Onestar: Terrible, or Misunderstood? by Brambleheart

Brambleheart examines Onestar’s character

Hey everyone! It’s been a long while since my last article, but I’m back at it again, with a new article about Onestar! I hope you enjoy!

Onestar has had one of the most controversial leaderships in all of Warriors history, From letting ShadowClan suffer to sickness to causing a 4-Clan battle, there’s a lot of things for people to hate about Onestar’s leadership. But there is a story behind what he’s done: a hidden story it may be, but it’s there, waiting to be told.

(Note: This article isn’t defending Onestar, but explaining his actions.

It all started in Starlight. As you may know, Onewhisker became leader due to a very last minute decision on Tallstar’s part. Tallstar appointed Onewhisker upon his deathbed to replace Mudclaw as deputy, as Tallstar thought that the latter would make a violent leader. The only other cats to witness this impromptu ceremony were Firestar and Brambleclaw, and naturally the clans (and Mudclaw) were surprised to hear that WindClan had a brand new leader with barely any leadership experience. Even after StarClan willed this decision by killing Mudclaw with a tree to end WindClan’s civil war, which was caused by this exact conflict, many cats doubted Onestar’s athourity as WindClan’s new leader.

This didn’t stop Onestar. He knew that the 100% guaranteed way to gain athourity and respect as a leader was to defeat ThunderClan, the strongest Clan, in battle. So, he found every opportunity to start a battle. Border skirmish? Battle. Stolen kits? War. These constant attacks, in Onestar’s eyes, were one step closer to asserting dominance as a leader.

Eventually Onestar had enough of ThunderClan solving the problems and avoiding battle. So, in Eclipse, after gaining RiverClan as an ally, the two Clans raided ThunderClan’s camp. It was two clans against one. ThunderClan’s chances of winning were becoming slim, which was what Onestar wanted, but then ShadowClan joined the battle, fighting on ThunderClan’s side. But due to the sudden surprise that was the eclipse, the battle ended with no winner.

Onestar’s pride in WindClan was also the reason why he denied ThunderClan’s offer of help when stoats were threatening to kill WindClan’s warriors. It took Crowfeather going behind Onestar’s back to actually get WindClan the help it needed.

Also, in the Great Battle, Onestar’s littermate Ashfoot was killed. The only family he had left were Whitetail, his mate; and Heathertail, his only daughter. Heathertail had a crush on Breezepelt and the two really wanted to be mates. Onestar wanted what was best for his daughter, which was to become Breezepelt’s mate, but is she did she would be judged because Breezepelt was a former trainee of the Dark Forest. So, Onestar started glorifying “loyalty” which in his eyes meant not challenging him. Breezepelt did just that, due to his shyness after being judged so harshly. Onestar glorified him, saying that the past belongs in the past.

Another time Onestar went on one of these tangions was Darktail. Back in the Old Forest, Onestar became mates with a kittypet names Smoke, who had Darktail. By doing this, Onestar broke the Warrior Code and betrayed his Clan. He tried to convince himself that he was a loyal leader who put the past behing him, which led to his tangions.

Things only got worse in Onestar’s time as leader when Darktail came to the lake. Onestar was trying to hide the truth of his disloyalty, which definitely stressed him out. This made him act as a less stable leader than usual. Onestar wanted Darktail GONE, and wouldn’t let ShadowClan take him in. In Shattered Sky, though, Onestar knew that he had to reveal the truth to the Clans, so he did. Onestar realized how much of a jerk he was being, and decided to redeem himself and to make things right by sacrificing himself to kill Darktail, saving the Clans but drowning in the process.

So, Onestar might have been quite a bit of a jerk, but that didn’t stop him from putting a right to the wrongs he made and sacrificing himself. I hope you enjoyed this article, and have a great rest of your day!!