Puar
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Puar.jpg
Pu'ar is a shapeshifting cat and the constant companion of Yamcha. He also has an innate ability to fly (the first character in the series to do so) and is nearly always seen simply 'standing' in thin air at about human head height. Puar graduated from the same shapeshifting school as Oolong, though he completed that training and does not have Oolong's difficulties with maintaining his transformed state.
There is some debate as to Pu'ar's gender in the anime and manga. Many fans assume that he is female because her voice is dubbed by female voice actors (Kathy Morse and Monika Antonelli in English and Naoko Watanabe in Japanese). The question of his gender is never addressed in canon directly, although Akira Toriyama has indicated in interviews that he considered him male while writing the manga. Some fans have simply argued that for shapeshifters, gender is irreleveant.
During the very earliest sagas of Dragon Ball, Pu'ar would sometimes use his shapeshifting powers to help the protagonists on their adventures. (For example, disguising himself as another person, becoming a sharp object, etc.) However, as the manga and anime progress (before even the start of Dragon Ball Z) he is eventually reduced to the role of a background character. As the driving theme of the manga/anime is mostly about fighting, Puar can do little more than react to the horrors of the latest and greatest villain.