Battle Cat

Cringer redirects here. For Cringer the band see Cringer (band)

Battle Cat is a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise. He is a large tiger with green fur and yellow stripes, and his primary purpose is to serve as He-Man's fighting mount.^[2][3]

Battle Cat (1983-1985)

Battle Cat is the alter ego of Cringer, the cowardly, lazy, over-eating feline companion of Prince Adam. He tends to spend most of his time as Cringer sleeping, eating, and avoiding responsibility, as well as hiding at the slightest sign of trouble or danger. He can talk, although no reason is ever really given for this ability. He has the appearance of a green, orange-striped tiger. In the episode "Teela's Quest", Queen Marlena says to Adam in regards to the planet Earth, "There are no talking green tigers on Earth." It is not known if her referring to Cringer as a tiger means he is called a tiger on Eternia, or if she is simply using it as a comparison, but in the episode "A Beastly Sideshow" Evil-Lyn also refers to Cringer as a tiger, and in the episode "House of Shokoti", a boy is surprised that he is "a talking tiger", so presumably, Cringer would be seen as a tiger on Eternia. However, his species is never given an explicit name and it is unclear how many others like him there are. When Prince Adam transforms into He-Man, he holds his sword out and fires an energy beam at Cringer, transforming him into Battle Cat. When he becomes Battle Cat, he grows to about twice his size, and is outfitted in red armor that covers his head, and back, with a saddle mounted on it for riding. As Battle Cat, he is fearless, and powerful. His voice changes significantly, and he talks with a growl, as opposed to his whimpering voice that is heard when he is Cringer. Conversely, Cringer cannot stand to become Battle Cat, but he goes along with it out of loyalty to Adam. He largely serves as a mount for He-Man, but he is known for mixing it up with the villains as well. Oddly enough, Battle Cat is given a love interest; in the episode "The Cat And The Spider" Kittrina, a warrior of the cat-people, took a shine to him from the start.

The story of Cringer/Battle Cat's past is covered in the episode "Battle Cat". The episode recounts that Adam, while on a few days exploring the jungle as a boy, heard a kitten whining in a bush and a sabrecat approaching. Concerned that the sabrecat might attack the smaller cat, Adam was able to scare the sabrecat away by using a manticore call and headed to the bush where he discovered a small green tiger cub who had been abandoned. Adam took the kitten back to the palace where it was tended to by Man-At-Arms. After it became well, Adam adopted the kitten as his pet. However the kitten was scared very easily, and he and were Adam were often teased by Teela and the other children in Eternia who took to calling him a "cringer" because of his fear causing him to cringe and everything he saw. Although Adam defended his pet, he agreed with calling him Cringer because it was appropriate for the little cat as he was afraid of his own shadow; thus, he had his name. The Sorceress appeared and told Adam that Cringer might bring him embarrassment now, but in the future he would be useful. ^[4]

Years passed, and after Adam was given the ability to become He-Man, he usually performed the transformation out of sight of Cringer who, even though he had grown to normal tiger size, was still afraid of just about everything. This all changed at an archaeological dig that Adam and Teela went on with Man-At-Arms, with Cringer in tow because he did not want to leave Adam's side. They inadvertently broke open a door releasing a monster, and to attempt to stop the monster Adam transformed into He-Man. Unbeknownst to him, Cringer was watching the entire transformation and ran away to hide. A now-transformed He-Man tried to reassure Cringer that he was still the same person, just with super powers. However, as he was doing so he accidentally pointed the sword at Cringer, who cowered in fear as Adam's sword was still energized. A beam shot from the sword and struck Cringer, who suddenly grew to twice his size and gained red body armor and a vicious growling voice. He-Man was shocked to see the change in the usually timid cat, but remembered the Sorceress' words from when he was a child and he received another message, telling him Battle Cat was now his partner. Using Battle Cat, he was able to confine the beast and save the endangered team. This version of Battle Cat can be seen with He-Man in a MetLife commercial that aired in 2012.

Battle Cat (2002)

Cringer is somewhat of a pet to Adam. Although it seems clear he can understand what is said to him, he cannot speak and sounds like a typical house cat. He is cowardly, although this does not come up as much as in the original series, but more than once he has shown some bravery in order to help Adam. As Battle Cat, he is most often seen merely transporting He-Man and roaring loudly. However, while in the first season he only has a few moments where he fights (he goes one-on-one with Panthor, helps against Evilseed's vines, fights and defeats giant mutated rats, takes out Clawful and fights a powered up Tri-Klops), in season 2 the writers gave him a more active role; he often fights against the Snake Men (he nearly kills Kobra Khan) and Skeletor's forces. Since he never speaks, there seems to be an effort to portray his relationship with Adam/He-Man as more than master/pet, most often through either Battle Cat or Cringer being badly injured and He-Man entering a rage, or by He-Man explaining things to him. He is twice seen without his battle helmet, revealing a rather fiercer, sabertoothed version of Cringer's face beneath. In the episode 'The Power of Grayskull' King Greyskull was shown to have his own mount, albeit more lion-like and with a mane, who stayed by his side until his death.^[5]

Powers and abilities

As Cringer he is a standard tiger, albeit a weak and cowardly tiger, but when he transforms into Battle Cat he turns to a new species that is half tiger, half dragon. As Battle Cat he weighs 5,000 pounds, stands at 1.8 meter tall, and is extremely powerful, with powers such as super speed, super strength, and a roar that causes an earthquake. He is also violent, vicious, and fearless. It is implied that if he is left alone, he will go on an unstoppable rampage.

Sculpture

A life-size model of Battle Cat was part of the 2012 Go Safari exhibition,^[6] in Northampton, and titled 'Taxi for Adam' (a reference to He-Man's alter ego, Prince Adam of Eternia). The figure was sculptured by Rory Davis and painted by Ross White. The sculpture was the sixth in the series of 'Go Safari' animals and was initially placed in Wood Hill (Near County Hall). Following some naked revellers sitting on the sculpture,^[7] and minor vandalism,^[8] it was moved to the courtyard of the Guildhall. The sculpture was removed at the end of the public art project on 2 September 2012. The sculpture is now owned by Mike Hatherall, where he and Battle Cat live with the rest of Hatherall's family in Newport, South Wales.

References