the story of
320-432: A mixture of both positive and negative character traits. In wrestling terminology, these characters are referred to as tweeners (short hand for the "in-between" good and evil actions these wrestlers display). WWE has been cited as a company that is doing away with the traditional heel/face format due in part to audiences' willingness to cheer for heels and boo babyfaces. In "local" wrestling (e.g., American wrestling) it
352-478: A negative audience reaction despite their portrayal as heroes. An example is Roman Reigns , who in 2018 was a top face in WWE, but got booed in his matches while his opponents got cheered regardless of their status as face or heel, due to perceived favoritism from WWE executives and a lack of character development . Such characters often (but not always) become nudged into becoming villains over time or retooled to present
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#1732790948886384-667: A real bloodbath. Ring announcer and narrator. The manga was originally created for the Bokura Magazine in 1968 by Ikki Kajiwara and Naoki Tsuji . The manga would be reprinted by Kodansha comics, and made available in Hong Kong . Further versions include Sankei Comics and the Kodansha KC Special. The anime would be televised nationally in Japan, while two movies would be constructed from reusing footage of
416-601: A reference to Tiger Mask . In the Yo-Kai Watch game series, a yokai named Machonyan wears a tiger mask. Pokémon Sun and Moon introduced Incineroar , the "Heel Pokémon", displaying elements of both a tiger and a wrestler. It is also a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate . Heel (professional wrestling) Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s In professional wrestling ,
448-431: A villain, Tiger was inspired to be a heroic wrestler. The main antagonist in the manga and anime was the Tiger's Den, a mysterious organization that trained young people to be villainous wrestlers on the condition that they gave half of their earnings to the organization. Tiger Mask was once a member of the Tiger's Den under the name "Yellow Devil", but no longer wanted anything to do with them, instead donating his money to
480-553: A wrestler despite (or because of) their heel persona, often due to the performer's charisma or charm in playing the role. Certain wrestlers such as Eddie Guerrero and Ric Flair gained popularity as faces by using tactics that would typically be associated with heels, while others like Stone Cold Steve Austin , Scott Hall and more recently Becky Lynch displayed heelish behavior during their careers yet got big face reactions, leading them to be marketed as antiheroes . On other occasions, wrestlers who are positioned as faces receive
512-455: Is also currently streaming on Crunchyroll , marking it as the first Tiger Mask anime available to American viewers. This new series is the exclusive sequel of the anime version and completely ignores Tiger Mask II , which confirms Naoto Date's death like in the manga. The movies were titled as such in English when exported outside Japan. They are not actual translations. In November 2023,
544-474: Is contrasted with most heroic técnicos that are generally known for using moves requiring technical skill, particularly aerial maneuvers . Common heel behavior includes cheating to win (e.g. using the ropes for leverage while pinning or attacking with a weapon while the referee is looking away), employing dirty tactics such as blatant chokes or raking the eyes , attacking other wrestlers backstage, interfering with other wrestlers' matches, insulting
576-480: The Tekken video game series, a character named King shares similarities with Tiger Mask, except his mask is that of a jaguar rather than a tiger. Street Fighter II , in its early concept design stages, had a very similar homage to Tiger Mask in its character roster. In the video game series Hotline Miami , there is a tiger mask that when equipped, allows you throw devastating punches when unarmed. This may be
608-418: The angle , heels can act cowardly or overpowering to their opponents. For instance, a "closet champion" in particular is a term for a heel in possession of a title belt who consistently dodges top flight competition and attempts to back down from challenges. Examples include Seth Rollins during his first WWE World Heavyweight Championship reign, Charlotte during her Divas / Raw Women's Championship reign,
640-535: The Honky Tonk Man during his long Intercontinental Championship reign, Tommaso Ciampa during his NXT Championship reign and The IIconics during their WWE Women's Tag Team Championship reign. Brock Lesnar's character in WWE had heel aspects, and was well known for failing to regularly defend his title (especially during his first Universal Championship reign), often only performing on pay-per-view events and not on SmackDown or especially Raw as he
672-426: The audience. Many heels do both, cheating as well as behaving nastily. No matter the type of heel, the most important role is that of the antagonist, as heels exist to provide a foil to the face wrestlers. If a given heel is cheered over the face, a promoter may opt to turn that heel to face or the other way around, or to make the wrestler do something even more despicable to encourage heel heat. Some performers display
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#1732790948886704-420: The fans or city they are in (referred to as " cheap heat ") and acting in a haughty or superior manner. More theatrical heels would feature dramatic outfits giving off a nasty or otherwise dangerous look, such as wearing corpse paint over their faces, putting on demonic masks, covering themselves in dark leather and the like. Gorgeous George is regarded as the father of the wrestling gimmick, and by extension
736-477: The heel gimmick. Starting in the 1940s, he invented an extravagant, flamboyant "pretty boy" gimmick who wore wavy blonde hair, colorful robes and ritzy outfits, and was accompanied by beautiful valets to the ring for his matches. The crowd widely jeered his persona, and came out to his matches in hopes of seeing him defeated. George relished this attention, and exploded into one of the most famous (and hated) heels not only of his era, but of all time. Another example of
768-570: The industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence of fans so as not to reveal the worked nature of the business. Into the 21st century, widespread discussion on the Internet has popularized these terms. Many of the terms refer to the financial aspects of professional wrestling in addition to in-ring terms. Also road agent , producer and coach . Also juicing , gigging , getting color , and running
800-534: The manga or anime. In the early 1980s, the bookers in the New Japan Pro-Wrestling promotion licensed the character and created a real-life Tiger Mask , originally portrayed by Satoru Sayama , to help boost their junior heavyweight division. In 2010 and 2011, several people in Japan donated to children's homes and other social welfare centers by using the name "Naoto Date" as an alias. In 2012, an Israeli artist named Omer Rabinovitz recorded
832-407: The name "Money leopard" . As a result of the song, fictional episodes were created independently by three creators, Bar Weizman, Dan Weizman, and Dor Levin, and a Minecraft skin was also created. In Ben 10: Alien Force , Rath is a tiger-like alien who uses wrestling moves on his foes. Similarly, both characters were also vicious at first but then turned good after meeting a small child. In
864-401: The orphanage. This infuriated the leader of the organization and he sent numerous assassins, including other professional wrestlers, to punish him. In Tiger Mask II ( タイガーマスク二世 , Taigā Masuku Ni-sei ) , a new opponent called "Outer Space Mask" bullies his way into the ring without representing any wrestling federation. Tatsuo Aku, once an orphan child from the "house of the children",
896-439: The razor . Also booker and booking . Also going broadway . Also bury and buried . Also championship advantage . Also forbidden door . Also getting the heat . Also lackey or heavy Also babyface , blue-eye (England), or técnico (Mexico). Also playing Ricky Morton . Also hope spot . Also cross-promotion . Also persona . Also jobber to
928-532: The series. Most of the environment and characters were fictional, but real-life pro wrestlers like Antonio Inoki , Giant Baba , Michiaki Yoshimura , Kintarō Ōki and Seiji Sakaguchi were included in the manga and anime as well. On March 3, 2016, New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced the revival of the Tiger Mask anime series. The series, entitled Tiger Mask W , premiered on TV Asahi in October 2016. It
960-422: Was a fan of Naoto, who has died. He would put on his old hero's mask to become the new Tiger Mask. Mister X is the main antagonist of the series. The Boss is the leader of the Tiger's Den. He makes his first appearance disguised as the unbelievably strong fighter Miracle 3 , the only fighter with total supremacy in the three fundamental abilities: strength, speed and illegal moves. Miracle 3 wins every fight in
992-511: Was common for the faces to be "local" (e.g., Hulk Hogan , John Cena , and Stone Cold Steve Austin ) and the heels to be portrayed as "foreign" (e.g., Gunther , Alberto Del Rio , Ivan Koloff , The Iron Sheik , Rusev/Miro , Jinder Mahal , and Muhammad Hassan ). In the world of lucha libre wrestling, most rudos are generally known for being brawlers and for using physical moves that emphasize brute strength or size, often having outfits akin to demons , devils , or other tricksters . This
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1024-456: Was only on a part-time appearance contract with WWE. This sort of behavior supports the intended kayfabe opinion that the face (or faces) the heel is feuding with is actually more deserving of the title than the title-holding heel is. Heels may beg for mercy during a beat down at the hands of faces, even if they have delivered similar beat downs with no mercy. Ric Flair in particular has been well known for begging an opponent off, then hitting
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