Salem Saberhagen

Salem Saberhagen
Sabrina the Teenage Witch character
Sabrina Spellman holding Salem Saberhagen. From Sabrina the Teenage Witch (vol. 3) #42 (April 2003). Art by Holly G!
First appearance	Archie's Mad House #22 (October 1962)
Created by	Dan DeCarlo George Gladir
Voiced by	Dallas McKennon (Filmation series) Nick Bakay (Sitcom series, Sabrina: The Animated Series) Maurice LaMarche (Sabrina's Secret Life) Ian James Corlett (Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch)
Information
Species	American Shorthair cat, formerly a witch
Gender	Male
Family	Comics None Sitcom Morty Saberhagen (uncle) Goliath Saberhagen (uncle) Grandpappy Saberhagen (grandfather) Grammy Saberhagen (grandmother)
Significant other(s)	Comics None Sitcom Shelley (ex-girlfriend)
Children	Comics None Sitcom Annabelle Saberhagen (daughter)
Relatives	Comics None Sitcom Morty Saberhagen (uncle) Goliath Saberhagen (uncle) Gummo Saberhagen (father) Grandpappy Saberhagen (grandfather) Grammy Saberhagen (grandmother) Mrs. Saberhagen (mother) Cheryl (cousin)
Nationality	American
Other Information
Powers	As a cat, possesses either limited or no magical abilities. As a witch, possessed a vast range of magical powers, including the ability to time travel, fly and shape-shift
Hair Color	Black
Eye Color	Yellowish/Gold

Salem Saberhagen is a character from the American Archie Comics comic series Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Salem is an American Shorthair cat who lives with Sabrina Spellman, Hilda Spellman and Zelda Spellman in the fictional town of Greendale, located near Riverdale. A former witch, Salem was sentenced by the Witch's Council to spend an indefinite amount of time as a cat, as punishment for trying to take over the world; the sitcom establishes this time frame to be a century. Salem first appeared alongside Sabrina in Archie's Mad House #22 in 1962, and was created by George Gladir and Dan DeCarlo.

Earlier comics portray Salem as an ordinary orange-colored feline who does not speak. With the debut and success of the 1990s live-action Sabrina the Teenage Witch sitcom, Salem's backstory and character underwent several retcons to bring it more in line with the sitcom's version. A late 1990s story initially revealed Salem was turned into a cat for standing up Enchantra, the Head Witch, at the altar. A similar version of events was presented in a 1990s live-action TV movie, where he was imprisoned in the form of a cat for attempting to use his magic to make a mortal love him. However, the comics eventually gave Salem a similar backstory to that shown in the sitcom and its spinoff, Sabrina: The Animated Series. Further details about Salem's past before his transformation into a cat were revealed in the 2000s manga-inspired version of the comic, written and drawn by Tania del Rio.

He has a barbed wit and is often the first character to come up with the one-liners or obvious puns in a scene. In addition to world domination, his ambitious plotting often includes attempts to make millions, become a famous celebrity, regain his magical powers, and become human again. He sometimes dispenses (bad) advice to Sabrina, often involving using magic to solve a problem, which usually ends up leaving Sabrina with even more problems than with which she began. He is motivated mostly by his greed, hunger, and ambition. Salem is proud of his singing voice, which he has shown off during the series. Some of his favorite pastimes include playing with yarn, lint spotting, surfing the internet, and reading Sabrina's diary. In the early part of the series, Salem is seen feuding with the neighbor's cat, Fluffy. He has a liking for Lizard Flakes, a snack for cats which is said to be fattening and full of cholesterol. In the show's pilot, he made the remark to Sabrina that he misses being able to dance. In some episodes, Salem acts more like a cat than a human, as if he was really one all along. Despite his mischief, greed, and egocentricity, he is shown in many episodes to genuinely love the Spellmans, especially Sabrina, and also is very fond of Harvey. Harvey learned Salem's true nature sometime around the end of high school. Salem is also known for his trademark sobbing when distressed.