Oswald "The Cat"

All great heroes need a nemesis, and Bertie and Marley are no exception. Across their adventures they've faced down German soldiers in the trenches of 1914 and hostile aliens on the moon — but one adversary keeps returning, again and again: a cat.

By day, Oswald is every inch the English gentlecat: charming, cultured and seemingly beyond suspicion. Impeccably dressed and impeccably mannered, he lives a quiet life in Cheltenham and appears to be a successful businessman with a love of fine tailoring, good food and classical music. Few would suspect that behind the courteous smile lies Britain's most elusive master thief.

Known to the world only as "The Cat" — a nickname coined by newspapers and adopted by the police after a series of seemingly impossible burglaries — Oswald has never revealed his true identity and never refers to himself by that name. To him, burglary is not simply theft but an art form, requiring meticulous planning, intelligence and flawless execution. He steals not for greed, but for the intellectual challenge of accomplishing the impossible.

Despite his criminal reputation, Oswald lives by a strict personal code. He never steals from ordinary people, never carries a firearm and avoids violence whenever possible, believing that force is the mark of an amateur. Calm, analytical and always several moves ahead, he treats every theft as an elegant puzzle to be solved. His greatest weakness is his confidence, occasionally leaving behind a subtle calling card simply to prove that, once again, the impossible had been achieved.