Cats Are Snarkers
Calvin: From now on, the world's going to know exactly what I think of it!
Hobbes: If I see any, I'll tell 'em.
Hobbes: Yes, you've certainly been the model of self-restraint and understatement up until now.
Calvin: Well, no more. (Beat) And I've also resolved not to put up with sarcastic tigers.
Many traits associated with cats, including cleverness and contemptuousness, (among others) tend also to be associated with Deadpan Snarkers—coming mainly from the association with cats as being aloof, unaffected, coming off as superior, and being associated with sense and grace. As such, it only makes sense that some works would have some cats be among their most sarcastic characters, whether as verbally-sarcastic talking cats or as Silent Snarkers. This could sometimes involve a cat as a Snarky Non-Human Sidekick.
Note that this trope isn't JUST about domestic cats, or even about cats that look like domestic cats either. It could apply to bigger cats as well.
Anime & Manga
- Both Luna and Artemis from Sailor Moon are masters of snark, especially when dealing with their respective less-than-devoted proteges.
- Yoruichi from Bleach is quite sarcastic in her cat form... and her human form. Let's just call her a Deadpan Snarker in general.
- Pokémon: Meowth, of course.
- Charle/Carla from Fairy Tail.
- While the title character from Kimba the White Lion is an Ideal Hero, he occasionally says a snarky line when he's talking with his enemies.
Bella Dona: Now tell me, Kimba: What happened to that turtle?! If you don't tell me where that turtle is, I'm going to... I'm going to...
Kimba: You're going to be punished by Tonga for letting him escape? (smiles)
- Toyed with in the "Nekotalia" strips of Axis Powers Hetalia. There are all kinds of cats there, but the only one who really fits in is Tama a.k.a. Japaneko... and that's when he's not ranting about tuna.
Comic Books
- Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch in several adaptations.
- Hairball from Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers.
Films -- Animation
- Jiji, from Kiki's Delivery Service.
- Scar from The Lion King:
Simba: I'm gonna be king of Pride Rock!
Scar: Oh goody.
Simba: My dad just showed me the whole kingdom! And I'm gonna rule it all!
Scar: Yes. Well, forgive me for not leaping for joy, bad back you know.
Simba: Hey uncle Scar! When I'm king, what'll that make you?
Scar: A monkey's uncle.
- Mittens, from Bolt, is the character in the page image.
Bolt: I will Super-Bark you out of that tree!
Mittens: Go nuts. Let's see how that works out for ya.
(Bolt barks)
Mittens: Oh, the super-bark. Scary, scary.
- The Jungle Book
- Bagheera the panther is also a big-time snarker.
Baloo: Oh, stop worrying, Baggy, stop worrying, I'll take care of him!
Bagheera: Yes, like you did when the monkeys kidnapped him, huh?
- As is Shere Khan
- The cat from Coraline fits this trope in both the film and the book.
- Diego from Ice Age.
- Cat R. Waul and Miss Kitty from An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
- Pangur Ban from The Secret of Kells never speaks, but her expressions speak volumes.
Films -- Live-Action
- Sassy from Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
- Binks from Hocus Pocus has moments of this.
Literature
- Maurice, from The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents.
- Mogget from The Old Kingdom. Although he's actually a spirit bound into a cat form. The autthor may have chosen that form for him because of the trope.
- The cat in Coraline.
- Morwen's cats, from the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, are practically an entire brigade of snarker cats. Morwen even notes that it's a good thing witches can only hear their own cats' comments.
- The stray kitchen cat from The Last Unicorn.
- Thomas the cat in Reserved for the Cat. He's a victim of an Involuntary Transformation, but there seems to be a certain psychological Morphic Resonance.
- Quite a few characters from Warrior Cats.
- The cat that lives with Nathan Ridgeway from Old Nathan.
- Tualha from the Young Wizards series. Right up to and including snarking in the Lone Power's face.
- Faithful in The Song of the Lioness quartet.
- Tybalt, who is often referred to "King of Cats", in the October Daye series. He is usually witty and snarky towards Toby.
- Edgewood Dirk of Landover.
Live-Action TV
- Salem, from Sabrina the Teenage Witch, mentioned in the Comic Books section.
Newspaper Comics
- Garfield, of course.
- Hobbes the imaginary and/or covertly-real (depending on how you interpret him) tiger from Calvin and Hobbes is arguably the most frequent Deadpan Snarker in the series.[1]
Calvin: "Live for the moment" is my motto. You never know how long you've got! You could step into the road tomorrow, and wham, you get hit by a cement truck! Then you'd be sorry you put off your pleasures! That's why I say "live for the moment." What's your motto?
Hobbes: "Look down the road."
- Bucky from Get Fuzzy who, like Garfield, has a sidekick who exemplifies Dogs are Dumb.
- Palmtop in Safe Havens has more or less settled into this role.
Video Games
- Sissel from Ghost Trick is certainly a snarker, though even he doesn't find out he's a cat until the very end of the game.
- Sulpher, from Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis, isn't the Mana of Snark, but only because he's actually an ordinary house cat.
- The Cheshire Cat from American McGee's Alice personifies the snarkishness, although "Snark" in that game has a quite different meaning.
Web Comics
- Krosp in Girl Genius. Also a Snarky Non-Human Sidekick.
- Charlene and Leonard in Horndog.
- Spark of Dominic Deegan mostly prefers to make lame puns.
Web Original
Western Animation
- Salem (again!), this time from Sabrina the Animated Series.
- Garfield (again!) -- but Lorenzo Music's deadpan delivery is what sells it.
- Cat from Little Bear.
- Azrael in The Smurfs, though he snarks in meows.
- Socrates from Adventures from the Book of Virtues.
- Fluffy Lopart from Handy Manny is a non-talking example.
- Another non-talking example would be Opal from My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic. The timing of her meows and facial expressions combined give off this trope's feel. This applies especially well to Sweet And Elite, where Rarity keeps talking to Opal about various things and Opal almost constantly responds in a Silent Snarker type way.
- Rita of Animaniacs.
- Custard from the 2003 Strawberry Shortcake version
- SpongeBob SquarePants' pet snail, Gary, who is analogous to a cat.
- ↑ Interestingly enough, author Bill Watterson claimed his pet cat partly inspired the portrayal of Hobbes, but he didn't specify whether or not this included the snarky personality.