Bagheera Bagheera Bagheera (; "Baghīrā"/"Bagīdah") is a fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in the "Jungle Book" (coll. 1894) and the "Second Jungle Book" (coll. 1895). He is a black panther (melanistic Indian leopard) who serves as friend, protector and mentor to the "man-cub" Mowgli. The word "bagheera" is Hindi/Urdu for black panther-- although the root word bagh means tiger. Born in captivity in the menagerie of the Raja of Udaipur, Rajasthan, India, Bagheera begins to plan for his freedom after his mother dies. Once he is mature and strong enough, he breaks the lock on his cage and escapes
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle has the power to change the jungle. She then directs him to face Shere Khan, who is again challenging Akela for Mowgli. Mowgli stops the tiger and Akela's challengers with fire taken from the Man-Village, but shames himself in Akela's eyes and is forced to leave for the Man-Village. Mowgli is captured by the villagers, including the colonial hunter, John Lockwood, and placed in a cage. Bagheera visits him and tells him to stay, encouraging the boy to gain their trust, as Bagheera once did to escape captivity when he was young. Mowgli slowly comes to enjoy village life, being