What type of Cats are the Thundercats?

This is just something that came to me today, i know that the TCats' species are made clear by their names, but what type of those particular species are they?

Lion-O is established to be a Lion, but what type of Lion? The kind you'd find in Africa or the ones you'd find in Europe or Asia?

Tygra is a Tiger, but what kind of Tiger? Bengal, Burmese, Siberian?

Panthro is a Panther, but which type? Panthers are just leopards and jaguars with melanistic coloring, so, which is Panthro, a leopard or jaguar?

The Wily Twins have described as Wild Cats, but what kind of Wild cats? Typically, "wild cat" is used to describe none domesticated felines.


This same issue can also be raised in regards to some of the other animals shown in the series.

Slithe is a Lizard but what kind of lizard?

Addicus is a monkey, but what kind of monkey? (I would assume one of the type that doesn't have tails though)

Kaynar is a Jackal, but, what type of Jackal? Golden, Black-backed, Side-Striped?



Just something worth thinking about

I know that Lion-O's just a lion, Tygra's just a tiger, Panthro's just a panther, and the Wily twins are just wildcats. Slithe may be a dragon-esque lizard, Addicus may be a capuchin with white fur, and Kaynar's a golden-furred jackal.

Can't shed a light on the cat end of things (they don't quite look Cat-ish enough to say). But with the Mutants I think one can make a better guess.... Seeings how tails are arbitrary I'm gonna ignore that as a cue

Kaynar (jackalman) If he's a true jackal looks most like a Gold Jackal. He REEEEEAAALY reminds me Ethiopian wolf thought (which I've heard called a red jackal before). It's the red hair.

Addicus (Monkian) Strikes me as a white baboon. (white baboons being important to Egyptian Myth I'm biased to say it's that).

Slith is an odd one because he just looks "generic dragon-y" I guess he could be a Beardy. But He's just so dang green. There are species of iguana who bear resemblance as well, but not quite as.... squatty as he is. Meh! I'monna say Dinosaur... the old crank.

I don't think they had any real specific species of the various cats in mind when they came up with naming them.

My guesses:

Lion-O: African lion. This because he's based 0n the idea of the lion being the king of the jungle, and that usually refers to the African savannah.

Tygra: Siberian tiger, as it's the most known and I think important (biogger, numerous) type of tiger.

Panthro: a leopard, mostly because Jaga is supposed to be a jaguar, so to have a different speciaes of cat, given that there are no repeated species among the TCs.

Kittens: The European wildcat, because of the stripes on their heads.

As for the Mutants, I think Kaynar is a golden jackal (based on his skin color) and Addicus is a mandrill (I assume this because in teh old series, his Spanish version was Mandriloc, stating that he was a mandrill). As for Slithe, I can't say, but he must be a very huge lizard lol.

"Tygra_Rules, post: 98416" said:

Panthro: a leopard, mostly because Jaga is supposed to be a jaguar, so to have a different speciaes of cat, given that there are no repeated species among the TCs.

Um, NO. Panthro is a black Panther. How the hell is he a leopard??...

"Bengali, post: 98420" said:

Um, NO. Panthro is a black Panther. How the hell is he a leopard??...

Because black panthers are just leopards and jaguars with black coloring, so, logically, that means Panthro has to be either a leopard or a jaguar

"Bengali, post: 98420" said:

Um, NO. Panthro is a black Panther. How the hell is he a leopard??...

Panthers are not cats per se, it's just how:

a) big cats (lion, tigers, jaguars, leopards and snow jaguars) are called in a collective way
b) specifically hoy black leopards and black jaguars are called. The term "black panther" refers to a spotless jaguar or a spotless leopard.

So, as Jaga is supposed to be a jaguar, then Panthro might have been a spotless leopard.

"Tygra_Rules, post: 98425" said:

Panthers are not cats per se, it's just how:

a) big cats (lion, tigers, jaguars, leopards and snow jaguars) are called in a collective way
b) specifically hoy black leopards and black jaguars are called. The term "black panther" refers to a spotless jaguar or a spotless leopard.

So, as Jaga is supposed to be a jaguar, then Panthro might have been a spotless leopard.

Correct. Process of Elimination dictates this must be.... Or they didn't think too much about it ^^0

I think Jaga could be a jaguarundi too... but that's just obscure.

Even though Addicus had the name "Monkian" in the OS he's not a monkey. Monkeys have tails. He's an ape. My guess is that he would be an albino Chimpanzee based on the grunting sounds he makes.

"balgus82, post: 98433" said:

Even though Addicus had the name "Monkian" in the OS he's not a monkey. Monkeys have tails. He's an ape. My guess is that he would be an albino Chimpanzee based on the grunting sounds he makes.

Wild dogs have tails too. Initially hesitant to be so overtly scientific.... Though we clearly see Slith and Rataro with tails... Wouldn't Bring it up if Jack had a tail... Little puke throws a chaos wrench in the works don' he?

I guess my point is... one or more people have been Maimed. 0.o

Again I doubt they had any specific species in mind.

"NuudoruNoMasho, post: 98428" said:

Correct. Process of Elimination dictates this must be.... Or they didn't think too much about it ^^0

I think Jaga could be a jaguarundi too... but that's just obscure.

Mmmm... bsides being "obscure", jaguarundis are rather small and not that well-known, and I think creators were thinking of big, well-known cats for the TCs
Merged Post:

"NuudoruNoMasho, post: 98434" said:

Wild dogs have tails too. Initially hesitant to be so overtly scientific.... Though we clearly see Slith and Rataro with tails... Wouldn't Bring it up if Jack had a tail... Little puke throws a chaos wrench in the works don' he?

I guess my point is... one or more people have been Maimed. 0.o

Wild cats too lol

"Mark M, post: 98440" said:

Again I doubt they had any specific species in mind.

I think you're probably right there... I do believe they are pulling from Aesopic type symbolism and we aren't supposed to but much into the zoological side of things (Do it too much with the new show and it might just cheese you off). Fun though.

I guess this all stems from me wondering what the ThunderCats would look like as humans.

I've seen a few fan-art pictures online that depicted the cast from "The Lion King" as humans, and, in some cases, they were humans dressed in African garb, which was rather appropriate, given the film's setting. Sometimes, the pictures I saw even had "human" Simba as a Black African, which, again, seemed appropriate, given the movie's setting.

I guess i was wondering if the same principles would apply with the Thundercats; their specific species playing a role in what they might look like as humans. I hope that makes sense.

However, because the franchise is so ambiguous about the Cats' species, i had to be certain. Since, if Lion-O was a European Lion or a Lion from Asia, he would resemble a human native there. And what Tygra would resemble is also reliant on what type of Tiger he is; if he's Bengal, he'd likely be Indian or Asian as a human. If he were Siberian, probably Russian.

I once saw a fan-art picture of the Cats as humans, but, with the exception of Panthro, they were all just drawn Caucasian humans. Not that there's, necessarily, anything wrong with that, it's just, I'm pretty sure that the decision to make Panthro an African American was based solely on his voice and voice actor, which feels kind of lazy to me.

Not to me. Panthro has the characteristics of a black person, but he is truly a ThunderCat.

"srebak, post: 98777" said:

I guess this all stems from me wondering what the ThunderCats would look like as humans.

I've seen a few fan-art pictures online that depicted the cast from "The Lion King" as humans, and, in some cases, they were humans dressed in African garb, which was rather appropriate, given the film's setting. Sometimes, the pictures I saw even had "human" Simba as a Black African, which, again, seemed appropriate, given the movie's setting.

I guess i was wondering if the same principles would apply with the Thundercats; their specific species playing a role in what they might look like as humans. I hope that makes sense.

However, because the franchise is so ambiguous about the Cats' species, i had to be certain. Since, if Lion-O was a European Lion or a Lion from Asia, he would resemble a human native there. And what Tygra would resemble is also reliant on what type of Tiger he is; if he's Bengal, he'd likely be Indian or Asian as a human. If he were Siberian, probably Russian.

I once saw a fan-art picture of the Cats as humans, but, with the exception of Panthro, they were all just drawn Caucasian humans. Not that there's, necessarily, anything wrong with that, it's just, I'm pretty sure that the decision to make Panthro an African American was based solely on his voice and voice actor, which feels kind of lazy to me.

No I get where you are coming from there, If I imagined them the only caucatians were the kids in my mind (just to even out the universe because I can't see any of he adults as anglo saxton/celtic in any way because those cats aren't native to those areas.). Hmmmmmm..... I'll be right back.

"NuudoruNoMasho, post: 98793" said:

No I get where you are coming from there, If I imagined them the only caucatians were the kids in my mind (just to even out the universe because I can't see any of he adults as anglo saxton/celtic in any way because those cats aren't native to those areas.). Hmmmmmm..... I'll be right back.

Well in regards to Anglo Saxon and Celtic, there has always been stories of jungle cats escaping into the forests around hear and possibly breading.

After reading Srebak's comment for some reason I had visions of Bengali based on a tiger some magician would keep in Hollywood LOL.

"Mark M, post: 98799" said:

Well in regards to Anglo Saxon and Celtic, there has always been stories of jungle cats escaping into the forests around hear and possibly breading.

After reading Srebak's comment for some reason I had visions of Bengali based on a tiger some magician would keep in Hollywood LOL.

And he has two human assistants named Sigfried and Roy? heheh reverse roles

"Mark M, post: 98440" said:

Again I doubt they had any specific species in mind.

This is probably pretty accurate. Either way they weren't ever very specific, so to me that leaves it open to interpretation. There are some pretty reasonable interpretations here. Tygra_Rule's take on the cats is pretty sound.

I also like Nuudoru's logic in interpreting the mutants' roles. Kaynar... gold jackal seems reasonable. But what I really like about Nuudoru's post is that he brings up Addicus as potentially being a white baboon. I like that. I mean I really like that. LOL

And for those questioning Panthro possibly being a spotless leopard, I leave you with your moment of zen: