Bagheera

Bagheera
The Jungle Book character
Bagheera , as shown in Adventures of Mowgli
First appearance	"Mowgli's Brothers"
Last appearance	"The Spring Running"
Created by	Rudyard Kipling
Information
Species	Black panther (melanistic Indian leopard)
Gender	Male
Relatives	Two parents (deceased)

Bagheera (Hindi: बघीरा; Urdu: بگیڑہ‎ Baghīrā/Bagīdah) is a fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in the Jungle Book (coll. 1894) and the Second Jungle Book (coll. 1895). He is a black panther (melanistic Indian leopard) who serves as friend, protector and mentor to the "man-cub" Mowgli. The word bagheera is Hindi/Urdu for black panther.

"Everybody knew Bagheera, and nobody dared to cross his path; for he was as cunning as Tabaqui, as bold as the wild buffalo, and as reckless as the wounded elephant. But he had a voice as soft as wild honey dripping from a tree, and a skin softer than dawn."

Born in captivity in the menagerie of the Raja of Udaipur, Rajasthan, India, Bagheera begins to plan for his freedom after his mother dies. Once he is mature and strong enough, he breaks the lock on his cage and escapes into the jungle, where his ferocity and cunning nature win him the respect of all its other inhabitants, except Shere Khan the tiger (likely out of his arrogance). Bagheera reveals all this to Mowgli later. None but Mowgli ever learn that Bagheera once wore a collar and chain, explaining the cat's special insight concerning men.

When Father Wolf and Mother Wolf of the Seeonee (Seoni) wolf pack adopt the human "cub" Mowgli and the pack demands that the new cub should be spoken for, Bagheera buys Mowgli's life with a freshly killed bull and helps to raise him as one of the pack. Because his life has been bought by a bull, Mowgli is forbidden to eat cattle (coincidentally, just as the Hindu villagers of the region are also forbidden).