Bagheera

**Bagheera** is the tritagonist of *The Jungle Book*. He served as the guardian of the "man-cub", Mowgli and is the somewhat reluctant companion of Baloo.

## Background

### Personality

Bagheera is presented as a wise figure. Level headed and intelligent, the panther is amongst the most down-to-earth residents of the jungle. When first introduced, he is seen as a selfless and caring individual, rescuing the orphaned Mowgli, and going out of his way to ensure his safety from that moment forward. Although he cares a great deal about the man-cub, Bagheera is also easily frustrated and intolerable of tomfoolery. This would result in rather heated arguments against the two, specifically in regards to whether or not Mowgli should remain in the jungle or return to the Man Village to live amongst his own species. Bagheera's temper can occasionally blind his sense of judgment, resulting in careless behavior such as abandoning Mowgli in the jungle despite the knowing dangers that lurk. Nevertheless, he is quick to reform and repeatedly finds himself by Mowgli's side once again. He is a devoted ally and makes it a crucial objective to protect those he cares about.

Bagheera is also commonly known as the foil of Baloo the bear, whom the former views as a "stupid, jungle bum". The two have opposite personalities, and continuously annoy one another with their need to push their own personal opinions onto each other. Nevertheless, these conflicts mostly centered around Mowgli's fate, and the two generally share a brotherly bond. Following the climax, when it appeared Baloo had met his demise, Bagheera revealed that he truly did care for the bear, and was notably embarrassed to see that Baloo had overheard his heartfelt eulogy. Once Mowgli made the decision to return to the Man Village, Bagheera and Baloo joyfully returned to their lives in the jungle, setting aside their differences and remained together as best friends.

## Differences from the source material

* In the books, Bagheera was the opposite of his Disney counterpart. In Kipling's works, Bagheera was sassy, cheerful, reckless and cunning while Disney's version was strict, no-nonsense, level-headed and short-tempered.
* In the books, Bagheera was born in captivity. As a cub he was a pet owned by the prince of Udaipur until he escaped into the wild. Because he could relate to Mowgli being an orphan and an outsider, Bagheera quickly befriended Mowgli. Bagheera's origin was a secret that he shared only with Mowgli. In the Disney version, Bagheera was born and raised in the wild.
* In the books, Bagheera was not the one who discovered Mowgli (Mowgli made his own way to the wolves while fleeing from Shere Khan) and they did not meet until word spread of Raksha adopting a man-cub. In the Disney version, Bagheera discovered Mowgli abandoned by a river. Feeling sorry for the child, Bagheera brought him to Raksha and Rama, who agreed to care for him.
	+ However, in the books, Bagheera sided with Raksha when the wolf council discussed Mowgli's fate and bought Mowgli's life with a hunted bull and gave the man-cub to Raksha.
* Unlike the Disney version, Kipling's Bagheera was not a personal friend of Akela nor an honorary member of the pack. He was, however, a close friend to Mowgli, Grey Brother, Baloo and Raksha.
* In the books, Bagheera occasionally spoiled Mowgli a bit. In the Disney version, Bagheera took discipline and responsibility very seriously. It should also be noted that in the books, Bagheera was not a parental figure for Mowgli like in the 1967 film, but rather he saw Mowgli like a younger brother and Mowgli looked up to him as an older brother.

## Trivia

* In the original film, Bagheera has a thick British accent, while in *Jungle Cubs*, he speaks without a British accent.
* In the Soviet animated version of *The Jungle Book* Bagheera's gender was swapped due to the fact that the Russian word for "panther" is considered feminine. In *The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story*, Bagheera is also a female.
* David Tomlinson was considered to voice Bagheera.
* Bagheera was an honorary member of Akela's wolf council, in spite of being a panther.
* In the 2016 film, Bagheera and Shere Khan do battle twice. In real life, tigers and leopards are competitors and enemies; tigers will drive leopards from their kills and will kill both adults and cubs to rid themselves of competition. Leopards will also kill tiger cubs if and when they can find them to rid themselves of competition for food and territory.
* Ironically, Bagheera's name actually means "black tiger" in Hindi. (Furthermore, some black leopards have often been mistaken for black tigers, though it is unknown if true black tigers ever existed.)
* In some parts of the first movie, like when he slapped Kaa's mouth to save Mowgli and when he grabbed Baloo's cheeks when he asked the bear to tell him what happened to Mowgli, Bagheera had five fingers and in other parts, like when he was demonstrating a lethal swipe at Baloo in their argument, he had four, whereas in the second movie he had five fingers when he was holding onto Colonel Hathi's tusks.
* Bagheera experiences a lot of injuries in the film.
* Even though he and Shere Khan knew each other since childhood, they never interact or see each other in the first or second *Jungle Book*. However, they do interact with one another in the cutscenes of *Born to Be Wild* and the 2016 remake.
* In the *DuckTales* episode "Nothing to Fear", Duckworth is chased by a panther (although is it just an illusion) that strongly resembles Bagheera.
* While Bagheera himself was left out of the television series, *TaleSpin*, Shere Khan's team of elite panther pilots bear a striking resemblance to him. It is more than likely that they serve as a homage to him.
* Bagheera meets Thomas, Twilight Sparkle and their friends in *Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's Adventures of The Jungle Book.*
* Bagheera, along with Baloo and King Louie guest star in Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's Adventures Series.
* Bagheera is voiced by Sebastian Cabot in the 1967 animated film, Ben Kingsley in the 2016 film, and currently by Bob Joles.

## Gallery

Bagheera comes upon an infant Mowgli in The Jungle Book.Bagheera in The Jungle Book 2.Bagheera as a cub in Jungle Cubs.Bagheera with the rest of The Jungle Book cast in House of Mouse.Bagheera (live action)Bagheera with MowgliBagheera with BalooBagheera with Colonel Hathi on the log bridgeSome or all of the content on this page is sourced from the Disney Wiki.

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