Behemoth is the giant talking cat in Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. He is an enormous black demonic cat who speaks, walks on two legs, and can briefly transform into a human-like form.
Behemoth belongs to Woland's entourage during the Devil's visit to Moscow. Alongside Koroviev, Azazello, and Hella, he disrupts the city's literary elite and exposes the greed, vanity, and dishonesty of people around the Variety Theatre and Griboedov House. His comic behavior makes him memorable: he enjoys chess, vodka, pistols, elaborate jokes, and theatrical mischief.
The name carries a double reference. Behemoth is a monstrous creature described in the Hebrew Bible, while the Russian word begemot also means “hippopotamus.” Bulgakov turns both associations into absurd comedy by making the character cat-sized in species but almost hog-sized in appearance. Behemoth is sometimes mistaken for Woland because both are supernatural figures, but Woland is the group's mysterious leader, whereas Behemoth is his unruly cat-like page and jester.