For such a long-running series, it's inevitable that there'd be some contentious characters, but these ones take the cake.
The Original Series
- Firestar, our original protagonist, is viewed either as a courageous hero who challenges expectations and goes beyond what anyone ever thought possible of him, or a boring, generic protagonist who stagnates as a flawless Big Good instead of having to grow and improve the same way that protagonists after him would.
- Graystripe, Firestar's best friend, very quickly lost sympathy once his romance with Silverstream started. Was he an example of Star-Crossed Lovers who lost his first love before her time and moved to RiverClan to try and keep the peace while raising his children properly, or an idiot who put his clan and his best friend at risk to get with a girl he barely knew, and who abandoned his home only to be disloyal to his new clan?
- Bluestar. While she was the wise and noble leader of ThunderClan for the first three books, her refusal to accept criticism against her deputy and her blind spots in regards to what went on in her clan rubbed some people the wrong way. Then, after her mental breakdown between the third and fourth books, she quickly polarized the fandom, with some people viewing her as a callous brat refusing to care for her clan properly and letting them rot while she wallowed in paranoia, and others seeing her as a broken woman who has lost everyone she thought she could trust in a very short period of time and whose eventual Heroic Sacrifice redeems her and allows her to reconcile with her kits at the very end.
The New Prophecy
- The two main protagonists of the Arc are hit with this, and hit with this hard. While fans initially tended to love them both, as time went on and they went through Official Couple Ordeal Syndrome several times over, breaking up twice and going through a break once, the fandom quickly became polarized.
- Brambleclaw, later Bramblestar. Some fans like him, seeing him as an interesting, enjoyable, complex, and noble cat who suffers from understandable and sympathetic insecurities, but genuinely wants to do the right thing and tries his best to do so, and is a good leader who puts his Clan first while also trying to be a good mate to Squirrelflight, even if their multiple issues cause them plenty of heartaches. Others hate his guts, seeing him as a generic, boring, and overhyped character who doesn't get to show his skill as much as it is told, and a useless clone of Firestar who causes more problems than he solves. Other fans, tired of the Masochism Tango that he and Squirrelflight constantly go through, often portray him as either a Henpecked Husband whose love for his mate is misplaced due to her stubbornness, rudeness and refusal to compromise, or a selfish prick who would rather abuse his power over Squirrelflight than try to work things out with her.
- Squirrelflight. Her fans appreciate her brash and reckless nature that eventually mellows out into a level-headed but still somewhat rebellious spirit who, like her father, will bend and break rules to do the right thing, her resilience in the face of any hardship (her various conflicts with Brambleclaw/star, being manipulated and coerced into raising her sister's kits, everything about Ashfur, losing her father and adoptive daughter in the same day, and two of her biological children shortly after birth) and her position as a capable deputy and Reasonable Authority Figure. Her detractors, meanwhile, often point out that Squirrelflight's inability to communicate and willingness to go behind people's backs and lie to them has repeatedly led to damaging her personal relationships and hurting the people she loves most, that her rashness and hypocrisy has led to more than one unnecessary conflict, and that compared to other characters similar to her she gets off with a lighter sentence.
- Hawkfrost. Some see him as an enjoyable, compelling, and interesting villain because of his ferocity as a fighter, his cold, calculating efficiency as a Manipulative Bastard, and his status as an Evil Counterpart to Brambleclaw. Others see him as a dull and predictable Tigerstar rip-off, since his motivation for turning evil is ultimately just that he's power-hungry like his father, and because he is stated to look dangerous right from the start, making his turn to evil seem rather predictable.
- Daisy. Either she's a hysterical idiot who prefers to spend her time raising kittens instead of hunting or fighting for her clan, or she's a woman doing her best for her children who eventually grows to become the denmother to all the kittens in ThunderClan. This has died down somewhat as A Vision Of Shadows and Daisy's Kin showed her at her best, comforting expectant mothers and keeping the nursery in working order.
The Power Of Three
- Ever since Long Shadows came out, Ashfur has become one of the most divisive characters in all of fiction, even serving as the trope's page image. He's either a sympathetic cat who let his emotions get to him during a particularly tense moment, or a creepy incel who deserves neither sympathy nor the fanbase he accrued. Things only worsened when it was revealed that he went to StarClan, causing the debate to intensify. Ashfur became a fair bit less divisive come the Broken Code arc, which played fully into his villainous Yandere interpretation, with his entry into StarClan serving as an enabler for his villainy. Still, some find Ashfur's return to be blatant Pandering to his nostalgic fans.
- Yellowfang. She was a well-liked, sympathetic character early on in the series, and some still like her to this day, but her frequent harassment of Jayfeather and later Dovewing to take up their responsibilities as the Three when they're still young, has left a bad taste in many readers' mouths. The revelation that she lied to Squirrelflight about her being barren in order to get her to take in Leafpool's kits has led many to straight-up despise her.
- Cinderheart. Either she's a well-written character who's just as likable as her pre-incarnation, Cinderpelt, or a bitchy character whose very existence as a reincarnation of Cinderpelt completely warps canon. There's little to no middle ground on this.
- Nightcloud and Crowfeather. Generally, you love one and hate the other. There was a point in time on the official forums where every single topic featuring them resulted in a flame war.
Omen Of The Stars
- Dovewing. While many fans hate her for the frequent Wangst and indecisiveness that appears in her chapters, especially early on in Omen Of The Stars, another subset of the fandom empathizes with her struggle to balance her relationship with her sister and her clan against the responsibilities foisted upon her by StarClan. This has mellowed out as Dovewing settled into adulthood and became a mother, but you'll occasionally find some fans who loathe or love her with a passion.
- Depending on who you ask, Bumblestripe is either a genuinely nice guy whose unrequited love for Dovewing is a tragic element of his character, or an entitled Nice Guy™ who can't accept that Dovewing just isn't into him and harasses her into accepting a relationship with him. It only got worse after the bonus scene in Shattered Sky showed him trying to pressure Dovewing into resuming their relationship and having children with him, shortly after her friend's funeral.
- Millie. Abusive, terrible Silverstream replacement, or compassionate heroine?
A Vision Of Shadows
- Needletail. Some see her as a feisty, brave, and well-developed apprentice-turned-rebel because of her willingness to challenge the rigid rules of the warrior code and her sacrifice to save Violetpaw. Others see her as an arrogant, annoying, angry and manipulative cat because of how rude she can be, how overly confident she is in herself, how she often took advantage of her friendship with Violetpaw and how she never accepts the blame for taking part in ShadowClan's ruin.
- Onestar was always a contentious character for his slide from Nice Guy to Jerkass, but the reveal of his secret half-Clan Bastard Bastard and subsequent Mutual Kill with his son did split some fans, with half viewing it as a cheap reveal that undermined the existing motivations of the characters, and the other half absolutely thrilled to see the final battle between Onestar and Darktail, and who think that the reveal actually strengthens a previously weak character.
A Starless Clan
- Flamepaw/Nightheart. Many fans love him and relate to him having a estranged, neglectful family and grappling with his heritage to Firestar. Others find his personality and character arc cliche at best, unbearable at worst, and usually consider the whole thing very misogynistic in practice because of how his presence affects the female characters around him. A third faction decided that while Nightheart is a bad person, it makes him more appealing to them.
Other
- Mapleshade. One side sees her as an incredibly enjoyable villain with a cool, but tragic past. The other side sees her as a failed attempt at a creepy villain, who keeps getting shoehorned into the books. Then there's a third side that tries to whitewash her completely.
- The Sisters. Either they're an interesting look into a non-Clan society that has actual flaws and problems they need to work on while still maintaining their unique culture and traditions, or they're a cheap plot device that weakens the already bloated lore of Warriors by adding game-breaking abilities that fail to do anything interesting with all their potential.
