Looking at the Names of Firestar by Brightwing

Brightwing analyzes the different names that Firestar was called throughout the series. 

Hello BlogClan! It’s Brightwing here for an article looking at how the names of our great hero Firestar reflects who he was.

Kittypet

So first of all, as we all know (hopefully), Firestar was born a kittypet under the name of Rusty. Now, we can assume that this name was chosen for him because of his ginger pelt, but I believe that if we delve deeper into his name, we might find different results.

[ULTIMATE ANALYSATION]

So the name ‘Rusty’ features the word rust, a kind of decaying substance that happens when water reacts with metal. (Or if you want to be fancy it’s the reaction between iron and oxygen with an equal amount of water or something like that). Rust is a sign that the object doesn’t work very well – it’s a dull colour that really has no appeal. If we look at this name in the context of Firestar, when he was a kittypet, he clearly wasn’t achieving what he could by lazing about under the constant care of two-legs. I’m not sure if this was purposeful or not, but to me ‘Rusty’ meant that Firestar was wasting his time in a dull world.

Apprentice

Next, when Rusty ventures into the forest and after a bit more STUFF happens, Bluestar names Rusty Firepaw. So if we look for the obvious option, Firepaw was named that from how his flame-coloured pelt reminded Bluestar of Spottedleaf’s prophecy – ‘Fire alone will save our Clan’. Desperate, the Clan leader placed all her hope on a saviour to ThunderClan to a kittypet who’s pelt reminded her of fire.

[ULTIMATE ANAYLYZATION]

However, if we start reading between the lines, I thought of what fire reminded me of: brightness, danger and liveliness that was from a wild and natural world. So in my opinion, this reference to fire suggests that Firepaw was now living his life in colour in the wild forests, completely free. He was achieving his full potential by starting his training as a warrior cat; this was what he was born to be! I think that if you compare this to ‘Rusty’, Firepaw had gone from being a bit of rust trapped in a two-leg den to a fire blazing through the forest – he was dangerous now, and completely independent from two-legs. (Btw, the fire blazing through the forest bit was not intentionally about Bluestar’s prophecy.)

Warrior

Then Firepaw got his full warrior name in the first book (which I always thought was too soon but never mind), and he became Fireheart. I’ve heard that Fireheart was given his suffix because Bluestar thought he reminded her of Oakheart from RiverClan (though I’m not sure what happened there because Oakheart was a reddish-brown tom, and I’m sure Bluestar was supposed to have forgotten about her long-lost love by then anyway.) So if you want to be boring, then that will be your reason for Fireheart’s warrior name.

[ULTIMATE ANALYSATION]

In the warrior cat books, the suffix ‘-heart’ can show two things: that the cat was kind (like Lilyheart in ThunderClan – she had a big heart) or that the cat was brave (like Foxheart in ShadowClan – she had a bold heart.) If you ask me, (which you are going to have to because this is my article so HUH) I think that Fireheart has both of those traits. He cared deeply for his Clan, he valued friendship, he looked after kits and elders, pitied Yellowfang that time when he was an apprentice, and loved Sandstorm. But on the other hand, Fireheart was a fearsome opponent in battle, had the courage to go behind Bluestar’s back for the sake of WindClan and ThunderClan, became Clan deputy at a young age, and was never shy. So all in all Fireheart’s suffix definitely suited his personality. And if you look at Fireheart’s name put together, the fact that his prefix was ‘Fire-’ creates the impression that his heart was like fire (which would be kind of weird but let’s just go with it).

Clan leader

Finally the last name Firestar was given was his name as Clan leader. By now he had come far as a wild cat, and was a valued member of ThunderClan. You should probably know the suffix ‘-star’ is the name given to any Clan leader, so if we look at his name literally, then that is all that his name means – just another leader in the history of the Clans.

[ULTIMATE ANALYSATION]

But no, we know that Firestar is a very special cat (even if half of us regard him as an annoying furball) and just because he gets a name like other Clan leaders doesn’t mean he should be labelled as just that. Firestar had a lot of strong personality which made an enemy of some cats and friends of others, which was why there are mixed opinions about him. Do you remember the ‘Fire alone will save our Clan’ prophecy? (Hopefully you do – it’s only been a few paragraphs since I last mentioned it.) Well, that was communicated to Spottedleaf through a shooting star. A shooting star. A blazing star. A fire star. Wait… Firestar! So yes, I believe that this was used to reference back to why Firestar was taken into the Clans in the first place. And when he died, he started to blaze through the sky as fire – in StarClan. Then he really was a fire star; a Firestar star! Yeah, this is just getting way too confusing…

Now that is the end of my article, and I hope that it didn’t get too boring for you. Since doing an analysing project on a book in English at school, I have become slightly obsessed with analysing random things and this was how this article was born! Also from the fact that the names of cats is vitally important in the warrior cat world: it determines from your rank to your age to your personality. What would the Clans be without their naming system? Don’t forget to comment below at how much you LOVED this article. Hopefully I’ll see you soon with another article. Bye! 😀