Puss' Former Lives

“	So you are my former lives?	”
—Puss talking to himself/selves.

“	Watch!	”
—Famous last words in some of Puss's lives

“	You know what? You guys are jerks. Which is very conflicting for me.	”
—Puss, disgusted at himself

Puss's Former Lives were various spans of time in the life of Puss in Boots in between his deaths.

Because Puss is a cat, he has nine lives like all cats in the world, eight of which he has already lost due to his own recklessness. Some say he actually has ten lives, but that is just a rumor.

When he dies, Puss simply blacks out and wakes up without a scratch on him. As one of his jobs, Death claim he was there to witness all eight of them, finding each one to be frivolously wasted on a cavalier lifestyle.

Death has Puss's lives tallied on one of his sickle, each spent life crossed out. He refers to them as Puss's Past Lives, or, preferably, Puss's Past Deaths.

While all of his former lives are the same person, when encountering them in the Cave of Lost Souls they all appear to Puss as illusions in the crystals, some with unique traits and personalities that correlate to when, where, and how they died. And because Puss changes over the course of his journey through the Dark Forest, he identifies them as being unlikable to be around.

The lives address Puss as "Number Nine", as he is the ninth and final life, so it can be assumed that the others are referred to as "Number One" through "Number Eight."

Number One[]

Number One died under the hooves of a bull during the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona. He was distracted because he stopped running to hit on a woman in the crowd, asking if she likes gazpacho. Considering Puss appears to be the same age as he is through most of his lives, it seems like this death came well into his existence, and it was not until then that he started losing lives more frequently.

In the Cave of Lost Souls, as The Red Crystal Reflection, he offers Puss gazpacho (the same dish he mentioned to the woman before he died) while still wearing the red cape he had on during the Running of the Bulls.

Number Two[]

Number Two died to a pack of dogs after being caught cheating in a game of cards by pulling out five aces while in Monaco.

In the Cave of Lost Souls, as The Green Crystal Reflection, he is identified by the many aces coming out of his clothing. In a twist of irony, he is also the one to point out to Death that he is cheating, something he knows all about, as cheating is the very thing that got him killed.

Number Three[]

Number Three died from falling off a building, putting the lie to the claim that a "cat always lands on his feet", which he was determined to prove. Due to the slurring of his words and clumsy movement, it seems he was intoxicated (probably from the alcoholic milk in the glass he was holding during the event). His hat is also different, appearing more like a Tyrolean hat, heavily associated with German culture. This could be a nod to German festivals like Oktoberfest, which are known for having lots of alcohol and being drunk. He is confirmed to have been in Munich at this time in the junior novel of the film.

In the Cave of Lost Souls, as The Light-Blue Crystal Reflection, he retains the German attire and drunken demeanor. He even perks up when Death uses the word "intoxicating".

Number Four[]

Number Four died from the weight of a very heavy barbell he was attempting to bench press, which would've probably been avoided had he not waved away the need of a spotter. Here he has a noticeably larger upper body, no hat, and a curly mustache. In the junior novel, he is confirmed to have been in a "medieval gymnasium in France."

In the Cave of Lost Souls, as The White Crystal Reflection, he retains his larger muscles and is usually seen either flexing or lifting weights.

Number Five[]

Number Five died after being shot out of a cannon rather than simply docking the boat he is on, claiming he was trying to "revolutionize travel." In the junior novel, he was on the shores of Portugal when this death occurred. It was revealed in The Trident, that Kitty Softpaws was present during this event, and that he was actually stuffed into the cannon by others, but in an effort to save face, he went along with it.

This life is supposedly The Amber Crystal Reflection in the Cave of Lost Souls; which alludes to the wooden palettes of the ship.

Number Six[]

Number Six died from eating a dish with shellfish in it, which he is allergic to. Unlike most of his lives, which ended nearly instantly after a reckless decision, Puss knowingly continues to eat even after discovering it is something that could kill him, further proving Death's point that Puss doesn't truly value his own lives.

Despite his swelling and the bib he wears, he remains unidentifiable in the Cave of Lost Souls. It could however be The Night Blue Crystal Reflection due to the picture of a fish on the bib.

Number Seven[]

Number Seven died from the flames of an oven he had set too high to bake some cookies. He had brushed off a warning from Gingy, claiming to be a "master of the baking." This was described as the "explosion on Drury Lane" in the junior novel.

It is possible this life was The Purple Crystal Reflection in the Cave of Lost Souls as a nod to the classic purple color schemes of older Shrek promotional material.

Number Eight[]

Number Eight died from being crushed by a bell after he had defeated the Sleeping Giant of Del Mar. He had pretended as though he was going to leave, but came back for an encore to sing a song called "The Legend Will Never Die". The bell crushed him before the song could begin.

In the Cave of Lost Souls, as The Pink Crystal Reflection, this Puss retains the mandolin he was about to play before he died.

Trivia[]

While Number One, Two, Three, Four and Eight can be unarguably identified in the Cave of Lost Souls, others look mostly identical and have no stand out traits, namely Numbers Five, Six, and Seven.
- The one dancing with a rose, the one with the mirror, and the one holding his sword could be any of them, as swordsmanship, dancing skills and vanity are all skills the lives seem to share.
Aside from Puss being on his 8th and 9th lives during Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, it is unclear which lives he was on in any of his other appearances. Exceptions to this are that he was on and subsequently lost his 5th life in the flashback seen in The Trident - sometime between Puss in Boots and Shrek 2 - and lost his 7th life sometime after Shrek 2, known due to Gingy's presence at the incident.
- During his first encounter with Death, Puss' lives "flash before his eyes" in a series of flashbacks. When the same happens in his confrontation with Death atop the Wishing Star, but with clips from his 9th life and a scene of him being given his boots. While the latter couldn't have happened on his 9th life (since we see the entirety of it in the film), it seems as though he considers that moment specifically to be part of his final life anyway.
In the initial trailers for the film, some of the lives are out of order or missing.
- Number Six and Number Two are swapped.
- Number Seven is replaced entirely by a scene of Puss being crushed by a sumo wrestler in Japan.
Cats that make kneading motions with their paws are said to be making biscuits. The food Puss is baking in his seventh life may be actual biscuits.
In Shrek 2, Puss claims he was Santiago de Compostela, a cat burglar, in one of his nine lives. This would seem to suggest that his lives are more like reincarnations than video game re-spawns, as The Last Wish appears to depict them. However, this could simply mean that during one of the interludes between life losses, he went by or was bestowed with that alias.
In the "First We Feast presents: Hot Ones" video featuring Puss, he claims that the restaurant he was eating shellfish at was Michelin Star (Michelin Guide) rated, and therefore he could not pass up the opportunity to eat there.
When Puss is being dangled over a high height by Jack and Jill, Jill asks if it's true that a cat always lands on its feet. Puss claims it is only a rumor spread by dogs (who presumably would therefore wish to encourage cats being dropped from high heights). This incident may have occurred after his third death, which proved that saying untrue.
The Number Five's flashback in The Trident has different lighting, sets and ship compared to the film itself.