I Illustrated My Tiny-Eared Black Cat As An Adorable Ancient Hero, The Earless Wanderer (12 Pics)

Have you ever met a cat so tiny-eared that he looks like a character who just stepped out of a comic? Meet Hei Hei — my beloved black cat, whose ears are so small they almost disappear into his round head. At first glance, he looks irresistibly cute, but his story goes much deeper than that.

Hei Hei is a very special mix. His father is an American Shorthair, while his mother carries the folded-ear gene. This gave Hei Hei his signature tiny ears — but also a lifelong burden of pain. Hei Hei came into my life when he was two years old — I adopted him from his previous owner. Just a few days ago, he turned seventeen. 🎂 Despite his severe joint and cartilage problems, he still lives each day with a kind of clumsy, muddled happiness: stumbling, limping, but always managing to find little joys along the way — He even limps after grasshoppers! Seeing him endure pain yet continue to find joy in life both breaks my heart and fills me with admiration.

That’s why I began to draw a different world for him — a world where there is no pain. In this imagined universe, Hei Hei becomes “The Earless Wanderer,” a little black cat hero who roams freely through the jianghu (the martial arts world of Chinese folklore). In Chinese, I call him “猫猫侠·玄次” — “Xuan Ci, the Cat Hero.” Xuan means “black,” and Ci means “second,” since Hei Hei is the second cat in my family.

In my illustrations, Hei Hei journeys through the four seasons: enjoying cherry blossoms in the spring, watching fireflies by the glow of a lantern on summer night, climbing to mountain heights in the autumn to gaze across lakes and distant hills, and finding quiet solitude by a frozen lake in the winter. Here, he is free, brave, and endlessly curious — just as he has always wanted to be.

The series also carries a bilingual slogan that captures Hei Hei’s spirit.

A clumsy black cat, no plans in his head — just wanders on instead.

But there’s something important I hope people take away from Hei Hei’s story. His adorable ears are the result of a genetic mutation linked to painful bone and cartilage diseases. Behind every “cute” folded ear cat is a lifetime of suffering. Please remember this before choosing to buy a Scottish Fold. Cats deserve a happy, pain-free life — no matter the shape of their ears.

Hei Hei may not live without pain in reality, but through these illustrations, I can give him the freedom he deserves. To me, he will always be The Earless Wanderer.

Hei Hei’s journey doesn’t end here. I keep illustrating his adventures — sometimes playful, sometimes poetic — and sharing them online. If you’d like to keep following this little black cat as he roams through new lands and seasons, you can find more of his story under #TheEarlessWanderer on Bluesky. 🌸🍂❄️🌊

Hei Hei the Cat: The Inspiration of the Series