Battle Cat

Battle Cat
Montage to show difference between Cringer and Battle Cat.
Portrayed by	Alan Oppenheimer - 1983
Information
Secret Identity	Cringer
Affiliations	He-Man

Cringer redirects here. For Cringer the band see Cringer (band).

Battle Cat is a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise. He is a large green tiger, with yellow stripes that He-Man fights alongside.^[1]

Battle Cat (1983-1985)

Battle Cat alter ego is Cringer, the cowardly, lazy, over-eating feline companion of Prince Adam. He tends to spend most of his time as Cringer sleeping, eating, and avoiding responsibility, as well as hiding at the slightest sign of trouble or danger. He can talk, although no reason is ever really given for this ability, and he is treated as if speaking is completely normal. In the episode "Teela's Quest", Queen Marlena says to Adam in regards to the planet Earth, "There are no talking green tigers on Earth." It is not known if her referring to Cringer as a tiger means he is called a tiger on Eternia, or if she is simply using it as a comparison, although in the episode "A Beastly Sideshow" Evil-Lyn also refers to Cringer as a tiger. His species is never given an explicit name and it is unclear how many others like him there are. When Prince Adam transforms into He-Man, he holds his sword out and fires an energy beam at Cringer, transforming him into Battle Cat. When he becomes Battle Cat, he grows to about twice his size, and is outfitted in red armor that covers his head, and back, with a saddle mounted on it for riding. As Battle Cat, he is fearless, and powerful. His voice changes significantly, and he talks with a growl, as opposed to his whimpering voice that is heard when he is Cringer. Cringer generally dislikes becoming Battle Cat, but he goes along with it anyway. He largely serves as a mount for He-Man, but he is known for mixing it up with the villains as well. Oddly enough, Battle Cat is given a love interest; in the episode "The Cat And The Spider" Kittrina, a warrior of the cat-people took a shine to him from the start.

The story of Cringer/Battle Cat's past is covered in the episode "Battlecat". The episode recounts that Adam, while on a few days exploring the jungle as a boy, found a kitten being attacked by a vicious sabrecat. After scaring the sabrecat away, Adam took the kitten back to the palace where it was tended to by Man-At-Arms. After it became well, Adam adopted the kitten as his pet. However the kitten was scared very easily, and Adam and the kitten were teased by Teela and the other children, with the kitten being called a cringer. Although Adam defended his pet, the name stuck. The Sorceress appeared and told Adam that Cringer might bring him embarrassment now, but in the future he would be useful.[1] Years passed, and after Adam was given the ability to become He-Man he usually hid from Cringer. However, when an archeological dig was attacked by a recently released monster, Adam transformed into He-Man without knowing Cringer was watching. After spotting him, He-Man tried to reassure his pet that he was really Adam, but after pointing the Sword of Power towards Cringer it let out the usual energy beam, transforming Cringer into Battle Cat for the first time. He-Man was shocked to see the change in the usually timid cat, but remembered the Sorceress' words from when he was a child and he received another message, telling him Battle Cat was now his partner. Using Battle Cat, he was able to confine the beast and save the endangered team.

Battle Cat (2002)

Cringer is somewhat of a pet to Adam. Although it seems clear he can understand what is said to him, he cannot speak and sounds like a typical house cat. He is a coward, although this does not come up as much as in the original series, but more than once he has shown some bravery in order to help Adam. As Battle Cat, he is most often seen merely transporting He-Man and roaring loudly. However, while in the first season he only has a few moments where he fights (he goes one-on-one with Panthor, helps against Evilseed's vines, fights and defeats giant mutated rats, takes out Clawful and fights a powered up Tri-Klops), in season 2 the writers gave him a more active role; he often fights against the Snake Men (he nearly kills Kobra Khan) and Skeletor's forces. Since he never speaks, there seems to be an effort to portray his relationship with Adam/He-Man as more than master/pet, most often through either Battle Cat or Cringer being badly injured and He-Man entering a rage, or by He-Man explaining things to him. He is twice seen without his battle helmet, revealing a rather fiercer, sabertoothed version of Cringer's face beneath (in the original series, only the helmet had large incisors, and Battle Cat had normal teeth).^[2]

References