A look into some of ShadowClan's leaders
Mar 12, 2019 21:23:17 GMT -5
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Post by 𝓣𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓿𝓲𝓮𝓵 on Mar 12, 2019 21:23:17 GMT -5
ShadowClan has always been a very antagonistic Clan, even towards their own at times. And for anyone who's known me long enough, you'd know that they're my least favorite of the five Clans. And yet, I also find myself asking why they're like this at all, so I decided to look into some of the leaders. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?
TLDR: ShadowClan has been a prideful, stubborn, and battle-hungry Clan for much of the series. Strength is apparently valued more than anything else and this might've started with Ripplestar, but depending on how things go in SL, whatever events led to Shadowstar gaining such a poor reputation may have led ShadowClan to become the problematic Clan that they've been for generations now, so a toxic environment is also an issue here. Hopefully Cloverfoot can break this for good should she become leader.
SHADOWSTAR:The first leader of ShadowClan, Shadowstar, formally Tall Shadow, was portrayed in DotC as being a level-headed, friendly cat, albeit with a bit of a stubborn side and initially defensive over her role as leader. So then how is she remembered?
Not very flattering, is it?
"But Moth," I hear you saying. "Secrets of the Clans is no longer canon!"
This is true. Alot of information in SotC is outdated, particularly when it comes to the warrior code since it's been debunked by Code of the Clans. The same goes for the early leaders, given DotC. Another example of this would be withme Moth Flight: in SotC, she's exiled by Windstar after nearly getting both herself and Gorsefur killed. But in MFV, she left on her own accord. This is clearly an inconsistency!
Not necessarily. While yes, it is indeed an inconsistency, I don't think it's meant to be one in the same vein that, say, Dovewing's eye color is an inconsistency. Because there may actually be an in-universe explanation for this. Riddle me this: what do we have that the cats don't when it comes to passing down stories? Written records. And as history has taught us, passing down things orally isn't always ideal. There's even evidence to support this theory, as the beginning of SotC even says:
It's not that unbelievable to say that Shadowstar may have simply been the victim of bad propaganda after her death, or perhaps she pulled a Bluestar and was in bad mental health towards the end of her life, but whatever actions she made during this time were exaggerated. But since SL hasn't come out yet at the time of me posting this, we can't know for sure.
From there, ShadowClan seems to have had some pretty average leaders. Nothing too out of the ordinary. But then we get to Ripplestar.
RIPPLESTAR: Ripplestar only appeared in one story in CotC, but still managed to make a big impact, as he's been the only known leader in Clan history to attack the other four Clans at a Gathering for apparently no reason other than just to prove he could. He dies instantly after being struck by lightning, and his actions led to the creation of there officially being a full moon truce.
YELLOWSTAR: While we don't know much about them, I still think it's telling that out of all the Clan leaders, Yellowstar in particular was the one who was mentioned to be troubled by Darkstar's law. And yet, they didn't protest, either.
DAWNSTAR: Next is Dawnstar. Like with most of the previous leaders, not much is known about her except that she was one of the leaders when SkyClan had left the forest, refusing to share territory despite her land being the biggest.
CEDARSTAR: Cedarstar appeared to be a mostly average leader at best. However, he appointed Raggedpelt to be his deputy despite his young age and prone to anger easily, so he seemed to be a cat who didn't exactly think this through. During his reign, ShadowClan had also attacked WindClan in their own territory twice, resulting in the deaths of Brackenwing and later her son Shrewclaw. Like Ripplestar before him, this seemed to apparently be for no reason as well.
RAGGEDSTAR: Battle-hungry Raggedstar seemed to have abandonment issues that stemmed from having grown up without a father. This would later result in him spoiling his son to the point of being blind to his faults. He was also not above threatening and manipulation, even when it came to his former mate Yellowfang and appointed an unfit deputy just to make her jealous, showing his pettiness.
BROKENSTAR: Grew up spoiled by his father, abused by his foster mother, was battle-hungry for most of his life to the point of killing his own father to become leader and apprenticing kits early.
NIGHTSTAR: Never received his lives because Brokenstar was still alive and died after only a few moons into his reign.
TIGERSTAR: Became leader after rebuilding ShadowClan, but abused his power, such as making an alliance with RiverClan and BloodClan and planning to kill all half-Clan cats.
BLACKSTAR: Though he was one of Brokenstar and later Tigerstar's followers, Blackstar seemed like a fair leader to his Clan for the most part. And yet, there were times where it just seemed like his heart wasn't into being leader, like planning to disband ShadowClan after the forest was being destroyed in TNP and then actually succeeding in doing so after stepping down and pretty much handing over his leadership to Sol, who took advantage of him slowly losing faith in StarClan.
ROWANSTAR: Rowanstar became leader after the flood killed Blackstar; his daughter Dawnpelt was also pregnant during this time, his Clan was having some trouble with food to the point where it was mentioned that Rowanstar himself might've been giving his food to the rest of his Clanmates, and he was having trouble with kittypets and badgers until ThunderClan came to help. At some point, many ShadowClan cats begin to lose respect for him, including those who he'd known his entire life, like Oakfur. I feel like it's also worth mentioning that even though he's a peaceful leader, there is at least one instance of apprentices fighting each other over food with unsheathed claws, though this may say just as much about the mentors under their care than it does about Rowanstar himself.
Later into his leadership, he and Bramblestar separate Twigkit and Violetkit. Eventually, Darktail takes over and Rowanstar later gets his Clan back after the evil cat dies, but is still disrespected by his Clanmates to the point where many want Tigerheart to lead them instead. After the latter leaves, he disbands ShadowClan to merge with SkyClan and later dies saving Tawnypelt as well as Yarrowleaf's kits.
TIGERSTAR II:ShadowClan's latest leader, Tigerstar has unfortunately lived up to his namesake in a way, such as trying to drive out SkyClan and threatening a ThunderClan medicine cat after his own falls ill. He also initially refuses to believe Juniperclaw's crime until Dovewing convinces him to at least get his deputy to explain himself.
Black she-cat with green eyes and
thick fur.
A strategist, ferociously independent
(even untrusting of Clanmates), bold in battle.
Founder of ShadowClan—worked with Thunder, Wind, and River to develop warrior code (she spent the rest of her
life complaining about it).
First of founding leaders to die—losing ninth life in battle she started with other Clans.
thick fur.
A strategist, ferociously independent
(even untrusting of Clanmates), bold in battle.
Founder of ShadowClan—worked with Thunder, Wind, and River to develop warrior code (she spent the rest of her
life complaining about it).
First of founding leaders to die—losing ninth life in battle she started with other Clans.
Not very flattering, is it?
"But Moth," I hear you saying. "Secrets of the Clans is no longer canon!"
This is true. Alot of information in SotC is outdated, particularly when it comes to the warrior code since it's been debunked by Code of the Clans. The same goes for the early leaders, given DotC. Another example of this would be with
Not necessarily. While yes, it is indeed an inconsistency, I don't think it's meant to be one in the same vein that, say, Dovewing's eye color is an inconsistency. Because there may actually be an in-universe explanation for this. Riddle me this: what do we have that the cats don't when it comes to passing down stories? Written records. And as history has taught us, passing down things orally isn't always ideal. There's even evidence to support this theory, as the beginning of SotC even says:
The story of the beginning of the warrior Clans has been passed down by cats of all Clans, from elder to warrior, from warrior to apprentice, from queen to kit. The story is never the same twice, and parts grow uncertain,or they become suddenly clear in the telling. There are some cats who walk dimly, their names and deeds lost in the sweet fog of the elders’ den, for the warrior Clans have roamed the forest for moons beyond counting. . . .
It's not that unbelievable to say that Shadowstar may have simply been the victim of bad propaganda after her death, or perhaps she pulled a Bluestar and was in bad mental health towards the end of her life, but whatever actions she made during this time were exaggerated. But since SL hasn't come out yet at the time of me posting this, we can't know for sure.
From there, ShadowClan seems to have had some pretty average leaders. Nothing too out of the ordinary. But then we get to Ripplestar.
RIPPLESTAR: Ripplestar only appeared in one story in CotC, but still managed to make a big impact, as he's been the only known leader in Clan history to attack the other four Clans at a Gathering for apparently no reason other than just to prove he could. He dies instantly after being struck by lightning, and his actions led to the creation of there officially being a full moon truce.
YELLOWSTAR: While we don't know much about them, I still think it's telling that out of all the Clan leaders, Yellowstar in particular was the one who was mentioned to be troubled by Darkstar's law. And yet, they didn't protest, either.
DAWNSTAR: Next is Dawnstar. Like with most of the previous leaders, not much is known about her except that she was one of the leaders when SkyClan had left the forest, refusing to share territory despite her land being the biggest.
CEDARSTAR: Cedarstar appeared to be a mostly average leader at best. However, he appointed Raggedpelt to be his deputy despite his young age and prone to anger easily, so he seemed to be a cat who didn't exactly think this through. During his reign, ShadowClan had also attacked WindClan in their own territory twice, resulting in the deaths of Brackenwing and later her son Shrewclaw. Like Ripplestar before him, this seemed to apparently be for no reason as well.
RAGGEDSTAR: Battle-hungry Raggedstar seemed to have abandonment issues that stemmed from having grown up without a father. This would later result in him spoiling his son to the point of being blind to his faults. He was also not above threatening and manipulation, even when it came to his former mate Yellowfang and appointed an unfit deputy just to make her jealous, showing his pettiness.
BROKENSTAR: Grew up spoiled by his father, abused by his foster mother, was battle-hungry for most of his life to the point of killing his own father to become leader and apprenticing kits early.
NIGHTSTAR: Never received his lives because Brokenstar was still alive and died after only a few moons into his reign.
TIGERSTAR: Became leader after rebuilding ShadowClan, but abused his power, such as making an alliance with RiverClan and BloodClan and planning to kill all half-Clan cats.
BLACKSTAR: Though he was one of Brokenstar and later Tigerstar's followers, Blackstar seemed like a fair leader to his Clan for the most part. And yet, there were times where it just seemed like his heart wasn't into being leader, like planning to disband ShadowClan after the forest was being destroyed in TNP and then actually succeeding in doing so after stepping down and pretty much handing over his leadership to Sol, who took advantage of him slowly losing faith in StarClan.
ROWANSTAR: Rowanstar became leader after the flood killed Blackstar; his daughter Dawnpelt was also pregnant during this time, his Clan was having some trouble with food to the point where it was mentioned that Rowanstar himself might've been giving his food to the rest of his Clanmates, and he was having trouble with kittypets and badgers until ThunderClan came to help. At some point, many ShadowClan cats begin to lose respect for him, including those who he'd known his entire life, like Oakfur. I feel like it's also worth mentioning that even though he's a peaceful leader, there is at least one instance of apprentices fighting each other over food with unsheathed claws, though this may say just as much about the mentors under their care than it does about Rowanstar himself.
Later into his leadership, he and Bramblestar separate Twigkit and Violetkit. Eventually, Darktail takes over and Rowanstar later gets his Clan back after the evil cat dies, but is still disrespected by his Clanmates to the point where many want Tigerheart to lead them instead. After the latter leaves, he disbands ShadowClan to merge with SkyClan and later dies saving Tawnypelt as well as Yarrowleaf's kits.
TIGERSTAR II:ShadowClan's latest leader, Tigerstar has unfortunately lived up to his namesake in a way, such as trying to drive out SkyClan and threatening a ThunderClan medicine cat after his own falls ill. He also initially refuses to believe Juniperclaw's crime until Dovewing convinces him to at least get his deputy to explain himself.
TLDR: ShadowClan has been a prideful, stubborn, and battle-hungry Clan for much of the series. Strength is apparently valued more than anything else and this might've started with Ripplestar, but depending on how things go in SL, whatever events led to Shadowstar gaining such a poor reputation may have led ShadowClan to become the problematic Clan that they've been for generations now, so a toxic environment is also an issue here. Hopefully Cloverfoot can break this for good should she become leader.