The Cat People are a race mystically evolved from the domesticated Felis catus into humanoid cats, where the majority of the people immigrated to an alternate dimensional netherworld[1], whilst some remained hidden on Earth disguised as Humans protected by their guardian figure, known as the "Tigra", and the protector for the Land Within was known as the "Balkatar".[2]
History
Origin[]
The Cat People originated roughly a thousand years ago in Florence, Italy,[3] by a human sorcerer named Ebrok who magically transformed two house cats. Ebrok instructed in the mystic arts these first two Cat People, whom he named Flavius and Helene,[4] allegedly with the help of the Caretakers of Arcturus in creating the Cat People.[5] Ebrok's cintemporaries in the Sorcerers Guild opposed his work with the Cat People, including the man now known as the demonic sorcerer, Belasco, who magically banished the Cat People to the other dimensional netherworld that the Cat People themselves called the Land Within.[4] Said realm was the interconnected pocket dimensions known collectively as Hades or Hell, after the most infamous of these realms ruled by Mephisto.[citation needed]
Per the spell of the sorcerers who banished them, one of the Cat People must answer the summons of any Earth-born sorcerer who calls upon them. The Cat People then sent their chosen to respond with the given title of the Balkatar.[2] In time, the demonic environment of the Land Within caused the Cat People living there to become Demons themselves.[6] However, unknown to the mystics who banished the Cat People, Flavius and Helene had learned of their plan against them and used sufficient time to prepare their mystic skills to avoid the banishment, and the two secretly remained with Ebrok to assist in his work. But one night, another sorcerer named Orann killed Ebrok after discovering Flavius and Helene with their creator. An enraged Flavius hurled a container holding the results of their current experiment at the killer, thereby releasing the germ that caused the Black Plague which swept over Europe, killing untold numbers of people.[2][4]
Flavius and Helene fled to the mountains where they worked to find a cure for the plague, but they were again persecuted by the Sorcerers' Guild, forcing the two to summon the Balkatar to protect them. Yet he could not obey them since he had to obey the Sorcerers' Guild per the conditions of the magics. The Guild also mystically prevented Flavius and Helene from successfully using the spell to transform cats into Cat People, so the pair instead decided to transform human beings into Cat People, and transformed a human woman into a cat-like warrior, who they named "Tigra". With this original Tigra, Flavius and Helene destroyed their enemies, living until both were quite old and they successfully discovered the cure for the Black Plague. With the Sorcerers' Guild defunct, Flavius and Helene were able to get the Balkatar to do their bidding and mate with their original Tigra, becoming progenitors of the second race of Cat People.[2] In the 17th century, Captain Tyger operated as a pirate in the Caribbean Sea, his father was an unidentified French nobleman and his mother one of the Cat People.[7]
Modern Age[]
The second race[]
A descendent of the second race of Cat People, Dr. Joanne Tumolo posed as a normal human being and lived among other humans. She created a means to give human beings powers like the Cat People through artificial means and designed an accompanying body suit. Wearing the suit along with the treatments, the agility of its wearer augmented to a feline level and was given to Greer Nelson, who wore it in her secret identity of the Cat. Sometime after her start as a vigilante, Nelson was mortally hit by a shot of alpha radiation while battling members of the subversive organization Hydra. Tumulo saved her life by using scientific, mystical, and psionic means to transform her into a modern day version of Tigra.[8]
Tumulo aided Greer on her many adventures as Tigra and offered guidance as a mentor, but sacrificed her own life to stop the rampage of Tabur, a humanoid cat and a creation of the High Evolutionary. The rest of the second race of Cat People were effectively wiped out after Tabur devolved them into primitive jungle cats.[9]
Saharan Cat People[]
Some years later, Anaïs was the exiled queen of a lost cat civilization in the Sahara[10] and the last survivor of the Saharan Cat People.[11] It remains unclear whether or not those Cat People are related to the most-known Cat People.Miscellaneous
Representatives
Cat People of Earth
- Flavius and Helene - Progenitors
- Tigra
- William Nelson - Greer Grant-Nelson's son
- Captain Tyger - 17th century pirate
- Cougar (Curtis Ranklin)
- Richard Dannemiller
- Professor Leon
- Dr. Joanne Tumolo
- Faelar
Saharan Cat People (wiped out)
- Anaïs - Exiled queen, last survivor
Cat People of the Land Within
- Balkatar
- Tegnar[citation needed]
- Grigar
- Berreg[citation needed]
- King Gerark - Ruler of the Land Within
- Skubar
- Qord[citation needed]
Notes
- Cat People are not traditional were-creatures, by virtue of the fact that they are not shapeshifters: As opposed to genuine were-creatures such as Jack Russell, they maintain only one form.
- Cat People typically have either orange, brown or blonde fur.
- The only technical Were-Cat would be Tigra, to transform between both Human and Cat.
Trivia
- Were-cats also played a prominent role in the 1942 movie, Cat People, and in the eponymous 1982 movie.
See Also
- 22 appearance(s) of Cat People (Demons)
- 6 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Cat People (Demons)
- 4 minor appearance(s) of Cat People (Demons)
- 3 mention(s) of Cat People (Demons)
- 2 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Cat People (Demons)
- 5 image(s) of Cat People (Demons)
- 16 representative(s) of Cat People (Demons)
Links and References
References
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 #1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #6
- ↑ Marvel Atlas #1 ; Italy's entry
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 What If? #35
- ↑ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #27
- ↑ Fear #22
- ↑ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #17
- ↑ Giant-Size Creatures #1
- ↑ Marvel Premiere #42
- ↑ Fantastic Four #542
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 4) #4