Closely Related Mates by Darkmist

Darkmist analyzes the similar family trees of Warriors couples. 

Mates and kits are one of my favourite elements of the Warriors books. Seeing families grow from just a tom and a she-cat who fell in love is one of the most rewarding things to behold! But unfortunately for some people, some mate pairings are tarnished by the fact that the cats in question are related. And I’m going to take a few of the best couples Warriors have ever seen and explain how the adored cats in question are actually related.

1. Lionblaze and Cinderheart
Lionblaze’s great-great-great grandparents are Adderfang and Swiftbreeze (and if you study it, a good chunk of ThunderClan blood trickles down from those too). They are also Cinderheart’s great-grandparents. This is because Lionblaze’s mother is Leafpool; whose mother was Sandstorm; whose father was Redtail; whose parents were Adderfang and Swiftbreeze. And Cinderheart’s mother was Sorreltail; whose mother was Willowpelt; whose parents were Adderfang and Swiftbreeze. This would technically make Cinderheart and Leafpool second cousins, and therefore Cinderheart is kind of Lionblaze’s distantly-related… aunt? Nice!!

2. Dustpelt and Ferncloud
This one is more straight forward; Dustpelt is Ferncloud’s uncle. Ferncloud’s mother was Brindleface, and Brindleface’s parents were Fuzzypelt and Robinwing, who later had a second litter which included Dustpelt. So Dustpelt is technically Brindleface’s brother and so therefore Ferncloud’s uncle… I don’t know whether I’m actually enjoying this…

3. Bramblestar and Squirrelflight
Again, two mates are connected by Adderfang and Swiftbreeze! In the formidable pairs first litter, they had Leopardfoot and in their second they had Redtail. Leopardfoot went on to give birth to Tigerstar (grrr) while Redtail went on to father Sandstorm (this, btw, makes Tigerstar and Sandstorm cousins!!). Sandstorm is the mother of Squirrelflight and Tigerstar is the father of Bramblestar, making the two second cousins.

4. Birchfall and Whitewing
Like Bramblestar and Squirrelflight, these two are second cousins. Birchfall’s mother was Ferncloud; Whitewing’s mother was Brightheart. Ferncloud’s mother was Brindleface and Brightheart’s mother was Frostfur, Brindleface and Frostfur were sisters (making Brightheart and Ferncloud cousins) and by extension their kits (Birchfall and Whitewing) second cousins.

5. Snowbush and Lilyheart
These two new lovebirds are just direct cousins. Snowbush’s mother (Brightheart) and Lilyheart’s father (Brackenfur) were siblings, meaning their kits are cousins.

6. Patchpelt and Willowpelt
While I find it ridiculous that these two even ended up mates, somewhere or somehow the Erins had confirmed these two to be Greystripe’s parents (and so they must’ve been mates at some point) when they’re brother and sister. They were both born to (surprise surprise) Adderfang and Swiftbreeze in different litters. They’ve also confirmed that Willowpelt is the mother of Darkstripe with Tawnyspots (who was an elder while she was an apprentice) and that Patchpelt also fathered Swiftpaw (with Goldenflower) and Longtail (with Robinwing). They way they organized the kits for the earlier series is actually ridiculous, They made so many errors! I actually have a mental record in my head for how it could’ve actually worked. I may write an article about that one day. But anyway, I would like to use this as an example for a point I am trying to make. It has been stated that Vicky was going to make Foxleap and Rosepetal mates (they were already lining it up by giving Molepaw to Rosepetal as an apprentice rather than Icecloud) but then she realized that they were related and decided they couldn’t be mates and then ultimately (I can only assume) permitted Foxleap to die after the battle with the Dark Forest! But the relationship between Foxleap and Rosepetal is the exact same as the relationship between Dustpelt and Ferncloud; Foxleap is Rosepetal’s uncle (her father was Spiderleg who shares the same parents as Foxleap (coincidentally Dustpelt and Ferncloud)) so what was the big deal? I think the main overarching point is that ThunderClan is one big family. The whole point of it is that every cat in it is related somehow; that’s what makes it a Clan!!! I honestly think that as long as siblings or half-siblings never become mates it’s really not a problem. Sorry for the rant, this was meant to be a fun article!!