Home > The Cat (Red Dwarf)

The character has no name besides, "The Cat." He is the humanoid descendant of a modern house cat called Frankenstein, which had been Dave Lister's pet cat. He is believed to be the last remaining member of his species, Felis sapiens. His mother was a cripple who whacked The Cat over the head with a frying pan after he tried to have sex with her. His father was mentally challenged and ate his own feet. They were left behind after the truce of the Cats. He has an alternate version of himself in an opposite universe called The Dog. His alter ego is the 'Prince of Dorks', Duane Dibbley, who is the complete opposite of the Cat.

As a humanoid cat, he exhibits the qualities of coolness, vanity, and aloofness. He loves to dress well in extravagant clothing, and to dance and scream like James Brown. He often carries a mirror and is meticulous about his appearance. He rarely calls his crewmates by name, preferring to call Kryten "Novelty Condom Head" or "half eaten lollypop head", Rimmer "Goalpost Head" or "Toilet-brush-hair", Lister "Buddy" or "Gerbil-face" and Kochanski "Officer Bud-Babe".

In early episodes, The Cat exhibits feline behaviors such as licking anyone who gives him food and marking his territory, for which purpose he carries a small spray-can (contents unknown) in his pocket. While scent-marking, he repeats, "This is mine, this is mine." He seems totally self-absorbed and unconcerned with the problems facing the rest of the crew. But by series 4 he develops a friendship with Lister--possibly due to their mutual contempt for Rimmer. As he learns to relate to the crew, he eventually stops licking them and marking his territory. He becomes a skilled pilot and develops an ability to "smell" danger, even in space, although he doesn't grasp scientific terms.

In the first and second pilot episodes of an American version of the television series, the Cat was also played by Hinton Battle and Terry Farrell respectively.

The cat is an anthropomorphized caricature of a cat, and thus recalls the cats of T.S. Eliot's book, Old Possum's Book of Practical CatsOld Possum's Book of Practical Cats is a set of whimsical poems by T. Eliot about feline psychology and sociology. It was first published in 1939. The work is known for inspiring and supplying most of the words to the long-running Andrew Lloyd Webber musi.