An Analysis of Disabled Characters In Warriors by Dewtail

Dewtail takes a look at characters with disabilities and how they were treated and used in the series.

Warriors, despite being a sprawling book series that’s been going on for 19 years, is not without its problems. Likely the most glaring of these is the apparent inherently ableist society presented and normalized by the Clans.

The following cats will be discussed in this article [I’ve written a previous article about several disabled characters]:

-Jayfeather
-Cinderpelt
-Jagged Peak

Jayfeather is [as some of you know] my number one favorite character, but his presence in the books isn’t without its own issues. He is, however, our first [and only] disabled protagonist! Does that mean Working Partners is off the hook? No. First off, it’s immediately made clear in The Sight that Jaykit will never become a warrior, which is, one, his initial desire, and two, really not something that can [and should] be decided at this point, unless the Clan has already decided that he was useless [which they had.]

“But wasn’t Jayfeather in a prophecy?”

He was, but, the kin of your kin prophecy was more about Lionblaze and Dovewing than it was him [first off] since reading minds and dream-walking [which isn’t utilized realistically in the books regardless] isn’t that useful in a massive battle against evil spirit cats. Second, Jayfeather [and the other members of the Three] are only useful in this prophecy because of their powers, and setting up your only disabled main character with unrelatable powers [presumably so they have a reason to keep Jayfeather around so he doesn’t go the direction that Briarlight did] isn’t the best look, especially in such a sorely needed area of representation.

Cinderpelt was ThunderClan’s main medicine cat from Rising Storm to Twilight and a very good one at that. However, [you’ll be hearing this word a lot in this article] when she was hit by a car on the Thunderpath as an apprentice, everyone assumed she wouldn’t become a warrior. Yes, she could’ve died, but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t have recovered. Her reincarnation [more on that later,] Cinderheart, broke the same leg and was able to become a warrior, albeit a bit later than her sisters. So why couldn’t Cinderpelt become a warrior? The likely guess is that the Erins needed another medicine cat since they planned Yellowfang’s death, so they chose Cinderpelt to become the new medicine cat.

It would’ve been better for the Erins to not kill off four kits in the first arc, especially since either of Brindleface’s kits– that died of greencough– could’ve easily become the medicine cat apprentice, as they’re about the same age as her. [born before/in Into the Wild [late newleaf] and by Forest of Secrets [the next newleaf, as Fire and Ice takes place in leaf-bare] they would’ve been at least a year old [meaning Fernpaw and Ashpaw were apprenticed very late since a Dangerous Path takes place the next leaf-bare] Cinderpelt was apparently reincarnated by StarClan into Cinderheart because her life was unfair [or for whatever arbitrary reason the Erins made for wanting to introduce a new piece of lore] But..Cinderpelt lived a full life and was happy [unlike a lot of other cats] so..why her and not, say, Snowkit? Mosskit? Gorsepaw? Honeyfern? Patchkit, Larchkit, and Petalkit? You get the idea. Many, many cats lived very short, unfair, and sad lives, so why should only Cinderpelt get a second chance?

Jagged Peak is one of the most unpopular Dawn Of The Clans character for his disposition, but since I haven’t read Moth Flight’s Vision, I can’t really talk about his character past the main prequel arc. We’re introduced to Jagged Peak in his kithood, and he’s shown to be a very excitable and disobedient character [although this is mainly due to his youth more than his character in general.] His main character arc starts when he falls out of a tree and breaks his leg [and is exiled by Clear Sky] and we see his bitterness toward the brother he admired through the arc. [which I like.] Jagged Peak is considered by most of his campmates to be somewhat useless because of his broken leg [which shouldn’t really stop him from doing much of anything but may slow him down.] Since he prefers to be independent, being unnecessarily weighed down by his disability makes the former mountain cat kind of bitter and depressed.

Is Jagged Peak’s position in the soon-to-be-WindClan justified?

…No, it isn’t. Even if Jagged Peak was fully confined to a den, he should still be treated like any other camp member [albeit with some kind of accommodation as that would make sense.] Even his behavior is justified since he’s treated like a second-class citizen among his campmates.

Concisely, many things could better these books, and an objectively accessible society is one of them.

Dew out!