Ask the Experts

We know you’ve all got some Warriors-related questions you need answered. Who was Snowtuft? How many kits did Mousefur have? What did the original ThunderClan camp look like?

If so, this is the page to ask!

We’ve dusted away some leaves and made a home in this part of BlogClan territory for you to ask these kinds of questions. We’re positive there will be an expert hanging around here with the answers you seek.

Just remember: if it is not written, it is not canon.

Feel free to post your questions in a comment below, and wait for your answer!

This page is focused on published books, so we ask that people avoid asking questions about future books or anything else unknown on this page. Kate will not answer questions about future storylines on this page – no exceptions, we’re afraid to say!

If you have any questions about BlogClan rather than Warriors, you probably want to head over to the BlogTeam Den, where members of BlogTeam will be happy to answer your questions and offer help!

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  • Why do some people think that Warriors is ableistic-I don’t know if I spelled that right, but discriminating against people (Cats. Whatever.) with disabilities? I haven’t noticed anything like that.

    • Howdy Brillig. There’s mostly some subtler examples of ableism in the series, things that happen to be more easier to overlook due to the normalization of ableism throughout the years. A big thing to keep in mind with the series is that it has been going on for over a decade and with that, some things have been getting better while others haven’t. (1)

    • One for example, is that Warriors doesn’t have too many Snowkit instances anymore. Snowkit was used as a plot device back in the day and killed for his disability and regularly seen as lesser or someone incapable of being a warrior despite the possibility with accommodations. (2)

      • But he wasn’t disqualified from being a warrior because he was deaf. He was disqualified from being a warrior because he was killed by a hawk.
        Also, Brightheart, Finleap, Berrynose, Oddfoot, and Deadfoot all became warriors.

        • bramblefire is talking about snowkit’s role in the narrative as a whole. It could be considered in poor taste to have one of the only disabled characters in the series be killed in such a violent manner very early on in his life – did snowkit really have to die like that? was there no other end to their character arc?

          • Well, in Rising Storm there was the fire which burnt away a lot of the cover, so the camp was more exposed, so they were in more danger, and Snowkit couldn’t hear the eagle. That’s all his deafness had to do with it. And it’s not like they didn’t value him-Speckletail tried to drag him down, and Fireheart sent some cats to run after the eagle.

            • The issue is not with the content of the story on a surface level, but the broader narrative choices the authors made to immediately kill a disabled kitten. It’s, I’d imagine, very similar to the bury your gays trope, wherein gay characters come out and then often immediately die – it can be frustrating to see oneself in fiction only as a brief moment of tragedy rather than a fleshed out character. Of course, i’m not Deaf, so there’s layers to this that I’m never going to understand, but from my perspective, it does sound like it could be hurtful

              remember, the authors have final control over the narrative. Yes, within the story, there makes some logical sense as to why Snowkit was left so vulnerable (the fire); however, to use in text excerpts to justify broader narrative criticisms is sort of paradoxical. There is no innate reason that the story played out the way it did – somebody wrote it – and while the series of events may make sense within the text, it can be important to examine the author’s beliefs, motives, subconscious biases, etc, when looking at potentially upsetting parts of media.

              I don’t want to put words in bramb’s mouth, but it seems like their criticisms did not lie in the ways in which the other members of the Clan cared about Snowkit, but rather the usage of Snowkit as a character simply for an immediate pulling on the heartstrings in the novels, especially because of how few physically disabled characters there are in the series. Hopefully this clears some stuff up

            • Yes but the issue, like Birchfoot has pointed out, doesn’t lie with what exactly is in the books. Vicky Holmes and the author team confirmed that Snowkit was added for his four chapters so Speckletail would enter the elders den. My question would be why create a disabled cat for this reason? Why not move her there for any other reason? Snowkit’s purpose was to die a sad death and be used as tragedy fodder. There’s never him being able to use his talents and even Firestar doesn’t see much of a point in training Snowkit and is hesitant. It would’ve been better to not include Snowkit or to give him the chance to become a warrior and have ThunderClan adapt to it. Speckletail already figured out a way to communicate with him but it’s rendered useless as yet another disabled character suffers for tragedy points and the angst of another cat.

        • I agree, I only ones that never became warriors were more important (Cinderpelt, Jayfeather). And yes, we was killed by a HAWK!

          • I’m unsure completely what you’re trying to say but if it’s that characters who went through ableist treatment and then became important in their forced rules excuses it, that’s not true. Giving someone a “reward” of being important doesn’t change or excuse forcing someone into a position (especially one that denies someone the chance of having a family which there’s some yikes history with that and disabled people) doesn’t make up for their past treatment. Sure they’re important but did they need to be shoved aside or seen as no longer useful like Longtail was? Did Jayfeather constantly need to go through microaggressions and did Cinderpelt need to go through a whole arc of thinking her life wasn’t successful or fulfilling enough because she was disabled? That stings and Snowkit especially hawk or not, was killed in a meta sense to be used as tragedy fodder. The narrative reason doesn’t matter as much as his role in all of it.

    • This is something ThunderClan regularly refuses to do with the case of Longtail and Jayfeather being forced inside and outside the narrative to the point they are seen as too weak or incompetent to be of further use. This is a harmful mindset to think of disabled people with. It brings about ideas that disabled people need to be protected or “babied” even taking away their autonomy. (3)

      • But if they can’t see, then they can’t see if someone’s fighting them etc. Jayfeather isn’t incompetent. He’s as good a medicine cat as anyone else.

        • he’s a great medicine cat, and if that’s really what he wanted to do, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be able to – the problem isn’t that he’s not good at his job, it’s that instead of trying to think of creative ways to accommodate his disability in a warrior setting, they opted to shunt him to the side instead. There could have been some really interesting lessons from brightheart about learning to rely on other senses, especially hearing and smell, and adjusting his fighting style accordingly.

          to say he can’t fight because he’s blind reveals a lack of creativity in coming up with alternate methods of fighting and living in general. toph from avatar is a great example of this. she’s blind too! she points it out quite often because it’s impacted her entire life, from the way people perceive her, to the way she’s had to adapt her unique bending styles to fit her blindness, but she’s still the most powerful earthbender in the entire series, utilizing the other tools in her kit to adjust for her lack of sight^^

          • I…don’t actually know Avatar, so I don’t have any context for your answer. But thanks. Didn’t Jayfeather actually originally train with Brightheart? And then he and Hollyleaf switched?

            • it’s a great show, highly recommend. But yes, he did! And it would have been, in my opinion, absolutely amazing to see them fully bond over life as a blind or partly blind Warrior – instead, we got a few chapters of this before the story opted for the easier narrative option of placing him in the medicine den, to avoid a lot of more nuanced examinations of life as a disabled warrior from the perspectives of these characters^^

            • Jayfeather was assigned Brightheart as a mentor, but he never got any training before he had to become a medicine cat.

              • Technically, Brightheart did train him but most of it was spent with apprentice tasks and chores since Jayfeather wandered over to the lake and fell in, having to be rescued. Brightheart was more focused on his attitude at the time before focusing on battle training or much hunting. But a lot of issues too with Jayfeather is the fact that him being able to see in StarClan is liberating and viewed as better almost for him. He’s happier in that state.

        • Yes. He is a good medicine cat but he was pressured into the position by the narrative and Spottedleaf. He didn’t have much autonomy and clearly wanted to be a warrior. In a book with fantasy elements and powers (not saying he should magically be able to see as that’s a harmful trope in itself) it’s odd that it draws the line with disabilities that must now be realistic. Why can’t the Clan think of ways Jayfeather can be a warrior? Most of the time the Clans aren’t fighting and blind cats can hunt as well. There’s also the case of tunnel fighting which was more focused on whiskers and listening than anything else. Jayfeather could have been skilled with this but the narrative doesn’t let him. There’s also a case of the word cr*ppled, a word that has hurt many disabled people, being used in The Sight.

    • This is a common representation of disabled people alongside what Briarlight helps bring about with her serving a lesser purpose than to brighten up the able-bodied cats and serve as another tragedy. She’s not giving much of a character outside of inspiration which doesn’t sit well with me. (4)

        • The issue with Briarlight comes with the issues of StarClan itself as well as how Briarlight suffers from tragedy after tragedy when she really didn’t need to and has almost died at least 3 times. She’s been targeted by the team and the narrative but she’s also been forced to be positive making her border on a trope about how inspirational disabled people are just because she’s disabled. While alive I hesitate to say she is this trope, dead she makes me more uneasy. Her legs have been fixed and Sandstorm tells Squirrelflight in her super edition that she’s so much happier with her disability fixed. They also never once try to find a job for Briarlight and just leave her to sit around. The Clan could’ve made her a camp guard or something else. But they don’t.

          • Like, she’s just too often used as the character who almost dies because she’s already weak? And always in a happy cheerful mood even though it would make sense for her to be in a bad mood at least once in a while? And how nobody in real life is actually in a happy cheerful mood all the time?

            • It’s not that she’s used too often and then keeps getting tragedies thrown at her sometimes for the angst of others. Really, her injury is fine in concept and there are disabled people who have lost careers because of chronic pain or injuries. That’s all fine and valid. The bad comes in how others treat her in and out of the narrative. Millie smothering her makes sense but her overdoing it and not letting Briarlight do what she’s capable of and suppresses her isn’t the best. I understand why Millie feels the way she does but it still rubs me the wrong way. I also am not the biggest fan of her death and what happens to her in StarClan, specifically because of Sandstorm’s words. It was essentially that Squirrelflight might end up disabled and that such a life isn’t worth living. This being in regards to StarClan “fixing” disabilities. Intended or not, this does present itself as a red flag to me.

    • Not saying she’s the biggest aggressor but she does make me hesitant as well as the issues with some disabled characters suffering great tragedies like Crookedstar and forced into great deals of misery and lives without much else or disabilities being completely written out like they are in more modern times. (5)

      • I also don’t really get this. It wasn’t his broken jaw that made his life a misery. It was Mapleshade. Also kind of Rainflower.
        And Crookedstar became leader!

        • Just because the reward was leadership and the text rewards him doesn’t mean he didn’t lose everything. Yes I know the text doesn’t say it’s because of his disability but the whole book on a meta sense is ableist toward their view of him. It’s a disabled character who suffers and loses everyone he cares about and for what? To give him a leadership position at the expense of everyone? To remind disabled people of their pain and struggles but it’s okay because there’s a reward at the end?

        • It was because of his broken jaw and how cats treated him because of it that he started training with Mapleshade, though.

    • There seems to be more of a lack of understanding with how to write both physical and non-physical disabilities like the case of Moth Flight with her having to give her children up as she couldn’t handle it. This doesn’t reflect well on people with ADHD. (6)

        • (many neurodivergent people believe she’s ADHD-coded. of course, in the warriors universe, the cats don’t have the same language to describe her condition, but it’s a very popular theory that she has ADHD because a lot of her characteristics and personality traits fall in line with common ones associated with ADHD)

        • There’s what Birchfoot has mentioned and outside book sources as well. And there’s an issue of that in itself too. Outside material when it comes to not naming neurodivergency happens a lot and is frustrating for those wanting representation. Yes she was young but that also creates an issue with how the author team views teen mothers and disabled mothers. It’s all on an outside the books level with the questions of did they need to have a mother not accept her daughter’s disability regardless of reason? Did she need to lose her mate to force her to give up her kits? These are the questions needed to ask when examining the more present microaggressions in the text.

      • Not being rude, but as someone who suffers from ADHD, it is really quite hurtful hearing it being described as a “disability”.

        • I don’t think anyone was trying to be hurtful here – ADHD is widely considered a disability because it can impact one’s ability to function in a day to day setting without appropriate accommodations. I understand that the word disability can have some negative connotations, but I don’t believe it was meant to be used in that sense here, but rather to place it under a very broad category that includes many diverse conditions, all of which impact someone’s ability to function in different ways.

          • I understand Bramb didn’t mean it in a hurtful or obnoxious way, however, I personally consider physical issues like being blind, deaf, non-verbal, paralysed, missing a limb(s) or other body part(s), etc disabilities, not mental things like ADHD.

            • If you don’t consider your ADHD to be a disability, that’s totally valid! You’re allowed to feel that way. But many people with ADHD in my life do consider it disabling, specifically a learning disability as well as a form of neurodiversity. ADHD can seriously affect one’s ability to form relationships with peers, focus in school, etc, as I’m sure you know, which is why a lot of my friends do consider it a disability. I would urge you to dive deeper in the disability community because the definition of disability extends far beyond the issues you have listed, and often overlap between physical, mental, and emotional symptoms. Yes, blindness and Deafness are very much the archetype of what a disability looks like, but disabilities can also include acquired injuries, digestive conditions like IBS and Crohn’s, chronic migraines, EDS, fibromyalgia, schizophrenia, depression, autism, dyslexia, etc, all depending on severity. Perhaps someone’s acquired injury is only a minor hindrance in their life because they have been able to successfully gained accommodations like a cane, and enough time off of work or school with benefits to recover, while someone might have severe psychotic depression and be completely unable to work. Is only the physical condition a disability? What happens when we realize that depression has physical symptoms including chronic pain? Does that change it? Does it really not count? Or are they both disabilities because they are conditions that affect motor, cognitive, social, etc functions every single day, the degree to which these symptoms hinder their lives depending on how well our society accommodates them.

              • Disability activists have worked tirelessly to make sure disability is a recognized and protected class in society, however these conditions surface for individuals – I urge you to immerse yourself in some of these communities if you are interested in learning more about how disabled people have been treated by society and what they believe they need to feel safe and successful in this world.

        • That comes down to personal preference. I have ADHD as well and for me, it’s also one of my disabilities that I see myself with. It’s fine to not want to see yourself as disabled but others are free to use the label if they like. Especially since depending on severity and in different circles, it can be considered one. It’s also important to remember that disability isn’t a bad word. It never was but others have made it one to put down disabled people and see them as lesser.

        • If I did, it was more of a speculation than confirmation. I’m not sure I’d tie any warrior to such a specific diagnosis. I prefer a character to have a personality without needing to attach it to any kind of pathology.

    • Warriors carries an undercurrent of microaggressions that perhaps and probably aren’t realized by the authors or team but it is one that does affect those with disabilities and I appreciate your question too and opening yourself to learning and the views of others. (7)

    • I think what everyone is trying to say here is that disabled cats are often portrayed as being inferior or seen as inferior to non disabled cats or having their disability be a cheap way to introduce tragedy, and that it would be more in better taste to have disabled cats shown as being equal to everyone else.

    • The other gave really good examples, but I have one more I’d like to add.
      Deadfoot was originally named Hopkit, by his mother, but at his apprentice ceremony, Heatherstar changed his name to Deadpaw, for his disability.

      • And I still don’t understand how he was fine with it. I think at that point he knew without a doubt what his warrior name would be.
        Before I read Tallstar’s Revenge I thought that Deadfoot was named Deadkit because they thought he was dead when he was a kit and then when it turned out he wasn’t nobody bothered changing it back.

        • That doesn’t mean it was a bad thing to do. Changing his name to Deadpaw is cruel and hurtful, even if he wasn’t bothered by it.
          It would have been like naming Jaykit Sightlesskit, or forcing Brightheart to keep the name Lostface, just because it describes their disability.

  • How exactly was killing Featherpaw and Stormpaw supposed to choose Stonefur’s loyalty to TigerClan?
    Also, wasn’t the whole point of TigerClan was that it was two Clans combined? And Tigerstar wanted all four Clans to become part of TigerClan? What did it matter if they were halfClan?
    ….This was all an elaborate revenge on Bluestar, Graystripe, and, through Graystripe, Firestar, wasn’t it.
    Also, why was it only Stonefur, Featherpaw, and Stormpaw? What was going to happen with Mistyfoot?

    • Cheetahheart!, (Warrior name) Cheetah heart, (Ancients) Cheetah that runs through valley, (Tribe of rushing water) Cheetah (Sisters) Cheers (Kittypet) Claw (rogue/loner) tell me if i missed any names! says:

      I don’t know….. Actually, I’m sure it’s because they were part Graystripe and Bluestar, which makes them his archnemeses

      And i think that Mistyfoot was next on the list.

    • Tigerstar will do what Tigerstar does…even if it doesn’t make any sense

      No but actually I think he wanted to make a point that he was in charge and not Leopardstar or RiverClan

      • Cheetahheart!, (Warrior name) Cheetah heart, (Ancients) Cheetah that runs through valley, (Tribe of rushing water) Cheetah (Sisters) Cheers (Kittypet) Claw (rogue/loner) tell me if i missed any names! says:

        basically, i think it means tigerstar is cookoo

  • Is Mapleshade’s Vengance only sold in Ebook format now? I was hoping read it, but I can’t a paper back! *Sigh*

    • It’s also part of the Shadows of the Clans novella set alongside Goosefeather and Ravenpaw’s book. There are copies of the novella set out there in paperback I believe but I don’t think it’s possible to just get Mapleshade’s Vengance alone outside of as an ebook.

    • Nope! You can get the book bundle where there are two more short stories with it! It’s titled Shadows of the Clans, and you can probably find it in the library if you type that in the search 🙂
      P.S I replied to your reply to my comment on the previous page! Sorry I didn’t see it before

    • Dominoclaw is an oc of someone who is a fan of the Warriors series. The owner of Dominoclaw basically commissioned a bunch of Warriors fandom artists back in the day (and currently) and a lot of Dominoclaw art spread to the point he became a well known oc. He’s not a canon cat in the book but his owner loves him dearly and supported the Warriors fandom a lot in terms of commissioning a lot of really cool artists.

  • Is there a form of some sort to say when your Birth Day is? Mine’s coming up in November so I thought I’d ask if I was missing something.

  • Who in the world is Stargazer???? Google said he made StarClan somehow and named it after his daughter, Star, but he is never mentioned in the books????

    • That’s a fan character I believe. StarClan according to Dawn of the Clans, is mostly made up of the fallen ancestors of the cats of the forest territories/mountains and there’s no one to my knowledge with that name in the books and I don’t think StarClan is named after a cat in particular (correct me if wrong).
      I also looked into the source and it appears to be a site a fan made for their own Warriors ocs and lore. But none of it is canon to Warriors the series.

    • Perhaps this will be answered in the series after TBC but I like the idea of Curlfeather being a little younger but Podlight acting more immature and Curlfeather a bit more mature despite birth order.

    • That could’ve been because of a repost with the Allegiances. Every December and June, they get updated again and everyone has to resubmit their forms. That could’ve happened to you.

        • Glad to help and yup. Next repost should be in December. You can resubmit your name and form throughout the month and in January, it gets all updated again so inactive people don’t make the list super long (though a list of every member ever could be quite interesting).

  • Wolves howling after Mindnight (Used to be Yowls heard after Greenleaf) (Wolfpaw/Wolfstorm/Greenpaw/Greenyowl) says:

    Okay, i’ve seen some memes on Scratch about this, but… is there any lgbtq+ ships in Warriors? (not meaning to offend, just a question)

    • There’s none that are canon in the books because of the publishers but it’s implied that Ravenpaw and Barley are together and that Tallstar liked Jake. But because of the lack of canon lgbt ships, many people headcanon characters as being in relationships or like the idea of certain characters to get together. There’s even some that headcanon characters as trans or non-binary.

      • Wolves howling after Mindnight (Used to be Yowls heard after Greenleaf) (Wolfpaw/Wolfstorm/Greenpaw/Greenyowl) says:

        oh, thanks, i thought it was for that reason, but i wanted to be sure. 🙂

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