Controversial Character Analysis: Hollyleaf by Rosefern

Rosefern takes a look at Hollyleaf.

Hello BlogClan! It’s Rosefern again! 😛 Today I’m going to be analyzing Hollyleaf, and sharing some oppinions on her. This article will have two sections: the oppinions section, where I ask around and write what my pawsome Clanmates have to say about Hollyleaf, and the analysis itself, where I, well, analyze her, recount some of her significant appearances and say what I think they reveal about her.
First we’ll have the oppinions section, and here we will get to read what some of our wonderful Clanmates have to say about Hollyleaf!
Nightkit says: “I think Hollyleaf is an interesting and complex character, and I also think she was right to kill Ashfur. I loved her relationship with Fallen Leaves, although I think it was platonic and I also headcanon Hollyleaf as aroace. Her death was the only time I cried while reading Warriors other than Leafpool’s vigil, which takes place in Squirrelflight’s Hope.”
Silverdusk says: “I think that Hollyleaf is an interesting and unique character, and possibly a bit misunderstood, but she does irritate me. The way she exposed the truth about what happened to EVERYONE after killing Ashfur, then fled to leave her brothers to deal with what she did. Tsk tsk.”
Nightmoon says: “I LOVE HOLLYLEAF!!!!!!! okay now that that i have got the point across bye just kidding 😉 Hollyleaf was always a rule follower and sometimes that did get on my nerves but she is a really understanding cat to me but thats all i have to say right now catch you later Byeee”
Maplepaw says: “She’s amazing! She has such great character that I can relate to, and she plays a great part in Power of Three and Omen of the Stars even though she sadly didn’t end up being one of the three. I love her and I think that she should’ve been written better, but I do think Power of Three and Omen of the Stars all could’ve been written better, because even though she was a relatable and amazing character, it was quite messy how she worked through her problems.”
Honeybeam says: “I love her, she was such a great character and an interesting pov. Granted she was overly committed to the warrior code but that’s only because she wanted to be a good warrior for her clan. She gave up her medicine cat apprenticeship because it would be better for her clan. To explain her actions at the end of sunrise, she was under large amounts of stress and her life had been upended. She ran because she needed some time to recover and think, plus she returned to her clan in there time of need and died a noble warriors death.”
Jackdawpaw says:“I think Hollyleaf is an okay character. I like her in OoTS, but I strongly dislike her in PoT. She’s too obsessed with rules and doing what’s right and she really overreacts. Now that I think of it, I don’t like her that much at all :0 ”
Ivypaw says: “I personally think Hollyleaf is over rated. Idk why though.”
Flowerseed says: “I really like Hollyleaf! From the beginning, she proved herself to be a determined, logical, and diligent cat who took her duties seriously. But although she turned out to not be in the Power of Three prophecy, she made her mark in Clan history nonetheless. In the end, she died a warrior’s death, saving Ivypool from Hawkfrost’s wrath.”
Mallowpaw says: “I really like Hollyleaf. Her development across the series was interesting.
At first, she was really ambitious and took rules to heart. She even tried becoming a medicine cat so she would have power in the Clans. I didn’t really like her friendship with Cinderheart, because Cinderheart is in general an extremely bland character. But her relationship with Willowshine was more interesting. Hollyleaf even snuck into RiverClan to see Willowshine, but she stopped after Leopardstar sent her home and she adapted her rule-embracing persona. She stayed this way for a while until Ashfur threatened her life, alongside Squirrelflight and her siblings. She learned that she was a codebreaker from her birth- everything she was against. This caused her to break down, and she ultimately decided to kill Ashfur after he threatened to tell all the Clans. She then decided to tell the Clans about how she was a codebreaker herself, and she then tried to kill Leafpool, and accidentally got trapped in the tunnels below the Clans after the exit got blocked by a rockfall.
These weren’t great moves by Hollyleaf. But her time in the tunnel wisened her, and she met Fallen Leaves. He helped her get over her mental struggles, and eventually Hollyleaf returned to the Clans, wisened, skilled, and more mature. She helped the Clans train for the Great Battle, but she was killed in the battle, a changed cat.
Ultimately I really like Hollyleaf. She developed a lot over the series, and in the end, she was a mature and wise cat. I wish she had survived the Great Battle.”
Sparrowstream says: “I liked Hollyleaf she was a cool and complex character. Her obsession of the code was pretty interesting but could have been developed more. No matter how much I love Dovewing I still feel like Holly deserves to be one of the Three. Her novella was pretty good and all. I also like her friendships with Cinderheart and Willowshine”
Tempestheart says: “Hollyleaf was that annoying snitchy kid in the playground🤣. She killed Ashfur though, that was an achievement.”
Hollyfang says: “Hollyleaf is my favorite character!!! Her personality is just so relatable and I just feel so connected with her! Her story’s also awesome, and when she sacrificed herself for Ivypool that made me cry 😭😭😭”

Thank you BlogClanners for your input! Now for the looooooong analysis part 😛
Even as a kit, Hollykit was always the one to think about the rules. The kits aren’t allowed to leave camp, but Lionkit does anyways. Hollykit is frustrated and reprimands him but also helps treat Lionkit’s thorn scratches, showing how much she cares for her littermates even when they disagree.
Hollykit decides to be a medicine cat, which shows devotion to her Clan.
The medicine cat is just as vital to a Clan’s survival as the warriors. The medicine cat treats sickness and battle wounds, and random injuries that just happen, and without them a lot more cats wd die. Hollypaw wants to help her Clan in this way, which is great!
Hollypaw excels at battle training and it is noted that she fought like a warrior in battle, so she makes the switch to be a warrior apprentice with Brackenfur as her mentor. This shows how she recognized that she would be better as a warrior, and instead of insisting that she was perfect just as is, she decided to follow her heart and become a warrior.
Hollypaw starts to notice that Lionpaw is acting tired during the day, but when she asks him about it, he snaps at her, and Hollypaw wishes for their kithood days when she and her brothers shared everything with each other.
One night Hollypaw and Cinderpaw wake up in the middle of the night and notice Lionpaw is missing. Concerned, they decide to go and find him. To their shock they find him on the WindClan border playing with the WindClan apprentice Heatherpaw. Hollypaw is angry and argues with her brother about this, and Lionpaw storms away, at which point, Hollypaw worries that she ruined her relationship with her brother. This shows that despite her unflinching loyalty to the Warrior Code, she still cares deeply for her littermates, which is a great thing about her.
The next day, Firestar gathers the entire Clan and announces that he will be giving Millie a warrior name. Millie protests, saying her name represents her and she doesn’t want that taken away from her. When others start to agree, Hollypaw grows uneasy, thinking that this is against the Warrior Code and that Millie needs to accept her new name. Now I personally don’t agree with this. She may be thinking this was against code 15: “A warrior rejects the soft life of a kittypet” and she is sort of right. Millie is holding onto something from her kittypet life, but it’s not something that will get in the way of her Clan loyalty. I also like the name Millie, although I admittedly don’t like it as much after I witnessed how neglectful Millie was to her kits.
Hollypaw notices something up with RiverClan and, worrying about her friend Willowpaw, decides to go visit them on the Gathering island, their temporary home. Although I value Hollypaw’s devotion to her friends, she’s also being quite hypocritical here after all this badgering others about the warrior code. Anyways she gets caught XD (serves you right Hollypaw) and sent back to her own Clan.
Jaypaw finally tells Hollypaw about the prophecy of the Three, and she decides she wants to use her powers to protect the Warrior Code. However, her littermates don’t appear interested.
Fast forward to the fire scene. When Hollypaw (now Hollyleaf) finds out that Squilf is not her mother, she is understandably very upset with Squirrelflight for hiding this from her, and is determined to stop Ashfur from revealing the secret at the Gathering, as it would make her Clan look bad.
Her solution is of course, killing Ashfur, which is ~definitely~ not her best moment. Like c’mon, Hollyleaf! You’re so selfish, insisting everyone else stay loyal to the Code, you break it when it’s convenient to you? I expected better of you!
In Sunset she goes on the journey to find Sol as they thought he was the one who killed Ashfur, and she doesn’t speak up that she did. She was pretty helpful on the journey, notably helping Hazeltail after she hurt her nose on a thorn.
When she comes back however she has this chat with Leafpool and finds out she’s her mother and later Jayfeather tells her that Crowfeather is their father. She is really mad and reveals it at the gathering after ~killing~ a cat to keep it a secret. Not cool, Hollyleaf. Not cool!
When she gets back to camp she tries to poison her mother with deathberries until she realizes it would be worse for Leafpool to stay alive. Yep, Hollyleaf want to make Leafpool suffer.
She then runs from the camp towards the tunnels. Jayfeather tries to stop her and she scratches him. Then she runs into the tunnels and the entrance collapses behind her presumably killing her.
However, what know other cat knows is that she lived in the tunnels and was nursed back to health by Fallen Leaves. They became close and, during a particularly harsh Leaf-bare, she starts secretly delivering herbs to help her former Clanmates, as well as saving Cherrypaw and Molepaw from a fox. This shows that even after she betrayed her Clan and tried to kill her She also help Blossomfall and Ivypool escape from the tunnels, and later Ivypool again with Dovewing. The second time she was caught and her two brothers (Jayfeather and Lionblaze) begged her not to leave again. She grudgingly agrees but soon comes to feel at home in the Clan again, despite some other cats being suspicious of her. She also shows her devotion to her Clan by helping the Clans prepare for WindClan’s attack in the tunnels.
She fought in the Great Battle and died a noble death saving Ivypool from Hawkfrost, and just before she died, reconciled with her mother, Leafpool.
Now, I’ll let you know what I pulled from this.
I think Hollyleaf, despite having her selfish moment, is still a great character who cares deeply for her Clan and her kin, and always wants to do what’s best for them even if she doesn’t always say it.
Hope you enjoyed this article! Let me know what you think of Hollyleaf and if this article changed your oppinion on her in the comments. Also please let me know any tips you have to make a better analysis in the future <33
Last thing is, here are the next controversial cats I plan to analyze, in order: Mapleshade, Clear Sky, Dovewing, Jayfeather, Twigbranch, Brambleclaw, Crowfeather, Leafpool, and Star Flower, and Squirrelflight. Let me know if you have any other suggestions.
byeee *Rosefern out*