Neon Tiger

Neon Tiger, known as Shining Tigerd (シャイニング・タイガード) in Japan, is a villian (or "Maverick") in the 1995 Super Nintendo videogame Mega Man X3.

Of the eight bosses found in the game, Neon Tiger is one of only three that are mammals -- the others being Blizzard Buffalo and Tunnel Rhino -- and the only boss in the Mega Man X series for the Super Nintendo that is purely and recognisably feline, in this case a tiger.

Outside of his appearances in the Mega Man X series, Neon Tiger is also a cult favourite amongst many Furries.

Character History
Neon Tiger is a Reploid (Repuriroido レプリロイド in the original Japanese), that is, an android that has complete free will and thought-processes similar to humans. As with nearly all the chief Reploids throughout the Mega Man X series, he was given a design modelled after a wild animal.

Furthermore, like many powerful Reploids (and their Robot Master counterparts from earlier Mega Man games) Neon Tiger was built for a specific purpose: in his case, before contracting the "Maverick Virus" and rebelling (and hence becoming a villian character), he was a "forest guardian", a poacher-hunter designed to ensure no one harmed the wildlife in the nature reserve he was apart of.

Other appearances
He reprises his role as a boss character in the Game Boy Color game Mega Man Xtreme 2, using a different weapon and with a simplified design -- per the graphic limitations of the GameBoy. He also cameoes in the Rockman X manga.

Design
Despite being a "guardian of the forest", Neon Tiger's design (by Keiji Inafune, who also designed the original Mega Man character) is extravagantly sci-fi. He is clearly robotic, and studded with multi-coloured gem-like stones, although he clearly takes physical cues from his tiger origins, with fangs and claws (see below).

In addition, the manner in which Neon Tiger battles -- agile jumps, slashing claws -- resembles, to a degree, a tiger fighting in the wild.

Weaponry
Neon Tiger's primary weapon, and the one that Mega Man X himself inherits upon defeating him in X3, is called the Ray Splasher, a rapidfire plasma burst fired from his lightbulb-like tail.

In addition, Neon Tiger possesses claws (the Ray Claw, featured prominently in Mega Man Xtreme 2) which are made of constantly burning plasma, similar in shape -- albeit comprised of a different material -- to that of Wolverine from X-Men.

Popularity
For several reasons, Neon Tiger remains something of a cult figure within the Mega Man X canon, especially among fans in the Furry community. Several current Furries with characters based on tigers admit to tracing their origins to playing Mega Man X3 and seeing Neon Tiger in action as children, while still others contend that Neon Tiger "helped along" their journeys of self-discovery as tiger furries.

Outside the Furry fandom, Neon Tiger is known in circles of Mega Man X fans for the sheer difficulty in fighting him. The weapon obtained from him in X3 is a vital tool to defeating other bosses, and for this reason many players will go after Neon Tiger first.

Another reason Neon Tiger has maintained popularity amongst the gallery of "Mavericks" in the Mega Man X canon is the music in his stage: an almost note-by-note cover of the Guns N'Roses song "My Michelle".