Characters / Warrior Cats ShadowClan Leaders and Deputies

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ThunderClan (Leaders and Deputies | Medicine Cats | The Three and Their Allies | Warriors and Apprentices | Other ThunderClanners) | ShadowClan (Leaders and Deputies) | RiverClan | WindClan | SkyClan | Tribe of Rushing Water | Others | Dawn of The Clans

"Only some leaders and medicine cats are remembered by the Clans. Their names cast long shadows over the forest; their deeds-good or evil-are told and retold by each generation until they pass from history to legend. Of the others, the ones whose names and deeds have been forgotten or, in some cases, banished from living memory, only StarClan knows."

—Secrets of the Clans

Over the course of Warrior Cats, ShadowClan has seen a variety of leaders and deputies. Some were brave heroes, while others were cowardly fools. As long as there were cats to lead, the leaders would come.

Beware of unmarked spoilers!

Note: Please add character tropes exclusive to Dawn of the Clans to the Dawn of the Clans character page, not here.

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Due to the series' spoiler-filled nature, including Spoiler Titles and even character names, all spoilers aside from the newest main-series book and side book may be unmarked.

Leaders

Shadow

Shadow/Shadowstar

"In life, they were torn apart; in death, they will be united."

The legendary founder of ShadowClan. Also see her entry under Tall Shadow in Characters.Warrior Cats Dawn Of The Clans.

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• Action Girl: She was very strong, and fought in many battles.
• Blood Knight: Loved battles, and started many of them to protect her Clan, whether or not it actually needed them.
• Commander Contrarian: Despite working with the other three leaders to develop the warrior code, she spent the rest of her life complaining about it.
• Founder of the Kingdom: She started ShadowClan.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: She lost her ninth life during a battle between all the Clans - one that she started.
• Leader Wannabe: Like all the founding leaders, she tried to claim that she should rule the entire forest.

Snowstar

Snowstar

"You will choose a new leader, and that cat must choose a deputy at once. A Clan must never be left like this again, a headless creature that wades into blood because it cannot see. At the next Gathering, the new leader must introduce a new rule to the warrior code: Deputies must be replaced by moonhigh, so a leader will never be alone for more than half a day. Now tell me, who would you choose as your next leader?"

The leader of ShadowClan shortly before the code about replacing a deputy by moonhigh was established.

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• Incurable Cough of Death: Died of the same disease which killed his deputy shortly after, which in turn led to the code about deputies being replaced immediately being created.
• The Leader: Of ShadowClan.
• Posthumous Character: He's already dead by the first time he's mentioned.
• Spirit Advisor: After the deaths of more of his warriors, he appears to the medicine cat in a dream and tells him he needs to choose the new leader himself, as well as amend the code to ensure such a situation can never happen again.

Brightwhisker

Brightwhisker

"But I have to go! I have to receive my nine lives and my new name from StarClan!"

The deputy of Snowstar. She became leader after he died, but was unable to travel to Highstones and receive her nine lives due to illness. Her death before she selected a deputy of her own led to a rule being made that a Clan leader has to appoint a new deputy before moonhigh.

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• I Coulda Been a Contender!: She could have been a great leader, but died of greencough on the night she was supposed to receive her nine lives.
• Incurable Cough of Death: Redscar, the medicine cat at the time, comforted Brightwhisker's worries over her recovery by saying she was ill with whitecough and would be well enough in time to make her journey to receive her nine lives. Unfortunately, her illness develops into a fierce case of greencough, and Brightwhisker dies in her sleep.
• Number Two: To Snowstar.
• Short-Lived Leadership: She became leader after Snowstar died, but died of greencough the very next day before she could receive her nine lives.
• Succession Crisis: Her death sparked one. She died shortly after her leader did without having declared a deputy, leaving ShadowClan with no leader and no one to replace Brightwhisker.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: She was Snowstar's deputy and became leader of ShadowClan when he died, but died of greencough before she could go to Highstones and get her nine lives.

Flowerstar

Flowerstar (Flowerstem)

"We have to keep up our strength. There is still sickness in the air; no more cats must die. There is no need for them to spend all day looking at these fallen warriors."

Snowstar's successor and leader of ShadowClan after Brightwhisker's death, chosen by StarClan.

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• The Cameo: In The Ultimate Guide, she appears to give Tigerclaw one of his nine lives.
• Floral Theme Naming: Flowerstar and her sister Mossfire are named after plants.
• Greater Need Than Mine: Why she was chosen as leader, despite not having been a deputy previously. Despite her grief over her sister's death, her first priority was to take care of her Clanmates in the midst of the Succession Crisis.
• Team Mom: During a time of turmoil, she was the first to organize patrols, comfort her Clanmates, and offer to help collect herbs for her medicine cat, Redscar. These were qualities that made StarClan choose her as ShadowClan's new leader.
• Unexpected Successor: She was not the Clan deputy at the time of Snowstar's and Brightwhisker's deaths, nor did she try to claim the title of leader like Jumpfoot and Mossfire did. But she showed selfless and altruistic qualities that proved she was the best fit to be leader.

Ripplestar

Ripplestar

"Hardly the actions of a coward, to take on all four Clans at once!"

An ancient ShadowClan leader who debuted in Code of the Clans under the story The Vanishing Moon. He attempted to attack the other Clans during a Gathering and was struck down by StarClan, leading to a rule in the warrior code that fighting was forbidden during the Gathering truce.

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• Ax-Crazy: He was so hungry for power that he ordered ShadowClan to attack the other four Clans during a Gathering, a traditional time of truce, not caring that there were vulnerable cats such as young apprentices and weakened elders attending.
• Blood Knight: He burned rapidly through his nine lives by being too battle-hungry. When StarClan struck him down for breaking the Gathering truce while he was on his last life, that was the end of him.
• Bolt of Divine Retribution: To punish him for attacking the other Clans during a Gathering, StarClan sent a bolt of lightning that knocked him off the Great Rock and killed him.
• Dirty Coward: Finchstar called him out when the two confronted one another on the Great Rock, stating that his raid was wrong and something only a lowly coward would pull. Ripplestar arrogantly replied that he thought attacking all four Clans at once would hardly be the action of a coward in his eyes.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: He is described as orange and black, hinting that he may be a rare tortoiseshell tom.
• Karmic Death: When he attempted to kill Finchstar, he was knocked off the Great Rock from the force of a sudden lightning bolt, implying that he angered StarClan enough that they were the ones to take him out.
• The Leader: Of ShadowClan quite some time before The Prophecies Begin.
• Oh, Crap!: When the lightning struck and caused him to fall off the Great Rock, dead.
• To Be a Master: Ripplestar wanted to rule over all the Clans, hence the reasoning for his attack.
• Warhawk: Ripplestar was clearly eager for power and control, to the point where he ordered his Clan to attack the others during a Gathering.

Dawnstar

Dawnstar

"There are four Clans in the forest, but ShadowClan will always be the greatest."

The leader of ShadowClan when SkyClan was driven out.

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• The Leader: Of ShadowClan some 20 years before Into the Wild.
• Must Make Amends: She apologizes to Cloudstar in the afterlife and gives the new leader of the restored SkyClan one of her nine lives.

Cedarstar

Cedarstar (Cedarpelt)

"You have to recognize when a battle is worth fighting."

The leader of ShadowClan before Raggedstar. He appears in Bluestar's Prophecy and Crookedstar's Promise as a minor character. Becomes a more important character in Yellowfang's Secret.

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• Back from the Dead: Just like the other leaders.
• Big Good: Of Yellowfang's Secret.
• The Leader: Of ShadowClan.
• Mr. Exposition: In the earlier chapters of Yellowfang's Secret, he mainly exists to hold ceremonies and tell cats information.
• My Greatest Failure: He feels that if he hadn't chosen Raggedstar as his deputy, Brokenstar wouldn't have been born and almost ruined ShadowClan.
• Number Two: He was deputy to Houndstar.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He's a pretty nice, normal guy, contrasting with most of the future ShadowClan leaders up until the later days of Blackstar's leadership.
• Standardized Leader: The highest-ranked cat in the Clan, but ultimately serves little purpose except hold the title of leader until Raggedstar succeeds him.

Raggedstar

Raggedstar (Raggedpelt)

"Great StarClan! Why would we both have this vision? I would never send kits into battle! It's against the warrior code!"

Brokenstar's noble father, and the former leader of ShadowClan. He was betrayed and killed by his son.

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• A Day in the Limelight: Averted. While Bluestar, Crookedstar, and Tallstar get Super Editions, the ShadowClan Super Edition is about Yellowfang.
• The Apprentice: To Brackenfoot.
• Ascended Extra: While he was very important in the first arc, he gets a major (living) role in Yellowfang's Secret.
• Bastard Angst: In Yellowfang's Secret, he has a major chip on his shoulder from cats gossiping about his father being a kittypet.
• Berserk Button: Being called a kittypet.
• The Bully: He was this until he became an apprentice. After that, he stops picking on Yellowfang and her siblings.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Does this to Hal in chapter 15 of Yellowfang's Secret. He follows this up by slitting Hal's throat and killing him.
• The Cameo: He has a few appearances in The Last Hope, but is confusingly referred to as "Raggedtail".
• Child of Forbidden Love: He's the son of a ShadowClan cat and a kittypet.
• Dies Wide Open: He dies with his eyes open.
• Domestic Abuse: Toward Yellowfang throughout much of Yellowfang's Secret. He constantly insults or mocks her, and sometimes totally drops her for moons at a time, only to reel her back in by being kind again.
• Doting Parent: He adored his son Brokenstar, but his high hopes and insistence that Brokenstar's fierce personality is just passionate ambition ultimately ends up getting him killed by Brokenstar himself so he can usurp leadership of ShadowClan.
• Everyone Can See It: Raggedstar and Yellowfang.
• Good Is Not Nice: He's a jerk, but generally follows the warrior code and cares about his Clan.
• Greater Need Than Mine: He refuses treatment from Yellowfang at first after the rat battle in Yellowfang's Secret until she orders him to have a drink.
• Heroic Bastard: It's rumored in Yellowfang's Secret that his father is a kittypet. It's true.
• Informed Attribute: Secrets of the Clans says the reason his fur is so disheveled and patchy is because he got into a fight as a kit, though whether it was from vehement horseplay or actually getting swept up into an actual physical conflict is unknown.
• It's All My Fault: He blames himself when they lose the battle against the rats, because it was his idea.
• The Leader: Of ShadowClan, before his son Brokenstar took over.
• Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal: He firmly believed that Brokenstar was an honorable, hardworking cat that deserved all the achievements he got in life, even when it was him cutting corners to give his son an advantage, such as making him a warrior despite Brokenpaw not even undergoing his final assessments. Raggedstar would stand aghast whenever a complaint or protest against Brokentail came up, saying that his aggression and demand for stricter living conditions was a sign that he took Clan culture seriously and knew how to push ShadowClan to better success. Let's just say Raggedstar got quite the rude awakening when Brokentail ambushes and kills him, just so he could take over the Clan himself.
• The Mentor: To Cloudpelt.
• Not Good with Rejection: He acts abusively whenever Yellowfang turns his attempts down. He only gets worse as she becomes the medicine cat.
• Outliving One's Offspring: His daughters died as kits.
• Patricide: Kills his father Hal in chapter 15 of Yellowfang's Secret.
• Posthumous Character: One of the more important characters in the first arc, but he died before Into the Wild began.
• Retcon: In Secrets of the Clans, he was leader when his son Brokenstar was born. Bluestar's Prophecy and Yellowfang's Secret change it so that he was deputy when Brokenstar was born.
• Secret Relationship: With Yellowfang.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: With Yellowfang.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: With Yellowfang, because she's a medicine cat and so not allowed to mate.
• Strong Family Resemblance: He is nearly identical to his father Hal.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In Yellowfang's Secret, he goes from a Jerkass to a Nice Guy after becoming a warrior.
• Villainous Lineage: The son kills the father and is killed by the son.

Brokenstar

Brokenstar (Brokentail)

"It seems I must have some of my father's softness. I was a fool to let you leave ShadowClan alive!"

"Death to the Clans!"

^{Click here} to see him in the Rise of Scourge manga

The first major antagonist of the series.

Brokenstar was the only surviving kit of Yellowfang, ShadowClan's medicine cat, and Raggedstar, ShadowClan's deputy. Due to the forbidden nature of their relationship, Yellowfang gave her son to Lizardstripe to raise. However, Lizardstripe was a cruel mother, never giving Brokenstar affection and denying milk when she felt he had misbehaved. Meanwhile, he was spoiled by his father, who had managed to become leader of ShadowClan. Brokenstar grew into a ruthlessly ambitious warrior. Knowing his father would name him deputy, Brokenstar instigated a fight with WindClan during with Cloudpelt, ShadowClan's current deputy, was killed. Following this, Brokenstar was named deputy by his father, who he killed to become Clan leader. However, suspecting that Yellowfang knew too much, he framed her for the death of some kits (her own siblings) and exiled her. He also sent the Clan's elders into exile so that he didn't have to feed them.

Brokenstar went on to be a cruel leader. In his lust for power, he desired to make ShadowClan the strongest Clan of all. To do this, he started training kits to fight alongside his warriors so that they could bolster the numbers of his forces in battle. He then launched an attack on WindClan and drove them from their territory, which he seized control of. Following this, he met with Crookedstar, leader of RiverClan, and forced him to bow to ShadowClan. At a Gathering, he declared that the other Clans had to submit to ShadowClan or they would share WindClan's fate. When ThunderClan refused to bow to him, he launched an attack on them, killing their deputy Lionheart and an elder named Rosetail. He then sent a warrior named Clawface to kill ThunderClan's medicine cat Spottedleaf and abduct their kits for indoctrination. However, Yellowfang led a group of ThunderClan warriors and exiled elders into ShadowClan camp to rescue the kits. After being defeated by Yellowfang and a young Firestar, Brokenstar confessed to murdering the kits and his own father, at which point ShadowClan turned on him and he fled with a group of his most loyal warriors.

Brokenstar returned, leading his rogues in an attack on ThunderClan, but he was defeated again by Yellowfang and blinded. ThunderClan, seeing that he was now helpless, stripped him of his leader name and took him in as an elder, at the insistence of Yellowfang, who wasn't willing to kill her son. However, he once again betrayed then, conspiring with Tigerstar to bring the rogues into ThunderClan camp and kill Bluestar so that Tigerstar could take over. However, this plot was foiled by Firestar and a group of RiverClan warriors. Yellowfang, finally realizing that her son was irredeemable, murdered him by feeding him deathberries.

However, Brokenstar eventually returned in the Omen of the Stars arc as the leader of the Dark Forest. Working with Tigerstar, Mapleshade, Hawkfrost, and Thistleclaw, he corrupted warriors from the Clans to create a fighting force that would destroy StarClan themselves.

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• 0% Approval Rating: Most of his own Clan either fights back and drives him out when ThunderClan attacks or does nothing to stop it.
• All of the Other Reindeer: As a kit, he was stuck in a living situation in which his foster mother abused and neglected him while his foster littermates bullied him. Not only that, but the rest of the Clan spread rumors about who his actual mother was, as they knew Raggedstar was Brokenkit's father but they all speculated that his mother had to be either a kittypet or Foxheart. Neither of those options were seen as ideal, to say the least.
• Almost Dead Guy: He survives just long enough to suddenly comprehend that he's dying and get an Oh, Crap! moment. It was exactly the kind of death that he deserved.
• Antagonistic Offspring: To Yellowfang and Raggedstar. He was one of the first villains of the series.
• The Apprentice: To Nightstar.
• Arch-Enemy: To Yellowfang.
• Bad Boss: He abused his Clanmates, forced them to eat crowfood, and caused the deaths of many kits by making them apprentices and warriors before they were six moons old.
• Bastard Bastard: Yellowfang's evil illegitimate son.
• Big Bad: Of Into the Wild, where he rules ShadowClan, and Omen Of The Stars, where he rules the Dark Forest. Anyone familiar with his history should know that he's also the Big Bad of Yellowfang's Secret.
• Blood Knight: All Brokenstar wanted to do was fight and kill, even when he was an apprentice.
• Bullying a Dragon: In The Rise of Scourge, Brokenstar and his henchcats pick on Scourge until said tom snaps and kills one of Brokenstar's henchcats.
• The Chessmaster: Yellowfang's Secret could easily be renamed Brokenstar Manipulates the Dark Forest Out of Everyone to Get Exactly What He Wants, Then Proceeds to Laugh His Ass Off.
• Child of Forbidden Love: He is the son Yellowfang, a medicine cat, who had fallen in love with Raggedstar, which was forbidden to her.
• The Corrupter: In Omen of the Stars, when he recruits cats and turns them to the side of darkness.
• Creepy Child: "Creepy" is the exact word Blackpaw thinks after Brokenkit makes a comment about how cats only matter when you can figure out how to make them do what you want.
• Dark Is Evil: As a ShadowClan cat and a Dark Forest member. He's a dark brown tabby with scars.
• Deader than Dead: In The Last Hope, Yellowfang kills his spirit, destroying him forever.
• Deceptive Disciple: To his father Raggedstar, who he killed for the position of Clan leader.
• Demoted to Dragon: He was the Big Bad in Into The Wild, but he was reduced to Tigerstar's dragon in Forest of Secrets.
  • Brokenstar did not obey Tigerstar, but was his ally.
• Disc-One Final Boss: Twice! At first, he looks like the Big Bad of the first arc, but then the villainy of Tigerstar (then Tigerclaw) is brought to light. Then, in The Last Hope he is the leader of the Dark Forest, but after he is killed, Tigerstar takes over.
• The Dreaded: Come Yellowfang's Secret, even StarClan is terrified of him. He wasn't too shabby beforehand, where he scares the dark forest out of every single cat around the lake.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: He trains his Clanmates too hard in training, encouraging the use of unsheathing claws in practice. Even before he became leader, he forced his apprentice Stumpypaw to hang from a tree branch, by his teeth, for being "too chatty".
• Early Personality Signs: When his mother, Yellowfang, sees him for the first time as a newborn kit, his face is twisted in rage and hatred.
  Yellowfang: A kit born with so much anger in him could mean only grave danger to the Clan, maybe to the whole forest.
• Elder Abuse: The warrior code requires elders to be cared for in recognition of their service to the Clan, but Brokenstar forces ShadowClan's elders to live on the camp boundary and fend for themselves, deeming them weak and useless.
• Empathic Environment: His portrait in Cats of the Clans shows him sitting on a cliff during a rainstorm, recalling the grief and pain he brought upon his Clan.
• Enfant Terrible: When Yellowfang first sees Brokenkit after his birth, she notices he seems angry and hate-filled already. At that moment she believes he'll be a danger to the forest (which he is as an adult).
• Evil Gloating: During the climax of Into the Wild, he gloats about how easy it was to kill Raggedstar.
  • He also gloated over Cloudpelt's death and told Yellowfang that StarClan could never stop him.
• Evil Is Bigger: As a Dark Forest cat, he's described as "massive", and fittingly he is one of the most evil characters in the entire series.
• Evil Old Folks: Even as an elder, he's still evil. Though he isn't old, just forced into early retirement due to being blinded.
• Evil Overlord: The laconic entry for this trope is "A leader with absolute authority over a considerable body of people and territory who rules through fear and brutality." This could not possibly describe Brokenstar with more accuracy.
• Eye Scream: In Fire and Ice, Yellowfang slices his eyes open, blinding him.
• Foil: To Tigerstar. Both are tyrannical, ambitious cats and Social Darwinists willing to kill for power, but Tigerstar is at least a competent and charismatic (if murderous) leader who earns the respect of his followers, while Brokenstar makes a number of cruel and idiotic decisions that make him hated by hisentire Clan.
  • This doesn't fit. In plans to gain power, Brokenstar turned out to be more competent than Tigerstar. If Tigerstar needed three books, Mapleshade whispering and Brokenstar's help to make an attempt on Bluestar, and the attempt was unsuccessful, then Brokenstar single-handedly killed his leader and took his place almost immediately after becoming a deputy, while blaming the WindClan and seizing their territories as "revenge". In the Dark Forest, it was also Brokenstar who became the unspoken leader.
• Fascist, but Inefficient notorious power-hungry tom who had a nightmarish reputation, sure, but was a piss-poor leader who apprenticed kits far too early, forced his Clanmates to eat literal garbage instead of fresh prey, and jumped at the idea of any and every battle all the while making his own medicine cat make false propechies and omens that only further glorified Brokenstar and promising ShadowClan a great future in which they were the most powerful Clan in the forest. Almost everyone agrees that he was a scary villain, but his leadership skills and inner handling of his Clan sucked.
• The Farmer and the Viper: ThunderClan decides to save his life and keep him as an elder despite all he's done, and he repays them by conspiring against them.
• Freudian Excuse: He was abused and neglected by his surrogate mother, who bit him regularly, denied him milk, and allowed his foster siblings to bully him.
• Grade Skipper: He's been an apprentice for only five moons and hasn't completed his final assessments when he becomes a warrior. So, as a result, several cats ended up protesting against him becoming one at that point in time.
• Hero Killer: Kills Ferncloud in The Last Hope. Also killed his respected leader, Raggedstar, to become leader, and seemingly arranged a battle with WindClan in the hopes that the previous deputy, Cloudpelt, would die in it.
• Holy Burns Evil: He's so despicable that during his leader ceremony, the good traits associated with each of his lives cause him physical pain.
• Humiliation Conga: He gets this from the end of Into the Wild to the end of Forest of Secrets.
• I Can't Feel My Legs!: He says this after Yellowfang feeds him the deathberries; this is when he first starts to realize he's dying.
• Large Ham: Both as a leader and as a Dark Forest cat.
• The Leader: Of ShadowClan and the Dark Forest.
• Leader Wannabe: Wanted to be leader so badly, he secretly killed his own leader (and father), Raggedstar, to get the position.
• Make an Example of Them: In Yellowfang's Secret he suggests they do this to the rats to warn them away from ShadowClan.
• Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal: Raggedstar always backed Brokentail throughout his life, brushing off any concerns of his son's troubling behaviors such as his bloodthirsty attitude and working his Clanmates to the bone. This ignorant approach to Brokenstar's cruelty lead to Raggedstar's demise at the claws and fangs of his own son so he could overtake the Clan himself.
• Meaningful Name: Most cats believe his name comes from the bend in his tail (hence, "Brokentail"). But his mother, Yellowfang, really named him because it broke her heart to give him away to another queen. It also works because he's "broken" on a much more fundamental level.
• The Mentor: To Stumpytail, Mosspaw, and Volepaw.
• Never My Fault: When Yellowfang confronts him about murdering Brightflower's kits (which he framed her for), he tries to justify his actions by telling her that the kits were weak and useless to ShadowClan, and would have been killed by another cat if he hadn't done it.
• New Era Speech: Lampshaded in Omen Of The Stars. When Brokenstar gives a speech to the cats training in the Dark Forest that they will soon wage war on the Clans, Ivypool notes that he's just offering vague promises of greatness and that he's actually going to make them fight their own kin.
• Not His Blood: After the battle with the rats in Yellowfang's Secret, Yellowfang notices that Brokentail's covered in blood, but determines that it all belonged to the rats.
• Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: In the first arc, his mother Yellowfang is a primary character while he is the Big Bad.
• Patricide: Murdered Raggedstar, his own father, so that he could become leader of ShadowClan.
• Pointy-Haired Boss: As leader of ShadowClan, he makes terrible decisions such as forcing underage kits to train as warriors and making his warriors scavenge for crowfood (rotten prey) instead of hunting for fresh-kill.
• Poisonous Captive: When ThunderClan keeps him prisoner, they have to keep it secret because they know the other Clans won't be happy when they find out he's alive, and when ShadowClan and WindClan find out they go to war with ThunderClan. And at the same time he himself is using his position in order to help Tigerclaw use his rogue allies to take over ThunderClan.
• Prepare to Die: He shouts "Prepare to die!" at a bunch of rats at the end of a chapter in Yellowfang's Secret when the ShadowClan cats attack them.
• Prophetic Names: When his reign as leader ends, he leaves ShadowClan in a broken state.
• Red Right Hand: His bent tail, which he was named for.
• Sadist Teacher: In Yellowfang's Secret he punishes his apprentice by making him hang from a branch by his teeth. His crime? He was talking too much during training. Later in the same book, he trains kits far too young who accidentally kill their former denmate, another kit.
• Series Continuity Error: In the original series, he got Yellowfang kicked out of ShadowClan by killing two kits (which he openly admits to later) and framing her for their deaths. Yellowfang's Secret changes events so that they get killed by a fox instead, but the outcome is the same. Word of God has stated that he killed them and the fox scent happened to conveniently be there.
• Sink or Swim Mentor: To all his apprentices, due to the fact that he freaking kills them.
• The Social Darwinist: He institutes these policies when he becomes leader. Young kits are forced to train as apprentices early, elders are not cared for and forced to live on the outer camp boundary, and warriors are forced to devote all their time to fighting, so they must scavenge for crowfood instead of hunting. Later books reveal he had this attitude ever since he was an apprentice.
  Brokenpaw: A friend is a cat you hang around because they make you happy. A Clanmate fights beside you to protect your territory, and hunts so that you all have food. If your Clanmate can't hunt or can't fight, then they're useless.
• The Sociopath: He hits the checkpoints of a low-functioning one. He outright says that other cats only matter insofar as to how he can make them do what he wants as a kit, he's pointlessly impulsive in pursuing his goals, he's able to manipulate cats into thinking the best of him or believing his lies despite his obvious evil, he lusts for and pursues power solely for his own self-gratification, he believes he's the greatest thing to happen to the Clans, and he doesn't have the slightest bit of remorse for anything he's done.
• The Spartan Way: Makes kits into warriors before the warrior code allows them to be. Unlike most examples of the trope, it doesn't work, because the kits in question are simply too young to fight or defend themselves without getting killed.
• Spirit Advisor: Of the evil variety, to the cats who train in the Place of No Stars.
• The Starscream: He served as this to Raggedstar and pulled it off successfully.
• Start of Darkness: Yellowfang's Secret shows how he turned evil.
• Starter Villain: He is this for The Prophecies Begin, as well as the entire series.
• Stupid Evil: Sending young kits to die pointlessly in battle was already bad enough, but he fails to realize that his idea is terrible even after he's completely emptied the ShadowClan nursery. In fact, he reasons that the kits he killed must have died because they were too weak, and comes up with the great idea of kidnapping even more kits from other Clans.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: A few scenes in different books allude to him having a troubled mentality, even in his youth:
  • As a result of being bullied by Tanglekit and Deerkit, Brokenkit begins to retaliate physically when they antagonize him, leading him to state that he doesn't need friends.
  • As an apprentice, he says that if a cat can't hunt or fight, then they are useless. Brokenpaw also resents Nightpelt as his mentor, grumbling to his denmates about having a "gross, sick cat" as a mentor, calling it unfair. On other instances, he argues about doing "dumb" apprentice jobs like hunting and cleaning up around camp, growling that he wants to do battle training with the warriors. Nightpelt is also called a "coughing old fool" by Brokenpaw.
  • He accuses two WindClan apprentices of stealing ShadowClan prey, prompting a fight at a Gathering. When he is disciplined for it, Brokenpaw argues that WindClan needs to be taught a lesson.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: He murdered his father Raggedstar to be ShadowClan's leader, and that's where things go downhill for the Clan really fast. He banishes all the elders from the safety of the camp, forces kits to become apprentices at three moons instead of six (and makes them warriors at five moons instead of twelve), and makes his Clan eat rotten food instead of fresh meat to focus on battles. He even lets Brightflower's kits die and shifts the blame onto Yellowfang, banishing her from the Clan. But a lot of ShadowClan cats get so sick of Brokenstar that they team up with a ThunderClan patrol to drive him out.
• Undignified Death: Poisoned with deathberries by his own mother. Rock comments that it was fitting that he did not die the glorious death of a warrior, struck down in battle.
• Ungrateful Bastard: ThunderClan takes him in after he is blinded. He repays them by organizing an attack on them.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: The violent and bloodthirsty Brokenstar was adorable as a kit. "Look! I'm a tree!" He still showed several red flags, though, even at that age.
• Villainous Lineage: He kills his father. Said father also killed his father. There's probably a long "kill your family" chain here.
• Villains Want Mercy: After being blinded in a raid on ThunderClan in Fire and Ice, he begs not to be killed.
• War Hawk: He wants to do nothing but lead ShadowClan into battle, as Raggedstar learns way too late.
• Would Harm a Senior: He drives ShadowClan's elders out of the camp to fend for themselves.
• Would Hurt a Child: While he rules ShadowClan, Brokenstar forces kits to become apprentices too early and brutally attacks them in training sessions. He's even killed plenty of kits from his Clan and steals others to do the same thing when ShadowClan loses kits of their own. At least six kits died, directly or indirectly, as a result of his methods: Mosspaw, Swampkit, Blossomkit, Marigoldkit, Mintkit, and Badgerpaw.

Nightstar

Nightstar (Nightpelt)

"That's where the danger lies. I see one cat, hungry for power that is not deserved..."

The leader of ShadowClan after Brokenstar was driven out, but before Tigerstar. Despite being in charge for the majority of the first arc, his rule is an oft-forgotten point in ShadowClan's history. Yellowfang's Secret reveals that he has cat asthma, and that's about it.

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• The Apprentice: To Foxheart.
• Big Bad Ensemble: With Brokenstar and Tigerclaw in Fire and Ice and Forest of Secrets.
• Cool Old Guy: In Into the Wild.
• Cain and Abel: He was on opposite sides from his littermate Clawface when Brokenstar was leader. While Nightstar is physically weaker and has been exiled from the Clan, Clawface is an eager supporter of Brokenstar and is even willing to steal prey from his brother that was meant for the elders. They eventually fight each other in the battle in the ShadowClan camp the day Brokenstar and his supporters are driven out.
• A Day in the Limelight: He gained a graphic novel in 2022 called Exile from ShadowClan detailing the time when Brokenstar exiled him and the other elders to look after themselves.
• Ear Notch: He has nicked ears.
• Hero Antagonist: In Forest of Secrets, where he and Tallstar are attacking ThunderClan because they are sheltering Brokenstar.
• Incurable Cough of Death: The Great Sickness, mixed with Nightstar's asthma kills him in Rising Storm.
• It's All My Fault: In Exile from ShadowClan, he ends up blaming himself for Poolcloud's death, since he didn't get to the camp and back faster.
• Killed Offscreen: Due to dying where the ThunderClan protagonist wouldn't see him.
• The Leader: Of ShadowClan.
• Mandatory Unretirement: He went from elder to ShadowClan's leader.
• Meaningful Name: His fur is as black as night.
• The Mentor: To Brokenstar. He was also unofficially this to Volepaw, teaching him how to hunt.
• Only Sane Man: Can come across as this in Exile from ShadowClan when interacting with any cat other than Yellowfang or Runningnose who hasn't been kicked out of the camp.
• Rebel Leader: Leads the banished elders who fight against Brokenstar alongside ThunderClan.
• Retcon: In The Prophecies Begin, he's stated many times to be old. Starting with Yellowfang's Secret, he's younger, but had to retire early due to breathing problems.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: In Exile from ShadowClan, he interferes in a rat fight to protect two kits despite Brokenstar telling him not to, even thinking "forget Brokenstar's word" to himself. He also decides to fight to drive him out after finding he had Clawface kidnap another Clan's kits.
• Short-Lived Leadership: Following the fall of Brokenstar, Nightstar took over as the leader of ShadowClan. However, he was never given his eight extra lives by StarClan, because they still considered Brokenstar the true leader. Because of this, he and his deputy both ended up dying of illness soon later, leaving ShadowClan in a temporary state of anarchy.
• Strong Family Resemblance: In Exile from ShadowClan he and his littermate Clawface are drawn with the same head shape compared to the other cats of their Clan.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: After becoming leader, Nightstar becomes much more hostile to the other Clans, possibly out of a desire to avoid making his Clan look weak after Brokenstar left it in ruins.

Tigerstar I

Tigerstar (Tigerclaw)

"Real warriors love battle. I give them the chance to die for a cause."

"The time of four Clans is over."

The primary antagonist of the series, although only the Big Bad in the first arc. Tigerstar was a powerful warrior in ThunderClan, but was exiled for attempting to murder Bluestar (in a bid to usurp her leadership). He came across an ailing ShadowClan, which had just lost their leader, and took on the leadership position himself. His goal was to unite the four Clans and gain power over all the forest, and weed out those that he considered unfit to be warriors, such as former kittypets and half-Clan cats. He is eventually killed by Scourge, after foolishly attacking him for "betraying" their alliance.

After his death, Tigerstar resides in "The Place of No Stars", and is trying to tempt Firestar's descendants and his own to his ideals. He has some kind of sinister plan in mind against StarClan, and apparently the living cats will play a huge role in it. Ultimately, Tigerstar is destroyed forever in a final showdown with Firestar.

---

• Absurdly Sharp Claws: He is described as having unusually long front claws.
• Abusive Parents: Tigerstar is an asshole to his son Hawkfrost and largely disregards his daughters Tawnypelt and Mothwing, but he does love Brambleclaw, though he's still perfectly willing to manipulate him, lie to him, hurt him, or even kill him if he thinks he has to.
• A Day in the Limelight: In the novella Tigerclaw's Fury.
• Advertised Extra: In Escape from the Forest and Return to the Clans, the second and third books of the Tigerstar and Sasha manga trilogy respectively. Despite his name being in the trilogy's title and the fact that he is on the cover of both books, he only has one scene in Escape from the Forest, and his appearances in Return to the Clans are limited to a handful of dream sequences.
• Agonizing Stomach Wound: When Scourge slices his belly open in The Darkest Hour, the wound is deep enough to make him die nine times over, in slow, agonizing pain.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Firestar gives him one. It's not because of his actions, but because of his horrible death.
• Always Second Best: He claims that he was a great warrior, but as soon as Bluestar discovered Firestar, he was reduced to "a great warrior, just not as good as Firestar".
• Ambition Is Evil: His desire to be leader of ThunderClan (and later of all four Clans) is what makes him a villain; he will do anything to achieve his goal.
• And I Must Scream: During his death, he could feel all the pain of his wounds as he died repeatedly, but he couldn't move due to their severity.
• Antagonistic Offspring: To Pinestar and Leopardfoot. Thistleclaw was a huge influence on his character due to Thistleclaw's mentoring.
• The Apprentice: To Thistleclaw.
• Arch-Enemy: To Firestar and Scourge.
• Archnemesis Dad: To his kits, Brambleclaw, Tawnypelt, and Mothwing, since they know how evil he is and are repulsed by it. On the other paw, Hawkfrost accepted him, and Tadpole is too dead to care.
• Assassination Attempt:
  • In Fire and Ice he tries to kill Bluestar by tricking her into running onto the Thunderpath. It doesn't work, as she's too sick to leave the camp, and Cinderpaw ends up getting caught in it instead (though she survives).
  • In Forest of Secrets he once again attempts to kill Bluestar in order to become leader himself and plans to blame it on the rogues attacking the camp.
• Asshole Victim: In The Darkest Hour. He's horribly killed by Scourge, but it's not like many readers will be sad to see him go.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He walked into ShadowClan after Nightstar died, and was immediately given the leader position because he was so badass.
• Back from the Dead: His nine lives should have allowed him this, but Scourge one-shots him with his dog-teeth reinforced claws.
• Badass Boast: He gives several over the course of the series. One of the most badass is given in Sunset.
  Tigerstar: "Firestar will learn that my time is not yet over. He may have seven lives to lose, but I will stalk him through my sons until every one has been ripped from him. This is one battle that he will not win."
• Be Careful What You Wish For: He wanted his beating of Tiny/Scourge to be so brutal that it would never be forgotten. It was, but that was because Scourge dreamed only of killing him from then on.
• Better Living Through Evil: In Forest of Secrets he promises that any cats that come with him will be well rewarded later on; despite this, nobody follows him into exile.
• Big Bad: He's the main villain of pretty much the entire series.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: With Brokenstar in Forest of Secrets and with Leopardstar in The Darkest Hour.
• Big Bad Ensemble: With Brokenstar and Nightstar in the first arc. Also with Mapleshade, Hawkfrost, and Brokenstar in Omen of the Stars.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Demoted to this in The Darkest Hour, where Scourge kills him and takes his place as Big Bad.
• Bigot with a Crush: He is racist against kittypets and cats who are half-Clan by birth, to the point that he wants them all dead or driven out of the Clans. Despite this, he falls in love with Sasha, a kittypet who had lost her owner. He says that she's not like any other kittypet and guesses that her mother might be Clanborn or rogue-born, insists that she's not really one anymore anyway since she lives in the woods, and orders her to tell his Clanmates that she's a rogue and to never reveal the truth.
• Blasphemous Boast: In The Darkest Hour, he claims that he is more powerful than StarClan because he changed the number of Clans in the forest from four to two.
• Blood from the Mouth: Shown at the end of the Rise of Scourge manga after Scourge kills him.
• Blood Knight: Tigerstar loves fighting and makes no secret of it.
• Blunt "Yes": In The Last Hope:
  Firestar: Has it been worth it, Tigerstar? All the hate? All the death?
  Tigerstar: Every moment.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Originally, it was believed that the only reason Tigerstar doesn't go into Firestar's dreams and kill him was because he couldn't. However, Word of God revealed that he can, but he just doesn't want to.
  Iceclaw: If Tigerstar can harm cats like he can and walk in their dreams, why doesn't he just do it to Firestar, take revenge, and get it over with?
  Vicky: Because Tigerstar wants a long-drawn out kind of vengeance, involving as many cats as possible, so that Firestar truly suffers. ...
• Bratty Half-Pint: Spoiled by his mother Leopardfoot, Tigerkit is stated to be very bossy and disruptive, often leading to him or other kits getting into trouble thanks to his antics. He also regularly pestered Leopardfoot about things like napping and being to young to go to the Gathering with her. He also wore out any other queen that would have to watch over him to the point of exasperation.
  Tigerkit: "Can I come? I'm nearly an apprentice."
  Adderfang: "Kits don't go to Gatherings."
  Tigerkit: "You'll tell me everything when you get back, right?"
  Lionheart: "You'll be asleep when I get back."
  Tigerkit: "No, I won't! I'm going to stay awake."
  Leopardfoot: "You’d better be sound asleep when we get back. Robinwing will want some peace after having you rascals charging around all day."
  Tigerkit: "We've been outside for ages."
  Leopardfoot: "And who’s been keeping an eye on you to make sure you don’t get into mischief? Robinwing said she had to get you out of the warriors’ den three times."
  Tigerkit: "We wanted to see what it was like. Anyway, I’m not tired, so why is Robinwing?"
• Broken Pedestal:
  • In the first book, Into the Wild, Fireheart puts Tigerclaw/Tigerstar on a pedestal. Then he finds out that Tigerclaw is a team-killing psycho, and they become arch enemies.
  • In the Tigerstar and Sasha manga trilogy, Sasha is in love with Tigerstar until she finds out about his evil plans and actions.
  • In Redtail's Debt, Redtail looks up to Tigerclaw after he saves his life, but becomes concerned after he sees how bloodthirsty he is, and eventually, after a needless battle, tells him he doesn't owe him anything and stops trusting him.
• Bullying a Dragon: He does this to Scourge and gets killed for it.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: In The Darkest Hour, he decides to spare Feathertail and Stormfur because he thinks they may still be useful as hostages.
• The Casanova: He was mates with two she-cats, but only ever showed interest in the offspring they had together, and in fact began verbally abusing Sasha once he learned she was a kittypet. He also tried to seduce Leopardstar in Leopardstar's Honor to blind her to the truth of her situation, and was good enough that she actually considered the idea.
• The Chessmaster: In the first arc he had a backup plan for everything. The only reason he lost was because he didn't recognize the savage Psycho for Hire Scourge as a helpless kit he had beaten up several years before the start of the story.
• Chick Magnet: Goldenflower, Sasha, and Leopardstar were all in love with him.
• Children Are Cruel: Savagely beats a young kit (who would later become Scourge) when he was an apprentice in Bluestar's Prophecy.
• Children Are Innocent: He was quite adorable and innocent as a kit. It's a shame Tigerpaw was given Thistleclaw as a mentor.
• Combat Compliment: In The Last Hope, he compliments Brambleclaw for killing Hawkfrost.
• The Corrupter: Most notably when he joins the Dark Forest, but this also happens when he was still alive. Scourge, anyone?
• Covered with Scars: He has a pelt covered in scars. He even has a scarred nose and an ear nearly split in two.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: It doesn't matter what he was like in the first arc. No one deserves to die like he did. Even Firestar agrees.
• Cute Kitten: Yep, even he was once an adorable little kitten.
• Dark Is Evil: As a ShadowClan cat and a Dark Forest member. He has a dark brown tabby pelt, scars, and wickedly long claws.
• Deader than Dead: In The Last Hope his spirit is finally slain by Firestar.
• Deceptive Disciple: To Bluestar, pretending to be loyal, but actually planning to usurp her.
• Demoted to Dragon: He ends up as Brokenstar's dragon in The Last Hope.
• Determinator: He doesn't even let death get in the way of his desire to kill Firestar.
• Disappeared Dad: He leaves his kits and their mother to join ShadowClan. There is a lot of bitterness involved as he attempted to murder Bluestar, the leader of ThunderClan, and also murdered Redtail, the former deputy. Unsurprisingly, ThunderClan does not want his kits, Bramblekit and Tawnykit, to turn out like their father.
  • His own father was absent - left the Clan to be a kittypet - and this is a major part of why he's evil.
• Disc-One Final Boss: In The Darkest Hour he is the main villain, but partway through the book the position of primary villain is usurped by Scourge, who kills him.
• Domestic Abuse: His treatment of Sasha once he learns she was once a kittypet certainly qualifies. He verbally mocks her, tells her to throw away her most prized possession if she wants to keep dating him, turns around and acts nice the next day to make her come back, then turns around again and loses interest when she tries to share memories of her old life with him.
• The Dreaded: He is still feared by the Clans many years after his death.
• Dragon Their Feet: He shows up after Brokenstar's defeat to fight Firestar in The Last Hope.
• Early Personality Signs: As a kit in Bluestar's Prophecy, he invents a game called "Kill the Dog" and plays it with Whitekit, foreshadowing his vicious nature as an adult.
• Ear Notch: He has a torn ear.
• Egopolis: In The Darkest Hour, he combines RiverClan and ShadowClan into a single Clan named "TigerClan". ^note This doesn't just refer to himself. It's also a reference to a Clan mythology about the "Three Great Clans": TigerClan, LionClan, and LeopardClan.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: A fan asked on Vicky Holmes' Facebook page, "Does Tigerstar love his mommy?" The answer was "Oh yes."
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Perhaps showcased best when, in Tigerclaw's Fury, he runs over to the ThunderClan camp when he hears it's on fire to make sure Goldenflower and their kits escaped. To drive it home, in Tigerclaw's Fury Tigerclaw was practically praying Fireheart would escape the fire, because he was the only one who was there to save Bramblekit.
• Even Evil Has Standards: In Tigerclaw's Fury, he is horrified by the fire because even he wouldn't wish a death like that on another cat.
• Everyone Is Related: He and Spottedleaf are distant cousins, as their ancestors Gorseclaw and Spottedpelt were brother and sister.
• Evil Is Hammy: He's pretty repressed as a member of ThunderClan, but as the commander of Brokenstar's rogues, the leader of ShadowClan, and one of the Dark Forest leaders he's pretty hamtastic.
• Evil Mentor: To Brambleclaw and Lionblaze.
• Evil Overlord: He rules over ShadowClan and RiverClan, making him essentially one.
• Evil Plan:
  • In order to try to become leader, Tigerclaw first killed Redtail, the Clan deputy, in the hope that he would be chosen as deputy in his place. Once he achieved that position, he decided that Bluestar wasn't dying fast enough, so he teamed up with Brokenstar's gang of rogues to attack the ThunderClan camp in order to kill Bluestar during the attack and make it look like a rogue had done it.
  • In A Dangerous Path his latest plan to destroy ThunderClan is to lure the loose dog pack to their camp by leaving a trail of prey.
  • In The Darkest Hour his current plan to take over the whole forest is to join all four Clans together to form "TigerClan", starting by teaming up with RiverClan. He suspects that he'll have a harder time convincing WindClan and ThunderClan, so he's also made an alliance with the vicious BloodClan from Twolegplace to make sure he outnumbers the two other Clans. And then, once all four Clans are under his control, they drive BloodClan out.
• Evil Sounds Deep: He is described as having a deep voice.
• Evil Teacher: Ravenpaw's mentor, and partial mentor to Firepaw before Bluestar - is a Villain with Good Publicity: he secretly murdered the Clan deputy in the hope of being chosen for the role, and intends to continue killing his way to leadership. He even tries to kill his apprentice Ravenpaw (who witnessed the murder) by assigning him dangerous tasks (hunting in enemy territory, or at the rocks where poisonous snakes live).
• Evil Versus Evil: With Scourge in The Darkest Hour.
• Evil Is Petty: Tigerstar is one of the most petty, vindictive and needlessly cruel characters in the Warriors franchise. It's best shown in:
  • In Redtail's Debt, where he bullies Sorrelpaw, a young WindClan apprentice and orders Redtail to attack her and then to "tear her apart" just because she crossed into ThunderClan territory, literally bumped into him and made him lose his prey, even though it was purely accidental, and insulted him. Almost immediately afterwards, Tigerclaw lies about the incident to Sunstar in order to start a battle with WindClan just so that he can get back at Stagleap for criticizing his method of "teaching Sorrelpaw a lesson."
  • The first arc and Tigerclaw's Fury, where he swears revenge against ThunderClan for casting him out and is hell-bent on exacting it, which comes across as rather petty and vindictive considering the fact that he betrayed them in the first place.
• The Exile: Bluestar exiles him from ThunderClan when he tries to kill her.
• The Family That Slays Together: Him and his son Hawkfrost.
• Fantastic Racism: Against kittypets and half-Clan cats.
• Fatal Flaw: Tigerstar has three defining flaws:
  • Greed: Tigerstar's thirst power is unstoppable and unquenchable. He will do absolutely anything to get it and no matter how much power he gets he always wants more. As Firestar and Longtail point out, had Tigerstar simply waited for power to come to him instead of trying to take it by force, he would have been remembered as a good warrior.
  • Pride: He's one of the smartest and strongest Clan cats of all time, and he knows it. The problem is, he thinks too highly of himself, rarely thinking that maybe he can't do something. He also tends to underestimate his opponents, especially if they are smaller than him.
  • Anger: While he is capable of controlling his emotions to the point of being The Stoic, Tigerstar is, at his core, an extremely vindictive and spiteful cat. As a result, he is actually very easy to anger, especially when things don't go his own way, which rears up at the worst moments.
    • Ultimately, it's these three flaws combined that lead to Tigerstar's death. Even after he achieves his ambition of becoming a Clan leader, he is not satisfied and tries to take over the whole forest. In trying to do so, he brings in BloodClan, whose leader, Scourge, he severely underestimates, never considering that he might betray him or that he might be deadlier than he looks, and when the small black tom defies him, Tigerstar is unable to control his rage and attacks him. It does NOT end well for Tigerstar.
• Faux Affably Evil: He has a few friendly chats with Firestar in A Dangerous Path, and acts like a friend to the Dark Forest trainees. But he's still completely evil.
• Final Boss: Of the Omen of the Stars arc, and the entire series by extension. Did anyone not see that coming?
• Follow in My Footsteps: He genuinely does want his children to become strong warriors. He also wants them to continue his goals of ruling the forest, however, and even after his death tries to groom them into following his plans.
• Freudian Excuse: His father abandoned their family to become a kittypet when he was only a kit. Because of this, he hates kittypets, considering them weak.
• Generation Xerox: He became a Clan Leader like his father. That's about as far as the similarities go.
• Genki Boy: As a kit. His Training from Hell beat it out of him.
• Gone Horribly Right: He was born the weakest kit in his litter, and his mother named him Tigerkit in the hopes that he would grow strong. He grew up to be so strong and fierce that he dreamed of taking over the whole forest...and it was all downhill from there.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: He received a noticeable scar while fighting against Oakheart.
• Greater-Scope Villain: He could be considered this for The Darkest Hour since it was him who brought BloodClan to the forest in the first place.
• Gutted Like a Fish: He is killed in this manner when the cat he tried to order around got fed up with it - the wound is bad enough that he loses all of his nine leader's lives. One apprentice even refers to it in this way when a group of them re-enacts his death in the third volume of the Tigerstar and Sasha manga trilogy.
• Hate Sink: Despite having some Even Evil Has Standards and Even Evil Has Loved Ones moments, it is made clear, that the reader is not supposed sympatize with him, considering that he's a power-hungry Jerkass and a racist, to boot!
• Hearing Voices: In Tigerclaw's Fury, he hears voices usually telling him to do evil stuff, and berating him for any weakness (read: kindness). At first this is painted as his evil ambition that may or may not be driving him crazy, but it's eventually revealed to be Mapleshade.
• Hidden Villain: He's not revealed as a bad guy until half-way through Into the Wild, and even then his guilt is uncertain until the end of Forest of Secrets.
• High-Pressure Blood: Any wound inflicted on him seems to bleed twice as much as a wound inflicted on someone else. And of course, when he bleeds to death nine times.
• Hijacked by Ganon: He does this a few times, most notably in The New Prophecy, where Hawkfrost, who seemed to be the Big Bad of that arc, turned out to be working for him.
• Hypocrite: One of the biggest in the series.
  • Tigerstar absolutely hates traitors, insisting they cannot be tolerated and deserve to die, and yet he ends up choosing to betray his own Clan for power. By the end of the first arc, it's pretty clear to most cats, and to the reader, that despite his claims to the contrary, Tigerstar will gladly betray anyone if it means he can get something he wants.
  • He was noted by other cats as knowing the Warrior Code by heart, and he denounces Graystripe and later Bluestar for "flouting" it by having kits with cats from other Clans. And yet... Tigerstar himself bends, breaks, and twists the code whenever it suits him and has in fact broken the code in far worse ways than those he tends to denounce; he has betrayed his fellow Clan cats, murdered some of them, and also killed a large number of prey just to build a hill of bones as a towering seat for himself.
  • When Scourge refuses to fight the Clans for him, Tigerstar furiously calls him a "traitor", even though he was already planning to betray Scourge once he'd outlived his usefulness.
  • Insists that kittypets are inferior to Clan cats, yet mates and has kits with a kittypet (albeit one who's technically a rogue at the time).
  • Insists that half-Clan cats are untrustworthy and cannot be tolerated, but later willingly trains his half-Clan son Hawkfrost.
• Identical Grandson:
  • Has an ancestor named Gorseclaw that is identical to him - it's what made Firestar realize that Tigerstar is descended from SkyClan.
  • His own sons Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost, and his grandson Tigerheart, also look exactly like him (except the eyes for Hawkfrost).
• I Got Bigger: He had been the runt of his litter until getting older. Not only did he get older and bigger, but he also became a giant among the Clan cats. It appears that his sons Bramblestar and Hawkfrost share their father's growth spurt as well.
• Irony: Has a seething hatred for kittypets...but then falls for Sasha, a former kittypet, and has a litter of kits with her. However, he constantly shot down any attempts she made to talk about her old life and disapproved of Sasha insisting on keeping her collar in her possession.
  • Despite leading the rallying cry of "kittypets are too weak to be warriors" in the series, he's bested and killed both times by cats who were former kittypets: Scourge (The Darkest Hour, arc one) and Firestar (The Last Hope, arc four).
• Join or Die: How he operates. One particularly notable moment is when his son defied him:
  Bramblepaw: Join you? After everything you've done? I'd rather die!
  Tigerstar: Are you sure? I won't make the offer twice. Join me now, or you will die.
  Bramblepaw: Then at least I'll go to StarClan as a loyal ThunderClan cat.
  Tigerstar: Fool! Stay, then, and die with these other fools.
• Kick the Dog: In The Original Series, his evil is established to the readers early on through his abuse of Ravenpaw, but he just keeps doing horrible things to sympathetic characters. How despicable he is reaches a peak during his actions at the Bonehill.
• Large and in Charge: Is positively huge by cat standards, and becomes leader of at least two Clans.
• Large Ham: Not in The Prophecies Begin, but rather after his death.
• Laser-Guided Karma: In The Darkest Hour, he was on the verge of ruling the Clans. Then he was killed by Scourge, who he had savagely beaten when they were younger.
• The Leader: Of Brokenstar's rogues in Rising Storm, and ShadowClan for the last third of the first arc.
• Leader Wannabe: The biggest example in the series. Even when he's leader of a Clan, that's not enough - he wants to lead the forest.
• Like Father, Like Son: Tigerclaw ends up leaving ThunderClan while he and Goldenflower's kits are still in the nursery, much like his own father Pinestar did. However, Pinestar left on his own accord to become a kittypet, while Tigerclaw was exiled for his murder attempt on Bluestar and conspiring with the rogues.
• Make It Look Like an Accident:
  • In Into the Wild he sends Ravenpaw on dangerous tasks (for instance, hunting at Snakerocks where poisonous snakes live) in the hope that it'll get him killed and look like an accident.
  • He tries to get Bluestar hit by a monster (i.e. a car) and killed at one point in the series.
  • Later he told Fireheart to cross a branch over a flooded stream and then knocked it loose. Even Fireheart wasn't sure whether it was an accident or not until he noticed the way Tigerclaw was looking at him later.
• Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal: He had a considerable amount of control over his mother Leopardfoot in his youth, as she hardly ever punished him for his out-of-order conduct and brashness during his kithood and early apprenticeship. This likely lead to his arrogant personality as an adult.
• Manipulative Bastard: He manipulates all of ThunderClan in his attempts to become the leader. Later, he manipulates ShadowClan in order to become their leader. Finally, he manages to channel his powers of manipulation into convincing Clan cats to train with the Dark Forest.
• Meaningful Name: His name refers to his ferocity, which is akin to that of a tiger.
• The Mentor: To Darkstripe and Ravenpaw.
• Momma's Boy: No surprise here, but he loved his mother Leopardfoot over his father Pinestar. She let him get away with so much as a kit.
• Mutual Kill: In The Last Hope, Firestar makes him Deader than Dead, but dies of his wounds immediately afterward.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: Sure he's dead. That doesn't mean he won't continue to haunt Firestar through his sons.
• A Nazi by Any Other Name: He was originally from ThunderClan, but came to power in ShadowClan during their darkest hour; Hitler was from Austria, but came to power in Germany during a low point in its history. Tigerstar merged RiverClan into ShadowClan to form TigerClan; Hitler merged Austria and Sudetenland into Germany to form Greater Germany. Like all good dictators, Tigerstar had his own secret police, consisting of Brokenstar's rogues and Darkstripe. He started imprisoning and mistreating halfClan cats, clearly planning to eventually kill them, because he claimed that they couldn't be trusted, and blamed them all that had ever gone wrong. And finally, up until she realised how evil he was, Sasha was the Eva Braun to Tigerstar's Hitler.
• New Era Speech: He gives one at a Gathering when trying to convince the other Clans to join him and form TigerClan.
• Never My Fault: Tigerstar has a tendency to blame other cats for things he technically brought upon himself. For example:
  • He blames his exile from ThunderClan on Firestar for besting him and his Clanmates for being "ungrateful for everything he's done for them," completely disregarding the fact that he betrayed them in the first place by trying to murder Bluestar and take over the Clan.
  • He blames Firestar for his death and all his attempts to destroy the Clans, completely disregarding the fact that he (Tigerstar) brought Scourge to the forest and Firestar gave Tigerstar plenty of chances to stop what he was doing.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Gives one to a young Scourge in Bluestar's Prophecy.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Tigerstar wants to unite the Clans - by force, if necessary, claiming he wants to stop the constant bloodshed from them fighting. But its really because he wants to be at the top of the food chain, and he still persecutes halfClan cats for supposedly having divided loyalty between two clans.
• Number Two: He spent about a third of the first arc as ThunderClan's deputy.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Feels this way towards Firestar.
• Opposed Mentors: He and Lionheart both served as mentors to Firestar until Bluestar decided to take him as her apprentice.
• Parental Favoritism: He favors his sons over his daughters. It is heavily implied, especially in The Last Hope, that even though they are on different sides, Brambleclaw is his favorite kit.
• Pet the Dog: He gave Ravenpaw a genuine compliment in Into the Wild.
  • Ran into the blazing ThunderClan camp to save his son in Tigerclaw's Fury, and made sure his mate and daughter were alright before he left.
  • In Forest of Secrets he helps stimulate Graystripe's kits' breathing during Silverstream's disastrous kitting.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: He parallels Hitler in several ways, and has attempted genocide in the form of public executions during a propaganda rally where he called half-Clan cats "filth".
• Post-Mortem Comeback: He dies in The Darkest Hour, but that doesn't stop him from coming back in Starlight as a major villain.
• Pyrrhic Victory: In The Last Hope, he finally succeeds in killing Firestar (or more accurately, Firestar dies of his wounds after killing him), but his spirit is erased from existence, while Firestar is reunited with his loved ones in StarClan's paradise.
• Quit Your Whining: In Forest of Secrets Graystripe is with his mate as she dies giving birth to his kits, and he wails his grief to the skies. Cue Tigerclaw coming along, cuffing him, and ordering him to "Stop that moaning".
• Red Herring: Tigerstar's status as Big Bad ends up becoming this in Darkest Hour, as the book builds up a final battle between him and Firestar, only for Scourge to usurp his position, turn him into Big Bad Wannabe and kill him.
• Reformed, but Rejected: In Fading Echoes, he tells Ivypool that he truly regrets his actions against ThunderClan, but they continue to hold a grudge. However, it's obvious to the reader that this is a lie.
• Reminiscing About Your Victims: In Battles of the Clans, he nostalgically tells some kittypets about how he killed Redtail.
• "Reason You Suck" Speech: Not given by Tigerstar himself, but other cats.
  • In Escape from the Forest, after she learns of his power-hungry plans, Sasha rejects him and his claims of wanting to make life better for the Clans, telling him that he just wants power... too much power. She also points out that since he plans to kill non-Clan born cats, that technically means he'll kill her as well.
  • In the climax of The Last Hope, Firestar denounces Tigerstar, telling him that he was never a true leader because he only cares about himself and needlessly forces the cats who follow him to fight and die for his own selfish reasons.
• The Resenter: He claims that the moment Bluestar found Firestar he became nothing, and waited many moons for his revenge.
• Returning Big Bad: Is killed at the end of the first series. However, he returns to the books in the latter half of the second series, visiting his sons Hawkfrost and Brambleclaw in their dreams and trying to get them to follow his plans; ultimately by the time of Warrior Cats: Omen of the Stars his spirit is able to physically fight living cats and he faces Firestar once more.
• Sadist Teacher:
  • While still in ThunderClan he ruthlessly bullies his apprentice Ravenpaw, including poking him with a claw and telling him to get up while Ravenpaw is unconscious in the medicine den after battle.
  • During his exile from ThunderClan, he trains his group of former ShadowClan warriors with unsheathed claws so that they sustain injuries during their training.
• Shut Up, Kirk!: After Firestar asks him if all the death and hatred was worth it, he replies, "Every moment".
• Secretly Selfish: For all his claims about wanting to make life better for the Clans, in the end, all Tigerstar really wants is to be the most powerful cat in the world. After discovering his evil plans, Sasha calls him out on it.
• Sickly Child Grew Up Strong: Bluestar's Prophecy reveals that he was the runt of his litter: he was too weak even to feed, and wasn't expected to survive his first night. His mother chose the name Tigerkit in the hope that he'd become strong. (He did.)
• Sink or Swim Mentor:
  • To Ravenpaw, which is deliberate as he (correctly) suspects Ravenpaw knows he killed Redtail, so he's discreetly trying to kill him too. Though even before that, he didn't treat him well.
  • And had his own in the case of Thistleclaw, who unlike Tigerstar actually trained in the Dark Forest when he was alive.
• Small Name, Big Ego: He claims he's greater than StarClan after changing the number of Clans from 4 to 2.
• Social Darwinist: It's part of his philosophy. He states it exactly in The Last Hope.
  Tigerstar: "Weak cats should be left to fend for themselves."
• Spoiled Brat: He was loud, nosey, and quarrelsome as a kit; Leopardfoot coddled him due to the absence of his father and after the deaths of his two sisters, but other queens viewed him as a bad influence on their own kits due to his brazen and disrespectful behavior.
• Spirit Advisor: Of the evil variety. He serves as one to Brambleclaw, Lionblaze, Hawkfrost, Ivypool, and all the other Dark Forest trainees. Also revealed in Tigerclaw's Fury to have his own: Mapleshade. Although this cat's advising was disguised as a whisper within Tigerstar's own mind, and he didn't realize that that cat was a real person until after he's exiled from ThunderClan.
• Strong Family Resemblance: His sons Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost are said to be spitting images of him. His descendants Tigerstar (Tigerheart), Lightleap (the only female example), Strikestone, and Juniperkit are also brown tabbies like himself. This has garnered the term "Tigerclone" in the fandom when referring to Tigerstar's near-lookalikes.
  • There's also Tigerstar's grandfather Adderfang and his ancestor Gorseclaw, who are both dark brown tabbies.
• The Starscream: He was this before even becoming second in command by plotting and eventually killing the second-in command, and then after that tried to kill off Bluestar numerous times, all of them failed, with the final time resulting in exile.
• The Stoic: As a member of ThunderClan. Otherwise, he's a Large Ham.
• Take Over the World: His main goal is to rule all the Clans.
• Take Up My Sword: This is what he intends for Brambleclaw, Hawkfrost, Tawnypelt for a short time, Jayfeather for a short time, Lionblaze, and Tigerheart. He succeeds with one of them.
• Team Killer: He kills his Clanmate, Redtail.
• Terrible Trio: He, Darkstripe and Longtail were this in ThunderClan in the first series. Tigerstar was rarely seen without his loyal followers, at least until Tigerstar is exposed as a traitor. Longtail chooses his Clan over his friend, but Darkstripe later joins Tigerstar in exile.
• Thank Your Prey: Defied. He feels he doesn't owe StarClan any thanks because he caught his prey on his own.
• Theme Naming: Tigerstar and his mother, Leopardfoot.
• The Big Guy: Was this in ThunderClan before he got exiled.
• Token Evil Teammate: As a ThunderClan member.
• Training from Hell: According to Bluefur, Thistleclaw put Tigerpaw through absolutely brutal training.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: In the duel scene of Bluestar's Prophecy, The Rise of Scourge, and Spottedleaf's Heart, Tigerpaw was all but viciously eager to attack the much-younger and smaller Tiny, a kit from Twolegplace who entered ThunderClan turf out of nothing but childish innocence. The assault is brutal and intense, even coming from a Clan apprentice, and it's clear that Tigerpaw would've gladly killed Tiny if Bluefur had not intervened. When Thistleclaw argues with Bluefur and leads his apprentice away after Tiny's hasty retreat, Tigerpaw lollops at his mentor's side, his head and tail up in pride.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: Of ShadowClan during Rising Storm.
• The Unfought: There is never a solid, definitive fight against him. Until The Last Hope, that is.
• Unfriendly Fire: This is one of his methods when he's still a Villain with Good Publicity before his exile:
  • After a border fight, he kills the Clan deputy, Redtail, hoping he'll be made deputy himself. He places the blame for Redtail's death on Oakheart, whom Redtail had been fighting against and who had been killed in the battle so he wouldn't be around to deny it. Too bad Ravenpaw had been hiding in the bushes and saw it happen...
  • Wanting to kill his leader in order to become leader himself, Tigerclaw convinces a group of rogues to attack the camp. During the battle, he attacks Bluestar, hoping to make it look like a rogue had killed her.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Even after Jaggedtooth helps him become leader in Tigerclaw's Fury, he refuses to reward him because he feels like he owes him nothing.
  • Double subverted when he sees Fireheart (later Firestar) rescuing Bramblekit during the forest fire. At first, he's thankful to StarClan that Bramblekit made it out okay and that Fireheart rescued him...but then he still continues hating Fireheart.
• Unwitting Pawn:
  • Unfortunately for him, his plan to rule the forest was a stepping stone in Scourge's plan to kill him and take the forest for BloodClan.
  • Presumably is this to his Dark Forest advisor, Mapleshade, who has previously been established to hate ThunderClan. She helps him in his quest for power, likely because his pursuit of it causes so much grief to ThunderClan and later all the Clans.
• The Uriah Gambit: One of his favourite tactics.
  • Tigerclaw, suspecting that Ravenpaw knows he killed Redtail, sets him some dangerous hunting tasks, including at Snakerocks (named for the deadly adders that bask there in the summer... Ravenpaw actually manages to catch one!) and in ShadowClan territory.
  • During battle, Fireheart's pinned down and fighting for his life. He calls to Tigerclaw for help, but Tigerclaw just watches him; it's to his advantage if Fireheart dies since he believes Ravenpaw told Fireheart what he knows.
  • At one point, he orders Fireheart to cross a flooded stream, using only a spindly branch caught in the water. When Fireheart's halfway across and Longtail isn't watching, Tigerclaw tries to Make It Look Like an Accident by knocking the branch loose of the rock it's caught against.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Bluestar's Prophecy shows that he was a cute little kit who liked playing Pounce with Whitekit, wanted to be the best warrior in the Clan, and promised he'd take good care of Poppydawn when she became an elder and he became an apprentice.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Played straight at the end of A Dangerous Path, where Tigerstar just runs away without putting up a fight.
• Villainous Legacy: He dies at the end of the first arc, but keeps influencing the Clans after his death partly because of his ambitious descendants and partly because he is still plotting even after death.
• Villain Respect: He grudgingly admits that Firestar has great strength and spirit.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Until halfway into the first arc, only a few cats knew his true colors. It still takes until the end of The Darkest Hour for all the Clans to realize how evil he is.
• Visionary Villain: In The Prophecies Begin, he wants to create a world where the Clans end their eternal war and usher in a new age of prosperity by joining together as one. Of course, the way he goes about it is evil, and that's why he's the villain.
• Warhawk: He always was eager to lead his Clan into battle: when he is exiled from ThunderClan he boasts about how he would never have been such a soft leader, keeping peace with the other Clans.
• We Can Rule Together: Repeatedly pulls this on Brambleclaw until The Last Hope, where he decides that he'll have to kill him later. However, he does offer him a one-on-one fight.
• We Will Meet Again: After his exile in Forest of Secrets, he warns Fireheart to always keep a lookout because they'll meet again and he'll win next time.
• Wicked Wastefulness: One rule in the Warrior Code is to only kill prey for food. Tigerstar, tyrannical and racist dictator that he is, is shown ignoring this rule. On one occasion, he left dead rabbit around just to bring dogs into the Thunder Clan territory. In a more blatant case, he was later shown to have killed a vast amount of prey solely to build himself a pile of bones in the "Tiger Clan" camp.
• Worthy Opponent: He feels this way Firestar, even so far as setting up an elaborate scheme just so they could have their one-on-one fight.
• Would Hurt a Child:
  • In Bluestar's Prophecy, under the orders of his mentor Thistleclaw, he nearly killed a kittypet kit for straying onto ThunderClan territory. The only thing that stops him is Bluefur.
  • He was infamously resentful and abusive towards Ravenpaw, his apprentice.
  • He kills a WindClan apprentice just to prove that he is serious in his threats.
  • He goads Redtail into attacking Sorrelpaw of WindClan after a hunting mishap in Redtail's Debt.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: Plays this in the first arc, most notably at a Gathering in The Darkest Hour, when he turns the weather into a gambit. However, his plans blew up in his face when he underestimated Scourge so much that he didn't even have a counter-plan when Scourge turned on him.
• You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good!: Firestar and others think this, given how he was once one of the most powerful and respected warriors in ThunderClan.
• You Fool!: When his son Brambleclaw refuses his offer of power in The Darkest Hour, Tigerstar calls him a fool.

Blackstar

Blackstar (Blackfoot)

"Oh, and Mistyfoot? Never trust the shadows. My warriors wear the night like second pelts. If you wrong ShadowClan, you will never be safe in the dark."

"Hope is easy, but it catches no prey."

A former follower of Brokenstar, and then Tigerstar after the latter's exile, Blackstar served as deputy to both Big Bads. After the war with BloodClan, he becomes leader of ShadowClan, but is smart enough to not try anything subversive after all the Clans had been through, and has thus far shown himself to be a capable leader.

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• Anti-Hero: Post Heel–Face Turn. He's definitely not the kindest of cats and is rather proud, but in the end he's doing what he thinks is best for his Clan.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: The entirety of Blackfoot's Reckoning is about him becoming the leader of his Clan, and it ends with StarClan calling his new name.
• Back from the Dead: It comes with being clan leader.
• Blind Obedience: Which, combined with his terrible character judgment, makes for half of a nasty Fatal Flaw duo. Yellowfang derogatorily refers to him as a bully who's happy to follow the orders of other cats, and Blackfoot's Reckoning shows that, while he has considerable more depth than that, he would withhold his personal objections and always obey orders. He latches onto Tigerclaw as a new leader within minutes of learning of Brokenstar's death, expressing relief that there's some new cat in charge now, and his villainous actions are depicted as him gradually Sliding Down The Slippery Slope due to his preference for taking the word of cats he trusts at face value.
• Blood Knight: He counted as one when he was Blackfoot, being the top enforcer of Brokenstar, who was himself a brutal warrior who only used his Clan for battle purposes.
• The Brute: Yellowfang describes him as a cat who is strong but not smart, allowing a cleverer cat to defeat him.
• Cool Old Guy: His age really shows at times, like his wistfulness when he discusses the Lake in Eclipse.
• Cool Uncle: Loves his only nephew Badgerfang, and Badgerfang clearly thinks highly of him. When Badgerfang gives him a life at his leadership ceremony, he runs over in happiness upon seeing Blackfoot; a feeling the big white tom reciprocates. Moreover, after witnessing Badgerfang's death with Flintfang, Blackfoot's pretty torn up about it and feels horribly guilty after seeing Badgerfang in StarClan, knowing that he could have done something to stop his death.
• Crisis of Faith: In Long Shadows, Sol begins to convince Blackstar that StarClan has abandoned them and that leaving the forest was a bad idea, to the point that Blackstar rejects his leader name and refuses to visit the Moonpool or bring his Clan to Gatherings. Lionblaze, Jaypaw, and Hollyleaf fake a sign from StarClan, which turns into a real one when Runningnose and Raggedstar appear.
• A Day in the Limelight: He gained a novella in 2021 titled Blackfoot's Reckoning.
• Deadpan Snarker: After his villainousness from The Prophecies Begin wears off.
• Defector from Decadence: Though by no means a friendly character, he has not shown any of the bloodthirstiness or evil ambition of his former idols, and sticks to the Warrior Code.
• Depending on the Artist: On whether he has one black paw or four.
• Disappeared Dad: He and his siblings, Flintfang and Fernshade, were unaware who their father was for the longest time, as their mother Hollyflower raised them alone and never mentioned him. His novella reveals that he and his siblings were the result of an affair between Hollyflower and Blizzardwing while the latter was courting Featherstorm, and no one said anything as the whole situation would be scandalous.
• The Dragon: Both Brokenstar and Tigerstar's dragon, but he grew out of his villainy.
• Dramatic Irony: In Blackfoot's Reckoning, he sees a vision of himself, looking tired, being manipulated by a tortoiseshell tom. Having recenlty come to terms with how crippling his Blind Obedience is, he vows to never let that happen. Anyone who's read Long Shadows knows that it will.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: In Bramblestar's Storm he is killed offscreen by the flood. A somewhat anticlimactic death for a very long-lived leader, and a cat who was an unrepentant villain in The Prophecies Begin.
• Enemy Mine: At the end of The Darkest Hour, when he teams up with Firestar, Leopardstar and Tallstar to defeat Scourge. He has stayed this way since then. Also in Eclipse, when he teams up with ThunderClan to fight WindClan and RiverClan.
• Extra Digits: Has six toes on one paw according to the former official app.
• Flat-Earth Atheist: Temporarily goes through this after Sol gains power in ShadowClan.
• Friend to All Children: Played with. When his nephew, Badgerfang, dies, Blackfoot's incredibly upset about it. When also trying to steal Frostfur's kits, he makes sure to not hurt them. That said though, he still went along with Brokenstar's idea of training kits earlier than normal, though he had, but withheld, his doubts over that matter and whether it was wise.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Not only has he fallen for the lies of Brokenstar, Tigerstar, and Sol, he genuinely mischaracterized the former two as noble warriors wanting the best for ShadowClan.
• Insult Backfire: At one point he starts going on and on about how generous ThunderClan was to give up a piece of territory, and how much good use ShadowClan has been getting out of it as a hunting ground, using the concession as an opportunity to mock ThunderClan for weakness. Firestar, who had simply not thought the piece of territory important enough to fight for, responds: "I'm glad to hear that you are getting so much out of a piece of land prey-poor by ThunderClan standards." Blackstar is not amused.
• Karma Houdini: Many fans think he got off easy for being the primary supporter of two the series' most evil characters.
• Killed Offscreen: He dies in the flood in Bramblestar's Storm.
• Heel–Face Turn: Near the end of The Darkest Hour.
• The Leader: Of ShadowClan for many years.
• The Mentor: To Dawncloud and Tallpoppy.
• Mercy Kill: He manages to incapacitate Rosetail while she defends the ThunderClan nursery, but his slash across her throat doesn't kill her. Blackfoot feels pity for her and decides to end her suffering rather than let it draw out.
• My God, What Have I Done?: His leadership ceremony in Blackfoot's Reckoning is one long moment of this for him, as he is forced to confront the evil deeds he did under Brokenstar's and Tigerstar's rules.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: Throughout his life, despite occasionally having doubts about the things he was doing, Blackfoot put his trust in his leaders (Brokenstar, and then Tigerstar) and convinced himself that they were right. He also attempts to justify it later as him just following orders, but he knows that that's a hollow explanation.
• Nice Guy: In The Fourth Apprentice, he momentarily turns into this. Lionblaze snarkily freaks out over it.
• Number Two: He was this two times as the deputy of Brokenstar and Tigerstar!
• Obnoxious In-Laws: Inverted. He's on good terms with Wolfstep, who is the mate of Blackstar's sister Fernshade.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: After he wholeheartedly welcomes the drought patrol into ShadowClan camp at the end of The Fourth Apprentice, Lionblaze (jokingly) accuses him of being an impostor.
• Pet the Dog: Helping ThunderClan and accepting Tawnypelt as a true member of his Clan have been very nice acts by him.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With his deputy, Russetfur. So much he goes through a Heroic BSoD when she dies.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: To his Clan.
• Redeeming Replacement: Certainly he's no saint, but he's a much more reasonable leader than Tigerstar.
• Reformed Criminal: Formerly served the villains, but now has a become a good guy, or at least as good as a ShadowClan cat can be.
• Secret-Keeper: As an apprentice he overhears a conversation between Hollyflower and Blizzardwing revealing to him that Blizzardwing was his father despite Blizzardwing already being Featherstorm's mate. Despite being tempted, he never reveals this to anyone as it would make his mother look bad.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: In The Last Hope, during Redwillow's gloating, he shuts him up by killing him. And when Shredtail yells at him for killing his warrior, Blackstar merely says "I killed one traitor, and I'm fixing to kill another."
• Took a Level in Kindness: Though not an extremely pleasant cat, while Onestar becomes more of a Jerkass over time, Blackstar becomes nicer, even helping ThunderClan on occasion.
• Would Harm a Senior: In Into the Wild he kills the elder Rosetail as she defends the ThunderClan nursery. Though his narration in his novella reveals he never meant to kill her and only did so out of mercy when he realized she was dying anyways.

Rowanstar

Rowanstar (Rowanclaw)

"It's nonsense to say that Tawnypelt isn't loyal. I haven't forgotten all the Tribe cats did for us, even if you have. They deserve our help."

A warrior of ShadowClan and Tawnypelt's mate. Becomes Deputy after Russetfur dies and leader after Blackstar dies.

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• Abdicate the Throne: Due to his guilt over letting his Clan be destroyed by Darktail and his own apprentices.
• The Apprentice: To Jaggedtooth.
• Ascended Extra: He was a minor character, barely mentioned outside the character list - so minor that he changed from a she-cat to a tom by accident. The authors decided to acknowledge this by making him Tawnypelt's mate, and he eventually went on to become ShadowClan's leader.
• Gender Bender: Starts out a she-cat, but turns into a tom.
• Happily Married: Mates with Tawnypelt.
• The Leader: Becomes this in Bramblestar's Storm.
• The Mentor: To Talonpaw and Ivytail.
• Not Helping Your Case: While Rowanstar is understandably upset at losing control of ShadowClan, he doesn't act in a very cooperative mood, such as using RiverClan cats as bait against Darktail.
• Number Two: After Russetfur dies, he becomes the deputy of ShadowClan.
• Outliving One's Offspring: He outlives his son Flametail and his daughter Dawnpelt.
• Sucksessor: Despite his admittedly noble intentions, Rowanstar gradually lost the respect of his Clanmates between not being able to control a gang of rebelliously disrespectful apprentices, struggle with Darktail and the Kin, and the yellowcough epidemic raging out of control.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: He had often switched between jerky and nice before, but after becoming ShadowClan's leader in Bramblestar's Storm, he gets very angry at ThunderClan for helping them with kittypets and badgers.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Originally scorned Tawnypelt for being born in ThunderClan, but eventually became a great father to her kits and a loyal deputy after Russetfur's death.
• Trauma Conga Line: Even before his leadership, his son Flametail dies by drowning. Once he becomes a leader, however, bad karma hits him like a sledgehammer. Several of his Clanmates (mainly Needletail and the other apprentices) get very rebellious, so much so that they help Darktail and the Kin overthrow Rowanstar and drive him and their remaining Clanmates into exile. While this happens, his daughter Dawnpelt is drowned by Darktail, and his other son (and deputy) Tigerheart runs off to be with Dovewing. Rowanstar's become so traumatized by it all that he surrenders to SkyClan and gives up being leader of his Clan. In the end, his granddaughter Sleekwhisker ends up killing him while he tries rescuing Tawnypelt and some kits.
• Unfit for Greatness: Takes leadership of ShadowClan with good intentions and not wanting to use the brutal tactics that previous tyrannical leaders of his Clan have done, but he's unable to command the respect of the rebellious young apprentices of his Clan who see him as weak and turning away from the violent glory days of his Clan, as well as lacking compassion for the rogues trying to live in their territory just because they live a different lifestyle. After a plague hits his Clan and Onestar refuses to grant ShadowClan the herbs to cure it which are found on his own territory, ShadowClan's frustration with his inability to procure them leads everyone except his immediate family to choose to leave the Clan to join Darktail's rogue group. Most of them come back after realizing the rogues were far worse than Rowanstar ever was, but he is unable to command the respect of his Clan and eventually comes to believe himself that he is a horrible leader, and resigns his position and takes back his nine lives.
• Ungrateful Bastard: In Bramblestar's Storm when ThunderClan saves ShadowClan he's not only ungrateful, but he's outright resentful towards ThunderClan.

Tigerstar II

Tigerstar (Tigerheart)

"There is always a choice."

Tawnypelt's son, who was named for Tigerstar. Many cats seemed to consider this an ill omen, considering everything that Tigerstar did, but Tigerheart seems to be avert his grandfather's legacy.

In The Fourth Apprentice, he is one of the cats chosen to find the source of the drought. During the quest, he grows close to Dovewing, and their bond remains strong afterwards. At the end of the book, Lionblaze realizes that Tigerheart was using one of Tigerstar's moves in the battle, and deduces that he is now training in the Place of No Stars.

His character arc takes many twists and turns over the course of the arc, until the end of The Last Hope, where his training in the Dark Forest causes Dovewing to finally reject him completely, after already breaking up with him in Night Whispers. He then reveals himself to be a spy, and he aides the Clans in the final battle.

Becomes deputy after Crowfrost dies and then the leader of ShadowClan when he returns to the Clan.

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• A Day in the Limelight: Got his own super edition titled Tigerheart's Shadow.
• Anti-Hero: As a nice guy who is also a trainee of the Dark Forest. But he's also spying on them for the side of the Clans.
• The Apprentice: To Oakfur.
• Ascended Extra: While a minor character in Power of Three, he got a much larger role and a significant character arc in the fourth series, Omen of the Stars.
• Back from the Dead: Literal in his case. Tigerheart was already dead when he got his nine lives.
• Betty and Veronica: To Dovewing. He serves as the darker and edgier Veronica to the kind-hearted Bumblestripe's Betty.
• Dead Guy Junior: Named after his deceased grandfather, Tigerstar.
• Double Reverse Quadruple Agent: To break it down from the beginning: the Dark Forest recruits him, intending to use him to infiltrate and destroy the Clans. He accepts and starts spying on the Dark Forest for the Clans. During this time, he purposefully keeps his true allegiance ambiguous from the other recruits and the Three, so that no one knows for sure which side he's on...until The Last Hope, where he reveals himself as being for the Clans all along.
• Fake Defector: It appears that he is eagerly following his grandfather Tigerstar's teachings, but he's really spying on Tigerstar and the Dark Forest, unbeknownst to the reader and other characters (even Ivypool, who worked as a spy herself after joining and realizing that they're really hell-bent on destroying the Clans.)
• Foreshadowing: Why did he never try to get Dawnpelt into the Dark Forest? Because they're evil, and he's not.
• Forgiveness: During his nine lives ceremony, Yellowfang gives him a life for forgiveness. Yellowfang states that "Forgiveness will give you more power than vengeance will ever bring".
• Good All Along: He was actually a spy for the Clans, trying to figure out what the Dark Forest was up to.
• Good Parents: He is shown to be a caring father to Shadowsight.
• Hero of Another Story: In Omen of the Stars, when he was spying on the Dark Forest so that he could protect the Clans.
• Heroic Sacrifice: He sacrifices himself to save Hollowkit from being taken away from an owl. Luckily he gets better when StarClan gives him the nine lives of a leader.
• Identical Grandson: He looks like his grandfather, Tigerstar.
• Keet: Dovewing notes that he's very chatty. He's also the most adventurous of Tawnypelt's kits.
• The Leader:
  • He struggled with the concept of being a good leader to ShadowClan during Tigerheart's Shadow, unsure if he was ready to lead them or not. During the book he'd persuaded Scorchfur and Juniperclaw to stay with ShadowClan after they tried to leave, he'd journeyed to the city to find Dovewing and his kits, he'd helped the guardian cats learn to defend what was theirs and he'd led his family and friends home. As Rowanclaw put it, he will never be more ready to lead then he is now.
  • Tigerheart eventually did become the leader to ShadowClan after a near death experience. During his nine lives ceremony Littlecloud gave him a life for acceptance, stating that fear of failure had kept Tigerheart from leadership for too long and that it was his destiny and one that he must embrace if he is to save his Clan.
• Like Father, Like Son: Like his father, he becomes deputy and then leader.
• Master Actor:
  • He fooled everyone as to his true allegiance during Omen of the Stars—the Clans didn't know he was secretly training in the Dark Forest, the Dark Forest didn't know he was secretly spying on them for the Clans, and the Three and their allies thought he was genuinely loyal to the Dark Forest. To put it another way: he was such a good Double Agent that his fellow spies believed he'd defected.
  • In Veil of Shadows, Bristlefrost is impressed multiple times at Tigerstar's acting abilities, as he hides his knowledge of the secret rebellion and pretends to act shocked at things he already knows.
• The Mentor: To Sleekwhisker.
• Nice Guy: Compared to most of ShadowClan.
• Number Two: Becomes Rowanstar's deputy after Crowfrost dies from Yellowcough in Thunder and Shadow
• Outliving One's Offspring: His son Rowankit died from greencough.
• Pale Females, Dark Males: He is a dark brown tabby, while Dovewing has pale gray fur.
• Romantic False Lead: To Dovewing, or so it seems in Omen of the Stars. Bramblestar's Storm implies she still loves him. During Tigerheart's Shadow Dovewing officially has Tigerheart's kits and decides to move to ShadowClan to be with him.
• Secret Relationship: In Omen of the Stars he starts seeing Dovewing of ThunderClan in secret. They break it off in The Last Hope, but start up again in A Vision of Shadows where Dovewing decides to move to ShadowClan to be with her mate.
• Ship Tease: Shockingly enough with Ivypool in The Last Hope.

Deputies

Stonetooth

Stonetooth

"Remember what you owe to your Clan as well as what your Clan owes to you."

The ShadowClan deputy who served under Cedarstar. Appears in Bluestar's Prophecy, Crookedstar's Promise, Yellowfang's Secret, and Tallstar's Revenge.

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• Butt-Monkey: He's always being made fun of by the other characters, like Crookedstar and Yellowfang.
• Captain Obvious: Yellowfang notes that he gives the ShadowClan warriors obvious advice before the Carrionplace Raid in Yellowfang's Secret.
• Jerkass: Somehow became this in Tallstar's Revenge.
• Hiss Before Fleeing: He does this after ShadowClan's failed attack on WindClan in Tallstar's Revenge.
• Minor Major Character: Serves as Cedarstar's deputy for a long time, but does basically nothing in any of the prequel Super Editions.
• Number Two: To Cedarstar
• Passive Rescue: He unknowingly rescues Yellowfang from Lizardstripe's taunting by saying that she should be out on a patrol. Then he turns and tells Yellowfang that she'll be a good medicine cat.

Foxheart

Foxheart

"Well, look what we have here! A patrol of ThunderClan warriors! Ooh, I'm scared now!"

The deputy of ShadowClan before Brokenstar. Appears in Yellowfang's Secret as a major character.

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• The Apprentice: To Blizzardwing.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Yellowfang gives her one, thinking that she didn't deserve to die at a young age.
• Alpha Bitch: One example is that when Yellowfang recently becomes the medicine cat apprentice, the first thing she had to do was fix Foxheart's bedding... the latter being too lazy (and mean) to do it herself. There's the more major fact that she always snaps at her for talking to Raggedstar and looks down on her for being a medicine cat.
• Ascended Extra: Come Yellowfang's Secret she has a major role.
• Bitch Alert: She is constantly rude and mocking towards Yellowfang and went out of her way to terrify Lionpaw during a border skirmish with ThunderClan.
• The Bully: Rude, egotistical, and overbearing. She takes a special delight in making Yellowfang miserable.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Obsessed with Raggedpelt.
• Covered in Mud: At one point in Yellowfang's Secret, she disguises her bright ginger pelt by splashing muddy water over her fur.
• Expy: Yellowfang's Secret makes her into one for Foxleap, albeit gender flipped.
• Foregone Conclusion: If you've read up on your Expanded Universe history, you'll know that she becomes deputy only to die in a Carrionplace raid in Yellowfang's Secret.
• Gender Bender: She was called a tom in Bluestar's Prophecy, Crookedstar's Promise and Battles of the Clans.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Jealous of Yellowfang and Raggedstar.
• Hated by All: While she was good enough a warrior to be made deputy, no one really seemed to like her all that much. In fact, everyone appeared to see what a snob and bully she was.
• Jerkass: Oh yes. One of the worst offenders in the series, short of actual villains. Foxheart is mocking and cruel, and clearly despises Yellowfang merely for being the love interest of Foxheart's crush.
• Kick the Dog: Her actual first appearance in Battles Of The Clans has her frighten an already-scared Lionheart (Lionpaw back then) by saying how she's gonna rip him to shreds. This causes him to flee from battle...and teaches him a valuable lesson.
  • And as soon as Yellowfang became a medicine cat apprentice, Foxheart makes her clean her bedding for her to make her feel worthless.
• Lazy Bum: Hates work. And responsibility. And everything else.
• Love Triangle: With Yellowfang and Raggedstar in Yellowfang's Secret.
• Meaningful Name: Her name is the Clan term for "cruel".
• The Mentor: To Nightstar.
• Number Two: The first deputy of Raggedstar.
• The Rival: To Yellowfang in Yellowfang's Secret.
• Sadist Teacher: While Nightstar was an apprentice, she constantly got frustrated with him due to his coughing spells and saw them as a sign of weakness, stating that Nightpaw just needed to toughen up.
• Slashed Throat: How the rats kill her in Yellowfang's Secret.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: From a cute Foxleapy character to an Alpha Bitch.
• Young and in Charge: Or rather Clan Deputy.

Cloudpelt

Cloudpelt

"We're chasing a rabbit. It came from our territory, which means it's still ours."

A young warrior of ShadowClan. He was apprenticed to Raggedstar, but received a serious battle injury during the events of Yellowfang's Secret. Yellowfang managed to heal him, and he went on to succeed Foxheart as Clan Deputy. However, he was killed in a battle with WindClan that Brokenstar organized.

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• Agonizing Stomach Wound: This happens to him as an apprentice when the patrol he is on is ambushed by rogues. Sagewhisker thinks it'll be kinder to let StarClan take him, but Yellowfang refuses to give up, and he survives.
• The Apprentice: To Raggedstar.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Brokenstar (then Brokentail) claims that WindClan has been stealing ShadowClan's prey, and Cloudpelt dies in the battle over it. Presumably, this was Brokenstar's intention.
• The Mentor: To Deerfoot.
• Number Two: Succeeds Foxheart as deputy.
• Slashed Throat: This is how he dies, in a border skirmish with WindClan.
• Young and in Charge: As Clan deputy.

Cinderfur

Cinderfur

"Give us the word, Nightstar, and we'll tear them apart."

Nightstar's deputy.

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• The Apprentice: To Nutwhisker.
• Incurable Cough of Death: In Rising Storm he dies of the same disease that kills his leader.
• Minor Major Character: Gets next to no screentime even though he's a Clan deputy.
• Number Two: To Nightstar.
• Retcon: Stated in The Prophecies Begin to have been an elder at the time of Brokenstar's exile, and mentioned to be old. Starting in Yellowfang's Secret, he's Clawface's son, still a warrior at the time of Brokenstar's exile, and not old.

Russetfur

Russetfur/Red

"Every cat knows that ThunderClan ignores borders, but ShadowClan sticks to the warrior code."

^{Click here} to see her in the Tigerstar and Sasha manga

A former rogue, Russetfur became Blackstar's deputy after the battle with Scourge and BloodClan. She was a kind and caring warrior, and was admired by many.

In Omen of the Stars, Lionblaze accidentally kills her when trying to pull her off of Firestar. Her death serves as a catalyst for StarClan's separation.

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• The Apprentice: To Featherstorm.
• Dropped a Bridge on Her: Killed at the end of Fading Echoes.
• Fantastic Racism: She and her patrol is happy to just watch Berrykit get stuck in a fox trap because he was born a kittypet (in spite of her own ancestry.) On the other hand, she is particularly kind to former kittypet Sasha.
• Fiery Redhead: As an apprentice.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In Fading Echoes, Jayfeather visits the ShadowClan camp and thinks that she won't survive leaf-bare. Guess what happens at the end of the book?
  • Early in Yellowfang's Secret, Yellowfang mentions Red's "russet coloured pelt", hinting at who Red actually is.
• Incurable Cough of Death: But it's not what kills her.
• Meaningful Rename: Had her named changed from "Red" to "Russetpaw" (later Russetfur) upon joining ShadowClan.
• The Mentor: To Cedarheart.
• Neck Snap: How Lionblaze (accidentally) kills her.
• Number Two: To Blackstar for many seasons.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted. As a rogue, she shared her name with a SkyClan's Destiny character. And with a rogue in Dawn of the Clans, before he renamed himself after officially joining SkyClan.
• Reasonable Authority Figure
• Secret-Keeper: In Return to the Clans, she figures out that Sasha had Tigerstar's kits. She promises not to tell anyone.
• Taking You with Me: Tries to do this to Firestar. Since he can come back from the dead, it was a stupid idea.

Crowfrost

Crowfrost

"Clearly, these young cats have made a mistake. But there's no harm done. You can’t come here to visit your sister, understand? If you need to speak to her, wait for a Gathering. You may be kin, but you live in different Clans now."

Dawnpelt's mate and Rowanstar's first deputy.

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• Cool Old Guy: Thunder and Shadow showed him to be an honorable and reasonable cat with good leadership material.
• Incurable Cough of Death: In Thunder and Shadow he dies from Yellowcough.
• The Mentor: To Olivenose.
• Number Two: Rowanstar chose him as his deputy after Blackstar died.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: At first he keeps Twigpaw imprisoned in ShadowClan so Bramblestar can bargain with Onestar for the lungwort ShadowClan needed. When that didn't work, Crowfrost chose to let Twigpaw go back to ThunderClan as she was spending a lot of time near the sick cats and he didn't want her to get sick as well.

Tawnypelt

Tawnypelt

"Fox dung! I'm a loyal ShadowClan cat. If I'm ever made deputy or leader it will be because I have earned it myself - and my Clanmates and StarClan wish it. You're twisting the warrior code to get what you want, just like you did when you were alive."

Tigerstar's daughter, and Brambleclaw's sister. She ran away from ThunderClan because of the other cats' hatred for her father, joining him in ShadowClan. Even after his crimes are revealed, and the Clans are at peace once more, she chooses to stay in ShadowClan, feeling that she has more of a place there than in ThunderClan. She is one of the four chosen cats to journey to Midnight and find a new home for the Clans, showing that StarClan still has trust in her despite her father's actions.

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• The Apprentice: To Brackenfur when she was living in ThunderClan, but after moving to ShadowClan her mentor became Oakfur.
• Ascended Extra: She was a minor character in the original series, but in The New Prophecy she received a massive boost in screentime and had a very important role.
• Break the Cutie: She is the oldest daughter of Tigerstar, for one thing. She is so tormented living in ThunderClan that one day she just moves into her father's Clan. Shortly afterward, her father dies. Also, in series 3, she has to temporarily leave ShadowClan, with her young apprentice kittens, because of Sol's presence. Over the course of series 4 and 6, she loses two of her three kits and eventually her mate, though her only surviving kit becomes leader.
• Calling the Old Man Out: In the above quote.
• The Chosen One: The ShadowClan cat who is chosen to go to Sun-Drown-Place.
• A Day in the Limelight: She's one of the stars of one of the novellas that came out in 2019.
• Deadpan Snarker: During the journey to find Midnight, at least.
• Fire-Forged Friends: She becomes this with the party she was traveling with in The New Prophecy due to all they endured together.
• Freudian Trio: In The New Prophecy she, Feathertail and Leafpool were the Superego to Brambleclaw and Stormfur's Ego and Squirrelflight and Crowfeather's Id.
• From Zero to Hero: In the second arc, she was an ordinary young cat who (along with five other cats) went on a quest to learn what the Clans must do when humans destroy their home. They end up saving all the Clans during this (as well as the Tribe on the way), and Tawnypelt eventually ends up as ShadowClan deputy, though she ends up stepping down from the position.
• Gracefully Demoted: In Tawnypelt's Clan, she clashes several times with her son, the Clan leader Tigerstar. Upon returning to the Clan after taking her daughter-in-law and grandson away on a quest without Tigerstar's permission, she steps down from the deputy role, feeling that she's no longer the best cat for the job (because she's aging and thinks the Clan needs someone younger, someone who isn't the leader's mother).
• In the Blood: Averted. When she is offered power by her father, she rejects it, and encourages Brambleclaw to do the same.
• I Will Only Slow You Down: In Midnight she is willing to let the rest of the group abandon her after she gets injured by a rat and the wound gets infected, but they eventually manage to heal her.
• Like Father, Like Son: She becomes deputy for a very short time like her father and even brother were.
• Loser Son of Loser Dad: Runs away from ThunderClan precisely because of this reason.
• The Mentor: To Starlingwing, Grassheart, Needletail, Snaketooth and Conefoot.
• Morality Pet: To Tigerstar. Also to Blackstar and by extension her mate Rowanclaw too.
• Number Two: She was Rowanstar's deputy after Tigerheart left ShadowClan to find Dovewing. She was also deputy under her son for at least a moon before stepping down for some unknown reason. Her novella Tawnypelt's Clan gives an explanation to this. Because ShadowClan was changing it made sense to her for a younger warrior to be deputy.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Outlives her son Flametail and her daughter Dawnpelt.
• Sneaky Departure: The New Prophecy begins with Tawnypelt and a cat from each Clan getting an omen telling them that they need to go on a journey far away from the Clans. Since they can't let their Clanmates in on this, they have to sneak away from the Clans and meet up together for the journey.
• Token Good Teammate: To most of ShadowClan.
• Women Are Wiser: In Midnight, when Squirrelpaw gets stuck under a fence, the males of the group - Brambleclaw, Stormfur, and Crowpaw - start arguing aggressively about what to do. The she-cats Tawnypelt and Feathertail, meanwhile, actually come up with an idea to get Squirrelpaw out, and successfully free her. They even ask afterward if all toms do is fight.

Juniperclaw

Juniperclaw

"Cats are born knowing how to hunt and fight. Why do I need you telling me what I already know?"

Dawnpelt and Crowfrost's son.

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• The Apprentice: To Stonewing.
• Death Equals Redemption: Subverted in StarClan's eyes. In A Light in the Mist, it is revealed that despite sacrificing himself to save Shadowkit and Violetshine from drowning in a flood, Juniperclaw was denied a place in StarClan because in their eyes, his final act wasn't enough to make up for poisoning SkyClan's fresh-kill pile.
• Heroic Sacrifice: He drowns saving Shadowkit (a kit from his Clan) and Violetshine (a pregnant queen from SkyClan).
• Hypocrite: During Tigerheart's Shadow Juniperclaw says that ShadowClan cats have forgotten what loyalty means, even though he was one of the first to betray ShadowClan in Thunder and Shadow.
  • In The Raging Storm, he accuses Leafstar of making "demands" on ShadowClan, when it's actually the other way around.
• Like Father, Like Son: He becomes deputy for a short time like his father was at one point.
• The Mentor: To Whorlpelt.
• Number Two: He becomes deputy after Tawnypelt steps down, but is stripped of his title when ShadowClan discovers he put poison on SkyClan's fresh kill pile to get rid of them.
• Rebellious Spirit: He was one of the rebellious apprentices in Thunder and Shadow.
• Redemption Equals Death: In The Raging Storm, Juniperclaw saves Shadowkit and Violetshine from drowning in a flood and then chooses to let himself drown as atonement for his previous crimes.
• Reformed, but Rejected: Played with. Even after apologizing for his crimes, sacrificing himself to save innocent lives and then teaming up to bring down a great threat, Juniperclaw is rejected by StarClan, who insist that nothing will ever make up for his crime of poisoning SkyClan's fresh-kill pile.
• Strong Family Resemblance: He has a black pelt like his father Crowfrost.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: In The Raging Storm, he poisons SkyClan's prey because he thinks it will help ShadowClan by saving them from a war or losing their territory.

Cloverfoot

Cloverfoot

"We've been worried about going home. We joined the rogues. We fought the Clans. We weren't sure ShadowClan would have us back. That's why we stayed away."

The daughter of Snowbird and Scorchfur and the sister of Berryheart, Rippletail, Bluebellkit, Beenose, Yarrowleaf, Conefoot, Gullswoop and Frondwhisker.

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• The Atoner: It's noted that after she returns to ShadowClan in River of Fire, Cloverfoot works incredibly hard to rebuild ShadowClan's strength. Tigerstar rewards her for this by making her his deputy after Juniperclaw.
• Massive Numbered Siblings: She has 8 siblings.
• My Greatest Failure: Regrets siding with Darktail and the Kin, believing that she's let ShadowClan down and isn't sure if they'll welcome her back.
• Number Two: She becomes deputy after Juniperclaw is stripped of the position.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: She's a level-headed deputy who is very clearly trusted by Tigerstar and respected by her Clanmates.

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