Top 15 Warrior Cats Girlbosses by Wollow

Wollow ranks some girlbosses in the Warriors series

Hello, readers. Today we will be discussing a very important topic to consider when analyzing Warrior Cats – who are the biggest Girlbosses in Warriors history? I don’t remember any of the books that take place after The Last Hope well enough to include any characters from those series, but I will take into account pre-existing cats’ behavior in the following books by reading the Warriors Wiki. (Dawn of the Clans will be included.) Spoilers for pretty much all of the books will follow.

First, a preface. To rank the Girlbosses of Warrior Cats, we must first thoroughly understand what makes a Girlboss. Of course, there are the personality traits – confidence, ambition, stubbornness, strength, independence, and so on. These things all immediately come to mind when the holy word is spoken into the world; they are a Boss Lady’s second-most important assets.

However, while just those things can catapult someone into mid-tier Girlbossness, character alone will only get a Girlboss so far. Something more is needed to allow a she-cat to ascend into True Boss territory, and that something is action. Those on the highest ranks of this list have proven that they will do whatever it takes to achieve their goals. By “what it takes”, of course, I specifically mean murder.

Now that the traits of a Girlboss are thoroughly outlined for you readers to see, it is time to begin the battle. May the best Girlboss win.

Number Fifteen: Spottedleaf Warrior Cats
Spottedleaf is a difficult cat to rank on this list because of the nature of her role in the series. In her living appearances, she is a soft-spoken medicine cat who heals wounds and communicates with StarClan, and while her work is important, it is not the most Girlboss of jobs compared to leader or deputy. A boss should be in charge! A boss should fight! And unfortunately, Spottedleaf could not hold her own in battle. Dying is also not very Girlboss.

However, what earns her a place on this list is that her story doesn’t end there. Spottedleaf defies death, not by staying alive but by staying in the hair (fur?) of the living; this literal bossing around checks off a few traits on the Grand Girlboss list.

Of course, seeing as she’s only number 15, there are caveats. Spottedleaf remains kind, which sucks Girlboss-wise, and she’s never very independent; her influence in the story is restricted to what she can convince others to do, and not quite in the manager sense. Her second death is also pretty damaging – true Girlbosses don’t die. While she’s eaten plenty of the small Girlboss fish to make it onto this list, there’s always a bigger one.

14. Moth Flight
Number fourteen on this list is another medicine cat – in fact, the first medicine cat. A #girlboss should always be #trailblazing, and inventing a brand new job to proclaim yourself the Boss of is enough to bring Moth Flight up to this point. She is generally proactive and independent in her actions (she’s even the main character of an entire book), but this is where the Bossness ends.

The invention of the rule that medicine cats can’t have kits isn’t great, but other than that there’s nothing in particular that really knocks Moth Flight down. She checks off a decent few of the traits; it’s just that all the following Girlbosses go further.

13. Windstar (Wind Runner)
Another leader! This is where the girlboss competition gets difficult – I would say that anyone beyond this point is a great example of a Girlboss. Windstar is a determined, independent, and confident she-cat. Her personality is a great example of a Girlboss and her actions check the boxes decently as well – starting a brand new Clan to be the leader of, fighting to protect her malewife and kids, and so on. Pretty much every line of her Warriors Wiki page lists a different member of the Core Family of Girlboss Characteristics. There’s not much else to say other than that she’s a solid display of what we want on this list.

12. Sandstorm
There is one True Motto that any type of Boss Lady should seek to live by. Adherence to this philosophy is perhaps the most important criterion in finding a Girlboss, but I have not revealed it up until now because I would not want to reveal secrets to just any casual reader. By making it to this point, you have proven that you are worthy of the knowledge of Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss.

Sandstorm may not be the first on this list, but she is a great example of a cat who fulfils each part of this slogan. Her behavior in Into the Wind exemplifies especially the spirit of Gatekeeping. She dislikes Firepaw because he isn’t “truly part of ThunderClan”, literally attempting to close the gates of the Clan to him.

In later books, she Girlbosses by acting along Firestar to help lead and guide the Clan, though she tends to lose the spirit of Gaslight/Gatekeep along the way, which is disappointing. That, along with the fact that she never held an official title in the Clan, brings her down a few places on this list. While she was respected, you can’t be a True Boss without the position and salary; being the leader’s mate doesn’t quite cut it. Also, she died to a fence.

11. Leafstar
“It’s not right that she-cat leaders should have all the responsibilities of leading a Clan…and all the responsibilities of raising kits! But…right or not…I’m going to do it. I’m going to to both jobs. I’m going to do them well. And I’d like to see a tom try to keep up with me.”

Leafstar has some excellent Girlboss Moments. She’s not a perfect fit for the classic ambitious, confident personality model – she was selected as leader for being ‘calm’ and ‘understanding’ and initially tried to refuse the position – but she makes up for it with her behavior (and, of course, the line above). Overall, she’s absolutely a girl and a boss, but her Girlbossness is situational and tends to only occasionally show itself, though the moments where it does are very strong.

10. Squirrelflight
Squirrelflight is The New Prophecy’s Sandstorm. While she doesn’t exhibit as much gatekeeping as her mother, she more than makes up for it; I would say she’s one of the strongest gaslighters on this list given her lies in Power of Three, and her position as deputy absolutely qualifies as ‘a Boss’.

As with all the cats on this list at this point, Squirrelflight has the essential confident and ambitious personality traits, but she’s also got the title to back it up. The cats of the Clan respect her, she’s not afraid to speak out against Bramblestar (even if he is the leader) and she apparently leads a bunch of cats into battle, which is absolutely Boss behavior.

If I can make any critique of her Girlbossiness, it would be her relationship to Bramblestar and her overly-strong moral compass. I don’t intend to imply that she wouldn’t be the deputy were she not mates with the leader – she absolutely deserves the position and has proven herself time and time again – but she’d be even stronger of a Girlboss without that tie to him.

The second issue is that concern for others’ emotions. While the “they are not my kits” scene was absolutely Girlboss behavior, she ruins it later on by admitting she does actually care about Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf :/ A True Girlboss would be more evil.

9. Mistystar
What is there to say about Mistystar that isn’t already obvious? She is a Girlboss and she is a warrior and she is never going to die. When she closes RiverClan borders in A Vision of Shadows? Gatekeeping. She should commit more crimes, but that’s about it for shortcomings.

8. Star Flower
Speaking of crimes, Star Flower! She’s the opposite of Mistystar and Squirrelflight in that she has many of the actions of a Girlboss but not as much of the personality. Her ambition isn’t as standalone as the True Ideal, since as far as I remember a lot of her motivation came from her father, but it’s refreshing to see someone on this list with less of a moral compass.

7. Bluestar
Bluestar was truly dedicated to the Girlboss lifestyle. She gave up her kids for her career as deputy and later leader. Unfortunately, she suffers from the same issue as one of said children, Mistystar – she’s simply not ruthless enough. Her behavior beginning in A Dangerous Path is a good step forward; she turns against heaven, following in the footsteps of the first Girlboss, Eve, but it’s all undone as soon as she dies and goes to StarClan. Disappointing, but she still earns a place high up on the list.

6. Yellowfang
While I’ve said earlier in this article that the job of medicine cat isn’t very Girlboss, Yellowfang is absolutely an exception. Of course, there’s the fact that she was a warrior first, so she was easily able to hold her own in battle, but even discounting that her actions show that she truly fits the model of Girlboss.

One of the most notable instances of Boss Behavior is when she killed her son Brokenstar. Yellowfang was willing to do what was needed to achieve her goals, even if it involved murder, which is a trait that many of the cats earlier on this list struggled with. In StarClan, she absolutely acts like a boss toward the other cats and lies to Squirrelflight about her infertility, fulfilling the “Gaslight” clause of Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss.

Dying of smoke inhalation is a little bit cringe, as is her attitude toward Ashfur, but other than that she’s a great Girlboss.

5. Shadowstar (Tall Shadow)
Shadowstar is the second Clan founder on this list and she is here for a good reason. Her personality is a perfect fit for the Girlboss mold. Many of the cats earlier on this list have either confidence/ambition or ruthlessness – she has both, easily. Her Warriors Wiki describes her as “[not] hesitant to kill in order to survive” and her murder of Fircone was absolutely Girlboss. Points off for killing someone in battle instead of in cold blood, but impressive nonetheless.

And, of course, she was a Boss throughout her whole life, leading both the Sun Trail group and eventually ShadowClan. She was second to nobody, and though she was the first original leader to die she did so in battle, fighting for her goals. What a Girlboss.

4. Leopardstar
Ruthless. Ambitious. Strong. Leopardstar is a Girlboss through and through, both in personality and action. She did whatever it took to defend herself and her Clan until the end, whether that was joining TigerClan, joining LionClan, or claiming the entire lake as territory. She truly acted in pursuit of her own goals, not of any kind of silly idea of “right” or “wrong”. Incredible Girlbossiness from her.

3. Ivypool
I’m sure you all knew this was coming. Ivypool trained in the Place of No Stars under the mentorship of one of the greatest Girlbosses of all time (more on that coming up soon) and later became a Boss herself, training Dark Forest apprentices of her own in a way that reflects climbing the Managerial Ranks. She murdered Antpelt in a show of Girl Power, though it was on someone else’s orders.

That alone is enough to catapult her into a high slot on this list, but she was more than just a follower of those that came before her. Ivypool’s eventual betrayal of the Dark Forest wasn’t a betrayal of the Girlboss values she was taught, it was a continuation of those principles. She broke free and made a name for herself as a Strong, Independent Cat and found herself a malewife to boot. Ivypool is a perfect example of a Girlboss.

2. Hollyleaf
Hollyleaf was the Ivypool before Ivypool. Even when she was a kit, this Born Girlboss was ordering around her siblings and the cats around her. Assertive, confident, ambitious. In perhaps her strongest show of Girlbossity, she murdered Ashfur and took control of the narrative Herself, revealing Squirrelflight’s secret at the Gathering. Feminism is when you kill people, and the more people you kill the feminisiter it is. She took a malewife, Fallen Leaves, but eventually left him behind to go be even more Girlboss in the Great Battle. The Girlboss to End Almost All Other Girlbosses. Almost.

Honorable Mentions:
Hopekit, Dovewing, and Mousefur

1. Mapleshade
How could anyone else be picked as the Number One Warrior Cats Girlboss? Mapleshade was the first of them all, the Mother Girlboss to Ivypool. If Hollyleaf is feminist for committing one murder, Mapleshade is even more feminist for committing four. We all know her story, we all know who she is, and that is a Girlboss.