"A servant of the trickster god – the Moon. His motivations lie in the path laid out by the older god. Unfortunately even we don’t understand his mysterious ways…" - The New Gods, when asked about Pocketcat.
Pocketcat, though apparently a minor influence when compared to the likes of Gro-goroth's mages, Sylvian's marriages and sex cults, and Alll-mer's vast following, possesses a unique quality distinguishing him from mere adherents. Unlike others, Pocketcat is an actual creature spawned by Rher, the Moon God, much like the Lady of Moon. While specific details about his origin remain elusive, it is known that Rher, a jealous god who opposes humanity's ascension, created Pocketcat with the intention of preventing children with divine parentage from reaching the level of Rher. Pocketcat and Lady of Moon are believed to be figments of Rher's imagination, as he dreams them into existence.
Pocketcat also holds a prominent role in ancient fairytales used as cautionary tales to dissuade children from wandering alone. This narrative aligns with his mission of hindering the ascension of children to Rher's level. Whether the fairytale inspired Rher's creation of Pocketcat or if the creature itself became the source of the tale remains uncertain.
While the extent of Pocketcat's free will is unclear, his actions might be driven by a compulsion tied to his specific purpose. Despite engaging in malevolent acts, Pocketcat displays likable behaviour, expressing sentiments and emotions openly. He conducts himself with respect, thoughtfulness, and gentlemanly behavior, even when facing opponents in battle.
During the events of Fear and Hunger in 1590, the Kingdom of Rondon faces not only a deadly plague but also the mysterious disappearance of numerous children - Pocketcat's involvement in these disappearances is evident, and followed by his venturing into the dungeons of fear and hunger. By buying and eating children at these dungeons, Pocketcat seeks to undermine the power of other gods, preventing them from utilizing the children for their own religious purposes. Pocketcat likely recognized the girl imprisoned within the dungeons as a vessel with significance in the greater scheme of things and strived to prevent her ascension in the name of Rher, although it was a fruitless endeavor.
During the occurrences of the Festival of Termina in the year 1942, orchestrated by the influence of his master, Rher, Pocketcat makes a reappearance. Pocketcat's role appears to revolve around ensuring the Festival's seamless execution while refraining from direct participation. Instead, Pocketcat encourages contestants to actively engage in the Festival, suggesting a unique method of trading vital items: by obtaining the heads of other contestants. In a twist of fate, Termina contestant Daan will ultimately succumb to possession of sorts by Pocketcat, thus assuming the mantle of a new Pocketcat, unless dealt with beforehand. Caught in an existence marked by suffering, Daan's efforts to rebuild his life seemed futile, as if an unseen hand had orchestrated his perpetual suffering and had been groomed him for possession by Pocketcat from the very moment of his birth. This event hints at the possibility that the previous iteration of Pocketcat might have also been an ordinary human subjected to the influence of this entity.
Location & Behaviour
Pocketcat makes an appearance in the second game as a vendor and potential enemy. He can be found as early as day 1 morning at two locations in Prehevil:
When encountered, Pocketcat will be seen crouched over a bloody bag, hitting it violently as screams can be heard from the bag. After noticing the player, he will stand up and happily introduce himself to them. Pocketcat asks the player if he has met them before in a past life (likely a nod to the first game). He will question them on their thoughts of darkness and light in a similar fashion to his previous encounters. Pocketcat will offer his services in exchange for any contestant heads the player has collected. Afterwards, he will walk away and relocate to the Bohemia National Museum. If the player interacts with him here in Masoχ-S/M mode, it will pause the moonscorch timer during the whole interaction.
Pocketcat can be found in the Museum, where he will once again sell items in exchange for contestant heads. He can only be attacked here if playing as Daan.
On Day 3 Morning, the player can witness Pocketcat (Daan) leaving the Museum with a wheelchair if both Daan and Olivia are still alive at this point. Olivia will be waiting inside the museum, having turned into the Mechanical dance due to the Moonscorch. Pocketcat can be talked to or attacked here, and if he is killed, the player can retrieve the stolen wheelchair and loot his body. Otherwise, he will walk away, taking the wheelchair with him and moving to (?).
If Daan is dead, Pocketcat will disappear from the Museum.
After skipping a turn, he will only attack with one move, "gentle dismemberment". Pocketcat will ask a random party member to pick a body part for him to remove. Afterwards, he will gladly oblige, and if the attack lands, he will deal a small amount of damage, casuing limb loss and bleeding to the target. The player cannot deny his request, and must "choose" between losing an arm, a leg, or their head. Of these, the head is not recommended because it will instantly end the run if it hits the player. Additionally, if the player chooses either "arms" or "legs" consecutively then he will tell them to stop cheating and force them to select a different body part for that turn.
Though Pocketcat has a moderate amount of HP, his head has a very low evasion rate of 5%, much like some of the other moonscorched contestants. Because of this, one can focus entirely on his head and take him down quite easily with the right equipment. Glass Shards can be used to blind him and cause him to miss his dismemberment attack far more often. Combine this with items that prevent limb loss and bleeding and he will be far less of a threat to deal with.
“The soul is too corrupted and frail to be summoned back to the body. The necromancy failed.”
Trivia
Pocketcat seems to be a general reference to the many children-eating boogeymen present in children's stories to make them behave better, albeit a much more grotesque version of said boogeyman.
Pocketcat is one of only a few characters in the game to have voiced lines including discernible English speech. In his Termina fight, he says "Oh, hello there!", "Yes", and chuckles occasionally.
In Fear & Hunger 2: Termina, Pocketcat mentions "The world going through a true darkness and a standstill, with people hiding in their home and stocking up on toilet paper." This is likely a humorous reference to the Covid-19 pandemic and the phenomenon of people panic-buying and hoarding mass amounts of products such as toilet paper.
Game creator Miro Haverinen has mentioned that his inspiration for Pocketcat stemmed from an old vintage print ad featuring a black panther with an uncanny expression. Attempting to recreate the panther's face from memory, the result deviated significantly from the original. Moreover, Pocketcat has undergone substantial iterations since his inception, making him quite distinct from the initial influence of that vintage advertisement.
Haverinen's Tumblr page shows that Pocketcat was originally a character from his past small adventure game.
Warning! Speculation ahead!
Information below is hinted on, but wasn't directly confirmed in-game.
Pocketcat's head is a mask, and behind the mask is a human, as seen in Fear & Hunger 2: Termina. The role itself seems to be passed down on hopeless individuals. This comes at the cost of completely losing ones will to Rher's. Possibly erasing anything that was in terms of memories and replacing it with Pocketcat's.
Pocketcat's mask is noted in the medical diagnosis to be fused with the wearer's face. This can physically symbolize the wearer's individuality being erased.
In the Rher occult book, The truth under the moonlight, the main theme appears to be about hiding the true self under masks to control public images, how ineffective this method is, and how the moon reveals true nature. It may be connected to Pocketcat being a servant of Rher and always wearing a physical mask.
Pocketcat mentions retelling of stories alluding to his own and how it has changed with time, this comment also comes off as a meta-commentary, on retelling of other stories I.E: retelling of games, movies, etc.
In the battle, a meta-commentary topic features questions about stories influencing other stories. Additionally, while not mentioning the game by name, Pocketcat starts the battle by heavily hinting at several Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask references within Fear & Hunger 2: Termina. The existence of such references can be considered an answer to the meta-commentary, as it in itself is a story being influenced by other stories.
