Mythological felines

3rd sign of Chinese zodiac

thumb|The jaguar was an animal sacred to Tezcatlipoca.|link=File:Standing_jaguar.jpg thumb|Mirrors in Mesoamerican culture#Aztecs|Aztec obsidian mirror

A werecat (also written in a hyphenated form as were-cat) is an analog to "werewolf" for a feline therianthropic creature.

thumb|right|Tepeyollotl in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis. In Aztec mythology, Tepēyōllōtl (; "heart of the mountains"; also Tepeyollotli) was the god of darkened caves, earthquakes, echoes and jaguars. He is the god of the Eighth Hour of the Night, and is depicted as a jaguar leaping towards the Sun. In the calendar, Tepeyollotl rules over both the third day, Calli (house), and the third trecena, 1-Mazatl (deer). link=File:Standing_jaguar.jpg|left|thumb|Tepeyollotl was depicted as a jaguar, which was a sacred animal to him. The word is derived as a compound of the Nahuatl words ' ("mountain"),

A nian beast () is a beast in Chinese mythology. According to Chinese mythology, the nian lives under the sea or in the mountains. The Chinese character nian more usually means "year" or "new year". The earliest written sources that refer to the nian as a creature date to the early 20th century. As a result, it is unclear whether the nian creature is an authentic part of traditional folk mythology, or a part of a local oral tradition that was recorded in the early 20th century. Nian is one of the key characters in the Chinese New Year. Scholars cite it as the reason behind several practices du

thumb|upright|The Raijū as depicted in Ban Kōkē's Kanda-Jihitsu. thumb|A Raijū depicted under the title "Kaminari" in Takehara Shunsen's [[Ehon Hyaku Monogatari.]]

mythical creature

The ' (, plural ), in Irish ' (), is a fairy creature from Celtic mythology, said to resemble a large black cat with a white spot on its chest that walks on its hind legs. Legend has it that the spectral cat haunts the Scottish Highlands. The legends surrounding this creature are more common in Scottish folklore, but a few occur in Irish. Some common folklore suggested that the was not a fairy, but a witch that could transform into a cat nine times.

thumb|280px|Demeter transforms Lyncus into a lynx

reports of large non-native feline sightings in Britain

legendary big cat with a multicolored hide, which after feasting sleeps in a cave for 3 days, whose roar emits a sweet odor, drawing in all creatures (except for the dragons) to be preyed upon

monstrous cat in Welsh legend

In Mexican folklore, the onza is a legendary cat species.

symbol of the Vietnamese zodiac

indigenous folk monster

thumb|'' illustration from the Chinese encyclopedia Gujin Tushu Jicheng The '''' (), also called () or (), is a legendary creature mentioned in old Chinese literature.

thumb|250px|Aiapaec in a wall in the Huaca de la Luna

mythological animal

is an abridged version of a Swahili fairy tale titled "Sultan Majnun" (Sultani Majinuni), collected by Edward Steere (1828–1882)

thumb|300px|The Macedonians attacked by the dent-tyrant or Odontotyrrannus.

thumb|An artist's impression of a cabbit. A cabbit is a fictional hybrid between a cat and a rabbit. They have appeared in fiction and fantasy stories and have also been dubiously claimed to have been observed in the wild. Most if not all observations are attributable to either misidentified Manx cats or outright hoaxes.

thumb|A stone Olmec werejaguar, showing common werejaguar characteristics including a downturned mouth, almond-shaped eyes, pleated ears, a headdress with headband, and a crossed-bars icon on the chest The werejaguar was both an Olmec motif and a supernatural entity, perhaps a deity.