Werecat

Werecats (also written in a hyphenated form as were-cats) are creatures of folklore, fantasy fiction, horror fiction, and occultism that are generally described as shapeshifters who are similar to werewolves, except that they turn into creatures that are based on some species of feline as opposed to a wolf. The species involved can be a domestic cat, a tiger, a lion, a leopard, a lynx, or any other type, including some that are purely fantastical felines. Typically, an individual werecat can only transform to one unique feline, not to a number of different species, and each individual type of werecat may be known by a more species-specific term such as "weretiger". The word "werecat" was not coined until the late 19th century, so it was not directly used in legends from earlier eras, only by later folklorists' commentary.

Folklore

Werecat folklore is found on all continents except Antarctica and Australia and is generally based on wild felines native to the area.

Europe

European folklore usually depicts werecats who transform into domestic cats. Some European werecats became giant domestic cats or black panthers. They are generally labeled witches, even though they may have the sole magical ability of self-transformation. During the witch trials, the official Church doctrine stated that all shapeshifters, including werewolves, were witches.

Africa

African legends describe people who turn into lions or leopards. In the case of leopards, this is often because the creature is really a leopard god or goddess masquerading as a human. When these gods mate with humans, offspring can be produced, and these children sometimes grow up to be shapeshifters; those who do not transform may instead have other powers. In reference to werecats who turn into lions, the ability is often associated with royalty. Such a being may have been a king or queen in a former life, or may be destined for leadership in this life. This quality can be seen in the lions of Tsavo, which were reputed to be kings in lion shape, attempting to repel the invading Europeans by stopping their railroad.

Asia

Mainland Asian werecats usually become tigers. In India, the weretiger is often a dangerous sorcerer, portrayed as a menace to livestock, who might at any time turn to man-eating. Chinese legends often describe weretigers as the victims of either a heredity curse or a vindictive ghost. Ancient teachings held that every race except the Han Chinese were really animals in disguise, so that there was nothing extraordinary about some of these false humans reverting to their true natures. Alternately, the ghosts of people who had been killed by tigers could become malevolent supernatural beings, devoting all their energy to making sure that tigers killed more humans. Some of these ghosts were responsible for transforming ordinary humans into man-eating weretigers. Also, in Japanese folklore there are creatures called bakeneko that are similar to kitsune (fox spirits) and tanuki (raccoon dogs).

In both Indonesia and Malaysia there is another kind of weretiger. The power of transformation is regarded as due to inheritance, to the use of spells, to fasting and willpower, to the use of charms, etc. Save when it is hungry or has just cause for revenge, it is not hostile to man; in fact, it is said to take its animal form only at night and to guard the plantations from wild pigs, exactly as the balams (magicians) of Yucatán were said to guard the maize fields in animal form. Variants of this belief assert that the shapeshifter does not recognize his friends unless they call him by name, or that he goes out as a mendicant and transforms himself to take vengeance on those who refuse him alms. Somewhat similar is the belief of the Khonds; for them the tiger is friendly, and he reserves his wrath for their enemies. A man is said to take the form of a tiger in order to wreak a just vengeance.

The Americas

The foremost were-animal in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures was the were-jaguar. It was associated with the veneration of the jaguar, with priests and shamans among the various peoples who followed this tradition donning the skins of jaguars to "become" a were-jaguar. Among the Aztecs, an entire class of specialized warriors who dressed in jaguar skins were called "jaguar warriors". Depictions of the jaguar and the were-jaguar are among the most common motifs among the artifacts of the ancient Mesoamerican civilizations.

Archeologists have found a jar in Guatemala, attributed to the Maya of the Late Classic Era (600-900 AD), which depicts a musical instrument that has been reproduced and played. This instrument is astonishing in at least two respects. First, it is the only stringed instrument known in the Americas prior to the introduction of European musical instruments. Second, when played, it produces a sound virtually identical to a jaguar's growl. A sample of this sound is available at the Princeton Art Museum website.

In modern South America, there are also urban legends about jaguar shapeshifters lurking along highways in tales similar to the modern vanishing hitchhiker, and of their being assassins secretly employed by the government or organized crime.

In the U.S., urban legends tell of encounters with feline bipeds; beings similar to the Bigfoot having cat heads, tails, and paws. Feline bipeds are sometimes classified as part of cryptozoology, but more often they are interpreted as werecats.

Fiction

Fictional werecats tend to be portrayed as less influenced by the lunar cycle than fictional werewolves, and they appear in heroic roles slightly more often. In addition, the females seem to outnumber the males, which is the opposite of the tradition in werewolf fiction.

Films

• The 1942 movie Cat People was the most influential item of werecat fiction, about a real sex kitten who turns into a black panther. It was followed forty years later by Cat People, a 1982 remake in name only with a vastly changed storyline that now included two shapeshifters, brother and sister.

• The movie Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island features werecats that drain life forces to preserve their immortality.

• The film Night Watch featured a character named Tiger Cub who was a weretiger.

• The film Sleepwalkers portrayed hairless werecats as the basis for vampire legends.

• Half-Caste, a mockumentary made in the style of The Blair Witch Project, purports to base its story on legends from South Africa.

• In the animated Marvel Comics movie, Ultimate Avengers 2, the Black Panther can turn into a werepanther when angry.

• Halloweentown High features a werecat named Layla, but she is not really shown and is one of the creatures that went back to Halloweentown.

• The Malaysian movie Waris Jari Hantu (literally meaning "inheritance of a ghost's finger") is a movie about a weretiger who is searching for a heir to be the next weretiger to protect his family and village.

Anime and manga

• The video games, animation adaptations, and comic books of Darkstalkers feature the character Felicia who usually stays in a catgirl form but can also transform into a small white cat. She also appears in several cross-over games.

• The manga and television series Ranma ½ has plenty of shapeshifters, including a character named Shampoo, who turns into a cat when hit by cold water, as the result of a magic curse.

• The anime series Outlaw Star has a character named Aisha Clanclan who was already a ctarl ctarl, which is a race of cat people; she could also assume the form of a white tiger.

• Kyo Sohma in the series Fruits Basket becomes a house cat, and Kisa Sohma becomes a tiger.

• Ichigo Momomiya and Ryou Shirogane in Tokyo Mew Mew are scientifically altered to be part cat. In the anime and manga, Ichigo only turns into a cat when kissed or when she gets excited or nervous. The only way for her to revert to human form is being kissed again. For Shirogane, he can only remain as a cat for ten minutes at a time, or he will remain a cat permanently.

• The anime KO Century Beast Warriors has a weretiger named Wan, and other shapeshifters, as the heroes.

• In the Bleach series, Yoruichi Shihōin is an ex-shinigami who often assumes the form of a black cat. When she makes her first appearance, she does so in her cat guise and later returns to her true form as a (naked) woman in front of and much to the surprise and embarrassment of the main character, Ichigo Kurosaki. Because Yoruichi's voice is much deeper in her cat form, many of the characters had assumed she was a man (or at least a male cat) which made the revelation of her true form even more shocking for Ichigo.

Television

• In Season 3 of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the character Katherine Hillard, while under the control of Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd, could become a white Angora cat, and when she paralyzed Tommy to gain control of the Falcon Ninjazord, cat scratch marks appeared over his body. She would later lose this ability when she broke Rita's spell and reformed.

• In Season 1 of Big Wolf on Campus, the episode Cat Woman focused on conflicts between a werewolf and a werecat (a girl with blue streaks in her hair who transformed into a dyed-blue cat).

• The Kamen Rider genre has two werecats: The Grongi villian Zu･Mebio･Da from Kamen Rider Kuuga and the Tiger Undead Hikaru Jō of Kamen Rider Blade.

Novels

• Tales of the Sazi novel series by C.T. Adams features a race of nearly immortal were-animals called Sazi who, like the werewolf legends say, change on the full moon, and are vulnerable to silver. They also have telekinetic abilities, and some have pyschic powers like foresight, telepathy, empathy, and psychic healing. While some novels focus on the wolf Sazi, a few of the novels have main characters who turn into cats, such as Cat Turner (a jaguar), Antoine and Fiona Monier (cougars), Amber and Aspen Monier (bobcats), and Tahira Kuric (a tiger). In addition to wolves and cats, there are also Sazi who turn into bears, owls, hawks, falcons, snakes, and spiders.

• "The Last Wizard" by Tanya Huff includes a race of wizard-created werebeasts that live in the mountains. There are several types, but they consist mostly of werewolves and werecats.

• The Anita Blake novels contain many werecats, mainly wereleopards.

• The Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris features various werecreatures, including werepanthers and weretigers.

• Minerva McGonagall, a character in the Harry Potter novels, is an animagus who can turn into a tabby cat.

• In Caitlín R. Kiernan's Alabaster, Dancy Flammarion comes upon a sort of werepanther trapped in a cage, kept as a roadside attraction in southern Georgia.

• In Night Watch, a character named Tiger Cub has the ability to transform into a tiger at will, due to her magical skills.

• In Cynthia Leitich Smith's Tantalize, werewolves and werecats are traditional rivals, but both fight vampires.

• Garth Nix's Sabriel features a being called Mogget. Although he is neither a cat nor human, he often manifests himself as one of these two while in his bound form.

• In the book series Animorphs, five teenage youths are given the power to metamorphose ("morph") into animals, for which they must first acquire their DNA. Jake, the leader, acquires a tiger's DNA and can morph into it. Also, Tobias acquires his pet cat's DNA as the group's first morph, whereas Rachel morphs a childhood friend's cat. David, the traitorous Animorph, acquires and morphs a lion, as does later Animorph James.

• In Discworld, Greebo is a reverse of the werecat, in that he does not change into a cat; rather the cat changes into a human.

• In Inheritance Cycle books Eragon and Eldest, two werecats are main characters; a male named Solembum that can turn into a small boy, and a female named Maud that transforms into a wise elf woman. Both are depicted as ancient, powerful beings with the ability to foresee the future and offer advice.

• In the comedic horror Strays by Rachael Vincent, the plot (written in first person narrative) centers around a pride of werecats.

• In "The Catswold Portal" by Shirley Rousseau Murphy, one of the main characters is queen of entire race of subterranean werecats. They take on the shapes of domestic felines.

• In the Forgotten Realms novel Murder in Cormyr by Chet Williamson, a werejaguar is mentioned.

Comics

• Clan of the Cats is a comic that has a black panther werecat as the main character.

• The Wotch has a werecat character named Katie McBride. Her transformation occurs in a full moon after she was bitten by a werekitty. When Katie transforms into the werecat, she was savage until she wears a green amulet on her neck that allows her human mind to control her body while in werecat form. Anne, the title character has also morphed into a werecat creature on a number of occasions.

• El Goonish Shive has several shapeshifting characters, two of whom, Grace and Elliot, have the ability to take on a human/cat hybrid form.

• The post-crisis Cheetah characters from DC Comics were represented as true werecats instead of the earlier costumed supervillains.

• Catseye and Tigra from Marvel Comics.

• A werecheetah, Brittany Diggers, is one of the main characters in Fred Perry's Gold Digger comic.

• The Tokyopop OEL manga Reality Check is about a cat owner whose pet regularly enters the world of online virtual reality gaming and the Internet, where her avatar is a catgirl; since she has at least near-human intelligence and can communicate with humans through ordinary speech in the online worlds, she is effectively a technologically-enabled werecat, albeit one which started as a cat rather than human.

• Boo Cat in Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose is a werecat who retains her cat form while in moonlight.

Games

• The WitchCraft role-playing game features magical cats, called Bast, that can shapeshift into humans.

• The role-playing game Werewolf: The Apocalypse includes werecats called Bastet.

• In the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, weretigers are feared for being one of the most powerful lycanthropes; werecats are unique to the Forgotten Realms campaign setting as devotees of Sharess.

• The RPG series Breath of Fire features a race of cat-like humanoids called Woren. One of them (Rei, from Breath of Fire 3) can turn into a large, extremely powerful weretiger during battle.

• The video game Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance features Laguz, a race of humanoids which are able to take the forms of certain animals. The 'Beast Clan' of Laguz is made up of those who turn into cats, lions, and tigers.

• The Castlevania video game series features many werecats based on big cats, including a main werelion villain Ortega from Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness.

• The Bloody Roar video game series features many werecreatures (called Zoanthropes), including Long and Shenlong the weretigers, Gado the werelion, Shina the wereleopard, and Uriko the werelynx.

• Morrowind and Oblivion both contain a race of cat-like humanoids called Khajiit.

• In the PC computer game Hexen II, there are a group of enemy werecat creatures known as Werejaguars and Werepanthers, who are known for running fast, jumping, wielding swords, and sometimes reflecting projectiles with their shields.

• In the PC computer game Shadowcaster, the player can transform into a werecat creature known as the Maorin.

• In World of Warcraft, night elf druids can change into a giant lynx and Tauren druids can become a lion (both races of druids can become a cheetah), and an item called the "moonstalker cloak" can turn any Alliance player into a moonstalker (a black tiger with grey stripes) for 5 minutes.

• In some Final Fantasy games werepanthers appear as enemies. Also, weretigers appeared as common enemies in the first Final Fantasy game.

Music

• The first full-length release by California psychobilly band Tiger Army includes a song about the creature, aptly titled "Werecat".

Occultism and theology

Assertions that werecats truly exist and have an origin in supernatural or religious realities have been common for centuries, with these beliefs often being hard to entirely separate from folklore. In the nineteenth century, occultist J.C. Street asserted that material cat and dog transformations could be produced by manipulating the "ethereal fluid" that human bodies are supposedly floating in. The non-official Catholic witch-hunting manual, the Malleus Maleficarum, asserted that witches can turn into cats, but that their transformations are illusions created by demons. New Age author John Perkins asserted that every person has the ability to shapeshift into "jaguars, bushes, or any other form" by using mental power. Occultist Rosalyn Greene claims that werecats called "cat shifters" exist as part of a "shifter subculture" or underground New Age religion based on lycanthropy and related beliefs.

References

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
• Borges, Jorge. (1969). The book of imaginary beings. New York: E. P. Dutton. ISBN 0-670-89180-0
• Greene, Rosalyn. (2000). The magic of shapeshifting. York Beach: Weiser. ISBN 1-57863-171-8
• Hall, Jamie. (2003). Half human, half animal: Tales of werewolves and related creatures. Bloomington: 1st Books. ISBN 1-4107-5809-5
• Hamel, Frank. (1969). Human animals: Werewolves & other transformations. New Hyde Park: University Books. ISBN 0-8216-0092-3
• Steiger, Brad. (2001). Out of the dark. New York: Kensington Books. ISBN 1-57566-896-3
• Saunders, Nicholas J. (1991). The cult of the cat. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-81036-2

See also

• Fictional werecats
• Catgirl
• Nekomusume
• Were
• Shapeshifting

External links

• Cheetaholics: Official Gold Digger Webpage
• Feline Bipeds
• Half-Caste at Internet Movie Datebase
• Legend of the Lion Woman
• Okesa: Shapeshifter Cat
• Portal of Transformation: Jaguar Shamans
• Snow Leopard Conservancy: Myths & Legends: The Song of the Snow Range
• The Werewolf and Shapeshifter Codex: Werecat Annex
• Werecat of Salem
• Werecat