Claudandus

"Oh dear, Francis. You live through your ordinary little day and.. and fall asleep to dream your ordinary carefree little dreams through the course of the peaceful, undisturbed night. But then, I brought nightmares to your mind. Do you deny it? The world is Hell, Francis. And the crowning glory of hatefulness in this world... is man. And the joke, my friend... is that we're now no different to him."

- Claudandus to Francis. "The horror... so much pain... darkness... Francis, so much... darkness. You look at me now, and all you see Francis is evil. Yet once I was... good."

- Claudandus' last words.

Claudandus is the hidden main antagonist of the 1994 animated German film, Felidae, based on the book of the same name. He is an elderly and highly intelligent cat able to read books and to use computers. Under the name Pascal, his knowledge of the local cats proves vital in helping the protagonist, Francis, solve the mystery of the many cat murders that plague the cat society. However, it turns out that he is the one responsible for the killing spree.

Claudandus was one of the favorite subjects of a scientist named Preterius, who undertook awful experiments on laboratory cats hoping to create a special glue that would be able to heal flesh wounds. Judging from his own words, said experiments were like torture, so it is fair to assume that it turned him to the evil supremacist murderer bent on revenge that he is now, as he considers all humans to be evil. It is also implied that Preterius' manipulation gave him exceptional abilities. He claims to have talked to Preterius and to be responsible for the nightmares that plague Francis, showing him the hindsight of the murderer. (Though whether he truly has powers or he pretends it through manipulation and suggestion remains unclear.)

After being subjected to many experiments, Claudandus killed Preterius and reached a legendary status amongst the cats, most believing him to be dead. He controls the Claudandus Sect (a cult believing that he gained powers from the experiments that could make cats evolve into something greater) from behind the scenes and uses them from his goal.

Claudandus does plan to make the cat race evolve, by breeding some of the fittest with female cats he bred himself and killed those whom he deemed unworthy of it. Claudandus used his owner's computer to store info and to list all cats in the vicinity, and caused the death of more than a hundred cats. Knowing that he would die soon from stomach cancer, He took Francis as a disciple and guided him in his quest, hoping that he would succeed him in his plan.

As Francis eventually discovers that Claudandus could be the murderer, he goes to his home and discovers the listings on the computer, something that Claudandus wanted him to. He also understands that Pascal and Claudandus are one and the same. Claudandus then confronts him after severely wounding Francis's friend Bluebeard. He tries to explain his motivations, but a disgusted Francis rejects Claudandus's extremist views. The two cats eventually engage a bloody battle, during which Claudandus ends up disemboweled.

Claudandus dies in a gruesome death, expressing some regret about his evil deeds in his last breath. His body was then burned in the fire.

Trivia

 * Claudandus is similar to Scar from Disney's 1994 animated film, The Lion King.
 * Both are brown felines.
 * Both are sinister and intelligent felines who plan to kill people and take over their respective domains
 * Both even manipulate the protagonist to attain their goals.
 * Both of their films also came out in 1994.