Tuggoffelees

"You ought to ask Mr. Mistoffelees, the original Conjuring Cat. The greatest magicians have something to learn, from Mr. Mistoffelees' Conjuring Turn!"

- Rum Tum Tugger

Tuggoffelees is the slash ship between Mr Mistoffelees and Rum Tum Tugger from the Cats fandom.

Canon
The canon of the ship is dependent on the production, as Cats is a mostly visual story. The canon is instead split up by songs and what happens in each version of the show.

Rum Tum Tugger
In Cats (1998), Tugger will end up almost flinging a ball into Mistoffelees face, after which Mistoffelees will slink up to Rum Tum Tugger and playfully call him a "terrible bore". During the rest of the number, Mistoffelees will stay in the background and watch the rest of the song. As the number finishes, Mistoffelees will hold back his own freakout that the kittens around Tugger do.

During the 2016 Revival, Tugger will offer his hand to Mistoffelees and the two do a small dance. Mistoffelees will stand behind Tugger in the line of cats before Tugger rejects Bomblurina. Mistoffelees along with two other cats will admire Tugger as he looks in a large mirror. Mistoffelees will also dance behind Munkunstrap while all the other cats dance in pairs, before being pulled into a dance by Tugger. Mistoffelees is the one who gets the longest dance with Tugger, and is also the only of the cats to not receive a rejection from him during the song.

The Song of the Jellicles
In Cats (1998), Mistoffelees pauses his dance just as Tugger shows up in front of him, and lets go of his dancing partners hand. During the 2016 Revival and 6th US Tour the two will sing by each other, before doing a brief dance and becoming rather close. Mistoffelees will then step back, and the two will touch paws before Tugger leaves him.

Magical Mr Mistoffelees
In all versions of the song (except the 2019 film), Tugger will start out telling the worried cats that they need to ask Mistoffelees for help in getting back Old Deuteronomy, since he is magical. He will praise Mistoffelees skills just as the other cat will come down from the top of the stage and start dancing. Tugger will also follow along with Mistoffelees dance moves, and when he does his dance solo encourage him in the background.

The performance from Oasis on the Seas has the two joining arms and walking around the stage and Tugger taking off Mistoffelees jacket before his solo. Mistoffelees will also stop his performance and go over to dance with Tugger for a few seconds. Tugger will also bow to Mistoffelees after he gets Deuteronomy back.

In a Moscow production from 2005, Mistoffelees takes Tuggers arms and they do a small walk forward. He then whispers in Tugger's ear before he goes to do his final move.

Many versions will have some kind of rainbow involved with the song. Many often having Mistoffelees pull a rainbow ribbon and a bunch of glitter out of a cup, while the 2016 revival had his light up jacket switch colors during his dance routine.

Curtain Call
During various curtain calls, Tugger and Mistoffelees will sometimes interact during them. During US Tour 6, Tugger grabs Misto and show him that he can do his conjuring turn just at the end of the curtain call. In another, Tugger takes Mistoffelees by the hand and gives him a small spin, before pushing him off stage so that he can have the limelight. During the 2020 Asia tour, Tugger dips Misto and they do a little dance together, before Misto walks offstage.

Quotes
"The Rum Tum Tugger is a terrible bore."

- Mistoffelees; The Rum Tum Tugger

Fanon
The pairing, if not universally loved, is by far the most popular ship in the Cats fandom. While most fans debate and speculate on the relationships between the cats, many agree that the two have some kind of romantic relationship.

Most fans come into the pairing, and the Cats fandom, through seeing the stage show or the filmed version from 1998. Fans will typically draw inspiration for art and fic through these two versions, although the '98 version is the one most people draw from, as Broadway is not easily accessible to everyone. Depending on the version watched, this will influence the way fans interpret the pair. Although, fans will try and get their hands on as many versions as possible, as each show will have different moments that shippers can latch onto.

The youtube uploads of the 1998 version of both The Rum Tum Tugger and Mr. Mistoffelees will normally point out how much of a couple the two are. The entirety of the Mr. Mistoffelees number is filled with comments about how Tugger put on a whole musical number about his boyfriend, even though it wasn't the best time. The Rum Tum Tugger comments will bring up how Tugger rejects every woman who makes a move on him, and seems to only have heart eyes for Mistoffelees. Although the contrast with the way that Mistoffelees speaks about Tugger and the way that Tugger put on a whole performance about how amazing Mistoffelees is does lead many to believe that Tugger wants Mistoffelees because he knows he doesn't want him back.

Fan fiction of the two will typically show how the two end up together, whether this was before the musical or after. Some will also have missing scenes or have them get together during the musical, as there are a few numbers where the two are missing. Many will also just have them be a pre-established couple, and show them in more domestic situations. Human Au's are also popular in the fandom, although some prefer to keep them as cats.

A common joke among fans of the pair will be the rejection of the line from The Rum Tum Tugger, "the Rum Tum Tugger" doesn't care for a cuddle, as it as a frequent occurrence in Tuggoffelees fic and art.

Fans of the pairing are not fond of the 2019 film, for several reasons. Mistoffelees' "terrible bore" being changed from snarky to a jealous statement, was not taken well. The relationship overhaul of the two was not taken well. It was especially bad when in "Magical Mr Mistoffelees" Tugger didn't get to sing the song, which is instead shared between Munkunstrap, Mistoffelees and Victoria. The more "no homo" moments of the film didn't help either, as both characters have moments of attraction to Victoria. Mistoffelees even gets a romantic subplot with her. The comments section of the films version of Mr Mistoffelees also garners a lot of disappointment, although the execution of the characters doesn't help with that. Despite the lack of interaction, it is still the most written ship in the 2019 tag.

On AO3, Tuggoffelees is the most written ship for Rum Tum Tugger and Mr. Mistoffelees. It is also the most written ship in the Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber tag, Cats (1998), Cats (2019) and the Old Possum's Book of Practical Cat's - T.S. Eliot tags.

Fandom
FAN FICITON
 * Tugger/Mistoffelees tag on FanFiction.net
 * Tugger/Mistoffelees tag on FanFiction.net

TUMBLR

WIKIS
 * on

Trivia

 * The ship name was mentioned by Tyler Hansen who plays Tugger and Ricky Ubeda who play Mr Mistoffelees in the 2016 revival. Tyler also had fan art of the two on his dressing room wall.
 * Tuggoffelees week first took place between April 13th and April 19th 2020.