[Editor's Note: This article was originally posted after the premiere of Black Lightning, and since we've only learned a little more about Tobias since then, we're bringing back our explainer]

There was a lot happening in the Black Lightning premiere episode, but one person who certainly stood out was the mysterious Tobias Whale. Even in his short sequence of scenes, it was clear that he’s no one to mess with. But there’s more happening there than with a typical gangster villain. Whale is an albino African American, and he flanks himself with two white henchmen. Race is an important part of Black Lightning’s story, but Tobias’ looks didn’t originate with the TV show.

The character was always an albino African American crime lord, first appearing in Black Lightning #1 (1977), and created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden. Like Black Lightning himself, Tobias Whale doesn’t have a huge comic presence, so the TV series can pretty much take the character in whatever direction they choose. Still, there are plenty of comic parallels so far. In the most basic terms, he leads the criminal organization The 100, and is a mortal enemy of Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams).

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Image via The CW

On the set of Black Lightning here in Atlanta, Marvin “Krondon” Jones III spoke to me about playing Tobias, who he is on the television series, and his motivations:

“Tobias started off as a politician / ruler of the underworld, and his corrupt dealings led him to no longer to be on the board of politics in the land of Freeland. So that of itself is a motivator, and motivates the master manipulator that I am on the show, as well as in the uniqueness of the outer appearance, which is so very unique. At the same time, it’s another motivator because of the way he was brought up -- he was always the outsider amongst outsiders. So now the outside amongst outsiders is the man of power, he’s going to have an issue with those outsiders that made him feel that way.

That’s what you’re going to see, and we wanted to give a hint that he has a sense of self degradation going on, and that’s rooted in the fact that there’s a need that’s not being met, whether it be acceptance, love, fear, respect. Those things not being met, and whether those things happened in his childhood of adolescence or adulthood, he carries it all the way though. So I think that’s the part that makes the feeling human, because everyone relates to those different aspects. It’s been my job, and it’s been a wonderful job, to bring those things out, when the opportunity permits.”

In the comics, Tobias operates in Metropolis and eventually moves to Gotham City. He is inspired by, both physically and in the way he dresses, Wilson Fisk, Marvel’s Kingpin of Crime. While Tobias has been transposed to Freeland in the TV series, he is still teamed up with Syonide (Charlbi Dean Kriek) in this iteration as well. And while we haven’t seen much of a hint of how this might play out in the TV version, Tobias could also be working with Syonide to distribute a highly addictive drug to the people of Freeland — which will be another way he and Black Lightning are connected.

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Image via The CW

One of the changes from the comics, though, is how Tobias and Jefferson’s pasts intersect. “The relationship between Tobias and Jefferson runs deeper than what’s been revealed so far,” Jones said. “And it has everything to do with everything that makes Black Lightning Black Lightning. I won’t say much more than that!” We do know that Gambi encouraged Jefferson to take up the mantle of Black Lightning to take downTobias, but that job isn't over yet. Further, while Tobias is a crime lord in the comics, he does not have powers — Jones confirmed that he will have powers in this series, and they will manifest in the first few episodes.

It’s worth noticing all of the marine imagery when it comes to Tobias Whale, of course, including his whale pin, and his love of a harpoon gun (another holdover from the comics). But Jones also shared that a big part of playing Whale is making sure that he’s not “just” a bad guy — that there are layers:

“I was figuring out how much of me was in Tobias, and how much of Tobias is in me. It forced me to do a lot of soul searching […] We all have a public persona we put on that is not necessarily who we are or what we want to be a lot of the times.

I had to accept it. I had to say wait a minute now, as much as I’m a nice guy I just play a bad guy on TV. [But I can be] a bad guy too, that’s in me and vice versa — we all do that. I related to Jefferson as a father, and Jennifer as a confused kid, and I relate to those things because they’re in me. Not because I’m on the outside and intellectually observing them, no, I relate to them because I have them in me, they innately fall somewhere. The goal is to recognize that and to make the right decisions to weed out what we don’t need.”

Stay tuned for more Black Lightning coverage in the coming weeks; the new series airs Tuesday nights on The CW.

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Image via The CW
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Image via The CW
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Image via The CW