Nekomata can take human appearance, and are considered more malicious than Bakaneko (who also can take appearance of humans). Also, there is xiānlí in Chinese. A leopard cat grows old enough to gain... magical powers, transforms into a beautiful man or woman and sucks the spirit out of humans. Although, according to the folklore, a Nekomata tends to take the appearance of an old woman in most cases.
Nekomata, depending on the region and era, can be vengeful and associated with death (and starting fires). There are stories that a Nekomata killed his/her previous "owners" for abusing and neglecting it while it was a cat, or avenged death of another cat. But as always, group can be one thing, individuals can be something else...
