Nekomata

## Origin

### Origin

Nekomata are a cat-like species of Youkai which specialize in using ki within the East Youkai Faction

**Nekomata** (猫又, lit. *Forked Cat*) are one of the species of Youkai featured in *High School DxD.*

## Summary

Nekomata are a cat-like species of Youkai that specialize in using *ki* within the East Youkai Faction who are under the rule of Magari, the leader of the Nekomatas. The Nekomata mainly consist of females, with male Nekomata being rare among their species.

Female Nekomata generally mate with the males of different races, mainly with human males, due to the traditional teachings. Female Nekomata has a "mating season" where they go into heat, as seen by Koneko Toujou, who went into heat and attempted to seduce Issei in order to have his baby. The childbearing age range appears to differ compared to human women as seen with Koneko when Kuroka stopped her from mating with Issei, explaining she was still too small to give birth to a child despite being 16.

The child born between a Human and a Nekomata will always be a Nekomata. If a Nekomata breeds with another species, their child will also inherit the characteristic of that partner's species, as demonstrated by Kuroka's desire to bear the child of a Heavenly Dragon like Vali Lucifer or Issei Hyoudou.

## Appearance

Nekomata bears a striking physical resemblance to humans, albeit with a set of cat ears and generally have two tails. They also have eyes with cat-like pupils. The only exception to that is Magari, whose appearance is completely that of a cat albeit with seven tails.

## Abilities

Being a cat-like species, Nekomata naturally has great reflexes and heightened senses.

Nekomata's are capable of transformation to appear more human, however, this supposedly limits their natural capabilities to a certain degree until they regrowing back their ears and tails, it's not specified if they can fully transform into cats.

Nekomata are also capable of performing Senjutsu and Youjutsu techniques. A Nekomata's power level seems to be determined by the number of tails they have, as exampled by when Koneko grew a third tail and surpassed her sister in terms of strength, this also would explain how Magari has seven tails.

Matured Nekomata's have control over their mating season, as was shown by Kuroka, who didn't let her desire for mating cloud her mind, but young Nekomata like Koneko do not. They also appear to have this control overs since Kuroka was able to switch off her sister's heat and when Magari was able to switch it back on for her and Kuroka from a short distance at any time.

## Variants

### Nekoshou

 File:Kuroka .png
The **Nekoshou** (猫魈, *Nekoshō*) is a special variant of Nekomata and are the strongest among their types. Nekoshou is high-level Youkai species that are capable of mastering both Youjutsu and Senjutsu. The only known Nekoshou are Kuroka and Koneko Toujou, as the Nekoshou are stated to be on the brink of extinction.

## Trivia

* In Japanese mythology, Nekomata Youkai is stated to have a tail that is partially split in two, like Kuroka, but Koneko has been shown to have only one tail, mostly due to the fact that she is still young and has yet to fully mature. Later in the series, however, she was shown to have two tails and later obtained a third tail during her fight with Kuroka.
* Currently all known Nekomata has been reincarnated into Devils with the exception of Magari.
* Nekomata has a special characteristic where they can reproduce with other supernatural beings, but if it was a human, then that child would be a nekomata. However, if they were to mate with a different species other than a human, then the child would also have the characteristic of that species.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Light Novel Volume 7, Life 1