Why I don’t like Firestar as much as I used to by Shadeleap

Shadeleap shares their opinion on Firestar and how it changed over time.

Hey BlogClan. If I told you to name a really iconic leader, who would you choose? Maybe Bluestar or Bramblestar or something, but I think a lot of people would choose Firestar. He’s always called a legendary warrior, and his descendants either feel honored to be his kin or feel like they have to measure up to their kin’s shining example.
I hate Firestar. I’m just going to come out and say it. I think he is super overrated, I think he’s a Gary-Stu, and I don’t think he should be honored as much as he is. Here are my top 5 reasons why.
Let’s jump in.

Reason number 5: Life always just works out for him
I know a lot of you are reading that and thinking that I need to reread the first series, but hear me out. Ever since the beginning of his life, he’s just gotten endless blessings. Yellowfang hates him? She gets over it almost immediately and thinks of him as her son. Sandpaw hates him? She gets over it on her own and becomes one of his best friends, and later his mate. Graystripe left ThunderClan? He came back after like 2 moons. Bluestar doesn’t believe him about Tigerclaw? Well, she ends up believing him after Tigerclaw’s attack. Like, 6cats taunted him about being a kittypet? 2 of them get exiled, 4 of them become his friends, and he becomes deputy. I’m not saying he doesn’t fight for stuff, he just gets everything he wants.

Reason number 4: He is SO unrealistic
In addition to winning every battle he fights, Firestar never gets mad, has endless patience, courage, strength, and integrity. Actually, I can only think of 2 times that he was mad and it lasted longer than 2 sentences. The whole Brambleclaw-Squirrelpaw thing in Midnight, and Graystripe’s forbidden relationship with Silverstream. Oh, you don’t believe me?
He wasn’t mad when Sandstorm yelled at him for saying that Cloudpaw was the only cat in the Clan close to him
He wasn’t mad when Sandstorm was upset when Firestar gave Tawnypaw to Brackenfur
He wasn’t mad when his warriors attacked his childhood friend, Smudge
He wasn’t mad when Graystripe went to RiverClan
He wasn’t mad when the Elders decided to stay behind and not travel to the lake
He wasn’t mad when RiverClan waited until the last second to decide to leave the old territories
He wasn’t mad when Mousefur called a Clan meeting to criticize him
He was mad for a total of 1 sentence when Brambleclaw said he had to appoint a new deputy
He wasn’t mad when Molewhisker almost refused his apprentice name.
He wasn’t mad when ShadowClan ignored Berrykit in the fox trap
He wasn’t mad when Daisy left
He wasn’t mad when Onestar attacked his camp in Eclipse (confused, but not mad)
He wasn’t mad when Onestar refused his friendship
He wasn’t mad when Leafpool ran away with a WindClan cat
He wasn’t mad when he found out that Squirrelflight’s kits were actually Leafpool’s kits
He wasn’t mad when he found out that Hollyleaf killed Ashfur
He wasn’t mad when Sol returned
He wasn’t mad when Sandstorm thought he still wanted Spottedleaf
He wasn’t mad when Spottedleaf died
He wasn’t mad when HE died
He wasn’t mad when Ashfur cut off StarClan’s communication with the Clans
He wasn’t mad when his daughter died
He wasn’t mad when his other daughter decided to leave him and her other family in StarClan
See what I mean? If a character acts in a certain way more times than not, it’s part of that character. Ivypool is jealous more times than she’s not, that’s a character flaw. Alderheart is nervous more times than not, that’s part of his character. Jayfeather is grumpy more times than not, that’s part of his character. To say that Firestar is realistic because he gets mad at people just makes no sense. On top of that, he never loses a battle until the day he dies! He. Always. Wins. I know the authors want to paint him as this noble, strong, powerful cat, but they overdid it. It got unrealistic.

Reason number 3: He is ridiculously overrated
With the new arc, A Starless Clan, we get to see from the perspective of Nightheart, a ThunderClan cat who is struggling under the burden of Firestar’s legacy. Countless times, we hear cats say that Firestar was a “legendary” leader, and I can admit that yes, he was a good leader. But he does not deserve all of the admiration he gets. He’s a normal cat who everyone just loves for being the “Fire that saved the Clan.” But like, he’s still just a cat. Lionblaze was the best warrior ever known! He literally could not be defeated in battle, but no one pays any attention to that. It’s always Firestar. And what about, say, Ivypool, who risked her life every night for her Clan? Firestar never did that! And if we return to Nightheart, he never said “I have to live up to my cousin’s legacy” or “My mom’s legacy”. It was always Firestar. But why? What amazing thing did he ever do? Become a leader? So did Bluestar, Bramblestar, Crookedstar, Tallstar, and hundreds of other cats. Led his Clan well? So did Sunstar, Thunderstar, Crookedstar, Tallstar, Harestar, Leafstar, and Bluestar before her mental health declined. Killed the main villain? So did Scourge, Brambleclaw,anyone who killed a dark forest cat, Onestar, and Bristlefrost! Never lose a battle? Neither did Lionblaze! Risk his life for his Clan? So did Ivypool, Crowfeather, Bristlefrost, Jayfeather, and any cat who’s ever fought in a battle! Been in prophecies? So has the Three, Brambleclaw, Tawnypelt, Crowfeather, Feathertail, Hawkfrost, Sol, and Tigerstar, as well as others! Been in multiple prophecies? So has the Three, Tawnypelt, Brambleclaw, Tigerstar, and Squirrelflight! Gas a flame-colored pelt? So does Squirrelflight, Alderheart, and Sparkpelt! There isn’t anything really special about this cat!

Reason number 2: He’s been in too many prophecies
Most fans know by now that Firestar is in a TON of prophecies. He’s also gotten a ton, mainly by Spottedleaf. Off the top of my head, these are the prophecies I can think of that Firestar either was in or received.
Fire alone will save our Clan
Beware an enemy that seems to sleep
Four will become two, Lion and Tiger will meet in battle, and blood will rule the forest
There will be three, kin of your kin, with the power of the stars in their paws
The end of the stars draws near. Three must become four to challenge the darkness that lasts forever
When water meets blood, blood will rise
This is way more prophecies than the normal cat. In fact, that is way too many prophecies for a normal cat. There comes a point where it just gets boring and predictable. Yeah, we get it, the authors want him to be seen as this incredible, noble cat, but I’m really tired of it.

Reason number 1!!!!

HE CAN DO NO WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This annoys me SO much!! Earlier I talked about how he never gets mad at anyone, but on top of that, he never does anything wrong! In the first series alone, this is some of the stuff he does
He finds an injured trespasser on his territory and instead of chasing her off, he hunts for her.
He hunts for an enemy Clan while they’re hungry
He saves the life of someone who hates him
He rescues a cat who basically ran away but was somewhat unhappy
He rescues 2 drowning kits
He goes to WindClan to prevent war
He helps drive out Brokenstar, even beating him in battle AS AN APPRENTICE
He brings WindClan back
He rescues Ravenpaw
He helps Yellowfang after ThunderClan suspects her of stealing the kits and murdering Spottedleaf
He refers to Tigerstar (the cat who repeatedly tried to kill him) as a great warrior and a cat to be proud of, even though he was terrified of him
He jumps off a cliff to save ThunderClan from the dogs
He goes into a fire to rescue three cats, comes out with Bramblekit, the one he has been terrified of for 3 books, to show some character development
He tries to rescue Snowkit
He kills Scourge
He keeps faith in StarClan even when Bluestar doesn’t
I could go on for hours! And I can already hear half the fandom yelling at me but here are some instances where people will say “he did this wrong!” but he really didn’t.
“He went behind his leader’s back to WindClan!” That’s because he wanted to prevent war and he knew it was the dogs, not WindClan
“He fed a rival Clan!” That’s because they were starving.
“He left Yellowfang to die!” That’s because he was saving the youth of the Clan and also showing the readers that he wasn’t scared of Bramblekit anymore because he saved him.
“He didn’t give Tawnypaw to Sandstorm!” That’s because he was trying to protect her from Tigerclaw.
“He exiled Darkstripe!” Darkstripe tried to murder a kit! What do you expect?
“He got mad at a ton of cats for calling him a kittypet!” And the other cats were in the wrong, weren’t they? Besides, he literally became mates with one of the cats who called him a kittypet.
See what I mean? He is always doing the right thing. Maybe it’s not the right way of doing it, but it always gets the job done and it’s always for the right reasons!
If you like Firestar, that’s totally okay. I respect your opinion and no one has to agree with me if they don’t want to. Just keep in mind that this is my opinion and it doesn’t have to be yours. Have a good day/night and may StarClan light your path!
-Shadeleap