Anime is a genre that's known for creative sidekicks. One animal that appears frequently at the side of the hero is a cat. Other than just being adorable animals that are universally loved, cats are also auspicious creatures in Japanese culture. The lucky cat, or maneki-neko, is often found on restaurant countertops or storefronts, promising fortune and luck to all who visit.
There are plenty of cat characters in anime, and they can take on a wide variety of forms. Sometimes they're just regular lovable companions, but in anime, they can also be teachers, advisors, or powerful fighters. Once in a while, they run the whole show, just like in real life.
Updated August 8, 2022 by Kristy Ambrose: It's still all about the furry felines that make us their cheerful and obedient slaves. The anime world has so many cat characters that viewers have come to grow and love that we needed to lengthen our list. Whether they're the main characters, the comic relief, in supporting roles, or just a part of the background, the cat always makes an impression. Sometimes they even come back.
12 Meowth - Pokemon
Officially, Meowth isn't actually a cat. He's a feline Pokemon, but considering how much he resembles one of our furry friends, it's close enough.
Meowth isn't special when it comes to powers, but he's one of the only Pokemon in the entire series that speaks a human language. He is one of the main antagonists of the series and the brains behind Team Rocket.
11 Nekobasu - My Neighbor Totoro
Why just have a cat when you can have a cat that's also a bus? This character is known colloquially as the Catbus, and it makes an appearance in My Neighbor Totoro. Mei and Satsuke are waiting for a regular old bus when the local forest spirit, Totoro, shows up.
The real-life bus is late, and in order to save them from the rain, Totoro calls his friend the Nekobasu to give them a wild ride to their destination. It's deliberately designed to resemble the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.
10 Pirate Cat - The Last Unicorn
The voice actor for this cat, Don Messick, was doing a Long John Silver impression when recording, which inspired his look in the movie and his nickname. This quirky cat appears a few times during the last act, but only has a speaking role in one memorable scene, in which he cryptically reveals the secret location of the Red Bull's lair.
Pirate Cat is just a normal kitchen feline until he arbitrarily starts talking to Molly one day and tells his caregiver much of what most people already suspect about cats. He comments that Amalthea is becoming more human all the time and slowly losing her unicorn self, which he knows about, because of course he does.
9 Blair - Soul Eater
She's a totally normal cat, considering the environment in which she lives. Blair often serves as the comic relief in Soul Eater and most of the fan service and sexual jokes are either directed at or made by her.
At first, Maka thinks she's a real witch, as she often takes the form of a human. A naked human, because doesn't that make sense? This is part of the joke, and another one is her name, which is a play on the title of the famous found-footage movie, The Blair Witch Project.
8 Kuro - Blue Excorcist
Friend or foe? It's a question people often asked about their feline companions. Kuro starts out as an oversized monster that Rin has to defeat, but when his past is revealed, their relationship changes and Kuro becomes Rin's familiar instead.
Kuro began as a guardian spirit to some nearby silk farmers, but Shiro Fujimoto tamed him and took him on as a familiar. After Shiro died, Kuro went feral again, and it was Rin's understanding that brought him back from the brink of grief and despair. It just goes to show that when you're nice to an animal, they reciprocate.
7 Bastet - Kamigami no Ki
Isn't every cat a god in their own way? Bastet is the precocious, troublesome, yet adorable star of Kamigami no Ki, an anime that pokes fun at the ancient Egyptian god and her mortal caregivers, and her daily routine hits close to home for anyone who shares space with a cat.
The misadventures of Bastet and her fellow deities take place in shorts of about two minutes each. Adults and kids alike can enjoy the cutesy versions of the gods that also include Ra and Anubis.
6 Jiji - Kiki's Delivery Service
Every witch needs a cat, and naturally, Jiji would be Kiki's cat. Of course, he has powers, like being able to talk, and his job is to act as Kiki's familiar while she trains to be a real witch.
Phil Hartmann, famous for voicing certain wisecracking characters on the Simpsons, voices Jiji in the English dubbed version. The American version is famous for making the character more snarky and chatty, and although it can be funny, it's not to everyone's taste.
5 Shamisen - The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya
People talk to their cats all the time, and Haruhi Suzumiya is exactly the type of cat owner to do just that. This one actually talks back at one point, and in a romantic voice that likes to discuss philosophy.
There are a few quirky things about Shamisen to begin with, such as that he's a male calico cat, which is a rare thing among tricolor cats. There's a manga called "A Perspective of Life from Shamisen" that tells the story of his life as a stray before Haruhi adopts him.
4 The Baron - Whisper Of The Heart, The Cat Returns
By day, The Baron is a statue, but by night, he becomes the dapper anthropomorphic cat that resides in an antique shop. His full name is Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, and he's not just a famous cat, he's one of Studio Ghibli's most iconic characters.
He first appeared in Whisper of the Heart and resonated so deeply with audiences that his popularity inspired a sequel, The Cat Returns. It's worth it to watch the English version to hear the Cary Elwes interpretation of the posh but amiable Baron.
3 Happy - Fairy Tail
This adorable blue kitty isn't a cat at all, but an Exceed, which is a race of cat-like creatures that were some of the earliest residents of one of the settings in Fairy Tale called Edolas. This is the parallel to Earth Land and Magic is governed by different rules there.
Happy is mostly the comic relief of the show, with his funny catchphrase, and is aptly named and loyal to his party members. He's the size of a normal cat, but is wise in the ways of Magic and recognizes its destructive potential.
2 Luna - Sailor Moon
It was just another day for Usagi. She was late for school as usual, but a chance meeting with a stray cat changed her life forever. Luna actually came from the future, formerly a resident of the Moon Kingdom and advisor to Queen Serenity, and she was looking for Usagi when they met by chance.
Luna looks like a regular black cat except for a crescent moon on her forehead. She acts as an exposition character, explaining to both the sailor soldiers and the audience the details of their mission. She has a counterpart, Artemis, a white cat owned by Minako, who is also known as Sailor Venus. Later in the series, they are joined by their daughter, a grey cat called Diana.
1 Korin - Dragon Ball
Korin is 800 years old, resides in a giant tower, and teaches martial arts. Goku is looking for a master and seeks him out. Korin first appears in the episode "Korin Tower" and Goku has to pass his test before Korin agrees to take him on as a student.
This sly old cat was also the martial teacher of Yamcha and Master Roshi. Isn't every cat secretly a martial arts master, anyway?