He is an enormous (said to be as large as a hog) demonic black cat who speaks, walks on two legs, and can even transform to human shape for brief periods.

He is evidently the least-respected member of Woland's entourage; Margarita boldly takes to slapping Behemoth on the head after one of his many ill-timed jokes, without fear of retribution.

The character is a werecat, who can be "an enormous black cat with cavalry moustache, that walks on two legs" or a "fat shorty in a torn cap" with a catlike face.

As a human, he starts a row at the Performance Committee, sets Torgsin and Griboyedov's House on fire, and beats up Varenukha at a public toilet, but most of the time he appears as cat and shocks people with his human-like behavior.

In Chapter 28, "The Last Adventures of Koroviev and Behemoth," the gruesome twosome wreaks havoc around town,[1] sowing confusion at Smolensky marketplace and starting a fire at Griboedov's, a restaurant and meeting house for Russia's literary elite.