Catgirl

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 games. Catgirls wishing to look especially cute will wear over-sized mittens and shoes that look like paws. "Catgirl" can sometimes be modified to refer to other woman/animal combinations that are sometimes found, usually mammals like bunnygirls, foxgirls and (more rarely) doggirls; see kemono. Fans unfamilar with the Japanese obsession with cuteness (kawaii) sometimes point out catgirls act more like kittens than grown cats, who can be aloof and surly.

Most catgirls are typically not considered furry because they resemble humans with cat-like embellishments rather than being an anthropomorphic cat. This even includes characters such as Escaflowne's Merle, the Puma Sisters from Dominion Tank Police, or Aisha Clan-Clan from Outlaw Star, who are more catlike than usual.

Ordinary humans, such as Hikaru Shidou from Magic Knight Rayearth, or Ichigo Momomiya (Zoey Hanson in the English adaptation) from Tokyo Mew Mew (Mew Mew Power in the English version) will sometimes sprout cat ears or a tail in order to illustrate their excitable personalities. This is similar to the phenomenon of becoming chibi and is mostly a stylistic quirk from manga artists. In Japanese, catgirls are usually called nekomimi (猫耳)—literally, "cat ears"—rather than the literal term nekomusume (猫娘).

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 (Inuyasha being a popular example) 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.

List of catgirl characters

• Anya and Lisa (Foxgirl) from Tsunami Channel
• Aisha Clan-Clan from Outlaw Star
• Cham-Cham from Samurai Shodown II (not actually a catgirl, but wears cat ears)
• Dejiko (aka Princess Chocolla, Digiko, or Di Gi Charat) and Puchiko (aka Petit Charat or Cappuccino), stars of Di Gi Charat
• Fam from Ruin Explorers
• Chinami and Yuriko from Ground Defense Force! Mao-chan
• Felicia from Darkstalkers
• Hazuki from Tsukuyomi - Moon Phase (she is not actually a catgirl, but wears cat ears)
• Hojo-no-ruri from Onmyou Taisenki
• Kate from the webcomic Anime Arcadia (link (http://www.animearcadia.com))
• Kitty Navilos from The Rogue's Gallery by Alan Solivan (not a real catgirl, just wears fake ears and a tail )
• Kizna from Candidate for Goddess (she is not actually a catgirl, but has implanted cat ears)
• Koboshi from Pita-Ten (she is not actually a catgirl, but wears cat ears)
• Koto (foxgirl) from YuYu Hakusho
• Maya from Geobreeders (she can look like a catgirl, though she usually chooses not to)
• Meirin and Tamamo-no-Mae (foxgirls) from Yami to Boshi to Hon no Tabibito
• Merle, Naria and Erya from Vision of Escaflowne
• The Mithra race from Final Fantasy XI
• Ichigo Momomiya (Zoey Hanson in the English adaptation) from Tokyo Mew Mew (The English version is titled Mew Mew Power)
• Natsuki from Hyper Police (who is a bakeneko)
• Nei and Fal (a.k.a. Rika) from Phantasy Star II and Phantasy Star IV respectively. There is some dispute that the "Nei-type" or "Numan" is not a catgirl because they lack tails.
• Atsuko Natsume a.k.a. Nuku Nuku from All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku (she is a cat/human cyborg, with human appearance)
• Nya from To-Y (not a real catgirl, just wears fake ears and a tail)
• Ouka (wolfgirl) from .hack//Legend of the Twilight Bracelet
• The Puma Twins, Anna and Uni, from Dominion Tank Police
• Taruto and others from Magical Nyan Nyan Taruto
• Uriko from Bloody Roar
• Youko (foxgirl) from Tactics

External links

• Blade Kitten (http://www.bladekitten.com/), a sci-fi webcomic about a catgirl bounty hunter.
• The Catgirl Webring (http://w.webring.com/hub?ring=catgirl) hub; a listing of catgirl websites
• Imageboard (http://www.teamtao.com/neko/) dedicated to drawings of catgirls.
• Neko Machi (http://www.neko-machi.com) ("Cat Town") is a webcomic about a group of high-school aged catgirls.
• Wilde Home for Wayward Catgirls (http://www.bewildered-art.com/catgirls/), a large collection of original catgirl art.

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Catgirl is also the codename of Carrie Kelly, the sidekick of Bruce Wayne (Batman) in the DC Comics graphic novel Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again.is:Kisustelpa ja:猫耳