Angela Del Toro is the heir to a heroic legacy that began with the Jade Tiger, a long-lost enchanted statue from the fabled kingdom of K'un-Lun. Broken into pieces, the statue's paws and head resurfaced in America, where the Sons of the Tiger wore them as amulets that enhanced their martial arts prowess. When the Sons disbanded, their discarded amulets were discovered by Angela's uncle, the young Hector Ayala, who transformed into the superhuman White Tiger through their power. In this guise, Ayala fought foes such as the Corporation crime cartel (whose members included his brother, Filippo) and teamed with heroes such as Daredevil, the Defenders, Human Fly, Jack of Hearts and Prowler, though his most frequent ally was Spider-Man (secretly Hector's Empire State University classmate). After the Tiger's secret identity was exposed in a confrontation with the criminal Lightmaster, megalomaniac Gideon Mace decided to make Ayala his first target in a war on super-heroes. Mace slaughtered the Ayala family and led the Tiger himself into an ambush that nearly killed Hector, who decided to retire after Mace died fighting Spider-Man. His amulets passed through other hands over the years, but eventually found their way back to him. By this time, he had married and settled down, but he missed his Tiger days. Going back into action as the White Tiger, Hector was framed for murder and convicted despite the efforts of his lawyer, Matt Murdock. Ayala was shot dead trying to escape, shortly before evidence emerged that belatedly proved his innocence.

Murdock himself had recently been "outed" as the masked crimefighter Daredevil, though he publicly denied his double identity. Trying to understand super-heroes in general and her late uncle in particular, Angela - now a Federal Agent - volunteered to participate in the ongoing FBI investigation of Murdock; however, when Hector's amulets were handed down to her, an overwhelmed Angela asked Murdock to help her decide what to do with them. Knowing the terrible cost of the vigilante lifestyle - and having seen her own partner, Agent Harold Driver, killed during the Daredevil investigation - Angela wanted to know why anyone would ever play super-hero. She told Murdock she was willing to quit the FBI and abandon her case if he could answer her questions. Recognizing Angela's sincerity, Murdock challenged her to scale St. Catherine's Cathedral, then engaged her in rooftop combat as Daredevil. Convinced of her ability, Murdock presented Angela with a final lesson by leading her to a robbery in progress. Subduing the robbers single-handedly, a proud Angela was touched by the awestruck gratitude of the shopkeeper she had rescued, and she finally began to understand her new calling. Shortly thereafter, Del Toro rescued Murdock from ex-crimelord Alexander Bont and his reluctant henchman Gladiator, beating Potter into submission and making her mark as the new White Tiger.

Note: The White Tigers of the Ayala and Del Toro clans are unrelated to the High Evolutionary's White Tiger (an artificially evolved tiger-woman who voluntarily resumed her original animal form after a stint with Heroes for Hire) and urban vigilante Kevin "Kasper" Cole, alias White Tiger, an acolyte of the Panther Cult and a protégé of the Black Panther.