So, if you had the ability to add a character to the series based on a cat species, which cat would you do?
The easy answer for me would be the Leopard as it’s the only “Big Cat” that isn’t represented in the series. But visually, the pattern of the Clouded Leopard could be pretty interesting too.
I’m not really a “cat guy” due to my allergies so I had to read up on the Wikipedia page for Big Cats. I like your question, Rampage.
Thundercats never adapted a leopard into a character. This is kind of interesting as looking over the list of Big Cats they seemed to have adapted nearly every other genus/species. Maybe the animators didn’t want to have to draw all those spots, or they didn’t think they could make it look smooth enough when in motion?
Besides leopards, the only other common word/name on that list I see is “cougar” (which is a puma, which they did adapt). I like to think Cougara is Lion-O’s creepy aunt who is always hitting on Panthro.
That made me laugh. Something tells me she also bakes Fruit Cake for everyone around the holidays too.
Liger. It would of made for one heck of a villian or a huge ThunderCat.
Ocelot. They’re beautiful cats.
Yes but not your average spotted Leapord, so I feel it counts. I mean we got 2 Tigers, but I still regard them as unique and different.
Hmm… okay, I’m going to sound a bit nerdy and nitpicky here, but what the heck…
There is no species of cat called Panther. The closest you can come to it is a subspecies of Cougar that lives in Florida, which is called the Florida Panther. But again, this is a subspecies… like the Siberian Tiger or the Asian Lion… A better name really should be the Florida Cougar, but it was called the Florida Panther, and the name stuck. Panther is also used in Florida as another name for the Cougar… the cat with a million names.
Now, Panther is also sometimes used Africa to refer to Leopards… usually when there is a melanistic variation. However, Panther is also used to refer to a meanistic Jaguar as well.
I don’t think that Panthro was modeled after a Black Leopard for two reasons:
One - Black leopard often still have a spots visible. Panthro is uniformly blue… now I’m guessing the liked the blue/grey color better than solid black, but I would hope that they would still show some spots.
Two - Leopards are the smallest of the “Big Cats”… smaller than Cougars even, which are a “Small Cat.” Why would they make the biggest, strongest ThunderCat after the smallest of the Big Cats? And then why use a name that would be confusing to the target audience would would think of Panther in terms of Cougar most likely (North America) or Possible Jaguar (South/Central America)?
I think the simplest answer with regard to Panthro is that the show creators, like many people, genuinely thought that Panther was a separate species of cat, distinct from Jaguar, Leopard, or what have you. Panthro is modeled after this non-existent species of cat.
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Ooohhh… Never even thought of that. Liger could be interesting… very interesting. Of course, this bring up another conversation that I was going to start a some point anyway. Might as well start a new thread now! 
Agreed… There are lots of Medium sized cats that would make for interesting characters based on morphology. Serval with it’s long neck could make for a cool character! 
Pumm-ra…the Puma of Thundera. He might have been an existing Thunderian back in Old Thundera and not just one of Mumm-Ra’s disguise:mummra:.
I think Pumm-Ra would have been a great addition to the team
A snow leopard. They’re gorgeous to look at.
I’m with Willeya here… rooting for the oclelot.
Also, don’t want to be a smartass, but panthers (Panthro) are a kind of leopards
I’d have a Calico Cat and call her Callie and I’d have a Bobcat and call him Bob. 
I’m with Red on this, on several points (and because I’m pretty geeky, too). Leopards and panthers are different families of cats, even though some use the same common name for them. Of the big cat families, true jaguars are the third biggest, not too far behind lions in size. True leopards are the smallest of the “big cats” and are usually considered more in the “medium” range.
Florida panthers are a subspecies closer to cougar/pumas/ mountain lions, but with adaptations for their environment (I’m originally from Florida, too).
Ocelots are quite beautiful, as are snow leopards, I’d like to see both along with melanisitc panthers (black jaguars, often erroneously referred to as black panthers). On the smaller side, I think a Pallas cat would be interesting.
I second this! I would love to see a housecat- calico
I agree and that’s why I created her. 
I thought that Panthers are black leopards you just can’t see their spots. Am I wrong?
No, black “panthers” are actually melanistic jaguars, which are far larger and more fierce than leopards (as well as living on different continents). The common leopard lives in Africa and sleeps in trees to give it some protection from lions, which are more than willing to steal their food or even hunt leopards. Jaguars live in Central and South America mostly, are the third largest of the big cats (after tigers and lions), and there’s conflicting information on their willingness to hunt humans. You can see their spots when they’re in sunlit areas, they’re really more of a cinnamon color.
Scroll down to Oct 2004 for a great photo of a black jaguar in the sun: http://dinets.travel.ru/news.htm
Aren’t panthers black? Why would Panthro be blue?
Ooh, they should have a Jaguar sports car as one of their vehicles!
Are there black panthers (cougars)? Yes, but even more rare than the black jaguars that are usually referred to as panthers. Most of the cougar family is tawny - mountain lions, Florida panthers, pumas, etc.
I would like to see the Snow Leopard as a T-cat. The only bad thing about it is that they don’t draw them with tails and a snow leopard has an awesome tail.
Interesting, because I thought of a similar one named Callicari and a Cougar named Gar. I also have a list of Thunderian names that may show up later.