Wikipe-tan as a catgirl.

A catgirl is a female with cat ears, a cat tail, or other feline characteristics on an otherwise human-shaped body. Catgirls are found occasionally in anime and manga either as a form of cosplay or actual body parts, as well as in a few video games. Catgirls may wear over-sized mittens and shoes that look like paws. In Japanese, catgirls are usually called nekomimi (猫耳) — literally, "cat ears" — rather than the literal term nekomusume (猫娘). Sometimes characters do not actually feature cat-like ears or such an accessory but their hair sticks out and resembles cat ears. Such characters do not fit the definition of catgirls. Other animal combinations, usually mammals like bunnygirls, foxgirls and (more rarely) doggirls; are referred to as kemonomimi. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 630 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1470 × 1400 pixel, file size: 219 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 630 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1470 × 1400 pixel, file size: 219 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Binomial name Felis catus Linnaeus, 1758 Synonyms Felis lybica invalid junior synonym The cat (or domestic cat, house cat) is a small carnivorous mammal. ... “Animé” redirects here. ... This article is about the comics published in East Asian countries. ... Cosplayers Cosplay ), a portmanteau of the English words costume and roleplay, is a Japanese subculture centered on dressing as characters from manga, anime, tokusatsu, and video games, and, less commonly, Japanese live action television shows, fantasy movies, or Japanese pop music bands. ... “Computer and video games” redirects here. ... A catgirl wearing sailor fuku A catgirl is a woman or girl with cat ears and a cat tail, but an otherwise human body; they are found semi-commonly in anime and manga either as a form of cosplay or actual body parts, as well as in a few video... Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the presence of sweat glands, including those that produce milk, and by the presence of: hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex... Prince Hanzoku terrorized by a nine-tailed fox. ... An example of kemonomimi: Ran Yakumo, a foxgirl from Touhou Project Kemonomimi (獣耳 animal ears) is an anime and manga terminology describing humanoid characters that possess animal-like features. ...

Eastern catgirls are usually depicted as having minimal feline characteristics, such as eyes with vertical pupils, tails, and ears (with different color ear-fur than their hair). Western catgirls are more often portrayed as more animal-like in appearance, with full body fur and claws being their most prominent aspects, though not true for all cases.

Personality traits

Ordinary human characters will sometimes sprout cat ears or a tail in order to illustrate their excitable personalities. This is similar to the phenomenon of becoming super deformed and is mostly a stylistic quirk from manga artists. Ryu drawn in a super deformed style, from the arcade game Pocket Fighter, known as Super Gem Fighter: Mini Mix in the United States. ... This article is about the comics published in East Asian countries. ...

Characters in anime and manga may momentarily develop a catlike mouth. This is usually used to emphasize mischievous thoughts or comments by a character. Rebellious boys are more often compared to dogs or wolves. The "lone-wolf" characterization is very common for brooding, aggressive, socially isolated males, while comparisons to dogs usually refer to adorably rebellious but ultimately harmless boys.

In certain anime and manga series, a boy may be compared to a cat in a similar way catgirls are. They are referred to as catboys. Bishōnen catboys are typically associated with shōjo manga and yaoi. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Shōjo or shoujo (少女 lit. ... Cover of Selfish Love by Naduki Koujima. ...

In shōnen series, a (usually villainous) catgirl may be portrayed as the leader of a band of anthropomorphic animals. Bleach , a well-known example of Shōnen manga This article is about the shōnen style of anime and manga. ...

Western

Catgirl characters are also found outside of anime, manga, and video games. Often, such catgirls are more like humanoid cats than their Japanese counterparts, for example Cheetara from ThunderCats. Fantasy games have catgirl characters, such as Magic: The Gathering's Mirri and Purraj and the cat girl monster in the d20 Munchkin Monster Manual. Some live-action shows and movies, as well as Western comics and animation, have featured various cat-like characters. In addition, catgirls make occasional appearances in Western science-fiction, like Cordwainer Smith's cat-derived Underperson C'Mell (who appears in Norstrilia and The Rediscovery of Man). This article does not cite any references or sources. ... ThunderCats was an American animated television series developed and produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, debuting in 1983 based on the characters created by Tobin Ted Wolf. ... Magic: The Gathering (colloq. ... A munchkin is a player who plays a normally cooperative game (usually an RPG) to amass as much power and as many kills as possible, whatever the costs to role-playing, the storyline, fairness, logic, or the other players fun. ... For this articles equivalent regarding the East, see Eastern culture. ... Cordwainer Smith – pronounced CORDwainer Smith – was the pseudonym used by American author Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger (July 11, 1913 – August 6, 1966) for his science fiction works. ... Norstrilia is the only novel published by Paul Linebarger under the pseudonym Cordwainer Smith. ... It has been suggested that Rediscovery of man be merged into this article or section. ...

However, catgirls that adhere strictly to the catgirl stereotype are far outnumbered in Western culture by those that are better defined as werecats, because they are shapeshifters who only sometimes have a cat-humanoid appearance, analogous to werewolves and other lycanthropes. Like Asian catgirls, these creatures are portrayed as predominantly female and often have the stereotypical catgirl personality and habits. They tend to appear in more realistic settings in the fantasy or horror genres, not in the anime world of typical catgirls. Barbara Minerva as the form-changing supervillain Cheetah, by Justiniano 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... Tsarevna Frog by Viktor Vasnetsov: a frog metamorphoses into a princess Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology and folklore, as well as in science fiction and fantasy. ... For other uses, see Werewolf (disambiguation). ... In folklore, lycanthropy is the ability or power of a human being to undergo transformation into a wolf. ...

See also

• Anthropomorphism
• Cat People
• Catwoman
• Kemonomimi
• List of catgirls
• Nekomimi_Lisa
• Photomorph
• Werecat or Ailuranthrope

This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Cat People can mean several things: Cat People; the 1942 movie. ... Catwoman is a fictional character associated with DC Comics Batman franchise and created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. ... An example of kemonomimi: Ran Yakumo, a foxgirl from Touhou Project Kemonomimi (獣耳 animal ears) is an anime and manga terminology describing humanoid characters that possess animal-like features. ... This is a list of catgirls in fictional works. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Photomorph is a digitally manipulated photograph of a human that is changed to resemble a chimera, such as furry, taur or catgirl. ... Barbara Minerva as the form-changing supervillain Cheetah, by Justiniano 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... This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ...

External links

• The Catgirl Research Foundation Catgirl info center - art, fiction reference, science, mythology, discussion forum, links database.
• The Wilde Home for Wayward Catgirls An artist-run site with lots of manga-styled (however, western) catgirl artwork.