Catgirl: Difference between revisions

[[File:Lethe 4353.jpg|link=Fire Emblem Tellius|frame|[[Tsundere|Careful - she scratches]].]]

 

 

A '''Catgirl''' is a character that looks mostly like a human, but has [[Unusual Ears|the ears]] of a cat. She is usually not furry (still having human skin, human hair, a human face, a completely human nose, and a human skull and torso structure) - she's only a [[Little Bit Beastly]]. Catgirls are stereotypically female, but [[catboy]]s can also be found.

 

'''Special Note - Being female and feline is not sufficient to qualify for this trope. Do not add an example here without first making sure that it doesn't belong under another trope instead.'''

 

{{examples}}

Far too many anime series to list here. [[wikipedia:List of catgirls|Wikipedia]] (seriously) has a decent, but still incomplete list.

 

* The series ''Geobreeders'' has an entire race of these that mess with electronic equipment and walk through walls. Needless to say, they are seen as bad.

** Maya seems to be the only one who isn't evil, but she can't exactly talk either.

* Tsukiyomi Ikuto from ''[[Shugo Chara]]'' has a catboy as his guardian chara, and therefore being a catboy represents his inner would-be self. Sometimes Ikuto himself has cat ears just like his chara as part of his Chara Change.

* Kyouka from ''[[Kyouran Kazoku Nikki]]'', a [[Genki Girl|hyperactive]] [[Older Than They Look|young-looking]] catgirl who was worshiped as a goddess, and views herself as such. She's the ''mother figure'' in the family.

** [[Gender Bender|Ranma's]] [[Attractive Bent Gender|female form]] looks like a Cat Girl in some fanservicey [http://www.anymanga.com/ranma/005/004/001/ official art].

* Natsuki Sasaehara, the heroine of ''[[Hyper Police]]''. The rest of the main cast are a [[Kitsune]] and two [[Werewolves]].

* Loki/Leo from ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' is another male example, though he only has the ears, which are themselves barely noticeable.

* ''[[Dog Days]]'', featuring a race of cat-person and [[Boobs of Steel|an overly busted and very strong cat queen]] as [[Friendly Enemies]] of a dog-person race.

* ''[[Nekogami Yaoyorozu]]'' has Mayu and Sasana, who are cat gods.

* King Wohl, Princess Lione, and Prince Tio from the Flame Kingdom in ''[[Fushigiboshi no Futagohime]]'' are lion-based [[Nekomimi]].

* The Bakeneko clan of [[Youkai]] in ''[[Nurarihyon no Mago]]'' look like Cat Boys with ears and tails.

* ''[[Asobi ni Iku yo!]]'' has the Catians, a [[Catfolk]] of creatures resembling cat girls. Females enter their first heat at the age of 16. They are enemies with a [[Animal Jingoism|race of dog-eared people]]. Eris, the first Catian character introduced, was at first mistaken by humans for a [[Cosplay Otaku Girl]] wearing a [[Cat Eared Headband]].

 

* Something of a homage, the ''[[Genshiken]]'' club members try to persuade Saki to wear a set of cat-ears, despite her violent opposition and retaliation.

* Parodied in ''[[Tsukuyomi Moon Phase]]'': Hazuki is a vampire, but Kouhei's grandpa asked her to wear a pair of cat ears.

** France also wears a pair of cat ears during the Christmas strips. He lampshades them when he's having what he thinks are his last thoughts {{spoiler|after facing the wrong end of Switzerland's gun}}.

** Japan is visiting Greece, who is always flanked by stray cats. Greece says that if there is an afterlife, he would want to be reborn as a cat. [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|*plop* - Japan places cat ears on him.]]

** Hayate is also forced into one early on, Allowing him to be raped by the tiger. Oh yeah, the head butler also tries a move. Hayate is on the absolute verge of tears. At least it's better than the sailor suit..oh wait...no it's not...

** As does ''[[Kazumi Magica]]'''s Satomi.

* In ''[[Welcome to The NHK]]'', Sato gets a crush on a catgirl mage in an MMORPG. {{spoiler|It turns out it's actually his ''[[Guy in Real Life|male]]'' friend Yamazaki, who is doing it to prove a point.}} Misaki tries to break Sato of his crippling addiction to the MMORPG by dressing up as a catgirl herself—complete with meowing—but Sato's response is to throw things at her and tell her to go find a convention to cosplay at.

* Kana of ''[[Saki (manga)|Saki]]'' is not a real cat girl, but she has a [[Cat Smile]], a [[Cute Little Fang]], a Nya~ [[Verbal Tic]], and those [[Sprouting Ears]] of hers pop up more often than not.

 

* ''Neconoclasm'' is a manga about catgirls with a nicely-sized online preview, and thus provides a very nice example.

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' includes both cat-eared costumes and real catgirls. Most costume examples are listed under [[Cat Eared Hood]], however two characters strongly associated with cats are:

** So is Mao.

* Parodied in ''[[Cromartie High School]]'' when resident [[Butt Monkey]] Akira Maeda has to become a cat for a week to prove that he can comprehend the relationship between animals and humans. After a week, he finally gives up, only for him to be congratulated on being an excellent cat.

* Lampshaded in ''Maria+Holic'' by the Dorm Leader. The characters discuss how her ears "aren't fake" and can "actually move", and at one point, the protagonist finds a cat-ear headband in the garden, leading them to speculate if the catgirl is actually real.

* ''[[Bleach]]'':

* While cat ears have yet to manifest, [[Gunnm|Battle Angel Alita's]] titular character's new Imaginos 2.0 body (and accompanying outfit) comes with a cat tail...which she then proceeds to [[Badass|knock out three different characters at once with.]]

* Momose from ''[[Bloody Cross]]'' is a cat demon. Aside from her tail she looks otherwise human.

 

* The Cat was once a costumed heroine who used a powered costume, but a ritual was performed on her, transforming her into the werecat Tigra. She went on to join [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|The Avengers]], eventually giving her old costume to Patsy Walker, who took the name Hellcat. There's a tug-of-war between her human and feline instincts and which has the upper hand tends to depend on the writer. One day she's able to fly interstellar spacecraft, the next she's chasing and eating mice and unable to speak (except in cat noises.)

* ''[[Wonder Woman]]'' has faced four villains called Cheetah: Two pre-Crisis costumers and two [[Post-Crisis]] catgirls. The first catgirl, Barbara Ann Minerva, is the current and best-known Cheetah and the basis for the animated version. (The other catgirl was her successor, and male. Barbara killed him.)

* ''[[Flash Gordon (comic strip)|Flash Gordon]]'' has Prince Thun's race of Lion Men; although, as their name implies, it's normally the males who appear in the comic.

* Most residents at [[Helios Eclipse|The Land Of The Beasts]].

* ''[[Blacksad]]'' does this with women in general, making them look more human than the men. It should be noted that the women only barely qualify, being somewhat closer to the [[Beast Man]] look in some ways, and the male cats do not qualify but are an example of [[Petting Zoo People]].

 

* Greer Grant Nelson originally used a custom in her identity as The Cat, The Cat was upgraded to Tigra, and the costume was given to Patsy Walker, who took the name Hellcat. Hellcat crops up now and then, sometimes as an actual catgirl due to the fact that she was once the wife of the Son of Satan.

* [[Catwoman (comics)|Catwoman]] and [[Secret Six|Catman]] (Thomas Blake).

* ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'' villain Cheshire is named for a type of cat, but her costume's only cat-themed in the [[Animated Adaptation]].

* Animated ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' also gives Batman villain Killer Moth a daughter named Kitten who briefly took on an anime-like catgirl form and meowed when asked to clarify her name. Of course, given the show's love of sight gags, there's no being sure if this was seriously meant to be a superpower of hers. Animated Starfire was also turned into a cat briefly.

* Carrie Kelly in ''[[The Dark Knight Strikes Again]]'' is ''named'' Catgirl.

* British superheroine The Cat Girl has a magical cat costume that gives her superhuman abilities.

* [[Ms. Fanservice|Ocelotina]] in ''[[Empowered]]''

 

== Film ==

* Somewhat subverted in the independent short ''[[Pat Gets A Cat]]'': the protagonist imagines a human girl behaving like a cat, but without the ears, tail or most common traits of the garden-variety catgirl.

* The [[Movie Bonus Song]] "Pet Me, Poppa" in ''[[Guys and Dolls]]''.

 

== Literature ==

* CJ Cherryh's ''Chanur'' series has catlike aliens—a powerful space-faring species where the female is dominant—who rescue and take care of Tully, a lost human male.

* Greebo's human form in the ''[[Discworld]]'' books is very male, ruggedly handsome, and vaguely feline.

* Kitten in ''[[Red Handed]]'' has mannerisms close to a cat, even though she is an alien.

* The titular character in the ''[[Cat Kid]]'' series by Brian James is a girl who is half-kid, half-cat.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* ''[[Ninja Sentai Kakuranger]]'' featured a monster-of-the-week based on the [[Youkai|Bakeneko]].

 

== Music ==

** Note that the title is a reference to a fairly famous Japanese novel that is almost totally unknown outside of its native country.

* The cover of [[Ali Project]]'s ''[http://www.jpopasia.com/img/album-covers/1/8357-lavitaromantica-un44.jpg La Vida Romantica]'' shows Arika as a leopard girl.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** Cat people are also one of the "chimeras" in ''[[GURPS]] Technomancer''. They look something like the Cat-Nuns in ''[[Doctor Who]]''. Cat halflings however, resemble conventional catgirls.

* ''[[Shadowrun]]'' has catgirls/catboys thanks to a spike in the mana levels when Halley's Comet swung around, triggering what became known as Sudden Unexplained Recessive Genetic Expression, or SURGE. Only a small percentage of the SURGE-affected population became actual cat-people, though - the majority of people are more [[Furry Fandom|drastically affected]].

** Actually SURGE began with the Sixth World, when elves and dwarves first appeared. The Halley's Comet just caused a sudden and significant raise in magic level that triggered another wave of transformations (as it happened with orcs and trolls a few decades earlier) in humans. This time it was pretty random, and ranged from simple cosmetic changes, to serious cthulhu-esque monstrosities. These metahumans are known commonly as "changelings". You can find the catgirl stuff in the 'Runner's Companion'. Also, the SR level of cosmetic surgery allows easy and not-so-expensive modifications, so if you want to, you can be a catgirl.

* This is a 20pt template in ''[[Big Eyes, Small Mouth]]''. Sample neko-jin have included a warrior from the [[Space Opera]] world of Cathedral and a portal-travelling wanderer looking for Bastet, as in the Egyptian goddess.

* The ''Manhunter'' game has the Kirn race, who are cat-like humanoid aliens. The females are depicted as catgirls.

 

== Theater ==

* ''[[Cats]]'' costumes resemble this, though the characters they are playing actually fall under [[Nearly-Normal Animal]].

 

== Toys ==

* Yes, you read that right. A Japanese (naturally) invention, [http://neurowear.com/ Neurowear] are testing artificial, brain-wave controlled cat ears. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prd2iUf9oAk Here] is a demonstration video.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* In ''[[Growlanser]]: Wayfarer of Time'' Leona, one of the party members and potential romance options, has the ears and tail of a cat.

* Xiao from the first ''[[Dark Cloud]]'' game is an interesting case. She starts out as a regular stray cat found in one of the game's dungeons, and an item used to advance later on turns her into a human, and also the first ally in your party. In ''[[Dark Cloud]] 2'', a [[Cat Eared Headband|cat-girl costume]] can be acquired for the female main character

* Additional video game example: The Mithra from ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' are an entire ''race'' of catgirls.

** Adelle from ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics A2]]'' has many traits of a cat, she even got her nickname ''Adelle the Cat''.

** In ''[[Final Fantasy III]]'', the Shamans have cat ears. So does Krile's White Mage outfit in ''[[Final Fantasy V]]''.

* In ''[[Fire Emblem]]: Path of Radiance'', the humanoid forms of the had the cat, tiger and lion Laguz look like [[Little Bit Beastly]] humans with cat ears and tails.

* Chen and Rin Kaenbyou from the ''[[Touhou]]'' games.

* The ''[[Bloody Roar]]'' games have Uriko, who is halfway between Catgirl and a [[Petting Zoo Person]]. Her head, face, and ears are catgirl like, however her limbs are more animal-like than standard cat girls.

* ''[[Star Ocean]]'' has an entire race of people (Fellpool, denizens of planet Roak) with cat tails and elf ears. Fellpool don't act catlike at all, but Lesser Fellpool have the cat ears too and are apparently more beastlike—the one that may join your party in the [[Star Ocean 1|first game]] can change back and forth from cat to catgirl, and uses cat-themed martial arts moves.

*** The in game dictionary in ''[[Star Ocean: Till the End of Time]]'' explains Leon's presence. Expellians are actually a [[Half-Human Hybrid|hybrid race]] descended from both [[Human Aliens|humans]] and fellpool that were native to Expel. Leon is a genetic throwback that only appears when both parents have the same recessive gene on the twelfth chromosome.

** Let's not forget Noel from the same game, a Nedian who's also a cat-man. And the astute will notice his name is "Leon" backwards.

** Then there is also Millionlives and Ninelives in the Shrine of Farewell.

* Ms. Fortune from ''[[Skullgirls]]''.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

** [[Straight Man|Sarah]] was afraid of transformations due to pre-comic turning into a catgirl, thanks to Tedd "[[Juggling Loaded Guns|jocking around]]" with [[Transformation Ray|TF gun]]. Since he wanted to make it up, and she wanted to get over this... eventually, Sarah [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2012-10-23 transformed into catgirl again], this time more humanoid form.

** Grace has half-cat form acquired in the mini-arc named [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2002-05-09 Catnip] and once assumed it [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2005-02-14 later]. Which at least gave us the immortal line.

* ''[[Exterminatus Now]]'' has anthropomorphic characters, including one cat-boy. Drawn in Sonic-style artwork (the story however is not for children), the characters are humanoid animals, not just humans with animal ears and tails, as they all belong to the same race. However, they identify their ''species'' as "fox" or "penguin" or even "zebra" according to their appearance.

* Mzzkiti from ''Freighter Tails'' and ''Cross Time Cafe''.

** Repeatedly respawning just to die again seconds later can be more of a curse than a blessing, especially when he pisses off the Elf.

* The jury's still out on whether or not Gina from ''[[Outside Interference]]'' is a cat. Although she has cat-like ears and features, she lacks any visible tail, in a setting where all the other [[Anthro]] characters have them.

* ''[[Flaky Pastry]]'' has [http://flakypastry.runningwithpencils.com/comic.php?strip_id=126 Marelle] as a lead character, who [http://flakypastry.runningwithpencils.com/comic.php?strip_id=127 hates being called a Catgirl]. Quite where she fits into the trope is quite a good question since she is basically human, wears clothes and has no tail, but DOES have real cat-style ears, a somewhat flattened nose and a dark skin colour which is presumably skin, although this isn't made clear. She certainly has a mop of off-white hair styled in human fashion.

* [http://www.truefork.org/Art/comic/cindex.php?159 Myshka] from ''[[Not Quite Daily Comic]]'', a regular cat who was accidentally transformed into a "dangerously furry" Catgirl, retains most of her former behavior, somewhat subverting the trope.

* ''[[Linburger]]'' calls them Mirrakae. They have little trouble finding one night stands as they seem to be fetishized in universe. Long term relationships are trickier, especially for homosexuals. They're a [[Dying Race]] for whatever reason, so they shun homosexuals of their kind, since they need as many breeders as possible.

* Liger Neqishol (do NOT call her Nekishojo) of ''[[Triquetra Cats]]'' (the main characters fall under the costume only definition)

* Kit Ballard in ''[[Blade Kitten]]''.

* Zii cosplaying as Nekomimi-chan in ''[[Ménage à 3]]''

* Lillith in [[Dreamkeepers]].

* ''[[Okashina Okashi]]'' features cat people, including a pair of cat boys [[Coitus Uninterruptus|who are often found engaging in certain activities]].

* ''[[Fiyora Nya]]'' has Ayako, Sierra, and catboys Ryuuko and Ichirou.

* Katt o' Nine Tails in ''[[Spinnerette]]'', a [[Canada, Eh?|French Canadian]] superheroine who, from what little we've heard so far, gained her powers from a magical cat. Unusually for this character type, Katt has ([[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|as her name suggests]]) no less than nine fully prehensile tails. She's also apparently a fantastic masseuse.

* Aryssa Katrina of Nick Meyer's [[Verboten]] is a cat girl in the classical mold. This is because she's [[Half-Human Hybrid|part feralian]]—a species of humanoid felines with a tribal, [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]] society. Since she's only ''half'' feralian, she's a cute [[Petting Zoo Person]], but she lacks the agility and strength of full feralians, and she's not too popular with her tribe.

* Most of the main characters in [[Bittersweet Candy Bowl]].

* Reya Everheart from ''[[Arcana Magi]]''.

* Fauna of [[DC Nation]] defaults to a felinoid form during a battle. A cat is simply, pound for pound, one of the most effective land predators on the planet, making it a rather useful fallback for a fight.

* Suzi, Kai, and Maliko in ''[[Tales of MU]]'', the 'companions' of the overbearing foxgirl Sooni. These 'nekoyokai' (or just 'nekos') are rather more cat-like than most cat girls, having all-over fur and cat-like eyes, unlike the rather more human-like Sooni.

 

== Western Animation ==

* [[Chaotic|Intress, Attacat, and Tangath Toborn]] seems to be part of a race of cat people that are part of the Overworld tribe.

** Tangath Toborn seems to have performed a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]. However with the current season's trips through time, the possibilities for new cat characters are there.

* An episode from ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'' had Selena Kyle, aka Catwoman, kidnapped by a Dr. Moreau wannabe who turned her into...you get the picture. It should also be noted that the episode also had a cat-man (man-cat?) who liked how he was and wanted Selena to stay.

** Another episode, ''[[The Demon]] Within'', had Klarion the Witch Boy's cat, Teekl, transform into a cat girl to fight Batman and [[Etrigan]]. She also has this ability in the comics.

* Sue Ellen Armstrong and Jenna Morgan from ''[[Arthur (animation)|Arthur]]''.

* The titular characters of ''[[Josie and the Pussy Cats]]'' are examples of costume wearing cat girls.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Turn-On Tropes]]

[[Category:Feline Tropes]]