Basic Trope: A mythical creature is called a common creature's name.
- Straight: Everyone calls Mitzi a cat even though she is purple with bat-like wings, six legs, and doesn't even meow.
- Exaggerated:
- Mitzi doesn't look anything like a cat.
- Mitzi is a dragon that looks like a Tasmanian devil, but is called Naegleria fowleri
- Downplayed:
- Mitzi does meow and she does have a cat face, however she does have purple fur, bat-like wings and six legs.
- Mitzi is called a "Troperian Cat" after her homeworld, and she is a sort of a cat-equivalent in her behavior and ecological niche.
- Justified:
- The characters are holding the Idiot Ball and believe Mitzi really is a cat, or "cat" is their talk for something else.
- Mitzi strongly resembles a cat, and therefore the characters just find it easier to call her a cat.
- Mitzi is a "ked" in the local language, which through homophonic confusion has become "cat" in the English language.
- Inverted: Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp"
- Subverted:
- Mitzi turns into a cat, or people stop calling her a cat.
- Mitzi turns out to really be a heavily genetically modified cat. While there is arguably a better name for such a critter it isn't exactly wrong to call her a cat.
- Double Subverted: But then turns back, and they still call her a cat, or they start calling her a cat again.
- Parodied:
- Mitzi is treated exactly like a cat and called a cat but she's a dragon
- "Mitzi" is a broken table lamp treated like a cat. Alice explains that Mitzi has a very picky appetite, and only eats and drinks from batteries.
- Zig Zagged: Alice calls Mitzi a cat, Bob calls her a wagga, Carol calls her a smeerp, and Dave calls her a dog.
- Averted: Everyone calls Mitzi a wagga, or there are no magical beasts.
- Enforced: The show is targeted to children and Mitzi's species is a mythological creature shared in different cultures but portrayed differently similarly to Kitsune vs. Gumiho. Calling her what she translate to would be about as controversial as portraying Satan Is Good in a children's show. So she is referred to as a mundane creature she closely resembles the most in a dub.
- Lampshaded: "That's a cat?!"
- Invoked: Alice doesn't know what a cat is so Bob, as a prank, says Mitzi is a cat.
- Exploited: Mitzi is in a rescue centre and is easily adopted as people think she's a cat.
- Defied: "Alice, that's NOT A CAT!!!!!"
- Discussed: "This is my cat, Mitzi." "What kind of cat is she?" "I don't know." "Me neither. How many cats are purple with six legs and bat-like wings, who don't meow?"
- Conversed: "Why do those creatures call Mitzi a cat?"
- Implied: Mitzi is seen eating out of a bowl with "CAT" written on it.
- Played for Laughs: Alice is like a Crazy Cat Lady but with creatures of Mitzi's species.
- Played for Drama: Mitzi is a villain, but people deny she is dangerous as they think she's a cat.
Back to Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit"
