Cats Are Mean: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''"If cats looked like frogs, we'd realize what nasty, cruel little bastards they are."''
|'''[[Terry Pratchett]]'''
Cats get a bad rap.
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* Roque Ja (or "Rock Jaw") from ''[[Bone]]'' may not be TOTALLY evil, but he is definitely not on the side of the protagonists.
=== [[Film]]
* For Disney animated movies, see the Western Animation folder below.
* In the ''[[An American Tail]]'' movies, all the cats (except Fievel's friend Tiger) are bad guys, looking to exploit and/or eat the heroic, downtrodden mice. The second movie included a good-natured dog, voiced by [[Jimmy Stewart]].
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** The only feline character in ''The Cat Trap'' who subverts this trope is [[Cute Kitten|Cathy]], the daughter of one of the villains' henchmen, who's actually friends with a mouse.
** And then the sequel introduced [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Moloch]], a [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]] demonic cat...
* ''[[Cats and Dogs]]'' rode this trope into the ground, with evil cats using a mouse army to take over the world, while the dogs are secret agents bent on saving it; this has apparently been the state of affairs for the entirety of human history, bordering on [[Exclusively Evil]].
** Subverted in the sequel, fortunately. It turns out that good cats do exist in the ''[[Cats and Dogs]]'' universe. Though the villain is still a cat...
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=== [[Literature]] ===
* [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] personally liked cats (case in point: ''The Adventures of Tom Bombadil''), but because of the mythological tropes that he consciously used, the only times they appear in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' are as minions of evil forces - most notably, as Queen Berúthiel's feline spies. Sauron himself was even originally conceived as a "Prince of Cats", and the Eye of Sauron is described as "cat-like" a few times.
* Played straight with Greebo, Nanny Ogg's cat in the same setting as [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[
* The book ''Grumpy Old Men: A Manual For The British Malcontent'' contains a long, particularly surreal, and rambling rant about cats. An extract:
{{quote|Here's a clue about cats: tigers. Are tigers bastards? Yes. And what are tigers? Just big cats. Therefore cats are tigers only smaller. Therefore they are bastards. Here's another clue. Lions. What do lions do? Lie around all day and then, when they're bored, jump a giraffe and eat it. Cats don't even do that. Ever see a cat jump a giraffe? No. Why? Because we've cossetted them and welcomed them into our homes and invented cat food, just for the idle bastards.}}
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* Prim's cat Buttercup from ''[[The Hunger Games (novel)|The Hunger Games]]'', a [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] in feline form.
* In ''[[Who Cut the Cheese?]]'' by Stilton Jarlsberg, a cat tears up all the rats in CheesyUniverse.
* In ''[[Little Witch Academia: The Nonsensical Witch and the Country of the Fairies]]'', The {{color|red|red}} trio--the [[Protagonist]] Atsuko "Akko" Kagari, the [[Nice Girl]] Lotte, and the mushroom lover Sucy--was warned that they should absolutely ''not'' enter the Country of the Fairies. Because this is Akko we're talking about, she ignored the warning and entered the Country of the Fairies (Akko has a history of not following instructions). What did she find? Cats. A group of cats who are not nice. When they saw the trio, they immediately lunged at the trio to claw and scratch them. The cats only stopped because their soon-to-be-king Feoras ordered them to. The dogs are somehow even worse.
=== [[Live-Action TV]] ===
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* ''[[Sinfest]]'' features the cat Percival, who, while not overtly malicious, is certainly arrogant. Percival and his [[Dumb Is Good|friendly but stupid]] dog companion, Pooch, live with a human whom Pooch calls "Master", while Percival contemptuously calls him "the man".
** Percy has a soft spot for Pooch, though, sneaking in and patting him comfortingly when he's ill.
* ''[[Adventurers!]]''. Not direct, but when the word "Cat" comes up in a game of [https://web.archive.org/web/20100606024240/http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/20020815.html evil Scrabble], you know someone's saying something.
** Well, you can't see the rest of the word...there could be [[You Do NOT Want to Know|an "s" there]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121018181235/http://www.nerdcomics.com/sdjc/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/attackcat.gif Based on a true story.]
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* Played straight in the [[Sports Cartoons]] that used to air on Nickelodeon during commercial breaks. The blue cat, in every cartoon except for one, is an unfair cheater who almost always gets his come-uppance by either the hippopotamus or the pig.
* In ''[[The Smurfs]]'', [[Big Bad|Gargamel]] has a ''really'' nasty cat named [[Names To Run Away From Really Fast|Azrael]], who views the Smurfs the same way most cats do mice.
* In one ''[[Underdog]]'' story, Overcat, an [[Evil Overlord]] who ruled a whole planet of cat people, wanted to invade Earth for their milk, [[Serious Business|as it was a staple of their diet and the wells they got it from had run dry]]. This guy was not only mean, but was nearly a match for Underdog as far as physical strength and super-powers went -
* Taken [[Up To Eleven]] with [[Meaningful Name| Dexter]] in an episode of ''[[DC Super Hero Girls]]''. This evil kitty is ''so'' mean he becomes [[The Power of Hate| a Red Lantern.]]
* In ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]]'', Kringer/Battle Cat avert this Trope, but Panthor plays it straight. He even tends to snarl or roar at Skeletor's other henchmen if they so much as come close to him. There was even one epsiode of the 2000 series where Kringer disguised [[Paper-Thin Disguise| (badly)]] as Panthor was able to get past Whiplash and Merman because they were afraid of Panthor.
=== [[Real Life]] ===
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==Subversions, Inversions, and other Exceptions==
=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===
* Mayaa from ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]''
* ''[[Chi's Sweet Home]]'' is all about this. A curious little kitten shares her take on day to day events.
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* ''[[Digimon Xros Wars]]'' gives us Bastemon, a friendly catlike Digimon who, despite being some kind of royalty, eager joins Xros Heart.
=== [[Comic Books]] ===
* Subverted in the ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' comics by Mirage. Klunk (Michaelangelo's cat) is very kind and friendly.
** However, in [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IDW]], a mutant cat, Old Hob, is a their first major enemy. {{spoiler|He mutated after trying to ''eat'' Raphael.}}
* Seemingly played straight with the Red Lantern's [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|blue]] house cat, but subverted in a recent spotlight on Dex-Star which explains ''why'' [[Start of Darkness|he's so angry]]. {{spoiler|A gang of thieves killed his human, and he wants revenge on them. Yep, a cat with loyalty.}}
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* Subverted ''hard'' in ''[[Billy the Cat]]'', where the eponymous character, who ironically started as a mean and vicious brat, ends up being reincarnated as a cat, and becomes actually a better person while being a cat. Almost all real cats portrayed around him are portrayed as at worst neutral, and at best friendly. The only exception is the villain, Sanctifer, and even he is revealed to have a [[Freudian Excuse]] later in the serie.
===
* Danny and Sawyer from ''[[Cats Don't Dance]]''
* Rajah the nice tiger from ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' (no relation to the similarly-named tiger from the first act of [[Miscellaneous Disney Shorts|''Goliath II'']]).
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* Subverted with Tigress from ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'', especially during the end credits, where she not only loosens up enough to do her own imitation of Shifu, but is seen [[Animal Stereotypes|lying on her back, flipping and twirling the training dummy with her paws]]. Apparently, peace coming to the valley helped her mellow out quite a bit.
** Averted with Mei Ling from ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]: Secrets Of The Furious Five''.
* It is suggested that Orion in ''[[Men in Black (film)|Men in Black]]'' actually cared about or had some loyalty towards his owner.
* The sequel to ''[[Cats and Dogs]]'' shows that there are heroic cats. They're just more subtle about their work. Though the villain double-subverts this, she at least possess a [[Freudian Excuse]] for her attitude.
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* [[Adaptation Expansion|Unlike in the books]], the live-action film of ''[[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]]'' had Aslan's followers include leopards and cheetahs.
=== [[Literature]] ===
* [[Diana Wynne Jones]]'s ''Castle in the Sky'' (sequel to ''[[Howl's Moving Castle (novel)|Howl's Moving Castle]]'') features a black cat who generally makes herself a nuisance to the main character, putting her and her kitten's needs before anything else. Later in the book, {{spoiler|she is revealed to be Sophie, the protagonist of the first book, and the kitten is her and Howl's son, Morgan}}.
* Partially subverted in Patricia Highfield's short story "[http://books.google.com/books?id=I1O8LKN74VYC&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=%22ming%27s+biggest+prey%22&source=bl&ots=2V8z8pfGaU&sig=ayR3yLCfirVQlHWvkXEcl7358Mk&hl=en&ei=wvlGTJujKYP-8Abtrtn-BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CC0Q6AEwBA Ming's Biggest Prey]"—Teddie is abusive to Elaine, and tries to drown Ming, but Ming clearly resents anyone and everyone who takes Elaine's attention away from him.
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* Subverted in the ''[[Amelia Peabody]]'' series, where the cat Bastet (always referred to as "the cat Bastet" in full) and her daughter, Sekhmet, are somewhat snarky in behavior, but about as useful and familiar-like as cats can be in non-fantasy fiction.
* Mostly averted in [[Tad Williams]]' ''[[Tailchaser's Song]]''. Cats are described as being catlike, but not in a mean or selfish way; they're just cats. The bad guy's a cat, [[Captain Obvious|of course]], but mostly an [[Eldritch Abomination]].
* Subversion: Maurice, the talking cat from [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[
* You would expect that the book series ''[[Redwall]]'' would ''only'' obey this trope, since mice are about half the cast. Oddly enough, it doesn't. The first cat we ever meet, Squire Julian, spits the mouse hero out when he accidentally falls into his mouth, complaining that he doesn't eat rodents anymore; Julian is more of a resigned noble than anything else. His ancestor, Gingivere (seen in the later-released but chronologically earlier ''Mossflower''), is genuinely a good, kind soul, and his father Verdauga has his good side. On the ''other'' hand, Gingivere's sister, Tzarmina, is that book's [[Big Bad]] (and kills their father, framing Gingivere for it), and their uncle Ungatt Trunn is the villain in the book ''Lord Brocktree''. It's about an even split.
** It's worth noting that Julian is one of the few actually described as a cat, rather than a wildcat. This might simply be because he appears in the first book and Jaques didn't think to realize domestic cats wouldn't be around in a world without humans, but nonetheless, it paints a much less feral image.
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* In the ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' series, the treecats of Sphinx are sentient, empathically bonded to their humans, loyal to a fault, and fully capable of obliterating anything that dares threaten them or their human charges. (Nimitz, Honor's treecat, sees enemies in two forms: those that have been properly dealt with and those that are still alive.)
* In ''[[Snot Stew]]'', POV Character [[Cute Kitten|Kikki]] is a [[Shrinking Violet]], subverting the stereotype. Her brother, Toby, starts out more mischievous, but [[Took a Level in Jerkass|becomes more of a jerk]] as the plot kicks in. {{spoiler|And pays for it, too.}}
* Subverted in ''[[
** [[Reasonable Authority Figure|Professor]] [[Good Is Not Nice|McGonagall]] is a cat Animagus.
* Inversion: In R.A. Salvatore's ''Drizzt'' books, the heroic magical panther Guenhyvar is often seen fighting large and nasty canine monsters.
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* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[Prospero's Daughter]]'' trilogy, Miranda's familiar, Tybalt the Prince of Cats.
=== [[Live-Action TV]] ===
* Salem, from ''[[Sabrina the Teenage Witch (TV series)|Sabrina the Teenage Witch]]'', who was a warlock turned into a cat for trying to take over the world. He's given up on the world domination, but is still the snarker and comes up with several get-rich-quick schemes.
* ''My Cat From Hell'' is a more of a show about Jackson Galaxy showing cat's owners how to treat a cat so the cats are not "mean" to others. Often, he shows how cats interact with their environment and how to "communicate" with the cat.
=== [[Newspaper Comics]] ===
* Subverted by ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]''; Hobbes the stuffed (?) tiger is more or less Calvin's moral center.
** When he isn't pouncing on Calvin. One of the comic books is entitled ''Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat''.
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* ''[[Krazy Kat]]'', where the antagonist is, instead, Ignatz Mouse.
=== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ===
* In a Japanese folk-tale "The Boy Who Drew Cats", a young boy's favorite thing to draw is the domestic cat, and one night, he happens upon an abandoned temple. Bored, he covers the walls with pictures of cats and goes to sleep. Sometime in the night, a demon spots him (the demon being the reason the temple was abandoned—it had eaten everyone there) and gives chase. The boy hides, hears a horrible commotion, and, come morning, peeks out of his hiding place: all that remains of the demon are a few bones, and every single one of his cat-pictures has a smear of red around its mouth. The story does imply that while the cat-spirits he created were certainly mean, they came to life to protect him and fight the wicked goblin, making this a clear example of [[Dark Is Not Evil]] and possibly [[Good Is Not Nice]].
* Subverted with [[Androcles' Lion]], where the titular lion is grateful to someone who helped him. Very big nice cat!
=== [[Theatre]] ===
* Mostly subverted in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ''[[Cats]]''. The young cats just want to play and have fun. The older cats devote themselves to looking after the younger cats. It's suggested that Grizabella led a less than exemplary life, but she regrets how her misspent youth has alienated her. Eventually, she is forgiven by the other cats.
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* Inverted with the ''[[Purr Tenders]]'', who are all bright and friendly and [[I Just Want to Be Special|just want to be special]]. By contrast, the nasty bulldog Ed-grr hated them all just because they were cats and wanted to see them miserable.
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* Subverted in ''[[Final Fantasy X]]''. While two of the Ronso do appear as [[Those Two Guys]] to follow and menace the party, and end up being bosses, the race in general is made of [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|proud warrior race guys]] who are noble, honorable, and heroic, and one of them is a member of your party. Every other one encountered as an NPC is polite, mild-mannered, and friendly.
* Played and subverted with Blaze The Cat of the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' series. Despite her [[Grumpy Bear|cold and somewhat temperamental nature]], she is a well-intentioned protagonist and [[Defrosting Ice Queen|tones down a little]] following [[Character Development]]. Subverted heavily with Big the Cat who, [[The Ditz|despite having the brain approximately the size of a peanut]], is a rather friendly and gentle soul.
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* Bec in ''[[Homestuck]]'' is a [[Big Friendly Dog]] whom Jade loves dearly. His alpha counterpart, Godcat, is fickle and mysterious and Jane feels very ambivalent about him.
=== [[Web Original]] ===
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qit3ALTelOo Mean Kitty] plays with this; Sparta is quite aggressive but Mr. Safety says right out that he's not fighting, he's just showing love.
* There was a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5ux_Ob5raQ video] reviewed by [[Ray William Johnson]] that subverts this trope hard. Two lion(esse)s snuggle with a man who seem unsure whether he should be aroused or weirded out by it.
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* Subverted with Mepps from ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]''; he is one of Fat Cat's henchmen, but he isn't actually mean.
** Averted with the several hundred kittens in "Catteries Not Included", who become kitten-napping victims, and at least one just wants to get back to his humans.
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* Subverted and inverted with the mother puma and her kittens in the "Woodland Critters Christmas" episode of ''[[South Park]]''. The pumas turn out to be good, while the Christmas Critters, who are [[Woodland Creatures]], turn out to be evil and are raising the [[Anti Christ]]..
=== [[Real Life]] ===
* Also subverted by an ad [[Sarah McLachlan]] did for the Humane Society. One of the shelter cats in the ad looks like it has tears in its eyes. Cats are so well known for being cold and aloof that [[Not So Stoic|seeing one near weeping]] is heartbreaking.
** That "weeping" is usually the product of an eye infection. Whether that makes it better or worse is up to the reader.
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