# The Leopard — Just So Stories character guide

> The Leopard in Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Leopard

**First appearance:** 0003-how-the-leopard-got-his-spots

## Snapshot

A hunter of the High Veldt who follows his prey into the speckly shadows of the forest and must learn to change his spots to keep up.

## Who they are

The Leopard and his human companion the Ethiopian once hunted easily across the greyish-yellowish-reddish Veldt, until Giraffe and Zebra slipped into the shadowy forest and vanished from sight. Reduced to eating rats and beetles, the Leopard consults Baviaan the Baboon, who advises him simply to go into other spots. His bewilderment in the dappled forest and his willingness to adapt drive one of Kipling's most playful explanations of how the world came to look the way it does.

## Relationships

### [Ethiopian](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/characters/ethiopian)

_friendship_

Ethiopian and The Leopard are hunting companions who cooperate to adapt to their changing environment.

### [Ethiopian](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/characters/ethiopian)

_friendship_

Ethiopian and The Leopard are hunting companions who cooperate to adapt to their changing environment.

### [Ethiopian](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/characters/ethiopian)

_friendship_

Ethiopian and The Leopard are hunting companions who cooperate to adapt to their changing environment.

## In the story

### [How the Leopard Got His Spots](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/chapters/how-the-leopard-got-his-spots)

The Leopard struggles to see his prey in the forest and eventually receives spots from the Ethiopian.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/characters/the_leopard
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/characters