https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cat_stereotype_9.png

L-R, top to bottom: Mean black/white, Persian as Right Hand Cat, groomed white female against scruffy orange male, fat/lazy blue, unlucky black/white, evil Siamese, black cat as witch's familiar, and heroic tabby.

Never try to outstubborn a cat.

—Time Enough for Love

With dogs, breeds are often used as a shorthand for personality stereotypes. Cat breeds are rarely as distinctive as dog breeds (certain exceptions like the Persian and the Siamese notwithstanding) — see This Index Meows for more about cats other than stereotypes only. So when writers want to use a cat's visual appearance to denote its personality they usually rely on its color and its fur length.

When a white cat is paired with an orange, black or black-and-white cat, the white cat is usually female and the non-white cat is usually male. The monochrome type of pairing— black or black-and-white with white— is more common in cartoons made in The Golden Age of Animation.

Long-haired cats, usually Persians and Angoras, are often portrayed as prestigious or high-class.

In fiction, whenever there are kitten sibling characters, they usually each have a different fur color. A black or gray kitten, an orange kitten, and a white kitten seem to be most popular for triplet kittens, essentially serving as a feline equivalent of Blonde, Brunette, Redhead.

Sometimes, a cat's breed is used to determine its personality by making it a kind of voiced ethnic or nationality stereotype, especially if the name of the breed has a country in it. This often has little to do with how the breed really acts, as anyone who has cats will attest. Breed stereotypes are rarely done with cats since breed variations aren't always as striking and well known. However, a handful of cat breeds do have consistent stereotypes associated with them in fiction, as can be seen below.

Cat Stereotypes

open/close all folders

Cat Coat Color, Marking, and Pattern Stereotypes

White: Usually all-white in fur color, can sometimes include extreme high grade white spotting cats with nonwhite patches restricted to the ears, the top of the head, and the tip of the tail at most. ^note:

Generally good, particularly if paired against a black cat (unless they are the Right-Hand Cat). Kind, nice, and refined. Often upper-class and rich. An alternate portrayal of a white cat is as a The Mentor. Can alternately be antisocial. Can also be shy or nervous. Usually female when paired with an orange male cat. Almost always have blue eyes in fiction (unless when it's an albino cat with red eyes), though the deafness associated with blue-eyed white cats is rarely mentioned.
These are often, but not always long-haired in fiction.
Most fictional Sphynx cats have this skin tone or a van-patterned one.

Red, Orange, or Ginger: Either one or more shade of orange, yellow orange, light orange, or yellow ^note Can occur with or without white-spotting; the white spots can be stark white, off-white, flesh-colored, light yellow, or any combination of two or more of those; the pattern of the white spots can be a locket, tuxedo, mitted, bicolor, harlequin, or van.

Heroic and humble. Usually male in fiction regardless of whether there's another cat present, but especially when paired with an all-white cat. Can also be Lovable Rogue types. Red furred cats are also portrayed as scrappy, wisecracking, comic-relief and maybe a bit spirited, fiery, tricky, and clever. Also portrayed as irascible alley cats. Can be lazy or fat. Can be laid back, friendly, and/or affectionate, but can alternately have a bit of a temper. Female cats with this coat color tend to be more laid back than males with this coat color, but can alternately be flighty.
Sometimes a cartoon cat would be made orange to make it obvious that it is a male character– like bows on girl characters. The "usually male" part is partially justified as orange cats are significantly more likely to be male than female. ^note
If the orange/ginger cat has a van pattern, it is as likely to be female as male in fiction.
Orange cats are also stereotyped as being sweet tempered, but not very bright; the Dumb Blondes of the feline world. See the meme "All orange cats share one brain cell".

Cream or Buff: Can occur with or without white-spotting, the white spots can be stark white, off-white, flesh-colored, light yellow, or any combination of two or more of those; the pattern of the white spots can range from locket, tuxedo, mitted, bicolor, harlequin, and van. ^note

A female cat in female cat male cat romantic pairing that is not an all-white furred cat is most often this color or lilac. Like orange fur, cream fur is somewhat more likely to be male than female, but cream is done on female cats more because it looks more female.

Black: Either solid-black (whether blue black, purple black, gray black, jet black, or brown black) or black with more than one shade of black, dark brown, gray, or dark gray; no white, off-white, light tan, light beige, light gray, or flesh-color beyond a locket, muzzle, or facial "mask" ^note:

In Real Life, they're associated with witches and bad luck. ^note This carries over into fiction, where black cats are often unlucky at best and often outright evil. If they are protagonists, they'll probably be magical or mysterious. Antisocial, less extreme personality. Alternately, they are stubborn and friendly at the same time, good-natured, placid, companionable, and sociable, are said to be good hunters, and have a tendency to roam.

Dark Colors: Either dark brown (genetically solid chocolate), dark gray (genetically solid gray/blue), brown/black tabby with dark brown, dark grayish brown, dark brownish gray, or dark gray ground color, black torties, dark brown torties, or brown/black tabby torties with dark ground colors; no white, off-white, light tan, light beige, light gray, or flesh-color beyond a locket, muzzle, facial "mask," mitted pattern, or tuxedo pattern:

Usually plays the "evil and villainous" black cat stereotypes.

Black and White: The white spots can be stark white, off-white, flesh-colored, light yellow, light tan, light beige, light gray, or any combination of two or more of those; the pattern of the white spots can be a locket, tuxedo, mitted, bicolor, harlequin, or van pattern.

They tend to be quite unsuccessful, yet always brave and hopeful. Black and white cats with this stereotype are usually male. In other words, they're Idiot Hero wannabes. Can also be portrayed as the average Joes among cats. They are also said to be even tempered, placid, and can make real lap cats, though they can also be wanderers. Black and white cats with low grade white spotting (like tuxedo or mitted) can sometimes play the typical black cat stereotypes above. Kittens with a low grade variant of this color (like tuxedo or mitted) are often portrayed as nondescript. Female cats with this coloring, especially in minted or tuxedo form, are often portrayed as snarky. The black and white cat stereotype is completely different for kittens and female cats than for tomcats.

Gray or Blue: Can occur with or without white-spotting, the white spots can be stark white, off-white, flesh-colored, light beige, light gray, or any combination of two or more of those; the pattern of the white spots can range from locket, tuxedo, mitted, bicolor, harlequin, and van. ^note

Often older, wise, and/or a mentor. Can also be fat, mellow, peaceable, calm, and/or lazy. Can alternately be mischievous and a bit frantic. Can sometimes be mean and/or snarky, or just screw with people or obfuscate stupidity. Female tuxedo and mitted grey cats are portrayed as snarky, similar to their black counterparts. Light gray cats can play all-white cat stereotypes as much as they can play the typical gray cat stereotypes.

Lilac: Can occur with or without white-spotting, the white spots can be stark white, off-white, flesh-colored, light beige, light lilac, or any combination of two or more of those; the pattern of the white spots can range from locket, tuxedo, mitted, bicolor, harlequin, and van. ^note

A female cat in female cat male cat romantic pairing that is not an all-white furred cat is most often this color or cream.

Fawn: Can occur with or without white-spotting, the white spots can be stark white, off-white, flesh-colored, light beige, light fawn, or any combination of two or more of those; the pattern of the white spots can range from locket, tuxedo, mitted, bicolor, harlequin, and van. ^note

A female cat in female cat male cat romantic pairing that is not an all-white furred cat is most often this color if not lilac or cream.

Tabby: Can occur with or without white spotting; the white part can be stark white, off-white, flesh-colored, light beige for both tabbies, light tan for brown tabbies, and light gray for blue/gray tabbies, or or any combination of two or more of those; the pattern of the white spots can range between locket, tuxedo, mitted, bicolor, harlequin, and van. ^note

Aloof, bored, superior, and/or snarky. Alternately finicky. Usually hyperactive and kind of dumb, with ADD tendencies. Usually extremely friendly as well. Can also be laid back, calm, very affectionate, and more sociable, sometimes relaxed to the point of being lazy. Blotched or classic tabbies tend to be placid, comfortable homebodies while their striped or mackerel cousins tend to be more independent. Can, like tuxedo and mitted cats with black, grey, or orange colorations, also be portrayed as the average Joes among cats. Can also play the orange cat "heroic and/or humble" stereotype.

Tortoiseshell (Tortie) and Calico: Can occur with or without white spotting; the white spots can be stark white, off-white, flesh-colored, or any combination of two or more of those; the white spot patterns can range between locket, tuxedo, mitted, bicolor, harlequin, and van. ^note:

Are usually female and sort of spunky but kind, nice, and refined (like white cats). Can alternately have "tortitude"; that is, be strong-willed, a bit hot-tempered, fiercely independent, feisty, unpredictable, and talkative. These traits seem stronger in torties than in calicos. The first part is Truth in Television; male cats can only be tortoiseshell or calico if they have an extra X chromosome (a.k.a. Klinefelter's Syndrome), have chimerism, or have mosaicism. ^note
In media, especially aimed at young children, male tortoiseshell cats are common. In interviews, the author's excuse tends to be "Yes, I know, but..."
Calicoes may play Japanese National Animal Stereotypes, especially if the calico in question is also a Japanese bobtail. They also tend to be quite friendly and associated with wealth. Maneki nekos, which are said to attract money and/or customers, are often modeled after calico cats, further strengthening said association.
Tortoiseshells also tend to be rather snarky and mean, even by cat standards. Surprisingly, this stereotype may be rooted in Truth in Television, as some studies have found a correlation between the tortoiseshell coat pattern and increased aggression.

Shaded and Chinchilla: There are two variants of this coat color, Silver shaded and chinchilla and golden shaded and chinchilla. ^note This pattern is most common in Persians.

Often upper-class and rich. Usually Persian and have most or all the stereotypes associated with them. Usually long haired as well. Almost always have sea green eyes. Often portrayed in the same or similar manner as white cats since silver chinchilla ones ones look superficially white all over.

Colorpoint and Lynx Point: Can occur with or without white spotting; the white spots can be stark white, off-white, flesh-colored, or any combination of two or more of those; the white spot patterns can range from locket, tuxedo, mitted, bicolor, harlequin, and van. ^note

Tend to be extroverted, spirited, inquisitive, clever, talkative, and highly active. Generally, such cats have personality traits and stereotypes similar to those of the Siamese, though modified by the traits and stereotypes of the other breeds involved if they are involved.
These are cats with a temperature sensitive form of partial albinism in which the cat has color expressed on the legs, feet, tail, face, and ears. ^note These markings are associated with cat breeds such as the Siamese, Ragdolls, Ragamuffins, Birmans, and various Siamese crossbreeds (including the Balinese, Burmese, Colourpoint Shorthair, Himalayan, Javanese, Ocicat, Oriental Shorthair and Longhair, Snowshoe, and Tonkinese).

Cat Fur Length and Texture Stereotypes

Longhaired Cats:

Often seen as prissy, high-class, snobbish and sometimes buffoonish, especially if purebred longhair cats. Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest Cats are an exception, being stereotyped instead as rugged, tough survivor types who love the outdoors.

Curly Or Rex Furred Cats:

Cloudcuckoolanders and Genki Girls. Their fur is treated as Quirky Curls.

Hairless, Mostly Hairless, and Extremely Shorthaired Cats:

Often portrayed as a cat version of Bald of Evil. If not, often portrayed as a Creepy Hairless Animal, Ugly Cute, Bald Mystic or a Sickly Neurotic Geek.

Cat Breed Stereotypes

Persians/Himalayans:

Generally seen as the showy, rich, snooty, upper-class type. Tend to be Right Hand Cats. Persians in fiction are almost always white or shaded/chinchilla-patterned, often with snow-themed names. In Real Life, they tend to be sweet, affectionate, and even-tempered, unlike their snooty Hollywood portrayal.
Positive portrayals of Persian cats tend to be on the buffoonish side, due to their long, puffy hair giving them a fattish appearance.
Persians are occasionally depicted with Iranian National Animal Stereotypes.

Siamese:

Often portrayed as mean, often even by cat standards. The wedgeheaded or "modern" Siamese are depicted as ill-tempered, bratty, aristocratic and showy, like the Persian. The Applehead or "traditional" Siamese, AKA the Thai cat, are depicted more neutrally, looking more like typical cats, but may still be just as mean. Most writers are unaware that the Appleheaded Siamese exists at all, so the former will be used more often. In Real Life, both types are nothing like their Hollywood portrayal, being one of the most affectionate and energetic among the cat breeds, often being described as dog-like. (If a bit noisy.)
Fictional Siamese are generally either seal/black point or chocolate point.
Siamese are sometimes portrayed with Southeast Asian (whether specifically Thai or not) or Chinese National Animal Stereotypes. As mentioned above, they'll often be evil or at least annoying and noisy, presumably in reference to the Yellow Peril or Asian Rudeness stereotype.

Sphynx/Hairless cats:

Not as cute as fluffy kitties, so they're not as nice. If the Right-Hand Cat isn't a Persian or Siamese, it's this. When Cats Are Mean is invoked, Sphynx cats are often used, because the general public (or at least some small children) don't find hairless cats attractive, and therefore will not sympathize with them.^note More positive portrayals will portray the Sphynx as Ugly Cute, energetic, Bald Mystic and/or a Cloud Cuckoo Lander.
Fictional Sphynx usually have white or van-patterned skin tones. Usually female. Often portrayed as not being born hairless, but losing their fur through accidents. Otherwise positive portrayals can have them as Sickly Neurotic Geeks.
Because of its species name, Sphynx cats are often subjected to Riddling Sphinx jokes, either as a Sphinx itself, or through lampshading.
Sphynx cats are sometimes portrayed with Canadian National Animal Stereotypes, although the ones who play Riddling Sphinx roles don't have it.

Scottish Folds/Scottish Straights/Highland Folds:

Adorable, oafish, lovable fat cats, mostly thanks to the internet celebrity Scottish Straight (genetically similar and related to the Scottish Fold, but without the potentially disabling, disabling in homozygous form, dominant, ear-folding cartilage defect gene) Maru.
Scottish Folds are sometimes portrayed with Scottish National Animal Stereotypes.

Maine Coons, Siberians, and Norwegian Forest Cats:

Large, longhaired cats who are tough survivors and skilled hunters of the Grim Up North, but also as pets they are typically sweet Gentle Giants. Usually male. Less likely than other longhaired cats to be portrayed as evil, snobbish, or snooty.
The real-life Maine Coons' typical sociable and laid-back personality is often reflected with aversions of Cats Are Mean, while their playful and somewhat clownish tendancies often cast them as Big Fun. More familiar depictions might also mix in Hidden Depths, Ditzy Genius, or Genius Bruiser as nod toward the breed's often-overlooked intelligence.
Norwegian Forest Cats are often associated with Norse Mythology and seen as magical beings.
Siberian Forest Cats are sometimes portrayed with Russian National Animal Stereotypes (of Husky Russkie variety), when the Russian Blues are not used. Norwegian Forest Cats might have Norwegian or generally Scandinavian National Animal Stereotypes.

Russian Blues

They're known for their short, but thick hair. The colour is actually a distinct shade of gray, but they can appear as blue in animations or comics. They're known to be calm and very intelligent.
Foreigners may be familiar with the Nyan Cat meme. Despite a Russian Blue was being used as a basis, this breed is rarely associated with the meme.
Russian Blues are sometimes portrayed with Russian National Animal Stereotypes, if the Siberian Forest Cats aren't used.

Japanese Bobtails

Japanese Bobtails are often black or chocolate calico and most often have a bicolor, mask-and-mantle, cap-and-saddle, harlequin, or van pattern.
Japanese Bobtails are sometimes portrayed with Japanese National Animal Stereotypes.

Wildcat Subspecies Stereotypes

These stereotypes pertain to the different subspecies the wildcat (one word) or Felis silvestris, of which the domestic cat is part of the Near Eastern one. Wild cats (two words), or cats belonging to other species in the cat family, like the lion and lynx, go under Panthera Awesome.

Near Eastern or North African Wildcats

Native to the Middle East and North Africa, they are the ancestors of domestic cats.
Near Eastern Wildcats and housecats in general are sometimes portrayed with Egyptian National Animal Stereotypes, due to being venerated in Egyptian Mythology and representing The goddess Bastet.

Scottish Wildcats

They are a critically endangered type of European wildcat native to the British Isles, but only found in Scotland nowadays.
Scottish Wildcats are sometimes portrayed with Scottish or Scottish highland National Animal Stereotypes, the latter of which and their wildness begat their other moniker Highland Tiger.

Manuls^notealso known as the Pallas' cat

A rare Asian species of wildcat with distribution across Siberia, China, and parts of the Himalayas, as well as some Central Asian countries, commonly living in mountainous regions that are very cold.
Manuls are often portrayed as being adorably grouchy due to their expression seemingly permanently locked in a grumpy scowl.
Their other common stereotype is being chubby, due to the memetic line "The body is round," from a documentary about Manuls.

Examples

open/close all folders

Cat Coat Color, Marking, and Pattern

Advertising

Morris the Cat from the 9-Lives cat food commercials was a red tabby. He probably created the stereotype for them. Aloof, bored, superior, snarky, and finicky.

Anime & Manga

Naota's cat in FLCL fits the old, fat, and lazy gray cat stereotype.
Bleach: Yoruichi transforms from a human woman into a black cat. Even by Bleach standards this is very weird magic. Shapeshifting isn't a normal ability and how she can do it has never been explained.
Gatomon from Digimon Adventure follows the White Cat sterotype a little: Generally good, female, and often paired with an orange friend. Subverts it that's she not upper class or rich, and instead of an orange cat, she's paired up with an orange hamster/bat thing.
Chi's Sweet Home: Chi fits the "friendly" and "hyperactive" tabby stereotypes. Kuroino/Blackie is a black cat, but his personality seems to be a mix of the "orange" and "gray" stereotypes. Alice is orange and white, but plays the showy white cat stereotype more. Cocchi from the manga is very much a black-and-white sterotype: Idiot Hero wannabe and Small Name, Big Ego.
Sailor Moon has Luna, who subverts the usual black cat by being very much a good kitty; both she and Artemis are both examples of The Mentor so he fills that white cat stereotype but not really any others except possibly the 'rich' one as his 'owner' Minako Aino's family is shown living in a large house like Usagi's (Luna's 'owner') which in central Tokyo, and in the Azabu-Juuban Ward in particular means you are quite well off but as it's never played up (compared to the cat-less, but cat-loving, Ami Mizuno) he doesn't really fit that one. Their daughter, Diana, is gray and fits the mischievous stereotype.
There is a black cat in Nurse Angel Ririka SOS that the Big Bad uses to stalk Ririka and tell him what she is doing.
Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple: In one of the episodes, a black cat crosses someone's path. In keeping with British and Asian tradition, it is associated with good luck.

Comic Books

Beasts of Burden: The witches' cats are all black.
Billy the Cat himself (after a Karmic Transformation, anyway) is a decent, kindhearted yellow tabby, while Mr. Hubert is a mentor white cat.
Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch is traditionally a completely orange cat. However, due to the 90s show he is always black nowadays, usually with some sort of white markings. He's a sarcastic, somewhat mischievous cat. Salem is actually a warlock cursed to live as a cat due to the crimes he committed (this is also a later retcanon change caused by the Live-Action Adaptation). He's also Sabrina's familiar.

Comic Strips

Subverted with Garfield. He's orange, but even though he has heroic moments sometimes, he's snarky and lazy as opposed to humble. He does play the aloof and snarky tabby stereotypes straight, though.
Heathcliff is an orange male cat.
Krazy Kat is a black cat of Ambiguous Gender which seems very unlucky for being in love with Ignatz Mouse who throws bricks at him/her/it with perverse delight though he/she/it doesn't seem to mind.
Dennis the Menace (US): Hot Dog, introduced in the mid-to-late 1970s, is an orange cat. True to the orange cat stereotype, he is friendly to Dennis.

Fan Works

Being a mutant cat, Master Shard in Shards of a Memory has plenty of small quirks that reflect this. She purrs when she's comfortable, she licks those she's protective of, she has a taste for fish, catnip is banned from the lair due to an undisclosed Noodle Incident and she claws on their tree and plays with yarn when she thinks no one is looking. It is also implied that since the life-expectancy of a cat is much shorter than a human, she ages much faster.

Films — Animation

Gay Purr-ee: Jaune Tom (a yellow-orange male cat with orange stripes), Mewsette (an all-white female cat), and Meowrice (a villainous black and white tuxedo male cat).
The Aristocats: Thomas O'Malley is a Lovable Rogue orange or cinnamon male cat and Duchess is an upper-class, all-white female cat. Also, Toulouse (an orange male kitten) and Marie (an all-white female kitten) fit orange cat and white cat stereotypes respectively. However, Berlioz (a gray male kitten) doesn't fit any of the gray or black cat stereotypes.
Cats Don't Dance: Danny (an orange male cat) and Sawyer (a white female cat). Sawyer has orangey brown eyes unlike the white cat stereotype however.
Oliver & Company: Oliver the cat is orange, and is one of the nicest characters in the movie.
An American Tail: Tiger (orange) is the one good cat. In the first sequel his love interest is light gray.
Shrek:
- Puss in Boots is a swashbuckling, wisecracking orange cat.
- In Puss in Boots: The Three Diablos, there is Gonzalo, a calico cat with a scrappy temper, and Timoteo, a slightly chubby gray mackerel tabby cat.
Lucifer from Cinderella is dark gray and gray (or dark brown and beige/tan Depending on the Artist) with a black head and off-white muzzle, and fits both black and gray cat stereotypes by being evil, fat and lazy.
Mittens from Bolt is a snarky black-and-white cat.
In the film of Felidae, the wise Felicity is portrayed as an off-white/blue cat with blue eyes. She's not deaf; she's blind. She's stated to be a Russian Blue, which is consistent with her behaviour.
Cat City: Mr. Gatto, the high-class mafia boss, is a fat white Persian. Teufel, the dark gray cat, certainly means bad luck. Safranek, the ginger cat is the most humble and the least mean of the main cat characters.
Mochi from Big Hero 6 is a male calico Japanese bobtail cat who is very sweet, affectionate, docile, and quite chubby.
Kiki's Delivery Service:
- The film Jiji, a black shorthaired cat. He fulfills the black cat stereotype of being Kiki's familiar and being snarky, especially in the English dub, but is quite friendly.
- His love interest, Lily (AKA, Miss Snooty Cat), is a white Persian and a bit snobbish, but warms up enough to Jiji that they have kittens together by the end credits.
The "black cats are bad luck" stereotype is discussed in Luck (2022). Major character Bob is a black cat from the Land of Luck, but as he's a Scottish black cat he's considered good luck. It's eventually revealed that he's not Scottish and thus actually falls into the stereotype; he faked his good luck status (and Scottish accent) after finding a lucky penny and taping it under his collar.

Films — Live-Action

Milo of The Adventures of Milo and Otis is an orange and white cat who is always getting into mischief. Also a male. The female cat who has his kittens is white.
Cat's Eye: General is a heroic tabby tomcat who saves a young girl from a troll.

Literature

Throgmorton from The Lives of Christopher Chant is a loveable rogue orange cat (although he starts out evil-tempered, bullying and anything but lovable). Bethi is a gentle white female, and the favorite cat of the Goddess.
From Terry Pratchett's Discworld series:
- Granny Weatherwax's cat You is a pure white kitten, full of purity and innocence. Note that You's purity and innocence is of the same kind as her owner's. This is why when You comes around, Greebo hides.
- Nanny Ogg's cat Greebo, on the other hand, is gray, and is older, wiser, and pure malevolent evil. Greebo used to be young. Those days he was a satiny black, and pure malevolent evil on top of distilled sexy (for cats). The latter is actually still true, if his human form is any indication. Of course, he's also a Memetic Molester... he's said to be every one of a kitten (not You, who actually managed to intimidate him)'s paternal ancestors for ten generations. Yikes.
- Maurice in The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents is "a sort of mucky tabby", but considers dyeing his fur to become a "lucky black cat".
The Worst Witch has a tabby cat ... the only not-black cat in the entire school, who is also terrified of her Flying Broomstick.
Naturally, since Warrior Cats features an entirely feline cast of hundreds of characters, this trope will show up a lot. Some of the more prominent examples:
- White: Most white cats tend to be good, with the exception of Snowtuft, a Dark Forest cat, in the fourth series. Whitewing in particular tends to be gentle and kind. Whitestorm is one of the earliest stereotypical The Mentor characters. The Warriors series does make note of the fact that white cats with blue eyes often tend to be deaf; one character comments that one of her first litter was, Fireheart is thankful that his nephew is not, and Snowkit was a deaf kit who died because he couldn't hear the others warning about a hawk.
- Red/Orange/Ginger: For the "heroic and humble" type, there's the main character of the first series, Fireheart/Firestar, who is named for his bright orange fur. There's also his grandson, Lionblaze, one of the protagonists of the third and forth series. For the "spirited" type, Firestar's mate, Sandstorm, is known for her sharp tongue and temper. Their daughter, Squirrelflight, also has a sharp tongue (and is especially wisecracking as an apprentice), is explicitly compared to fire, and her warrior name reflects her flighty nature. A character named Red in the Super Edition SkyClan's Destiny is also a fiercely independent young female.
- Black/Dark-colored: If there's a villain, chances are it's a dark brown tabby male - Brokenstar, Tigerstar, Hawkfrost, Dodge (even a few other characters such as Thistleclaw were mistakenly referred to as dark brown once or twice) - and it wasn't until fans pointed out just how many of them there were that the authors added a female tortoiseshell villain. Other villainous dark-colored cats include Scourge (black) and Darkstripe (dark gray with black stripes). Some examples of stubborn black cats include Tall Shadow and her brother Moon Shadow from the prequel series.
- Black and white: There's not too many standouts with this fur color, so this apparently fits the "Average Joe" part of the stereotype. Tallstar (at least as seen in the main series, not his Super Edition) is an example of an even-tempered character.
- Gray/Blue: Bluestar and Yellowfang are old, wise mentors (and Yellowfang is snarky, too). Graystripe is mellow, mischevious, and a Big Eater.
- Tabby: A large percentage of the cast is tabby. The most common stereotype is the "aloof/snarky" one, with Jayfeather, Longtail, and Speckletail being some examples.
- Tortoiseshell: The spunky but kind stereotype tends to come up most; notably, Sorreltail. Most tortoiseshells are female, but two males do appear: Redtail and Sol.
- The shaded/chinchilla and colorpoint/lynxpoint fur patterns do not appear commonly, likely because they're almost exclusively found on domestic cats and the series focuses on feral cats.
Inbali Iserles' Tygrine Cat series is also one with a great many feline characters:
- White: Etheleldra is a female mentor figure.
- Red, Orange, or Ginger: Mati, the Humble Hero, has a red coat. The stereotype is somewhat averted in that, being an Abyssinian, his appearance is regarded by other characters as highly unusual.
- Black: examples of both stereotypes exist— Hanratty is a villain, while his brother Pangur is stubborn but well-intentioned and mentions that he roamed far distances in the past.
- Black and white: Domino is a friendly "average Joe" who helps The Hero despite having no real skills.
- Tabby: Ria and Binjax are superior/snarky silver tabbies.
- Tortoiseshell: Jess is a sweet-tempered but brave and independent young female.
In Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats:
- In "The Song of the Jelicles", Jellicle cats are black-and-white, and fit the "even-tempered and placid" stereotype ... until the Jellicle Moon rises and they go to the Jellicle Ball.
- In "The Old Gumbie Cat", Jennyanydots' coat "is of the tabby kind, with tiger stripes and leopard spots" and she kind of fits the "hyperactive" stereotype, being a bustling Apron Matron, with multiple projects on the go to civilise the household pests.
Tailchaser's Song:
- Fritti Tailchaser is a male orange tabby. He's a friendly and heroic cat.
- Inverted with Pouncequick, a keet Cheerful Child gray-furred kitten. Subverted after his experience with Whitewind turns him into a Wise Beyond Their Years Seer.
- Hushpad, a gray tabby, plays the gray stereotypes straighter than Pouncequick. She's a charming Proper Lady. She later becomes a lazy (but still charming) cat after being spayed by her owner.
- Firsa Roofshadow is a calm and mature gray female with green eyes. She has a traumatic past and as a result is not very emotional or talkative.
- Subverted with the Allmother. Meerclar Allmother is pitch black but is the Big Good God of cats.
- Inverted with the legendary Grizraz Hearteater. Hearteater is gray-furred and absolutely evil.
- Warrior Prince Fencewalker is a large, red-furred cat. He's adventurous and Hot-Blooded.
- Queen Mirmirsor Sunback is described as a beautiful, pure-white long-haired cat that resembles a dandelion. She's upperclass and refined, but portrayed as a pampered Idle Rich who doesn't do much to help Tailchaser or Roofshadow.
The protagonist of Windrusher is a male, orange tabby named "Tony" (aka "Windrusher").
Varjak Paw:
- Varjak and his family are purebred cats of the fictional "Mesopotamian Blue" breed. For all effects, the breed seems to be the Russian Blue in all but name (down to their green eyes). Varjak's siblings and parents fit the "snooty, lazy gray/blue cat" stereotype. They're pampered pets who look down upon non-Mesopotamian Blues. Varjak himself isn't like his family, being the White Sheep with brown eyes and a more open personality.
- Sally Bones is the leader of a local gang of strays. She's mysterious and terrifying. Sally is completely white with Icy Blue Eyes, averting stereotypes. She plays off the Ethereal White Dress trope, not the "nice, white cat" stereotype.
- Varjak is forced to flee his house when two Creepy Twins invade it with their master. They're both black furred cats.
- Varjak's friend Holly is a resortful and snarky white stray cat with black patches.
- Dark brown Tam averts the stereotypes. She's a friendly, if cowardly, cat.
Guardian Cats and the Lost Books of Alexandria:
- Marco is an orange tabby. He is a sweet and mellow cat who just likes to sit down with a good adventure book. He's also The Chosen One and is the main protagonist of the book.
- Cicero is described as an old silver-spotted tom. He's Marco's wise and slightly snarky mentor.
- Caffeina is a sweet pampered white Persian.
- Lily is a sweet and intelligent kitten with white fur. She's also Marco's eventual mate.
- Bait is a Russian Blue that displays the gracefulness and calmness associated with gray cats. Later subverted when it's revealed that he is Evil All Along and is hiding his aggression.
Stray:
- Pufftail is a brown tabby with white markings. He's a somewhat snarky elderly stray cat. Pufftail is known for his independence. He also believes that Cats Are Superior and should ideally live independent from humans.
- Tabitha is a mackerel-grey tabby with a pure white chin and chest. She's a laid-back and friendly housepet, which contrasts with her stray father Pufftail.
- Tabitha's son Kitchener is an innocent but average black-and-white kitten.
- Kitchener's father was a "plump black tom with mysterious eyes". Tabitha remembers the few moonlit nights she spent with him fondly, however he was a roaming cat who she never expects to see again.
- Tammy is a mackerel-grey tabby with white markings. She's sweet and mellow, but has a sarcastic side and often teases her mate Pufftail.
- Pufftail remembers that a black-and-white sister of his was taken in by a spinster. He imagines that she's a spoiled housepet who shudders at the thought of meeting alley cats.
- After Tammy's death, Pufftail vents his grief by getting into a fight with a snobby all-white pet tom.
Cat Pack: Carlotta is a gorgeous Dude Magnet calico who all of her friends are attracted to. She's also very sweet and kind, but she can still fight when needed.

Live-Action TV

Salem the warlock-turned-cat in Sabrina the Teenage Witch is a snarky black cat familiar to the titular teenage witch, Sabrina. Interestingly, Salem from the Sabrina the Teenage Witch comic book is traditionally an orange cat (though the original oneshot had him as a black cat) but in the 90s was made into a black cat to match the live-action adaptation.

Tabletop Games

In the Funny Animal Roleplaying Game Monarchies of Mau, the ruling Houses of the six titular Monarchies are each named after a breed or type of cat (Angora, Korat, Mau, Cymric, Rex, and Siberian), and their national character generally reflects the stereotype. Slightly downplayed in that each House is named after that monarchy's dominant family; not all cats affiliated with House Angora are Angora cats, and Angora-breed cats are not necessarily affiliated with their ancestors' House.

Theatre

Cats: Most of the cats don't fit any colour stereotypes but, in the video version, there are three cats who do:
- Victoria is the only all-white cat. Her role is performed mainly through dance, where she's implied to be a symbol of grace and innocence, and is extremely sensitive to the moods around her. Her coming-of-age moment sends all the cats into a frenzy. In the filmed stage production, her dance and reaction scenes are often paired with the black Mistoffelees for colour contrast.
- Skimbleshanks is a ginger tom. He's an engaging, cheeky cat who has a reputation for being the hero of the railways; the cats believe the trains only run smoothly because Skimbleshanks is there to keep the humans in line and on the job by either fixing all the problems that crop up or alerting the humans to issues so that they can fix the problems in time. His one flaw is described as being his temper, which gets triggered by disorder; he can be quite draconian about ensuring everything and everyone is kept in order so that the trains can run smoothly.
- Mistoffelees is the only all-black cat, described as being black from his ears to the tip of his tail. He is the most mystical cat, capable of manipulating light, telekinesis and producing electricity from his paws. He is implied to have some hypnosis, illusion and voice-throwing abilities, he does possess a psychic sixth sense, and is revealed to be capable of teleporting others or himself. In the Invitation to the Jellicle Ball, his dance is paired with the all-white Victoria for colour contrast. The realities of stage and film production, where lighting tends to wash out all-black costumes, means that the Mistoffelees cat is usually portrayed as a tuxedo cat to bring the costume to life, even though his description as an all-black cat rarely changes. In these cases, his tuxedo appearance mimics that of a stereotypical stage magician to emphasise his mystical nature.

Video Games

Pokémon has the elegant but vicious cream Persian (which despite the name is based more on Siamese cats; however, a Persian is a villain's Right-Hand Cat in the anime, fitting the Persian cat stereotype), the prim lavender and cream Delcatty, the obese gray Purugly, the devious dark purple Purrloin, and the mystical gray Espurr. There's also Incineroar, a red/black tiger heel wrestler who is actually a Nice Guy outside of Kayfabe.
In The Legendary Starfy the cat costumes you can buy are an orange tabby for Starfy and a completely white one for his sister Starly.
Popoi the cat puppet from Puyo Puyo fits two stereotypes associated with black cats. Firstly, he's an assistant to magic teacher Ms. Accord, so he's a witch's pet; secondly, in the original Fever, he's the final boss and calls himself the "Prince of Darkness", fitting the "black cats are evil" part.
Morgana from Persona 5 is, despite the name, a male tuxedo cat, and meets several of the stereotypes, such as being pretty brave. He also tends to think he's a bigger deal than he is, though he does know marginally more about Palaces and the Metaverse than the protagonists do.

Web Animation

Cat Face is a male white, blue-eyed (though you can only tell if you look closely) floating cat with a French-ish accent; he's generally arrogant and bossy, generally always complaining or saying nonsense.

Web Comics

Roast Beef of Achewood is colored gray in official materials, but plays with the stereotype in that he's depressed and pessimistic just as often as he is snarky.

Web Original

I Can Has Cheezburger? has Ceiling Cat (the lolcat deity), who is orange and dwells in the ceiling, and his counterpart, the soul-eating Basement Cat, who is black and lurks in the basement. In a similar vein we have Longcat, who is white (and female) while her 'evil' counterpart Tacgnol is black.
The UC Berkeley Newscenter article, Don't be so fast to judge a cat by its color, study warns talks about how cats in real life are judged by their fur color.
The Pet Peoples Places article, Is Cat Coat Color Linked to Temperament? talks about how a cat's fur color is stereotypically associated with a certain personality.
Catster's article, Are You a Racist When It Comes to Cats? 8 Stereotypes Based on Breed and Markings.
The Journal of Cartoon Overanalyzations blogpost, Chromatic Sexism and Animated Felines.
Kul World Daily Drivel's blogpost, Stereotypical Cats: An Introspective Look At Racism and Prejudice In America
Cats on Film's blogpost, White Cat of Evil talks about the recent stereotype of white and chinchilla-patterned, usually longhaired cats being evil and/or a Right-Hand Cat.
Why 2014 is The Year of The Ginger Cat talks about why the orange tabby is so common in live action movies of the New Tens. It also talks about which kind of cats were common for live action works in a given time period. In the Sixties, the Siamese was in vogue and in the Seventies, Eighties, and Nineties, the Persian and Himalayan was in vogue.

Western Animation

Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats: Heathcliff (an orange male cat who is belligerent, egotistical and mean, as in the comics) and Sonya (an all-white female cat). Averted with Cleo (a cream-colored female cat with long orange hair), however. Riff Raff's cousin, Lucky, is a black cat with notorious bad luck that spreads to everyone around him... everyone that is, except for Riff Raff.
Felix the Cat:
- The "black cats are bad luck" stereotype is subverted with the most famous fictional black cat, Felix. Indeed, his very name (Latin for "luck") alludes to it.
- Both of the female cats he is paired with have all-white fur.
Bad Luck Blackie plays around with the idea of the unlucky black cat. The eponymous Blackie uses his bad luck to protect a whitish shaded silver kitten (gender undetermined) from a Bully Bulldog. In the end the bulldog neutralizes the bad luck by painting Blackie white, but the white kitty paints himself black and gives the dog his comeuppance.
Looney Tunes:
- Sylvester is the codifier for the unsuccessful black and white cat stereotype.
- The 1942 cartoon, "Hep Cat" shows a male black cat with a white muzzle and white paws and an all-white furred female cat.
Inspector Gadget villain Dr. Claw has a gray Right-Hand Cat with black and white stripes and white paws who is usually shown as having as mean a streak as its owner.
The She-Ra and the Princesses of Power character Catra is a brown tabby Cat Girl whose colour emphasizes her intelligence and common origins. She also has tabby marks resembling scars on the skin of her arms, hinting at her toughness.
Scratchy from The Simpsons' Show Within a Show The Itchy & Scratchy Show plays the unlucky part of the black cat stereotype.
Tom and Jerry:
- Tom, a grayish-blue cat with white patches, while famously and memorably buffoonish and clownish, he was sometimes shown as lazy or mean, and did sometimes torment Jerry for fun, but it depended on the episode.
- If Tom likes a molly, she will almost always be completely white-furred.
Fat Cat from Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, a gray-furred Big Bad, had the fat and mean part down.
Pete from the Classic Disney Shorts is an evil, fat, black cat. Guess who's his archnemesis!
The Ren & Stimpy Show: Stimpy is a fire-engine red cat, and the nicest character on the show who portrays the stereotypes of being the red-furred protagonist who is humble, friendly, lazy, the comic-relief (if not particularly bright by exception) and is called an "fat bloated eediot" for a reason, and has a white or off-white front of his snout to his belly and has Innocent Blue Eyes.
- The Jimmy Durante cat he's partly based on, in the Looney Tunes short "A Gruesome Twosome", is an aversion of this stereotype.
'Black cats are bad luck' is played completely straight in The Adventures of Puss in Boots, where a curse that changes Puss' fur black is enough to cause him to become The Jinx. He meets some naturally black cats that are just as unlucky, so the bad luck is implicit in the fur color, not the curse.
Jess, Postman Pat's cuddly, mischievous and adorable bicolor black/white kitten, plays off the British "Lucky Black Cat" instead of "Unlucky Black Cat" associated in America. Given being produced in UK and aimed at kids, it's pretty appropriate.
The Disney short Lorenzo is about a spoiled white Persian who makes fun of a feral, black colored bob-tailed cat. The black cat has magical powers and jynxes the Persian's tail to have a mind of its own.
Miraculous Ladybug:
- Plagg is a spirit that resembles a black cat, and has many of the stereotypical traits. He's the literal incarnation of bad luck and destruction, mysterious, laid-back, sarcastic, and has a tendency to wander around and poke at things.
- Plagg's master, Adrien Agreste/Cat Noir, being a human superhero with a black cat motif, arguably fits the sociable, good-natured, companionable part of the stereotype.
Rigodon from Around the World with Willy Fog is an anthropomorphic cat with reddish fur. For the most part, he is portrayed as heroic with a friendly personally, but he is quick to anger if anyone attempts to interfere with Fog's expedition and is involved in several fights throughout the series.
Josie And The Pussy Cats has Sebastian the cat as their Team Pet. Sebastian has mostly black fur, with white paws, muzzle, cheeks, and a white streak running along the crest of his head. Sebastian is often in the care of Alexandra, the troupe's Token Evil Teammate, who has a white streak herself, and like Alexandra, Sebastian is guileful and subversive. Fortunately, Sebastian never slips into evil territory, remaining Lawful Neutral by using his guile to subvert villains.

Cat Breed