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'''''Billy the Cat''''' is a Franco-Belgian comic book series by the Belgian Stéphane Colman and Stephen Desberg. Also an animated cartoon version has been produced for broadcast and is ran through American Broadcasting Company, amongst others. Both comic and cartoon deal with the everyday and secret lives of urban animals, and while the characters are largely the same in both versions, the stories and situations are very different.
'''''Billy the Cat''''' is a Franco-Belgian comic book series by the Belgian Stéphane Colman and Stephen Desberg. Also an animated cartoon version has been produced for broadcast and is ran through American Broadcasting Company, amongst others. Both comic and cartoon deal with the everyday and secret lives of urban animals, and while the characters are largely the same in both versions, the stories and situations are very different.
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The Comic follows the story of Billy, a normal schoolboy who often pranks and bullies animals. However, early in the first comic album, [[Mood Whiplash|he is killed when he carelessly runs out in the street and is hit by a car.]] Told that his chances of getting into Heaven are slim due to his misdeeds, he is given a second chance by being returned to earth as a young cat. The comic follows Billy's attempts to adapt to living as a cat and chronicle his misadventures while he interacts with other animals. The comic is notably [[Darker and Edgier|darker and more dramatic]] than the serialized television show.
The Comic follows the story of Billy, a normal schoolboy who often pranks and bullies animals. However, early in the first comic album, [[Mood Whiplash|he is killed when he carelessly runs out in the street and is hit by a car.]] Told that his chances of getting into Heaven are slim due to his misdeeds, he is given a second chance by being returned to earth as a young cat. The comic follows Billy's attempts to adapt to living as a cat and chronicle his misadventures while he interacts with other animals. The comic is notably [[Darker and Edgier|darker and more dramatic]] than the serialized television show.


Otherwise the television show, created in 1994, follows a similar premise with some major deviations. In the show the transformation is the revenge of an [[M Agicians Are Wizards|angry magician]] whose cat Billy had bullied, while the magician's cat assumes Billy's form and lives with his family. The cartoon is more episodic and lighthearted than the comic, though it is [[Executive Meddling|not completely unexpected.]]
Otherwise the television show, created in 1994, follows a similar premise with some major deviations. In the show the transformation is the revenge of an [[Magicians Are Wizards|angry magician]] whose cat Billy had bullied, while the magician's cat assumes Billy's form and lives with his family. The cartoon is more episodic and lighthearted than the comic, though it is [[Executive Meddling|not completely unexpected.]]


Not to be confused with the UK comic strip of the same name, which ran in ''[[The Beano]]'' and was about a teenage superhero, or with [[Bloom County (Comic Strip)|Bill the Cat]].
Not to be confused with the UK comic strip of the same name, which ran in ''[[The Beano]]'' and was about a teenage superhero, or with [[Bloom County|Bill the Cat]].
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{{tropelist}}
=== Shared tropes: ===
=== Shared tropes: ===


* [[Animal Talk]]
* [[Animal Talk]]
* [[Animorphism]]
* [[Animorphism]]
* [[Banana Inthe Tailpipe]]
* [[Banana In the Tailpipe]]
* [[Bratty Half Pint]]: Billy as a human, with an equal measure of [[The Bully]].
* [[Bratty Half-Pint]]: Billy as a human, with an equal measure of [[The Bully]].
* [[Carnivore Confusion]]: Given that all animals are sapient and can talk, it potentially causes a few issues. In the show at least, the cats eat mostly garbage or food fed to them by a kindly old lady, and not their pigeon friend.
* [[Carnivore Confusion]]: Given that all animals are sapient and can talk, it potentially causes a few issues. In the show at least, the cats eat mostly garbage or food fed to them by a kindly old lady, and not their pigeon friend.
* [[Cats Are Mean]]: Averted. Cats have different temperaments and personalities, just like humans. In fact, most of them are implausibly friendly with other animals that real life cats consider food, or at least prey. The only cat who can really be considered mean is Sanctifer from the animated series, and even he goes through quite a bit of [[Villain Decay]].
* [[Cats Are Mean]]: Averted. Cats have different temperaments and personalities, just like humans. In fact, most of them are implausibly friendly with other animals that real life cats consider food, or at least prey. The only cat who can really be considered mean is Sanctifer from the animated series, and even he goes through quite a bit of [[Villain Decay]].
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* [[Karmic Transformation]]
* [[Karmic Transformation]]
* [[Kick the Dog]]: As a human Billy would ''literally'' do this. Cats and other animals were not exempt from being kicked either.
* [[Kick the Dog]]: As a human Billy would ''literally'' do this. Cats and other animals were not exempt from being kicked either.
* [[How Do I Shot Web]]: At first Billy has difficulties with his new cat body and doesn't know how to use his retractable claws or even meow.
* [[How Do I Shot Web?]]: At first Billy has difficulties with his new cat body and doesn't know how to use his retractable claws or even meow.
* [[Race Lift]]: The second friend of Billy with whom he used to taunt cats with is white in the cartoon. In the comic, he's black, and in original French can't even pronounce the "R" letter.
* [[Race Lift]]: The second friend of Billy with whom he used to taunt cats with is white in the cartoon. In the comic, he's black, and in original French can't even pronounce the "R" letter.
* [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]: Mr. Hubert
* [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]: Mr. Hubert
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* [[Left Hanging]]: The viewer never finds out what happens to Billy in the end. Does he stay a cat forever? Does he get turned back into a human?
* [[Left Hanging]]: The viewer never finds out what happens to Billy in the end. Does he stay a cat forever? Does he get turned back into a human?
* [[Lighter and Softer]]
* [[Lighter and Softer]]
* [[M Agicians Are Wizards]]
* [[Magicians Are Wizards]]
* [[Ret Gone]]: The wizard's cat that was transformed into Billy's doppelganger is shown in the opening episode and [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot|never seen or mentioned again]]. It wasn't even present in the episode when Billy visits his former home, where the cat should logically be.
* [[Ret-Gone]]: The wizard's cat that was transformed into Billy's doppelganger is shown in the opening episode and [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot|never seen or mentioned again]]. It wasn't even present in the episode when Billy visits his former home, where the cat should logically be.
* [[Spared By the Adaptation]]: Billy, due to his cat transformation being the result of an angry wizard rather than of an untimely death and reincarnation.
* [[Spared by the Adaptation]]: Billy, due to his cat transformation being the result of an angry wizard rather than of an untimely death and reincarnation.
* [[Status Quo Is God]]
* [[Status Quo Is God]]
* [[What Happened to The Mouse]]: So egregious that it borders into [[Plot Hole]] territory. In one episode Billy revisits his human home and the magician's cat that took his place is no longer there. And what happened to the magician?
* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: So egregious that it borders into [[Plot Hole]] territory. In one episode Billy revisits his human home and the magician's cat that took his place is no longer there. And what happened to the magician?


{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Billy the Cat]]
[[Category:The Nineties]]
[[Category:The Nineties]]
[[Category:Franco Belgian Comics]]
[[Category:Franco-Belgian Comics]]
[[Category:Animal Title Index]]
[[Category:Animal Title Index]]
[[Category:Western Animation]]
[[Category:Western Animation]]
[[Category:Billy The Cat]]
[[Category:Comic Books]]
[[Category:Comic Book]]
[[Category:Comic Books of the 1990s]]
[[Category:Comic Books of the 2000s]]
[[Category:Western Animation of the 1990s]]
[[Category:Western Animation of the 2000s]]
[[Category:Pages with working Wikipedia tabs]]
[[Category:Multiple Works Need Separate Pages]]

Latest revision as of 14:12, 13 July 2021

Billy the Cat is a Franco-Belgian comic book series by the Belgian Stéphane Colman and Stephen Desberg. Also an animated cartoon version has been produced for broadcast and is ran through American Broadcasting Company, amongst others. Both comic and cartoon deal with the everyday and secret lives of urban animals, and while the characters are largely the same in both versions, the stories and situations are very different.

The Comic follows the story of Billy, a normal schoolboy who often pranks and bullies animals. However, early in the first comic album, he is killed when he carelessly runs out in the street and is hit by a car. Told that his chances of getting into Heaven are slim due to his misdeeds, he is given a second chance by being returned to earth as a young cat. The comic follows Billy's attempts to adapt to living as a cat and chronicle his misadventures while he interacts with other animals. The comic is notably darker and more dramatic than the serialized television show.

Otherwise the television show, created in 1994, follows a similar premise with some major deviations. In the show the transformation is the revenge of an angry magician whose cat Billy had bullied, while the magician's cat assumes Billy's form and lives with his family. The cartoon is more episodic and lighthearted than the comic, though it is not completely unexpected.

Not to be confused with the UK comic strip of the same name, which ran in The Beano and was about a teenage superhero, or with Bill the Cat.

Tropes used in Billy the Cat include:

Shared tropes:

Comic-specific tropes:

  • Cassandra Truth: None of the other animals believe that Billy was ever human.
  • Loud of War: Hell in the first Billy comic (even before "in the skin of a cat"). Eternal dance music that's really eternal. A party that never stops! Soonds great, huh? Not really according to Billy...
  • Darker and Edgier: The comic to the cartoon.
  • Karma
  • Fan Translation: Of the first comic at least. Translated into English into "In the skin of a Cat".
  • Mood Whiplash: Most notably in the pilot comic strip.
  • Raise Him Right This Time: In a subversion, the wrongdoer in question is given a new life as a cat instead of a human.
  • Reincarnation: Oddly, it was bestowed upon Billy by an angel. His second chance is given to atone for all the animal cruelty he perpetrated in his former life.
  • Retcon / Continuity Reboot: The very first standalone story of Billy had him also getting crushed under a car, but he actually got into Heaven. Noticing that Heaven wasn't that great, he descended to Hell, where an eternal party with loud music was going on. Then, after noticing eternal was really eternal and the music would never stop, he asks a guru to reincarnate him, and as a fluke he's returned as a cat to Earth. This whole plot was scrapped when they started writing "dans la peau d'un chat" ("in the skin of a cat").
  • Transformation Comic

Show-specific tropes:

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