History Main / BakenekoAndNekomata

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.

* ''Manga/KoiNeko'': Several of the characters are cats with the supernatural ability to assume a human or CatGirl form after falling in love with a human. One of the cat-girls is revealed to be over fifty years old but still look like a teenager, which taken in conjunction with the revelation that ''kami'' and ''{{yokai}}'' like {{kitsune}} exist leads the main character to surmise the transforming cats are ''bakeneko''.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': Espeon and Meowstic are Psychic-types based off of this legend. Espeon is the one most tied to the original myth (with a bit of {{kitsune}} mixed in), down to the forked tail.

* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': Chen, the shikigami of [[{{Kitsune}} Ran Yakumo]], and Rin "Orin" Kaenbyou, [[BossSubtitles The Traffic Accident from Hell]], are both two-tailed cats. Orin, though, is actually a [[http://www.catgirls.org.uk/mythology/japan.html#kasha Kasha]].

* In the the SurrealHorror film ''Film/Hausu'', one of the main characters befriends a beautiful, long-haired white cat that climbs in through her bedroom window. She brings the cat along on a summer break trip with her friends, who comment, "any cat can open a door, but only a witch cat (bakeneko) can close one." And this cat proves fully capable of closing doors. [[spoiler:The cat is a part of a composite haunting which also involves a VengefulGhost that targets unmarried girls and the titular house itself.]]

* ''Music/{{Tsukipro}} The Animation 2''' features the franchise's youkai AU, where Sora is a nekomata, though the AU gets a much more involved treatment in the stage plays.

* ''Music/{{Tsukipro}}'''s youkai AU features Sora and Kensuke as nekomata.

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'': Jubei and [[spoiler:his daughter]] Kokonoe (a CatGirl version of this). Appropriately, the latter does bring people back from the dead, although since magic is commonplace in that world she uses science to keep the mysterious powers theme. The first person she did this for was Iron Tager, who she brought back as a [[HalfHumanHybrid Half-]]{{Oni}} {{Cyborg}}. The second person she brought back was Hakumen, who had been sealed in [[EldritchLocation The Boundary]], the space between life and death, about a century prior. The third person brought back was Lambda-11 who, being a RobotGirl, she just needed to repair, reinstall and infuse with a soul, so she technically brought back two people for the price of one. The final person she brought back was Celica Ayatsuki Mercury, who Kokonoe saw fit to bring back as a [[TemporalParadox Chrono Phantasma]]. Hakumen contemptuously calls both Jubei and Kokonoe "bakeneko" (monster/ghost cat), which in Japanese mythology is a general term for any cat Youkai. The video games translated this word as "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimalkin grimalkin]]" in an attempt at a CulturalTranslation (which failed, since "grimalkin" is about as obscure as "bakeneko" to an American audience). Official subtitles for ''Anime/BlazBlueAlterMemory'' use "Goblin Cat" instead (which is more accurate and conveys Hakumen's insulting tone).

* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': Chen, the shikigami of [[{{Kitsune}} Ran Yakumo]], and Rin "Orin" Kaenbyou. [[BossSubtitles The Traffic Accident from Hell]], are both two-tailed cats. Orin, though, is actually a [[http://www.catgirls.org.uk/mythology/japan.html#kasha Kasha]].

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'': Jubei and [[spoiler:his daughter]] Kokonoe (a CatGirl version of this). Appropriately, the latter does bring people back from the dead, although since magic is commonplace in that world she uses science to keep the mysterious powers theme. [[{{Cyborg}} Iron]] [[HalfHumanHybrid Tager]] is the result. The character Hakumen contemptuously calls them both "bakeneko" (monster/ghost cat), which in Japanese mythology is a general term for any cat Youkai. The video games translated this word as "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimalkin grimalkin]]" in an attempt at a CulturalTranslation (which failed, since "grimalkin" is about as obscure as "bakeneko" to an American audience). Official subtitles for ''Anime/BlazBlueAlterMemory'' use "Goblin Cat" instead (which is more accurate and conveys Hakumen's insulting tone).

* ''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 the boss Kasha, depicted as a [[MostCommonSuperpower buxom]], kimono-clad CatGirl who's WreathedInFlames and riding the wheels of a chariot embedded with Amurita while wielding a weapon seemingly made of charred bones.

* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': Chen and Orin from the ''Touhou Project''. Orin, though, is a [[http://www.catgirls.org.uk/mythology/japan.html#kasha Kasha]], a different type of youkai cat.

* Maomaolin from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', a giant bakeneko from China who's obsessed with finding a human wife.

* ''Music/{{Tsukipro}}''s youkai AU features Sora and Kensuke as nekomata.

* ''Anime/GegegeNoKitaro'' has Nekomusume as one of the main character, based on one of the Bakeneko's forms (specifically, the form of a young girl). Other cat-based Youkai also appear in the series. For example, in the 2018 series, Kasha appears as a cat-like demon with a fiery tail and a taste for human corpses, especially if spiced up by grief and pain.

Related to CatsAreMagic and UpliftedAnimal. Subtrope of MultipleTailedBeast. See also AsianLionDogs for other feline-like creatures that are prevalent in East Asia.

Related to CatsAreMagic and UpliftedAnimal. Subtrope of MultipleTailedBeast.

* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'': The Bakaneko are [[DiscussedTrope the subject of a conversation]] between V and Takemura after the two come across a sphinx cat during a stakeout. Since cats - or animals in general - are extremely rare in Night City, Takemura wonders if the cat is a Bakaneko while giving a short breakdown of the trope. Notably, it is [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane left unclear]] if the cat was actually a Bakaneko. However, during its brief appearance, it sticks conspicuously close to the spots where Johnny manifests in V's vision.
** Reinforcing the Bakaneko connection, a sphinx cat will occasionally appear in the background shots of pivotal moments. V can also adopt a sphinx cat shortly after they find out that [[YourDaysAreNumbered they are dying]].

** Reinforcing the Bakaneko connection, a sphinx cat will occasionally appear in the background shots of pivotal moments. V can also adopt a sphinx cat shortly after he finds out that [[YourDaysAreNumbered they are dying]].

** Reinforcing the Bakaneko connection, a sphinx cat will occasionally appear in the background shots of pivotal moments. V can also adopt a sphinx cat shortly after he finds out that [[YourDaysAreNumbered he is dying]].

* ''[[WebAnimation/Hololive hololive GAMERS]]'' has [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Nekomata]] Okayu, who is said to have originally been a cat before becoming a CatGirl. She is generally nice when she isn't [[ThePrankster playing pranks]] or FilchingFoodForFun. Despite her name, she only has one tail.

* ''Manga/InuYasha'': Kirara takes the form of a two-tailed kitten that can transform into a massive feline beast. A later arc has a spectral Nekomata, along with an horde of smaller ones, haunting a buddhist temple, who refers to Kirara as a mere kitten compared to him.

* ''LightNovel/KaraNoKyoukai'': One of the forms of the ''thing'' inside Touko's briefcase is a malevolent, magical cat with two tails.

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'': Chen and Orin from the ''Touhou Project''. Orin, though, is a [[http://www.catgirls.org.uk/mythology/japan.html#kasha Kasha]], a different type of youkai cat.

* ''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.

The '''Kasha''' ("fire wheel[=/=]chariot"), a {{Hellfire}} youkai which steals the corpses of sinners, is usually depicted as either an {{oni}} or a nekomata WreathedInFlames.

* ''[[Sandbox/YoukaiShoujoMonsuga Yokai Girls]]'': Nia Suzunari is an AmbiguouslyGay tsundere nekomata whose human form is a teenage girl [[spoiler:who was once her owner and was killed by burglars]].

* ''Manga/OmamoriHimari'': One of the protagonists is a shapeshifting cat.

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