Animal Companions: Cats in Fantasy

   

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Cats in Fantasy Books

Ever since I first watched Sabrina the Teenage Witch, I have been obsessed with fantasy stories that have cats in them. Especially, sarcastic talking cats who are oftentimes a wizard or demon in the body of a cat. Here is a list of some of my favorite fantasy felines.

1. Greebo from The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett- Greebo is the cat/familiar of one of the witches in the Discworld series, Nanny Ogg. He is old, highly intelligent, and scarred from many of battles with other creatures. Greebo does not like be touched by anyone other than Nanny Ogg. Funnily enough, Nanny believes him to be a fluffy and friendly kitty, even though she usually is a great judge of character. Greebo is usually just an intelligent cat but there are a couple of times Nanny turns him into a man. Greebo plays a role in Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Maskerade, Carpe Jugulum, and Wintersmith.

2. Silas from Sorcery of Thorns and Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson- Silas is a highborn demon from the Otherworld, who has been in the service of the Thorn family for centuries. His current master in Sorcery of Thorns is Nathaniel Thorn. Silas can take on both a cat form and a human form. He is definitely a favorite of mine. 

3. Maurice from The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett- Most of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series is for adults (though plenty of younger readers do pick them up) but there are few books in the series meant for younger readers. The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents is one of those books. Maurice is a talking cat who works with a piper and a gang of rats. He leads his rats into town making the townspeople believe they have a plague and have the piper lead them out with his music. Then, when they are done they all share the money. The rats are intelligent because of eating garbage from the Unseen University (the wizard school in the Discworld) and Maurice is intelligent from eating one of the rats. 

4. Mogget from the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix- Another cat who is also a demon. In fantasy, we love our sarcastic cats who are actually demons bound in the body of a cat. Mogget is my favorite part of this book. He is an ancient spirit who is clever, very sleepy, and always trying to get people to take his binding collar off. Under no circumstances should this be done. 

5. Throgmorten in the Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones- In The Lives of Christopher Chant, Christopher is given a ginger cat named Throgmorten by Millie. Throgmorten was a temple cat who likes to tear people apart just because he can. He’s very moody and doesn’t get along with too many people other than Christopher who saved his life.  

6. The Cheshire Cat from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll- Perhaps one of the most famous cats from literature, this list would not be complete without the Cheshire Cat. Alice meets many strange characters throughout her journey in Wonderland. The Cheshire Cat and his smile was always my favorite from the book. I love how mischievous he is. 

7. Mr. Laszlo from The Okay Witch series by Emma Steinkellner- Mr. Laszlo is a talking cat who is more than he seems. I’ll always be a sucker for a story about a young witch or wizard learning about their powers with the help of a feline companion.

8. The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger from the Oz series by L. Frank Baum- Another of the most famous felines on the list. I know that a lot of people grow up knowing about the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz movie. In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz book, The Cowardly Lion is much more brave than his movie counterpart. My favorite of the cats from the Oz series though is the Hungry Tiger. We meet the Hungry Tiger briefly in the first book in the series but his first major appearance is in the third book Ozma of Oz. There is a running gag with him where he constantly says he is so hungry he can eat a baby, but says he can’t because of his conscience. He is a good friend of the Cowardly Lion and goes on many adventures with him. 

9. Gareth from Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander- Lloyd Alexander based Gareth on one of his own cats, who would seem to appear and disappear as if by magic. Gareth is a talking cat who has the ability to travel between nine different points in time, his nine lives. 

10. Salem Saberhagen from Sabrina the Teenage Witch- Salem is a character that started out in literature before he was in any of the Sabrina shows. My first introduction to Salem was in the show Sabrina the Teenage Witch, which was one of my favorites growing up. His character was first in the Archie Comics series: Sabrina the Teenage Witch back in the 1960s. Salem was originally a powerful warlock who was turned into a cat for 100 years after trying to take over the world with many other warlocks and witches. He lives with the Spellmans. I love Salem so much I named my own black cat after him.