Although trying to get Tugs to talk about his past is a bit like pulling teeth, what is known is that he was from Thundera.  A highly segregated society, he was the son of the token senator from the lower caste.  As such, he grew up with everything he needed at the price of a distant father figure who fathered dozens of children with dozens of different women.  Tugs was raised alongside his half-brother D'Tan, but at the age of fifteen, he became restless and left the country for the city proper.  For years, he lived there, passing himself off as a member of nobility.  With this ruse, he gained an education in mechanical engineering, with a special interest in holograms.  He was eventually caught however, and thrown into jail.  His escape only came when his father arranged for his safe transport away from Thundera during its destruction.  Soon after, his old jailer caught up with him and carted him off, traveling through the Crystal Realm and using a device which transferred health from prisoners into terminal patients.  Through Kit and the Phoenix Fighters, Tugs finally escaped.  He was immediately drawn to Lex as a fellow Thunderian and the two of them started up a relationship.