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  • Approval of God: The authors enjoy the animations that fans have made — most notably, they've linked to SSS Warrior Cats and AlliKatNya's "Gravity of Love" AMV. The version of the official series website that went live in 2019 also began incorporating fanart.
  • Ascended Fanon:
    • Before the release of Crookedstar's Promise, a fan suggested a Yellowfang Super Edition, and Vicky replied she was thinking of ideas for the 2012 Super Edition at the moment. Yellowfang's Secret ended up being the 2012 SE.
    • Pretty much the only other idea suggested by a fan that they've actually used in the books is Thistleclaw being Snowfur's mate; it was suggested in a Wands and Worlds chat right before they were writing Bluestar's Prophecy, and Vicky really liked the idea.
    • Though it hadn't been said at all in the books, the fandom generally suspected that Deadfoot was Crowfeather's father, due to their similar coloration and the fact that Deadfoot was the one who suggested Crowfeather for the prophecy. Vicky later confirmed it as canonical, and then it was written into Crowfeather's Trial.
  • Ascended Fan Nickname: When the fifth series was announced, it had no working title yet. Fans began calling it "Dawn of the Clans" because of the way it was initially described ("We'll be going back in time to the dawn of the forest Clans..."). Dawn of the Clans became the official series name.
  • Cash-Cow Franchise: The HarperCollins catalog entries for the books, starting with Yellowfang's Secret, usually describe the author as mega-bestselling.
  • Christmas Rushed: Graystripe's Adventure was originally meant to be a single volume manga called The Lost Warrior. Then somebody had the idea to release it on the same day as The Sight. The artist was only a third of the way done, so it ended up being split into three volumes, and further manga in the series have followed suit.
  • Content Leak: As HarperCollins doesn't set strict embargo dates on the books, some stores sell them before the release date, and spoiler threads prior to release are a regular thing. According to one of the official forum's mods, it was legal and they'd allow such posts; it was just that if HarperCollins figured out which stores did it regularly, they might delay shipments to that store until after the release date.
  • Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: A 2012 School Library Journal article about the graphic novels includes a picture of what they call the "first and second volumes of the SkyClan and the Stranger trilogy". They do have the second volume of that particular trilogy, but what do they have as the "first" one? Warrior's Refuge, the second volume in the Graystripe's Adventure trilogy, which came out four years and nine volumes earlier. You'd think that the "2" on the front of each would have tipped them off that it wasn't the first volume...
  • Development Hell:
    • The online game. Announced in February 2010, they picked beta testers in March 2010, saying that the game would be out at the end of 2010. Most of the beta testers never got another message after the one saying they were picked to be one, nor did the gamemakers made any posts on the official forum to keep fans updated on the game's progress like they promised to. They never made any official statement on whether it was cancelled, though the amount of time that passed made it clear that that project was no longer active, which was confirmed when FalconDevelops made videos about the lost game over a decade later and tried to contact people who had worked on it.
    • The original movie deal with Alibaba Pictures got stuck in development hell before being confirmed as canceled 8 years after its announcement; Vicky mentioned it had gotten as far as a script and choosing a production team.
  • Diagnosis of God: Moth Flight is often easily distracted even though she tries hard to focus on things. A fan pointed out that her behaviors were very similar to someone with ADHD, and author Kate replied that she hadn't thought of it before, but that Moth Flight "definitely has ADD."
  • Executive Meddling:
    • As mentioned above, the insistence on releasing the Graystripe manga on the same day as The Sight resulted in the story - and the next few graphic novel stories following it (aside from the shorter-than-usual Rise of Scourge) - getting split into three parts.
    • The final book in the third series had its name changed from Cruel Season to Sunrise because HarperCollins felt the original title was too sad and not appropriate for the younger readers. Not only does this cause a lot of confusion with the final book of the second series (Sunset), but changing the title still doesn't change the fact that the book is sad. Not to mention how earlier books have dark names like A Dangerous Path, The Darkest Hour, and Long Shadows. To make things even more mindboggling, the authors were allowed to use the phrase "cruel season" in the blurb of the very next book.
    • The entire Warriors series itself was originally going to be just one book, Into the Wild. It became a trilogy, which later turned into a six-book series. Then The New Prophecy was supposed to consist of the first three books, until the publisher decided that the series was far too profitable and made Hunter write three more in that series as well as a third series following it (followed by, let's see, several additional arcs, a handful of super editions, five guidebooks, thirteen mangas, and at least a dozen novellas, not to mention the different rereleased editions...)
      • In general, it's HarperCollins that tells the Erins to write new books/series of Warriors, rather than them deciding to write one because they had an idea for a book or anything.
  • Fandom Life Cycle: Stage 4. It's a large, active fandom but it hasn't reached mainstream accessibility outside of a few Shout Outs.
  • Fandom Nod:
    • Vicky admitted to naming several characters from Code of the Clans after users of Warrior's Wish (the most famous forum) and Wands and Worlds (a site that held webchats with the authors). Among them is Blizzardstar of ShadowClan, named after Blizzardclaw ("Blizz"), the founder of Warrior's Wish (whose favorite Clan was ShadowClan).
    • Several nods were given to errors in the books that became well-known in the fandom:
      • There was a ThunderClan elder in Into the Wild that didn't appear in the Allegiances (Rosetail, who was killed by Blackfoot and mentioned by name afterward); she was specifically referenced in Secrets of the Clans when Goldenflower used her as an example of elders still being able to defend the Clan.
      • After fans noted how Rowanclaw changed from female to male, the authors made him Tawnypelt's mate. He was later made deputy of ShadowClan as a "reward" for his changing gender.
      • In the original series, apprentices had to travel to Highstones before they could become a warrior. Fans noticed that this never happened with the Moonpool later on, and in a later book, Leafpool mentioned, "We seem to have left that tradition behind when we moved to the lake...."
  • Franchise Zombie: The series was originally only going to be one book, Into the Wild, but was turned into a six-book series when they determined it'd be too long. These books did so well that the publisher requested a sequel trilogy, which was later expanded into a full six-book arc with intentional loose ends since they already knew they were going to be doing a third arc at that point. Then they were going to end it after the fourth arc, which wrapped everything up fairly neatly, but fan demand resulted in the publisher having them continue - not only a Super Edition epilogue to that arc, not only a prequel arc, but actually continuing the main series afterward, even after the main editor who'd been writing the storylines retired from the series (she'd first stepped back due to health, and then because she'd "written all the Warriors stories she had in her"). As of 2023 there were over 100 works in the series, between main books, Super Editions, Field Guides, graphic novels, novellas, and short stories.
  • God Never Said That:
    • Often people in the fandom claimed that author Victoria Holmes said that Brambleclaw would not succeed Firestar as ThunderClan leader. In reality, she said that the leader after Firestar "might be unexpected", and she noted later that her editor made her change who the leader would be.
    • She is also cited as saying that Ivypool and Bumblestripe would hook up, when she actually told a fan that they could support whatever shipping they wanted to.
  • Line to God: Vicky has a Facebook account, Kate has a blog, Facebook, and Twitter, and Tui uses Facebook.
  • Memorial Character: Brightspirit, Braveheart, and Shiningheart were created in honor of ten-year-old Warriors fan Emmy Cherry and her parents, Jimmy and Dana, who lost their lives in a tornado in 2008. They were frequent customers of the local bookstore and had become friends with the owners, who decided to try to get an autographed copy of the Warriors books to donate to Emmy's school (not realizing that Erin Hunter was a pseudonym). The publicist that they had contacted relayed the story to the three Erins, and Vicky shared the story with the site Wands and Worlds, which had held live chats with the Erin Hunter authors in the past. The site's members decided to honor the young girl and her parents by giving them warrior names. Vicky wrote the family into the next book, Long Shadows, in which they are Starclan cats who help the living characters with a sickness.
  • Post-Script Season:
    • The Darkest Hour, the sixth book and Grand Finale of the Original Series was originally going to be the last Warriors book. However, the series sold well enough that Harper Collins asked the authors for a new trilogy. The trilogy was later expanded into another full six books, rendering the planned second Grand Finale of the series, Dawn, the middle of the second arc instead. While the authors were writing The New Prophecy, they were contracted for a third arc (which later became two arcs), and so included a myriad of sequel hooks.
    • At the end of the fourth series, Vicky actually intended to end things with The Last Hope, a definitive Grand Finale, but Harper Collins requested a fifth series. Vicky decided to make said fifth series a prequel, Dawn of the Clans, feeling the ending of The Last Hope was conclusive enough. However, due to massive fan demand, Vicky decided to write one last Super Edition taking place after The Last Hope, telling the story of the new leader: Bramblestar's Storm. And then, of course, after Dawn of the Clans, later series continued onward in the main storyline.
  • Publisher-Chosen Title: Sunrise. Vicky wanted it to be called Cruel Season.
  • Quietly Cancelled:
    • The authors spoke of an upcoming book called Allegiances of the Clans. Fans asked about it later after hearing nothing about it, and the authors said that they thought that perhaps HarperCollins had decided that there wasn't enough info to fill a book.
    • An official online multiplayer game for the books was announced with much fanfare and given a 2010 release date. It allegedly got as far as early beta testing, but never came out, without any word as to what happened.
    • The first movie deal, with Alibaba Pictures, was made in 2016, and though according to Vicky there was a script created and production team chosen, it was ultimately canceled without any public word. While fans suspected this due to the lack of updates after 2018, it wasn't until a new film/tv deal was made with a different company in 2024 that everyone knew for sure.
  • Reality Subtext:
    • Vicky got the idea for the prologue of Twilight - Cinderpelt being told about her upcoming death - from her own life, when she had to come to terms with some bad medical news.
    • Briarlight was originally not going to survive for too long after the falling tree paralyzed her. However, a few months after that was written, Vicky's cousin Dan was paralyzed in a diving accident. The character became a lot more personal to Vicky, and so she decided that the young cat's journey would echo Dan's. (Note that this does not apply as of the 6th series, as Vicky retired from writing/editing the series.)
    • The story behind the StarClan cats Brightspirit and her parents, Shiningheart and Braveheart, who appeared in Long Shadows: In 2008, ten-year-old Warriors fan Emmy Cherry, and her parents Jimmy and Dana, were killed in a tornado. The owners of a local bookstore that the Cherrys frequented tried to get an autographed copy of the Warriors books to donate to Emmy's school, unaware that "Erin Hunter" is a pseudonym. The news reached the site Wands and Worlds, which had held live chats with the Erin Hunter authors in the past. The fandom honored the young girl and her parents by giving them warrior names. Vicky, touched, decided to write them into the next book, Long Shadows. The Erins did sign a book - the first time that all (at the time) three signed one - and donated the entire series to Emmy's school library.
      • Emmy's grandmothers set up a charity fund, the Brightspirit Relief Fund, to support things that Emmy would have wanted it to: animal organizations, literacy organizations, and storm relief. To raise money for the fund, an online auction was held (many authors, such as Rick Riordan, donated signed copies of books, and there was a lot of rare Warriors merchandise such the original manga illustrations sold there). In September 2008, when Eclipse was released, Vicky ended her tour by stopping in Emmy's hometown, which held a day-long Warriors convention called Warriors Day, the proceeds of which also went to the relief fund. For the event, Vicky also wrote a short play featuring the characters, which was performed by the high school drama students. The play's script can be found here.
  • Sequel First: The Lost Warrior manga trilogy, which involves events that don't happen until part way through the second series of books was published in Germany before they finished translating all the books in the first series.
  • Similarly Named Works: Several.
  • Spoiled by the Cast List: Occasionally the Allegiances reveals warrior names, births, and retirements long before they happen in the actual book, or the existence of a character in the list spoils a plot point: for instance, SkyClan being listed in Ravenpaw's Farewell spoiled that Ravenpaw was going to learn about and travel to the long-lost Clan.
  • Staff-Created Fan Work:
    • Kate Cary published an unofficial story called The Longest Night, which is about the cats celebrating an equivalent to Christmas/Winter Solstice. She got in trouble with the editors for it.
    • While working on the Warrior Cats Tigerstar and Sasha manga, illustrator Don Hudson posted a couple sketches he did for fun: a Halloween one of what appears to be the villain Tigerstar as a cat-headed man, and one layout where the final panel was replaced with Sasha walking to Mordor.
  • Teasing Creator: Vicky Holmes, soooooo much.
    Vicky (after a fan asked what Yellowfang's Secret would be about): Yellowfang will be in it. She will have a secret. Bad things will happen.
  • Tribute to Fido: A couple:
    • Brambleclaw and Sorreltail are based on Cherith Baldry's cats, Bramble and Sorrel.
    • Sol is based on someone's cat named Aslan.
    • Millie's appearance is based on a cat owned by one of Vicky's coworkers (she promised to put his cat in the books). The name Millie comes from the fact that he is a fan of the Millwall football (soccer) team.
    • Frankie/Stormcloud and Benny were named after the two cats of someone Vicky met on a flight to Boston.
    • The kittypets Riga and Ziggy in Bramblestar's Storm are named after kittens owned by Vicky's sister.
  • Unfinished Episode:
    • When first describing some of the stories that would be in Secrets of the Clans, one they mentioned was going to be about "how Fernpaw and Ashpaw really felt about leading the dogs to the gorge". Fans were pretty surprised when it didn't appear in the final version.
    • There was going to be a field guide (after Battles) called Allegiances of the Clans, about the political, friendly, and romantic relationships in the series, but it got cancelled by HarperCollins for unknown reasons (the authors guessed that maybe HC decided that there wasn't enough info to fill a full book).
  • What Could Have Been:
    • In early drafts of Into The Wild, Bluestar's name was "Moonstar". Later on when they were to mention her warrior name in Forest of Secrets, it was originally going to be Bluestone, but they thought it sounded too much like "Moonstone".
    • Tigerclaw's name in Into the Wild was Hammerclaw, until very late drafts, when someone pointed out that cats don't know what hammers are.
    • Crookedstar's Promise was originally going to be a very different book. Vicky teased that it would involve the reason Crookedstar allowed all the forbidden love between RiverClan and ThunderClan, and asked fans if they thought it could involve a sinister prophecy. Later, the first blurb on HarperCollins's catalog stated that Crookedstar would "receive a prophecy that he would be utterly betrayed by everyone close to him". Kate also mentioned on her blog that Redtail would be playing some sort of role in the book, since he didn't get a lot of screen time in Bluestar's Prophecy for a cat that would become Bluestar's first deputy. None of these things appear in the final version.
  • Working Title:
    • When the second series was set to be just a trilogy, the working title for the trilogy was "Warriors: The Next Generation".
    • "The Curse" for Dark River, as seen in advanced review copies of The Sight
    • "Cruel Season" for Sunrise (changed because apparently it was too depressing for the end of a series)
    • "The Fourth Apprentice" was the working title for the whole fourth series, with "Ambush" as the first book
    • "Strangers in the Snow" for Shattered Peace, according to illustrator James Barry
    • "Betrayal" or "Dark Betrayal" (Vicky and the US editor Erica were "fighting most sweetly" about it, according to Kate) for Night Whispers
    • "Crookedstar's Secret" for Crookedstar's Promise, as HarperCollins' catalog originally listed it as such.
    • The sixth arc, A Vision of Shadows, was originally titled StarClan's Promise.
    • Goosefeather's Curse had the working titles "Goosefeather's Past" (per a listing on a HarperCollins website) and "Goosefeather's Madness" (according to Vicky before its release).
    • Thunder and Shadow had the working title of The Lost Clan.
    • Squirrelflight's Hope was originally going to be called Squirrelflight's Kin.
    • Leopardstar's Honor was first mentioned by Kate as Leopardstar's Salvation.
  • Writer Conflicts with Canon: One of the Erins has said that Graystripe's parents are Willowpelt and Patchpelt. The problem is that, in canon, those two are (full-blooded) siblings, just born in different litters. When this was pointed out she decided to leave it because it's never stated directly in the books and it can happen with cats.
  • Writing by the Seat of Your Pants: The arcs are never fully planned out in advance, and as a result major things can change; this is why Hollyleaf ended up not being one of the Three, because they still couldn't think of a power for her halfway through the Power of Three arc. The story team even pointed out in an article on the official site that they need to write prophecies vague enough that there's room for different interpretation in case something changes in the story.
  • Word of God miscellaneous information:
    • Cats of the Clans was written entirely in one day by Vicky. The book is dedicated to her niece, who was born that day.
    • Illustrator Don Hudson had some interesting revisions he had to make, which he talked about on his blog. First of all, there was the dead rabbit that he had to turn around because even a bloodless, clean dead bunny looked too creepy, as described under Bloodless Carnage on the main page. There was also a moment in the third volume where the kits find an abandoned Twoleg nest to shelter in, and there happens to be a car in the yard. The editors left a note on the page saying "If these marks on car are indicating rust, all good; if bullet holes, please remove." Don asked readers if they thought it was rust or bullet holes, and one commented that they look like bullet holes, judging by the fact that cars tend to rust from the bottom up. Don agreed, and removed the marks.
    • The reason for Millie's Adaptation Dye-Job in the manga, as told by James Barry:
    When I first got the character outlines, Millie was just described as a tabby. Due to the tight schedule, I had to illustrate the first book's cover before I had even received the script. There are 2 color versions of The Lost Warrior cover- one in daylight and one that is later at night. The editors decided to go with the darker cover so it's hard to see what color Millie is. However it was already established in my mind that she was a rosy brown tabby. I didn't find out that she was described as silver until 8 months later when she first appeared in the novels. At that point, I had already drawn and colored the cover of Warriors Refuge where she is obviously a a brown tabby. I asked my editor at Tokyopop if I should change her color but we decided that it would look dull to have two gray cats side by side. So, maybe Millie is a rose tinted silver tabby? Besides, it is a comic and hair/fur is often outrageously colored in manga.
    • When writing The Last Hope, Kate Cary realized at the last minute that she'd forgotten to put Lilykit and Seedkit into the book. She had to quickly add them into the book two days before it was sent to print.
    • In The Last Hope, Firestar's death seems random and unclear. Kate explained it on her blog:
    It wasn’t the tree that killed Firestar. He died of his wounds. Dovewing only imagined she saw him get up and walk away. The lightening [sic] and the flaming branch just brought her back to reality.
    • Parentage of some cats which wasn't revealed in the books:
      • Firestar's parents are Jake (from Bluestar's Prophecy and Tallstar's Revenge, confirmed in-print in the latter) and Nutmeg (a never-seen kittypet mentioned in the official app).
      • Sandstorm's parents are Redtail and Brindleface.
      • Dustpelt and Ravenpaw's parents are Fuzzypelt and Robinwing.
      • Graystripe's parents are Willowpelt and Patchpelt. (She didn't realize that they were brother and sister - she'd made these lineages based on the official site's family trees [which were not by an Erin] to keep things consistent, but had forgotten that they were both kits of Swiftbreeze and Adderfang. Once it was pointed out she decided to keep it since that can happen with cats.)
      • Longtail's parents are Robinwing and Patchpelt.
      • Darkstripe's parents are Willowpelt and Tawnyspots.
    • Cats whose appearance isn't described in the books but the authors have said:
      • The kits at the end of Crookedstar's Promise: Vixenkit is black and Grasskit is a brown striped tabby.
      • Rowanberry from Yellowfang's Secret is cream and brown with amber eyes.
      • Mistystar's kits, who appeared in Mistystar's Omen: Primrosepaw is very pale creamy-brown with white paws, and Pikepaw is dark gray with mottled dark markings like a fish.
    • Leopardstar lost her last lives because of feline diabetes.
    • Vicky once said that SkyClan left the forest about twenty years before Into the Wild began, and the Clans formed about twenty years before that. However, that was earlier in the series, before they delved too deeply into the Clans' past. She has also stated that Dawn of the Clans takes place 50 years ago.
    • The kits of Mapleshade's mate Appledusk, and his RiverClan mate Reedshine, are named Shyheart, Willownose, and Applefrost.

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