Not only is Puss's party a sight to behold, but he also performs some impressive feats while singing an "I Am Great!" Song filled with legitimate Badass Boasts. Here are all of his said listed feats:
Being able to run/ride on a giant cat ball while singing and playing his guitar.
Simultaneously, bouncing on his sword while missing a man's fingers.
Being missed by all of the blades aimed at him while riding a roulette table.
Dancing with a chicken while on a flaming table.
His badassery becomes even more awesome once the cruel governor and his henchmen show up and try (and fail) to arrest Puss:
He uses his swordplay mastery and athleticism to go One-Man Army on the governor's goons.
When he and the governor go toe-to-toe with swords, not only does Puss dodge the governor's attack he manages to slice up the Governor's wig, collar, clothes (in which he gives his famous "P" emblem), and pants.
Puss using fireworks to get away from the governor's goons. He even lit the match with his fangs. He even rides on one firework rocket.
Puss managing to evade a dogpile.
The fight against the Giant of Del Mar is awe-inspiring. There's not a single moment Puss feels he's in danger or at disadvantage despite the sheer difference in size and raw strength between the two. The music swells, dramatic and almost reverent, and Puss is laughing and smiling all the while, clearly enjoying the thrill. Puss is at the top of the world, living his life to its fullest, loving and savoring each moment. The whole scene feels almost like a feline version of Shadow of the Colossus with how the Giant feels like an entire landscape as Puss ascends his body to reach his head.
Special props to the double bassist, who after being given a very simple set of instructions - "Launch me!" - by Puss, he immediately understands the assignment and does not hesitate in preparing his instrument for Puss and launch him at the Giant.
Then Puss uses his "Spanish Splinter" maneuver against the Giant causing great pain to him (and to the audience who all recoil feeling a bit sorry for the Giant). The Giant answers by angrily throwing Puss away, but Puss uses a wooden sign to cushion the impact against several houses until he stops.
After taking a small breather Puss drinks a cup of coffee and gets hyped. He proceeds to run back to the fight outing his battle cry: "Fear me, if you dare!" challenging the Giant who grabs a big church bell to use as a flail to crush Puss. Puss not only masterfully dodges every attack, he uses the rope of the bell-flail to land on the Giant's trunk bag, frees the people captured by him and at the same time quickly climbs on the Giant's shoulder faster than he can react.
To finish the fight Puss uses his wits to defeat the Giant of Del Mar, blinding him with his own eyepatch which makes the Giant wildly swing said bell in a futile attempt to get rid of Puss. The bell then wraps around its antlers and whacks the Giant in the face bringing him down.
Terrifying though he may be, the Wolf makes one hell of an Establishing Character Moment. He easily dodges or blocks all of Puss's attacks before nonchalantly grabbing Puss by the throat out of mid air when the latter tries to attack him with his spinning aerial move, after which point he completely overwhelms the cat with his twin sickles — all the while taunting him.
Wolf: You're not living up to the legend, gato.
The Wolf actually makes Puss flee in abject terror of him by the conclusion of their 'fight'. Puss, established as a skilled and capable fighter untouched by any blade in his whole life, finds himself totally outmatched by his opponent's raw skills, capped off by the Wolf giving him an intentionally close cut to the head that draws visible blood, making it clear that he could have easily killed him by aiming just a little lower. The encounter affects Puss so much, he fakes his own death to hide from this menacing stranger and suffers PTSD panic attacks whenever he hears the Wolf's signature whistle.
Puss actually manages to hold off two out of the Three Bears with just the "stick-sword" Perrito gave him. Funny, sure, but impressive as well.
Baby: Is that a stick? What're you gonna do with tha- (Puss throws it against his nose)OW! (Baby falls backwards and Mama takes his place to swipe at Puss who catches the stick and strikes her paw) Mama: Ow, me knuckles!
But Papa proves a mite stronger.
Papa:(as Puss pokes him in the snout) You shouldn't a'done that, mate. (Puss chuckles nervously before Papa sends him flying)
Of the three groups (Puss' team, Jack's team, and Goldi's team) traveling to the Dark Forest, the most impressive among of them would be Goldi's. Unlike the former two, the crime family isn't using any sort of magical device to help guide them, only using Baby's incredible scent detection. They are also not using a mode of transportation to travel (sans Goldi riding one of their backs since a regular human can't physically keep up with a bear), just running. And they manage to get to the Dark Forest, second to Puss' team who had a head start but ahead of Jack's, who was using a vehicle.
In general, Baby's incredible sense of smell makes him a Scarily Competent Tracker. Being able to locate Puss twice (only failing the first because the place was covered in cat pee). Not bad for someone who isn't well fit for brains.
Perrito, the smallest and arguably weakest of the entire cast, was able to get a path to the Wishing Star with little to no obstacle. That's just how pure he is!
Jack's response to not being able to pull Excalibur out of its stone? Using his immense strength to lift it with the stone as a club!
Goldilocks managing to wrestle Baby Bear with absolute ease. Keep in mind — Despite his name, Baby is a young adult bear, capable of amazing feats of strength like his parents, if not slightly below. And yet Goldi, the skinniest and shortest of the family, manages to pin, bite, and then use a wrestling move on Baby.
Puss and Kitty "criming" Goldi and the Bears by swiping the map from them sneakily.
After kidnapping Perrito to lure Puss and Kitty, Goldi and the Bears build a makeshift and huge bear trap. In less than a day.
Hearing his last 8 lives encourage him to run off with the map to "become the legend" again, Puss begins to see himself in a new light. And rejects his old ways to find his own path out without becoming the same arrogant cat he was.
Puss: You know what?! You guys are jerks! Which is very conflicting for me! I'll find my own way out! Adios!
In its own nightmarish way, the Wolf revealing his true identity as Death itself. The instant that Puss comes to this conclusion, we cut to a shot of one of the crystals holding Puss's nine lives about to shatter. And behind is the Wolf's glowering face as the cracks form the image of a lupine skull.
Jack Horner gets an evil one when Baby Bear manages to knock him down, loudly declaring his intention to mess him up and steal his suit. Jack's response?
Goldi giving up her wish to save Baby from an Uncertain Doom. Extra awesomeness given how she used her staff to grab onto his necklace and pull him back to safety. Another showcase of her physical prowess.
Goldi: Like I told you, Baby—you're the smash, I'm the grab!
Kitty takes on Big Jack Horner singlehandedly during the battle for the Wishing Star. Keep in mind, she's a small cat without claws up against a large human with a magic staff and a Bag of Holding containing multiple other magic weapons, and she manages to avoid taking any damage.
Jack throws poisonous exploding apples at her, then Kitty catches one with a cheeky smile before tossing it right back.
Puss's final showdown against the Wolf/Death, no longer fearing the possibility of losing his last life.
Death's entrance is appropriately; announcing his presence with his trademark whistle, which everyone else can hear now too rather than just Puss, he walks straight through the Wishing Star's disintegrating field. Combined with how Death appears to warp and literally blend with the environments the Wishing Star creates as a defence mechanism, it's a subtle demonstration that no source of magic can get the better of Death itself.
It's actually a bit more impressive than that — at the beginning of the confrontation, Puss is visibly frightened by Death's presence, his gaze darting between the Wolf and the Wishing Star Map as if tempted to use the latter. Then Death tosses his sword to him, daring him to pick it up and face the end like the warrior he claims to be. Once again, Puss' life flashes before his eyes...but this time, instead of breaking his nerve, it gives him the resolve to answer Death's challenge properly.
Puss then drops the map to the wishing star, kicks up his sword and points it at Death while saying his Catchphrase...except that it isn't full of bluster like in his first encounter with Death. This time, it's resolved and courageous.
Crosses over with Nightmare Fuel, but Death's entrance at the beginning of this scene gives him the exact badass treatment the real-deal Grim Reaper warrants, especially since there's no more need for subtlety at this point — effortlessly walking right through the Wishing Star's barrier that disintegrates anyone else who gets caught in it, and then using his sickles to summon a ring of magenta flames to trap Puss. Just in case you hadn't gotten the idea of who this is yet.
Death also makes sure Puss has to earn his victory as he attacks relentlessly with both sickles before combining them into a double-bladed glaive. He disarms Puss of his sword again, but Puss manages to stop a killing blow and reclaim his hat with the Gatito blade Kitty had loaned him earlier. He then wields both sword and dagger to go on the offensive and re-engage Death with greater ferocity than before. The tide of the duel turns as Puss's leimotif blares over the orchestra, surmounting the previously tense music, and our hero overpowers the Grim Reaper himself in a sword fight, breaks his weapon in two, and delivers a flying kick that knocks Death off of his feet! Puss even adds an Ironic Echo by kicking over a sickle closer to Death and telling him to "pick it up".
The slow motion sequence of Puss pulling out the Gatito blade to block Death's killing blow (which provides the page image) and the orbital shot of him riding the blow's momentum all the way around to retrieve his hat is simply spectacular, one of the single finest sequences in the history of western animation.
And Death isn't even really defeated, just a little out of breath. But Puss knows and acknowledges this, proving without a shred of doubt he's not the same reckless legend taking life for granted anymore.
The above gets even more awesome when you think about it: Puss knows there is no way he's getting out of this and he knows that no matter how hard he tries, he could never defeat Death. For all he knows, he's going to die right then and there, but he's not about to go down without giving Death the hardest fight of his life before the end. It's this resolution that finally earns Death's respect in the end, who decides to spare Puss to live his last life meaningfully before he comes back to finish the job. This fight cements him as a greater legend in this life than he's ever been in all of his previous ones; that this one fought Death to a tie!
Perrito's distraction. "I was just buying some time... for Team Friendship!"
Puss and Kitty teaming up with Goldi and the Bears to fight against the gigantic Jack Horner, ending with Puss, Kitty, and Goldi tearing up the map to prevent Jack from getting his wish. The final nail in Jack's coffin is the Cricket and Phoenix teaming up to destroy the piece he's missing, ensuring he doesn't get his wish and that he meets his demise.
When Goldi and the Bears are heading off as a true family, it's Baby who comes up with an idea for their next job, and the others love it: take over Jack Horner's pie factory now that he's out of the way. "Ain't well fixed for brains" is he?
Team Friendship's official debut is stealing the ship the governor at the start of the movie had prepared for his vacation right under his nose. And their next destination? A kingdom FARFARAWAY.
