Catfolk: Difference between revisions
→Literature
| (12 intermediate revisions by 5 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:mrrshantech copy 6335.jpg|link=Master of Orion|
'''Catfolk''' are [[Fantastic Sapient Species Tropes|Fantastic Sapient Species]] that are based on felines. They generally have a body type resembling felines to one degree or another, and are sometimes named after [[Real Life]] feline species. They can be science-fiction aliens or fantasy races. In terms of appearance, they can fall anywhere on the [[Sliding Scale of Anthropomorphism]] from fully animal looking to barely non-human, however they must be sapient, non-human, and a distinct species from [[Real Life]] animals. Unlike [[Catgirl]]s,
While
This is closely related to the [[Intelligent Gerbil]] (science fiction aliens based on animals), [[Petting Zoo People]], and [[Little Bit Beastly]]. There can be overlap between this trope and [[Catgirl]]
Feline [[Therianthropes]] and humans that shapeshift into cats are [[Were
Not to be confused with the movie ''[[Cat People (film)|Cat People]]'' or the ''[[Cat Person]]'' series of Internet shorts.
Line 21:
* ''[[Asobi ni Iku yo!|Asobi Ni Iku Yo]]'' has the Catians, an alien race of creatures resembling [[Catgirl|cat girls]]. Females enter their first heat at the age of 16. They are enemies with a [[Animal Jingoism|race of dog-eared people]].
== [[
* Among the humanoid animals in the future of [[Jack Kirby]]'s ''[[Kamandi]]'' are a race of honor-driven tiger people; ''[[Final Crisis]]'' tied their culture's origins to the ''[[Captain Marvel]]'' character and proud Cat Fellow Mr. Tawky-Tawny, "the Civilized Tiger."
* The [[Marvel Universe]] has the Cat People, who were created from house cats by ancient sorcerers. ''[[The Avengers (Comic Book)|The Avengers]]'' character Tigra got her powers from them.
Line 27:
* The Aldebarans from ''[[Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars|Bucky O Hare and The Toad Wars]]''.
* Orube in ''[[W.I.T.C.H.|WITCH]]'' has feline-like features. This is a relatively common characteristic on her homeworld of Basiliade (the second inhabitant of Basiliade to appear, Luba, is even more cat-looking than her), but not universal, as shown by the very first of them to appear, {{spoiler|the Oracle Himerish}}, being externally identical to humans.
* ''[[Ythaq]]'' has Feng. They are dedicated to collecting and reserving knowledge, thus mostly take "curiosity" side of the cat, though still quite capable of killing their dinner themselves if they need (but they'll cook it). Of course, the great variety of sapient species on Ythaq comes from crashed spaceships, thus their ancestors may have been far from a representative sample of their kind.
== [[Film]] ==
Line 48 ⟶ 49:
* The Kzinti in [[Larry Niven]]'s ''[[Known Space]]'' books are an aggressive alien species resembling bipedal [[Panthera Awesome|big cats]] in looks and personality. Or at least, their personality is derived from cat stereotypes. For instance, the Kzinti are impatient and excessively eager to attack (scream and leap, as described repeatedly) without proper consideration of tactics or their safety, while in reality, cats are in fact usually far more patient and averse to taking unnecessary risks when hunting than humans and may lie still for hours waiting for the right moment to pounce on prey with the greatest chance of success. They're generally much quieter about it than humans on the attack too, and real cats are certainly no more naturally aggressive than humans either. But those aren't very good attributes to give your villain now, are they?
** How cats hunt and how they fight are significantly different. Cat fights are full of threat displays, both visual and audible, with sudden all-out attacks. And the 'modern' kzinti themselves {{spoiler|are the result of a deliberate breeding program conducted by the Black Priests to create larger and more warlike males and eliminate intelligence from females}}.
** The difference from Terran felines are ears (large, pinkish and folding flat backward to avoid damage when fighting) and tail (which is naked, which is why Human slur for a Kzin is "rat-cat").
* [[Andre Norton]]: the Salariki, who progress with astonishing rapidity from being primitive Proud Warrior Race Guys (''Plague Ship'') to sophisticated members of the interstellar community (''Android at Arms'').
* The Klees of Eelong in ''[[The Pendragon Adventure]]'' are giant, bipedal cats, and the dominant species in that world.
Line 61 ⟶ 63:
** The Lemurians are first called cat-monkeys and monkey-cats (depending who you asked aboard the ship) before the term 'Cat is agreed upon as the appropriate diminutive.
** This species resembles cats so much that in the fifth book, ''Rising Tides'', {{spoiler|humans in the Isles of New Britain, where Hawaii should be, treat them as felines, men showing disdain on the whole, and women lovingly cooing and stroking their fur}}—which embarrasses the Lemurians no end.
* ''[[Little Witch Academia: The Nonsensical Witch and the Country of the Fairies]]'' has the Cait Sith clan. It is made up of walking, talking cat people.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
Line 77 ⟶ 80:
** The Tibbit race, which are Small humanoids with cat ears and markings as if their skin were fur; they can also turn into a full cats in the manner of a [[Were Cat]].
* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' has a number of cat races, including the [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=16450 cat warriors]. However, they do not appear to be unified in any sort of fashion, even when they exist on the same plane.
** The lion-like Leonin from the plane of Mirrodin, on the other hand, are considered a separate race from the leopard-, jaguar-, or tiger-like cat warriors of Dominaria (though cards that benefit cats work for both). Their ruler in the Mirrodin novels was [https://web.archive.org/web/20081002120225/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=73569 Raksha Golden Cub].
* The ''[[Starfire]]'' board game has the Khanate of Orion.
* ''[[Star Fleet Battles]]'': Lyrans (lynx) and The Kzinti.
* The ''[[Traveller]]'' has the Aslan.
* ''[[GURPS]] International Super Teams'', the house campaign setting for super-hero roleplaying, includes the Meeranar, a race of bipedal felinoids and the first alien species with which Earth has diplomatic contact.
== [[Theater]] ==
Line 116 ⟶ 120:
* Tiger Keidran from ''[[Twokinds]]''.
* ''[[Order of the Stick]]'': Tarquin's old adventuring party includes an as-yet-unnamed catfolk thief, seen several times in flashbacks.
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' has the Uuplechan, mentioned [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2005-03-16 here], drawn [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2017-09-20 here] and possibly earlier [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2000-07-23 here] (as seen on the newer page, the range of body sizes is considerable and feline Board Member may have a high seat). They [[Klingons Love Shakespeare|like]] ''[[Cat in The Hat]]'' (but only good adaptations).
** Feline [[Uplifted Animal]]s so far didn't appear, however (unless the earlier example was actually that).
== [[Web Original]] ==
Line 123 ⟶ 128:
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* The Aldebarans from the [[Animated Adaptation]] of ''[[Bucky O'Hare and the
* The leopard-men from ''[[The Legend of Tarzan]]''. Subverted in that the leopard-men turn out to be normal leopards all along.
* The Lion Men from the ''[[Mega Man (animation)|Mega Man]]'' cartoon.
* In ''[[Samurai Jack]]'' there is a race of lion-people who are [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]]s. They are commissioned by Aku to hunt down Jack and {{spoiler|succeed in doing so, only to let him go out of respect}}.
* In the ''[[She-Ra: Princess of Power|She Ra Princess of Power]]'' episode "Magicats", She-Ra and Catra stumble upon a civilization of magical cats.
* ''[[Star Trek: The Animated Series]]'':
*
** The Kzinti in "The Slaver Weapon", an adaptation of the [[Larry Niven]] ''[[Known Space]]'' short story "The Soft Weapon." [[Larry Niven]] wrote the episode as well.
* ''[[Thundercats]]''. More so in ''[[Thundercats 2011|ThunderCats (2011)]],'' where they've gone from [[Little Bit Beastly]] to [[Beast Folk]].
* Several ''[[Transformers]]'' such as [[Transformers Generation 1|Razorclaw, Rampage,]] [[Beast Wars|Cheetor,]] [[Beast Wars II|Lio Convoy,]] [[Transformers Cybertron|Overhaul/Leobreaker,]] and [[Evil Knockoff|Nemesis Breaker.]]
| |||