History Main / BakenekoAndNekomata

* ''Manga/HighSchoolDXD'': Koneko Toujou and her older sister Kuroka are some of the last surviving "Nekoshou", a rare breed of Nekomata capable of using two types of Sage Arts: Senjutsu and Youjutsu. Riser Phenex's peerage also includes twin Nekomata named Ni and Li.

* It's established in ''ComicBook/Monstress'' that all cats - who in this comic are powerfully magical, capable of speech, and have their own society and culture - are born with a single tail and grow more as they age and gain power and experience. Master Ren has two, while Esteemed Professor Tam Tam in the EncyclopediaExposita pages has four.

* ''Manga/InuYasha'': Kirara takes the form of a two-tailed kitten that can transform into a massive feline beast.

* ''VideoGame/{{Nioh}}'': Nekomata is Hanzo's Guardian Spirit, appearing as a white cat with an eyepatch and wearing weapons, and is one of the few who regularly talk to William and bears the element of Thunder. [[spoiler: He performs an HeroicSacrifice to absorb the huge amount of demonic energy pouring out of Mount Hiei, revealing himself to be Byakko, and forcing William to defeat him. The ending reveals that he returned from the dead.]] A trailer for the second game shows the hero fighting a cat monster known as "Kasha" (lit. Fire Chariot), a feline demon riding a fire chariot who steals the souls of people during funerals. Here it's a fiery catgirl with fiery wheels in lieu of legs.

** ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'': The body-swapping ayakashi Abekonbe (Switchbeast in ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai'') is based on the Kasha and the InUniverse basis for the youkai.

* Tora of ''Manga/UshioAndTora'' is a mostly humanoid youkai named for his tiger-like appearance.

* There is a Vocaloid version of the Bakeneko in the titular ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlH1-DIDp4c A Love Story of a Certain Bakeneko]]'' where a bakeneko (played by Len Kagamine) disguises itself as a human in order to [[ReplacementGoldfish replace a lady's loved one]]. The lady notices with tragic results.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Nekomatas are malevolent, panther-sized two-tailed cats with magical powers: chiefly, they can flawlessly mimic the appearance of a human they successfully damage with their bite attack and can animate and control undead creatures.

* Nachi in ''VideoGame/AyakashiRomanceReborn'', who was the heroine’s cat. She called him “Tama” before he revealed his humanoid form, and told her what his real name was.

* While lacking the signature second tail, Blaze the Cat from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' has more in common with the ''Kasha'', being able to manipulate fire and often wreathing herself in it when attacking.

* Compared to other werecats in the ''Monster Girl Encyclopedia'', the Nekomatas are rather tame and even give up on a man should he refuse her advances. They are still monsters, though, and will eventually assault their prey to take his spirit energy. Unlike in the myth, Nekomata in this series are this way since birth. And since this world is filled with {{Cute Monster Girl}}s, her forms are inverted, with the human form being the true one.

* ''Webcomic/MierukoChan'': Miko decides to adopt a stray cat out to a heavily tattooed man with the FaceOfAThug when she sees two friendly nekomata spirits {{invisibl|eToNormals}}y accompanying him, which indicates that he's been a truly companion to cats before. An epilogue confirms that he's a KindHeartedCatLover.

* Compared to other werecats in the ''Monster Girl Encyclopedia'', the Nekomatas are rather tame and even give up on a man should he refuse her advance. They are still monsters though, and will eventually assault their prey to take his spirit energy. Unlike in the myth, Nekomata in this series are this way since birth. And since this world is filled with {{Cute Monster Girl}}s, her forms are inverted, with the human form being the true one.

* Kirara in ''Manga/InuYasha'' takes the form of a two-tailed kitten that can transform into a massive feline beast.
* One episode of ''Anime/{{Kamichu}}'' has a cat named Tyler who is leader of a "city of the cats" where all cats can walk upright and speak. Later, he is explicitly revealed to be a nekomata while tag-team wrestling.

* ''Manga/ShamanKing'': Matamune is the spirit of a cat which developed human-like intelligence and powerful magical abilities, most prominently taking on a semi-humanoid form and developing twin tails, making him obviously based on a nekomata.

* In one episode of ''Anime/YokaiWatch'', what happened between Jibanyan's death and meeting Nate is delved into more. It turns out that there are hundeds of nekomata around Springdale because there is a crosswalk that kills a lot of cats. Jibanyan comes across three in particular: Sir Pouncalot, Pounce de Leon, and [[OddNameOut Alfred]]. Sir Pouncalot has four tails, Pounce de Leon has three tails, and Alfred is a {{keet}} with only one tail.
* ''Anime/DogDays'': In ''Dash'', CatGirl Noire can fork her tail into [[BewareMyStingerTail stingers]] with the spell "Seven Tails", a ShoutOut to the Nabeshima myths.
* In ''Anime/Persona5TheAnimation'', Ryuji accuses Morgana of being a bakeneko when they first meet, even as Morgana insists he's a human suffering from BalefulPolymorph.

** Orphan sisters Shirone and Kuroka are the last known members of the Nekoshou - a clan with both powerful {{Youkai}} abilities and great aptitude for KiManipulation. However, after Kuroka seemingly goes mad and kills their adoptive parents, a frightened Shirone seals away her own powers and [[ReiAyanamiExpy emotions]], assuming a fully human appearance as "Koneko Toujou". When she resumes using her CatGirl form post-CharacterDevelopment, it initially has one tail but after TrainingFromHell she increases it to two and later ''[[BeyondTheImpossible three]]''.
*** Kasha are referenced as the name of one of Shirone and Kuroka's shared techniques, which summons rings of TechnicolorFire that [[FullContactMagic follow the user's movements]]. With sufficient skill the flames can also be imbued with purifying properties, making them lethal to TheUndead.

* ''Literature/EightMillionGods'': The mother of one of the main characters is one.

* Found in the ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' series (and are used in quick leveling tricks in BOTH the first and second ones). They are more {{Cat Girl}}s, however. They are capable of producing offspring with humans, as Rutile is half nekomata.

* Saint Purrtrick from ''VideoGame/NekoAtsume'' is one of these, hence his two tails and "Ethereal" description. His Japanese name is even "Nekomata-san".

%%* A monster type in ''VideoGame/WildArms2''.%%ZCE

* ''[[VideoGame/HarukanaruTokiNoNakaDe Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 5]]'': Kai is the spirit of a cat statue in service to Amami, who normally appears as a young albino girl but can transform into a monstrous seven-tailed white cat.

* There is a Vocaloid version of the Bakeneko in the titular ''A Love Story of a Certain Bakeneko'' where a bakeneko (played by Len Kagamine) disguises itself as a human in order to [[ReplacementGoldfish replace a lady's loved one]]. The lady notices with tragic results.

* There is a {{Vocaloid}} version of the Bakeneko in the titular ''A Love Story of a Certain Bakeneko'' where a bakeneko disguises itself as a human in order to [[ReplacementGoldfish replace a lady's loved one]]. The lady notices with tragic results.

* There is a {{Vocaloid}} version of the Bakeneko in the titular ''A Certain Bakeneko's Love Story'' where a bakeneko disguises itself as a human in order to [[ReplacementGoldfish replace a lady's loved one]]. The lady notices with tragic results.

** Orphan sisters Shirone and Kuroka are the last known members of the Nekoshou - a clan with both powerful {{Youkai}} abilities and great aptitude for KiManipulation. However, after Kuroka seemingly goes mad and kills their adoptive parents, a frightened Shirone seals away her own powers and [[ReiAyanamiClone emotions]], assuming a fully human appearance as "Koneko Toujou". When she resumes using her CatGirl form post-CharacterDevelopment, it initially has one tail but after TrainingFromHell she increases it to two and later ''[[BeyondTheImpossible three]]''.

Bakeneko (roughly "warped cat") is a term for cat {{youkai}}. When cats live for a long time (or die in a way that spawns a VengefulGhost) they are said to develop odd powers such as [[TalkingAnimal human speech]], [[{{Curse}} placing curses]] and [[{{Necromancy}} animating corpses by jumping over them]]. In some depictions this transformation also causes them to [[MegaNeko increase in size]] and develop a taste for human flesh. When they [[VoluntaryShapeshifting assume human form]], it tends to be cruder than {{kitsune}} and {{tanuki}} - less beautiful ShapeshiftingLover and more CrazyCatLady (often based on a real old woman they [[KillAndReplace killed and replaced]]).

The most iconic type of bakeneko is the '''Nekomata''' ("forked cat"), cats who transform into youkai when their tail grows beyond a certain length and [[MultipleTailedBeast splits in two]]. In some depictions they can undergo this process multiple times, similar to {{kitsune}} - the vast majority of these cases have seven tails, a ShoutOut to a youkai said to have plagued the Nabeshima clan.

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* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Nekomatas are malevolent, panther-sized two-tailed cats with magical powers: chiefly, they can flawlessly mimic the appearance of a human they successfully damage with their bite attack and can animate and control undead creatur

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* Compared to other werecats in the ''Monster Girl Encyclopedia'', the Nekomatas are rather tame and even give up on a man should he refuse her advance. They are still monsters though, and will eventually assault their prey to take his spirit energy. Unlike in the myth, Nekomata in this series are this way since birth. And since this world is filled with [[CuteMonsterGirl Cute Monster Girls]], her forms are inverted, with the human form being the true one.