Tigerclaw; a very long article about him by Creations

Creations discusses Tigerclaw in detail.

Welcome, BlogClan! Come one, come all, it’s an essay on the first villain ever in the Warriors series, it’s Tigerclaw. Today I’m compiling reasons why you should and shouldn’t like this SCOURGE (Pun intended) on the clans.

Be warned, though, this article contains SPOILERS on The Prophecies Begin, Tigerclaw’s Fury, Bluestar’s Prophecy, and maybe even a little bit of Goosefeather’s Curse.

1: Kithood
A tiny kit who probably thought he was the only one of his litter his entire life, it was a shocker when his father, Pinestar (The leader of ThunderClan at the time for those who haven’t read about before Firestar’s POV), left to become a kittypet!
Wasn’t he supposed to be the best, most loyal warrior in ThunderClan? Was this why Goosefeather screamed at him whenever he was within the old medicine cat’s sight? Was this why everyone spoiled him? Instead of breaking down, it funneled into anger, sparking the long and blood-stained path that dwindled into his destiny.

TIGERCLAW CHAPTER; KITHOOD VERDICT:

Tigerclaw: Innocent
Goosefeather: Guilty
Pinestar: Semi-guilty
StarClan Themselves: Heavily guilty

EXPLAINATION: StarClan gifted Goosefeather with the power to see the future. If they didn’t do this, Tigerclaw’s anger wouldn’t have been sparked this way, Goosefeather acted terribly, and Pinestar leaving was the perfect stepping stone for becoming one of the, if not THE most iconic villain.

2: Apprenticeship
Desperate to prove himself, he strived to be the best, but yet he was lazy when it came to diplomatic strategies or caring for others. He didn’t want peace. He couldn’t prove himself that way. He needed war. He wished it upon his clan. Thistleclaw was also this way, encouraging him heavily! Tigerclaw(paw, then) soaked up the influence of his mentor. This led to the notorious ‘The making of Scourge’ scene. Tiny ran away, but this is coming back to haunt him, many moons later.
He tried though. He wanted attention, and he got positive feedback by being aggressive. We can’t fault him for being aggressive when he was taught to be. If he didn’t know it was wrong, and his mentor told him that Bluestar was wrong— that he should indeed jump to fighting instead of using words, he isn’t in the wrong, but not the right either.

TIGERCLAW CHAPTER; APPRENTICESHIP VERDICT:

Tigerclaw: Semi-guilty
Thistleclaw: Guilty
Bluestar: Innocent

EXPLAINATION: Tigerclaw could’ve sought feedback from others, but he didn’t. He told himself he was in the right when Bluestar told him he was wrong. Thistleclaw is the most guilty out of the bunch. He was too aggressive and ended up pushing his beliefs onto desperate, impressionable Tigerclaw. The least guilty is Bluestar(Bluefur then), all because she did little, and knew little. Told him it was wrong, and then kinda just… left. She had much more to worry about though, so we can’t blame her that much.

3: Warriorhood
Ah, yes… A warrior at last. His young mind had grown stiff with blood and violence instead of his words. His name reflected that somewhat power-hungry nature. But that bloodlust would grow as he did, slowly clambering into his mind, a wild, wronged cat. But his vigil. He was so silent during his vigil, reflection filled with pride, maybe regret? He sat near Whitestorm, which he could see as a younger brother, perhaps?
But war would come, violence and bloodlust in the air. I’m talking about his killing of Redtail. He threatened his apprentice, Ravenpaw, likely with death, if he told anyone about his sins. Next comes his deputyship.

TIGERCLAW CHAPTER; WARRIORHOOD VERDICT:

Tigerclaw: Guilty
Redtail: Innocent
Ravenpaw: Innocent

EXPLAINATION: If you’ve read The Prophecies Begin from beginning to finish, you know that Tigerclaw killed Redtail. What did Redtail do? Nothing in this sense. To see what he DID do, please read Leopardstar’s Honor. Ravenpaw is also innocent, but he’s at least the most innocent. He did absolutely nothing wrong here. Nothing wrong ANYWHERE! Meaning he could very well be one of the most innocent cats in the entire Warriors series.

4: Deputyship and Exile
After much murder, and a quick raid, killing Spottedleaf, Rosetail, and Lionheart, Tigerclaw finally achieved what he wanted; being the deputy of ThunderClan. Yet it wasn’t enough. He was out of control. Out of his mind. He needed more. He wanted to be the leader. After all, why shouldn’t he be the leader? This mindset led him to his final act of madness in ThunderClan, but not his last ever. He went to kill Bluestar. Take all three(actually one) of her lives. He went to ShadowClan exiles and asked them if they could do a quick raid as a distraction to kill Bluestar. They said yes, and he was on his way. His twisted, blood-stained way. He was mad. Irrational. The bloodlust and power-hunger that clouded his mind before was now him.
He went straight for her den, but Fireheart’s strangely calm observance of chaos saved Bluestar’s life. Tigerclaw was caught. Tigerclaw was violently wounded by Fireheart after leaping at him, attempting to save his dignity, reputation, and most importantly, his position. He failed. Dragged into the open, he stood defeated. Clanmates screaming to kill him, Fireheart pushed those opinions aside, saying that the warrior code shows mercy to those defeated, so he was exiled.
In exile, he went straight out of the territory, stuffing his deadly wound with leaf-mold, as he couldn’t find any moss to pack in there. As an exilee, he met others who wished to return, but couldn’t, even though their crimes were much less than his own. Soon, he found himself in ShadowClan, surrounded by his former rogues. A hero, they called him. Soon there was faking omens to be a leader after the deputy and leader of ShadowClan were dead. His loyal fiends had faked a sign for him. He found himself proving himself, he found himself standing on the edge of the Thunderpath. He had left a son and a daughter in ThunderClan, but the forest was burning. He didn’t go in, but he had sent Whitethroat to steal prey. A ThunderClan patrol found them soon after.
Runningwind was killed as a monster roared through, Whitethroat rushed back to see what happened, and as Fireheart and Graystripe arrive, another monster crushed him, and Tigerclaw ambushed the rest of the patrol.

TIGERCLAW CHAPTER; DEPUTYSHIP AND EXILE VERDICT:

Tigerclaw: Guilty
Bluestar: Innocent
Whitethroat: Semi-Guilty
Runningwind: Innocent

EXPLAINATION: Tigerclaw’s actions are inexcusable. That is clear. Whitethroat could have disobeyed his orders but didn’t, because that would be deadly. Both options were deadly. Bluestar was attacked — she couldn’t be in the wrong for being attacked! Runningwind was doing an average patrol, so he’s very innocent.

5: Leadership
He’s evil, he’s deadly! Make way for Tigerstar! The name he’s known by, the notorious killer, it’s time to pile up all indirect and direct kills whilst alive!
He accidentally killed Swiftpaw and maimed Brightpaw via the dogs.
He directly killed Brindleface to give the dogs a taste for cats’ blood.
Indirectly killed Stonefur with his orders.
Indirectly killed Bluestar via dogs.
Directly killed Gorsepaw to send WindClan a message.
Indirectly killed Graypool after she fell onto stones.

TIGERCLAW CHAPTER; LEADERSHIP VERDICT:

Tigerstar: Heavily guilty
StarClan: Heavily guilty
Goosefeather: Heavily guilty
Pinestar: Heavily guilty

EXPLAINATION: As a killer of many, he is quite at fault— but that doesn’t mean you have to hate him! He killed so many but got away with A LOT! So many factors played with his life, I find it so weird how StarClan did that in the first place. Pinestar left a mark— a terrible one. Goosefeather wasn’t thinking rationally. It resulted in a domino effect of madness, with many lives taken along the way.

Thank you for reading my very long article(although essay wouldn’t be that far off) and sitting through my mildly opinionated ranting. This was Creations, and this was about Tigerclaw.

✨_____CREATIONS OUT_____ ✨