Tyr was the previous Sword Emperor and Varia’s Leader before Xanxus but was defeated in a battle with Squalo. With this, Squalo was declared the new Sword Emperor and to secure his seat, he defeated 100 people in a row. For an unknown reason, Xanxus became Varia’s Leader instead of Squalo, who defeated the former Leader of Varia.
Tyr had only one hand and because of this, Squalo cut off his own hand as well. The character was probably based in the norse God of War, Tyr, that had his hand bitten by the wolf Fenrir, this may be the reference why Tyr had only one hand.