Tobias Whale (Black Lightning)

"Do you believe in resurrection? The concept itself is beautiful but it is a complete fantasy. I killed Black Lightning but it seems that you and whoever this is have developed an adversarial relationship that is bad for my business... My question is, can you take care of this problem or should I just kill you now and solve it myself?"

- Whale

Tobias Whale is the main antagonist in the first season of the 2018 CW series Black Lightning. He is the series' adaptation of the DC comic villain of the same name.

He is portrayed by rapper Marvin "Krondon" Jones III.

Past
A decade ago, Tobias Whale was the reason Jefferson Pierce donned the costume of Black Lightning and became a superhero. At first, Pierce's sole motivation was killing Tobias. The two became rivals and their feud ended with each man believing to have killed the other.

Black Lightning's return
Tobias is first seen feeding one of his former henchmen to piranhas. Suddenly, he is told that he should watch the news immediately. He comes over to the TV where he sees a TV anchor talking about the rumors that Whale's old nemesis - the Black Lightning - has returned.

However, still believing that he killed Black Lightning, Tobias believes the "new" one to be a mere impostor. Nonetheless, the feud between this Black Lightning and one of his disciples, Lala, proves to be bad for Whale's business. He has two of his henchmen kidnap Lala and has him brought to his office. Realizing that Whale is not happy, Lala tries to explain himself but Whale grabs a harpoon from his desk and fires it into Lala's shoulder. While he draws Lala closer to his desk by pulling the rope attached to the harpoon, Whale states that although reincarnation is a beautiful concept, he does not believe in it. He further states that he killed Black Lightning so this new Black Lightning has to be an impostor. However, as Lala's feud with Black Lightning is bad for his business, Whale wants the problem solved. He asks Lala if Lala will be able to deal with the situation or whether Whale should just kill Lala and solve the problem himself.

Appearances

 * 1x01: The Resurrection

Trivia

 * Like the fictional Whale, Krondon in real-life is an African-American with albinism.