Post by redlobco on Jul 30, 2016 12:38:50 GMT -5
[For context, this is a post from my old Warriors tumblr, that I think would invite a lot more interesting discussion here, so it reads a lot more like an article than a proper forum post -- I'd still really like to ignite discussion here! This was written in March of 2015, so it disregards some newer books.]
The Erins have quite a big list of characters who were killed off unnecessarily or just sort of… forgotten. They also have a track record of pushing off interesting characters into death, retirement, or more “fitting” roles.
Snowkit and Jayfeather are two of the most prominent characters who come to mind, one being carried off by a hawk – most likely to avoid having a character arc for a deaf character (which would have been highly interesting) and also to push his mother into the nursery, and the other pushed into a position he didn’t want, where his blindness could have also brought a different and interesting character arc (sadly, that one was a little necessary, considering his powers).
However, the first character I want to talk about is Longtail.
Funnily enough, I actually always liked Longtail, even when he taunted Rusty at the beginning. Once he was revealed to be an actual loyal character (during the second book, I believe, though it may have been the third – it’s been a while since I read the first arc). In A Dangerous Path and The Darkest Hour, I was overjoyed to find that he had become such a redeemable character, admitting his mistakes, and while he didn’t form much of a friendship with Firestar until later arcs, he definitely had a respect for him, which showed quite a bit of side character development – something that was missing from Power of Three and Omen of the Stars (even The New Prophecy was lacking, if I remember correctly).
So naturally, when I picked up Midnight, was hoping to see Longtail – who had become one of my favourite characters, return as a more senior warrior, maybe with a new apprentice, seeing as Swiftpaw had been killed. I was shocked to find that he had been blinded and moved straight into the elder’s den. This was a shock to me, and after learning of the Super Editions (which I had not heard about until I had reached Dawn), I picked up Firestar’s Quest immediately.
Often, Longtail’s injury is seen as a little comical by the fandom, but I was devastated. It was shocking to me, especially as I grew older, to see that nothing was done for Longtail, that he was shoved into the elder’s den. Some part of it made some sense – Longtail had been a warrior for a while, it must definitely be an issue for him, trying to cope without sight – but at the same time, I’m surprised he didn’t try training with Brightheart, or attempting to work around his blindness (if there was a scene about this in Firestar’s Quest, please let me know, it’s been a year or two since I’ve read it, so I may be missing details). But still, his retirement had a sort of reason behind it, there’s a chance he could really never work around his blindness and therefore thought it best to retire. Sad, yes, but the fact that he was pushed aside makes a little more sense than it did for Jayfeather.
I hated the Power of Three arc for a lot of reasons. One of the main reasons is because I didn’t like two out of three of the point of views that we got from that series. I thought Lionblaze was a cocky jerk and Jayfeather was a rude brat. And for the majority of that (up until the last half of Long Shadows, I would say) they were that. That’s not to say Hollyleaf didn’t have her issues, she was a little bit annoying, if not a bit smug, but I felt she was a more realistic character than either of her brothers (which I also found interesting, because few of the female characters up until then were realistic and got decent character development).
The first time I found myself liking either of the brothers was when Omen of the Stars started. Jayfeather suddenly became less of a bitter jerk, and while he was still snappish and bitter, he was more sympathetic, a bit kinder to the characters around him. Lionblaze seemed a little more mature, even if he did some stupid things. They both became much more relatable, and much more realistic characters. I found myself actually liking both of them for the first time, and I enjoyed that their personalities had changed. It would have been much more satisfying to watch them change progressively throughout PoT, but we didn’t get that.
But back to the Power of Three, which is where my Jayfeather argument comes into play. The Sight was interesting at first because you didn’t know that this narrator was blind until a couple chapters in, and I liked that – it was a new way for the Erins to write, and it was the only time where they treated Jayfeather like a normal cat (Jaykit at the time). Suddenly, once it was revealed he was blind, everyone became sympathetic to him, which was a sudden and drastic change from how cats treated him at first. I sympathised with him too, but not because he was blind – I felt that he didn’t deserve to be treated as if he had too bad of a disability, because it didn’t appear to bother him until recently.
When I saw that he was going to get to be a warrior, I was ecstatic. Finally, Brightheart would get her first apprentice and Longtail would have something to do other than sit around in the elder’s den. At first, I understood Jayfeather’s frustrations, with Longtail trying to explain blindness to him despite the fact that Jayfeather had been born blind. However, the way he treated Brightheart was quite unfair. Nonetheless, Jayfeather seemed to be angry he didn’t have a normal mentor (which, while somewhat understandable, it makes more sense to me that he would have Brightheart and Longtail, both coping with have disabilities – as they would at least somewhat understand what he was going through). While Jayfeather moving to the medicine den was somewhat necessary in the end, I feel that at the same time, it was a lost opportunity to bring more diversity into the clan, and on top of that, Brightheart still hasn't gotten the apprentice she's been promised.
And finally, Snowkit.
Snowkit seems to be a sensitive subject in the Warriors fandom because everyone unanimously agrees that his death was utterly pointless, aside from putting his mother in the elder’s den – also pointless. Everyone agrees that Snowkit becoming a warrior would have been a fascinating character arc, showing how a deaf cat would cope with becoming a warrior. It was vaguely explained that he would have issues with hunting and possibly battles, but I feel that was a null point, because he could have potentially gotten around that fact. I feel like the Erins just didn’t feel like putting the time or effort into creating his arc and putting time into figuring out how a deaf cat would cope within that society.
His death overall was extremely pointless. I don’t even really remember why Speckletail had to go to the elder’s den in the first place – maybe she was getting old, but why couldn’t she stay in the nursery? (Again, I haven’t read the first arc in a while, and I really should.) Snowkit’s death was highly uncalled for, and I wish I had more to say, but anything else would be highly redundant, as people have discussed his death and the possibilities if he had not died to death.
As for other supposedly disposable characters, I feel like Cinderpelt is quite high on that list. The Erins have dealt with characters with gimp legs before and also quite recently. Deadfoot, for one, was born with a twisted paw, and yet became deputy of his clan. Jagged Peak fell out of a tree and appeared to be doing quite fine in Dawn of the Clans. Cinderheart, the reincarnation of Cinderpelt, broke her leg and was quite fine after some rehabilitation. Maybe there’s something I missed about Cinderpelt that made it absolutely necessary for her to never be a warrior again, but nothing comes specifically to mind.
As of right now, I can’t think of many other characters. Many that were killed off unnecessarily, of course, such as Brindleface, Willowpelt, and many female characters in general come to think about it.My next post will likely be on female characters in Warriors, and how they’re good or bad – and the fandom view of characters like Millie and Daisy, who usually have Warriors fan strictly on one side of the fence or another.
(Ignore this - it never came to fruition, but it's something I may post about in the future.)
What are your thoughts on supposed “disposable characters”? Do you agree or disagree with my opinion, and why or why not?
The Erins have quite a big list of characters who were killed off unnecessarily or just sort of… forgotten. They also have a track record of pushing off interesting characters into death, retirement, or more “fitting” roles.
Snowkit and Jayfeather are two of the most prominent characters who come to mind, one being carried off by a hawk – most likely to avoid having a character arc for a deaf character (which would have been highly interesting) and also to push his mother into the nursery, and the other pushed into a position he didn’t want, where his blindness could have also brought a different and interesting character arc (sadly, that one was a little necessary, considering his powers).
However, the first character I want to talk about is Longtail.
Funnily enough, I actually always liked Longtail, even when he taunted Rusty at the beginning. Once he was revealed to be an actual loyal character (during the second book, I believe, though it may have been the third – it’s been a while since I read the first arc). In A Dangerous Path and The Darkest Hour, I was overjoyed to find that he had become such a redeemable character, admitting his mistakes, and while he didn’t form much of a friendship with Firestar until later arcs, he definitely had a respect for him, which showed quite a bit of side character development – something that was missing from Power of Three and Omen of the Stars (even The New Prophecy was lacking, if I remember correctly).
So naturally, when I picked up Midnight, was hoping to see Longtail – who had become one of my favourite characters, return as a more senior warrior, maybe with a new apprentice, seeing as Swiftpaw had been killed. I was shocked to find that he had been blinded and moved straight into the elder’s den. This was a shock to me, and after learning of the Super Editions (which I had not heard about until I had reached Dawn), I picked up Firestar’s Quest immediately.
Often, Longtail’s injury is seen as a little comical by the fandom, but I was devastated. It was shocking to me, especially as I grew older, to see that nothing was done for Longtail, that he was shoved into the elder’s den. Some part of it made some sense – Longtail had been a warrior for a while, it must definitely be an issue for him, trying to cope without sight – but at the same time, I’m surprised he didn’t try training with Brightheart, or attempting to work around his blindness (if there was a scene about this in Firestar’s Quest, please let me know, it’s been a year or two since I’ve read it, so I may be missing details). But still, his retirement had a sort of reason behind it, there’s a chance he could really never work around his blindness and therefore thought it best to retire. Sad, yes, but the fact that he was pushed aside makes a little more sense than it did for Jayfeather.
I hated the Power of Three arc for a lot of reasons. One of the main reasons is because I didn’t like two out of three of the point of views that we got from that series. I thought Lionblaze was a cocky jerk and Jayfeather was a rude brat. And for the majority of that (up until the last half of Long Shadows, I would say) they were that. That’s not to say Hollyleaf didn’t have her issues, she was a little bit annoying, if not a bit smug, but I felt she was a more realistic character than either of her brothers (which I also found interesting, because few of the female characters up until then were realistic and got decent character development).
The first time I found myself liking either of the brothers was when Omen of the Stars started. Jayfeather suddenly became less of a bitter jerk, and while he was still snappish and bitter, he was more sympathetic, a bit kinder to the characters around him. Lionblaze seemed a little more mature, even if he did some stupid things. They both became much more relatable, and much more realistic characters. I found myself actually liking both of them for the first time, and I enjoyed that their personalities had changed. It would have been much more satisfying to watch them change progressively throughout PoT, but we didn’t get that.
But back to the Power of Three, which is where my Jayfeather argument comes into play. The Sight was interesting at first because you didn’t know that this narrator was blind until a couple chapters in, and I liked that – it was a new way for the Erins to write, and it was the only time where they treated Jayfeather like a normal cat (Jaykit at the time). Suddenly, once it was revealed he was blind, everyone became sympathetic to him, which was a sudden and drastic change from how cats treated him at first. I sympathised with him too, but not because he was blind – I felt that he didn’t deserve to be treated as if he had too bad of a disability, because it didn’t appear to bother him until recently.
When I saw that he was going to get to be a warrior, I was ecstatic. Finally, Brightheart would get her first apprentice and Longtail would have something to do other than sit around in the elder’s den. At first, I understood Jayfeather’s frustrations, with Longtail trying to explain blindness to him despite the fact that Jayfeather had been born blind. However, the way he treated Brightheart was quite unfair. Nonetheless, Jayfeather seemed to be angry he didn’t have a normal mentor (which, while somewhat understandable, it makes more sense to me that he would have Brightheart and Longtail, both coping with have disabilities – as they would at least somewhat understand what he was going through). While Jayfeather moving to the medicine den was somewhat necessary in the end, I feel that at the same time, it was a lost opportunity to bring more diversity into the clan, and on top of that, Brightheart still hasn't gotten the apprentice she's been promised.
And finally, Snowkit.
Snowkit seems to be a sensitive subject in the Warriors fandom because everyone unanimously agrees that his death was utterly pointless, aside from putting his mother in the elder’s den – also pointless. Everyone agrees that Snowkit becoming a warrior would have been a fascinating character arc, showing how a deaf cat would cope with becoming a warrior. It was vaguely explained that he would have issues with hunting and possibly battles, but I feel that was a null point, because he could have potentially gotten around that fact. I feel like the Erins just didn’t feel like putting the time or effort into creating his arc and putting time into figuring out how a deaf cat would cope within that society.
His death overall was extremely pointless. I don’t even really remember why Speckletail had to go to the elder’s den in the first place – maybe she was getting old, but why couldn’t she stay in the nursery? (Again, I haven’t read the first arc in a while, and I really should.) Snowkit’s death was highly uncalled for, and I wish I had more to say, but anything else would be highly redundant, as people have discussed his death and the possibilities if he had not died to death.
As for other supposedly disposable characters, I feel like Cinderpelt is quite high on that list. The Erins have dealt with characters with gimp legs before and also quite recently. Deadfoot, for one, was born with a twisted paw, and yet became deputy of his clan. Jagged Peak fell out of a tree and appeared to be doing quite fine in Dawn of the Clans. Cinderheart, the reincarnation of Cinderpelt, broke her leg and was quite fine after some rehabilitation. Maybe there’s something I missed about Cinderpelt that made it absolutely necessary for her to never be a warrior again, but nothing comes specifically to mind.
As of right now, I can’t think of many other characters. Many that were killed off unnecessarily, of course, such as Brindleface, Willowpelt, and many female characters in general come to think about it.
What are your thoughts on supposed “disposable characters”? Do you agree or disagree with my opinion, and why or why not?
