Kotetsu T. Kaburagi

Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, also known as Wild Tiger, is the main protagonist from the Tiger & Bunny anime and manga.

Kotetsu is a veteran hero whose lack of regard for collateral damage when fighting crime had earned him the nickname the "Crusher for Justice" for the wrong reasons by the public. He starts the series as one of the least popular heroes of Sternbild City, but he seems to care more about helping the people of the city rather than earning ratings, points, or fame, a trait many seem to disapprove of.

Appearance
Kotetsu has light brown hair and a brown beard, and he also has gold colored eyes. He usually wears a white vest over a green shirt with a black-and-white-spots tie along with dark green or black pants and a grey and white hat. He wears his Hero Bracelet on his right arm at all times.

Kotetsu's first and original hero costume, affectionately referred to as the "crapsuit" by the fans, has a traditional design, with a cowl-type mask and cape. As he had only one sponsor (Top MaG), the name was prominently displayed across the chest area. Whenever he activated his power, the suit as well as his muscle mass would increase. It is very likely that Kotetsu had several of these costumes, as Saito burns one and later Ben has a second stowed away in a suitcase. Kotetsu dons his original costume again after Maverick manipulates the other heroes' memories in order to convince them that he is the real Wild Tiger. He also uses his catchphrase "It's time to let out a wild roar." to convince them.

The suit also seems to feature a grappling wire like Kotetsu's new suit, shown during Saito's presentation of how superior his suit was compared to the original in episode 2. Also supported by the fact in episode 2, Kotetsu demonstrating skill in swinging with the wires after freeing himself from the statue.

This new armored suit is shown to be far more durable than Kotetsu's original suit, as it is bulletproof and capable of surviving a chainsaw attack and intense heat. It features a grappling hook of sorts called "Wild Shoot" which is fired from a device beneath one arm and is often used as a means of speedy transportation like that employed by American comic book heroes such as Batman.

The suit has only been shown to crack open twice. First in the battle against Jake, after Kotetsu's powers had already run out. Second when he holds down H-01 so Barnaby can defeat it.

The visor includes a timer to tell him how much longer his power will remain active, and the suit's systems seem able to discern information (approximate height and age of a person, makeup of machinery, etc.) simply by locking onto the person or item in question.

The suit is predominantly green, white and black and is equipped with a "Lighting Mode" whereby certain lines light up when Kotetsu's Hundred Power is active. Sponsor logos are located on the chest (SoftBank) and shoulderpads (SoftBank and S.H. Figuarts).

Additionally, it has a feature called "Good Luck Mode" which expands and enlarges one arm of the suit. Though originally thought to increase Kotetsu's punching power, the feature is actually just for display.

Kotetsu originally disliked the idea of using the suit, stating that he liked his old one just fine. He is ultimately forced to make use of it regardless, and ends up deciding that he likes it as he wore it in the field. Despite having a fully visored helmet, he still wears an eye mask reminiscent of his original costume underneath.

After the 1 year time skip, Kotetsu's suit gains a new slogan/nickname written across the back: "WILD TIGER 1 minute, Power to the Future".

Personality
Kotetsu has a very traditional view of being a hero, concerning himself primarily with protecting civilians and making sure justice is served. (In short he represents the pure ideology of heroism from real world comics.) As a result he often charges off and does his own thing, regardless of Agnes's instructions to boost ratings (and much to Barnaby's exasperation as it either costs them points or gets them in trouble). This also tends to cause a lot of property damage, much to the dismay of his sponsors and company. He dislikes doing things like photo shoots and interviews when he could be out in the field, and is shown to adore former hero 'Mr Legend', often watching recordings of him when he's feeling down. Mr. Legend inspired Kotetsu to become a hero, telling him that NEXT powers can be used to protect those they care about; Kotetsu lived by those words ever since, often telling others the same. Despite believing that heroes should worry about the people first and shouldn't be recognized, he dislikes it when people disregard him and dislikes not getting some points (though people's lives still come first). He can be stubborn and at times a little slow, though there are times when he can think analytically and will sacrifice himself if it is for the better good.

Though Kotetsu often acts bumbling, goofy and playful and is shown to be a klutz, he is actually deeply troubled by his personal circumstances and often tries to drink his sorrows away. He can be clueless of the feelings of others and a little rude at times, but means well. He can also be irresponsible, often breaking promises with Kaede due to his superhero business. Despite this, he is generally proactive and positive thinking, if not a little naive at times.

Though Kotetsu takes great pride in his career as a hero, he gets very little respect from both his co-workers and the public and is often overlooked or flat-out ignored. Nonetheless, Kotetsu acts as a (self-proclaimed) senior to the rest of the heroes and shows an almost fatherly concern for the younger ones in particular. Kotetsu does often have genuine wisdom and advice to offer, and always tries to do whats best for the group.

He is a kind person who thinks about the wellbeing of others before himself. He keeps his true feelings bottled up in order to avoid troubling others and is always there to help a friend and provide them support. This earns him the respect of his co workers, most notably Barnaby, as the series progresses. As stated by Barnaby, once he commits, he will never let a person down.

Though Barnaby appears to be more intelligent than Kotetsu (Barnaby relies on intellect while Kotetsu relies on instinct), Kotetsu can be quite perceptive. When a bomb threat was issued against Fortress Tower, Kotetsu was able to quickly deduce the location of the bomb based solely on the strange behaviour of the elevator maintenance man. He was also the first one to figure out Jake Martinez's second power which is to hear the thoughts of others. Kotetsu realized this after Jake called him by his civilian name even though he never revealed it to him.

Because of his superhero duties and his dedication to them, he is often forced to spend time away from his daughter, who resents him in the beginning of the story as he never visits her or keeps his promises to her. Despite this, she loves him and grows to respect him once she finds out the truth, even encouraging him to follow his heart the way his late wife did. He dearly loved his wife who in fact was the inspiration for him being a hero, as she encouraged him to help others. He still loves her and thinks of her fondly, as he still wears his wedding ring despite her passing several years prior.

Additionally, Kotetsu seems to be rather oblivious to romance, as Karina's feelings for him often go unnoticed. His favorite food is fried rice, and it is the only food he learned to cook for himself. Pao-Lin told Karina that Kotetsu makes really delicious fried rice.

Abilities
Kotetsu's Hundred Power increases his physical capabilities such as strength, speed, and agility by a hundredfold for five minutes at a time. After those five minutes, he must rest for one hour before activating it again. His partner Barnaby has stated that Kotetsu has strong endurance, and Kotetsu has above-average physical ability due to a daily/weekly exercise regiment. This is demonstrated when he was able to lift a tree without his powers to save Kaede. Kotetsu's attacking forte is in punching (contrary to Barnaby's forte in kicking), which would indicate that he has the greater strength and endurance of the pair. He also has more experience with his powers than Barnaby, able to use it for more than just fighting.

With his Hundred Power activated, he is able to punch through walls as well as lift an entire section of train rail and tie it into a knot. He can withstand a bullet wound to the chest at point-blank range with only minimal injury, and even taking a flaming crossbolt to the shoulder isn't enough to incapacitate him. During the hero battles, he showed he could use his NEXT ability to slightly heal himself 100 times faster, but was still far from recovered when he went to help Barnaby. His power can also be used to heighten his sense of hearing, as he did to find Kaede. His signature attack is the "Wild Roar", which appears to push back an opponent with a burst of energy and is generally used right when Kotetsu activates his Hundred Power.

In the second half of the series, his powers seemed to have dramatically increased, but it was revealed that his powers now fade sooner than normal by increasing intervals. It's been stated that, as with a small percentage of NEXT, Kotetsu's powers will continue diminishing and likely fade away entirely. When experiencing a power increase, Kotetsu has difficulty controlling his movements and ends up jumping farther or running faster than he had intended to do. Kotetsu's glow turned orange during this power increase, but no signs have shown that he's experienced this glow again as his glow has remained the normal light blue since then.

Kotetsu's powers eventually decline his time limit from five minutes to one minute. His powers may stabilize as they are, decline entirely, come back, or he may even gain a new power.

HeroTV Communicator
Like all the Hero TV heroes Kotetsu wears a simple "communicator" wristband which Agnes can use to contact him, usually to inform him of a crime being committed. The other heroes can also use this communicator to call him. Kotetsu's communicator is white with neon green bands around the edges.

Lonely Chaser
A motorcycle which is usually seen as the sidecar attached to Barnaby's motorcycle. It is predominantly white with bits of green and black and has "WILD TIGER" displayed prominently on the front. The bike is able to transform at the push of a button into the sidecar for Barnaby's bike, and both share the same name. Most of the time it is used as a sidecar instead of a bike. In one of the final episodes, while Tiger and Barnaby are fighting, Tiger tries to restore Bunny's memory by using the sidecar function while they are driving side by side and fighting.

Trivia

 * The first kanji of his given name means "tiger". This is where Tomoe got the idea for his hero name.
 * When Wild Tiger activates his power in his TopMag costume his muscles grow in size. This is in contrast to his new APOLLON suit, and his civilian form shows no increase in muscle size whatsoever.
 * The insignia on Wild Tiger's original suit's mask depicts the acronym of "Wild Tiger"
 * Whenever he guest stars on TV or an interview, he wears his normal civilian clothes but with his mask on.
 * On Antonio's phone his picture is a photograph of a yawning tiger.
 * In contrast to Barnaby, Kotetsu has trouble reading the English title for the next episode. On more than one occasion, he has either: 1) attempted the title, but expressed confusion, 2) provided a garbled reading, 3) disregarded reading the title completely. or 4) reads the Japanese title instead. Despite this, however, during the series he is shown able to write and read in perfect English - so the episode previews may just be a gimmick for the viewers' enjoyment.
 * Kotetsu loves fried rice, so that’s why he doesn't bother learning to cook anything else.
 * Nishida’s favorite Kotetsu scene is when he “healed up” and hurried to Barnaby in ep13, while him searching for Kaede with super-hearing in ep17 is second.
 * It is shown at the end of episode 8 that Kotetsu previously made it to the top of the hero ranking chart and is actually a former King of Heroes.
 * Tiger uses his catchphrase "It's time to let out a wild roar" a few times but mostly in the last 5 episodes.
 * Tiger's character, in some cases, is simillar to that of Wolverine: both are associated with animals, both used their powers to heal themselves and both have a deceased loved one (Tiger's wife and ItsuWolverine's wife).