Sheet:Catra

Catra's Sheet

Background

Once, when she was a little girl, Adora found a little kitten in a box, and immediately adopted her as her best friend.

Catra is not a typical Etherian, being of a feline nature and an unknown origin. How she came to be where she was when Adora found her is a mystery, but the dark sorceress Shadow Weaver agreed to take her on, confident that she could raise her alongside Adora. Confident, at least, until the child named Catra began to claw and bite things, as kittens do.

Catra grew up under constant derision and abuse of Shadow Weaver, forced constantly to lurk in the shadow of her only friend, the rising star within the children of the Horde. Nothing she did was ever good enough; nothing she did was ever noticed, except when it wasn't as good as her friend. But she clung to Adora's friendship like a lifeline, and that worked, and it was okay.

Then Adora was promoted to Force Captain, and a little outting on a stolen skiff went wrong when Adora fell out and hit her head; when she started having visions, Catra worried that she'd damaged her brain. But her brain wasn't damaged; and later, when Adora asked Catra to cover for her when she snuck out, the visions led her to a sword, in the Whispering Woods.

When Catra was sent to get her back, the Horde attacked a village. But why shouldn't they? They were the enemy. They were against the Horde. But then the unthinkable happened, and Catra's friend, her best friend, her ONLY friend, took sides against her and protected the enemy.

Catra left the battle shocked and hurt, and more alone than she had ever been before.

Without Adora's shadow to hide inside, Catra suddenly found herself in the full gaze of Hordak and Shadow Weaver. Not only that, but she was promoted to Force Captain, taking Adora's place in the Horde Army. And she was good at it, too. Catra was a strong fighter, but in terms of brute strength, certainly no match for She-Ra; but what she might've lacked in raw strength she made up for with intelligence and tactics, and often times She-Ra and the Princesses only won through sheer overwhelming magic.

If they won, that is.

So Adora wanted to ditch their friendship for dress up games and a light show? That was fine. It was fine. Catra was finally shining in the Horde, now that she was out from Adora's shadow. She even managed to sever Shadow Weaver's connection to the Black Garnet and took her prisoner, before using the power of the Garnet to attack Bright Moon, which she almost succeeded in destroying, and would have if not for the intervention of the Princesses.

And so she didn't quite get it, but she showed Hordak how much progress they'd made, and he rewarded her by making her his second in command.

You'd think things would have gone well after that; but everything soon started to unravel. When Hordak ordered her to exile Shadow Weaver, and with the chance to complete her revenge against the abusive woman who'd raised her at hand, Catra faltered, and let words of kindness and suplication from the dark sorceress gain her trust; trust, that Shadow Weaver used to get what she needed from Catra to teleport out of her cell and escape.

With her trust placed and once again betrayed, Catra fell into despair and rage; and not to mention she had lost an extremely valuable prisoner. When she lied to Hordak to cover up her mistake, he saw through her deception and punished her for it severely, ultimately sending her on a mission to the wastelands from which he expected her not to return.

And return she wouldn't have; Scorpia pointed out to her that she seemed actually happy there, and proposed that they stay. And perhaps Catra would have. She almost did. But then she learned that Shadow Weaver was in Bright Moon. With Adora.

Catra left, leaving behind the potential life of happiness, wholly intent on her revenge against the two people she'd trusted most, who'd hurt her most. And through it all her friend, Scorpia, never earned a second notice. Actually, they were not friends. Catra made sure that was clear.

When Catra did return to the Fright Zone, it was with Adora as her prisoner, and presented Hordak with both her and She-Ra's sword; the key to the planet. It's enough to earn her way back into his good graces, and might be the final piece needed to open a portal to summon Horde Prime. But their plans are interfered with, when Shadow Weaver and the princesses come to rescue Adora; because of course they do. Of course they come for Adora; of course they don't come for her, not even to fight her.

Tt became clear to Catra that getting the portal open is the only thing that matters. She gets rid of people who are in her way -- and threatens Scorpia with the same, if she interferes -- and works with Hordak to get the job done. Despite being warned, begged not to open the portal, she opens it anyway, causing a threat that's almost enough to destroy the planet.

And that's when her reality shifted.

In the final battle against Horde Prime, he used an experimental super-weapon against the Princesses; Adora and at least some of the others got sent to Earth and found themselves in Tokyo. But with Catra, it didn't take her from the moment of the final fight; instead, it reached back in time, to the moment just after she'd opened the portal, and catapulted that version of her to land in an alleyway; alone, disoriented, and surrounded by people who do not speak her language. Or rather, she doesn't speak theirs.

But it's okay, because Catra has been alone before. Actually, she's always been alone, so she can deal with this, too.

Right?

Personality

On the face of it, Catra seems very much like the villain; or at least that's the result of the persona she tries very hard to project. She's quick to anger and quick to choose a violent or cruel solution, but it's less because that's what she really wants to do, and more because it is the only defensive strategy she knows to conceal her pain. Catra has been hurt, and konws that she doesn't want to be hurt again, and is willing to pay any price to keep herself safe from abuse.

Catra's deepest insecurities stem from her underlying lack of self-worth and abandonment issues. She has never had a large number of friends -- really only ever counting Adora in that category -- and has been raised by an extremely abusive adoptive guardian in Shadow Weaver. 

While growing up, Catra wanted very desperately to please Shadow Weaver, and receive the same sort of praise that was given to Adora; even to be told once, just once, that she was good enough, but such praise was never given. Even so Catra has a deep need to please an authority figure, even -- perhaps especially -- when the relationship is toxic. Add to that, her friendship with Adora was (almost?) fatally fractured when she became She-Ra and sided with the resistance against the Horde, and Shadow Weaver only gave priase to Catra once in order to manipulate her and leave her to Hordak's (lack of) mercy, and Catra is virtually unable to trust anyone. 

Catra plays the villain because it aligns with the defense mechanisms she feels she has to use in order to function; and despite her shortcomings (like her general state of laziness) she is extremely capable against stronger opponents, both one on one and in strategic battles. The greatest thing that keeps her from winning is that ultimately, her heart just isn't in it. Though she's burried it deep enough that even she isn't really aware of it, Catra doesn't want to be the villain. She doesn't want to be evil or cruel; she just doesn't want to be hurt, and the only person who ever showed her any degree of positivity betrayed her -- or at least, that's how she sees it, so she maintains her over-confident, angry exterior, and lashes out at anyone who gets too close so they can't hurt her. 

And what she doesn't realize, is that this is precisely what keeps her in pain, virtually all the time.

Focus

Catra's powers aren't really magical, so much as she simply has an enhanced physiology beyond most human capabilities due to her feline nature. It isn't something she has to attune to or learn how to focus, it's simply an integral part of being who she is.

Style

Catra's style is down to earth and brutal. She doesn't don a flashy outfit or use any sparkly powers; she fights with her own natural, physical abilities, and uses superior tactics to overwhelm her opponents. She doesn't transform or don pretty armor. Catra relies on her speed and strength, claws, and no shortage of harsh language.

Powers

Catra's powers might not be as flashy or spectacular as other magical girls, but that doesn't mean she's lacking by any stretch.

First and foremost among her strengths is her ability to strategize. Catra is very in tune with her own capabilities, and is able to quickly identify an opponent's strengths -- and weaknesses. Opponents who are technically stronger and more powerful than her, even when the difference is overpowering, discount her at their peril, as Catra does not meet strength with strength; she figures out where an opponent is at their weakest, and strikes there. Catra can quickly identify a course of action that leads to victory and implement it without hesitation. 

Survival instincts are strong with Catra, and even when she's on the losing end of a fight, she can generally find a way to escape. She's survived multiple experiences that ought to have been fatal, and certainly not through luck. 

Catra's feline physiology also gives her a range of abilities. Her senses are extremely good, invluding nightvision and enhanced visual abilities, as well as superior senses of smell and hearing, allowing her to find and track whatever she might be looking for with any one of those senses. (Or, alternatively, avoid being surprised herself.) Combined with her hypervigilance after years of enduring abuse, Catra is very rarely surprised. 

Catra also possesses superior strength and agility, capable of feats that are beyond what a normal human can accomplish in either category. While no match for the likes of She-Ra in raw strength, she's still more than capable in her own right. Her feline agility and balance allows her to fall great distances without suffering harm, and she's quite adept at moving out of the way of anything trying to hit her. She can run, climb, and jump well beyond the usual human limits, and her speed is one of her main advantages. 

Retractable claws grace Catra's fingertips and toes; while they aid her in pursuits like climbing, their usefulness in a fight is obvious. Her claws are strong enough to cut (or at least damage) most metals.

Catra is equipped with an illusion generator, supplied to her by Father Obsidian. It accomplishes exactly one task; disguising Catra, by making her look like a regular human to the casual observer. While it doesn't currently offer more than one possible persona, it is programable; mainly so that Catra can edit her appearance so that it doesn't look like she's always wearing identical clothing.

Spirit Ember Powers

Smoke and Mirrors -- Catra has long been using illusory abilities associated with the dark magic taught to her by Hinoiri. As her power with the Spirit Ember grows and her ability to use dark magic decreases, she's sufficiently used to using illusions that she'll simply find another way to do it. Trickery and misdirection are tools she prizes after all, even if she'll never admit it. 

Light 'Em Up -- Quite simply, Catra can throw fire at things. She can create and project fire; alternatively she can summon the fire and hold it, empowering her claw attacks. As her connection to the Spirit Ember depends she'll grow stronger (and potentially more destructive) with this ability. This ability grants a measure of control over fires as well, both to increase their intensity or to supress them. 

Grasp The Inferno -- Catra can infuse objects with fire (like making the blade of a sword burn or lighting her motorcycle wheels on fire for example), which can have varying effects depending on what she's infusing (like making the sword inflict more damage or making the motorcycle go faster). She can also create simple objects out of fire, mostly limited to things like simple blades or the like. 

Firewalker -- With increasingly intense fire magics comes protection from fire. Catra is more or less immune to the effects of normal flames and extreme temperatures, and resistant to magical fire and heat attacks.