Salem Saberhagen is a character in the American television series Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996–2003), based on the Archie Comics series of the same name. He’s voiced by actor Nick Bakay.
In the TV adaptation, Salem is a black cat and the companion of Sabrina. Unlike ordinary felines, Salem has the ability to speak and reason like a human. It is revealed that once upon a time, he was a human warlock that became magically cursed to be trapped in the body of a cat in punishment of some serious crime. Salem’s backstory, and the precise nature of his crime, varies depending on the version of Sabrina. Some say it was attempting to take over the world, others say jilting a lover, and others still claim it was attempting to force someone to love him.
Salem is sarcastic, witty, and frequently plotting for wealth, celebrity, or a return to his human body. Various iterations of Sabrina hint at Salem’s bisexuality, showing the cat having crushes not only on women, but also on men such as Harvey Kinkle and Frankie Avalon. Being a cat, there’s a limit to how far these relationships can really go.
In the comics, it seems like Sabrina finally confirms Salem’s sexuality. In one series, she introduces Salem as her “bi-curious” cat. Among Sabrina fans, Salem has become essentially canonized as bisexual.
