Battle Cat

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Battle Cat
He-Man and Battle Cat action figures
Statistics
Name Battle Cat
Secret Identity Cringer
Affiliations He-Man
Voiced by Alan Oppenheimer - 1983
Created by Mattel
Cringer redirects here. For Cringer the band see Cringer (band).
For the hip hop producer, see Battlecat (producer).

Battle Cat/Cringer is the large green cat that He-Man fights alongside in the fictional Masters Of The Universe cartoons, comics, and toyline.

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[edit] Battle Cat/Cringer (1983-1985)

Montage to show difference between Cringer and Battle Cat.
Montage to show difference between Cringer and Battle Cat.

Battle Cat is normally known as Cringer, the cowardly, lazy, over-eating feline companion of Prince Adam. He tends to spend most of his time as Cringer sleeping, eating, and avoiding responsibility, as well as hiding at the slightest sign of trouble or danger. He can talk, although no reason is ever really given for this ability, and he is treated as if speaking is completely normal. In the episode "Teela's Quest", Queen Marlena says to Adam in regards to the planet Earth, "There are no talking green tigers on Earth." It is not known if her referring to Cringer as a tiger means he is called a tiger on Eternia, or if she was simply using it as a comparison. His species is never given an explicit name and it is unclear how many others like him there are. When Prince Adam transforms into He-Man, he holds his sword out and fires an energy beam at Cringer, transforming him into Battle Cat. When he becomes Battle Cat, he grows to about twice his size, and is outfitted in red armor that covers his head, and back, with a saddle mounted on it for riding. As Battle Cat, he is fearless, and powerful. His voice changes significantly, and he talks with a growl, as opposed to his whimpering voice that is heard when he is Cringer. Cringer generally dislikes becoming Battle Cat, but he goes along with it anyway. He largely serves as a steed for He-Man, but he is known for mixing it up with the villains as well. Oddly enough, Battle Cat was given a love interest. The cat people's princess took a shine to him from the start. It seems rather odd, since it is very uncommon to see any sort of an attraction in cartoons between humanoids and animals.

The story of Cringer/Battle Cat's past was covered in the episode 'Battlecat' (sic). Adam, while on a few days exploring the jungle as a boy, found a kitten being attacked by a vicious sabrecat. After scaring the sabrecat away, Adam took the kitten back to the palace where it was tended to by Man-At-Arms. After it got well, Adam adopted the kitten as his pet. However the kitten was scared very easily, and Adam and the kitten were teased by Teela and the other children, with the kitten being called a cringer. Although Adam defended his pet, the name stuck. The Sorceress appeared and told Adam that Cringer might bring him embarrassment now, but in the future he would be useful.

Years passed, and after Adam was given the ability to become He-Man he usually hid from Cringer. However, when an archeological dig was attacked by a recently released monster, Adam transformed into He-Man without knowing Cringer was watching. After spotting him, He-Man tried to reassure his pet that he was really Adam, but after pointing the Sword of Power towards Cringer it let out the usual energy beam, transforming Cringer into Battle Cat for the first time. He-Man was shocked to see the change in the usually timid cat, but remembered the Sorceress' words from when he was a child and he received another message, telling him Battle Cat was now his partner. Using Battle Cat, he was able to confine the beast and save the endangered team.

[edit] Battle Cat/Cringer (2002)

Cringer is somewhat of a pet to Adam. Although it seems clear he can understand what is said to him, he can't speak. He is a coward, although this doesn't come up as much as in the original series, but more than once he's shown some bravery in order to help Adam. As Battle Cat, he is most often seen merely transporting He-Man and roaring loudly. Some fans were displeased by this, but it works well enough with the show's "no talking animals policy", as did the female dragon. However, while in the first season he only had a few moments where he fought (he went one on one with Panthor, helped against Evilseed's vines, fought and defeated giant mutated rats, took out Clawful and fought a powered up Tri-Klops), in season 2 the writers gave him a more active role, he often fought against the snake men (he nearly killed Kobra Khan) and Skeletor's forces. Since he never speaks, there seemed to be an effort to portray his relationship with Adam/He-Man as more than master/pet, most often through either Battle Cat or Cringer being badly injured and He-Man entering a rage, or by He-Man explaining things to him. He was twice seen without his battle helmet, revealing a rather fiercer, sabertoothed version of Cringer's face beneath (in the original series, only the helmet had large incisors, and Battle Cat had normal teeth).

During the Sorceress's vision of King Grayskull's past, it was revealed that he rode on a gigantic green lion, who wore the same helmet and armored claws as Battle Cat, although like Grayskull, he was much larger than his modern counterpart. This lion helped defend the castle and was the only one of Grayskull's companions not to become an elder. What happened to him is uncertain, however it does mean that Cringer's presence at He-Man's birth may not have been coincidental, and most likely suggests that the lion followed its master into the Sword of Power, becoming the basis for Battle Cat's power.

[edit] Appearance

Battle Cat is obviously modeled after a tiger, and as Cringer he seems to be roughly the same size as an average tiger. As Battle Cat, he is large enough for He-Man to comfortably ride him. His fur is green, with occasional white/light gray highlights around his mouth and bright yellow stripes.

The 2002 version showed a much greater change from Cringer. His shoulders bulked up considerably and he developed extremely large fangs, which were covered by a battle helmet, essentially portraying him as a Smilodon with a long tail.

[edit] Minicomic appearances

Battle Cat was initially a wild cat whom He-Man called when he was needed. After the success of the cartoon, Cringer starting appearing in the minicomics as well. Like other characters, such as Stratos and Mer-Man, despite being an important character early on Battle Cat's minicomic appearances grew infrequent as the line went on and newer characters were showcased.

Pre-Cringer-

Post-Cringer-

[edit] Miscellaneous

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The Battle Cat toy was sold as a set, with a basic He-Man figure, more or less identical to the 1982 He Man figure.
  • Battle Cat has a rival of sorts, Panthor, a large purple panther-like cat that is Skeletor's equivalent to Battle Cat. Unlike Battle Cat, Panthor does not seem to be able to speak, nor does he have an alternate identity.
  • The classic Battle Cat toy was a smooth green plastic, whereas Panthor had a purple velvet-like coating.

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

The early scripts for the 1980s Filmation He-Man suggested that only those who knew Prince Adam's secret knew that Cringer could talk. This was mostly overlooked as the series progressed, and as early as the second broadcast episode, "Teela's Quest", it was clear that this was not the case, when Queen Marlena makes a comment about Earth not having talking tigers.

Battle Cat was originally conceived by Mattel as one of many generic Battle Cats who served as steeds for both Heroic and Evil Warriors. This is indicated by early promotional material for the toy line, depicting the Heroic Warriors riding atop numerous Battle Cats. Moreover, the original packaging for the Battle Cat toy depicts He-Man and Man-At-Arms riding into battle against Skeletor and Beast Man each of whom is also riding atop a Battle Cat thus indicating that Evil Warriors also utilized these steeds. However, as the story was developed in the minicomics produced by DC, it was established that there is only one Battle Cat, He-Man's trusted companion.

The computer game World of Warcraft features an alternative texture for its standard "tiger" model, depicting it with green and orange striped fur. The texture is used in a Horde only quest that takes place in Felwood, where you must take a corrupted kitten to a moonwell, and for Battle-Tiger, the companion of Adam Eternum, the Alliance Arathi Basin Battlemaster in Shattrath City.

[edit] References