Fantastic Cats in Sci-fi & Fantasy

When you think of cats, you probably think of cute, fluffy bundles of scratchy fun; but do you think of the many cats that have become a part of geek culture? Cats can be seen in more geeky places than you might expect, but are often under-appreciated in their roles; well this post is here to put a stop to all that. Prepare to meet some of the coolest cats ever to grace your page/screen.

The first cat on our list is Spot, the beloved pet of Data in “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. Spot appeared frequently throughout the final four seasons of TNG and was also seen in two Star Trek movies; *Generations *and Nemesis. Spot is a female, orange tabby cat, although she first appeared as a male Somali cat, leading to speculative jokes about her history in the Star Trek Encyclopaedia. She is very unfriendly to most people besides Data, with the exception of Lieutenant Barclay, and she even attacked Commander Riker by scratching his face, forcing him to visit sickbay. Spot and Data had a very close relationship on the show, indeed the news of Spot’s survival after the destruction of the Enterprise-D caused Data to cry tears of joy having recently had an emotion chip installed. After Data's death, Spot was looked after aboard the Enterprise by Worf, despite Worf being allergic to her. Finally, Spot is one of few cats to have had a poem written for her by her owner, entitled “Ode to Spot”.

Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature,

• An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature;*
• Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses*
• Contribute to your hunting skills and natural defences.*
• I find myself intrigued by your sub vocal oscillations,*
• A singular development of cat communications*
• That obviates your basic hedonistic predilection*
• For a rhythmic stroking of your fur to demonstrate affection.*
• A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;*
• You would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.*
• And when not being utilized to aid in locomotion,*
• It often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.*
• O Spot, the complex levels of behaviour you display*
• Connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.*
• And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,*
• I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.*

Our next cat is Crookshanks, the bandy-legged, ginger, half-cat, half-Kneazle owned by Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series. Being half-Kneazle, Crookshanks is not an ordinary cat; he has the ability to solve problems, help others and to recognize untrustworthy people, even when they are disguised or transfigured – he took an immediate dislike to Ron Weasley’s pet rat Scabbers, later revealed as the traitor & murderer Peter Pettigrew. It is even hinted that Crookshanks may be able to understand English.

"There's something funny about that animal! It heard me say that Scabbers was in my bag!" - Ron Weasley

In the third book/film of the series, Crookshanks is instrumental is helping Sirius Black enter Hogwarts and reveal the truth about Peter Pettigrew by stealing the passwords to Gryffindor Tower, helping lure Harry, Ron & Hermione to the Shrieking Shack and eventually, lying down over Sirius’ heart to cause Harry to hesitate in attacking him. The fate of Crookshanks was never revealed, he was left with the Weasley family when Hermione went on the run during Bill & Fleur’s wedding reception and was never mentioned again.

Third and last on the list is Jonesy, ginger (do they have non-ginger cats in fiction – I’m beginning to wonder) cat of Ellen Ripley in the film Alien. This hissing ball of fluff could be found aboard the Nostromo and his habit of disappearing may well have helped lead several crew members to their demise, causing them to hunt for him in lonely corridors where hungry creatures could well be lurking. Jonesy is one of only two characters to survive the entire film, going into Ripley’s cryo-freeze compartment with her. He is seen briefly at the beginning of the sequel, Aliens, when he is brought to visit Ripley whilst she is recovering in the clinic. After this he is never heard of again and we are left to assume he lived out his days happily back on Earth. In homage to the Alien series, there is also a reference to Jonesy in the Halo franchise where a missing cat poster can be seen on the Pillar of Autumn bulletin board.

There are of course, hundreds more cats to be found in science fiction and fantasy, far too many to cover here. To finish up, here is a list of honourable mentions of some more well-loved felines who are all deserving of more love from the geek world. Doubtless there are many more deserving of a place but alas, I have not time to name them all:

• Miss Kitty Fantastico - Kitten of Willow Rosenberg & Tara Maclay in Buffy The Vampire Slayer
• Birdie – Cat of Temperance Brennan in the novels by Kathy Reichs
• Pluto – The Black Cat in the Edgar Allan Poe short story
• Church Hill – The cat who comes back from the dead in Pet Sematary by Stephen King
• Snowball I, Snowball II, Snowball III, Coltrane (aka Snowball IV), and Snowball V (aka Snowball II) – Cats of the Simpson family
• Orion – Cat of Gentle Rosenberg then later Dr. Laurel Weaver, guardian of the galaxy in Men in Black
• __Mrs Norris __– Cat of Argus Filch in the Harry Potter series
• Greebo – The one eyed tomcat owned by Nanny Ogg in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld
• Grey-Malkin – The witches’ cat in Shakespeare’s Macbeth
• The Cats of Ulthar – The cats who take revenge upon a kitten’s murder in the HP Lovecraft story of the same name
• The Black Cat in Neil Gaiman’s “The Price”
• Mr Bigglesworth – The cat belonging to Austin Powers' nemesis, Dr Evil
• Frankenstein - The cat whose offspring would evolve to become the humanoid (species Felis sapiens) character Cat in Red Dwarf