The Animal Hierarchy

Cartoons ThunderCats (2011)
1

We know that the Cats were Mumm-Ra’s most favored species, being his top enforcers, but where exactly do the other races stand? I believe each race performed specialized tasks, and there was a sort of cast system Mumm-Ra had in place. Here’s how I think Mumm-Ra viewed his servants;

Cats
Birds
Dogs
Monkeys
Lizards
Elephants
Sharks
Rats

Cats: already established as being Mumm-Ra’s elite, working as enforcers who helped control the rest of the animals. The cats acted as leaders both on and off the field, making sure the other animals did their jobs. The tigers may have been Mumm-Ra’s favorites since they stayed loyal, with lions a close second.

Birds: So far have been shown to be the most intellectual. They were always probably very good with technology, and may have been engineers in addition to Mumm-Ra’s air force.

Dogs: Here’s where things get a little more vague. The dogs and jackals probably served as scouts and intel gathering, aside from being

Monkeys: Guerilla tactics (pun not intended), possibly used as commandos who could more easily traverse heavily wooded jungle areas.

Lizards: Mumm-Ra’s grunts, and now we’re getting to the low end of the system. In “Birth of the Blades” it sounded like Mumm-Ra used them for cannon fodder and overall were the first infantry thrown onto the front lines.

Elephants: Heavy lifting and manual labor. Their present attitude is very pacifist, and that may have been intentional; Mumm-Ra wouldn’t want anything that big and strong to get too angry, so just kept around the more docile ones when he needed extra muscle.

Sharks: Used for aquatic missions. Since their purpose for Mumm-Ra would be in special circumstances, they probably weren’t seen as being very useful overall.

Rats: the lowest of the low, rats were little more than janitors to Mumm-Ra. They didn’t even get uniforms, forced to be naked. This view persisted even after the crash, and they were persecuted not just by the cats but many of the other races as well. They may have been miners as well, and worked alongside the elephants.

Now, here’s how I think the relations between the races are at present;

Cats (formerly anyway)
Birds
Elephants, Sharks
Dogs, Monkeys, Lizards
Rats

After the fall of Thundera the Cats have been knocked down a few pegs. I’d say they’re more around the level of the Elephants and Sharks now. We have yet to see what the Shark and Monkey societies are like, but I can make some assumptions.

The top four races each hold a stone of power. The Elephants and Sharks don’t seem to have much interaction with the rest of the world, so they don’t really fall into this hierarchy, but the Elephants have been shown to be pretty stable and civilized, and I’m guessing the Sharks are too if they were trusted to hang onto a stone.

Dogs, Lizards, and Monkeys seem more barbaric. I only have Addicus to use as an example for Monkeys, and he’s a complete monster, but his clothing doesn’t suggest a society that’s as advanced as the others. It could turn out that the Monkeys are very civilized though, once we see them.

We’ve seen that dogs have formed their own societies that are almost as advanced as the cats, with laws and rules, likely helped by their strong pack mentality. Lizards are harder to define. We know that they’re able to form their own armies, so they must have some kind of society of their own, but it’s likely not very stable if a warlord like Slithe could take control. They were fairly primitive, until Mumm-Ra woke up.

And last, the rats. Having been Mumm-Ra’s least favored made them the most persecuted by the other races. They lacked power and were probably little more than cavemen until Ratilla found the Sword of Plundarr. He was able to lead the rats to power and they likely would have advanced much further until Jaga put a stop to them. They’re not as primitive s they once were, but Ratar-O and the rest of them are just riding on Ratilla’s former success. It seems the one thing the rats have going right now is their mine on Mount Plundarr, which the Crew of Omens said has Thundrillium, or Thundranium. Some valuable material anyway.

2

I think the Lions was his favorite. Tigers being the second one and then when he got betrayed the Tigers took the Lions place.

3

The true hierarchy according to Mumra. (Illustration courtesy The Simpsons and the Department of Meat)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jUYKRkl2QYk/SsSBDIjg7GI/AAAAAAAAAjU/bIrA3QCYK3U/s400/Simpsons_Food_Chain_by_SpacePlatypus.jpg

4

The cats were Mumm-Ra’s favorite, yet they were ruled by emotion.

5

I agree. Leo seemed to outrank Tygus. The Tigers seemed to be Mumm-Ra’s air fleet pilots (which would be why Tygra had natural flying ability).

6

I haven’t seen “Legacy” in a while, but weren’t all races except for the Cats and Rats in cages? I seem to remember the guards and leaders were only Cats. So wouldn’t it be something like:

Mumm-Ra > Cats > All other races > Rats.

I don’t know if we could rank the other races against each other since they all seemed to have a function for Mumm-Ra’s plans, yet they weren’t respected enough to be “free”.

7

“Every species has its place, Leo. Some destined for greater things than others.”

  • Mumm-Ra

Mumm-Ra seemed to have a hierarchy in his mind of who was good for what, and what species were “higher” than others. This regime remained almost intact after the ship crashed, which explains the resentment most other races have against the cats.

The elephants are the one race so far that hasn’t had any axe to grind with them, perhaps owing to their more philosophical outlook on things. And being secluded.

8

Don’t forget the Sharks, they may be peaceful too considering Leo trusted them with the blue stone (and yes, I’m very sure they’re the ones who have it).

I thought it was kind if insensitive that Leo didn’t give a stone to the Jackal leader Shen or the Lizard leader Rezard, since they had agreed to help him. But I think Leo may have given the stones to the bird, Elephant, and Shark races because they would be best at keeping the stones safe and secret. The birds could keep their stone in the sky, the sharks under the ocean, and the elephants could hide theirs away in the astral plain and never remember. Leo had already made the war stone his, so he just kept it to keep order and hoped his descendants would do the same.

Unfortunately, this ended up creating some big rifts in the end. The cats and birds became very arrogant while the other animals got pushed around. The rats and lizards got the worst, becoming slaves and living underground. The dogs seemed to have held their own though, becoming more like rivals to the cats, if Dog City is anything to go by. The digs certainly have a better relationship with the cats if they’re able to at least live in Thundera’s slums. I don’t see the other races having that kind of luxury.

Still no clue what monkey society is like though. Probably something like the dogs I suppose.

9

I absolutely agree. This is a very interesting thread.

Perhaps the enforced hierarchy on Mumm Ra’s ship led directly or indirectly to the order of things planet side too, that’s the way I see it at least. As far as the dogs go, there have been wars/skirmishes with them in the past, as well as uneasy alliances, with the current situation (before the fall of Thundera and the anhialation of half the cats) being that neither race fully trusts or likes each other, but there is a mutual acceptance enough for a minority of individuals to coexist and interact in each others societies.

As for the Monkey society, I can see there being a vague resemblance to the dog society, but much more feral and tribe like, being ruled either by one powerful leader, or different clans (different species of monkey) ruled by their own ‘alpha male’ and barely getting along with each other. I see it as a vast jungle terrain with makeshift wooden treetop buildings, rather than being like the dog city. Here’s hoping we get to see it in a second season.

10

I know it’s not much to offer, but I would argue that the birds see themselves above the cats. Vultaire and the rest of the birds were condescending in every word and deed toward the cats. I’m not exagerating for impact. I mean everything. Watch the episode again if your able. For example, Vultaire tells the cats, “Again, you fail to grasp simple concepts.” Also, all of the birds laughed at the cats when they asked for the stone and at Tygra’s challenge. These are just a few examples. The birds are the definition of arrogance.

11

No one is going to disagree, so it’s really not an argument.

12

Good! I hate making arguments :thumbsup:

However, I will ask this: Do the birds seem to be a war making people?

It seems to me they pride themselves in being alone in the sky with nothing but themselves and their “superior culture”. In contrast, the cats did wage war, however, this was to maintain order in their world. Anyway, I still say the birds are the most arrogant! If the birds did wage war, it would have been something to see the birds and the cats go at it!!

13

Next episode, my friend, we will see this.

14

Oh, yes. I made a speculation at the next episode in another post.

However, I was talking about a war before the dark days for the cats. For example, a war during the days of Lion-o’s Father. However, on reflection, I don’t think the birds would entertain a war. As they might say, “we would not want to get involved with the “petty” politics of the ground dwellers.”

15

The big difference between the Cats and the Birds seems to be that the Birds decided to just separate themselves from the rest of the world, putting themselves “above it all.” They probably thought that waging wars with the other societies was beneath them. The Cats warred against the Lizards, the Rats and probably the Dogs, but the Birds just kept to themselves. They’re that snobby.

There are times that it seems the Cats were pretty isolationist too though. None of them seem very familiar with the places they go to, save for Dog City. Not even Panthro seems to know where all these places are, but I could be wrong. It’s just hard to tell how much communication goes on on Third Earth. It seems very unexplored despite all these different people and races they encounter. Did any of them even know Elephants existed before they found that village?

16

They probably KNEW of them, but had never seen them. Much as many many people in our own society have never travelled beyond their own town whilst others ahave travelled the world. I think exploration by the cat society was very limited though, through choice as they seemed quite insular as a whole, with only a minority venturing very far (like panthro, who had still not been everywhere), and the majority sticking relatively close if they ever left the city. This is probably true of the majority of the cultures, with only a few individuals travelling to other cultures (for example we saw how the dogs and cats interacted).

17

I can think of a modern-day analogy of Thundera…a doomed empire where people don’t know about anything that lies beyond national borders (and often can’t even find their own region on a map). When your nation is on top and your every need is provided for, there’s no reason to care about what’s happening outside - until you are on the outside.

One reason I always liked Lion-O’s character is he “saw” the outside even from Episode One and never succumbed to the myopia of his father.

Both the cat and bird civilizations share some basic similarities: xenophobia of outsiders and an overriding need for control of their environment. Where they differ is the context. The birds maintain strict internal control and ignore the outer world. The cats control and manipulate the outer world, and turn a blind eye to the corruption within. Six of one, half-dozen of the other. They aren’t that different.

The elephants were different from either of them, perhaps seeing that “control” is really an illusory goal and the best course of action is adapting to live in harmony wherever possible.