![[Mapleshade lying down as she bleeds from a wound, saying "Leave me alone. I don't need anyone."]](https://blogclan.katecary.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Mapleshade-740x555.jpg)
Fan ArticlesLilykit shares why they think Mapleshade isn’t evil.
Mapleshade doesnโt belong in The Place Of No Stars! Sure she killed a lot of cats but it isnโt really her fault.
She loved Appledusk, who left her for Reedshine when others found out about their relationship. Her kits died in the river and was exiled from ThunderClan. Graystripe was never exiled. Leafpool was never exiled. Yellowfang wasnโt exiled. Well, not for having kits.
She killed Ravenwing, Frecklewish and Appledusk because she had a reason to.
Ravenwing: He told the clan that Mapleshadeโs kits are half-clan and that helps her get exiled. I agree that heโs the cause of her having to try to go to RiverClan.
Appledusk: She has his kits and then he blames her for their death! THEN he denies Mapleshadeโs love and then he has kits with Reedshine!
โYou told me you loved me! I went through the agony of bearing your kits! And then you treat me worse than prey. You will regret this, Appledusk. That is my last promise to you.โ – Mapleshade to Appledusk Mapleshadeโs Vengeance , page 53
Frecklewish: There wasnโt much of a reason she had to kill her but Frecklewish did refuse to help her when she was exiled from ThunderClan.
When Mapleshade died and her spirit was in the Dark Forest, she started to think thatโs how she could take revenge on the clans which made her evil.
โMapleshade– sheโs a really old Dark Forest cat, and all of the others seemed afraid of her, even Tigerstar.โ Ivypool to Dovewing about Mapleshade Sign of the Moon , Page 84
EVEN TIGERSTAR?! Thatโs when you know a cat is just pure evil! BUT ThunderClan back then threw her as a โcode-breakerโ out of the clan, then she was heading to RiverClan but her kits died and Appledusk rejected her and blamed Petalkit, Perchkit and Patchkitโs death on her! Poor Mapleshade! And sure, she was killed by an apprentice but she was trying to kill a very evil Appledusk WHICH SHE DID!
โCan you imagine what it feels like? To be rejected twice? To be a loner, when all you tried to do. . . was love?โ – Mapleshade in Crookedstarโs Promise
Ashfur! He (what i know of) heโs in StarClan! He planned to kill three of his Clanmates to make the other suffer but it ended up both Squirrelflight and Leafpool suffering the truth and Lionblaze, Hollyleaf and Jayfeather trying to figure out what to do with their lives know that they know theyโre half-clan and kits of a medicine cat. Bramblestar also hated Squirrelflight which is part of her misery and Crowfeeather upset his clan. Ashfur in StarClan. (Iโm only on A Vision Of Shadows so please donโt correct me on Ashfur being in StarClan If heโs not.) Mapleshade did about the same and she is in the Dark Forest.
Birchfoot![[an orange tabby stretches comfortably beside a pillow as they're petted by their owner]](https://blogclan.katecary.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/owner-petting-adorable-cat-scaled-385x300.jpg)
Embers of an Autumn Dawn | Emberdawn![[an orange cat crouches atop newspapers strewn across the floor]](https://blogclan.katecary.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cat-newspaper-385x300.jpg)
Goldenfawn
โงหยฐ๐พโหโก pineblossom (she/her) ๐ฆข๐ซ๐ฉฐ ainโt life just awfully strange? ๐จ๏ธ๐งธ๐ฏ๏ธmentor to skyshimmer! ๐ฒโโด๏ธห๏ฝกโ![[a close-up portrait of Rowanclaw stalking while the sun is low in the sky]](https://blogclan.katecary.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rowanclaw.FG-8.webp)
![[Honeyfern and Poppyfrost listen to Berrynose as he animatedly talks to them]](https://blogclan.katecary.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/chill_by_tusofsky_dbruado-fullview-385x300.jpg)
Well, I still do believe she was evil, even if it wasnโt her fault. There were other plans of action that she couldโve done, but great article.
Have to politely disagree :> Mapleshade is a villain, she deserved her place in the place of no stars, even if it wasnโt entirely her fault she still killed innocent cats.
Again no shade ^w^ Great article btw!
To the Mapleshade haters who say there were bridges she could’ve crossed, I just noticed something. The river was flooding in a bad storm, so who’s to say the bridges didn’t flood, too? Just a thought…
It might’ve been, but the bridges are definitely safer than the river
My excuse for Mapleshade is that she wasn’t evil she was insane
Well, she definitely went insane after her kits died, but you really canโt pin the blame on her insanity.
Even thought it wasn’t her fault, I still really hate Mapleshade
funny she’s my fave villain
Same!
Great article! If I remember correctly, Frecklewish also watched on while Mapleshadeโs kits died, so she definitely had a reason to be killed :>
So, you’re saying someone who didn’t do anything except watch on while Mapleshade’s kits drowned (which was Mapleshade’s own fault btw) deserves to die? That’s kinda harsh.
Not Fernpaw but here’s my thoughts–
Frecklewish deserves a punishment of some sort because she watched kits die. She broke the code herself and in one of the worst possible ways. In my opinion, she deserves a title as a villain or at least an antagonist in this story for her actions.
I think she ended up in the Dark Forest because when she was alive what she did was seen as a lot worse than if she was in the modern day Clans. But I agree, she didn’t deserve it. I even have an OC based on her named Shellmist. Shellmist had kits fathered by a rogue, and she died before they were even born. Her motive was getting revenge on Flynight by kicking him out of the forest after taking control. She also wanted to avenge the death of her mother, but forgot after she became a warrior.
Everyone who Mapleshade killed sucked, but the way mapleshade reacted, by killing them, was worse.
Ashfur rules the dark forest (as of right now)
Mapleshade is my FAVORITE character!!! I totally agree with you.
ya ppl still blame insane villains but they are mentally off, they can’t help it!!!!!!!! Sure maple killing those cats is wrong but how do you know those hallucinations weren’t real? plus she wasn’t thinking straight how do you expect her to fix it if everyone tortures and bullies her mentally?!?!?!?!?
Villains who have mental illnesses or are suggested to have one are always a grey zone in today’s media. There is a terrible stereotype that people who have or suffer from specific mental illnesses are more prone to violence, leading them to be cast into villainous roles, and this stereotype is not true. It’s not hard to see why it gets used a lot, because audiences are more likely to believe that stereotype and think that only someone who is deranged or has something “wrong” with them is capable of doing terrible acts and thinking that they’re justified for them, and it gives writers opportunities to make audiences sympathize with the villains and forgive them because they’re not “thinking straight”. People can live with mental illnesses and not end up behind prison bars, and it’s not fair of us to continue perpetuating a stereotype that suggests that they will.
Officially, by the letter of the law, people with mental illnesses can still be prosecuted. Pleading not guilty by reason of insanity is very, very rarely successful, and the most common point that lawyers try to argue for their clients is that their client was unable to distinguish right from wrong when they committed the crime. There are mental illnesses whose symptoms can cause people to fail to distinguish right from wrong, but it’s more likely that Mapleshade would not be found innocent at all by any country’s laws. Mapleshade wasn’t thinking right, yes, and we pity her because she was hallucinating about her dead kits, but it doesn’t seem like she was genuinely confused about whether killing someone was wrong. She knew that killing cats was not something that is morally right, but she chose to ignore that anyway in order to avenge her kits.