Villains: Cats to Admire (Not Defend) by Mistheart

Mistheart shares their opinion on the status of villains in the series.

Hello! Mistheart here, but you can call me Cloudy. In this article, another copy and paste from my Wattpad version (yeah, I’m Nightshadow over there), I will be explaining why villains are cats to admire, but not defend. Hope you enjoy!

Hello, Nightshadow here with her third article on Why Everything is Totally Normal in Warriors. In this section, I will be explaining why villains are cats to admire, not defend. Now, if you read Warriors for enjoyment and put every villain on your least favorite characters list, like me, then villains might not be here to admire. However, if you enjoy the prospect of having ambitious, cruel villains like Tigerstar to dramatize the plot, then villains are cats to admire.

Despite this, I’ve read several articles trying to justify cats like Mapleshade and Scourge and their actions because of their dramatic, tragic backstories. Now, before I begin, I want to clarify some things. First, what is a villain?

According to Google, a villain is (in a film, novel, or play) a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot
According to Google, a villain is (in a film, novel, or play) a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot. Now, with this in mind, it should be clear that villains are evil and should not be meant to be justified in any way (except for fun, through true redemption series, such as Longtail), as most of their actions can be explained through redemption arcs or point of views but cannot be truly justified.

How can we tell this? Think about, say, Tigerstar. Although nobody really tries to justify him due to his terrible actions and lack of any explanation… Wait, let’s stop there for a moment.

In terms of defense articles for villains, cats like Tigerstar and Ashfur typically don’t have one as their evil actions are extremely influencing the life of Clans and that they have a lack of a strong explanation for their actions. Meanwhile, cats like Mapleshade and Scourge are fairly minor villains and have strong, tragic backstories clearly explained through lengthy books and dramatic point of views, like Mapleshade’s Vengeance and The Rise of Scourge.

Being honest, no villain should actually try to be justified unless for fun. Mapleshade, Scourge, Tigerstar, Thistleclaw, Ashfur… although all may have different motives and commit different actions, they all have the same motives to support the cruel and destroy the Clans. Although some may have more darkness in their hearts than others, and some desperately try to redeem themselves after death while others continue their cruel plots (eyes Snowtuft and Juniperclaw), all have committed terrible actions in life and are near impossible to justify.

Of course, unless for fun, I believe that it isn’t necessary to try and justify a villain. They’re called villains for a reason… Oh, we should stop there for a moment. Some people try to justify villains because they have a reason to support their motives. Take Mapleshade as an example. She faced a tragic, cruel life — nobody can deny that — however, although actions can be explained through such redemption arcs, they cannot completely be justified. For example, you may argue that Mapleshade deserved the Dark Forest.

Honestly, think about it this way. It would be cruel to force a character in an area where they don’t want to be. However, nearing the end of Mapleshade’s Vengeance, when Mapleshade arrives in the Dark Forest, she was truly glad that she appeared there, as there were cats there who understood her. With this in her mind, she cruelly trained cats to kill each other to make them stronger warriors, and eventually launched an attack on the living Clans. Also, even when she was alive, she wasn’t necessarily good or perfect. For example, she killed Ravenwing at the Moonstone, which would be considered a dishonor to StarClan and a dishonor to Ravenwing as well, as he is a medicine cat. Also, she killed Frecklewish for being understandably angry, though the latter did neglect three kits in pain and therefore broke the warrior code. She also tried to kill Reedshine, a pregnant queen, out of pure jealousy, and same with Sandstorm that eventually led to Spottedleaf’s death in the Great Battle.

Therefore, we can conclude that, while villains are interesting and for some, enjoyable and even inspiring characters to read about, their purpose is not to be justified, but rather enjoyed as who they are — villains! ~ Cloudy