Antranak (cat)

Antranak
Place of origin:	Earth
Appearances:	BFA: The Eye of the Scorpion BFA: The Church and the Crown BFA: No Place Like Home BFA: Nekromanteia

Antranak was the name Erimem gave to the stray cat she brought aboard the Fifth Doctor's TARDIS.

Biography

Antranak was one of many stray cats who lived in abandoned tunnels near Thebes, Egypt. Erimem adopted the cat, who had in the course of events absorbed a malevolent alien intelligence harmlessly into its mind, and brought him with her when she left Egypt to travel with the Doctor. (BFA: The Eye of the Scorpion) Erimem named the cat Antranak, after her mentor. (BFA: The Church and the Crown)

Erimem and Peri were quite fond of Antranak, the Doctor less so. Antranak quickly made himself at home in the TARDIS, much to the Doctor's chagrin thanks to the cat's habit of jumping onto the console, and refusal to use the litterbox. (BFA: No Place Like Home)

Departure

Antranak followed the TARDIS crew onto the planet Talderun, where an energy convertor had been built. The convertor supported the consciousness of its creator, Shara, in a heaven-like state of non-existence in a pocket universe while his body anchored the reaction on the material plane. Due to the theft and destruction of Shara's corpse, the reaction was becoming critically imbalanced, and would soon destroy the planet, and ultimately the entire star system.

The reaction could only be rebalanced by another living being mounting an altar and swapping places with Shara, allowing Shara to return to the physical world and die while the sacrificed being became trapped in Shara's pocket Universe. The Doctor prepared to sacrifice himself thusly to save the planet, but Erimem argued that she should be the one to make the self-sacrifice. While they argued, Antranak leaped onto the altar himself, swapping places with Shara, stabilising the reaction, saving the planet, and allowing Shara to die in peace.

The Doctor later wondered if the alien creature in the cat's mind forced him to act. Erimem, however, remained firm in her belief that her noble cat sacrificed himself. (BFA: Nekromanteia)