Right-Hand-Cat: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* Giovanni with his Persian, from ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]''. For a while, the Team Rocket trio's Meowth from the same series had it as his overriding goal to ''become'' a Right-Hand-Cat for Giovanni.

* In ''[[Peacemaker Kurogane]]'', after going [[Axe Crazy|crazy]] and [[Depraved Homosexual|gay]], Suzu is depicted as having a fondness for cats.

 

 

* Atrocitus comes to Earth looking for the other Lantern Corps. entities in ''[[Brightest Day]]'' and brings only one fellow Red Lantern with him: a blue house cat named Dex-Starr, who is [[Cats Are Mean|the most sadistic]] of the entire Corp. Then, in Green Lantern #55, we learn Dex-Starr's origin, [[Tear Jerker|cue waterworks.]]

* Gargamel's cat, Azraël, from ''[[The Smurfs]]''. Leans into [[Right-Hand Attack Dog]] territory, since the Smurfs are small enough to be frequently chased by Azraël.

 

 

* In Disney's version of ''[[Cinderella (Disney film)|Cinderella]]'', Cinderella's stepmother has a cat named—I kid you not -- ''Lucifer''. He is intelligent enough to understand that Cinderella is unfairly put-upon with the chores, and mean enough to complicate them at one point in the movie. His opposite number is Bruno, a nice dog who sleeps in the basement.

* Junkman in the ''[[The Incredible Crash Dummies]]'' (a 1993 half-hour CG movie) has the Hubcat.

 

 

* Ernst Stavro Blofeld, from the early ''[[James Bond (film)|James Bond]]'' films, as pictured above. His ever-present fluffy white cat is probably the [[Trope Codifier]], being responsible for most, if not all, of the parodies and references listed below.

** ''[[Diamonds Are Forever]]'' plays with this a little, when Bond confronts Blofeld and his double. Unsure of which is which, Bond kicks the white Persian in the room and shoots the Blofeld it jumps to for safety. Sadly, it doesn't work, as there's more than one cat too.

 

 

* In 1956, even before Blofeld made it cool, back in the original book of ''[[The Hundred and One Dalmatians]]'', Cruella de Vil had a white Persian cat, as opposed to the heroic dog-loving Dearlys. When they actually met the cat, Pongo and <s>Perdita</s> Missis found she was actually nice (we had already learned of Cruella's drowning of her kittens—as if that woman needed extra [[Kick the Dog]] credentials). She then joined the dogs in wrecking Cruella's private fur collection.

* In the ''[[1632]]'' series, it is briefly established that Richelieu likes cats after he is given a Siamese kitten as a diplomatic gift and plays with it.

* Averted: Harry Dresden lives with a gigantic grey cat named "Mister," whom he (Harry) rescued from a dumpster as a kitten.

 

* While she wasn't a villain ''per se'', Mrs. Pynchon, the (cold and typically unlikable) newspaper publisher (and everyone's boss) in the TV series ''[[Lou Grant]]'', has a cat who resides on her desk at her office.

* Conan O'Brien's impression of an [[NBC]] executive involves [[Biting the Hand Humor|talking in an "evil" voice and miming petting a cat in his arms]].

 

 

* Dr. Blackgaard with Sasha, from ''[[Adventures in Odyssey]]''.

 

 

* The cover to the ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'' splatbook "High Programmers" has a High Programmer petting a cat with one eye.

* Intentionally invoked [http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44544 on this forum] as a suggestion for a good use for a template that creates an undead made from a taxidermied skin that can pass for a living creature to all but the most keen-eyed of observers... until they look into its eyes and see the inside of its scalp, or it deflates and slithers away.

 

 

* Pyewacket, Gillian's familiar in ''Bell, Book, And Candle''.

 

 

* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', Kel'thuzad, [[The Dragon]] of the [[Evil Overlord|Lich King]], has a cat named Mr. Bigglesworth after Dr. Evil's cat in his dungeon. If it is killed, Kel'thuzad gets quite upset with the players and threatens to send the Scourge to hunt them down.

{{quote|''"NO! A curse upon you, interlopers! The armies of the Lich King will hunt you down! You will NOT escape your fate!"''}}

 

 

* In ''[[The Brick Testament]]'', the evil pharaoh of Egypt in ''[[The Bible|Exodus]]'' is [http://www.thebricktestament.com/exodus/first_meeting_with_pharaoh/ex05_02.html portrayed with a pet cat].

* ''[[Dr. Nonami]]'': Dr. Mechano has Destroyer, an adorable little kitty who he insists is a vicious killing machine.

 

 

* [http://www.villainsource.com/misc.html This website sells them.]

* [http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/2009/10/20/chairman-of-the-board/ Some family decided their Right-Hand Cat would signify the patriarch in family photos.]

 

 

* Mildly [[The Parody|parodied]] in ''[[Danny Phantom]]'', to the point of [[Running Gag]] status. In several episodes of the first two seasons, Danny encourages his arch enemy, Vlad, to get a cat, to which he usually gives an emphatic "No!", but lo and behold, the second episode of the third season had him sitting in his study, petting—what else—a white cat, named after Danny's mother, Maddie.

* Even Angelica, the [[Devil in Plain Sight]] on ''[[Rugrats]]'', has a pet cat named Fluffy.

 

 

* [[Double Subversion]] in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh GX]]'': the fact that Daitokouji-sensei had a pet cat could have been a clue he was [[The Mole]], until he was further revealed to be a [[Double Agent]]. And after his [[Redemption Equals Death]], the cat ''takes over his job''.

* In ''[[Medabots]]'', the Right-Hand Cat contains the soul of the [[Big Bad]]; the human body is just a robotic shell.

 

 

* ''[[Bomb Queen]]'''s eponymous supervillainess/EvilOverlord has a black cat named Ashe who, in the most recent volume, has been revealed as an ancient demon who's been using Bomb Queen and her city.

 

 

* Goldentusk's video for the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc17zmeMlSI James Bond Theme Song] parodies plenty ''[[James Bond (film)|James Bond]]'' tropes, including the Right-Hand Cat.

 

 

* Ratigan from ''[[The Great Mouse Detective]]'' has a white cat, Felicia, do some of his dirty work for him—but, being a <s>rat</s> large mouse, he naturally can't carry her around. Henceforth, he uses a bell to ring her up whenever some hapless fool needs to become dinner.

* On ''[[Bolt]]'', the villain of the [[Show Within a Show]] has two cats. The actors who play them love to torment Bolt (who thinks the show is real) by going to his trailer and make threats in character. After Bolt is lost, he mistakes stray alley cat Mittens for one of the Right-Hand Cats and tries to get her to take him back.

 

 

* Inverted in ''[[Cats and Dogs]]'' where the villains of the film are cats who just happen to be led by a white Persian. The leader Persian Cat invokes this trope to interact with humans, using a comatose man in a wheelchair. The human's mouth has a bandana or something around it, so the cat make others think the human is talking, so as not to freak everybody out with a talking cat.

* In one of ''[[The Cannonball Run]]'' films, a Mob boss is seen stroking a cat. Then he looks down...and says (quietly and with no special tone), "This cat is dead. Bring me another cat." The mooks do.

 

 

* Gregor Brastov in [[Kim Newman]]'s alternate-history vampire novel ''[[Anno Dracula|Dracula Cha-Cha-Cha]]'' (a.k.a. ''Judgment of Tears'') is a Blofeldish cat-stroking archvillain who turns out to be {{spoiler|just a puppet manipulated by the real archvillain -- his cat. [[Captain Ersatz|Hamish Bond]] should have remembered that some vampires have [[Voluntary Shapeshifting]].}}

* ''[[Discworld]]''

 

 

** Gary Seven with Isis in the episode "Assignment: Earth" is initially thought to be a villain, but this is [[Subverted]] at the episode's end when Gary Seven is revealed to be trying to save the human race from a nuclear war, and Isis is revealed to be a shapeshifter.

** Also, in the episode "Catspaw", the villain Korob has a black cat, who turns to be another shapeshifter, Sylvia, who later turns into a ''giant'' black cat.

 

 

* Creepily subverted in the play ''[[Woyzeck]]'' (as well as the opera and rock opera based thereon). Although [[Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate|the Doctor]] has a pet cat, he [[Kick the Dog|throws it out the window]] [[For Science!|just to see whether it lands on its feet.]]

* In a version of ''The Pink Wasp and Yellow Jacket'', the villain has a cat that he would periodically forget he was holding and accidentally throw into the air. At one point, Yellow Jacket, played as a asian stereotype, picks up the cat and tries to eat it.

 

 

* Video game inversion: General Viggo from ''[[Fur Fighters]]'' is an anthro cat who pets a mini-human.

* ''[[Banjo-Kazooie]]'': Nuts and Bolts has Piddles, a cat given to Gruntilda by the [[Dungeon Master|Lord of Games]]...who she [[Kick the Dog|boots 12 feet in the air after meeting]]. Needless to say, Piddles hates her mistress with a passion and gleefully takes the opportunity to be a [[Bad Boss]] to her in the epilogue.

 

 

* In ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'', Lord Shojo pretends to [[Consulting Mister Puppet|consult his cat]], "Mr. Scruffy", as part of his [[Obfuscating Insanity|pretense of senility]]. An inversion in any case, since Shojo is a good guy. Of course, Mr. Scruffy now appears to have become a genuine Right-Hand Cat to the [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath]] Belkar.

* Parodied in [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2005-02-16 this strip] of ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' (note the title of the strip at the bottom).

 

 

* [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] to the extreme in ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]''. The girls once defeated an archetypal [[The Faceless|faceless]] villain who stole a valuable jewel to power a laser, and took his pet cat home afterwards. The ''cat'' [[The Dog Was the Mastermind|was actually the villain all along]] and hypnotized [[The Professor]] into almost finishing the mass [[Brainwashed|brainwashing]] project.

* Subverted in the ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'' [[Five Episode Pilot]], wherein Fat Cat debuts as Chlordane's Right-Hand Cat, only to become a villain in his own right for the rest of the series (while Chlordane is never heard from again). Even during the pilot, after helping Chlordane steal a ruby, Fat Cat steals the ruby from Chlordane for his own purposes, making sure to return it before its absence is noticed.

 

 

* [[The Pope|Pope Benedict XVI]] is apparently [[wikipedia:Pope Benedict XVI#Interests|fond of cats]], not helping rumors of his evil-ness.

* Sultan Abdul Hamid of the Ottoman Empire was reported to have been fond of the rare Van breed of cat. As to whether or not he was evil, well, he ''was'' known as the Red Sultan in the west for a reason.

 

 

* In ''[[Read or Die]]'', {{spoiler|The Gentleman}} has a turtle instead.

* Played with in the ''[[Hellsing]]'' manga and OVA with the [[Big Bad|Major]] and Schrödinger, a [[Catboy]] subordinate fond of sitting on the floor next to his superior's [[Cool Chair|chair]] with his head at convenient scratching height.

 

 

* Adrian Veidt from ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]'' has Bubastis, some kind of bright-red mutant lynx-thing. Until {{spoiler|he disintegrated it}}.

* The demonic Lord Arux from ''[[Lucifer (comics)|Lucifer]]'' has an advisor, Praxspoor, also a demon, who chooses to take the form of a panther-size black cat because he finds it helpful to be underestimated.

* The comic book version of ''[[The Thrawn Trilogy]]'' often depicted Grand Admiral Thrawn cradling and stroking a [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ysalamiri ysalamiri], a nearly vegetative lizard creature, like it's a cat, when in the books, he carried one in a nutrient frame strapped to his back or connected to his command chair. Ysalamiri [[Power Nullifier|negated the powers]] of his [[The Starscream|psychotic dark Jedi ally]], and occasionally, he reached up and stroked it to remind C'baoth that he couldn't be choked, electrocuted, or [[Charm Person|charmed]], but he didn't carry one around in his arms or on his lap. You can't really do that with ysalamiri. [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Plus, they smell]]. Still, the depiction is universal enough that it's practically an extension of his [[Memetic Outfit]].

 

 

* ''[[Heavy Metal (animation)|Heavy Metal]]'' film. The [[Big Bad]] of the "Taarna" segment has a Right-Hand Rat: a giant rat-like creature with a nasty snarl. He petted it while it sat next to him.

* In ''[[Twice Upon a Time]]'', Synonamess Botch has a pet armadillo named Ratatooie.

 

 

* Spoofed in ''[[Spice World]]'', where [[James Bond (film)|Roger Moore]], unseen, strokes a series of increasingly ludicrous pets as he plays the Spice Girls' corporate boss.

* ''[[Dirty Work]]'' (1998): the villain holds his tiny dog a lot. The protagonists speculate that their relationship is not entirely platonic.

 

 

* Behemoth, from ''[[The Master and Margarita]]'', is a demon in the entourage of [[Satan|Woland]] who appears in the shape of a man-sized, bipedal black cat.

 

 

* Spoofed in the "Secret Service Dentists" sketch on ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'': "I'm glad you could all come to my little party. And Flopsy's glad, too. Aren't you Flopsy?" When the villain doesn't get a response, he shoots Flopsy and says "That'll teach you to play hard to get. Well, poor Flopsy's dead, and he never called me mother." Although Flopsy was a rabbit, not a cat, it still sorta works.

* ''[[Red Dwarf]]''. Parodied in the opening scene of "Stoke Me a Clipper", where Ace Rimmer's evil Nazi opponent is first shown via a lap-level view of his hand stroking his [[Never Smile At a Crocodile|pet crocodile]], Snappy.

 

 

* In the ''Red Steel'' setting for ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' 2nd ed., there were several [[Humanoid Animals]] PC races. So the monster book had a tamable primate that looked like a little human (or dwarf, elf, etc, dependent on breed), to enable the evil cat person to have a [[Inverted Trope|Right-Hand Human]].

 

 

* Rugal Bernstein and his pet panther Rodem in ''[[The King of Fighters]]''. His kids, Adelheid and Rose, have a little black kitten who is apparently the offspring of Rodem. Also included is Zero with Glaugan (a black lion) from ''2001''.

* [[President Evil]] Rufus Shinra in ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' had (very briefly) a panther named Dark Nation. Very briefly because it only shows up in the battle where you first meet Rufus, where Cloud promptly kills it.

 

 

* ''[[Homestar Runner]]:'' from the ''Dangeresque'' films, Baron Darin Diamonocle (played by Bubs) is a parody of the Blofeld-style supervillain. He uses The Cheat as his cat-substitute.

 

 

* In ''[[Umlaut House]] 2'', ASCII is briefly seen with a robotic cat (he's an android) during his supervillain phase.

 

 

* ''[[ReBoot]]'':

** Hexadecimal, as an insane anthropomorphism of a computer virus, somewhat inexplicably, has a small round cute thing with a feline face called Scuzzy as a pet. In one episode, Bob and Mike the TV find to their horror and sorrow that Scuzzy also doubles as Hexadecimal's [[Right-Hand Attack Dog]]: one that [[Make My Monster Grow|can grow impossibly large]], [[Super Speed|move very fast]], has [[More Teeth Than the Osmond Family|very sharp teeth]], and [[Doppelganger Attack|can clone itself as necessary]].