Bast

Bast (also spelled Bastet, Baast, Ubasti, Baset) is the Egyptian goddess of felines. During the reign of Ra, Bast served as his second eye. Her host is Muffin, Sadie's cat.

Background
When Ra found Sekhmet to be too unruly to be his champion, he replaced her with Bast. As Ra was forced to withdraw into the heavens, he bound Bast and Apophis together and sent them to the Duat so that she would eternally fight him, keeping Apophis from rising. Although Bast was proud to have this duty, she eventually began to realize that Ra had intended for them to kill one another repeatedly, thus weakening each other's essences, until they "ripped each other into nothingness", allowing the world to finally be safe.

The Red Pyramid
After Julius releases Isis, Horus, Set, Nephthys, and Osiris from the Rosetta Stone, Bast, still in cat form, travels with Amos Kane, Sadie, and Carter to the Twenty First Nome, Brooklyn. After an attack by the longnecks, Bast revealed her true identity to Sadie and Carter. She was able to hold off Serqet long enough for the siblings to escape to the First Nome with Zia Rashid. She later rejoined them in Paris when the siblings went on the run from the House of Life and helped them travel to the Land of the Dead and later to Phoenix. She died while fighting Sobek at the Rio Grande River, but managed to keep her host, Muffin, from harm. Later, as a gift from the gods, Bast is brought back from the Duat to help Carter and Sadie.

The Throne of Fire
Bast, along with Carter, Sadie, and Amos Kane, teach magic classes, as well as other classes such as Advanced Cat Grooming, and Napping. According to Carter, "there was a waiting list to get into Napping." Bast went back to the Duat to check on Apophis. She told them a friend of hers (Bes) would be coming to watch them. She later told Sadie and Walt as they where travelling to find the final scroll of Ra that Apophis wants them to succeed in their quest. Sadie and Walt still refuse to abandond the quest and proceeded. She later joined them in the battle and afterwards when with Ra (he father) in his sun boat, as well as later when Anubis takes them to visit the gods she is their and it is quoted that "she looked as if she wanted to shred Horus like a scratching post". After Bes sacificed himself to allow Carter and Sadie to continue, Bast, Carter and Sadie go back to Sunny Acres (a place for old lost gods) to visit him. Bes is in poor condition, all he does is sit in a wheel chair and stare out the window. Tawaret gets mad at Bast and yells at her that Bes's condition is her fault and that she used him. Bast felt ashamed for this happening to Bes.

Serpent's shadow
Bast at the end apears to have drifted off into being an old timer at Sunny Acres. Saying stuff similar too: life is too hard let me rest, and there are animals to be chased.

Personality
Although loving and playful, Bast has a serious side to her that surfaces in the face of danger. Bast considers herself a coward for abandoning her duty to fight Apophis and because she will run when frightened. Despite this, Bast has made many self-sacrificing decisions to protect Sadie and Carter, belying her true nature as a brave warrior. She is also very protective, (as she is a goddess of protection), of Carter and especially Sadie e.g. After Horus and Isis had threatened them "she looked as though she wanted to shred Horus like a scratching post".

Appearance
Bast is small and agile, like a gymnast, with black hair, lamplike yellow eyes, and wears a skin-tight leopard-print leotard. When she smiles, her eyes glint like a cat's and she appears to look either concerned, amused, or both. She, like all gods, (maybe not Anubis... that whole cat dog thing- yikes!) can change her appearance at will, although magicians like Carter can see through it, with some inital difficulty.

Powers and Abilities
Bast is an extremely skilled fighter, both with and without magic. She is highly adept at using her two knives to fight and has many acrobatic abilities. One could say she has "catlike" reflexes. She is also skilled at both combat and non-combat magic and can create glamours as needed. She also has her own battle avatar like Carter, though hers is twenty-feet tall and green with a cat head and it has claws 'as sharp as rapiers'. She can summon many different types of cats to help her attack or to defend her. She also seems to host cats often, as she hosted Muffin for 6 years. She can also make food appear, such as Friskies, milk, and cheese sandwiches. She may have power over fire, as she is a daughter of Ra, the sun god. However she proves herself unworthy when she almost loses to Apophis.

Although she is a Combat Magician, she is also an Animal Charmer and a Healer. She specializes in cats for Animal Charming and as a Healer heals Carter and Sadie many times in The Red Pyramid.

Relationships
Ra: Bast is deeply loyal to her master, even after she realizes that he had planned for her to die while destroying Apophis.

Apophis: Bast both loathes and fears her mortal enemy, not even willing to speak his name. In The Throne of Fire, Bast finds out that when she gets close enough to the Apophis she can hear his thoughts probably because she's been fighting him for so long.

Sadie & Carter Kane: Bast holds a deep, motherly affection for her two charges, calling them her 'kittens', even posing as Carter's aunt in public, causing Carter to call her "Aunt Kitty" (much to her annoyance). She often places their welfare before her own and sacrifices herself in the battle against Sobek to protect them.

Bes: Bes used to have a crush on Bast, but he eventually gave up after realizing that Bast only saw him as a friend. He may still have some feelings left for her. Bast trusts Bes, enough to let him guard Carter and Sadie, and is quite sad to see him in Sunny Acres without his ren.

Tawaret: Tawaret dislikes Bast, probably out of jealousy because of Bes's old crush on Bast. She blames Bast for Bes losing his ren.

In Mythology
She is the great cat goddess, in Egyptian Mythology. As the daughter of the sun god, she was believed to use the sun's power to make crops grow, so they prayed to her for good harvest. In the books, however, it is not shown or mentioned that Bast can generate or manipulate flames or solar power.

Bast was also the goddess of music and dance, as well as joy and love.

Trivia

 * She is still hosting Muffin, as her appearance hasn't changed (as it tends to with hosts).
 * Although she is the daughter of Ra, she doesn't seem to have power over fire, or doesn't use it.
 * Bast used to protect the children of the pharaoh in ancient Egypt, as she protects Carter and Sadie.