Was Mudclaw the Better Leader for WindClan? by Maplepaw/flame

Maplepaw takes a look at Mudclaw’s potential qualities as leader.

Hello, this is my second (I believe) article. This time around, I want to talk about Mudclaw being the leader of WindClan.

To start, let’s talk about Mudclaw’s overall personality.
Mudclaw is a mottled dark brown tom that is very loyal to his Clan. He had no mate and no kits. (I’m not too sure about this one, so correct me if I’m wrong).
He may be ambitious at some times, but it wasn’t like Tigerclaw ambitious, and his ambition to become leader was probably because he wanted to show how much he cared for his Clan.
“Yes, he was ambitious—but his ambition was to become leader of his Clan, and no cat can doubt that he would surrender all his lives to defending his Clanmates and the Clan’s borders.” (Cats of the Clans, page 50 paragraph one)
I believe he was a bit battle-hungry, but I also believe he would have his reasons for being so. I do not believe if he had become leader, that he would have attacked ThunderClan like Onestar did in Eclipse.
Not only that, but he was a senior warrior and mentor to two apprentices, so he must’ve been a very well respected warrior even before becoming deputy after Deadfoot.

Mudclaw’s battle personality.
From what I remember, he was quite battle-hungry, but I believe he did have his reasons for being so. He had a good reason to fight against Onestar, too. He thought he had “been cheated” on, and had the right to think so. This shows he does have reasons for some of his fights, and isn’t a fully blood-thirsty cat.

Mudclaw as deputy.
Tallstar chose Mudclaw as deputy because “Tallstar recognized that his own peace-pursuing leadership needed the support of a warrior not afraid to show his claws.” (Cats of the Clans page 50 paragraph one). Mudclaw was not only chosen for this reason, I believe. He was a great mentor to Cropaw and Webpaw, meaning he did have the skills of a somewhat leader. He was also really devoted to his Clan and cared about his Clanmates very much, probably making him a very well respected warrior and amazing cat to make deputy after Deadfoot’s death.

Mudclaw being “cheated” on.
So, like I said, he was a great deputy of WindClan and seemed to deserve being the Clan leader for so many reasons. So, why was Onewhisker chosen over him?
Well it states in Cats of the Clans (page 48, paragraph one) “Firestar believed he could depend on their friendship forever . . . Tallstar changed his deputy at the end of his ninth life.”, and, “‘Mudclaw is a brave warrior, but he is not the right cat to lead WindClan. In these last moons we have learned that the future of our Clans lies in friendship. I want no rivalry between WindClan and ThunderClan after I am gone. We must have no enemies. But this will happen if Mudclaw rules the Clan’” (Starlight page 117 paragraph four). This is the reason Tallstar chose Onestar as his new last-minute deputy-to-become-leader instead of Mudclaw. I can see his reasoning, but how did he know this was going to happen? It has been shown that Mudclaw is a bit aggressive to ThunderClan, but all the Clans are sort of mean to each other and I do not believe that Mudclaw would be so mousebrained to make ThunderClan their enemies forever. *cough* *cough* Unlike Onestar *cough*. That sounds more like Tigerclaw than Mudclaw to me.
I can see what Tallstar wanted for WindClan, but after Onestar became the WindClan leader, he did the opposite of what Tallstar wanted for his Clan. This leads me back to the same question: was Mudclaw the better choice for WindClan’s leader? Onestar didn’t really keep the peace between ThunderClan and WindClan, so really he was doing the opposite of what Tallstar wanted to avoid with Mudclaw. I will also go back to the fact that Tallstar wanted Mudclaw as deputy, and not Onestar. He wanted a cat who would fight, even if it were sometimes against allies. What I’m trying to say here is that Onestar did not do what Tallstar wanted him to do, just like Mudclaw would’ve (according to Tallstar) if he became leader.

His reasons for trusting Hawkfrost and fighting Onestar.
He felt that Tallstar did not believe he was a good deputy and that Hawkfrost was just a supporter helping him to become the leader of WindClan, and hopefully did realize that trusting Hawkfrost was a mistake. He had full rights to feel cheated on by Tallstar and Onestar and also had a right to fight for the role as leader, even if StarClan didn’t want it to be so. Mudclaw was a good cat at heart, just blinded by anger at the time. Unfortunately, StarClan did not want to give him a second chance, and made it clear they wanted Onestar as a leader (even if it was the worst idea StarClan has ever had) by making the tree fall on Mudclaw.

Should he be the leader of WindClan?
My answer: yes.
I’m not saying that Tallstar’s decision was wrong, I’m saying that Mudclaw would have made a good leader for WindClan. He would’ve fought battles, but if he was a leader, he would’ve thought about it more. I also believe he was wrong when he was kicked out of his position as deputy, and if he remained in that position I think he would have only done things that he thought were good for the Clan and the right thing to do.

Why Mudclaw can’t become leader of WindClan.
Tallstar had every right in the world to think that Mudclaw wasn’t the right cat to lead WindClan, but maybe his choice for Onewhisker to be the next WindClan leader wasn’t the best. For as long as I want Mudclaw to be the leader of WindClan, he was killed by a falling tree and we will never know what would happen if he ever did become the leader.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed my article!