Mistheart provides a thorough analysis on Jayfeather
Introduction
So, many people love this grumpy medicine cat, while a very small group doesn’t seem to like him. In this article, I will be going in an in-depth look at Jayfeather, his personality, his quotes, his relationships, and what most people think about him. Then, I will tell you my honest opinion on Jayfeather and why so. Now, let’s get started!
Part 1 | The Simple Summary
Jayfeather was born as Jaykit to Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw alongside his sister, Hollykit, and his brother, Lionkit, and he was blind. He was apprenticed to Brightheart as Jaypaw, but StarClan soon decided that his path would be to become a medicine cat, not a warrior. They told him his destiny, and although he was frustrated that he had to give up his dream, he came to accept his true path and became an apprentice to Leafpool. Later on, a loner named Sol joins ThunderClan, and Firestar accepts him openly, but holds him prisoner once everyone finds out his dark intentions. However, Hollypaw sides with Sol and allows him to be set free, causing the rogue to join ShadowClan and manipulate their leader, Blackstar, into stopping his belief in StarClan. Of course, this was not good. So, Jaypaw, Hollypaw, Lionpaw, Flamepaw, and Dawnpaw make a plan, where they pretend to be StarClan voices inside ShadowClan territory and make Blackstar believe in StarClan again. Surprisingly, while their plan was finally at work, Raggedstar and Runningnose actually appear in front of Blackstar, and soon, ShadowClan believes in StarClan again. At the moment, the forest seems at peace, and Jaypaw later receives his medicine cat name as Jayfeather. After a while, the three ThunderClan siblings discover a prophecy about three cats with special powers, and they conclude that they are the cats. Jayfeather has the ability to sense emotions, and visit others in dreams. Lionblaze has the ability to have powerful fighting skills and be absolutely invincible in battle. Meanwhile, Hollyleaf’s power was never truly revealed, although she assumed that she had powers because of her intelligence and undying faith in the warrior code. Everything in the Clans seems fine at the moment, but it was not long until trouble came. Ashfur, who was seeking revenge for Squirrelflight’s rejection, threatened to kill her and her kits during a fire. Squirrelflight blurts out that the kits aren’t her kits, and this obviously shocks everyone. Soon, it is revealed by Hollyleaf that Leafpool and Crowfeather are the Three’s true parents. There’s not much to Jayfeather’s story until Omen of the Stars, the next arc. There, it is revealed that Firestar knew about the Three since the beginning, and that he was just waiting for the members to be confirmed. Jayfeather, along with Lionblaze and Dovepaw, tell him that they are the true Three. A long while later, just before the Great Battle, comes Jayfeather’s greatest role. While Ivypool spies on the Dark Forest to find out their plan to destroy the Clans, Jayfeather secretly visits her in a dream to make sure that she isn’t lying. Then, he sends Dovewing to try to find her way into the Dark Forest, as she has the power to see and hear things farther away than any other cat. Meanwhile, Lionblaze prepares himself to fight as well as he can, as he could lose his life in the Great Battle. A long while later after the Great Battle, Jayfeather soon gets an apprentice of his own, Alderpaw. He trains him to become a fine and compassionate medicine cat to serve his Clan. There’s not much about Jayfeather after the A Vision of Shadows series, except for the fact that he was briefly exiled from ThunderClan due to Bramblestar’s imposter, later revealed to be Ashfur.
Part 2 | Personality
Jayfeather encounters much character development throughout his main arcs. At the beginning, when he was a nursery kit who was almost ready to become an apprentice, he was shown as a brave, stubborn, and independent cat with a fierce passion to become a warrior of ThunderClan. Later, as an apprentice under the mentoring of Brightheart, he was seen as a grumpy, independent, and brave cat who still had a burning passion to become a warrior. As he gave way to become a medicine cat, Jayfeather became a grumpy, grouchy, and sharp-tongued cat, though he was shown multiple times to have a softer, kinder side, especially with friends and family. This was seen when Hollyleaf disappeared from the Clans, under the tunnels, when he was grieving. Later, he was filled with joy when her sister came back, alive and unharmed. As a mentor, he was often impatient with Alderpaw, despite caring about his apprentice very much. In conclusion, Jayfeather is a stubborn, grumpy, grouchy, impatient, and sharp-tongued cat with a more warm, compassionate side towards his loved ones.
Part 3 | Relationships
Half Moon – Half Moon is a white she-cat with green eyes, and is the only confirmed mate of Jayfeather. Their relationship started when Jaypaw was visiting the mountains and encountered Half Moon, and the two quickly fell in love at first sight, despite the fact that the real cat that Half Moon was looking for was Jay’s Wing, not Jaypaw. A while later, the two often met in secret with each other, as Jayfeather had the ability to visit others in dreams. However, their relationship stopped when Jayfeather realized two things. First, his loyalty was only to being a good medicine cat of ThunderClan, and therefore, he should not take a mate or have kits. Second, in order to fulfill the prophecy and save the Clans, his heart could not be with Half Moon, it should be with the Clans. It is currently unknown whether or not the two still have feelings for each other.
Briarlight – Briarlight is a dark brown she-cat, and is the famous patient of Jayfeather when her hind legs were crippled due to a falling tree. After this severe injury, Millie begged Jayfeather to save her disabled daughter, and he succeeded when he taught her how to move around and exercise so that her muscles wouldn’t grow weak. Although many people ship these two cats, some as friends and some as mates, it should be noted that the two never had any romantic feelings for each other.
Alderheart – Alderheart is a dark ginger tom with amber eyes, and he was the apprentice of Jayfeather who later became a full medicine cat of ThunderClan. At this point, the following ships will more or less be friendships, not true romantic relationships. So, their friendship started when Alderpaw was apprenticed to Molewhisker as a warrior, but Bramblestar insisted on training him to become a medicine cat under the mentoring of Jayfeather. As a medicine cat apprentice, Jayfeather was quite impatient and harsh on Alderpaw, although he still cared about him and helped him to become a fairly skillful medicine cat in the end.
Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw – Squirrelflight is a dark ginger she-cat with green eyes and one white paw, and Brambleclaw is a dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes. These two cats were the supposed parents of Jayfeather before the LeafCrow secret came out. When the secret was still in, Jayfeather loved his parents very much and always looked forward to seeing them during the day. However, when Hollyleaf revealed the truth, it took Jayfeather a long time to recover from the fact that his parents weren’t actually his parents, and that Leafpool and Crowfeather were. Soon, though, he managed to find his softer side and forgive his parents for lying to him his whole life.
Leafpool – Leafpool is a light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes, white paws, and a white chest. She is currently confirmed to be Jayfeather’s true mother, and she was his mentor when he was a medicine cat apprentice. As a medicine cat, Leafpool served her Clan well, though she fell in love with a WindClan cat and gave birth to his kits, one of which was Jayfeather. Jayfeather once had an insecure relationship with his mother, as he thought that she was forcing him to stop his dream, but she trained him well until he became a full medicine cat. When the LeafCrow secret was revealed, again, it took Jayfeather a while to recover from the fact that he was constantly being lied to, but he soon found his soft side and managed to forgive his true mother, even grieving for her when she died.
Part 4 | Quotes
Jayfeather to Briarlight: “There are no herbs that can take away memories. You just have to learn to live with them.”
The Forgotten Warrior, Page 9 – I found this a very wise and touching quote.
Bumblestripe about Jayfeather: “[Jayfeather] snapped at Hazeltail for getting in the way, hissed at Cherrypaw for trampling on Ferncloud’s moss and ordered Foxleap and Toadstep to fetch comfrey. So I guess he’s fine.”
The Last Hope, Pages 40-41 – This quote is downright hilarious. It’s hard not to laugh!
Midnight to Jayfeather: “When all cats have closed eyes, we gave the gift of sight to the cat who is blind. You see more than most, but look inside, too. See your own strength.”
The Last Hope, Page 127 – This quote makes Jayfeather’s backstory make so much more sense.
Jayfeather, to himself: This will not be the end of the Clans. As long as I have breath in my body, the Clans will be safe.”
The Forgotten Warrior, Page 204 – This is an interesting quote, given his usual snarky personality.
Part 5 | Majority’s Thought
Most people, as stated in the introduction, love Jayfeather to the point of him being everyone’s absolute favorite character. Why? Well, here’s the main reasons summarizes into a paragraph:
First, he’s a cute and grumpy character. Some people simply just don’t enjoy typical, clearly warm-hearted and loyal protagonists. They like protagonists that are truly kind and caring, but don’t always show it to the point that their thoughts are completely different from typical protagonists. Because of this, he is often seen as a very unique cat, but a well-thought-out choice as a protagonist. Other people love how he is so kind to his patients, such as Briarlight and Alderheart. Lastly, the other main reason that people love Jayfeather is because of his cute, well-developed relationship with Half Moon.
Part 6 | My Honest Opinion
I can just imagine all the criticism I will get for writing this article as though I loved Jayfeather, and now confirming that I felt just the opposite. I can just imagine getting hated and yelled at for simply not liking a popular character as much as everyone wants me to. However, this is my honest opinion of Jayfeather, and the truth is, I really don’t like him as much as you do, or as much as you want me to.
It’s not that I hate Jayfeather or anything, and I perfectly respect your opinion through and through. All I’m saying is that you can totally like or dislike him all you want, and I choose to dislike him. I believe that he was a very interesting character to me, but not enough to appeal so much that I would make him my favorite character. Please don’t hate me for this, and please don’t accuse me of being a bad person because of who I enjoy and who I don’t. Your list of favorite characters shouldn’t be used as a way to judge others. I may or may not become a bad person when I grow up, and I certainly want to be a good person, and it’s perfectly fine by me if you love Jayfeather or hate Jayfeather. Again, all I’m really saying is that I don’t see Jayfeather the way you see him.
Sometimes, reasons for liking or disliking a character may depend on specific canon books. Often, Hollyleaf-lovers are people who have read Hollyleaf’s Secret, which I consider her redemption arc. Many, many people will love Bramblestar in A Vision of Shadows, and then turn out to hate him after reading Squirrelflight’s Hope. It really depends on which kind of characters that you like and how much a character appeals to you.
For me, Jayfeather is not the best. Now, I won’t give you a full in-depth article about why I dislike him, but I’ll just give you some of my most basic reasons. First, he is grumpy, grouchy, and rude. This is most certainly a fact. Some people love Jayfeather because he is grumpy, but I honestly don’t like him because he is grumpy. If you were raised in a family that will absolutely kick you out for a night because you were very rude to them, you would likely have a glimpse of how I think about Jayfeather.
Of course, Jayfeather is a fictional character, but he’d be a terrible person in real life. He’s extremely grumpy, adds a negative view on the plot, is very harsh on his patients, very impatient on his apprentice, makes Brightheart guilty, and holds a grudge on Brambleclaw for things that he never did and never even knew about. How?
First, he’s grumpy. This doesn’t need to be explained, to be honest. When someone is grumpy and grouchy, it shows that they are being very rude to the person that they are speaking to. They believe that the world will end if they don’t get this result, and they are also being very disrespectful to whomever they’re speaking to, as they get frustrated over the slightest thing that doesn’t go their way, even if everyone around them has no control over what will happen. These kinds of grumpy characters often take the blame on others, and when they say something rude they often don’t mean it, but they say it anyway, which is why I don’t favor them over sweet characters.
Now, I know that everyone always has different perspectives of characters. For me, I prefer openly compassionate characters over grumpy ones. Yes, I understand that you may favor Jayfeather as one of your favorite characters, and I respect your opinion as well as your reasons, but again, all I’m doing is stating my opinion and why. Now, for these next reasons, I might get a bit carried off with my manner, but hopefully you’ll understand why I dislike Jayfeather.
Okay, back to my explanation. Now, I know that some of you love Jayfeather for being unique because not every character is grumpy, but I honestly don’t think about it that way. Two books before The Sight was Starlight, a book from Crowfeather’s point of view, and Crowfeather was very grumpy and sharp-tongued, just like his son. Also, I don’t think that grumpiness is the only form of having a unique character. A character who is gentle but sarcastic can be unique, and a fiery and energetic character such as Squirrelflight can also be unique. Believe it or not, a sweet and openly generous character can be unique. Basically, a unique character would be any character that is not typical of their kind. For example, if most characters are grumpy, then an openly kind character would be unique. If most characters are openly kind, then a grumpy character would be unique.
The next reason why I dislike Jayfeather is because he adds a negative view to the story. Think about “Lionblaze killing Russetfur” in two different perspectives. First, the positive perspective would be somewhat like Russetfur was literally on the merge of killing Firestar and ripping one of his nine lives from him without a second thought, and then Lionblaze heroically saved the day by pushing Russetfur off of Firestar, but Russetfur was such a weak villain that she died because of one push. Next, the negative perspective would be like a random ThunderClan apprentice caused a battle between two Clans, Firestar suddenly turned blind and allowed the battle to happen, Russetfur was literally about to kill Firestar, but then impulsive Lionblaze had to kill Russetfur with half-sheathed claws, and then ShadowClan lost the battle to a group a squirrel-eating mouse-brains.
Even if you paid only a little attention, you could realize the complete difference between a positive view and a negative view. Again, with the unique thing. Yes, I understand that you like Jayfeather because of his unique negative view, but I apparently dislike him because of his negative view. I get that both positive views and negative views let us see most of the story but twisted around a bit, I feel as though while positive views let us understand how an event happens in a good way, we also get the chance to understand or sympathize the antagonist, or try to figure out what the other side is thinking. Meanwhile, the negative view lets us see some of the more antagonistic parts of the event that the positive view had missed, but it also gives the readers a negative way of thinking about the event, as the narration itself is told in a negative view. This way, readers don’t get the chance to see event a hint of how the antagonists may think about the event, and they may also get confused about the events in the story, since they can’t tell which is the “good” negative event and which is the “bad” negative event, since both grumpy narrations and antagonist’s narrations are negative. This happened to me multiple times while I was reading Power of Three and Omen of the Stars, and I barely got any of the real story since two of the major protagonists (Jayfeather and Ivypool) were in negative scenes.
Okay, what I just said may have made zero complete sense, so let me try to sum it up. Basically, negative point of views are different from positive point of views, and I feel as though while positive point of views let you imagine more of the story in both good and bad scenes, negative point of views make all the scenes seem negative, and it’s a bit hard to tell the difference between the grumpy negative scene and the actual antagonistic negative scene. Now, while this happens to me a lot, this may not happen to you, which might be why I naturally dislike Jayfeather and you like Jayfeather.
The next reason why I dislike Jayfeather is because he is harsh on his patients. Well, he doesn’t wound them or make them suffer on purpose, what I mean is that he doesn’t make his instructions that well-spoken, and he blames his patients for not understanding. Now, again, I have not gotten the full story of Power of Three, so I may have missed some scenes where he was openly gentle, understanding, or compassionate towards his patients. However, the scenes that I have not missed were the ones where he did not make sure that his patients were comfortable with what he was about to do, and he blamed his patients for shifting around or letting out a cry of pain, when he himself did not have any sense of what his patients were going through.
The next reason why I dislike Jayfeather is because he is impatient with his apprentice, Alderpaw. In The Apprentice’s Quest, when Alderpaw was having trouble memorizing herbs the correct way, Jayfeather did not give him any tips, such as appearance or scent, to help him get the plants in his head. Later, when Alderpaw was having trouble with one of his first patients, Jayfeather scolded him instead of giving him tips or trying to help him know better the next time. He didn’t go “Oh, Alderpaw, chervil is a plant with small white flowers…” Instead, he went “Oh, Alderpaw, that’s chervil, not burnet. You have to remember this” or something like that. Yet, Jayfeather didn’t realize that when he was a medicine cat apprentice, he had trouble memorizing herbs, and he complained a lot, and he doesn’t even feel the slightest bit grateful that Alderpaw wasn’t complaining.
The next reason why I dislike Jayfeather is because he held a groundless grudge on Brightheart and made her guilty. Now, you might question me, why groundless? If you think about it hard enough, you may start to realize that practically the only reason why Jayfeather held a grudge on Brightheart was because she was half-blind. Yet, he doesn’t realize that he is fully blind, which meant that he’d be a hypocrite for hating Brightheart because she was half-blind. Okay, that might have been hard to understand, so lemme try to rephrase that. Basically, both Jayfeather and Brightheart are blind, and Jayfeather holds a grudge on Brightheart because she is blind, when he himself is also blind, making him a hypocrite.
Then, Jaypaw decides to sneak out of camp with Hollypaw and Lionpaw without telling their mentors, including Brightheart. When the three as well as Breezepaw and Heatherpaw get stuck in the flooding tunnels, Jaypaw automatically blames Brightheart for the incident, saying that she should’ve been watching over him. This is another sign of him being a hypocrite. Okay, let me get this straight. So, Jaypaw sneaks out of camp without telling Brightheart, and when he gets hurt, he blames Brightheart for not watching over him.
There are five very wrong things with this event. First, Jaypaw knows that he is inexperienced, so he should not be sneaking out of camp by himself, least of all not telling his mentor. Second, mentors cannot keep watch over their apprentices all the time. They still have to serve their Clan well with warrior duties, while teaching their apprentices the ways of Clan life. This, though, does not mean that a mentor should put their apprentice first over everything else. Third, how was Brightheart supposed to know that Jaypaw was out of camp, when he didn’t even tell her anything about the situation? Yet, Jaypaw still blames his mentor for not keeping an eye on him. Like I said, mentors cannot always be watching their apprentices, as apprentices need to learn a state of independence in order to become a warrior. Fourth, Jaypaw was not only being very hypocritical during this situation, he was also being too quick to blame someone else for the incident. Think about it. Jaypaw comes out of the tunnels, half-drowned, and the first cat he blames is his mentor, who a.) had no idea what was going on and b.) only wanted to do the best for her apprentice. Fifth, Jaypaw was giving a negative response to Brightheart’s adaptation. When Jayfeather was still a kit, as Jaykit, he didn’t like the fact that Brightheart was always fussing over him, as shown in Chapter 1 of The Sight. So, in response to Jaypaw’s groundless grudge on her for “fussing” over him, Brightheart stepped out of the way and let Jaypaw have a sense of independence. However, during this event, Jaypaw clearly shows that he was not ready for this change, as shown when he couldn’t even keep himself from sneaking out of camp and exploring the tunnels with his playful siblings. This completely ruins the point of Brightheart’s adaptation in the first place.
The next reason why I dislike Jayfeather is because he is very hypocritical and judgmental. Now, this doesn’t need to be explained as much, since I mentioned most of the supporting reasons above. First, how is Jayfeather hypocritical? Well, as stated above, he held a grudge on Brightheart because she was blind, when he himself was also blind. Later, Jaypaw sneaks out of camp without telling Brightheart, and then Brightheart for letting him get half-drowned, when Brightheart never knew in the first place. Sometime near the end of Power of Three, Jayfeather holds a grudge on Leafpool because she was in a cross-Clan relationship. However, in Omen of the Stars, Jayfeather breaks the warrior code by being in a cross-Clan relationship with Half Moon, and he is even willing to sacrifice his important role in the prophecy as well as the fate of the Clans just to maintain his cross-Clan relationship with her. Yet, Jayfeather never realizes or even recalls that he held a grudge on his own loving mother, Leafpool, because she was in a cross-Clan relationship. Later on, near the end of either Power of Three or Omen of the Stars, Jayfeather is treating the elder Mousefur, and Mousefur complains about something. Jayfeather becomes unsettled by her words, and then recalls that Mousefur was usually cranky and stubborn anyways, so he should only worry about her when she became nice and sweet.
I find two things wrong with this quick judgment of Jayfeather. First, you shouldn’t judge someone by their outside personality. In fact, in this scenario Jayfeather and Mousefur are actually quite comparable. Both are cranky and stubborn on the outside, while they have a glimpse of a warm and compassionate side on the inside. Yet, Jayfeather automatically assumes that, because Mousefur is usually cranky and stubborn, her personality is just cranky and stubborn all around and has nothing else to it. This is the wrong way of thinking, and it’s also where I find the second fault for this scenario, where Jayfeather himself is being a hypocrite. Think about what just happened. Jayfeather recalled that Mousefur was always cranky and stubborn anyways, so he should only worry for her when she becomes nice and sweet. Yet, Jayfeather doesn’t realize that Mousefur can have other personality traits than being cranky and stubborn. In fact, she did an excellent job of serving as a loyal warrior under the leadership of Bluestar. Jayfeather also doesn’t realize that he himself is also very cranky and stubborn, and is warm and compassionate on the inside. This means that, if Mousefur deserves to be treated like this, Jayfeather does too.
Now, this I must admit. Jayfeather isn’t completely hypocritical, and he isn’t completely judgmental. Just as a character’s personality can seem like one thing and be another, a character’s personality is also just never one trait. An evil character is never completely evil, and a wrong character is never always wrong. Perhaps… unless you count those absolutely insane villains!
Anyways, what I’m trying to say is, I respect your opinion if you love Jayfeather for his unique personality, and I understand that Jayfeather’s personality isn’t just completely grumpy, cranky, or stubborn. I understand that he has a softer and warmer side when you look at him more closely, but all I’m really stating is that he isn’t showing this warm side as much as I expect him to be.
Yes, I understand that some characters are just born to be villains, while some are born to be heroes. Meanwhile, some are born to start out with one personality, go through a huge character development, and end up on the other side of the road. Jayfeather is one of those characters.
When I first read The Sight, I must admit that I loved him as a character. He was strong and stubborn, with a sense of independence and with a sense to follow his heart. I honestly thought that he would end up as one of those Stormfur characters. Brave, strong, and loyal at heart. Compassionate to family and friends.
Of course, we don’t view Jayfeather with that personality now. Instead, we see him as a grumpy furball, which some fall in love with and some just don’t. The most odd thing is, though, how we ended up with this kind of character.
I have to admit, The Sight is officially the most disappointing book I’ve read.
Again, please don’t hate me for this. I know I’m trying to sound polite, and sometimes I just can’t. No, I don’t hate Jayfeather, but I don’t love him either. I know I’m saying this the fifth time but… please don’t hate me for this. I’ve heard from a recent article that the entire fandom will hate you if you even simply dislike Jayfeather. Sigh… I suppose that no one will ever see Jayfeather the way that some others do.
This whole article, all I’m trying to say is that Jayfeather doesn’t exactly appeal to me just as he might to you.
Part 7 | The Final Conclusion
Now, while I may not like Jayfeather as much as you do, I’ll try to sound unbiased in this little last part. Anyways, in case you might not have known, in this last section, I will be announcing the final conclusion. If you strongly like or dislike Jayfeather, you don’t have to agree with this! Tell me your thoughts in the comments below!
So, given from the past examinations of Jayfeather, I have made my final conclusion. As a combination of what others think and what I think, I believe that Jayfeather should be rated a… like!!!
Now, in case you have no idea of what I just said, I normally rate characters on a dislike-like scale. From least to greatest, the order is strong dislike, dislike, neutral dislike, absolute neutral, neutral like, like, and strong like. Despite the fact that I would honestly rate Jayfeather a neutral dislike, I have to admit, perhaps I may have missed something. Perhaps, I may have missed multiple scenes where Jayfeather was a warm-hearted, wonderful character… though I highly doubt that! However, since I practically skimmed through Power of Three, I actually do have around a 30% chance of missing an important event.
Now, while you may hate or love this article, I probably won’t change my mind. However, I will try to understand your opinion on Jayfeather. My first guess is that you’ll try to defend his grumpy personality or his sharp tongue, and I get why!
Hope you enjoy this article, and hope this little piece of writing made you think more on Jayfeather. ~ Cloudy
You’re kinds right, but also a bit wrong because the whole Brightheart thing, I think Jayfeather was just annoyed that his littermates got to explore the territory and he has to do chores… Also I sympathise with him because I know Brightheart isn’t a bad mentor, but may have felt he wasn’t being taken seriously. So in conclusion I completely understand why Jayfeather thought like he did, and that is right of him, but taking it out on Brightheart is wrong.
Also he was young. He gets better.
Indigostorm of ThunderClan
I respect ur opinion on jayfeather I like him but he’s not my favorite