Reasons Why I Love the Original Series by Spikey

Spikey explains why they enjoyed reading The Prophecies Begin SOOOOO much more than the other series

Hi, I’m Spikey, and these are the reasons why I enjoy reading the original series more so than other Warriors books. *Spoilers*

1. Timing and Character development
When I read Into the Wild, it seemed that it flowed so smoothly, and it never felt rushed. I’ve heard different opinions on how time passed in the first books. I’ve heard some people say that Firestar and Graystripe were made Warriors too quickly, however, I thought the timing was very fitting. Many times when I read the newer Warriors books, it seems that the main characters are apprentices for SO LONG. Even though apprenticeship does take time, it can get boring to read about the younger cats. There was a certain feeling of success that came when Firestar and Graystripe were made warriors, because they had been through so much.

Now we come to character development. At the beginning of the books, the characters are introduced in such a way that we feel we already know them. And by the time we reach The Darkest Hour, we’ve learned so much about our favorite characters. Take Bluestar for example. When we first meet her, we think, “Oh, she’s just like any other leader from any other book would be.” But by the time we’ve reached the Darkest Hour, we find out that she ACTUALLY made mistakes. We find out that she was in a forbidden relationship, and that Mistyfoot and Stonefur are her kits. We also see her go crazy after believing that StarClan has betrayed her.

One common argument among fans of the series is whether or not Firestar had proper character development. I believe that Firestar did have some moments of character development, however. Every Warriors fan seems to complain that Firestar is a Gary-Sue, and that he always does everything right. They also complain that he is never properly corrected, and that he is always in the right. This is not so. One of the first things he does is hunt for himself and Yellowfang, therefore forgetting to put the Clan first. And he gets punished.

2. The Bad guys

The characters in the original series are so well thought out, even when it’s obvious who is good, and who is bad. For instance, we all begin to realize very quickly that Tigerstar is a negative, but we never know to what measures he will go to fulfill his dreams. And he doesn’t simply become the bad guy overnight; he does a little more evil each time and slowly becomes a big bad.

Another bad kitty that I’d like to talk about is Brokenstar. Brokenstar is not as popular a villian as Tigerstar or Scourge, but he was probably the first well-developed villian we see. He isn’t just the “I was always an ambitious cat,” type. In just a few books we learn that this horrible cat was born to a medicine cat, and that he broke the rules before and during his leadership. LZRD WIZRD even relates Brokenstar to Hitler, which has a lot to do with his character development. He uses kits to do his dirty work in battle, which almost makes him a worse villian than Tigerstar or Scourge (at least, in my opinion). When we read about Brokenstar and his fall, it almost distracts us from the bigger picture.

3. The Good guys
When we first meet characters like Firestar and Graystripe, we don’t even realize what is ahead of them. As the books go on, we see their constant struggle to serve their Clan and remain loyal. As I mentioned earlier, Firestar and his development can be a controversial subject. Another reason for this is the character’s helpful attitude. Many times, we see that Firestar can be WAY too helpful. At first it’s not so bad, but then, as a leader, he has a hard time remembering that the other Clans don’t want his help. I can see why this would be a struggle for Firestar, and that’s only the half of it.

Firestar wasn’t the only character that had struggles. More so than we see Firestar’s struggle, we see Graystripe’s. He meets Silverstream in Fire and Ice, and that’s where his struggles begin. After her death, he’s unsure of where his loyalties lie, and we see how he struggles with this later. He goes to RiverClan with his kits and stays there for a while, and even after he comes back, he struggles with Silverstream’s death. In The Lost Warrior, we see how he dreams about her, and at first we see a reluctance to move on. All of this effects the characters later, and helps them to know what is right.

4. Plot lines
At the beginning of the books, the plot lines were somewhat obvious, but they carried a certain mystery to them. One of the best parts about Into the Wild is that we see Clan life from an outsiders perspective. After all, how easy would it have been to read from a normal warrior’s perspective? Because we know nothing about Clans and cats until the books, we must start from the perspective of someone exactly like us; someone young and nieve.

Another part of this great plotline is the prophecy. At the beginning of the book, we know nothing about prophecies. This is one reason why the ‘Fire alone’ prophecy fits so well. It’s not hard to see who the prophecy is about. The hard part is the fact that we have no idea how Firestar (Firepaw at the time) will save the Clans. Because of this mystery, we keep reading.

5. Suprises
This should probably fall under ‘plot lines’ but there’s a reason I separated the two. The best part of these books is, at times, the suprise at the end. Who would’ve guessed that Tigerstar would be made leader of ThunderClan? Or that poor Cinderpelt would never become a warrior? I never would’ve known that Spottedleaf would be killed so quickly, or that Graystripe would be captured by Twolegs. These are some of the greatest parts of the series, because of the shock that we experience. Is mainly in those shocking moments that we become emotionally attached to characters, because we realized the realness of it all. With the series, anything could happen at any given moment, just like in the real world. And those are the reasons that I love the original series.