Ashfur: Is he as bad as he seems? by Flamepaw

Flamepaw takes a closer look at Ashfur.

Hey, y’all!!! It’s Flamespirit back once again, and today, (if you read the title, you probably have a good guess at what I’m gonna be talking about) I’ll be defending Ashfur, one of my very favorite villains and overall character! *dodges tomatoes* Okay, let’s get started!

Before we get started, I wanted to ask a few BlogClanners how they felt about Ashfur. Here’s what some wonderful bloggers said:

He’s a cool villain but not my favorite.

-Shadeleap

I know you like him Flam and I’m sorry but I HATE HIM. With every bone in my body.
Firstly, there is no excuse for trying to murder a cat’s children just to get her to “understand my pain.” Boyo please. There is literally no excuse in the entire universe for that.
Secondly, if he really loved her, he would understand she wanted to be with Brambleclaw, even if it hurt him.
Thirdly, he tried to take over the Clans and take over his crush’s husband’s body. There is something wrong with Ashfur.
And finally, his crime wasn’t “loving too much” it was being a psychopath.
Sorry, I just reallyyyy despise Ashfur 😛

-Silverdusk

I HATE him.
he’s annoying, a murderer, and a psychopath
he’s my least fav character and just WHYYYY

-Hazyfrost

HE’S MY FAVORITE CHARACTER AAAAAAA

-Skyshimmer (THANK YOU SHIMMZ SOMEONE ELSE WHO LIKES ASHY JUST AS MUCH AS I DO!!!!! *happy Ashfur-supporter noises*)

He’s a good villain, and I liked him when he was Ashpaw. The way he looked up to Cloudpaw was so cute! I also liked him in TNP, when Squilf was fighting with Bramble, but then he just became… obsessive.
Overall, he’s a good villain, and I like him!

-Hazelshine

my favourite villain :3

-Echoheart

in the books he comes across as pretty misogynistic to me… i think he’s a really interesting and cool character in fan concepts and aus but in canon he’s just kind of a petty guy who got too much power for some reason

-Eggsnake

He deserved better 😀

-Lilytail

Yeah, I don’t like him. At all. He tried to murder four cats cuz his ex-gf dumped him. And the four cats were his ex-gf and her proclaimed kids. And his only fault was loving too much, yes Yellowfang. That’s my opinion, anyway.

-Wolfbite

I liked him when he wasn’t a psychotic murderer and I’m disappointed the Erins made him evil, though I can tell from his jealousy problem it was a much wiser choice than making Brambleclaw evil

-Solarflare

Okay, so as you can see, we have lots of mixed opinions about Asheroni. So now, I’m going to defend (but first, analyze!) him.
I can almost hear you future peeps screaming at me, saying, “BUT FLAM HE’S HORRIBLE AND WHY?!?!?!” or “THERE’S NOTHING TO DEFEND HE’S JUST AWFUL!!” or “YAYY ANOTHER ASHY DEFENDER!!!! :DDD” or “Oh well Past Me, this was a mistake, basically everyone hates him,” BUT I FEEL LIKE DEFENDING HIM REGARDLESS SO HUSH UP, FUTURE ME!!! >:)) (sorry, Future Me 😛)

[SPOILERS UP TO ASC!!]

Okie-dokie, ready for me to start analyzing and defending my silly little pal? Welp, regardless, I’m ready, so let’s go!!
His childhood
The first thing I want to look into is (you guessed it!!) his childhood.
Ashkit was born to Brindleface and Whitestorm in ThunderClan alongside Fernkit, Elderkit, and Tulipkit. Unfortunately, Tulipkit and Elderkit die shortly after birth, which is the first of many things that go wrong in poor Ashfur’s life. Still during his kithood, Fireheart, ThunderClan’s deputy, brings his kittypet nephew, Cloudkit, to ThunderClan. Brindleface agrees to foster him, much to Ashkit and Fernkit’s joy, and the two accept him as a brother (and it’s one of my favorite sibling relationships in Warriors <3).
Skip ahead a few moons and Ashfur is Ashpaw now and apprenticed to Dustpelt. But… what’s this? Oh, it seems Dustpelt is paying more attention to Ashy’s sis, Fernpaw, who’s apprenticed to Darkstripe. This, to me, was the spark that started the whole fire (yes, it’s also an Ashfur pun. Marvel at my glory C:< ) of Ashfur’s insanity. During his apprenticeship, Cloudpaw reveals to Ashy that he’s been sneaking into the Twolegplace to eat kittypet food. But Ashpaw stays loyal to his foster brother and promises to keep his secret, well, a secret. (😛) Unfortunately, though, Cloudpaw ends up getting kidnapped by Twolegs and Fireheart (after having a rage fit and then a sobbing fit) saves him, and Cloudpaw (after getting, rescued, obviously 😛) claims he could never be a kittypet and thanks Fireheart for saving him, yadda yadda yadda.
Let’s add, “Foster brother gets kidnapped” to the list of reasons why Ashfur went… well, Ashfur. THEN after Tigerclaw attempts to murder Bluestar and shortly after Bluestar makes Fireheart deputy, Bluestar has a mental breakdown and claims that everyone in the Clan except Fireheart and his perfect StarClan-blessed apprentice is a traitor and so she refuses to make these poor children warriors, except for Cloudpaw, the apprentice who refused to believe in StarClan, got kidnapped by Twolegs after partially living the kittypet life, and was just Fireheart’s apprentice. Sounds like a perfect choice out of all of these perfectly loyal apprentices, Bluestar. Amazing. (If you couldn’t tell, this is me being sarcastic 😛) So naturally, Ashpaw and the other apprentices aren’t really all that happy. But that, my friends, is just the tip of the iceberg. One day Fireheart finds Ashpaw’s mother, Brindleface, dead. Unbeknownst to ThunderClan at the time, she was killed by Tigerstar to give the half-trained dogs he was using against his former Clan a taste for cat. Ashpaw, Fernpaw, and Cloudtail (was he Cloudpaw at the time? I honestly don’t know or care at this point; probably half of this is gonna be out of order so I apologize in advance 😭) are devastated. And we’re adding that to the list as well. (This is gonna be a long, long, looooooooong list, so bear with me…)
*clears throat* Back to the part about Cloudtail being the only one out of the group of apprentices getting warriored! (Is that a word? I guess it is… Either way, who cares? 😛) Swiftpaw is the angriest of all the apprentices and ends up convincing his denmate, Brightpaw, to go with him to figure out who or what is living at Snakerocks in hopes that they’d get their warrior names too. Buuuuut, it didn’t really go how Swifty and Bright planned. Mere moments after they figure out that it’s dogs causing all of ThunderClan’s trouble, the dogs attack, leaving Swiftpaw dead and Brightpaw forever scarred, both inside and outside. Yet another thing to add to the list! And this is, what, A Dangerous Path that we’re on right now? Yeah, we’ve got a lot more to add to the list, my friends. A whole lot more. (😛)
Okie-dokie, so a little while later, Fireheart comes up with a plan to get rid of the doggos! And Ashpaw and Fernpaw volunteer to be the bait to help with that plan. And everyone here is saying that Ashy’s a bad cat, but yet here he is, risking his life! Let’s add that to the “Ashfur’s Really Not That Bad” list. 😉
Because of Ashy and Fern’s volunteering to help with the plan, the dogs go bye-bye (yay for TC!! 🥳) but so does Bluestar. 😟
But, that means that Fireheart becomes Firestar!
Before Bluestar died, she renamed Brightpaw to Lostface, which (in my opinion) was really, really cruel. So Firestar renames her, giving her the name Brightheart and making her an official warrior.
So maybe we add that to the list too! Ashy’s former denmate becomes a warrior, but not him and Fern. It’s the Cloudtail incident all over again. 😒
But we also have something to add to the “Ashfur’s Really Not That Bad” one, too!
Tigerstar is the leader of ShadowClan by then, and he makes an alliance with Scourge, the edgy leader of BloodClan! Buuuuut, Scourge kills Tigerstar and gives Firestar and the Clans 3 days to either leave their territories or suffer the consequences. (Cue the dramatic music!)
And because this is Warriors, specifically Firestar, Fiery goes with the latter.
All of the Clans meet at Fourtrees and then BATTLE! (Totally unexpected, I know 😛)
By the end of the battle, Scourge is dead and BloodClan is defeated, but both sides suffer major casualties.
On the side of BloodClan, they lose both their leader, Scourge, and deputy, Bone.
But Bone was killed by none other than Ashy and his pals, Fernpaw, Tawnypaw, Featherpaw, Stormpaw, and Bramblepaw (I think? I forget if Brambs was one of the members of that apprentice horde 😛).
(Adding that to the list of why my homie isn’t that bad!)
But on the side of the Clans, we lose Whitestorm, ThunderClan’s deputy. Graystripe also kills his half-brother Darkstripe, but no one really cares because Darkstripe’s basically that one unloved character that nobody at all likes. (Sorry, Darkstripe, but it’s true 😛) I might be missing some other deaths, as side characters are lucky to survive a battle, but who knows, maybe the Erins were feeling generous! 😛
And that’s when TPB ends! But we get more stuff on Ashy when we see him in Firestar’s Quest, which is just a fill-in between TPB and TNP, for those of you who haven’t read it.
And in FQ, Ashpaw and Fernpaw FINALLY get their warrior names! I really feel sorry for them, they waited so long. ❤️
Ashpaw becomes Ashfur and Fernpaw becomes Ferncloud, and the latter almost instantly moves to the nursery, expecting Dustpelt’s kits.
Now that we’ve finished a whole arc plus a SE, let’s see the two lists!

Why Ashfur Became a Villain
-Two siblings die as kits
-Mentor seems to give more attention to sister
-Foster brother gets kidnapped by Twolegs
-His leader has mental breakdown while he’s a young teenager
-Said leader only gives his foster brother a warrior name
-Mother is found dead, killed by Tigerclaw/star to help the dogs develop a taste for cat
-Two childhood friends get mauled by dogs
-One of the two is killed and the other is permanently scarred, both emotionally and physically
-Leader dies, sacrificing herself to save her Clan
-New leader renames Lostface, giving his denmate an official warrior name while he’s still an apprentice
-Watches ShadowClan leader very brutally die nine times in a row
-Dad is killed by BloodClan deputy
-The last of his generation to receive a warrior name
-Sister moves almost immediately to the nursery after becoming a warrior, expecting Ash’s former mentor’s kits

See? The poor guy has had a very traumatizing childhood, and this is only the first hill in the rollercoaster, if you know what I mean.

Now the other list:

Why Ashfur’s Not That Bad
-Accepts a former kittypet as a foster brother rather than making his life miserable (Sandpaw and Dustpaw, anyone?)
-Stays loyal to his foster brother even when said brother is breaking the warrior code
-Tries his hardest as an apprentice, even when his mentor prefers his sister over him
-Volunteers to lure the dogs out of ThunderClan territory for good, risking his life in the process
-Supports Firestar as a new leader (didn’t he? Or am I just imagining that? It’s been a long time since I’ve read TDH and all of TPB 😛)
-Fights fiercely in the battle against BloodClan
-Kills BloodClan’s deputy, Bone

See? For supposedly being such a bad guy, he’s done a lot of good things, and this is just in his early life.
Ahem.
Now, onto TNP, aka The New Prophecy!! :DDD
So we first see Ashy again as a warrior (go Ashy!! 🥳) and him and Squilf don’t really talk that much. Squilf already hates Brambs’ guts, and Brambs hates Squilf’s guts. Love at first sight, huh? Then they go off on the sun-drown quest, come back missing a friend (R.I.P. Feathertail ❤️), and tell the Clans that they gotta get the heck out of the forest. How lovely! :DD (sarcasm again)
Ashfur and Squilf are pretty good buddies on the trip to the lake territories and correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that’s when Ashy starts having feelings for her.
Anyways, Squilf and Brambs are friends now but-*gasp*-plot twist! Squilf hates him again because Brambs is hanging out with his brother Hawkfrost, whom Squilf just doesn’t like!! And another PLOT TWIST (😱)-Hawky actually is kinda shady! But we’re not quite there yet. 😉
So that’s when it all starts falling downhill, even if even us as the readers at the time don’t know it.
That’s when Ashfur and Squirrelflight become close, and even are mates at a point. Squilf and Brambs hate each other and are constantly bickering about whether or not Hawkfrost is evil, and Ashfur is happy because he gets a girlfriend out of their mess. Granted, it’s shown that for a short time, Squirrelflight also returns his feelings, but this article is about Ashfur, not Squilf. 😛
However, almost as quickly as it started, it ended as Brambleclaw killed Hawkfrost after attempting to kill Firestar. Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight make amends with each other and shortly after, become mates! Great, right? For them, sure, but let’s take a look at Ashfur’s perspective…
Shortly before the Bramble/Hawk fiasco, Squirrelflight started having feelings for Brambleclaw yet again. As he grew up seeing love around him but never experiencing it for himself, Ashfur reacts poorly. Very poorly.
Hawkfrost by then is already plotting to rule the Clans alongside his half-brother. However, Ashfur and Hawkfrost get in contact with one another and plot to kill Firestar. As Ashfur saw it, he was just trying to get even with Squirrelflight. I’m not defending murder, but you guys need to remember that he grew up with death all around him and had multiple childhood traumas.
Anyway, as Hawkfrost is dying, he tells Brambleclaw that he isn’t safe among his own Clan and that one of his Clanmates helped him pull this heist off. Obviously, no one would ever suspect Ashfur…

As we’ve now completed another arc, let’s add “Supportive of Girlfriend After Traumatic Journey” to the list of why Ashfur isn’t all that bad. However, that’s really the only good thing he did. Like I said, I don’t justify murder.

Moving onto Power of Three!

We open the series with Squirrelflight nursing a litter of three healthy kits: Hollykit, the thinker of the trio; Lionkit, the strong-willed young tom; and Jaykit, the snarky blind tom. Great, right? Not for Ashfur, who’s still bitter about Squirrelflight’s “betrayal.”
And to make matters worse, guess who gets assigned Lionpaw as an apprentice? You guessed it: Ashfur.
Ashfur is a very abusive mentor to Lionpaw, unsheathing his claws during battle training and criticizing every small mistake the young tom makes. While most people would still be somewhat bitter to train their ex’s children, it’s crossing a line getting physical with a CHILD. I do like Ashfur, but that I truly cannot stand.
Later on, Lionpaw and Hollypaw receive their warrior names: Lionblaze and Hollyleaf, respectively. Shortly after that, a terrible storm breaks out and a fire starts from the lightning. Surely that’s nothing to worry about, right?
…Well, I guess it became something to worry about when Squirrelflight and her kits end up surrounded by fire on the side of a cliff. But thankfully, Squirrelflight quickly finds a solution and a sturdy branch that’ll let her and her kits get out of the fire safely.
But hold on! Who’s that, intercepting Squirrelflight’s attempts to provide safe travel over the fire?
Surely that can’t be… Ashfur?!
I’m not going to lie, when I first read that scene, my heart practically stopped. The suspense! The drama! The (naturally 😉) fire! But then, I stopped and realized… Why now? For most of PoT, Ashfur never seemed to be angry at Squilf. But now he’s trapping her and her ‘children’ in a fire?! I was very confused, and that was the day I started my Ashfur Defense Protest. (😛) Anyway, back to the analysis!
Ashfur corners Squirrelflight and the Three on the cliff face, Ashfur claiming that he’s still bitter from her betrayal and the only way she can feel his plan is by watching all three of her children die in front of her.
And of course, one of the most famous lines in all of Warriors is said in response:
“They are not my kits.”
Ashfur ends up leaving them alone, and all three of her ‘kits’ are physically and emotionally shaken by the experience. Jayfeather is desperate to find out who their real parents are, Lionblaze mostly just cries silently (😛), and Hollyleaf… She’s ready to kill, she’s so angry. (Plot twist: She does end up killing someone)
By the night of the next Gathering, Ashfur is found dead in a ThunderClan stream, and that’s the last he’s seen in the series… Until we skip ahead a few arcs…
And Bramblestar dies!
So thus, we’re at TBC!
Well, then he un-dies. But you get what I’m saying, right? 😛
Aaaaaaaanyways, “Bramblestar” ends up being Ashfur trying to get revenge from the grave, as he still supposedly has feelings for Squilf! However, everyone just so conveniently only realizes that Bramblestar isn’t actually Bramblestar until about halfway through the series…
This “impostor”, as he’s often called, was downright abusive to his so-called “Codebreakers”, whether it be banishing groups of cats or sending dogs after one of Squirrelflight’s children.
And honestly? I think he’s probably one of the coolest villains out there. I mean, he somehow got into StarClan, then corrupted them from the inside and was able to possess a body, and later mind-controlled dead cats. Not saying any of that is good, but gosh is it cool. 😛
However, his devastating villain arc comes to an end when young warrior Bristlefrost sacrifices her whole existence to drown Ashfur, and in the process, herself, to save the Clans. (Okay… I was sobbing for about 30 minutes straight during that chapter. You know you did too. 👀)
And that concludes our summary of Ashfur’s life… And afterlife!

Now, I want to say that while I am defending Ashfur, I’m not saying any of his actions were justified or reasonable. However, I am saying that he had the potential to be such a good character, and then his development was ruined in PoT.
Overall, I do think that he was a flawed character who is very overlooked when it comes to his better side!
So to conclude, here’s my list of why Ashfur isn’t as bad as people may think:
-He was overall incredibly supportive to his foster brother who had kittypet roots, even when he explicitly broke the warrior code multiple times and didn’t believe in StarClan
-Works his tail off as an apprentice, even while his mentor is viewing his sister in a romantic aspect, and ends up saving ThunderClan multiple times by providing a distraction to the dogs in the gorge AND is one of the 5 apprentices who kills the BloodClan deputy, Bone
-Is supportive of Squirrelflight as she’s facing a very rocky time with Brambleclaw about something she knows to be right
-Overall is a pretty chill, cool guy in TNP

And while this might not be a whole lot, it’s certainly more than, say, Darktail or Scourge!
Again, this is all my silly little opinion, and feel free to take all of this with a grain of salt! 😛 However I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts in the comments, and let me know who’d you’d like me to analyze and defend next!
Well, ta-ta!
-A. Flam ✨