History Main / CatsAreMagic

* Blair from ''Manga/SoulEater'' is a cat with witch-level magical powers and the ability to transform into a [[MsFanservice busty]] CatGirl. Soul and Maka mistake her for an actual witch in her introduction, and since witches are though of as [[AlwaysChaoticEvil inherently evil]], they kill her and take her soul to turn Soul into a Death Scythe. Which fails because no matter how witch-like she is, Blair is not an [[WitchSpecies actual witch]]. Fortunately, as a cat [[CatsHaveNineLives Blair has nine lives and nine souls]], so being killed doesn't matter much to her.

* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': All cats are magical. They are the only mammals who are 100% immune to the Plague, and moreover, they can sense if somebody caught it or if there's a troll, beast or giant in the vicinity. In the AfterTheEnd setting of webcomic, this makes them probably the most valuable element of society. They are sorted into three grades: Grade C cats are untrained, but still invaluable in catching vermin beasts that could kill an entire town if left unchecked. Grade B cats have the training necessary to not only hunt vermin beasts but also to dispose of the corpses properly and alert humans to the problem. Finally, Grade A cats are bred for their jobs and trained from birth; they have more authority than most soldiers, and are able to both identify trolls at long distances and communicate this to humans quite effectively.

* ''Webcomics/NekoTheCat'': The stepmother reveals that her cats [[spoiler: are what allowed her to live on after her own suicide, and are what allow her to get vengeance on those she blames for it]]. The art implies that this connection exists between them because the cats [[spoiler: ate her]].

* ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'', which draws from Lovecraft canon.

** ''Dreamlands'' supplement. In the Dreamlands, cats can travel to the Moon on their own power and have a secret language. They worship Bast.

* Mirage, an [[FunnyAnimal anthropomorphic]] [[PantheraAwesome panthress]] from ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'', exemplifies both this trope and CatsAreMean; she's an EvilSorceress and one of the series' most dangerous villains.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' special "My Smurfy Valentine", Azrael has the power to lead Chlorhydris through the Forest of Poison Thorns in order to get to a special magical wishing well because he was born with royal blood in his veins. Surprisingly, this turns out to be true, as in Season 9's "Mummy Dearest", the time-lost Smurfs meet his distant ancestor, the cat pharaoh Azra.

[[OlderThanDirt Throughout history]], cats have gone [[HoldYourHippogriffs paw-in-paw]] with the supernatural. In AncientEgypt they were considered to be sacred to the goddess Bast; in medieval Europe they were tied to [[DealWithTheDevil witchcraft]]; in UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} and UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} they are heralds of good luck; in the [[UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} Muslim world]], they are regarded as BornLucky, benevolent djinni, while in other places they are [[TheJinx harbingers of misfortune]]. In Western culture, [[CatsHaveNineLives cats are purported to have nine lives]], and black cats in particular carry associations with witchcraft and both bad and good luck.

See also CatsAreSuperior, CatsHaveNineLives, {{Familiar}}, ChariotPulledByCats, ManekiNeko, BakenekoAndNekomata, and RabbitMagician.

Usually a magical cat [[AmplifiedAnimalAptitude will be intelligent]], but even non-sapient cats can have magical powers. Wittingly or not, cats may even be using their abilities to keep up TheMasquerade. Despite all this, cats are not often BondCreatures, except maybe to witches in the [[LighterAndSofter fluffiest]] of works. This is perhaps due to their reputations for being aloof and independent. This trope may mean a cat is an EvilSorcerer if used in a story where CatsAreMean.

-->--'''Creator/HPLovecraft''', ''Literature/TheCatsOfUlthar''

** Hermione's cat Crookshanks is half-cat/half-Kneazle. As a result he is able to see through [[spoiler: Sirius Black's Animagus form]] and is much more intelligent than a regular cat.

** Hermione's cat Crookshanks is part normal cat, part magical creature called a Kneazle. As a result he is able to see through [[spoiler: Sirius's Animagus form]] and is much more intelligent than a regular cat.

** Minerva [=McGonagall=], the Professor of Transfiguration at Hogwarts and one of the most powerful witches of her age, [[VoluntaryShapeshifting is capable of transforming into a cat at will.]]

* In the manga ''{{Leviathan}}'', cats are mentioned in passing to be able to see spirits.

* Toyed with in Anime/FatePrototype's prequel ''Fragments of Pale and Silver'': [[spoiler: Ayaka's black cat is actually [[MasterofDisguise Servant Assassin]] under a false form.]]

* In ''Comicbook/TheSandman'', where ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve means that AllMythsAreTrue, the goddess Bast exists and governs the well-being of cats. Cats are also implied to have once ruled the world in an alternate timeline. They could rule again if they all got together and dreamed it into existence, but given the difficulty in getting any number of cats to all do the same thing at once, that's not likely to ever happen.

* TabletopGame/TheSecretsOfCats is a tabletop game using the [[TabletopGame/{{FUDGE}} Fate Core]] game system in which the PlayerCharacters are magical cats who defend humanity from ghosts, monsters, and sometimes other humans.

* Hermeowne from ''Videogame/NekoAtsume'' is a little black cat named after [[Franchise/HarryPotter Hermione Granger]] and sports a little witch hat and cape. Her memento is a bottle of magic powder, that when tapped, summons cats to an empty yard.
* A [[GameMod fan-added]] race for {{VideoGame/Starbound}} is the [[IntelligentGerbil Tiknass'uut]], which look exactly like normal cats but are described as thus:

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Chuchu from WebVideo/CreamHeroes is occasionally cast this way. In ''Stranger Cat'' she uses her psychic powers to shut the monster (DD wearing a headdress) in the closet. In ''Welcome to Kitty Tarot Shop'' she is cast as the fortune teller, complete with a wizard's hat.

* Robert Asprin lampshaded this in one of the ''Literature/MythAdventures'' books: "Cats and computers can work through dimensions."

* In ''ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'' the AnimalSuperhero team's magic-user is Alley-Kat-Abra.

** Black cats are a symbol of good luck and considered highly magical, which is how they became associated with being witches familiars in modern folklore. Other folklore includes the superstition that a woman with a cat, especially a black one, will have more suitors, while it was considered a good idea for sailors to own a black cat; as long as their black cat was kept happy and healthy at home, they would have fair voyages and always return home safely. In celtic regions, black cats brought prosperity (Scotland) or health (Wales) to the households they visited or lived with. A black given as a wedding present was believed to bless the marriage, making it a long and happy one.

* In the British Isles, cats are highly linked to magic and luck. They were sacred to the Celts, being emissaries of the gods, communicators with the ancestors and otherworldly beings. This survived in a wide variety of folklore about cats, including that cats are organised by a King or Queen of Cats (who is typically tortoiseshell or black) that can bring blessings or curses to people based on how people treat cats in general. In the middle ages, their magical associations led to them being regarded as the familiars of witches, or shapechanged witches, and capable of practising witchcraft in their own right. During the mediaeval witch hunts, it wasn't just witches that were persecuted, criminalised and sentanced to death -- cats were, too; although this was less common than in other parts of Europe. These day, most of the folklore gets directed at black or white cats, but traditionally, the folklore applied to all cats and the Celts regarded the tortoiseshell as by far the most blessed and powerful of all. Some specific examples include:

* In the British Isles, cats are highly linked to magic and luck. They were sacred to the Celts, being emissaries of the gods, communicators with the ancestors and otherworldly beings. This survived in a wide variety of folklore about cats, including that cats are organised by a King or Queen of Cats (who is typically tortoishell or black) that can bring blessings or curses to people based on how people treat cats in general. In the middle ages, their magical associations led to them being regarded as the familiars of witches, or shapechanged witches, and capable of practising witchcraft in their own right. During the mediaeval witch hunts, it wasn't just witches that were persecuted, criminalised and sentanced to death -- cats were, too; although this was less common than in other parts of Europe. These day, most of the folklore gets directed at black or white cats, but traditionally, the folklore applied to all cats and the Celts regarded the tortoishell as by far the most blessed and powerful of all. Some specific examples include: