History Main / RightHandCat

UsefulNotes/CardinalRichelieu was a famous cat-lover (he owned 14 cats at the time of his death) -- and got a HistoricalVillainUpgrade since Creator/AlexandreDumas' ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers''. Some adaptations picture him petting a white cat while scheming, making Richelieu the likely {{Trope Maker|s}}.

[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu Cardinal Richelieu]] was a famous cat-lover (he owned 14 cats at the time of his death) and he got a HistoricalVillainUpgrade since Creator/AlexandreDumas' ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers''. Most adaptations picture him petting a white cat while scheming, making Richelieu the likely {{Trope Maker|s}}.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'': Deborah Leevil the evil head of CEO of Creator/{{BET}}, holds a dog like other villains hold cats. It appears to be dead, which gives you an idea of her mental state.

** "Assignment Earth". Gary Seven has a black cat named Isis that appears to be intelligent. At the end of the episode it's revealed that Isis is actually a beautiful humanoid female who can take cat form (or vice-versa).
** "Catspaw". Korob has a pet black cat. Since he's dressed (and acts) like a wizard, Spock assumes that the cat is his familiar. Later on the cat changes into the form of a beautiful woman, and it turns out that she's really the episode's BigBad.
* ''Series/{{Titans|2018}}''. Lampshaded in Season 3 when [[spoiler:Jason Todd]] becomes a BigBadWannabe. When he wires Hank to a bomb and demands a ransom in gold bars hijacked from a Gotham bank, instead of the [[BoringButPractical money being wired]] to a SwissBankAccount, Hank sarcastically wonders if he's stroking a white cat as well.

* ''Series/WillAndGrace'' episode "Bully Wooley" had Karen Walker confronting Scott Wooley/Jeff Goldblum (right after he drank cat pee thinking it was champagne) in the climax while stroking a white Persian.

** Gary Seven with Isis in the episode "Assignment: Earth" is initially thought to be a villain, but this is {{Subverted}} at the episode's end when Gary Seven is revealed to be trying to save the human race from a nuclear war, and Isis is revealed to be a shapeshifter.
** Also, in the episode "Catspaw", the villain Korob has a black cat, who turns to be another shapeshifter, Sylvia, who later turns into a ''giant'' black cat.

* In the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' spoofing of "Stranded In Space", Joel and the bots dress up as a BigBad and his thugs, and Joel clutches and caresses a Right Hand ''Turtle'' in a tiny goldfish bowl.

* ''Series/RedDwarf''. Parodied in the opening scene of "Stoke Me a Clipper", where Ace Rimmer's evil Nazi opponent is first shown via a lap-level view of his hand stroking his [[NeverSmileAtACrocodile pet crocodile]], Snappy.

* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''. In the MirrorUniverse episode, Captain Archer's dog Porthos has changed from an adorable beagle to a snarling rottweiler.

* In the modern film version of ''Film/{{Hairspray}}'', Velma von Tussle gets a fluffy white Persian to stroke in one scene.

The BigBad's Right-Hand Cat will have varying degrees of a personality depending on the context of the series. Some will display sentient facial expressions and even an evil laugh, showing a morality in sync with their master's. Some just sit there, emotionless, yawning and purring like any other ordinary pet. Even in animation, the cat will probably never speak, but it will almost always have a name.

* Inverted in ''Film/CatsAndDogs'' where the villains of the film are cats who just happen to be led by a white Persian. The leader Persian Cat invokes this trope to interact with humans, using a comatose man in a wheelchair. The human's mouth has a bandana or something around it, so the cat make others think the human is talking, so as not to freak everybody out with a talking cat.

** A FunnyBackgroundEvent shows that while the base in ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'' is being attacked, the cat is dead scared and trying to escape Blofeld's grasp![[note]]As you can imagine this wasn't acting by the cat; it became startled by the pyrotechnics and ran off, and it actually took the film crew ''several days'' of searching before they found the poor thing hiding in the rafters. Apparently, the cat also had a rather nasty habit of relieving itself on Donald Pleasence's lap during filming.[[/note]]

* In the extended version of ''Film/TheMuppets2011''' VillainSong "Let's Talk About Me", CorruptCorporateExecutive Tex Richman gets a little sidetracked from boasting about how great it is to be him when he mentions gold-plating his ''gold,'' which leads him to:

** There was a Bond comic strip for a while, where [[DaddysLittleVillain Blofeld's daughter]] was running SPECTRE. She also had a cat, albiet a black one (probably drawing on [[AllWitchesHaveCats another trope]]).

* One of the earliest examples of this trope would be Victorian Era supervillain Dr. Nikola, who was always accompanied by a huge, black cat named Appolyon.

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''. The girls once defeated an archetypal [[TheFaceless faceless]] villain who stole a valuable jewel to power a laser, and took his pet cat home afterwards. The ''cat'' [[TheDogWasTheMastermind was actually the villain all along]] and hypnotized TheProfessor into almost finishing the mass [[{{Brainwashed}} brainwashing]] project.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' has Mojo Jojo becoming a mob boss and the girls finding him sitting in the mayor's chair, with a little boy sitting on his lap while stroking his head in this manner. Mojo is using said boy as a way to intimidate the girls, who they believe has "cooties" that would kill them.

* In ''Webcomic/TheBrickTestament'', the evil pharaoh of Egypt in ''[[Literature/BookOfExodus Exodus]]'' is [[http://www.thebricktestament.com/exodus/first_meeting_with_pharaoh/ex05_02.html portrayed with a pet cat]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'', Gru has a bizarre-looking mongrel dog named Kyle. Hilariously, a bio-scan in [[WesternAnimation/DespicableMe2 the sequel]] is unable to even recognize Kyle as a dog. (SPECIES: UNKNOWN)

* Referenced in ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries''; Ishizu tries to tell Marik that he's not really evil, because evil people do things like stroke cats while sitting in revolving chairs. Shortly thereafter, Marik tells his henchman to drive to Wal-Mart so he can purchase a revolving chair and a kitten.

* [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2005-02-16 Parodied]] in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' when Ellen holds Brownie and laughs maniacally while stroking her. The title of the strip notes that cats make good props refering to their use in this trope.

* In the ''Website/SCPFoundation'' story ''[[http://www.scpwiki.com/the-high-court-with-the-magic-army The High Court With The Magic Army]]'', a new member of the [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness O5 Council]] remarks to a colleague, “It's like you want to live up to your reputation of Omniscient Council of Possible Supervillains. I'm surprised we don't get cats to pet and mustaches to twirl.” The other O5 replies that she used to have a pet cat, but she gave it up when she joined the Council, presumably either because she would be too busy to care for it or because having a pet was seen as a security risk.

* ''WebVideo/TFSAtTheTable'': Lott Fineday of the Grand Design Pirates is a tabaxi, a species of cat-like humanoids. When he calls the heroes to meet him, he is sat in a high-backed chair stroking a puppy.

* Deborah Leevil, the CEO of Creator/{{BET}} in ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'', has a pet dog used in this fashion; it seems to be dead, though.

* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanDoomsday''. Having come BackFromTheDead, Superman is revealed to be NotHimself when he commits a VigilanteExecution. He then [[CatUpATree rescues a Persian cat stuck up a tree]], then gives a slow and frightening lecture to its owner, a very scared old lady, while caressing the kitty. During the lecture, you ask yourself if he's gonna kill the old lady, the cat, both of them or none. Finally, he just asks her to be more cautious, but when the police turn up to arrest him, cue BewareTheSuperman.

* ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': The comic book version often depicts Grand Admiral Thrawn cradling and stroking a [[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Ysalamir ysalamiri]], a nearly vegetative lizard creature, like it's a cat, when in the books he carries one in a nutrient frame strapped to his back or connected to his command chair. Ysalamiri [[PowerNullifier negate the powers]] of his [[TheStarscream psychotic dark Jedi ally]], and occasionally he reaches up and strokes it to remind C'baoth that he can't be choked, electrocuted, or {{charm|Person}}ed, but he doesn't carry one around in his arms or on his lap. You can't really do that with ysalamiri. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Plus, they smell]]. Still, the depiction is universal enough that it's practically an extension of his IconicOutfit.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}: WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfTheMagicPotion'', the villain Sulfurix pets a small wild boar sow (who accidentally brought a message to him) the first time he confronts the heroes.

* In ''Revenge of Kitty Galore'', the sequel to ''Film/CatsAndDogs'', villainess Kitty Galore (who's herself a cat, of course) has a white mouse as right-hand pet, whom she calls Scrumptious. The poor thing is treated pretty much as a ChewToy and is in a state of near panic for the whole movie.

* In ''Series/SkippyTheBushKangaroo'', one of the recurring villains has a right hand ''koala''.

* ''Series/WandaVision'''s BigBad Agatha Harkness has a pet rabbit named Senior Scratchy.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'', a queen bee is stroking a smaller, white-furred insect while [[https://www.oglaf.com/doctor-hexagon/ exposing her evil plan to the beekeeper.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars,'' Megatron's Right-Hand Cat is his... actual hand. In two of the three forms he uses over the series (SoLastSeason at work), his beast-mode head is his robot-mode arm. He actually pets it at times, and at one point, when he's "asleep", the head-hand is looking around on its own. Near the end of the series, he turns from the monitor he's watching, the head-hand turns toward it, and tracks back and forth as things happen onscreen. He also has his rubber ducky.
* The Big Boss of ''WesternAnimation/COPS1988'' has Scratch, a vicious pet ''weasel'', in case subtlety isn't your thing. A ''cybernetic'' weasel.

* Parodied in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' titled "Voting of the Doomed". The shadowy figure of the Principal is seen stroking a beaver, which itself strokes a little green...thingy (it drops it and starts to cry).

* Like Daedalus (see above), The Sea Witch Wilhemine from ''WesternAnimation/TheMightyHercules'' has a pet bird named Elvira.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS9E4SparklesSeven Sparkle's Seven]]", Princess Luna at one point strikes the classic evil overlord pose while stroking a ''goose''. The geese, part of the castle's security system, have been shown to be very ill-tempered, and the one in Luna's lap, while calmed, is giving the rest of the room the evil eye. This is all PlayedForLaughs, of course, as Luna is a FriendlyRival.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'': Averted with Deborah Leevil the evil head of BET who holds a dog like other villains hold cats. It appears to be dead, which gives you an idea of her mental state.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: Nazi agent Red Panzer has a pet cat which he strokes while brooding and thinking up plots.

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' book ''Changes'', Harry Dresden's fairy godmother the Leanansidhe, who takes pleasure at someone upgrading her from "Spooky death Sidhe lady" to "Spooky, ''crazy'' death Sidhe lady," is waiting for Harry in his home with his cat Mister on her lap. She also swivels his chair around, despite it not meant to have that function.

* In the ''Literature/NovelsOfTheChange'', {{Chessmaster}} Sandra Arminger pets her Persians as an aid to concentrating on her schemes.

* In an [[WhatCouldHaveBeen early version]] of ''[[Franchise/MiddleEarth Tolkien's Legendarium]]'', Morgoth, the first dark lord, had a right hand cat name Tevildo the lord of cats. He was massive in size and commanded other giant cats. While he would be cut from the "final" version of the stories, Tevildo is notable for being considered the original version of Sauron.

* ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'': * Larry David and his business manager/friend Jeff Greene reference this trope and the TropeCodifier himself at the tail end of a conversation where they're scheming to get someone to play in their golf tournament. Jeff just happens to be stroking a white, very fluffy throw cushion:

* In ''[[Film/Disenchanted2022 Disenchanted]]'' Giselle's wish for a "fairy tale life" has the side effect of turning her from PrincessClassic and GoodStepmother into a WickedStepmother so it also turns her [[NonHumanSidekick cute animal sidekick]], Pip the chipmunk, into an evil cat much like Lucifer from ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}''.

* In ''[[Film/Disenchanted2022 Disenchanted]]'' Giselle's wish for a "fairy tale life" has the side effect of turning her from PrincessClassic and GoodStepmother into a WickedStepmother so it also turns her [[NonHumanSidekick cute animal sidekick]], Pip the chipmunk, into an evil cat much like Lucifer from ''WesternAnimation/Cinderella''.

* In ''[[Film/Disenchanted2022 Disenchanted]]'' Giselle's wish for a "fairy tale life" has the side effect of turning her from PrincessClassic and GoodStepmother into a WickedStepmother so it also turns her AnimalSidekick Pip the Chipmunk into an evil Right Hand Cat, much like Lucifer from ''Cinderella''.

* In ''[[Film/Disenchanted2022 Disenchanted]]'' Giselle's wish for a "fairy tale life" has the side effect of turning her from PrincessClassic into a WickedStepmother so it also turns her animal sidekick Pip the Chipmunk into an evil Right Hand Cat, much like Lucifer from ''Cinderella''.

** ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'' plays with this a little, when Bond confronts Blofeld and his BodyDouble. Unsure of which is which, Bond kicks the white Persian in the room and shoots the one it jumps to for safety. Sadly, it doesn't work, as there's more than one cat too.

* In ''Webcomic/TheBrickTestament'', the evil pharaoh of Egypt in ''[[Literature/TheBible Exodus]]'' is [[http://www.thebricktestament.com/exodus/first_meeting_with_pharaoh/ex05_02.html portrayed with a pet cat]].

* Mick of ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' is the pet cat of TheDon[=/=]BigBad Ryubee Sonozaki. He also [[Main/AccidentalPun doubles]] as one of the high ranking goons: the [[MegaNeko Smilodon Dopant]].

* Non-villainous example: King Ezekiel from season 7 of ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' has a right-hand ''tiger'' named Shiva. [[spoiler:He used to be the zookeeper who cleaned out the tiger cage, and he saved Shiva's life during the zombie apocalypse.]]

* In the extended version of ''Film/TheMuppets''' VillainSong "Let's Talk About Me", CorruptCorporateExecutive Tex Richman gets a little sidetracked from boasting about how great it is to be him when he mentions gold-plating his ''gold,'' which leads him to:

* ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie: Nuts and Bolts'' has Piddles, a cat given to Gruntilda by the [[DungeonMaster Lord of Games]]... who she [[KickTheDog boots 12 feet in the air after meeting]]. Needless to say, Piddles hates her mistress with a passion and gleefully takes the opportunity to be a BadBoss to her in the epilogue.

* ''Webcomic/{{Sunstone}}'': While cat-sitting the troublesome Mr. Bonkers Ally tries to get some use out of [[GenderBlenderName her]] and invoke this image to enhance her powerful and seductive presence for her date. Of course Mr. Bonkers reacts to this by almost instantly bounding off in search of something interesting, ruining the effect.

* In the ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' story ''[[http://www.scpwiki.com/the-high-court-with-the-magic-army The High Court With The Magic Army]]'', a new member of the [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness O5 Council]] remarks to a colleague, “It's like you want to live up to your reputation of Omniscient Council of Possible Supervillains. I'm surprised we don't get cats to pet and mustaches to twirl.” The other O5 replies that she used to have a pet cat, but she gave it up when she joined the Council, presumably either because she would be too busy to care for it or because having a pet was seen as a security risk.