Cat

Cat (also known as Byakko or Baihu; lit. "White Tiger") is a summoning magic spell ability used as a sub-weapon by Maria Renard in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and Portrait of Ruin, and by Soma Cruz in Castlevania: Aria or Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow with a Student Witch's soul. The ability summons a cat that runs along the floor damaging any enemy that gets in its way, until it hits a wall or exits the screen.
This cat is often a miniature version of Baihu, a white tiger with black stripes from Chinese mythology which is one of the "Four Symbols" and represented the West and the Autumn season. The item crash for the cat unleashes the great Baihu/Byakko himself, which has different incarnations depending on the game.
==Appearances==
===Castlevania: Rondo of Blood===
A white black striped cat leaps from Maria's arms and runs along the ground, charging at any enemies in its path. If it strikes an enemy, it is stunned for a second, then leaps a little and continues moving forward. After a while it disappears. If it runs into a ledge, it will be stunned and then try to jump over it if it is small enough. It is found at the same locations where Richter would find an Axe.
Its item crash involves Maria riding Byakko, the giant white tiger. The tiger starts on ground level, then turns around at the end of the screen and races mid-screen, then reaches the end again, turns around, and races at the top of the screen.
In the ending for Maria Mode, when Maria blames Dracula for "being so mean to everyone" regarding his defeat, the cat is heard growling at him.
===Castlevania: Symphony of the Night===
When defeated, a Witch will turn into a small black cat and scurry away at full speed along the floor, inflicting minimal damage to the player if they stand on its path. This ability would return in later incarnations, such as in Aria of Sorrow, although in those cases the cat would merely appear for aesthetics and not deal any damage at all.
Wearing the Cat-Eye Circlet allows Alucard to restore some HP by being hit by these small critters. However, other feline enemies, such as the Lion or the Black Panther, will still deal full damage, nonetheless.
====Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Saturn)====
The Cat in the Sega Saturn version of Symphony of the Night is not a sub-weapon and does not resemble the Cat found in Rondo of Blood. Instead, it's a spell that Maria can use at any time. Maria calls upon the spirit of Byakko, the white tiger, which allows her to cast a great spell of flames that come out of her hands. On rare occasions, the flames appear gray and deal twice as much damage. Maria is invulnerable while the spell is being cast.
===Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow===
Student Witches can toss purple cats at Soma. When absorbing their souls he can duplicate this ability, which is similar to Maria's Cat sub-weapon. However, it is blue (to match Soma's color), unlike Maria's white-striped tiger cat.
Soma has ⅛ chance to throw a kitten instead of an adult cat. This is merely an aesthetic change, however, as it doesn't change its attack power.
===Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow===
As in the previous game, Soma can absorb a Student Witch's soul to give him the ability to release a charging black cat.
===Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin===
Maria's black and white cat is released and charges at enemies. In this game, it keeps on running through enemies instead of bouncing off of them. It also deals Electric damage, causing massive damage to armor type enemies, which are vulnerable to its ground based attack. The cat stops moving once it hits a wall and then disappears. It also disappears once its time has run out.
===Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles===
In The Dracula X Chronicles version of Symphony of the Night, Maria's cat behaves more like it did in the original Rondo of Blood and its 2.5D remake. It tries to jump over ledges and attacks enemies multiple times if they get in its way. For its Item Crash, Byakko, the white tiger, appears behind Maria. For about 5 seconds, whenever she attacks using her Owls, tiger's claw swipe marks appear at various distances in front of her, which give her attacks the Cut attribute in addition to the Holy element, and function in a similar way to the Vorpal Blade and Crissaegrim weapons.
===Castlevania Judgment===
The Byakko Call Finisher summons the spirit of the Cat into her owl, Osca, after Maria has jumped. The cat then compels the Owl to dive down to the ground, smashing Maria into the ground in the process. The move can be followed up by another Finisher called Hang on a Minute, in which the owl is compelled to fly low to the ground straight forward like a cat running on the ground, running into her opponent.
===Castlevania: Harmony of Despair===
Maria's Cat appears as it does in Portrait of Ruin and deals out Slash and Lightning damage. Soma Cruz is also able to summon an 8-bit Retro Black Leopard that runs in a similar manner once he gains its soul.
===Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls===
There is a whole class of Cat subweapons in Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls. They generally move like cats from other games, and turn when hitting a wall. They may have different attributes and there are several types.
===Dead Cells===
Maria's cat appears as a summon-type power skill added by the Return to Castlevania DLC. The cat attacks enemies he comes across. After reactivating him, he unleashes his power and deals a powerful flurry of scratches that deal critical damage.
==Item Data==
==Gallery==
===Artworks===
Byakko.png|Cat from the Japanese Rondo of Blood instruction booklet.
Por pic 30.jpg|Maria, Byakko and Richter from an official Portrait of Ruin wallpaper.
Por pic 28.jpg|Charlotte and Maria with Byakko from an official Portrait of Ruin wallpaper.
Maria Renard - Grimoire of Souls - 01.png|Maria and her four sacred beasts armor illustration from Grimoire of Souls.
===Screenshots===
Horror Beyond Nightmares - Nocturne - 55.png|Maria summoning a white lynx-like creature in the Nocturne animated series.
Freedom Was Sweeter - Nocturne - 70.png
Freedom Was Sweeter - Nocturne - 74.png
Horrors Rising from the Earth - Nocturne - 44.png
Horrors Rising from the Earth - Nocturne - 50.png
Blood is the Only Way - Nocturne - 19.png
Blood is the Only Way - Nocturne - 54.png
Devourer of Light - Nocturne - 20.png
Devourer of Light - Nocturne - 35.png
===Animations===
====Sub-weapon====
AoS Student Witch.gif|Student Witch soul from Aria of Sorrow.
DOS Student Witch.gif|Student Witch soul from Dawn of Sorrow.
POR Byakko.gif|Byakko from Portrait of Ruin.
DXC Cat.gif|Cat from The Dracula X Chronicles.
SOTN Cat.gif|Cat from The Dracula X Chronicles version of Symphony of the Night.
J Byakko Call Maria.gif|Byakko Call from Judgment.
HD Bai Hu.gif|Bai Hu from Harmony of Despair.
====Item Crash====
Saturn Byakko.gif|Byakko from the Sega Saturn version of Symphony of the Night.
DXC Cat 2.gif|Cat Item Crash from The Dracula X Chronicles.
SOTN Cat 2.gif|Cat Item Crash from from The Dracula X Chronicles version of Symphony of the Night.
==See also==
*Cat (Order of Ecclesia)
==External links==
*Maria's Cat at the Dead Cells Wiki on wiki.gg
Category:Animals
Category:Bullet Souls
Category:Character Skills
Category:Chinese Lore
Category:Fire Spells
Category:Holy Spells
Category:Lightning Assets
Category:Pierce Damage
Category:Slash Damage
Category:Strike Damage
Category:Sub-Weapons
Category:Summoning Spells
Category:The Dracula X Chronicles Items
Category:Grimoire of Souls Items
Category:Judgment Items
Category:Portrait of Ruin Items
Category:Rondo of Blood Items
Category:Symphony of the Night Items