The Cat

* Hostile
* Friendly

Jack (fan-given name, slightly backed up by the song name of his first appearance being "Call Me Jack")

## Character Information

### Associated Tracks

"Call me Jack"

"Dark Fear"

"Passion in Blue"

“*[Anguished cat noise]* ”

ー *The Cat, after being walloped in the face multiple times by Mad Rat.*

**The Cat** is the quaternary Boss Character, appearing after the Mob Rats, Ghost Rat and Mad Heart in stage 4-1 ('Black Hole'), playing a fairly major role in Mad Rat Dead.

## Appearance

The Cat is a black cat of average size with blue eyes, pink paws, and two grey whiskers on each cheek and eyebrow. All of his body except his face, neck, and arms is shrouded by environmental darkness.

## Abilities

In comparison to the game's protagonist, Mad Rat, the Cat has size, speed, and strength alone to be a nearly unmatchable foe by logic -- killing an entire group of Stray Rats with a single swipe, and being able to slide down and climb up flooding waterways.

## Story

### Role in the Plot

The Cat first appears in the beginning cutscene of stage 4-1 as an antagonist to Mad Rat; seemingly appearing as a piece of cheese to Mad Rat up until Heart snaps him out of his hallucination with a smack, revealing the Cat's true form. The Cat tries to rend him with sharp claws, and the chase sequence (Stage 4-1) begins.

Eventually, (in the cutscene tailing Stage 4-3) Mad Rat and Heart catch up to a group of Stray Rats, who are all celebrating over seemingly nothing, until they mention cheese falling from the sky, and thanking the Rat God for it all. The Cat, who was hiding in a tree stump right next to the group, appears suddenly and, raising a paw full of viciously sharp claws, turns the entire group of Stray Rats into a red squishy stain on the ground in one fell swoop, before turning his sights to Mad Rat.

However, before the Cat lunges at Mad Rat, he is saved by a Little Human Girl. Although not grateful to his rescuer- most likely due to rough handling by his tail, mixed with his fear and confusion and stubborn ideal of hating humans- Mad Rat did make it out alive. After wriggling free from the Human Girl's grasp, Mad Rat makes his way back to the waterway he came *out* of during the Ghost Rat battle, but after making his way through most of it (Stage 4-5 'Dark Waterway [reprise]'), is cornered yet again by the Cat, who has followed him down there. Mad Rat decides to fight the Cat.

After defeating the Cat in Stage 4-6 ('VS Black Cat'), he falls into deep thick sewer water and start drowning, Mad Rat has a moment of disbelief turned pity, and decides to turn back time in order to get himself, Heart and the Cat out of the waterway alive. Warning the Cat of their impending doom, with the cat sensing the rat's intentions and noticing the rising water levels himself, Mad Rat convinces the Cat to help him throughout stage 5-1 ('Pawsitive Interaction') by sticking out his neck and paws (with claws sheathed), providing platforms to escape rising waters and pitfalls on.

After all escaping to a higher waterway, Mad Rat, although confused by himself, has a moment of clarity, but puffs up when Heart thanks him for saving the Cat. Although the Cat is very grateful, Mad Rat still acts very jumpy and aloof around the newly-reformed Cat when he tries to come closer -- Mad Rat stating *"I can't help it. It's my instinct to run away from cats."* Mad Rat comes to the conclusion that it must be a disease that's causing rats to seek out cats in a mind-altered state, and warns the Cat not to eat any more rats, in case he catches *"whatever it is."* After Mad Rat scurries off, Heart stays a moment to listen to the Cat's unspoken request to thank the grumpy rodent for choosing to save him, Heart obliges, and the scene ends.

The Cat appears one final time in the ending cutscene of Stage 5-7 ('VS Phantom Moon') to greet a passed-out Mad Rat in a familial manner. Mad Rat, still being a rat, and having just experienced a very intense hallucination at the hands of the Rat God, is frightened at first, but after Heart reminds him that this was the very Cat he saved earlier, he calms down. After flinching again for the Cat's sudden closeness, Heart asks Mad Rat if he still hates cats; *"I can't help it. I'm a rat, after all."* is Mad Rat's response. After this small interaction, Mad Rat remembers that he still has the cheese given to him at the end of Stage 5-3 ('City at Night [reprise]') Handing over the half-eaten cheese to the feline, he grumbles; *"I still can't say that I like cats, but... I'm glad you were the cat that came."*

### Afterstory

It's heavily implied that, after Mad Rat turns back time to save Heart, that Heart manages to convince the Black Cat to not eat rats anymore as per Mad Rat's request, and on account of now knowing about the ''Rat God's'' true form and intentions.

## Trivia

* Depending on what language the game is played in, the Cat's boss-battle stage music can be referred to as either "Black Fear" or "Dark Fear".
* Some fans have adopted the name "Jack" for the Black Cat, due to the song where he first appears' title being "Call Me Jack". However, there has been no confirmation that Jack is the Black Cat's name, only speculation.

## Gallery

The Cat, leering out from a hole in the wall.The Cat after smashing the Stray Rats, ready to rend Mad Rat limb from limb.The Cat, after becoming friendly towards Mad Rat.The Cat's raw Character Sprite.The image accompanying the Trophy Achievement 'Dark Fear'.