Catgirl

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This article is about the catgirl in popular culture. For information of historical interest on the mythical creature, see Bakeneko. For the sidekick Catgirl in Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again, see Carrie Kelly. For a similarly named comic book character, see Catwoman.
An example of a catgirl

A catgirl is a female character with cat traits, such as cat ears, a cat tail, or other feline characteristics on an otherwise human body. Catgirls are found in various fiction genres and in particular Japanese anime and manga, where they are more commonly referred to as neko (猫, literally cat) or nekomimi (猫耳, literally cat ear(s)).[1]

Characteristics

Catgirls typically display cat-like behaviors, exhibiting traits such as playfulness, mischievousness and deviousness. Sometimes this may include cat gestures or sounds in written or verbal communications. An often used running gag is that catgirls habitually end their lines of speech with the phrase (にゃあ) nyā, the Japanese onomatopoeia for a cat's meow.

In anime and manga regular humans will sometimes sprout cat ears or a tail in order to illustrate their excitable or playful personalities. This is similar to the phenomenon of becoming chibi. Additionally characters may be portrayed with a catlike mouth to emphasize mischievous thoughts or comments by a character.

Examples in popular culture

Events

Enough of a subculture has developed for various themed conventions and events to be held around the world, such as Nekocon and Nekonation.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ David Okum (2004-03-24), "Cat Girl", Manga Madness, p. 72, ISBN 978-1-58180-534-5 
  2. ↑ Suisenzuki no yokka
  3. ↑ Nekonation

External links

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