Cheetara is a female member of the ThunderCats and the third to join. She is a Cleric whose skills take advantage of her immense speed. She wields a staff but is also adapted to fighting unarmed.
History[]
Little has been revealed of Cheetara's past, except for the fact that she was an orphan as a child. It is unknown where she lived at the time, but during her childhood, she came to Thundera to join the Clerics. That was when she first met Tygra, a prince of Thundera and adopted son of Claudus (the current king at the time), who was a guard in his youth and blushed the first time he saw her. When she asked Tygra where she could find the Clerics, he led her to them and wished her luck. After failing the initiation test by Jaga, she was cast out because she seemingly had no patience. Cheetara swore she wouldn't leave the front door of the temple until she was given another chance. Tygra, having fallen in love with her and watching her all this time, gives her a flower called the Day Astrid (each petal is said to have a day of life within). Cheetara is touched by this and falls in love with him in return. After many days of sitting in front of the doors and feeding off the petals of the Day Astrid, she collapsed from lack of nourishment, convincing Jaga that she did indeed have patience, finally taking her in to start her training.
Over the years, Cheetara would grow into a beautiful young woman. With her training complete, she became a full Cleric and looked up to Jaga as a father figure. She even kept the heart of the flower Tygra gave her as a child, hoping one day she would see him again. From time to time, Cheetara would grow concerned for the safety of Thundera and was assigned by Jaga to keep an eye on Prince Lion-O (Tygra's adoptive brother and Claudus's biological son). She once followed him into the slums and ended a fight he had with a bunch of alley cats because he defended a dog. She also wondered what the prince was doing in the slums. Lion-O took her to a shop that sells artifacts of so-called technology. She called him "different" because of his actions. Lion-O thanked her for her help, hoping he would one day return the favor, and left for an important event. She knew where he would go and attended his Right of Passage Ceremony to see if he would become a true king or not. In her Cleric guise, she brought forth the Sword of Omens, and there she would see Tygra, who tried flirting with her as she looked on in return.
After the return of Grune, who was sent to find the Book of Omens, but with no avail, alongside Panthro, now believed to be dead, a celebration was held in his honor as he brought back a gift for his people (a large stone ember carried by Lizard slaves). During the celebration, she alongside Tygra and Lion-O defended a pair of captured Lizards, now understanding Lion-O's compassion and mercy for other species. Lion-O then convinces his father to release them. Soon after Thundera is attacked by Lizards, with a vast amount of weapons and technology, much to the Cats' shock and horror.
Grune then reveals his treachery and his so-called gift was a Trojan horse that held half the Lizard army, wiping out the Thunderian army in the process while Panthro was being held, hostage. Cheetara and the Clerics, alongside Jaga, go into battle but are easily defeated by Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living (now ruler over the Lizard race), who was disguised as Panthro and kills Claudus in the process. Tygra and Lion-O are soon captured alongside Cheetara and Jaga who are now the last surviving members of the Clerics. Later Tygra and Lion-O escape with the help of a Lizard due to Lion-O's earlier compassion and mercy towards the Lizard race. They manage to rescue Cheetara, who revealed herself as a Cleric to Lion-O, but Jaga who was supposedly dying was left behind, but not before he made them into the newly formed ThunderCats and told them to seek the Book of Omens.
On this journey, they would pick up two young kittens, WilyKit and WilyKat. Cheetara would also act as a guide and counselor to Lion-O, helping him understand sight beyond sight, but little did she know he began developing feelings for her. Along the way, the ThunderCats would help other beings such as rescuing a crew of Fishmen from a monster called the Ramlak and help a tribe of Petalars find their way home from Briar Woods. They also manage to find the not so dead Panthro along the way, and journey to the Tower of Omens to retrieve the Book of Omens. After escaping a bunch of booby traps, they encounter Mumm-Ra with a seemingly alive Jaga, whose soul is trapped in a lamp. After a brief fight with Mumm-Ra, who transformed into his true form, he manages to defeat all of them with ease. But before he could kill Lion-O, Jaga sacrifices himself to save him by turning himself into a strong beam of light, causing Mumm-Ra the Everliving to flee. Cheetara is saddened by the loss of her mentor.
The next day, after learning the book was empty, the ThunderCats find Lion-O asleep on the floor, and when he wakes up, he tells them about his merging with the book. He also reveals that when he entered the book, he relived the moments of his ancestor Leo (the first Lord of the Thundercats). He also reveals that there are three other power stones beside the Eye of Thundera and that they must find them and unite all the animals to overthrow Mumm-Ra, just as their ancestors have done in the past.
While searching for the power stones, they help a group of robotic bears called Berbils from the slave merchant Conquedor. Along the way, they pass by an Elephant village. In the village, an Elephant leader named Anet would teach them about harmony and focus as they help them rid the village of Stone Giant and a nest of Wraith. He also assists Lion-O in Sight Beyond Sight, but also tells him to go to the Forest of Magi Oar, were he can achieve it in harmony. When reaching the Forest, they assist the Forest guardian Viragor in defeating the Wood Forgers. Cheetara is than given a new staff, made from the oldest tree in the forest, which she accepts with great humility.
When returning to the Elephant village, Lion-O discovers that the first power stone (the Spirit Stone), is in a portal within a hut in the Elephant village that leads to the Astral Plane. They manage to defeat Grune and the Lizards who were occupying the Village. When Lion-O opens the gateway in the Hut, she gives him a kiss on the cheek for good luck (but it was only for support). This unknowingly triggered Tygra's jealousy, which caused him to volunteer to go in with Lion-O (she didn't seem to tell that Lion-O and Tygra were fighting for her affections). Before Lion-O would enter with Tygra, Anet predicted that Tygra would betray Lion-O, sparking Cheetara's curiosity. The next day she and the rest of the ThunderCats would guard the hut fiercely, with the help of the Elephants, against Grune and the Lizard army. But after Tygra and Lion-O returned from the Astral Plane, the portal is destroyed, causing Grune to get sucked in and Panthro to lose his arms in the process. After Lion-O and Tygra retrieved the Spirit Stone, the Elephants hold a celebration. That very night she confronts Tygra, and after hearing what happened between Tygra and Lion-O in the Astral Plane, she feels she contributed to their rivalry by not being clearer with her feelings. Tygra misinterprets her at first, but she reveals her feelings for him, claiming she had chosen years ago from the first moment they met. She also reveals she kept the heart of the flower he gave her and expresses that she never really thanked him. They then share a passionate kiss and in the end both become a couple. Unbeknownst to them, a shocked Lion-O was watching their exchange, this was the betrayal that Anet predicted.
This revelation continued to eat at Lion-O's emotions afterward, to the point where it even put him on rocky terms with Cheetara. This made things all the more difficult when Mumm-Ra's new generals: Kaynar and Addicus, joined Slithe and the Lizard Army in their battle against the ThunderCats. Lion-O's clouded judgment soon led the ThunderCats into an ambush set by Mumm-Ra's forces and had him fall off a cliff to his "death", while the other ThunderCats were captured by Mumm-Ra's forces.
Tygra, now Lord of the ThunderCats, helped the group escape and vowed to get the Sword of Omens back. As they journeyed towards Mumm-Ra's pyramid, Tygra claimed that they should go in with a surprise attack but only to get themselves captured by Mumm-Ra himself.
However Lion-O, having been brought back to life by the Spirit Stone, finds his way to Mumm-Ra's Pyramid by following WilyKit's markings. There, he tricked Slithe, Kaynar, and Addicus, freed the other ThunderCats, and led them into battle against Mumm-Ra. Thanks to the Spirit Stone, Lion-O was able to retrieve the Sword of Omens and weaken Mumm-Ra with it. The group managed to escape the Pyramid afterward.
When sunrise finally came, Jaga's spirit appears and tells them they must continue on their journey. The ThunderCats question Lion-O as to how he survived the fall, in which he reveals that he underwent a series of Trials, due to the power of the spirit stone, that allowed him to understand the meaning of becoming a true king.
While still searching for the next power stone, Tygra and Lion-O went off to search the mountains while Panthro was left with Cheetara, WilyKit, and WilyKat to search the forest lands. Panthro decided that it was time for the twins to learn to fend for themselves and both he and Cheetara taught them how to hunt for their food. In boys vs. girls match, WilyKit teamed up with Cheetara while WilyKat teamed up with Panthro in a hunt for a meal.
Cheetara attempted to teach WilyKit about masking their scent to sneak up on their prey by hiding it with a revolting fruit's aroma, but WilyKit couldn't bear the idea of killing another animal and helped the grazer to run free by knocking Cheetara into the revolting fruit. Meanwhile, Panthro shows WilyKat about setting traps in an attempt to kill another grazer, but WilyKit also ruined the hunt, as he couldn't kill the animal as well. Both Panthro and Cheetara had it with the kittens and decided to make them hunt for themselves or they won't be able to sleep in the ThunderTank.
That night the twins victoriously return with a sweet bounty of fruit, due to them sparing the grazers, both Cheetara and Panthro now believe that the two have the potential to survive on their own.
After meeting up with the rest of the ThunderCats, they journey to the City of Dogs where they discover a Cat refugee named Pumyra, who is being forced to fight as a Gladiatrix in the Pit. Cheetara states that she must have survived the fall of Thundera. The group then watches the "games" and witness the cat, Pumyra, to defeat a robot named Gormax with impressive skill and victory.
Lion-O then asks who is in charge of the arena and is led to find Dobo, who will not give up Pumyra, believing she is too valuable to lose while it is also discovered that Panthro was an old friend of Dobo who both fought in the arena as slaves in the past. Dobo says she must win one hundred battles to gain freedom. Lion-O isn't satisfied with Dobo's choice and decides to sneak into the cells and break Pumyra out, but as he tries to release her she begins to yell at him with anger and rage (as she deemed him responsible for Thundera's downfall and their people being sold into slavery, allowing himself to get caught. Dobo appears, taking the Sword of Omens and the Gauntlet while telling Lion-O that he would have to fight Pumyra to earn his freedom. As Dobo returns the Sword and Gauntlet to Panthro and the others, he tells them that if Lion-O wins this fight he will go free. Panthro, Cheetara, and Tygra cannot intervene in order to avoid causing a problem with the Dogs, but instead, try to convince Dobo to release them. Dobo refuses and recalls how in the past Panthro had escaped one night and left Dobo alone with all the enemies they made during their slavery.
As the battle between Lion-O and Pumyra commenced, Lion-O refused to fight her to show his loyalty towards his people. Pumyra, intimidated by this, proceeds to beat him without any mercy. The group pleads for Dobo to stop the fight, but he refuses. Dobo says that this battle shows how Cats have no loyalty until Panthro explains why he left that night. Panthro tells him that the next battle was to be a death match against Dobo and himself. Dobo asks if he ran because he was afraid he would have lost but Panthro says that he was afraid that he might have won.
Lion-O continues to stand up after taking a beating from Pumyra's attacks, stating that he promised to stand by her. Pumyra learns he is truly a strong and caring king and refused to continue the fight. Do states that since both forfeited. the match they must be sentenced to death until he hears his people telling him to let them live.
After learning why Panthro left and witnessing the loyalty between Pumyra and Lion-O, he lets them live and grants them both their freedom. With old wounds fully healed and new friends made, Lion-O asks Pumyra where the other Cats that were taken by the lizards are now and she replies "Mount Plun-Darr" as she points to an ominous looking castle.
Weapon(s)[]
Cheetara's signature weapon is her staff, which she wields to devastating effect. Her first staff had the ability to expand and contract, depending on the need.
After her old staff broke, she was given a new one by the Viragor. The new staff has the power to grow out tree roots and launch darts. It also has the extending ability that her old staff possessed.
And with both staffs she was able to hover by rotating it above her quickly.
Abilities/Powers[]
Cheetara was trained by the wizard Jaga. Cheetara is a powerful magician and the last living Cleric. She's also the fastest cat in Thundera and an expert in many forms of combat, including staff fighting.
Appearance[]
She has blonde hair with spots. She wears a brown outfit that exposes lots of her cleavage and midriff and sandals.
In one of the more dramatic revamps, this incarnation of Cheetara is younger and leaner. She appears to be in (what we would equate to in human years) her early twenties with waist-length blonde hair, speckled with the characteristic cheetah spots. The front shorter section of hair has been brought forward, creating a bangs effect around her somewhat long face.
Her face markings differ slightly from the original, presenting a pale pink upsweep around her pale red eyes, giving the impression of drastic eye makeup bordered by short, blonde eyebrows.
Her two-piece costume is comprised of three tones of brown, the upper half sporting the signature red jewel present in all of the ThunderCat costumes. The lower section appears to be brown shorts with long, darker strips that seem to function as suspenders for her foot coverings which, similar to all of the Cat costumes, leave the claws of the feet exposed.
Cheetara's costume is accessorized with brown wrist-to-elbow guards that sport a disc around each wrist. These discs are also present around her ankles.
Personality[]
Cheetara is the most emotionally mature of the team and seems to be able to read the feelings of others quite easily. She also appears to be like a supporter to Lion-O, as evidenced by her commentary while helping him defend the two lizards who were being abused by her fellow Thunderians. She is also the most humble, unlike the bold Lion-O, the cynical and competitive Tygra, or the brooding Panthro.
She's also the most supportive of Lion-O, due to her berating Tygra and Panthro for not taking him seriously as a leader in the Journey to the Tower of Omens. At first, she didn't seem to be able to tell that Lion-O and Tygra were fighting for her affections.
Relationships[]
Tygra[]
Tygra is Cheetara's mate and were old friends, having known each other since they were much younger. Tygra has always held much deeper feelings for her since the day she first came to join the clerics, and she in return. When she formed a friendship with Lion-O, Tygra would grow even more jealous and resent his younger brother. He would usually try to outshine him, not just to impress Cheetara, but to prove himself to be more capable than Lion-O. Their relationship became much more complicated when the ThunderCats (with Tygra temporarily absent) heard a prediction from the Elephant leader Anet that Lion-O would feel betrayed by Tygra. Luckily, the betrayal was discovered at first not to be Tygra's, as he and Lion-O returned from the hut with resolved differences. That night when she learned what Tygra and Lion-O went through in the Astral plane, she and Tygra confess their feelings for one another. She also explains she had chosen him several years ago, resulting in a passionate kiss and in the end both become a couple. Unbeknownst to them, a shocked Lion-O was watching their exchange. This was the betrayal Anet had predicted. At one time Cheetara would actually give up a fight, just to save Tygra.
Lion-O[]
Cheetara and Lion-O have a close friendship together. Since first meeting him, she saw something different yet compelling within him as he shows a compassionate will and was against the mistreatment of the lizard prisoners and other species by his own people. As such, she helps and encourages him whenever he's dispirited or having trouble handling the Sword of Omens. Most recently, she has even kissed him on the cheek (though it was only for support). She didn't seem to realize that he had feelings for her. Lion-O was shocked and angry when he saw Tygra and Cheetara kissing. At first, he said that he was okay with the new couple, but later on, he talks to Cheetara and says that he wishes that he did feel happy for them. While Lion-O has accepted Cheetara's relationship with Tygra, he was unable to shake the angry feelings of being misled by Cheetara from all their seemingly tender and intimate moments. However, after the Spirit Trials, Lion-O claims to have come to about his feelings regarding Tygra and Cheetara's romance. If nothing else, he seems to have gotten over his anger with Cheetara, but it is unclear if he's gotten over his feelings just yet. Her relation with Lion-O is more like a protective older sister.
Jaga[]
Jaga was Cheetara's mentor and leader of the Clerics. She holds great respect for the elderly wizard and may have seen him as a father figure (due to being an orphan). When she was young, she attempted to join the Cleric ranks but when she failed to pass the first trial, she was cast out. Cheetara swore she wouldn't leave the temple doors until she was given another chance. After so many days of sitting out in front of the doors, she collapsed from lack of nourishment, convincing Jaga that she did have patience and he finally took her in to start her training. She was saddened when Jaga sacrificed himself to drive Mumm-Ra away from the Book of Omens, but she has pressed on with the ThunderCats' quest with renewed determination. Jaga's orb after he passed also held longest in front of her.
Quotes[]
- "I thought he'd be less spiky" (upon seeing Panthro for the first time).
Appearances[]
- Omens, Part 1
- Omens, Part 2
- Ramlak Rising
- Song of the Petalars
- Old Friends
- Journey to the Tower of Omens
- Legacy
- The Duelist and the Drifter
- Berbils
- Sight Beyond Sight
- The Forest Of Magi Oar
- Into The Astral Plane
- Between Brothers
- New Alliances
- Trials of Lion-O, Part 1
- Trials of Lion-O, Part 2
- Survival of the Fittest
- The Pit
- Curse of Ratilla
- Birth of the Blades
- Recipe for Disaster
- The Soul Sever (appearance only)
- What Lies Above, Part 1
- What Lies Above, Part 2
Gallery[]
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