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Warrior Cats

One of my biggest interests is the Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter. ("Erin Hunter" is actually a group of writers, not just one person.) I started reading the books in 2015. I had heard of them before, but didn't know much about it. When I started reading the first book, I thought it was the stupidest thing ever. But I continued on, because I have a hard time not finishing books I start. About 50 pages or so in, I started enjoying it. Way more than someone my age should've. And so I read the rest of the series. At that point in time, arc 5 had just wrapped up. Arc 6 wouldn't come out for quite some time. I eventually lost interest. Then, a few years later, I remembered its existence and saw it was up to arc 7, book 1. So I read all of that. And then, kept up with the series from there on out.

This page contains spoilers for all arcs before the 8th. Mostly minor though, but read at your own risk.

About

Warrior Cats is basically a long, ongoing book series about a bunch of feral cats living in the woods. The first book, Into The Wild, was first published in 2003. As of me writing this in the year 2024, there are 7 arcs consisting of 6 books each. And there is an 8th arc that currently has 5 books. Then, there are a plethora of super edition, novellas, and graphic novels. How it doesn't have a movie or TV show by now is a mystery to me.

There are five different "clans" that these cats live in. Thunderclan, Riverclan, Windclan, Shadowclan, and Skyclan. They all live by what they call the "warrior code." They each have their own bit of territory that they stick to. They hunt for their clan and patrol their borders. And they all follow Starclan. Which is basically where good clan cats go when they die. Bad clan cats end up in The Place of No Stars. Also known as the Dark Forest.

There are different roles each cat has within their clan. There are apprentices, who are learning to become warriors. Then, warriors, who hunt and fight for their clan. When they get too old to do such things, they become "elders" and are taken care of. Then, there's medicine cats, who are basically healers. And they also interpret signs from Starclan. Then, there's the clan leader. They receive 9 lives from Starclan and appoint a deputy. The deputy helps out the leader and will become the next leader if the leader dies before they do.

Most of the cats have a sort of two-word name. Like Alderheart, Redtail, Crowfeather, and Stonefur, to name a few examples. There's a naming convention the cats have, where the second half of their name indicates where they are in their training. A kitten's name will end in -kit, an apprentice's name will end in -paw, a warrior's name is just, a two word name. And a leader's name ends in -star. For example, a kitten called Bluekit will have her name changed to Bluepaw when she becomes an apprentice. Then, her name will be blue followed by another word these cats are familiar with. Like, fur. So she'll be Bluefur. Then if she becomes leader, she will be known as Bluestar. There are rare exceptions where an outside cat might join a clan but wants to keep their former name. Doing so is generally frowned upon though.

They also use their own terminology for things. People are called "twolegs." Cars are called "monsters." Roads are called "thunderpaths." House cats are called "kittypets." Standard feral cats outside of clans are "rogues" and strays that simply keep to themselves are "loners."

Favorite Arcs

My favorite arcs are the first, the fifth, and the seventh.

The first arc, The Prophecies Begin, is where it all started. A housecat named Rusty is invited to ditch his owners to join Thunderclan by their leader, Bluestar. He's always dreamed of venturing in the woods, so takes the offer. He starts off being given the name Firepaw and trains to be a warrior alongside his new bff Graypaw. They successfully become warriors at the end of the first book, taking the names Fireheart and Graystripe. They find out one of the warriors, Tigerclaw, is plotting to become leader by killing off deputies in hopes he'll be named deputy. And then, when he is named deputy, attempts to kill Bluestar. Bluestar ends up having a mental breakdown over the whole thing. She appoints Fireheart to be her new deputy, because Fireheart is the only cat Bluestar trusts because he shared his suspicions about Tigerclaw with her in the beginning but she didn't believe him at the time. Anyways, Bluestar eventually dies, leaving Fireheart to become Firestar. All while Tigerclaw ended up becoming leader of Shadowclan, taking the name Tigerstar. He made a deal with a rogue cat named Scourge to help him take over all the clans in the forest. The last book in the arc contains a very famous scene of Scourge slicing open Tigerstar's belly so deeply, that he lost all his 9 lives in one go. All the clans then have to get together to defeat Scourge and his cats that have invaded the forest.

First arc is one of my favorite simply because it's where it all started. And since it's the start, we're not subjected to the same rehashing of things. Because, as much as I love these books, the authors are guilty of recycling the same plots/character types over and over and over. It gets predictable.

My other favorite is arc 5, Dawn of the Clans. This arc is different than the others. All the other arcs are a continuation of the next generation of cats. Like, arc 2 follows Firestar's daughters and Tigerstar's son. But this arc is a prequel arc on how the clans came into existence. It has a different vibe to it that the other arcs don't. Which I like and find refreshing. It's funny though, the first time I read this arc, I actually didn't care much for it. I was so caught up in the lives of the cats I'd been reading about for 4 arcs, that starting this one with a brand new cast of characters was difficult. But the next time I read it, I loved it and considered it a favorite. For the vibe and also for the same reasons the first arc was great- no recycled plot lines! Or, at least not to the same extent as the other arcs. It was also interesting to see the clans getting formed. And that ending with Gray Wing gets me every time...

Arc 7, The Broken Code, was the first arc where I actually kept up with the latest books as they came out. I was hooked on that one. The cats lose their connection with Starclan. The Thunderclan leader, Bramblestar, loses a life and starts acting out of character. It turns out one of the Starclan cats, who really should not have been accepted into Starclan, has possessed Bramblestar's body. He also found a way to sever the connection between Starclan and the living clans. There's a lot of strange, supernatural stuff that happens in this arc. Gave me Twin Peaks vibes. This arc also made me love Ashfur. He was one of my least favorite characters until this arc came along and treated him like the villain he is.

Favorite Characters

Yellowfang

Yellowfang is my all time favorite. I always found her very relatable. She's a bit grouchy and doesn't take any shit. She used to be a medicine cat in Shadowclan, but was exiled and had to flee the territory. She ended up in Thunderclan territory and Firestar (Firepaw at the time) found her and she ended up being kept in Thunderclan's camp. She soon proved herself trustworthy and became Thunderclan's medicine cat. Secretly had a kit, who ended up being Shadowclan's leader, Brokenstar. Brokenstar was evil and in the end, Yellowfang made him eat deathberries to kill him.



Graystripe

Graystripe is another top favorite. He's a bit of a comedic relief type character from Thunderclan. There was a lot of trouble he caused in his early warrior days. Namely, getting into a secret relationship with a cat from Riverclan, Silverstream. (Relationships with cats from other clans was forbidden.) Silverstream ended up bearing his kits and died giving birth. Everything soon became public knowledge and there was almost a war over which clan should get the kits. But Graystripe ended up leaving Thunderclan for Riverclan to be with the kits and prevent a fight. He betrayed Riverclan in the end and went back to Thunderclan. In the second arc he was taken by twolegs and had to escape and find his way back to the clans. He brought a kittypet along that he had fallen for, Millie. She was accepted into Thunderclan but chose to keep her kittypet name.

Tree

Tree is awesome and deserves Dad of the Year. He was a loner, met a clan cat, Violetshine. Joined Skyclan to be with her. But he could never quite fit in because he's such an oddball. His hunting method is to just, sit still and wait for the prey to come to him. He struggles to understand clan life and often comes up with the most common-sense solutions to clan affairs. Because of this, he became the first and only "clan mediator." He can see ghost cats. His son, Rootspring, has also inherited this ability and fears getting made fun of. But Tree covers for him.




Hollyleaf

I can relate to Hollyleaf sometimes. In her apprentice days, she couldn't decide between being a medicine cat or being a warrior. She turned out being a terrible medicine cat apprentice, so worked on becoming a warrior instead. She's a Thunderclan cat who puts all her faith in the warrior code. To her, following the rules of the warrior code is very important. She thought she was part of a prophecy with her two brothers, that involved having special powers. She thought hers might've been related to following the warrior code, but it turns out she didn't have one at all. (Fun fact- the authors couldn't think of a power to give her so wrote her off and came up with another cat to fit the prophecy.) As an adult, she found out her real parents were Leafpool and Crowfeather. Leafpool being a Thunderclan medicine cat, and Crowfeather being a Windclan warrior. Typical relationship that goes against the warrior code. (Not only that, but medicine cats aren't allowed to have kits!) So the fact that her very existence went against the warrior code drove her to insanity.


Onestar

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I like Onestar a lot. He's from Windclan and sort of befriended Firestar before they both became leaders. He was Onewhisker then, and was such a nice, reasonable cat. He was forced into a leadership position when former leader Tallstar was dying. Tallstar didn't want his deputy, Mudclaw, to become leader, so his final words were to make Onewhisker his deputy. Since Onewhisker, Firestar, and Brambleclaw were the only three to witness this change, many cats believed they were making it up. But Starclan soon made it clear that Onewhisker was the rightful leader. Then, something changed when Onestar became leader and he just, turned into a total asshole. People hate him for it but I think it's funny.




Mapleshade

Mapleshade is my favorite villain. She resides in the Dark Forest now, but was originally a Thunderclan cat. She ended up in a forbidden relationship with a Riverclan cat, Appledusk. She had his kits and the relationship was soon discovered. She and the kits were exiled from Thunderclan. She went to Riverclan but the kits drowned when trying to cross a river. Appledusk rejected her, and had found a new mate in Riverclan. Mapleshade ends up going on a murderous rampage to seek revenge for the death of her kits. Then, dies. I just love her backstory.



Ashfur

I never expected Ashfur to make it on this list but here we are. Ashfur started out a background character, but main character Squirrelflight showed temporary interest in him after getting in a fight with Brambleclaw. There was a short-lived love triangle going on between these three cats. But Squirrelflight chose Brambleclaw in the end. And Ashfur went full incel over it. There is a very famous scene in the third arc where there is a fire in Thunderclan. Squirrelflight and her three adult kits are trapped. But Ashfur shows up to save the day with a branch for them to climb on and away from the flames. But Ashfur blocked the way, saying he wanted her kits to die so she can feel the pain he'd been feeling ever since she chose Brambleclaw. She tells him she will feel nothing if they die, because they are not really her kits! Which was this huge reveal. Ashfur let them pass, but they all feared Ashfur would tell all the other cats the truth. One of the kits ended up murdering him to prevent such a thing from happening. He ended up in Starclan somehow. The excuse for his crime was "he loved too much!" Pretty much everyone over the age of 14 thought he should've gone to the Dark Forest instead. 4 arcs later, the authors finally made him an actual villain and treated him as such. Instead of pushing this poor, misunderstood "nice guy" bit for him, they made him manipulative and dangerously obsessive. It was so obvious that Ashfur was the one possessing Bramblestar, but I actually had a hard time believing it because of how sinister and calculating he was being. He was out to destroy the clans for Squirrelflight's rejection. He took over the Dark Forest. Blocking out Starclan from the living cats. He was a fucked up cat and I love fucked up cats!



Other Characters, and my feelings on them

In alphabetical order;

Blackstar- This cat was the worst in the first arc. He helped Tigerstar, and did so many terrible things in the process. And then, second arc, everyone just, forgets he was an evil cat. He ends up being one of few Shadowclan leaders able to hold his clan together, so there's that. I really enjoyed his novella. He's still a shit who did unforgivable things. But I liked reading from his point of view. (And found his "just following orders" mindset eerily relatable.)

Bluestar- A lot of people don't like her because of how she acted in the first arc. After Tigerclaw betrayed her, she went on a downward spiral. She became convinced Starclan was plotting against her. When one of the apprentices got half her face chewed off by a dog, she did a quick warrior ceremony for her where she gave her the name Lostface. Which is where a lot of the dislike comes from, and I agree that was shitty. But I love seeing cats having mental breakdowns for some reason. She went through a lot growing up, and then got in a relationship with a cat in another clan, had to give up the kits she had with him. Because she needed to become deputy or else Thistleclaw would have, and Thistleclaw was an evil cat. Then as leader, there was the whole thing with Tigerstar. I felt bad for her.

Bramblestar- Squirrelflight's mate, and Tigerstar's son. A lot of people hate him, though my feelings are moreso neutral. He seemed like a good enough cat back in the day, but he was a total asshole in Squirrelflight's super edition. But it honestly felt so out of character to me so I think it's kinda unfair when people judge him based off that one book.

Breezepelt- One of my least favorite characters. He's so hateful and mean and I just, can't stand him. (Though to be fair, Crowfeather is his father, so...)

Brightheart- Thunderclan warrior who had part of her face eaten off by dogs. Everyone thought she would die from it, and Bluestar, bitter at Starclan, gave her the name Lostface. She ended up surviving. When Firestar became leader, one of the first things he did was rename her Brightheart.

Bristlefrost- Thunderclan warrior. She ended up with feelings towards Rootspring from Skyclan. They started planning for some sort of future together but it was cut short when she died fighting in the Dark Forest. (When cats die there, they cease to exist completely. Not even their spirits will be seen again.) Her death was pretty devastating. Changes were made to the Warrior Code because of this. Cats from different clans are now allowed to be in relationships. One of them just needs to leave their clan for the other's. And then must pass a series of tests to join the clan. No longer are we subjected to the "forbidden love" trope that happens every single arc!

Brokenstar- Corrupt Shadowclan leader. He killed the former leader (his own father) to become leader. As leader, he focused all his attention on training everyone to fight. Elders were cast out because they were too old to fight or hunt. He started making kits as young as 4 months old apprentices. They frequently died in battles. He was eventually driven out of Shadowclan and held prisoner in Thunderclan. There, he plotted with Tigerclaw to kill Bluestar. The plot failed, and Yellowfang tricked him into eating deathberries which killed him.

Cloudtail- Firestar's nephew he brought to the clans. He was such a little shithead as an apprentice, and I will always love him for it.

Crookedstar- A former riverclan leader whose jaw was damaged. I love him. His mother sucks ass but his father gets Dad of the Year.

Crowfeather- Windclan warrior. One of my least favorite characters. For the same reasons I used to not like Jayfeather. Except some of Jayfeather's bad attitude was understandable, since he's blind and has to put up with the ableism that comes with it. Crowfeather is just mean. He had a fling with Leafpool and I think that is, quite possibly, the worst ship of all time. She could do so much better.

Darktail- The villain of arc 6. Onestar had a thing with a kittypet. The kittypet had Darktail. She wanted Onestar to take him to Windclan to become a warrior. Onestar didn't want to do it because, warrior-kittypet relationships are against the warrior code. The kittypet taught Darktail to hate the clans and so, as an adult, Darktail worked to dismantle the clans. He took over Shadowclan and started his own group called "The Kin." Many Shadowclan cats did not mind this happening at the time, until Darktail's true colors showed. Onestar killed him in the end, and died doing so.

Dovewing- Ivypool's sister. In arc 4, she was part of a prophecy that gave her the power to see and hear things from long distances which I thought was cool. She ended up in a forbidden relationship with Shadowclan cat Tigerheart. She left Thunderclan to be with him. One of few relationships I don't hate.

Firestar- The star of the first arc, and goes on to be a legend after he dies. I liked him in the first arc but his legacy gets pushed so much, I'm a bit tired of him. He becomes mates with Sandstorm and they have Squirrelflight and Leafpool.

Ivypool- For some reason, the fans adore her. And I can't figure out why. Aside from the arc she debuted in, we rarely ever hear from her. But I did like her in her arc, especially for the role she played. She is Thunderclan deputy now so maybe things will happen that will make me like her more. Also she has her own super edition coming out soon and the plot sounds good.

Jayfeather- A Thunderclan medicine cat who's blind. I didn't care for him in the beginning. He had such a bad attitude that made him hard for me to like. But once he grew out of it, I started liking him more. Especialy in more recent books, where he seems to be the only cat with common sense sometimes. His personality grew on me too. Lionblaze is his brother and Hollyleaf his sister. In arc 3 and 4, he was part of a prophecy that gave him the ability to enter other cat's dreams. Also he kept time traveling to the past using a stick with funny markings. Arc 3 was weird.

Juniperclaw- A former shadowclan deputy. He ended up abadoning Shadowclan to be part of this group formed by arc 6 villain Darktail. But went back in the end. Though he posioned Skyclan's freshkill pile for reasons he thought were valid. He ended up in the Dark Forest when he died. But he had died saving two cats. In the 7th arc, we see him in the Dark Forest. He regrets his past actions and works with the living cats to make up for it. However, he is still not allowed into Starclan which I think is bullshit because he regrets his past actions and has saved lives. In the end, they allow him to be a guard for the tunnel linking Starclan to the Dark Forest. So that's a compromise.

Leafpool- A Thunderclan medicine cat who ran off to be with Crowfeather, a Windclan cat. When word came out of this, it became a big scandal. Even moreso when she had his kits but passed them off as Squirrelflight's. Until word came out that they were not Squirrelflight's. Then she temporarily lost her role of being a medicine cat.

Leafstar- Skyclan leader. Sometimes she does things I like, sometimes she does things I hate. Regardless, I think it's time for her to die already. She's the only Skyclan leader we've seen since Skyclan was reformed.

Leopardstar- Didn't particularly care for her, especially when she became allies with Tigerstar. Her super edition had me headcannoning her as demisexual though.

Lionblaze- Thunderclan warrior. His brother is Jayfeather and sister is Hollyleaf. In arc 3 and 4, he was part of a prophecy that gave him the power to fight in any battle without getting harmed. It went away after the events of the 4th arc. I have neutral feelings towards him.

Longtail- I thought he was an asshole in the first arc but then stopped being an asshole towards the end of the first arc. Ended up blind and in the elder's den where he became bffs with Mousefur. I totally ship it. Was very sad when he died retrieving a mouse for Mousefur.

Mistystar- Riverclan leader who lived forever.

Mothwing- Riverclan medicine cat who doesn't believe in Starclan. Was forced to accept they exist after the events of the fourth arc. But still can't connect to them like other medicine cats can.

Mousefur- Loved her as an elder. Authors say she's asexual, apparently. So that's nice. I love her friendship with Longtail.

Needletail- I have mixed feelings on this Shadowclan cat. But she died saving Violetshine and her last words were pretty haunting. ("Run! Now! Make this count, Violetpaw!")

Purdy- Purdy is an elderly cat who helped out the clan cats during an important mission. Since he was a loner, he was invited to join the elder's den in Thunderclan. He accepted. He always tells interminable stories and it's funny.

Ravenpaw- Thunderclan warrior who witnessed Tigerstar doing things he wasn't supposed to be doing. Feared Tigerstar was gonna do something to him for it, so ran off to a farm where he met Barley. They are confirmed gay couple. I love these two.

Rootspring- Tree's son, and was embarrassed to be so. I loved seeing him grow from that though. Was annoyed when he showed a romantic interest in Bristlefrost because, I was getting so tired of the "forbidden love between cats from different clans" trope they push every arc! But it turned out being actually necessary this time as a set up for events in the next arc.

Sandstorm- Thunderclan warrior who was an apprentice alongside Firestar. She was mean to him for being a former kittypet. Then, grows to like him. They became mates. I'm okay with this.

Scourge- A tiny, rogue cat who wears a collar with dog teeth on it and has dog teeth on his claws. Killed OG Tigerstar to take over the forest with his band of rogue cats he called Bloodlcan. Too edgy for this world.

Snowtuft- A dark forest cat. Currently we know nothing about him, other than he did bad shit in his living life that resulted in him being in the dark forest. Even he doesn't remember what. However he became a valuable ally to the clan cats in arc 7, when they needed to get rid of Ashfur. He wanted to redeem his past behavior. I find him very interesting and hope they do a super edition or novella about him.

Sol- Some weird loner who has caused problems for the clans. I don't know what to think of him. Was pretty funny when he predicted an eclipse before it happened.

Squirrelflight- Firestar's daughter. A fan favorite. Personally, I think she's overrated. I thought she was a bit annoying in her apprentice days, but she's gotten a lot less since. Kinda neutral on her overall. I do think she should have remained single though. I never liked SquirrelflightxBramblestar.

Tallstar- Former Windclan leader. Confirmed gay. Love him.

Tiger(claw)star- The main villain of the first arc. He murdered other cats for a chance to become Thunderclan deputy and, once deputy, attempted to murder his leader. He was cast out of Thunderclan but found a place in Shadowclan. And became their leader, because their clan had fallen apart and he helped rebuild it. Afterwards, he merged his clan with Riverclan and sought to take over Windclan and Thunderclan as well.

Tiger(heart)star- OG Tigerstar's grandson. He, too, became Shadowclan's leader. But he's not a villain. He's actually the only Shadowclan leader who has managed to keep his clan together, aside from Blackstar. There were a couple of close calls though.

Twigbranch- Skyclan turned Thunderclan warrior and also Violetshine's sister. I have no opinion on her, but I hate her name so much. Fuckin' Twigbranch. What next? Stemleaf? It had me worried they were gonna name Rootspring Roottree.

Violetshine- Skyclan cat and Twigbranch's sister. They were separated as young kits in a very heartbreaking scene. She did not handle the separation well. Needletail was there for her, but it was a toxic friendship. Violetshine is mates with Tree now.

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