Mudclaw is NOT Misunderstood! by Fawnleg

Fawnleg argues against Mudclaw being sympathetic – what do you think?

Since the release of Wind of Change, Mudclaw has been portrayed as a “decent character” who could have been a far greater leader than Onestar, but simply misinterpreted the situation. He was a strong deputy to support Windclan, but Tallstar chose Onewhisker as the next leader due to his relentless pursuit of battles and aggressive behavior toward the clan. Fans now circulate about the fact that Mudclaw would be a more better leader to Windclan than Onestar because a) Onestar is pretty much hated by most of the fandom b) Mudclaw was experienced deputy; Onewhisker was inexperienced and wasn’t ready to lead Windclan.

Mudclaw would not make a good leader, in my opinion. Yes, to Windclan’s benefit, but not to the benefit of all clans. I’m not sure why people say that because Onestar was like that after he became leader. Mudclaw, as Mudstar, would be hostile with other cats, attempting to secure every square inch of territory. He will not promote friendliness amongst clans, and he will be the one to disrupt the peace by battles. I would bet good money that people wouldn’t like him that much if he actually succeeded in the rebellion and became leader. One thing to make clear, he is not misunderstood.

Mudclaw wanted to be the leader from the beginning. It might be any kit’s dream, but he is willing to sacrifice everything in the clan to be a leader. His excuse is “I want best for Windclan” and “Onestar is bad for the leader”. So basically it means it is okay for you to try to kill a bunch of cats that don’t follow your order so that the clan will be organized with you as the leader. As I read Wind of Change, it was very clear that Mudclaw was an ambitious cat who wanted to be a leader. Onewhisker was right, he was already acting like a leader. Mudclaw admitted himself that he is taking leadership because Tallstar is weak.

Onewhisker: Mudclaw, what are you doing giving orders like this? The last time I checked, Tallstar was the leader of Windclan!

Mudclaw: Not for much longer. Why is Onewhisker closing his eyes to the facts? Some cat has to take charge of Windclan. Do you want the other clans to divide the territory among themselves and leave us out?

Wind of Change, Page 22

First of all, his excuses are lame and plain. He says the reason he wants to be a leader is because apparently he becomes a leader, Windclan will be the best of all clans. Mudclaw, they are other ways of helping Windclan than being a leader. You could have accepted Onewhisker’s offer to become deputy. If you become a deputy, you can help Onewhisker be a leader as he is inexperienced. That is how you help Windclan. What you did made a disgrace to Windclan, as you started a rebellion against the leader and attacked and tried to kill your clanmates. It is not self-defense Mudclaw, and you should have known better that you were breaking the code.

Mudclaw is so obsessed with cats trespassing his territory so much that he thinks it is okay to not let a leader pass to go to the moonstones. In Wind of Change, he thinks that it is okay for him to trespass some clan’s territory if he is doing it for the sake of the Windclan. Hypocrite. He was really hostile with Leafpaw, even though she is a medicine cat and a warrior should not attack another clan’s medicine cat. For example, Clawface got into Dark Forest for killing a medicine cat. Yes, he didn’t actually attack her but he was ready to rip her fur off when she just stepped into her territory. If she didn’t provide a reason, he looked like he was going to attack Leafpaw. What did she do, Mudclaw? She never hunted in your territory or killed your clanmate.

He lied to everyone and himself about why he should do the whole “plan murder” thing in the night. He said for the sake of all clans, and obviously he just wants to be leader so that he can show Windclan how strong they are strong. I get the fact that Thunderclan is nosing around too much, but you are more nosing around trying to recruit other clan cats to their death for Windclan. And this is also a problem with Starclan. They should have sent a sign and be wise enough to know that Mudclaw won’t believe anything Firestar says. This adds to my Starclan is hypocrites theory but this is not about Starclan is about how bad Mudclaw is being a clanmate.

What I see from him is that he is an immense hypocrite through the books. He is like, oh we should kill Onestar so Firestar doesn’t get control of Windclan like Tigerstar did but then he supported Hawkfrost in getting control of all the clans. Another time he didn’t want his clanmates to mingle with other cats but he mingled around with other clan cats especially Hawkfrost during the time of rebellion. He says his clan came first in his actions but he literally tried to kill two cats from his clan (Ashfoot and Onestar). Mudclan wants Windclan to be strong but rebels against his unofficial leader which makes him and his clan look weak. This is just some few things he is very hypocritical about.

Mudclaw lovers tell me that it is natural that characters are hypocrites and they have some flaws. This applies to Mudclaw, they say. Yes, I know not every cat is perfect but that is TOO many moments when he was way hypocritical. Wind of Change was another Mapleshade’s Vengeance to clear up his crimes. I could have understood if he was native and young cat who didn’t know what was going on. But he DID know what was going on and he KNEW that he was endangering countless lives but he still decided to do it. For the sake of the Windclan. Ugh.

I think Onestar is a MUCH MORE better leader than Mudclaw. The reason why everyone hates him so much is because he did a lot of questionable things to other clans as he became more hostile. If you check canon material (Like the Field Guides, and author’s confirmation), you can find that Onestar was like that after Mudclaw’s rebellion as he was worried that his clan wouldn’t accept him as leader. He was in so much burden as he wasn’t prepared to be a leader. It was heartbreaking for him to break up his friendship with Firestar and he regretted that decision for the rest of HIS LIFE. He is one of the most well-written characters in Warriors and I think he is very interesting.

“He needed respect from his own Clanmates, too, many of whom supported Mudclaw’s claim. The only way to do this was to make his Clan independent, confident they could face challenges without running to Thunderclan…He missed his Thunerclan friend especially in the early days, when he struggled to convince himself he had any right to be Windclan’s leader…”

Cats of Clans, Page 48.

Mudclaw clearly deserves Dark Forest. If Starclan sended Juniperclaw because he tried to poison cats, he knew what he did wrong and he thought it was the sake of his clan, they send him to Dark Forest. But what about Mudclaw? He tried to murder bunch of cats that don’t obey his authority. Sake of his clan? That is just a petty excuse to become a leader. Tallstar did make the better decision of choosing Onestar as deputy but he didn’t tell Mudclaw about it. Even if he did tell Mudclaw, the rebellion is likely to still exist. Why? Because in Starlight, he literally s

ays that Tallstar is pathetic and always has been biased towards Thunderclan.

Not only has he been disrespectful towards his leader, but his ancestors because they were the ones who trusted Tallstar to be a leader. He hurt his clan because he created a bad reputation for his clan. Why is he in Starclan if Juniperclaw is in Dark Forest? The whole apology contradicts his actions. He is lying about it, he is lying to go into Starclan. He might think so, but the truth is he is nowhere near Starclan.