Catherine

Catherine is the titular character of the game Catherine, and a major character in the novels Catherine: The Novel and Catherine: The Mysterious Tale of Rapunzel. Catherine falls in love with Vincent Brooks which becomes the catalyst of the game's story. She works as a video game developer at a technology company called Fowles Electronics where she has worked on a "peeping tom dating sim" video game. Her seductiveness is more than just an act. In actuality, it is revealed that Catherine is a demonic succubus from the underworld. In her free time, she seduces men by shapeshifting into their ideal woman, and then kills them by dooming them to their nightmares. It is unknown if she is a rapist or a consensual succubus. Although many would call her "evil", her mission is to help clear the world and human gene pool of unfaithful cheating men. Catherine is a playable character in the DLC of Catherine: Full Body. Catherine is generally a upbeat, cheerful, eccentric, carefree, enigmatic and bubbly woman whose initial physical appearance and personality are meant to mirror what Vincent is searching for: a free soul. Freedom defines her entire attitude and feelings towards life: she's impulsive and resists commitment. This is demonstrated by the fact that she works with Dumuzid to corral men into the Nightmares "on a whim". Despite being a succubus, Catherine isn't entirely cold-hearted — in the novelization, she tells Jonathan Ariga that she feels bad that he will probably begin having "nightmares". It is also difficult to label her as "evil" or "malevolent". Catherine spends more time with Vincent as their relationship develops, neglecting her duties as a succubus. It's unclear if Catherine has a true interest in and feelings for Vincent, but given that she allows herself to be with him in certain endings and is upset when he attempts to leave her, it seems that a part of Catherine truly does love Vincent. Her true personality is evident in the Catherine True Ending and Catherine Good Ending, where her attraction to a chaotic Vincent is clear. On the other hand, in one of her texts along the route to her new ending in Full Body, Catherine expresses her seriousness in re-considering her thoughts about the importance of a committed relationship with Vincent, wishing that they both met each other under different circumstances. In the said ending, Catherine geniunely expresses her guilt for making Vincent suffer through the Nightmares, while deeply confessing her love for him and promising him to keep him happy in their relationship. During the Catherine Bad Ending however, she shows nowhere near as much interest in him. This shows that, despite her initial attraction to Vincent, Catherine seeks excitement above all else. However, she still admits that she was actually a bit into her relationship with Vincent herself, and that it wasn't simply all role-playing. Catherine's personality is almost the polar opposite of Katherine McBride as Katherine has a Type A personality and Catherine has a Type B personality. While Katherine is a workaholic, Catherine hates working and always asks Vincent when he's done with his job, viewing jobs as another thing that chains people down. However, as revealed in a text, she views jobs and work as a necessary important evil to maintain a functioning society though she simply hates overworking and enjoys relaxing and destressing. She is very uplifting, approving and supportive of Vincent and tells him he's fine just the way he is — a contrast to Katherine's berating, criticizing, scrutinizing and nagging attitude towards Vincent. Unlike Katherine, Catherine doesn't seem to mind Vincent's drinking and smoking habits. Catherine is more affectionate with Vincent than Katherine. Catherine is more playful, unpredictable, mischievous, wild and naughty, contrasting with Katherine's serious attitude. While Katherine pushes marriage, Catherine thinks marriage is overrated and doesn't see it as more than a man-made tradition instead of something god-given. Katherine dresses conservatively in black while Catherine dresses liberally in white and in more sexually arousing attires (examples include near-nude, bikini, lingerie and bunny). Catherine can be perceived as an emotionally, sexually, physically abusive, and manipulative girlfriend. She is prone to having rapid swings of emotions — she's revealed to be rather emotional, experiencing rage one moment and joy the next. When Vincent breaks up with her on Day 7, her initial reaction is one of desperation; that, as long as she is #1 in his life, he may have another woman, even a child, in his life. Though this can be seen as a last play at manipulation, her reaction appears genuine. It quickly shifts to abuse and violence when Vincent follows her into the Stray Sheep's bathroom and he is physically assaulted, beaten, punched, and screamed at by her. Catherine warns him of the dangers of breaking up with her and, thus, leaving her "protection". Catherine also makes suicidal threats to Vincent about how she'd "die" if he cheated on her. She has a tendency to give violent love bites, which Vincent has to cover up with bandages to hide. In addition, due to her succubus nature, Catherine may be a rapist and Vincent could be viewed as a rape victim. It can be argued that Vincent's first drunken hookup with Catherine was consensual, since they might have both been drunk at the time. However, Vincent can't remember it in the morning, or any of their other sexual encounters either. It is unknown if she ever actually had sex with Vincent during the events of the main story, and there are arguments both ways. Supporting facts for this claim include the Immoral Beast, the fact that Catherine wakes up next to Vincent naked, and in Vincent's dream prior to The Cathedral, she quotes "After all [Vincent has] done to [her] body... Night, after night..." implies that they had sex. However, this only occurred in one of Vincent's dreams, although it can then be counter-argued that Vincent's reality would naturally affect his dreams and subconscious. Catherine has a few hobbies, interests and quirks. Catherine tells Vincent she has a sweet tooth (though the only food she is shown to order in the game is the summer squash pasta while at Chrono Rabbit), enjoys horror movies, and playing video games with her father. In the Rapunzel novelization, Catherine works as a video game developer, showing that she has a creative side. Despite being a demon, she seems to fear ants.