Tama (タマ, Tama) is a character featured in Diamond Is Unbreakable. Originally a street cat hit by the Arrow, Tama is taken in by Yoshikage Kira after becoming a plant.
Tama is a blue-grey furred British Shorthair cat with honey-gold eyes whose most defining characteristic is a gaping hole in his throat caused by the Arrow.
Personality
Tama is stubborn, sticking to its territory in the cellar when Shinobu Kawajiri attempts to chase it out. After it is killed, it shows a desire for revenge and attacks Shinobu when it sees her in the garden. It is friendly toward Kira until Kira himself deems the newly resurrected Stray Cat a threat. However, it is able to easily forgive Kira, and allies itself with him. Tama is shown to get along well with Okuyasu's father after Kira's death.
Synopsis
Diamond Is Unbreakable
Tama was once a normal cat that was hit with an Arrow while peacefully lazing about by a tree. It takes refuge in the cellar of the Kawajiri household where it is killed by a broken glass bottle when Shinobu Kawajiri tries to chase it out. After being buried in their garden, its dormant Stand ability brings it back to life as a cat-like plant named Stray Cat.
Gallery
Tama wary of Shinobu when she tries to approach it.
Tama surprised by Shinobu's silly act of being submissive.
Tama swats away a brush thrown at him with his tail.
Tama jumps onto the ceiling to dodge Shinobu's attack with the broom.
The hole in Tama's neck from the Arrow.
Tama's death when he is impaled with glass shards.
Araki states he based Tama/Stray Cat off of his grandfather's cat named Chako. As a child, they both doted on it but Chako scratched Araki when he ignored it one day. He's since been suspicious of cats as a result.[3]
The whole story for Tama/Stray Cat is an homage to the popular 1983 horror novel Pet Sematary by Stephen King.