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    Jaguar

    Character » Jaguar appears in 57 issues.

    Gifted by the animal kingdom with the Jaguar belt, a talisman granting the wearer the powers of all animals, Ralph Hardy became the superhero Jaguar.

    Short summary describing this character.

    Jaguar last edited by Thor_Ul on 03/01/24 12:07PM View full history

    Disambiguation

    This is the page for the original Jaguar (Ralph Hardy)

    For the second Jaguar (Maria Guzman, Impact Comics) go to the Jaguar page.

    For the third Jaguar go to the Ivette Velez page.

    Background

    The Jaguar is a superhero published by Archie Comics. He was created as part of Archie's "Archie Adventure Series", before that line was camped up as part of their Mighty Comics line. He would actually appear 2 years after The Fly did.

    The Jaguar appeared in 15 issues of The Adventures of the Jaguar, as well as backup stories in several other Archie comics (Jughead Jones Comic Digest 7; Laugh Comics 127, 130, 131, 133, 135, 140-142, 144; Laugh Comics Digest 25, 27; Pep Comics 150, 152, 157, 159, 168), and would show up in The Adventures of the Fly #23. When the "Archie Adventure Series" line was cancelled and camped up as Archie's Mighty Comics line, The Jaguar only made brief appearances in Mighty Crusaders #4 and 5. In #5, The Jaguar would team up with Mr. Justice and Steel Sterling as the "Terrific Three".

    The Jaguar would appear as part of Archie's Red Circle Comics revamp in the 1980s, as a founding member of the new Mighty Crusaders, and get a backup series in The Fly (issues 4-9).

    The Jaguar also was among the Archie heroes licensed to DC Comics in 1991 for Impact Comics and later in 2009. In both ocassion, the character diverted from the original.

    Later appearances of Ralph Hardy Jaguar have been in cameos in Archie's Weird Mysteries #3 and 14 and a converstory crossover appearance in Sabrina the Teenage Witch # 30.

    He also appeared in the digital initiative New Crusaders: Rise of the heroes (2012), were a successor to the mantle of the Jaguar, Ivette Velez, debuted and where he was supposedly killed by the Brain Emperor.

    The character last appered in the one-shot The Mighty Crusaders (2021). The return of the character to his classic status has not been explained yet.

    Biography

    Raphael Hardy (Archie Comics)

    No Caption Provided

    The Jaguar is actually archaeologist Ralph Hardy. While on a dig in Peru, a giant serpent burst forth from the ground and began terrorizing the area. Hardy fled into a ruined temple and found a series of cave drawings depicting the ancient Incas battling the same monster and a mystical belt. The belt had an inscription: "He who loves the animal kingdom may wear this belt and be transformed into a human jaguar." Ralph Hardy put on the belt and became the Jaguar.

    Later, hardy would be redefined as a zoologist who discovered the Belt of Varigon, which granted him the powers that made him the heroic Jaguar, he initially thought the mystic totem was unique. But in time he learned it was just one piece to a set of armor, one of a number of Jaguar Artifacts, each representing a unique power... a living force allowing the wearer to channel the abilities of what some ancient civilizations dubbed as "gods". Of these he also recovered the Helmet of Ai Apaec. He kept his work searching for mystic artifacts a secret, known to most as only Dr. Ralph Hardy, zoologist. It was in that role that he came to know young Ivette "Ivy" Velez, who will become his protegé.

    When Hardy assisted with Ivy ot a reunion of the retired Crusaders, their old foe, the Brain Emperor attacked them with destructive force and leaving them for dead. Among the fallen, there was Hardy.

    Hardy reappeared unexplained alive among the Mighty Crusaders willing to take down the Shield as a danger to the national security at any price. The cirscunstances of his return are unkwnown.

    Powers and abilities.

    As the Jaguar he had all the powers of the animal kingdom. The belt had 2 rocket packs on either side, which gave him the power of flight. As the Jaguar, he wore a red body suit with a pawprint on the chest, jaguar-skin belt and boots and no mask. The Jaguar looked exactly like Ralph Hardy, except that Ralph had a mustache. In many ways, the Jaguar was a copy of the Fly. Magic belt instead of magic ring, powers of the animal kingdom rather than insect kingdom, etc.

    Maria de Guzman (DC/Impact Comics)

    Maria de Guzman was the Jaguar of the Impact Comics line. There she was the last heir of a linage of protectors of the innocent.

    For a complete biography, go to Jaguar (Impact Comics)

    Rafael Hardy (DC Comic Red Circle)

    No Caption Provided

    In the DC/Red Circle line, Rafael Hardy became the new iteration of the Jaguar. Rafael was a native brazilian citizen, living in the north of Brazil, close to Manaus. He had the bad luck of being abducted by Freiherr Von Belzig, aka Baron Gestapo, a nazi war criminal hidding in the brasilian rainforest. There, Von Belzig was conducting illegal experiments on unwilling humans subjects to create a nazi superarmy. As product of the experiments, Rafael developted animal traits akin with a jaguar, including senses of smell and night vision, augmented strengh, agility and a berserker rage. Rescued from his torture by the Shield, Rafael helped the Shield to destroy the laboratory of Von Belzig. Later, Rafael would join the secret covert team, the Shadow Crusaders, along with Black Hood and the Hangman. The team would help the main team to defeat a durlan alien invasion.

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