Fan ArticlesNightfern shares why they think Snowkit would have been a great character if given the chance.
Hello all you people reading this. This is my first article and i decided to talk about one of my favourite kits, Snowkit!
Snowkit was born a deaf kit and i found this very interesting because in the series that far there was no deaf cats. If he had a P.O.V in the series we could have learned about how he coped with being deaf, a bit like with Jayfeather coping with his blindness. Brackenfur said that when Snowkit was an apprentice he would have liked to mentor him. To see how Brackenfur would deal with Snowkit would have been interesting( i say interesting too much in this) and we would have been able to see character development in Brackenfur as well as Snowkit. This could have affected the whole series though. Snowkit may have had a mate if he became a warrior and Brackenfur would probably have been deputy since he showed he could mentor a deaf kit.
Back to Snowkit, we would have learned more about him and how , if to become a warrior, he would have fought and hunted. Like Jayfeather, he could have had a great sense of smell and maybe sight. If he were to become a medicine cat, it may have been a bit like Jayfeather except deaf and with sight. Also it quite annoys me that Snowkit was killed off just to move Speckletail to the elders den. I think too many deaths happen just so plot points would make sense. For example Honeyfern was killed off for a reason for there to be deathberries in camp and Runningwind’s death was a bit pointless?
Anyway, like i said before, Snowkit would have been a very interesting character to read about if he maybe had a novella. I think his warrior or medicine cat name would have been Snowear because deafness reference. I was really upset when Snowkit was taken by the hawk and i want to believe the theory that he was dropped and taken in by a friendly twoleg but im pretty sure its not true. His death was quite pointless really.
And there we have it, my first article done! Tell me what you think about Snowkit and if he should have become a warrior and not taken by the hawk 🙁
Thank you for reading!
🩵🦅 Eagleflight (Aquila)🍃🎶
![[a full-body design of Ravenwing uneasily looking over her shoulder alongside her colour palette]](https://blogclan.katecary.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ravenwing-warrior-cat-designs.png)
A deaf cat just wouldn’t work. Snowkit is better of dead or with twolegs. Snowkit would’ve had a worse life then Jayfeather! and even worse, he wouldn’t be able to hunt, to attack (ears are very important!) Talk, or learn at all, as the clans seem to focus on talking as there main form of communication. SO while the pov would have been interesting, it just wouldn’t work.
I agree with your comment (though slightly harshly put!!) because he wouldn’t have got a lot out of life as a Clan cat. But I know that there are a lot of lovers for Snowkit’s would-be life, so I respect that.
It’s a bit rude to say that he’d be better off dead just because he’s blind. :/ Even if he couldn’t be a warrior, he could still live with his Clan and be happy, like Briarlight. Just because someone can’t be a warrior doesn’t mean their life is worthless and they’re better off dead. And who’s to say that the Clans couldn’t work out some form of sign language through tail and ear movements?
That is correct, Jayfrost. The same goes for Longtail, his eyesight was failing but he had still lived happily in his Clan. I agree with you on the sign language. In fact the Clans already have some, for example: “She motioned ____ over with her tail”. You have a point, there.
I agree
No, Jayfeather is blind. Deaf, Blind, and Mute are three different scenarios. Deaf, I mentioned, is too rare for a sign language to be developed, Blind can be lived with, and so can mute. But I believe a Mute cat would need to set the stones before a sign language would be developed.
Agh, you’re right, I meant deaf, sorry. 😛 But they can still develop a sign language easily enough with tail, ear, and paw motions. And it’s still not nice to say he’s better off dead.
i thought he would be awesome you snowkit hater
I think you are very, very wrong Freespirit. And even though this is my opinion I think other might agree. I think your wrong that a deaf cat just wouldn’t work. If a blind cat like Jayfeather could work if most definitely could work for a deaf kit like Snowkit. Imagine how amazing it would be if Snowkit could have lived, imagine learning about his everyday struggles and learning how he thinks and reacts to things. If anything I wish that Snowkit could have been dropped from the hawk into a tree and was able to escape. He could stay with Twolegs until he was healthy and he could return to ThunderClan. Or to make it more interesting, he could return to ThunderClan, but no cat would know it was him and he could become something like Snowhawk. But this is just my opinion and all.
I have to disagree with Free spirit that a deaf character wouldn’t work. Most of cat’s language in real life is made up of movements and gestures so it wouldn’t have been that hard to introduce some kind of sign language to the series. As for hunting and fighting he could feel movements through the ground and track via smell to track enemies and prey. I also just think snowkit living would be good to introduce more disabled characters that become warriors because, apart from Brightheart and One eye I think all the disabled cats have just been put in the medicine den. I hope they introduce another deaf character in new series, though it probably won’t happen. Anyway, sorry for the long message
RIP Snowkit. 🙁
nice article!!!! sooo sad that he had to get carried off by a stupid bird!!!! humph.
Interesting but difficult to pull off, if not impossible. The biggest issue is how would they establish communication with Snowkit in the first place? While yes tail signals would be an option, how much could he get from that? It’s not like in the human society where we can take in so much with our eyes rather than our ears.
But for the warrior’s society hearing is extremely important, it helps cats detect danger, to hunt so they know they’re moving silently towards their prey, and in battle for commands and what not.
Snowkit just couldn’t last, even if the hawk hadn’t killed him something else likely would, and there was no way we’d get a POV change to him since Fireheart was the main character and main POV at the time.
We saw Speckletail try to train him, but without anyway for them to really communicate he thought she was just playing with him, there was really no way for Snowkit to develop unfortunately.
While I’d love to see a deaf cat that survives it would HAVE to be a kittypet since I can only see twolegs really being able to care for a deaf cat, as there is no need for communication between the twolegs and the cats to ensure the cats continued survival.
Agreed.
What about a combination of tail movements, ear movements, and maybe even some paw motions? That would probably give enough variety for communication. And even if he couldn’t be warrior, which he may or may not have been able to do, he could still live with his Clan and have a happy life with them like Briarlight. He had the Clan to protect him, if not for the hawk, there’s nothing to say he couldn’t have had a long, happy life with his Clan.
I think Snowkit would’ve been very isolated had he survived. We saw how just as kits Bramblekit and Tawnykit had trouble dealing with him.
Plus if we rule out the hawk then, I can’t see Snowkit surviving the territories destruction or evading capture from the twolegs as it happened in the new prophecy series
I’m not saying they couldn’t construct some movements to communicate but would they? If he were mute I could see that coming to be because he could hear but not speak and thus need to find a way to communicate with his speaking clan mates but if he’s deaf.
Then again I suppose Brackenfur who desired to train him could try and teach him, and work to find a way to communicate with Snowkit and maybe he succeeds, but could he persuade the rest of the clan to learn it? Would some care?
I mean that’s still back when things could be pretty harsh in the warriors world, since I doubt Snowkit could excel as a warrior as so much is reliant on sound and smell as much as sight.
I can’t see all of ThunderClan being very kind as prey gets harder and harder to get and some who can’t communicate with Snowkit become hostile towards him and then he has the language barrier.
It’d be a fascinating read no doubt but just in the time period of warriors it’s in, I don’t see Snowkit having fared well even had he survived
Bramblekit and Tawnykit had trouble interacting with him because they didn’t know he was deaf, so they didn’t understand why he was acting the way he did and just thought he was weird. Once they understood he was deaf, they could have changed the way they interacted with him accordingly.
Why not? Jayfeather never got himself captured, and if Snowkit’s Clanmates helped look after him, I don’t see why he wouldn’t have been about as safe as any other warrior at the time.
Why wouldn’t they? O.o He’s their Clanmate, their family. Whether he could live as a full warrior or not, they’d want to find a way to communicate and interact with him. And why would that be any different for a mute cat than a deaf one? Both would need to find non-verbal ways to communicate with their Clanmates. Again, of course they would care, why on earth wouldn’t they? Warrior or not, he’s their kin and Clanmate. That’s like saying the Clan wouldn’t accommodate for Briarlight just because it’s hard. They work to look after her and make Clan life easier despite her disability because they love her.
Some cats could be rude, but they’re not monsters. They still looked after the elders at the time despite their disabilities, didn’t they? And the Clan hunted for Cinderpelt without a word of complaint, even from cats like Tigerclaw and Darkstripe, after she broke her leg and couldn’t hunt for herself anymore. If even the most disloyal and whiny ThunderClan cats never turned against Cinderpelt after she lost the ability to look after herself against Clan support, why would they turn against Snowkit?
Hmm, that is true I guess. I don’t know though I still think being deaf would be very isolating and very trying, especially since all the others who were disabled bare minimum could communicate in a way that everyone seemed to universally understand.
After reading what others have written about how cats communicate more with body language than with words, it’s just not as prevalent in warriors. We see them speaking more than we see them use body language to communicate primarily.
Plus could they get it through to Snowkit what they’re trying to do? When Speckletail tried he couldn’t process that she was doing anything other than playing with him. And she’s his mother the most invested in teaching him, but it didn’t seem very promising.
The biggest obstacles i see is getting Snowkit to understand, or understanding how he understands the world around him, he spoke to Fireheart and Cinderpelt but I can’t recall how he knew. Which is why I see cats getting frustrated with him. It’s sort of like someone being dropped in a country that doesn’t speak your language at all, except as a child.
I almost see it as how Helen Keller was in a way, it took her a long time to be taught how to succeed being both blind and deaf because most language and sensory input was lost to her. The biggest obstacle would be coming up with ‘signs’ for things which the clan would have to do, and then have to teach Snowkit them, and even then they’d teach the most important ‘signs’ but I can predict a situation where they either didn’t make one or explain one to snowkit and it ends badly for him.
I didn’t mean to imply the clan would stop caring for him, but it’s a lot easier to accommodate a cat who can still communicate with you, than one you have no idea how to even begin to. Which when Snowkit was around was the case.
Plus Bluestar was kinda batty but, that’s neither here nor there.
I think if somecat put their mind to it, (like Brackenfur) could help. I know it’s different, but Brightheart is a great example. Everyone was all, “There’s no way she could ever be a warrior.” But Cloudtail was determined, and she became a warrior! It might be harder, but Brackenfur could come up with a way to get Snowkit’s attention if needed, and a way to communicate. Idk about you guys, but I’m a hopeful person, and I think it would have worked.
End Scene.
The clans exist for a reason. He could have had a happy, long life in the Elder’s den. He may even be able to learn some hunting, although he would probably never be the best at it. His clan would have cared for him, and as long as he had someone with him to alert him to danger he would be fine. A lot can be understood by gestures and smell to cats.
I disagree did you know cats can detect vibrations, just as can human but at a much,much elevated level so hunting will be a little harder, and the more I think about it, it seems to be somewhat easier without the distraction of sound and as for communication as I stated in my article I sent about a month ago cats mostly communicate with body language so a ear flick, tail movement or something as simple as head movement can be used in a sort of cat form of ALS communication or sign language , but then there’s the problem of everyone having to learn this new way to communicate with him.
Nice article! 😀
I think Snowear would be a little cruel for him. But he couldn’t hear it so probably he won’t mind.
Snowear, or Snowhear. Say them aloud. S-no-hear
That’s just rude! Why not snowmoss?
Why not snowmoss? His best friend was named mosskit. Shouldn’t the clans admire that?? :\
Great article Nightfern! One of the first fanfictions I ever wrote was about Snowkit. I believe in my shorty he figured out how to read the lips of other cats. I don’t know if that would be a plausible thing for Snowkit to have done but I know humans that are deaf are usually able to read lips well. I really liked the idea of Snowkit and I wished we had been able to see him become a warrior.
While I believe it would be difficult for Snowkit to become a warrior, and his chance of survival is low, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen. Although these are fictional cats that talk, real life cats hardly ever communicate verbally. Most of their communication is done through body language. (Yes, there are growls and hisses, but these noises are always accompanied by clear body language, which a deaf cat would be susceptible to picking up.) I think the biggest problem for a deaf cat would be predation, because they couldn’t hear a potential threat heading their way, though they could still see it or scent it, and their inability to hunt, because they’d need to be extra quiet to catch prey. Like Jayie suggested, even if Snowkit couldn’t be a warrior because of his shortcomings, he could still live like Briarlight does. 😀
Great article! I agree that it would have been really nice and interesting to have a deaf cat, but I think Snowkit is happy in StarClan, with no predators to get him and all the time in the world to just play and relax. Also, since Jayfeather can see when he dreams and in StarClan, I’m guessing that Snowkit can hear now.
I’m sorry but the fact that snowkit looks happy in that picture creeps me out a bit…
i um didnt choose the picture 😛 it was included
Lol I know right
I know a great fanfic (it’s so good omg) about Snowkit and if he had survived the abduction 😀
i really wished he had survived! i soo agree with you. They could probally still make a novella about him now and about how he survived. I was super sad when he died 🙁