PounceAnders

PounceAnders is the friendship between Anders and Ser Pounce-a-Lot from the Dragon Age fandom.

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening
Upon reclaiming Vigil’s Keep from the Darkspawn, there is an orange tabby kitten located outside the keep of the courtyard. The Warden-Commander, the player character, can interact with the kitten, having the option to pick it up and keep it. Should the kitten be kept, it is added to the player’s inventory as a gift, specific to Anders.

When Anders is gifted the kitten, he’s immediately taken with it, commenting, “Oh, look at the cute little kitty!” He agrees to take the kitten, stowing it the name of “Ser Pounce-a-Lot”. The cat stays in Anders’ pack, where Anders can talk to it with it meowing back in response. The cat can also be brought out for combat.

Dragon Age 2
Anders and Ser Pounce-a-Lot have been separated prior to Anders arriving in Kirkwall, which Anders is still bitter about. When Hawke, the player character, first meets Anders, Anders thinks the Grey Wardens have sent Hawke to send him back. His first reasoning for not wanting to go back to the Grey Wardens is because “those bastards made me get rid of my cat.” A moment later, he names Ser Pounce-a-Lot, claiming how he hated the Deep Roads, the place Hawke wants to go. Hawke has the option to ask about Ser Pounce-a-Lot, surprised that Anders had a cat, of all things, with a funny name in the Deep Roads, of all places.

Anders explains to them how Ser Pounce-a-Lot was a gift, describing him as “a noble beast.” Anders recalls a time when Ser Pounce-a-Lot was almost ripped in half by a Genlock once, fondly remembering how he swatted “the bugger” on the nose, drawing blood too. He soon mentions in a bitter tone how “the blighted Wardens” said Ser Pounce-a-Lot made him too soft, where he had to give him to a friend in Amaranthine.

Ser Pounce-a-Lot can come up a couple more times, whereas when Anders talks with Hawke’s mabari, he expresses how he’s don’t like “all this open, slobbery affection,” before telling the mabari to “be a real pet.” He soon proclaims how he misses Ser Pounce-a-Lot. If Hawke and Anders are in a romance together, and Anders moves in with Hawke, Anders attempts to talk with the mabari about now that he’s living there in the estate, there’s no longer room in the bed for he, Hawke and the mabari. As the mabari whines and howls, Anders claims that won’t work on him since he’s a cat person.

Fanon
Anders and Ser Pounce-a-Lot is a beloved friendship within the Dragon Age fandom. Ser Pounce-a-Lot is gifted to Anders more often times than not. Many fans enjoy the interactions between the two, Anders in particular talking to Ser Pounce-a-Lot while he sits in Anders’ pack.

Considering Ser Pounce-a-Lot does not appear in Dragon Age 2, the majority of their fan works together take place in Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, the game in which they can meet. There have been a few insists in which AUs have been created where Anders gets to keep Ser Pounce-a-Lot, they two remaining together in Dragon Age 2, or the two being reunited in Dragon Age 2.

Because of Anders’ hot and cold attitude in Dragon Age 2, some fans have come to believe that he’s bipolar, where they view Ser Pounce-a-Lot as his service animal, as Anders is much more friendly and goofy in Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening. Due to Anders and Ser Pounce-a-Lot having been separated by the start of Dragon Age 2, some fans see Anders’ actions as him finding new ways to cope with his mental illness.

Fandom
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 * — the “Ser Pounce-a-Lot” tag is nearly exclusively Anders and Ser Pounce-a-Lot fan art