Battle Cat

Battle Cat
Masters of the Universe character
def not Cringer (top) and Battle Cat (bottom).
Created by	Mattel
Voiced by	Alan Oppenheimer (1983–1985)
Information
Aliases	Cringer

Battle Cat is a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise. He is a large cat with green fur and yellow stripes in a tiger-like pattern, and he serves primarily as He-Man's fighting mount.

Battle Cat is the alter ego of 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 given for this ability. He has the appearance of a green, orange-striped tiger. 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, but in the episode "A Beastly Sideshow", Evil-Lyn also refers to Cringer as a tiger, and in the episode "House of Shokoti", a boy is surprised that he is "a talking tiger". However, 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 Cringer 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 cannot stand becoming Battle Cat, but he goes along with it out of loyalty to Adam. He largely serves as a mount for He-Man, but is known for fighting with villains as well. Battle Cat also has a love interest in the episode "The Cat And The Spider": Kittrina, a warrior of the cat-people.

The story of Cringer/Battle Cat's past is covered in the episode "Battle Cat". The episode recounts that Adam, while on a few days exploring the jungle as a boy, heard a kitten whining in a bush and a sabrecat approaching. Concerned that the sabrecat might attack the smaller cat, Adam was able to scare the sabrecat away by using a manticore call and headed to the bush where he discovered a small green tiger cub who had been abandoned. 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 easily, and he and Adam were often teased by Teela and the other children in Eternia, who took to calling him a "cringer" because of his fear causing him to cringe at everything he saw. Although Adam defended his pet, he agreed with calling him Cringer because it was appropriate for the little cat as he was afraid of his own shadow. The Sorceress appeared and told Adam that Cringer might bring him embarrassment now, but in the future he would be useful.