TCs characteristics that don't match their "real" counterparts

Cartoons ThunderCats (1985)
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I’ve been thinking (and I know this has been discussed sometimes, but I thought it was worthy to give it its own place) how some features or characteristics the TCs possess don’t match their feline counterpart in real life. Here are some examples, hoping you all add your two cents.

The TCs
[ul]
[li]Team work. Big cats (and even the small ones) are solitary beings (the exception being the lion); so all the “team work” thing that they emphasized over and over in the show is not very “catish” lol[/li][li]Ears. This is something that have always bothered me. Taking a look at Jaga, Panthro, Lynx-O and Pumyra, we can assume all the TCs have pointed ears. In real life, only cats, lynxs and caracals (which were not featured in the show) have pointed ears, while most felines have rounded ears.[/li][li]Eyes. Most cats (big or small) have yellowish/greenish eyes, not red.[/li][li]Tails and whiskers. I know giving the TCs a tail would have disanthropomorphized them (if that is a word lol), but tails are almost 1/3 or more of a cat -big or small (except maybe for the Cat of the Isle of Man, which doesn’t have onel) and give them balance while walking and jumping. Whiskers are like a 6th organ of perception, as they help cats noticing what’s around them. I know the idea was for the TCs to look as human as possible (it’s hard for me to find anything cat-ish in some of them; Panthro, for example: put him alone, don’t tell me the show is called ThunderCats, and ask me what animal he’s supposed to be. If I have to pick one, I’d tell a gorilla lol). Now take a look at the Mutants, which look more like animals (the TCs are mutants as well). If Slithe can have a tail, why not them?[/li][/ul]
Jaga
[ul]
[li]Ears. Pointed ears, but I have already addressed this.[/li][li]Skin. Jaguras are kind of darker (a brown skin) and have spots, while Jaga doesn’t. The beard is out of line too, but I guess it is necessary to point out he’s old (as if every old man used a beard).[/li][/ul]
Lion-O
Lions are the “kings of the beats”, so it makes sense to make Lion-O the Lord of the TCs, but there are some stuff that separate him from real lions:
[ul]
[li]Mane. Real lions have brown/dark manes that fall down over their shoulders; actually, the darker and thicker the mane is, the bravest and strongest the lion is considered. Lion-o, instead, has an orange/red mane that looks more like a Disney’s heroine’s hair blowing in the wind. Not that impressive neither frightening IMO. In this field, Claudus makes a better job. [/li]
[li]Activity. Lions (male lions) are actually kind of lazy, while lionesses do the hard job, especially hunting; lions fight when they feel their pride (pride as in a “pack of lions”) threatened, but rather than that, they really aren’t very active.[/li][/ul]
Panthro
Where to start?
[ul]
[li]Name. Panthro derives from Panther, which is not a specific cat but its how big cats are called collectively (this includes lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards and snow leopards); black panthers (from which Panthro’s name might have been inspired) are merely leopards or jaguars that are born with dark skin (melanism), making them look completely black, while they really are not (you can see their spots if you watch carefully). It’s like the “negative” of the albino type, if you want to put it that way. I have always thought Panthro was a leopard (as Jaga was supposed to be a jaguar, given his name), but they didn’t find a fine name for a leopard (as its Spanish name is already “leopardo”).[/li][li]Color. Now, if Panthro is a black panther, why is he grey? I know maybe black was a color too dark for a good character in a kids’ show, as black is usually related to evil. [/li][li]Strenght and size. Panthro’s the strongest TC, but in real life neither leopards nor jaguars are among the strongets cats. This title belongs to the lion and the tiger (which is also the biggest cat nowadays). Even more, leopards (assuming Panthro is based in them) are kind of the smallest of the big cats, and Panthro is like the biggest TC.[/li][li]Agility. Leopards use to climb trees to either ambush their preys or eat them; I think I never saw Panthro up in a tree. Not once.[/li][/ul]
Tygra
Tygra is the second in command, which is fair given that tigers can be considered the second feline after lions (if not the first ones, but some say lions would defeat tigers in combat. Tigers are bigger, but lions seem to be stronger or, at least, they have like 50% of their muscles in the front legs, that’s why they might win the battle).
Another good point is giving Tygra his mystical powers and an Indian-like theme, as tigers inhabit that country and are kind of surrounded in mysticisms due to their habits. But:
[ul]
[li]“Not being able to swim”. This one has been pointed out a lot: tigers (along with jaguars) are the best swimmers in the feline world. Even more, while jaguars usually get into water to get food (fish or turtles), tigers not only swim with that aim, but also just because of the pleause of it.[/li][li]Agility. While Tygra is (IMO) one of the most agile TCs, usually climbing trees and walking/balancing on his whip, truth is that tigers, due to their size and weight, don’t climb trees that much (although they are real agile).[/li][li]Shyness. Tigers are among the most fierce, brave and risking felines, so Tygra being shy is not suitable of the species.[/li][li]Team work. Of all the TCs, I think it is Tygra the one who stresses team work the most, while tigers are probably the most individualist cats.[/li][/ul]
Cheetara
Not much on her really (they got it right by stating she can hold her superspeed for just 4 miles, as something similar happens with real cheetas), except maybe:
[ul]
[li]Colors. Cheetas usually have two colors on them: white and yellow/gold. From where do creators gave her three colors (white, yellow/gold and tan/orange)? Same goes for those orange-red marks around her eyes, when cheetas have some black marks resembling tears around them.[/li][li]Paws and nails. Cheetas are the only cats that don’t have completely retractable nails, but semi-retractable ones. That allows cheetas to run fast and get some traction while doing it. So if there should have been a TC wearing boots that exposed his/her toes and ankles, it should have been Cheetara (not Tygra, Wylikyt or Bengali).[/li][/ul]
The kittens
Wylikat resembled a wild cat more than Wylikit because of the two lines on his head (Kit only has one).
[ul]
[li]Age/height. I think they made the twins kids as wild cats are among the small cats, but aren’t Wylicat and Wylikit supposed to grow up some day?[/li][li]Agility. Wild cats don’t use to climb trees that much; they’re more “land” cats.[/li][/ul]
Lynx-O
Not much on him either, I think they made a good job with him. Except maybe:
[ul]
[li]Size. Lynx-o looks bigger than Tygra and even Lion-O, but lynxs are small cats.[/li][/ul]
Pumya
I must say I’d have switched Lynx-O and Pumyra, making the former a female Thunderian (Lynxana? lol) and the latter a male one.
[ul]
[li]Ears. Again, pointed out.[/li][li]Physique. Pumyra is thin and not that muscular (I think she is smaller and thinner than Cheetara), but pumas are bigger than cheetas. Also, pumas are “stout”, despite being agile.[/li][li]Hair and color. Pumas are sand/gold colored, not brown; neitehr they have long hair with white stripes, least of all sideburns![/li][/ul]
Bengali
[ul]
[li]Stripes. Blue? Really?[/li][li]Name. Sure he’s meant to be a Bengal tiger, based on the idea that Bengal tigers are the white tigers. Truth is, any species of tigers (there are six nowadays) can be white; white tigers are like black panthers (I mean, black leopards and black jaguars). Granted, Bengal tigers are the most tendant to give white individuals, but the other kind of tigers have given white ones as well. Bengal tigers are the biggest and more common of these species. I think Tygra is supposed to be a Benagl tiger (not only becuse they are the most well-known and representative tigers, but also because of the white hair around the head). [/li]
[li]Size. White tigers are usually bigger than the orange ones, so Benagli should be bigger than Tygra.[/li][/ul]
So, what do you think?

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Wow, you are a wealth of knowledge when it comes to cats! Bravo!

I think, sadly, a lot of what it comes down to is a couple things: what sounds good and what is the “common perception”.

By that, I mean that some of the cats are the kind of cats they are because it rolls off the tongue. I imagine when they had to come up with some new Thundercats after the first season, they wanted a white tiger but couldn’t think of a name that sounded better than “Bengali”, although even that name is sorta odd, we’re just used to it. Their other options were something like, “Tygro” which sounds weird and was probably already rejected when they originally named “Tygra” with an “a”.

Also Panthro sounds cool, as opposed to Jaguar-o or some such. Granted, they prolly could have gotten away with Leo, but that is too similar to Lion-O.

Secondly, I think they were counting on people’s ignorance of real-life big cats. I mean, everyone knows that the lion is king and cheetahs are fast, so those were no-brainers. But I think there is also a perception that panthers are extra-fierce or deadly, whether or not there is a reality to it. So they make Panthro the strong, deadly fighter.

When it comes to things like Tygra’s inability to swim, I honesty doubt a lot of thought was given to that. I feel like it was written specifically for the episode “Safari Joe” to have a way for said character to easily beat him. They threw in “except when he is invisible” due to the fact that he swam in “Fireballs of Plundarr” so they were actually trying to maintain consistency, even if it made no sense. Plus is the incorrect perception that all cats hate water.

Nice topic. I really applaud your knowledge on the subject.

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Actually, Tygra’s Spanish name was “Tigro” o_O

I know all you said is right, but still wanted to point out the inconsistencies, just for the fun of it lol. Thanks for the kudos.

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I never liked Ben-Gali’s stripes being blue either. For me, they were always meant to be black.

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No. In common sense yes, but from an artistic design perspective no. Black is a bit over powering and draining. There is a always a shine of most black, especially on an animal’s fur coat, so I think making them a dark blue was a better decision than just doing them a complete black.
If you even look at the Bengali toy, it wouldn’t have looked as cool with black stripes, in my opinion.

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I am only now realizing that Bengali’s stripes were dark blue. I always thought the toy’s stripes were blue in order to save money by not adding another color, but then again, they had to paint the insignia black anyhow…

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Oh sorry, I wasn’t trying to sound like a know-it-all. I was just adding my thoughts.

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Well done! Very nicely put together!

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I think I seen a knock off Bengali with black stripes years ago.

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Thank you!

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I added some info about Lion-O, Panthro and Cheetara, as well as for the TCs in general, in my first post (of this thread, not muy first post ever lol). I knew while writing it the first time that I was missing some facts and just remembered them over the weekend (there might be more that’d come to my head in these days). They’re in blue if you want to check them out; I’ll leave them in that color for some time.

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Or, to put it another way, a lot of the ideas for Tygra and Panthro should have been the other way round.

Of course, a lot of 80s shows had the black character as being the muscle of the group. The A-Team is the obvious example, Thundercats did it, and so too did Defenders Of The Earth. Indeed, both of those cartoons had the big black muscly character also being the technical wizard. Swap Lothar from DotE with Panthro and the two shows would be exactly the same . . .

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Well, yes. I have always thought that Panthro and Tygra should have been swapped.

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I agree…well some characteristics.

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As has been already suggested, the decisions were probably made by what seemed “cool” back in the day (and perhaps consideration for what colors are easiest to see and cheapest to use). That being said, here’s my take on the realism debate:

I don’t know if there’s any information about how long the age of Third Earth is from First Earth, but I doubt it’s anywhere near enough time for cats and other creatures to devolve into humanoids. (I say “devolve” because it would require introducing conditions that would cause them to abandon the evolutionary specialization that made them successful in the first place.) We could say that, coming from Thundera, they were aliens from the start, but then comparing them to cats (and criticizing their names because of it) becomes pointless. The only realistic answer is that they were genetically engineered creatures – either humans with cosmetic enhancements, or some kind of new species cobbled together a lab.

So, what do you name your kid when he’s genetically-themed to look like a strange mix of cat and human features? If you’re really invested in your family’s “cat” identity, there aren’t many words that can make cat-styled names!

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I think cats in Third Earth remained cats. Think of Snowmeow :slight_smile:

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Just to clarify, you’re agreeing that the ThunderCats aren’t some natural evolution of Earth cats, right?

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Right. The Thundercats are not originally from earth. They come from Thundera, a planet light years away, several galaxies apart.

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I like the “thematic” problem you mentioned (teamwork thing). Teamwork is a nice moral. But given the other cartoons of the time and the very individualized nature of the majority of cats it may have been refreshing to highlight the value of being self-sufficient(and not just the character main).

On tygra’s “shyness” thing, because I am a paranoid weirdo that imagines herself in unbelievable situations has looked up a lot of “how to not die when encountering wild animals”. Tigers are still sneakers. They like the ambush. If you notice them the wind is taken out of their sails… I get the “shy” thing. Might have been kinds neat to take that in a taijin kyfusho direction… HOWEVER you want a shy wild cat? Cheeta. Cheeta is a shy cat. Cheetas are super sensitive and nervous about stimulie so much so that they have to be given service dogs in Zoos to keep them calm.

A thought on pumyra as I live in mountain-lion country. We cross paths on occasion. The fact that there wasn’t a magicalization of a catamount’s Banshee grade scream (not roar… scream) is a tragedy in my mind.

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Of course, if they are basically humans with some cat-like features, then their origins must be related to First Earth in some way. The chance of there being a species out there with the same number of arms, legs, eyes, teeth, et cetera is so ridiculously small that it’s almost proof of an Earth-based origin. (Sci-fi tends to be grossly anthropocentric, for obvious reasons.) Again, who knows how far in the future Third Earth would be, but it’s a safe bet that most of the creatures we saw in the show would have been created either on First Earth or one of its interstellar or intergalactic colonies – possibly Thundera itself.

Is there any discussion in the series about ancient history?