Character from Madagascar by DreamWorks Animation
A Russian tiger who was once the greatest circus performer in the world, lost everything in a single flaming miscalculation, and had to be talked back from a decade of bitterness by a lion who had no idea what he was doing.
Vitaly was the centerpiece of Circus Zaragoza — a tiger who could jump through a hoop the size of a ring. Then, smaller. Then smaller. The act became impossible and then he made it possible, and it was extraordinary, and then Stefano lit the hoop on fire and Vitaly covered himself in olive oil and the rest of that sentence ends the way you'd expect. After that, the circus collapsed. Vitaly stayed but his act was gone and his will to perform went with it. He replaced it with authority — he became the circus's unofficial enforcer, the one who said no, the one Alex had to get through first. Alex got through him. Not with strength — with honesty, and a speech about what the circus had meant, and the olive oil thing. (Olive oil was the answer the whole time. Vitaly hadn't tried olive oil again.) He becomes a warm, reliable presence once the armor is off. A father figure to Gia. A brother-in-arms to Alex.
A large, muscular Siberian tiger with strong coloring and an imposing frame — built like an athlete who knows it. Carries himself with the formal dignity of someone who has been the best at something and still holds the posture even after the thing is gone. His face expresses a great deal without moving much.