Let’s Talk About: Rainflower by Glitchfang

Glitchfang examines Rainflower’s actions throughout her life. Does she deserve her bad reputation?

PROLOGUE
Hello BlogClan! Glitch here with my very first fan article! In today’s article, we’ll be talking about Warriors’ most infamous mother, Rainflower, all the mistakes she made, and the three reasons why she is so hated and despised by the fans.

CHARACTER BIO
For all of those who are new to Warriors, Rainflower is Crookedstar and Oakheart’s mother. her mate is the RiverClan deputy Shellheart and her current residence is the equivalent of cat-heave, StarClan. At first glance, Rainflower is the stereotypical Warriors queen – she is loving and motherly towards her kits, yet fiercely protective and proud of them at the same time. But when we read on in Crookedstar’s Promise, we see that there is more to her that meets the eye.

RAINFLOWER’S MISTAKES
Rainflower made a lot of mistakes. So many that she has turned up that she has turned up to be one of the most hated cats in the fandom, frequently appearing on Top 10 lists for Most Hated/Evil Cats in Warriors, and topping polls for Worst Mother in Warriors. She has a ton of stigma attributed to her, but what exactly did she do?

Firstly, Rainflower seemed proud and headstrong. She doesn’t change her opinions or views easily, and she tends to be prejudiced. This comes into play especially when Crookedstar, then Stormkit, breaks his jaw on the stepping-stones after being chased by the ThunderClan medicine cat Goosefeather. She immediately sees Stormkit as a disfigured freak, and a host of bad things happen afterwards. Rainflower begins to favor Oakkit in front of Stormkit, she specially requests Hailstar to change Stormkit’s name from Stormkit to Crookedkit to forever remind her own son about his disfiguration, she makes a seperate nest for Crookedkit to sleep in, specially requests Hailstar AGAIN for Shellheart to mentor Oakkit despite the fact that family seldom mentors family, the list goes on.

Secondly, it’s worthy to take note that Rainflower’s actions were so horrid that she managed to drive her own son away from his own home. You know it’s serious when your own son begins to question himself and wants to run away. Rainflower’s demeanour towards Crookedstar took a 180 degree turn from what it used to be just because he broke his own jaw. This is a sign of supreme prejudice and hated. Towards family.

Finally Shellheart, who evidently loved Rainflower very much (shown in the Prologue of Crookedstar’s Promise), decided to stop being mates with Rainflower because of Rainflower’s actions. And Rainflower didn’t show a sliver of remorse. She openly criticized and dissed Crookedstar even in important moments of his life in favor of Oakheart. Examples include Oakheart and Crookedstar’s apprentice ceremonies, and the two brothers’ warrior ceremonies.

This seems like a lot. Because it is. And I definitely think she deserves all this hate. But for all those staunch Rainflower supporters out there (if they even exist), in the next section I’ll be explaining the three main reasons why Rainflower is so hated.

THE THREE REASONS
1. Rainflower didn’t show remorse for her acts. She attended Crookedstar’s leadership ceremony but didn’t give a life, or even step out. It’s still unknown whether she and Crookedstar patched things up, and frankly I don’t think so.

2. Rainflower’s actions were plain cold and callous. She didn’t care about Crookedstar’s feelings. She was openly biased and rude.

3. Rainflower was just a terrible mother in general. From start to finish. What kind of a mother allows her kits to get into mortal danger and then make up excuses for them afterwards, to make them think what they did was okay? Technically she gave Crookedstar his bravado and caused his accident indirectly.

MY THOUGHTS
Finally it’s time for my own thoughts on this issue. I think Rainflower was truly a terrible mother, but I also think she wasn’t very well-written. What was her reasons for becoming so vile and evil towards Crookedstar? Where did all her hate stem from? Why was her personality and overall parenting style like this? She was a supremely underdeveloped character that only played the role of the ‘evil mother’. Perhaps if the Erins fleshed out her backstory a litle more, we would see Rainflower in a different limelight (totally not advocating for a Rainflower novella!). But for now, she still stays strong on the fandom’s hate list.

EPILOGUE
And that’s it for my first blog (my fingers hurt). What are your thoughts on Rainflower? Does she deserve all the hate? Share them in the comments below! Have a nice day! Byeee -w-