History Literature / WarriorCatsDawnOfTheClans

** Nightheart's brother is mentioned in ''Thunder Rising'', but not named. [[spoiler:His name is later revealed in ''Riverstar's Home'', part of which takes place chronologically around the same time as this book.]]

** Nightheart's brother is introduced in ''Thunder Rising'', but not named.
** In ''The First Battle'', Wind Runner has four kits. However, of her three sons only one of them has their name revealed (Emberkit), and her daughter's name (Moth Flight) is only known because of ''The Ultimate Guide''.

* LegendaryInTheSequel: Inverted. ''The Sun Trail'' is about the founders of the Clans before they were legends, so it's more like "unlegendary in the prequel". So far, we have seen every Clan founder, as well as many other legendary cats like Graywing the Wise, Pebbleheart, Dapplepelt, Cloudspots, Mothflight, Owleyes, and Gorsestar.

* GenderEqualEnsemble: Eight toms and eight she-cats form the Followers of the Sun Trail. Later in ''The Sun Trail'', [[spoiler:this is still the case, even with deaths. One tom and one she-cat die, keeping the number even.]]

** Thunder, Wind, Gorse, Tall Shadow, Clear Sky, River Ripple, Owl Eyes, and Dust Muzzle will go on to be Clan leaders.

* LegendaryInTheSequel: Inverted. ''The Sun Trail'' is about the founders of the Clans before they were legends, so it's more like "unlegendary in the prequel". So far, we have seen every Clan founder, as well as many other legendary cats like Graywing the Wise, Pebbleheart, Owleyes, and Gorsestar.

#''The Sun Trail''
#''Thunder Rising''
#''The First Battle''
#''The Blazing Star''
#''A Forest Divided''
#''Path of the Stars''

** Gorse is fairly similar to Graystripe, with his love of food and {{adorkable}}ness.

* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: [[spoiler:Bright Stream's death]] happens early on in ''The Sun Trail'', but is a pretty big twist and defines much of the book. Also, one of the largest spoilers for ''The Sun Trail'' is that [[spoiler:Clear Sky is the antagonist]], but that will be one for the series as a whole, almost certainly. Additionally, the big twist of the book, [[spoiler:Storm and Clear Sky's son being Thunder]], is something so important to the later books that you can't discuss them without mentioning it.

* JumpedAtTheCall: Clear Sky is very eager to go on the journey to find a new home. He takes this to the point of {{jerkass}}istude, forcing his LoveInterest Bright Stream to go unless she wants to be separated from him.

''Dawn of the Clans'' is the fifth arc of the popular ''Literature/WarriorCats'' series, after the ''[[WarriorCatsOmenOfTheStars Omen of the Stars]]'' arc. Beginning in 2013, it tells the tale of the origins and early days of the Warrior Clans, when the Warrior Code had yet to be created, and the Clan founders still ruled.

[[quoteright:316:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/first_battles.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:316:Follow the trail of the rising sun.]]

# ''The Sun Trail'' (March 5, 2013) (Cherith Baldry)
# ''Thunder Rising'' (November 5 2013) (Cherith Baldry)
# ''The First Battle'' (April 8, 2014) (Kate Cary)
# ''The Blazing Star'' (November 4, 2014) (Cherith Baldry)
# ''A Forest Divided'' (April 7, 2015) (Kate Cary)
# ''Path of Stars'' (September 1, 2015) (Kate Cary)

* RotatingProtagonist: Gray Wing is the sole protagonist of ''The Sun Trail'', while ''Thunder Rising'' adds Thunder as a {{Deuteragonist}}. ''The First Battle'' has Thunder become the protagonist while Gray Wing steps back to the role of Deuteragonist, and adds Clear Sky as a point of view character.

** If the Clans are formed sometime before the end of the series, this will be the first time that other Clans will have a role equal to [=ThunderClan=].[[note]]In ''Moonrise'', two [=RiverClan=] cats got Points of View, but they were on a journey away from the main Clans. In ''Night Whispers'', a [=ShadowClan=] cat got a Point of View, but all four [=ThunderClan=] cats had more screentime than he did.[[/note]]

** The original medicine cats (Cloudspots, Dapplepelt, Pebbleheart, and Mothflight) were all minor characters mentioned in ''Secrets of the Clans''. Here, they are important supporting characters, and Mothflight is even getting her own Super Edition.

* ForegoneConclusion: Unless serious RetCon applies, anyone who's read the other Warriors books knows certain things about the plot: Lightningtail [[spoiler:never becomes [=ThunderClan's=] leader]], [[spoiler:Tall Shadow]] is the first of the founders to die, [[spoiler:Wind]] gets together with [[spoiler:Gorsefur, who later becomes the second ever leader of [=WindClan=].]] And on and on...

* FounderOfTheKingdom: It's a whole series about them. Sure, they haven't done it by ''The Sun Trail'', but Thunder, Wind, Tall Shadow, Clear Sky, and River (when he finally shows up) will go on to found the Clans seen in the rest of the series.

[[quoteright:183:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dawnoftheclanssmall_5701.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:183:Follow the trail of the rising sun.]]

As usual, the arc will have six books:

In addition, ''Moth Flight's Vision'', the 2015 Super Edition will take place in this timeline and star Moth Flight, the first medicine cat. The ''Dawn of the Clans'' characters are also featured in ''Warriors: The Ultimate Guide''.

In addition, ''Mothflight's Vision'', the 2015 Super Edition will take place in this timeline and star Mothflight, the first medicine cat. The ''Dawn of the Clans'' characters are also featured in ''Warriors: The Ultimate Guide''.

* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: At one point in ''The Sun Trail'', foxes launch an attack on the moor home of the Followers of the Sun Trail and a large battle ensues.
* AnyoneCanDie: After ''Power of Three'' and ''Omen of the Stars'' flip-flopped with this, ''The Sun Trail'' brings it back full force with the deaths of [[spoiler:Bright Stream, Shaded Moss, and Storm, all of them being major characters.]] ''Thunder Rising'' kept this going, killing off [[spoiler: Moon Shadow, Misty, and Bumble.]] ''The First Battle'' went even further with [[spoiler: Turtle Tail, Emberkit, Falling Feather, Fircone, Hawk Swoop, Frost, Rainswept Flower, and Jackdaw's Cry]] dying.

* BadassCrew: The Followers of the Sun Trail are an awesome group that combine many skills that will be possessed by the Clan cats in the future. And one of their first actions? Fighting four eagles and scaring three of them away by taking one down, something most tribe cats deem impossible.
* TheBigBadShuffle: Very much. At the end of ''The Sun Trail'', it looks like the antagonist will be [[spoiler:Clear Sky, who has become a fallen hero.]] Then, in ''The First Battle'', [[spoiler:Clear Sky realizes the error of his ways and promises to change. Meanwhile, two new characters show up who could potentially be the main villain, Tom and Snake.]] Following this, in ''The Blazing Star'', [[spoiler:Tom is killed by a new character called One Eye, who becomes the main villain. But then Thunder manages to kill One Eye at the end of the book, and it appears that Snake may become the big bad after all.]] And all throughout the series, the characters face the constant threat of foxes, who may turn out to be the real FinalBoss.

* CartwrightCurse: Spoilers up to ''The First Battle''. [[spoiler:Gray Wing and Clear Sky both experience this. Clear Sky loses his two mates, Bright Stream and Storm, while all three she-cats Gray Wing has feelings for (the aforementioned two and Turtle Tail) die.]] However, [[WordOfGod Kate confirmed that]] [[spoiler:Gray Wing gets another mate and has kits with her. Also, Petal and Clear Sky have a lot of subtext with each other, so it looks like both brothers may break the curse.]]
* CastHerd: So far, the characters are split up into the Moor Group (cats settled in the moor), the Forest Group (a group of cats living in the forest together), the Cats of the River (a small group of cats living by the river led by River Ripple), and the Tribe (the cats who remained in the mountains). Of the course, the cats around the forest will eventually become the Clans.

* FindTheCure: A big part of the plot in ''The Blazing Star''.

* OnceAnEpisode: All of the prologues so far feature some sort of dream or vision. ''The Sun Trail'' has Stoneteller's vision of another place where some Tribe cats can live. ''Thunder Rising'' has Thunder [[spoiler:meeting his deceased mother Storm in a dream]]. ''The First Battle'' has [[spoiler:Gray Wing seeing Stoneteller again in a dream.]]

* TitleDrop: In ''The Sun Trail'', the Tribe cats reference "the trail of the rising sun".

* VillainTeamUp: Towards the end of ''The Sun Trail'', several of the antagonistic cats of the forest (Fox, Petal, Frost, and Leaf) join up with the forest group led by [[spoiler:Clear Sky]].

** The Bonus Scenes provide this, giving a minor character in the books some time in the spotlight. In ''The Sun Trail'', Petal is the one getting some love. In ''Thunder Rising'', River Ripple is star. In ''The First Battle'', Wind Runner gets into the spotlight.

# ''The Path of Stars'' (September 1, 2015) (Kate Cary)

# ''The Path of Stars'' (Kate Cary)

* ThePromisedLand: The plot of the first book. Stoneteller, who is leading starving tribe in the mountains, gets a vision of a place where cats will be warm and fed. Book follows part of the tribe that decides to travel there, looking for a better life.

* FindTheCure: According to the blurb of ''The Blazing Star'', it will be about the newly formed Clans trying to handle an outbreak of disease.

** Thunder, Wind, Gorse, Tall Shadow, Clear Sky, River Ripple, and Owl Eyes will go on to be Clan leaders.