Tiger

The Tiger is the symbol of the Kingdom of Hu. He and the Dragon are natural enemies. The Tiger is viewed as the King of Beasts, with cats and mammals in general being his kin. The tiger's chief characteristics are ferocity, power, a warlike spirit and even bloodlust. Secondarily, tigers are frequently associated with bravery, heroism, majesty and sometimes cunning.

The tiger has less of a rich mythology surrounding him than does the dragon. It is more of a "mascot" or heraldic symbolic.

There is a tradition of animal fables featuring the tiger. Some are parables that teach a moral or a tiger mindset. There are also more ancient etiological myths involving "the tiger" as a central figure; sometimes he is portrayed as a mischief maker.

For many Hu people the tiger is primarily symbol of antipathy towards the Long dragon and any stories involving men, tigers or any mammal vanquishing the dragon are celebrated as being patriotic.

The word tiger can be used attributively to refer to warriors, heroes, the kingdom, etc. E.g. the Tiger King, Tiger General, Tiger Army. There also exists the adjective Tigrine (occasionally one will here reference to the Tigrine throne.

The advances in modern technology originating in Hu, the economic spirit and power of the Merchants League, Hu military aggression and victories are all attached the the figure of the Tiger.

In Long, where tigers actually exist, mostly in rainforest but also in marshland, plains and mountains, there is a special title for tiger-slayers that bestows respect. In times when tigers were more plentiful killing a tiger was almost a right of passage among young nobles and there was a fraternity of tiger-slayers (which to a much lesser extent, still exists in the era of Filial Devotion).

There was once a Hu tiger that lived on several larger islands in central Hu which has gone extinct.