Thunderian Clans?

Cartoons ThunderCats (1985)
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Hi, I am new here so I hope ya’ll don’t mind newby questions. I’ll try to keep my inner fanboy back in his cage :D. Also I apologize in advance for my horrible spelling.

I have looked through the past forum posts & haven’t found anything regarding this question.

I have seen some mention in fan fics about different Thunderian Clans. Is there any canon mention of this? Is it an idea that the fans worked up?

I suppose the “species” of cat that the Thunderans are modeled after could be their way of having different ethnic groups. Instead of white, black, asian, indian, american indian, etc… Thunderans have tiger, lion, panther, lynx, cheeta etc…
The Thundercat Nobles could be the leaders of their respective “species”.
That would be a common way Sci-Fi/Fantasy stories work things. Another possibility is that the Nobles just rule different regions of Thundera. Those regions could have any mix of Thunderan “species”

This also asks the question of what would the children of two different “species” look like. I see two possibilities.

  1. The children have a mix of the features/fur patterns of the parents.
    for example a 1/2 panther 1/2 cheeta would have light gray fur with spots. A 1/2 Tiger 1/2 Lion (Liger!) would have maybe tan fur with slightly darker tan stripes.
  2. The “Disney” option (See the end of Lady & the Tramp for example)
    The children would each resemble one of the parents. (usuallly the boys look like dad & the girls look like mom with the odd exception.)

Personally I go for option one, but with the “species” traits tending to one or the other with the grand children. for example the 1/2 panther 1/2 cheeta marrying a cheeta would have cheeta children (maybe the odd panther looking child or grandchild for story telling ideas).

I think “species” is the wrong word but I am not sure what else to use at the moment.

On a side note, a Thundercats fan named Red Lioness has some fan art for a “species” of SaberTooth Thunderans. I think she was inspired by Grune. (I can’t help but think of him as a bad ass SnagglePuss with the whole broken tooth look:p) Unlike Grune, they don’t have the animal like face. They actually look kinda cute. oops it is 10:14pm & I am starting to ramble.

TTFN

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Hi there, and welcome (I’ve never welcomed anyone before… am I qualified?).

The only mention of clans that I’m aware of is in the fourth Anointment Trial, the Trial of Mind Power, when Panthro is explaining Tygra’s ability to project illusions. He says, “The Tygra clan of ThunderCats have a special gift for it.” Earle Hyman may have misspoken, intending to say “tiger clan”, but it certainly sounds like “Tygra clan”.

Regarding your other question, “breed” might be a better word than “species”, if mating is possible. In our world, lions and tigers are different species, and their progeny are rare, the males infertile. Dogs, however, have been bred into breeds as visually distinct as lions and tigers, and are still able to produce fertile offspring. Of course, “breed” is a rather crude word. “Race” might be even better.

The ThunderCats are clearly pure-bred, with the possible exception of WilyKit and WilyKat. Some people (me!) think that they’re half-lion, half-tiger, with Kit showing stronger lion traits and Kat showed stronger tiger traits. Other people cite canon other than the show to suggest that they’re members of a petite clan called Wildcats.

But it doesn’t matter. There’s another example! Late in the series, we start meeting other Thunderians, notably a Thunderian named Torr, whose hair is red on top, white on the sides and back, and whose shoulders are spotted, though his overall tone is flesh-colored. What is he? Lion/Tiger/Jaguar? I don’t know, but he’s definitely mixed-race, in accordance with your Option One. This was probably done on purpose, to draw a distinction between Thunderian commoners and the ThunderCats.

Hope I didn’t confuse you further!

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if you read some scripts for the show, you see Claud-us and Lion-O mentioned as members of the Leonine clan. I

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Unfortunately, the original cartoon has limited input but Wildstorm published back in 2003 a Thundercats sourcebook and two Origins volumes revealing many crucial data about each of Thundera’s clans. Some don’t consider as canon the comic book approach but these background stories could be accepted as authentic.