Changes: Toralei Stripe (G1)

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“What they did was sneaky, mean, conniving, and underhanded. I have to say... I admire it.”
— Toralei Stripe in "Ghouls Rule"

Toralei Stripe is an orange werecat who first appeared in the webisode "Scream Building". She is good friends with Meowlody and Purrsephone, fellow werecats, and is an ally of sorts to Nefera de Nile. Toralei is a definite mean girl, who delights in bringing others misery, but she also has a soft spot for those in need, finding no satisfaction in bringing down someone who already is down. Toralei and her posse functioned as consist antagonists of the show for the most part of Volume 2.

Portrayers

In the English cartoon, Toralei is voiced by America Young.

In the Latin American version, she´s voiced by Diana Jaramillo in volume 2, and by Analiz Sánchez since volume 3.

Character

Personality

She has a cat-like attitude, and is self-assured, with a touch of a sarcastic purr. In "Scream Building", she stands up for the fearleaders when Cleo critiques them, but it seems like it was more about taking Cleo down a peg. She is an opportunist and a manipulator, whose clique of followers never speak for themselves and do her bidding. She causes a lot of trouble for the ghouls, whether it's by revealing their secret routine to their fearleading rivals, texting rumors about them or spreading dissent by playing to people's insecurities.

However shows a softer side to people in need of help, such as a troll named Teala and Cleo de Nile when she was new to fearleading. In light of this, in the cartoon she did actually do Lagoona a favor by forcing Gil to admit he lied and finally confront his parents about their judgmental views on salt monsters.

Toralei also proved in "Monster Mashionals Part 2" that, while she is scheming and manipulating, she is also honest. While she will always do her best to come out on top, she feels that victory is pointless if it is earned by cheating.

Appearance

Toralei has orange skin (or fur), with a darker orange spot around her eye. She has dark orange tiger stripes running up her right arm and left leg and four on her face. She sports an "emo" styled hairdo, her bangs being longer than her actual hair. She has green eyes, and her pupils are catlike slits.

Classic Monster

Just like Purrsephone and Meowlody, Toralei is a werecat. According to the folklore, they are humans who transforms to human-like cats, panthers or tigers. Werecats are very similar to werewolves, because werecats are also known as "shape-shifters".

Werecats are not featured as often as werewolves in popular culture. But a notable movie with werecats is Cat People (1942) directed by Val Lewton. It tells the story of a young woman, who believes herself to be a descendant of a race of people who turn into cats.

Relationships

Family

According to her 'Campus Stroll' diary, she lives in a steady household with two loving parents. Due to Toralei describing Purrsephone and Meowlody as sisters to her, it appears that she is an only child.

Friends

Along with Toralei's introduction in "Scream Building" came the introduction of the twin cat girls Meowlody and Purrsephone, whom Toralei in her 'Campus Stroll' diary describes to be like sisters to her. She has made enemies of many of the Monster High ghouls, declaring Cleo an enemy in "Witch Trials" after she wasn't reinstated on the squad, and causing trouble for the team during their fearleading camp and trials. In "Queen of the Scammed" she texted everyone that Cleo and the squad are going to stay over night at Monster High on Friday the 13th. But they fail when the ghouls stay overnight. One fact is for sure: she's definitely not friends with Cleo de Nile.

According from Cleo's 'School's Out' diary reveals that Toralei and the werecat sisters are on the squad because of her older sister Nefera and is apparently still in touch with her, the diary also states that Nefera is a "cat person" which may extend their acquaintanceship.

In the webisode "The Nine Lives of Toralei", she seems to be friends with Spectra because she makes a news segment on her. At the end of the webisode, Toralei states that she loves the segment.

Romance

Toralei is in a relationship with Rocco from Granite City High. Supposedly, their mutual penchant for playing dirty if that's what it takes to win is what attracts them to each other.

Appearances

Volume 3

In "Scare-born Infection" after Jackson passes the cooties to Cleo, Clawdeen tells her to pass them to Toralei after she has the cooties Purrsephone and Meowlody backs away remarking they are supposed to be her best friends and gets sad, Frankie then ask her to give her the cooties and she passes them to her without questioning.

TV specials

In "Fright On!", Toralei was seen only at the beginning, taunting the ghouls as usual. She was later seen at the party, dancing with Dougey after stealing him from a backgrouder girl.

Toralei took her usual role of antagonist in "Why Do Ghouls Fall in Love?" after not being invited to Draculaura's Sweet 1600. She took this to heart and, after overhearing Draculaura's story about Valentine, invited him back to Monster High by using her incanny ability of mimicking. The two schemed to destroy Draculaura and Clawd's relationship, Toralei willing to go at any cost, but eventually being thwarted in the end, facing even more humiliation after the ghouls splashed mud all over her.

Toralei did not have much of a part in Escape From Skull Shores, seeing as she only was seen at the carnival, at which she fell in a pit of tar.

And, in "Ghouls Rule", Toralei did not play a main role, so to speak, but she did help her fellow students get back at the normies for what they did to the school.

Timeline

February 8, 2011: Toralei Stripe makes her 2D cartoon debut in "Scream Building".
February 11, 2011: Toralei Stripe's first name is revealed through a tweet by her voice actor (though misspelled as Torelei).
April 14, 2011: Toralei Stripe's first name is confirmed through "Witch Trials".
May 27, 2011: Mattel requests the trademark for Toralei Stripe.
June, 2011: Toralei Stripe makes her diary debut in Cleo's 'School's Out' diary and Frankie's 'School's Out' diary.
July 15, 2011: Toralei Stripe's profile is published on the Monster High website.
July 15, 2011: Toralei Stripe's profile art is revealed.
July 21, 2011: Toralei Stripe's first doll is on display at San Diego Comic-Con International.
Early December, 2011: Toralei Stripe's first doll is released as part of the 'Campus Stroll' series. Though the trademark is Toralei Stripe, the doll is sold as Toralei.
February 12, 2012: Toralei Stripe makes her 3D cartoon debut in "Why Do Ghouls Fall in Love?".
November 15, 2012: Mattel requests the trademark for Toralei.

Notes

The first part of her name comes from the Japanese word tora, meaning "tiger", making her name a pun on the words "tiger stripe".
Her ability to mimic anyone's voice or accent is a reference to the term "copy cat".