A Full Analysis Of Rock And Why He’s a Jerk by Rosefern

Rosefern shares their opinion on the mysterious Rock.

Hi, BlogClanners! My name is Rosefern here for my first post! Today I’m going to be talking about a character who’s been on my mind a lot ever since I reread Omen Of The Stars.
In Power Of Three, he and Jaypaw/Jayfeather were somewhat close, and Jayfeather often came to this cat for advice. He was also close with Midnight, and lived with Fallen Leaves although he basically just led the latter to his death.
In Omen Of The Stars, however, this cat became somewhat of an antagonist, causing Jayfeather to break something precious to them both. He also disliked the Three and emotionally tormented them into following their destinies.
Who is this cat, now? Yes, you guessed it, it’s Rock! Yes, I’ll be talking about him and why I believe he’s a complete and total jerk.
WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Power Of Three and Omen Of The Stars.
Let’s start with his first appearance in the prologue of Dark River.
Fallen Leaves has just entered the tunnels to begin his initiation as a Sharpclaw. He enters the cavern with the dark river, for which the book seems to be named, where he meets Rock, crouched on his ledge, staring down at him with bulging, blind gray eyes. He is hairless except for a few tufts of fur along his spine, and with his long twisted claws, he holds a stick—The Stick, the one Jayfeather is sort of obsessed with, but not yet of course, because this was a long time ago.
After a while of them talking, Fallen Leaves heads off into the tunnels and drowns. While this is partly Fallen Leaves’s fault, for lying about the rain so he could begin his initiation, this is also partly Rock’s fault, as it was he who enforces Softpaws going into a maze of dark, potentially dangerous tunnels they’ve never been in before, and only if they make it out alive will they be deemed worthy of becoming Sharpclaws.
Now, what’s wrong with this is that it’s very survival-of-the-fittest. The weakest will die, or get lost in the tunnels forever. This is a lot about the Sharpclaw lifestyle, which Rock is right in the center of. Besides, when you think about it, it’s not a very good way to find good Warriors/Sharpclaws. What if a cat is a great hunter and/or fighter, but can’t make it out of the tunnels? That seems like a really bad way to lose cats, right? And guess who’s enforcing all this? Rock, of course.
Later, he does help Jayfeather & Company escape the tunnels, and that might be the best thing he’s ever done. But this still shows he’s willing to save Jaypaw(Feather) because he’s supposed to be alive to battle the Dark Forest, but he wouldn’t save the Sharpclaws who were lost in the tunnels because “It was never [his] duty to save anyone”(The Last Hope; Page 4). This is annoying because Rock is only saving the cats who he thinks need to be alive—more on that later.
He appears a few more times in Power Of Three, but they’re not the most important to his overall evil character, in PoT he’s just like your typical StarClan cat.
And now that I’m done ranting about the Sharpclaw lifestyle and all its flaws, I can get on to tell you the true things that make him evil.
“I am no cat’s friend. I know too much for friendship. Be glad that you will never be burdened with the knowledge that I h.”(The Fourth Apprentice; page 278).
Jayfeather’s reason for smashing the Stick was wrong, Rock WAS there, but just wasn’t answering his questions. But that does not in any way mean that Rock’s actions and words are justified. This above quote is Rock’s response when Jayfeather gets mad at him for not giving him any info. That’s not the bad part though—Him not telling Jayfeather info about the Dark Forest. The problem is how Rock is using destiny as an excuse for wrongdoing. And for keeping secrets from Jayfeather, because “There was no room for [him] to be Half-Clan from birth”(The Fourth Apprentice; Page 277). Now if he had told Jayfeather exactly WHY he couldn’t be “Half-Clan from birth” that might’ve been better. But he did not. The only things he said were more things that HAD to happen for Jayfeather’s “destiny”. This could be interpreted by some as “Exactly why”, but I don’t Also, he was taking everything Jayfeather was saying and twisting it so that Jayfeather was to blame, that he was doing something wrong.

I don’t even blame Jayfeather for destroying the Stick!
Now, Rock’s next big appearance. This is in Night Whispers. He only appears for a short time but he makes a severe impact. When Flametail falls into the lake and Jayfeather dives in to save him, Rock tells him not to because It is [Flametail’s] time to die, not Jayfeather’s].”(Night Whispers; Page 282).
In Sign of the Moon, Rock is relatively minor. There are some concerns about him in this book though.
“I am always here. I will come to you when I have something to say. It is not for you to summon me.”

Again, Rock brushing by Jayfeather and instead what the latter is doing wrong, and just a vague excuse for why Rock won’t answer any of Jayfeather’s questions. also, I can’t help wondering if that vision Jayfeather received of every cat falling into the waterfall, was sent by Rock, as a way to emotionally torture Jayfeather into following his destiny. Get it? Because if he didn’t follow it into the past as Jay’s Wing, the Clans wouldn’t exist. Instead, though, Rock could have just explained it to him. Also, the way he knew Jay’s Wing was suffering over not being able to be with Half Moon and didn’t even care! He has no empathy! All he cares about is destiny!
“What is the point of a life held in the paws of another? There must be a choice. There must be freedom.”(The Last Hope; Page 4).
through is what Rock says to Broken Shadow to justify letting Fallen Leaves die. Again, no sympathy for Broken Shadow. And that’s right before he summons the Three into a dream just to scream at them for being born, then for them not following the paths the Ancients have laid down for them. There are (at least) three things wrong with Rock in that latter scenario.
#1: The Three were giving up because stuff kept on piling up on them, and when they followed the aforementioned paths, things went wrong, and they were under massive pressure to succeed. As mentioned earlier, would putting more pressure on them and/or scaring them half to death (both of which Rock was doing) help them or would it discourage them?
Secondly, Rock is being a massive hypocrite, first saying to Broken Shadow that there needed to be freedom, then flaming the Three for having choice and freedom and not following their destinies, then blaming them for those destinies for even existing.
Lastly, it’s just downright rude.
This is why I think Rock is a jerk, who changes his standards depending on his mood and to justify his actions, and who has zero sympathy for any cat.
I hope you enjoyed my article. This is just my opinion, and I respect whatever opinions you might have. Feel free to discuss them in the comments! See you next time!