Why Felicia Bioroids? : A memetic study from ancient times to 2100

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by David L Pulver

Around 1984. The catgirl Erma Felma (from Albedo) slightly predates the Usagi Yojimbo cast (which appeared as a feature in Albedo #2...)

It's curious, you know, but I'd assumed that anime catgirls preceded and inspired anthropomorphic catgirls in the USA. But it seems as if that may not be the case.

C'Mell from the Instrumentality series is probably the earliest example (though her "feline" elements seem to have been mostly ancestral DNA; the books seem to imply a human appearance). Bagi is one of the earliest explicitly genetically-altered types to appear on screen. Between C'Mell's appearance in the 1960s and the present day the growing awareness of genetic engineering technology has led to numerous genetically altered hybrids appearing in SF (and in gaming, as in Traveller's Vargr) in the 70s and 80s, and with felines probably being one of the two species most average people have first hand friendly acquaintance with (the other being canines) it's not surprising they're dominant choices for that sort of depiction, especially as they weren't overused by Disney already.

C'Mell is at least the first sympathetic one. Wells has to get the credit for horrifying uplifted animals, including some made from big cats—at least, I don't know anyone before Wells! Then there is Stapledon's Sirius, though his uplift is purely in brain function; his body isn't at all humanized. Stapledon did a really impressive job of trying to work out how a sapient dog's perception of the world would different from a human's.

I think, though, that I'd have to say my absolute favorite sfnal intelligent cat is Gummitch in "Space-Time for Springers," who isn't anthropomorphic at all.

If you want anthropomorphic cartoon cats, there are a lot more in the Warner Brothers cartoons, starting with Sylvester. And there's also Tom of Tom and Jerry, and Hanna-Barbera's Top Cat and his crew. Of course the cats are often the villains.

Bill Stoddard

[jeff_wilson]

Felix the Cat and a female counterpart date at least to 1919 silent animation.

[Tuoni]

Originally Posted by jeff_wilson

Felix the Cat and a female counterpart date at least to 1919 silent animation.

And I seriously doubt Rule 34* only came into effect with the internet. Although without such an easy and anonymous means of distributing ones creations, most/all of it probably died with its creator.

It is honestly very surprising to me how far back published depictions of catgirls go. I thought they were more recent then that. Is there any way of guessing how much unpublished material might have existed?

* If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions.

[Flyndaran]

I think there were many pornographic comics of famous characters moving around Mexico and the American Mexico border way back in the day.

[Keiko]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I think there were many pornographic comics of famous characters moving around Mexico and the American Mexico border way back in the day.

I think they were nicknamed "Tijuana Bibles".

Edit Here we go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tijuana_bible

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Keiko

I think they were nicknamed "Tijuana Bibles".

Edit Here we go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tijuana_bible

Ah, that's what I was thinking of. There is not truly novel "perversion". People have always been fetish-istic.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Ah, that's what I was thinking of. There is not truly novel "perversion". People have always been fetish-istic.

I recall trying to come up with a communications technology that wasn't used significantly for porn. I think we decided on smoke signals (though the concept of pornographic smoke signals is amusing).

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Anthony

I recall trying to come up with a communications technology that wasn't used significantly for porn. I think we decided on smoke signals (though the concept of pornographic smoke signals is amusing).

I'm not sure you could do pornographic quipu.

Bill Stoddard

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I'm not sure you could do pornographic quipu.

Bill Stoddard

Being almost entirely numerical, that would be some seriously large ascii mats.

[David L Pulver]

Originally Posted by Anthony

I recall trying to come up with a communications technology that wasn't used significantly for porn. I think we decided on smoke signals (though the concept of pornographic smoke signals is amusing).

Perhaps Gandalf could manage them. At least in bored of the rings.