Top Ten Bravest Warriors by Lightningpaw

Lightningpaw shares ten brave warriors from the series. Are any of them on your list?

Art by flash-the-artist

Hi, it’s Lightningpaw and this is my third article. I’ve been very inactive for ages but today I figured I’d make another article. So today I’m listing the top ten cats I think were the bravest, which is talked about a lot but I wanted to make my own list. Just before I start, this was written before I read The Raging Storm and Crowfeather’s Trial so there my be things in there that merit a spot be aren’t listed. Spoilers for pretty much everything up to River of Fire!

10. Mistfeather
Mistfeather is a pretty minor character, but I think he deserves more recognition than he gets. As most of you won’t remember, he is a SkyClan cat who remains in the gorge after the rouges attack, apparently because his mate was killed. Although he is never mentioned in Hawkwing’s Journey or ever before, he wins his place on this list because in TAQ, despite being literally half dead, he challenges Darktail to a fight for the gorge and refuses Alderheart’s help. Not that Alderheart would have been any use in a fight but still. Of course, he loses, but then he probably knew that would happen and his bravery in challenging Darktail at all is to be admired.

9.Violetshine
The main reason why Violetshine gets to be on this list is because she agreed to try and sneak poppy seeds into The Kin’s food. That’s pretty brave, especially since it was obvious if Darktail caught her she would be tortured horrible and killed, which is what Darktail tried to do. The fact that she agreed to do it knowing this is what makes her so brave. She’s actually kind of like Ivypool, and Twigbranch is basically Dovewing 2.0 so it looks like the Erins are running out of ideas.

8. Bluestar
There are really two reasons for Bluestar being here, the first one being that she gave up her kits for the sake of her Clan, to stop Thistleclaw from becoming deputy. Some people think she’s selfish because of that (She basically killed one of her kits to become deputy), and though I see what they mean I just disagree since she did it for her clan instead of herself. Oh and also she died while trying to save her Clan from dogs, and if that’s not brave, then I don’t know what is.

7. Feathertail
I don’t like Feathertail that much, but I have to admit she died bravely. She died killing a mountain lion with a stalactite to save a bunch of cats she didn’t know that had just tried to imprison her brother and and force him to fight in a gladiator contest against the mountain lion. Yep, that ticks all the stupidly brave and selfless boxes.

6.Firestar
Ok, you all saw this coming, but the list would be inaccurate if it didn’t include Firestar. Like it or not, he has done some incredibly brave things. I’ll just list a few; Saving Bluestar from Tigerstar, risking his life racing the dog pack, leaving his best friend behind with no idea if he’ll ever see him again, killing Scourge and Tigerstar to protect his Clan…. do I have to say any more?

5.Cinderpelt
Here’s another cat whose bravery is not recognised. She flung herself in front of a badger to protect Sorreltail and her kits. Obviously, since she knew she was going to die, it kind of took some of the drama away, but it can’t be any easier to sacrifice yourself to protect others even if you knew it would happen. She definitely deserved her second life, and it’s kind of fitting that she was reincarnated into one of the cats she died to protect. Also by the way, Jayfeather and Briarlight need reincarnations too so that they get to be warriors. I know Jayfeather is a reincarnation himself but he still deserves one.

4.Rowanclaw
Rowanclaw has been getting a lot of hate lately for letting ShadowClan fall to pieces, but honestly, he blamed himself more than anyone else did. He even gave back his nine lives, which is pretty brave in itself. I mean, would you have done that? But the thing that really gets him on the list is the way he died to save Tawnypelt, Hopkit and Flaxkit.(What is Flax supposed to mean by the way?) Anyway, though there was a slim chance he might survive, it was clear that he risked it all to save them. And he knew he had given back his nine lives before he did this, so that’s pretty brave.

3.Ivypool
One of the only two cats on this list that’s still alive. The other one’s her clone Violetshine. Anyway, if you’ve read one of my previous articles you’ll know Ivypool’s my fav, so I won’t go on about how amazing she is for too long. Though she is terrible at picking names. I mean, Thriftkit? Seriously Ivypool? That’s the best you could think of? But Ivypool’s here because she risked her life every time she closed her eyes in the Dark Forest, and then almost died betraying them. Literally one of the bravest cats ever. She seriously needs a medal or something. The other two as well, but they’re dead so that can’t happen.

2. Needletail
Ok, so Needletail was the most rebellious cat in the history of the Clans, but that doesn’t change what she did. She attacked Darktail, Sleekwhisker and Raven so that Violetshine could escape. What makes her braver than Rowanclaw was that she was half starved and also, Darktail gave her a choice. He would (possibly) have spared her life if she had killed Violetshine, but she didn’t. She put Violetshine’s life before her own and that’s what bravery really is.

Honourable Mentions
Brightheart and Swiftpaw (They attacked a pack a dogs on their own)
Sparrow Fur (Challenged One-Eye to a fight in DotC)
Lightning Tail (Saved Thunderstar and ThunderClan from some dogs)

1.STONEFUR
Stonefur’s death was the bravest thing ever imagined. Like Needletail, had he killed Feathertail and Stormfur, he could have lived as a trusted member of TigerClan. Again, he was half starved and weak from imprisonment. But Stonefur was surrounded by two clans of enemies, not just three cats, like Needletail. But he still made the same the same decision, and remarkably he almost beat Darkstripe in a fight until Blackstar killed him. Bravest cat in the entire series.

So that’s that. If you’re wondering why Lionblaze wasn’t on the list, it’s because he knew he was invulnerable. Being brave when there’s nothing to be afraid of is not really being grave at all.
Hope you enjoyed this article, sorry if it’s a bit long. Feel free to explain why I’m wrong!
Lightningpaw out!

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24 comments

  • Nice article! I agree with all of this 🙂
    (And to answer your question about Flaxkit, flax is a plant fiber)

  • Nice article, although I would say that personally Violetshine should be higher on the list as she faced more dangers than some of the cats on this list. I have to disagree with the statement of Twigbranch being Dovewing 2.0, as both are their own unique and individual cats and Violetshine and Ivypool are very different as well. I’m just going to say that I think that Violetshine is way more braver than Ivypool, and that Twigbranch and Dovewing are brave too. For example, Violetshine was split from her sister at a young age, and being constantly ostracized/bullied by ShadowClan’s members at a very young age, something to go with her for a very long time. Then when Darktail takes over, she originally wants to stay with Rowanstar, Tawnypelt, and Tigerheart, but Needlepaw/tail basically says that if she leaves then she’ll be hurting her and this makes Violetpaw/shine feel guilty, so she stays (hence one reason why I think Needletail is quite manipulative towards Violetshine during AVoS). During this time, Violetshine is faced with savage rogues who could kill her if she makes a wrong move. After Dawnpelt and Rain’s death, this really hits home for Violetshine. She attempts to comfort Needletail after Rain’s death, although it isn’t too successful. Like you mentioned, Violetshine does put the poppy seeds in the prey for the Kin, risking her life for the Clans. In Darkest Night, she also goes on the patrol to help find the other SkyClan cats, which is also brave because she’s still an apprentice at this time and apprentices aren’t really considered to be helpful on missions like that. And through all of this, Violetshine hasn’t been completely destroyed by all the chaos in her early life and has even become somewhat of a motivational speaker for SkyClan in The Raging Storm. This is why I think Violetshine should be higher up on the list, higher than Ivypool. Sure, Ivypool risked her life in the Dark Forest to spy, but she didn’t give any actual information until she was forced to. That would be considered cowardly in my eyes. She agreed to spy on the DF for the Three, and she didn’t do her job properly. She purposely avoided talking to Jayfeather about it, and need I mention her behavior to Dovewing about something she couldn’t control? Despite her ‘spying efforts’, I can’t really see her as brave. There were other spies too, mentioned or not. Tigerheart was a spy for ShadowClan, and you can’t disprove that because there’s nothing that doesn’t prove he wasn’t spying too. Ivypool wasn’t the only cat who spied, and she wasn’t the only one who faced mortal danger each time they went to sleep.

    Both Twigbranch and Dovewing are brave in their own terms, but really, aren’t all cats in the Clans quite brave? They risk their lives fighting other cats over prey, territory, etc and they understand the fact that they could die any day of their lives. But back to Twigbranch and Dovewing. Twigbranch found SkyClan all on her own, and even if it was against Bramblestar’s orders, you have to admit it was pretty brave. Twigbranch didn’t have StarClan guiding her there or any other cat to help her (Unlike Firestar) and she found them and brought them back to the lake. Twice, after the events of The Raging Storm (she did lead a patrol there but she was a main lead in bringing them back). Not to mention that the first time, she was a mere apprentice. Now Dovewing is also brave as well. Dovewing went on the journey to unclog the beaver’s dam in The Fourth Apprentice as an apprentice (okay, there are similarities but they’re vastly different). If I remember correctly, the whole of ThunderClan was shocked that Dovewing would be going on the dangerous journey to who knows where, but she made it and pushed through the obstacles. Another part was when Dovewing went on the quest to help the Tribe of Rushing Water in Sign of the Moon, and faced the dangers of the mountains. She witnessed the nightmare of seeing a cat (who I can’t remember right now) being carried away by a hawk (I think) and had nightmares about it for a while because if I remember correctly, she blamed herself for that death. But, she pushed through it. Not to mention her in Tigerheart’s Shadow. Yes, her decision to leave was pretty stupid, but the visions she got because of Shadowkit could’ve been true as well. Something horrible could’ve happened if she stayed. But you have to admit that she was pretty brave to go off all on her own while pregnant with kits all the way to the Guardian Cat’s home. I won’t mention the journey back though. (Okay, I’m going to say the same for Tigerheart because that entire journey could’ve gone wrong in so many ways.) Either way, I think Twigbranch and Dovewing are quite brave and I do think they did better than Ivypool had done. (I’m pretty sure if Dovewing hadn’t had seen the beaver’s dam with her powers or if no one believed her, the Clans would’ve died off. That’s how important Dovewing was compared to Ivypool.)

    I will agree with Feathertail, Firestar, Bluestar, Rowanstar (I will never call him by his warrior name; he’s still a Clan leader in my eyes), Needletail, and Stonefur. Although I don’t really want Briarlight or Jayfeather to be reincarnated, because we really don’t need anymore drama like that and there are more serious issues with them that what we got with Cinderpelt/heart. (And I think that the newer names are really nice and creative. Traditional naming is stupid.) Nice article.

  • All of these cats, but i dont know who Mistfeather is, but he sounds very brave!
    Also, Brightpaw and Swiftpaw should be number one!!! And besides, Stonefur wasn’t that brave, really. Great cat though!
    I love your list!!!!

  • Now that I have read Crowfeather’s Trial, I’d probably put Breezepelt on here somewhere, seeing as he tried to fight about a hundred stoats on his own.

    • I have a crush on Gray’stripe! He should have been there! Read A Light in the Mist and you’ll know why.. {Silent crying because of Gray’Stripe dying}

  • I agree with pretty much all of these! I think Mistfeather deserves more recognition than he gets, he was very brave, even though he was just a background character! I’m also glad that Lionblaze isn’t on the list, because I agree that he really had nothing to be afraid of. The only thing I don’t know if I really agree with is Swiftpaw being brave; while what he did was probably scary, he was young and hot-headed. I don’t think that rash actions are brave. I would say Brightheart is brave though. 🙂 Great article! 😀

  • I have to say that this is a really good article. Although I would put Violetshine a bit higher because she is VERY brave. You did a good job!!

  • I love that you mentioned Sparrow Fur and Lightning Tail
    I feel like characters from the Dawn of the Clans arc are underrated

  • Yes, Lightningpaw. I have Stonefur as my second in the list. My first is Lightning Tail. Maybe I can do a list a week later! But I feel that CROOKEDSTAR should be in the tenth place. You can kick out MIstfeather if you want and put her in the HONOURABLE MENTIONS> She is the 56th in my long list of 250.

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