ShadowClan: Powerful in the Pines (A closer look at this mysterious clan’s reputation) by Shadowfoot

Shadowfoot shines the spotlight on ShadowClan.

We all know that ShadowClan is known for its strong, proud warriors. Many believe that ‘the North Wind blows over the hearts of ShadowClan cats, chilling their souls and making them cruel and deceptive’. What many don’t know that this is actually ThunderClan’s perspective. ShadowClan’s a pretty cool Clan in the end, and Avocato’s here to set the record straight.

Most people here know that in ‘The Prophecies Begin’ (not my favorite arc), it’s structured on the perspective of ThunderClan, the ‘perfect’. (No offense, ThunderClan lovers!) Rusty (Firestar) is finding his place in the Clans, and slowly gaining the respect of other warriors. His impression of ShadowClan was soured quickly-not because they were ‘evil’ (although sometimes they acted that way), but because their current leader was Brokenstar.. then Nightstar (who made a pretty good deal with them, but was not the best leader).. then Tigerstar.. (the first) then Blackstar. (:3) Let’s start with Brokenstar.

Quick recap: Brokenstar was leader of ShadowClan when Firepaw (star) joined ThunderClan (cough cough..against the code..cough cough). Not too long after he became leader, he started running out of kits. (Cough cough.. his fault.. cough cough.) Oh, look! He thought. ThunderClan has plenty of kits. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind me ‘borrowing’ a few! And that’s how he got the bright idea to steal kits from ThunderClan. (From what I gather from ‘Blackfoot’s Reckoning’ and ‘Exile From ShadowClan’, the kits were Brightheart, Cinderpelt, Thornclaw ((one of my faves)) and Brackenfur. Point of interest.)
Firepaw (PAW, who takes apprentices to life-or-death battles?) went with Whitestorm to chase out Brokenstar (see ‘Into the Wild’,) and thus, a ‘ShadowClan is evil’ plot began.

Nightstar had sort of a friendship with ThunderClan after they helped him rid ShadowClan of Brokenstar. Of course, he did make some bad decisions, and did not get nine lives (which I STILL don’t understand honestly, he was a good cat!). He split up the moor between them and ThunderClan (I think, it’s been a while since I read that book), instead of giving it back to WindClan. This probably gave ThunderClan ANOTHER bad impression of ShadowClan.

Then there was Tigerstar the First. No explaining needed. But for the record, he was a ThunderClan born cat, and it’s probably Bluestar’s fault for relying on a KITTYPET, instead of her own deputy, which she knows is very jealous. But I guess he was always a bad egg. But if not for how Bluestar completely ignored Tigerstar (claw), ThunderClan would have the whole problem, and ShadowClan would have less of a reputation.

After Tigerstar was killed by Scourge, Blackstar was the new leader of ShadowClan. The reason why many believe he’s the best ShadowClan leader (other than Shadowstar)? He didn’t suck as much as the others. Brokenstar had ‘broken’ the code, Nightstar was old and slightly senile, and Tigerstar the First… is evil. (Super great villain, probably my favorite one.) Raggedstar trusted his son (Brokenstar) too much, Rowanclaw DISBANDED ShadowClan and was a weak leader, and Tigerstar the Second is a lot like Tigerstar the First. Sure, he was hostile towards the other clans, ThunderClan especially, but never started a war, and when the other clans turned on ThunderClan, he stood by ThunderClan’s side. The sad thing? We don’t get a lot from him. Even his novella is painfully short.

Thanks for reading my rant. I’m not hoping to change any mindsets, and if you disagree, please do so politely. ShadowClan has pretty nice cats, it’s just that most of the leaders are cursed by StarClan and the name ‘ShadowClan’ just sounds evil. Their ability to blend into the shadows and fight in such skill makes them, in my opinion, the coolest clan!

TLDR: ShadowClan is known for its bad reputation, but in the end they are very cool cats. Most of their leaders may not be as perfect as, say, Firestar, yet their skill and unique abilities make them one of the most powerful clans in the forest.