CUTTING THROUGH THE SMOKE: A ONESTAR ANALYSIS by Deftfoot

Hiya! I’m Deftfoot, new(est?) member of BlogClan, and I’m ready to dive into making some (hopefully) engaging posts! Thankfully I have all of your wonderful articles to read and learn from; seriously, you guys are awesome. c:

At the time of my writing this, I’m halfway through Onestar’s Confession; and I’ve GOTTA SAY: man do I love the smell of Super Editions! Phew. Oh, and by the way, spoilers for that book.

Now, it’s no stretch to say that Onestar is one of the most controversial characters of the series. Heck, I’d even venture to call him one of the most berated. And it’s no wonder why, honestly! Our boy went from being a peace-doting hero to an absolute jerk. I mean, who launches attacks while everyone’s trying to get some good ol’ rest? (I’m looking at you, final battle of Eclipse! No wonder Firestar was so annoyed; man needs his beauty sleep to lead a Clan.) Yes, that absolutely abrupt shift in character gave readers substantial reason to hate Onestar.

However! I am not here to hurl all of our combined frustration at him. AND, at the same time, I’m not attempting to excuse his behavior and place him on a pedestal. Instead, we’ll be analyzing his relationship with Smoke in particular and why he handled things the way he did.

So to begin, in the movie theater of your mind, cut back with me to the old forest. Good. Can you see it up on-screen? Lovely. I knew you had a great mind! 🧠 Now juuust 🤏 on the border of Clan territory is the Twolegplace. Take me there. Awesome. You’re awesome.

See, it’s here where our golden boy meets his first love: Smoke, a lovely gray she-cat who actually gives an ear to his ridiculously over-inflated stories. I mean, Onewhisker could LITERALLY claim he pulled a plane out of the sky and Smoke would believe it. So, I don’t think Onewhisker’s doing a good job at tricking any one, guys. Smoke is just crushing on him so hard that she’ll support whatever Warriors fanfic he whips up, which means she’s a keeper! 👍

But wait… only one problem. She’s as kittypet as they come, and we know how that goes with the warrior code and all. Bummer! :C

Well, actually, take that thing called the code and throw it out the window, because Onewhisker keeps chatting it up with Smoke anyways.

Personally, I don’t think Onewhisker had any reason to give an exaggerated version of his life. It wasn’t like he was BAD at hunting or fighting; he was just as good as the next warrior. Plus, let’s be honest: it doesn’t take much to impress a kittypet! Just the possibility of catching a mouse was enough for Rusty to join some hooligans in the forest, so Onewhisker needn’t tell all these kittypets how he killed three foxes in his sleep or whatnot, solely to get some “oohs” and “aahs”. His habit of sharing such tall tales seems to stem from an irrational fear of what others think of him, when in reality, he’s quite alright.

To his defense, Onewhisker did not spend A LOT of time in the Twolegplace. For a few months at most, he ate some kittypet food, made a few friends, and became an illegitimate father (unbeknownst to him at that point. Yeah, okay, that’s pretty bad.) And then he had an epiphany! “Hey, back home,” he thought, “I’ve got this amazing girl who’s been right in front of me this whole time, Whitetail, and I didn’t even appreciate her. Plus, I’ve GOT family, I’ve GOT friends, and they’re all relying on me; I mean, WHAT am I doing here?” (Don’t quote me on that; I’m paraphrasing, of course.) And then, well, Onewhisker just up and left Smoke and the gang.

Brutal, I know. Keep in mind, though, that Onewhisker is YOUNG. In his inexperience, he made a few poor choices for a short duration of time and then tried his best to make up for them. He believed that by focusing on being loyal to his Clan, he could blot that all out. And he probably could’ve, if not for a pregnant Smoke pulling up on WindClan territory, demanding to see him. Yes, that is absolutely his fault and yes, she is perfectly in her right to do so.

But I don’t believe Onewhisker fully understood the consequences of his actions while visiting the Twolegplace. He didn’t walk in saying to himself, “Hey, I’m gonna break somebody’s heart today.” He just thought of having fun; temporarily escaping from the burden of being a warrior. It was like he kept swiping his credit card without realizing how much debt he was in, and then WHAM, it came back to bite him worse than an enemy in battle.

Now what’s he going to do? Well, if it was his irresponsibility that first got him into this situation, it’s reasonable to assume that’s how he’s going to handle getting out of it! Why not shut down Smoke, AGAIN? After all, he’s worked SO hard to prove himself loyal to his Clan; and he’s finally found his true love. There’s no way he can roll the red carpet back to camp for Smoke! He could just brush this under the rug, he thinks to himself.

And friends, I’m sure Onestar regretted that decision for the rest of his life; obviously, that was a poor choice. But think! How would you, with your life sprawling ahead of you; yet to be lived, handle that situation? Would you bring Smoke back, threatening your place in the Clan? You could be exiled, and then you’d lose all that you truly love over a mistake you made in your past. Or would you turn Smoke away, figuring she could raise the kit by herself like so many she-kits have done throughout the series? (Sasha and her kits, Nutmeg and her kits, etc.) I mean, Jake wasn’t there for Tiny, Socks and Ruby last time I checked, but we adore him, right? Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for fathers being there for their children. But in the Warriors world, things work a little differently— you have to admit.

Again, this isn’t a defense of Onestar’s character. But I do believe there’s more to him than simply being a jerk for no reason. This is a really tough situation we just described, (cue deep voice) and our guy’s in the hot seat.

Aaaand CUT!

I hope you enjoyed this read! Thanks for allowing me to occupy your eye balls for a few minutes 😀 I planned to do a complete analysis of Onestar’s character, but I had enough content just examining his relationship with Smoke. If you’d like a pt. 2 that digs deeper into why he became a cold, cynical leader, let me know! I’m also open to entirely different characters for analysis. Please stay safe and have a great day fellow warriors! See you all soon.