Shatteredmask shares their thoughts on Brackenfur and his role in the series.
Hi! I am Shatteredmask. This is my first article with my new name, soooooooooo…
SPOILERS FOR AVoS, MAPLESHADEโS VENGEANCE, CROOKEDSTARโS PROMISE AND YELLOWFANGโS SECRET!
This is about Brackenfur, who I’ve really never thought about before. Lots of people say he’s a ‘patrol guy’ (nun uh, that position’s taken by Thornclaw) and that he’s a background character. I don’t disagree with these statements, but I do believe he could have been so much more. He could have been evil, or a really interesting character. Iโll tell you why.
First, letโs examine some of the evil catsโ motives.
Tigerstar – bad mentoring, absent parenting
Mapleshade – vengeance for the ones she loved
Brokenstar – bullied, absent parenting
Sleekwhisker – blamed someone for her loved onesโ losses
One Eye – bad kithood (apparently. It says in The Blazing Star, โif One Eye had been that easy to kill, heโd never have survived kithood.โ)
Darktail – absent parenting, bad kithood
Now letโs examine Brackenfurโs life.
Brackenfur was captured by Clawface when he was a kit (One Eye, Darktail). Then, he was apprenticed young and his mentor, Greystripe, didnโt mentor him properly as he was too interested in his forbidden girlfriend (Tigerstar). His sister, Cinderpaw, was run over by a monster because SOMEONE didnโt stop her (Sleekwhisker, Mapleshade). He has all the traits for someone evil, and he has all the reasons too. It would make so much more sense for Brackenfur to have helped Hawkfrost kill Firestar than, out of the blue, just shove Ashfur randomly in there so that you can see heโs got a bit of evil in him.
At least Brackenfur has a reason to kill Firestar. Firestar let his sister get run over by a monster, while Ashfurโs reason is that heโs angry with Firestarโs daughter and Firestarโs enemyโs son.
Or, if heโs not evil, at least let him be targeted a bit. I will explain.
Hawkfrost and Mapleshadeโs technique to get cats to join or to train with the DF was to idk the word, like, talk about their targetโs weaknesses. Do you know what I mean? Like, Mapleshade targeted Crookedstar because of his injury, Hawkfrost targeted Ivypool because of her jealousy, he targeted Blossomfall because of her jealousy and Hollowflight because of him being bullied.
Brackenfur has had pretty much all of these things happen to him, yet he wasnโt recruited. Why?
Oh, thatโs right, because YOU MADE HIM A BACKGROUND CHARACTER ERIN HUNTER AND IF HE WAS RECRUITED, EVERYONE WOULD BE LIKE, โUH, WHOโS THIS DUDE?โ
Okay, sorry about that.
Thank you for reading! Hope it changed your mind about โthe patrol guyโ!
Thornclaw is the patrol guy. Period. Also if you want to go get bored out of your mind go find Brackenfur. He’ll help you. Interesting article! ๐
Thornclaw is the REAL PATROL GUY
also I don’t think Brackenfur is necessarily the type to become evil.
yeah but it would be cool if he was
honestly I and a lot of my friends have some of our characters being backround characters. (My friend was so upset when Runningnose died)
I never thought of Brackenfur ever being evil, he seemed more of the loyal deputy type to me. But the article was interesting to read, and you made some good points there!
Bracken is not evil no no no no no no no no no
Brackenfur is actually more well known as Sorreltail’s mate and Cinderpelt’s sister.
Brackenfur wouldn’t kill Firestar, his own mentor. He’s just not the type to be evil, he doesn’t have the personality for it. Or much personality at all, but still.
This is perfect! Brackenfur has been through so much pain and hardship, and he has always remained good a pure. I think he would have made an amazing villain or an amazing leader. But ERIN HUNTER DECIDED TO MAKE HIM A BACKGROUND CHARACTER. (Sorry XD) I love Brackenfur he needs more recognition!!
yes, but Brackenpaw couldn’t have blamed Fireheart, Fireheart just told Cinderpaw not to go, but she did anyway.