Catgirl - Wikipedia

Human female character with feline traits This article is about the anime/manga trope. For the film, see Cat Girl. For the character, see Carrie Kelley. For other uses, see Catgirl (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Cat lady or Catwoman. "Catboy" redirects here. For the musician, see Boyd Terry.

A catgirl (Japanese: 猫耳, Hepburn: nekomimi; lit. 'cat ear[s]')[a] or neko[b] is a female character with feline traits, such as cat ears, a tail, or other feline characteristics on an otherwise human body. As a type of kemonomimi, catgirls are associated with Japanese anime and manga but may appear in other genres. The equivalent male character is called a catboy.

Catgirls are descended from Edo and Shōwa period stories of villainous, shapeshifting cat monsters such as bakeneko or nekomata, whose cat traits signaled their villainous role to audiences. Postwar and more recent media have largely rehabilitated catgirls into docile, moe characters.

Description

[edit] Catgirl cosplayers at fan conventions

The term catgirl is applied broadly to characters with some (often minor or superficial) cat physiology, and usually with at least one of either cat ears or a cat tail. Depending on the narrative, a catgirl may have cat-like mannerisms or verbal tics, or the ability to become a cat.[1] A character who wears a cat ear headband, or who is momentarily depicted with cat ears to convey emotion, might also be called a catgirl within that context.[citation needed]

Whether a catgirl is correctly categorized as a furry, or whether a person who appreciates catgirls is considered kemonā, is hotly controversial amongst fans who do not wish to be associated with both furry and catgirl fandoms. This is further complicated by the loose definition of a catgirl as a character who may or may not possess certain cat traits, raising the question of which or how many such traits can be added before a character is better sorted as a furry.[2]

History

[edit]

The oldest mention of the term nekomusume (猫娘; lit. 'cat girl') comes from an 18th-century misemono in which a cat/woman hybrid was displayed.[3] Stories of shapeshifting bakeneko prostitutes were popular during the Edo period.[3] The ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861) depicted the human forms of cat monsters as retaining cat ears, a trait that made them appear untrustworthy or frightening.[1] The popularity of the nekomusume continued throughout the Edo and Shōwa periods, with many tales of cat/woman hybrids appearing in works such as the Ehon Sayoshigure (絵本小夜時雨) and Ansei zakki (安政雑記).[3]

The villain in Kenji Miyazawa's 1924 work The 4th of Narcissus Month [ja] is the first example of a beautiful cat-eared woman in modern Japanese literature.[4] In 1936, the nekomusume experienced a revival in kamishibai.[3] Anime and manga such as Princess Knight (1953) and Star of Cottonland (1978) began to reimagine catgirls as cute and approachable characters rather than dangerous monsters, though these mediums can still cast antagonistic catgirls as in Dominion (1985) and Bakemonogatari (2009).[1][5][6] In America, the DC Comics character Catwoman first appeared in 1940, and Cheetah first appeared in 1943.[7]

By the 1990s, catgirls had become common in Japanese anime and manga.[8] Catgirls have since been featured in various media worldwide. Enough of a subculture has developed for various themed conventions and events to be held around the world, such as Nekocon.[9]

As an aesthetic

[edit] An example of cat ears used in queer clothing aesthetics – a tuque with sewn-on fleece cat ears in the patterns of the lesbian and trans flags.

In 1980s Japan, cat ears started to appear as a regular accessory in some youth,[10] with limited continuing popularity.[5] Recent cat ear headbands sometimes use motorized ears, which emote depending on the wearer's state of mind as determined from electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes.[4]

Responsive cat ears may make it easier for audiences to discern a VTuber's expression.[11] In 2024, four of the ten most subscribed VTubers were characters with animal ears.[12] Some Japanese trains and train stations are also decorated with cat ears.[example needed]

In the West, queer or transgender youth may adopt the catgirl as an ideal self, to be expressed on the Internet.[13] In a 2022 survey of trans software engineers, 80.5% indicated they were "kinda" or "very" experienced with the catgirl concept.[14] Some Internet memes flippantly advocate for genetically engineering catgirls,[15] though this is entirely infeasible with current biomedical technology.[16]

Analysis

[edit]

According to the Japanese magazine Da Vinci, the fact that cat ears can often be easily retrofitted to a character or costume without compromise has made the catgirl trope accessible and quickly popular. It is further suggested that the docile image created by cat ears stimulates the viewer's desire to protect cute animals.[5] Japanese philosopher Hiroki Azuma has stated that catgirl characteristics such as cat ears and feline speech patterns are examples of moe-elements.[8][17]

In a 2010 critique of the manga series Loveless, the feminist writer T. A. Noonan argued that, in Japanese culture, catgirl characteristics have a similar role to that of the Playboy Bunny in western culture, serving as a fetishization of youthful innocence.[18] In a Games and Culture review of common oppressive tropes in fantasy video games, Heijman and Vervoort write that "catgirls exist to be wooed" insofar as "goblins exist to be slain".[19]

See also

[edit]

• Animal roleplay
• Femboy
• Furry fandom
• Human–animal hybrid
• Kitsune
• List of fictional catpeople
• Nekomata

Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Also: nekomusume (猫娘; lit. 'cat girl')
2. ^ From Japanese neko (猫; lit. 'cat')

References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Planty, Blake (July 19, 2020). "From Bakeneko to Bakemonogatari: The Secret History of Catgirls". Crunchyroll News. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
2. ^ "『けものフレンズ』大ヒットの理由とは？ ガチケモナーな東大研究者が語るケモナーの歴史とその深淵" [What is the reason for the huge success of "Kemono Friends"? A hardcore furry researcher from Tokyo University talks about the history and depths of furries]. Denfaminicogamer (in Japanese). 17 February 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
3. ^ a b c d Davisson, Zack (2017). Kaibyō : the supernatural cats of Japan (First ed.). Seattle, WA: Chin Music Press. ISBN 978-1-63405-916-9. OCLC 1006517249.
4. ^ a b "ニコニコ超会議のネコ耳人気に嫉妬！最古のネコ耳もかわいいもん" [I'm jealous of the popularity of cat ears at Niconico Chokaigi! The oldest cat ears are cute too]. Gow! Magazine (in Japanese). 29 April 2012. Archived from the original on 5 May 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
5. ^ a b c "なぜ獣耳（けもみみ）娘はかわいいのか？ を検証してみた" [Why are girls with animal ears so cute?]. Da Vinci (in Japanese). 2 November 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
6. ^ Berndt, Jaqueline (1995). Phänomen Manga : Comic-Kulture in Japan (in German). Berlin: Edition q. p. 111. ISBN 978-3-86124-289-5.
7. ^ Wallace, Daniel (2010). "1940s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. The first issue of Batman's self-titled comic written by Bill Finger and drawn by Bob Kane, represented a milestone in more ways than one. With Robin now a partner to the Caped Crusader, villains needed to rise to the challenge, and this issue introduced two future legends: the Joker and Catwoman.
8. ^ a b Azuma, Hiroki (2009). Otaku: Japan's database animals. Translated by Abel, Jonathan; Kono, Shion (English ed.). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 47, 89. ISBN 978-0-8166-6800-7. OCLC 527737445.
9. ^ "After Action Report". The Virginian-Pilot. 2007-11-07. Archived from the original on 2016-09-14. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
10. ^ Kaneko, Shobo (November 1985). "「若者+昭和」ライフスタイル事典" ["Youth + Showa" Lifestyle Encyclopedia]. 青年心理 (in Japanese). 54: 49. NCID BN14331136
11. ^ Yeh, Tzu-Hsuan; Tsau, Saiau-Yue (2022). Taking Cat Ears to Improve the Facial Emotions of Virtual YouTuber to Enhance the Immersion of Readers. 2022 IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics Taiwan. doi:10.1109/ICCE-Taiwan55306.2022.9869288. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
12. ^ Ahn, Jungyong (2024). "An Exploratory Study on Virtual YouTuber Consumption: Focusing on the Worldview, Appearance, Voice, and Personality of Virtual YouTuber" (PDF). Proceedings of HCI Korea 2024. HCI Korea 2024. p. 55. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
13. ^ Zaman, Hazal Ali (23 May 2024). Feeling Otherwise: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study of Queer and Trans Youth of Color Who Create and Embody Fursonas (PDF) (Ph.D. thesis). Portland State University. doi:10.15760/etd.3757. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
14. ^ Kychenthal, Skye (26 March 2022). Why The Trans Programmer?. IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference 2022. arXiv:2205.01553.
15. ^ Yeo, Amanda (2023-11-24). "'Gay furry hackers' breach nuclear lab, demand it create catgirls". Mashable. Retrieved 2024-08-03.
16. ^ "Strategic roadmap for research in morphological freedom" (PDF). Freedom of Form Foundation. 2018. Retrieved 2025-04-23.
17. ^ Galbraith, Patrick W. (31 October 2009). "Moe and the Potential of Fantasy in Post-Millennial Japan". Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies. 9 (3). Archived from the original on 2019-10-25. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
18. ^ Noonan, T. A. (Fall 2010). ""I Can't Get Excited for a Child, Ritsuka": Intersections of Gender, Identity, and Audience Ambiguity in Yun Kôga's Loveless" (PDF). MP: An Online Feminist Journal. 3 (2). ISSN 1939-330X. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
19. ^ Heijman, Nicky; Vervoort, Joost (2024). "It's Not Always About You: The Subject and Ecological Entanglement in Video Games" (PDF). Games and Culture. 19 (6): 744. doi:10.1177/15554120231179261. Retrieved 21 December 2025.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

Further reading

[edit]

• Adams, M.J. (2023). "Schrödinger's Catgirl: Hoyoverse, Cybernesis, and the Ethnography of Metaverse". Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov, Series VII: Social Sciences and Law. 16 (65): 19–28.
• Bartle, Richard (2020). "Unrealisticness" (PDF). Ludology: revista de investigación sobre juegos y videojuegos. 1 (2): 24–29.
• Yamamura, Hiroo; Kondo, Ryota; Sugimoto, Maki (23 November 2024). Necomimi illusion: Generating Ownership of Cat Ears through Haptic Feedback via Hair. SA '24: SIGGRAPH Asia 2024 XR. Tokyo, Japan: Association for Computing Machinery. doi:10.1145/3681759.3688923.

External links

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• Media related to Catgirls at Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition of catgirl at Wiktionary

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