in which a list of tropes are applied to a webcomic. note
Cat-Person
is a webcomic of the Psychological Thriller genre written and illustrated by P. Lo.
The story follows Neko, an agoraphobic 15-year old girl before and during the events of her father (Dad)'s depature due to a work trip. During his absence, Eleanor, his upbeat, blonde, and vegan girlfriend looks after Neko, who is less than pleased about the ordeal.
The comic is updated daily, with multiple panels uploaded sporadically.
Cat-Person provides examples of:
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: Neko manages to fully impale Eleanor in one strike... with a kitchen knife.
- Accidental Murder: Neko accidentally stabs and kills Eleanor in self-defense. She seems more concerned about cleaning the evidence than having killed someone.
- Aerith and Bob: Dad, Eleanor, and... Neko.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Eleanor begs for her assailant Neko to call an ambulance as she's too injured to do it herself. Neko declines.
- The Alcoholic: Dad shows signs of this.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Neko.
- Asshole Victim: Grabbing a vulnerable teenage girl who just explained to you that she's agoraphobic by the hair and throwing her outside isn't the brightest idea.
- Author Catchphrase: Until December 15th, 2018, each panel contained a desriptive caption beginning with "In which..."
- Ax-Crazy: Subverted with Neko, who suffers from agoraphobia and borderline personality disorder. While she is rude, uncontrollable, and has tantrums, she never makes an attempt to physically harm anybody. Until she does.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Neko is this in spades. She is manipulative towards her father, who doesn't know how to control her, cold towards Eleanor, and cranky and dismssive to both of them. Taken further when she stabs Eleanor (albeit by accident).
- Caps Lock: The text and dialogue are all written in capitals, excluding the letter i, which is consistently lowercase.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Neko. Despite her scrawny physique and whiny attitude, she is able to hold her own and eventually win in a knife fight.
- Distinguishing Mark: Neko's neck scar from her suicide attempt.
- Emo Teen: Neko.
- Flipping the Bird: Neko does this to her father.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Eleanor's bright yellow hair and sunny disposition initially seems this way.
- I Didn't Mean to Kill Him: Neko stabs Eleanor during an heated argument. She's visibly horrified after Eleanor drops to her knees and begins bleeding out.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Neko tastes Eleanor's blood after killing her, though she doesn't like it. She is shown looking up "taste of human flesh" shortly after.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Both Neko and her father share this trait.
- Minimalist Cast: Neko, Dad, and Eleanor are the only characters featured in the comic.
- Missing Mom: Neko's mother is all but stated to be dead.
- Murder Makes You Crazy: Neko already had her fair share of issues before she killed Eleanor, but after she cleans the evidence and takes a shower, she's Laughing Mad.
- My God, What Have I Done?: See Oh, Crap!
- Offing the Annoyance: Poor Eleanor.
- Oh, Crap!: Neko's immediate reaction after having stabbed Eleanor.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Both Neko and her father.
- Shouldn't We Be in School Right Now?: Neko is 15, and is never seen attending or even mentioning going to school.
Word of God has confirmed that she no longer attends school. - The Shut-In: Neko's agoraphobia prevents her from leaving the house.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: Neko changes from her white dress to her underwear right before she confronts and ends up killing Eleanor, and to a black dress for the aftermath of the murder.
- Splash of Color: Downplayed Trope. Cat-Person isn't monochrome, but blood is dramatically brighter than the typical grays and pale pastels shown.
- Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: Neko certainly looks the part.
- Strong as They Need to Be: Neko, a small 15-year old recovering from a very recent suicide attempt, is able to quickly overpower and critically injure Eleanor, an active and healthy woman several inches taller than her.
- Stylistic Suck: The adult film that Dad watches in his hotel room is written in Comic Sans instead of the usual blocky font, and the dialogue shown is wittingly cheesy.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Neko thinks this of Eleanor and ends up being right.
