94 Fun Facts About Warrior Cats

'Erin Hunter', the credited author of Warriors, is what?

A pen name for a team of writers: one editor planned every storyline, and the writers took turns turning her outlines into finished books.

The surname 'Hunter' was picked partly so the books would shelve next to which other animal fantasy series?

Redwall is by Brian Jacques, so the team wanted a surname starting with H, I or K to sit beside his books on the shelf; 'Hunter' also suited their ferocious cats.

Which of Rusty's friends warns him against going into the forest in Into the Wild?

Smudge, Rusty's black-and-white friend, warns him about the dangerous wildcats in the woods; Rusty goes anyway, and when they meet again Smudge is amazed to find him still alive.

Who wrote the first two Warriors novels, Into the Wild and Fire and Ice?

Kate Cary wrote both books from Victoria Holmes's storylines; Holmes had expected a single novel, but the publisher saw enough plot in her outline for six.

In which year was Into the Wild, the first Warriors book, published?

Into the Wild was released in January 2003, launching the original arc later retitled The Prophecies Begin; its sequel Fire and Ice followed the same year.

Which Clan leader watches Rusty fight back against an apprentice and invites him to join ThunderClan?

Bluestar had just been told a prophecy that fire alone would save her Clan when she met the flame-coloured pet who stood up to Graypaw; she invited him in and named him Firepaw.

What is StarClan?

The spirits of the Clans' dead ancestors make up StarClan; they send prophecies and omens in dreams, and medicine cats meet every half-moon to speak with them, at the Moonstone and later the Moonpool.

Which ThunderClan deputy is killed in a ShadowClan raid on the camp in Into the Wild?

Lionheart, Graypaw's mentor and deputy after Redtail, is killed when ShadowClan raids the ThunderClan camp, opening the deputyship to an ambitious rival.

What warrior name does Firepaw receive at the end of Into the Wild?

Fireheart is the name he earns after leading the rescue of ThunderClan's stolen kits from ShadowClan; Graypaw becomes Graystripe in the same ceremony.

Which ambitious ThunderClan warrior murdered the deputy Redtail in the hope of taking his place?

Tigerclaw killed Redtail during the fight at Sunningrocks and blamed an enemy warrior for it; only the apprentice Ravenpaw saw the truth, which later put his life in danger.

Which loner shares the farm barn where Ravenpaw settles after leaving ThunderClan?

Barley, a black-and-white loner, takes Ravenpaw in after Firepaw and Graypaw lead the apprentice out of Clan territory to hide him from a Clanmate who wants him dead.

Which exiled ShadowClan medicine cat does Firepaw meet on his first solo hunt?

Yellowfang, a grumpy old she-cat cast out of ShadowClan, is caught by Firepaw on his first solo hunt and brought back as a prisoner; she later becomes ThunderClan's medicine cat.

Which WindClan warrior does the dying Tallstar name deputy over Mudclaw in Starlight?

Tallstar, dying as the Clans settle by the lake in Starlight, names Onewhisker deputy in place of Mudclaw; Onewhisker becomes Onestar and Mudclaw's rebellion fails.

Graystripe breaks the warrior code by falling in love with a she-cat from which Clan?

Silverstream dies giving birth to their kits, Feathertail and Stormfur, whom Graystripe takes to live in RiverClan for a time.

What cripples the apprentice Cinderpaw, ending her warrior training?

A monster on the Thunderpath, the cats' words for a car on a road, hits Cinderpaw when she walks into a trap a traitor had laid for the Clan leader; left with a limp, she trains as a medicine cat instead.

Who is the mother of Cloudkit, later the warrior Cloudtail?

Princess, the hero's kittypet sister, hands her firstborn kit to her brother to raise in ThunderClan; Cloudkit grows into Cloudtail, who for much of his life refuses to believe in StarClan.

In The Darkest Hour, which group of alley cats does the exiled ThunderClan traitor bring to fight the Clans?

BloodClan, the vicious Twolegplace gang led by Scourge, is brought in by the exiled traitor; the alliance collapses when Scourge kills him rather than take his orders.

How does Scourge kill the ShadowClan leader who summoned his gang?

A single blow that takes all nine lives: Scourge's claws, reinforced with dogs' teeth, slice the leader open from chin to tail.

Which ThunderClan deputy is killed by the alley-cat enforcer Bone in the first arc's final battle?

The apprentices then take Bone down together. Graystripe becomes deputy in Whitestorm's place.

Who is Firestar's mate, and mother of his two daughters?

Sandstorm, a pale ginger she-cat who began the series sneering at the kittypet apprentice, becomes Firestar's mate and the mother of his two daughters.

Which medicine cat is the secret mother of Jayfeather and his two littermates?

Leafpool, ThunderClan's medicine cat, secretly bore the three kits; because medicine cats may not have kits, her sister Squirrelflight raised them as her own.

What is Jayfeather's disability?

He is blind from birth; Jayfeather first trains as a warrior under one-eyed Brightheart, then turns to the medicine den once he finds he can walk in other cats' dreams.

What does the prophecy say three kin of Firestar's kin will hold in their paws?

The power of the stars is promised in the line 'There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws'; Firestar hears it long before the three are born.

Bramblestar, who leads ThunderClan after Firestar, is the son of which cat?

Bramblestar, born Bramblekit to Tigerstar and Goldenflower, spent his youth proving he was not his father; he succeeded Firestar as ThunderClan leader at the end of The Last Hope.

In Omen of the Stars, the cats of which place train Clan warriors in their dreams for an attack?

The Dark Forest, also called the Place of No Stars, holds the Clans' wicked dead; the first arc's great villain recruits living warriors for it, and Ivypool spies on their night training.

In The New Prophecy arc, what forces the Clans to abandon their original home?

Humans destroying it with machines: Twolegs' 'monsters' tear up the forest for a new road, and the Clans leave for a lake after a badger named Midnight warns them to go.

Feathertail dies saving which group of cats from a mountain lion?

The Tribe of Rushing Water believed a prophecy that a silver cat would save them from the lion Sharptooth; they took it to mean her brother until Feathertail brought a stalactite down on the beast.

Which Warriors arc is a prequel set long before Into the Wild?

Dawn of the Clans, the fifth arc, follows cats leaving the mountains for the forest and gives origin stories to Thunder, Wind, River, Shadow and Sky themselves.

In The Broken Code, which cat from ThunderClan's past possesses Bramblestar and cuts the Clans off from StarClan?

Ashfur, a grey warrior whose grudge went back to Squirrelflight rejecting him, seizes Bramblestar's body and seals StarClan away, while Bramblestar's spirit is left wandering.

Which is the eighth Warriors arc, in which one group of cats loses both leader and deputy?

A Starless Clan opens with one Clan's leader and deputy dying in quick succession, leaving a medicine-cat apprentice to find the next leader; like every arc before it, it runs to six books.

Which herb is the medicine cats' best remedy for the deadly sickness greencough?

Catmint is the Clans' best cure for greencough; the writers took the medicine cats' remedies from the herbal of the 17th-century Englishman Nicholas Culpeper, so many were once real medicine.

Which real English woodland did Warriors plotter Victoria Holmes name as the model for the first arc's forest?

New Forest in Hampshire lay near Holmes's childhood home; she liked that a big road, open moor and dense woodland sit close together there, as they do on the Clans' map.

Greenleaf is the Clan cats' name for which season?

Summer is greenleaf to the Clans, who name each season for the state of the trees: newleaf, greenleaf, leaf-fall, then leaf-bare; they count their months in moons.

In 2016 which company bought the rights to make a Warriors film?

Alibaba Pictures signed Harry Potter producer David Heyman for a live-action film with computer-generated cats, but the project was eventually cancelled.

Which animal-fantasy series did Erin Hunter team member Tui Sutherland publish under her own name?

Wings of Fire is Sutherland's own dragon saga; she began as an editor on the early Warriors books, wrote for the Erin Hunter team, then left editing to write full time.

What did the four Clans call themselves when they united against the alley cats?

LionClan was the name Firestar's alliance took against the alley cats, echoing a prophecy that four would become two and lion and tiger would meet in battle; the Clans went their separate ways once the fight was won.

What do Clan cats call the band of stars that stretches across the night sky?

Silverpelt is the Clans' name for the Milky Way, the swathe of stars in which they believe every StarClan warrior shines.

Which manga, the first Warriors graphic novel, follows Graystripe's capture by Twolegs?

The Lost Warrior (2007) finds Graystripe living as a house pet after Twolegs seize him; a pet cat named Millie befriends him and urges him to go and look for his Clan.

Which ShadowClan warrior kills Spottedleaf during the raid to steal ThunderClan kits?

Clawface kills Spottedleaf in Into the Wild while ShadowClan raiders carry off the kits; nearly all of ThunderClan blames a prisoner in the camp instead, until Firepaw learns the truth.

How often do the four Clans meet peacefully at a Gathering?

Every full moon the Clans meet under a truce, at Fourtrees in the forest and later on an island in the lake; if the truce is broken, clouds cover the moon as a sign of StarClan's anger.

In Omen of the Stars, which cat is revealed to be the third cat of the prophecy?

Dovewing, Whitewing's daughter, is revealed as the third through her extraordinary far-reaching senses; the reveal corrects Power of Three, where Hollyleaf had no power.

Which rogue leads the group that nearly disbands a Clan in A Vision of Shadows?

Darktail, a rogue who leads the band called the Kin, seizes ShadowClan's camp and scatters its cats so badly that the Clan is nearly dissolved into his group during A Vision of Shadows.

Holmes first named Tigerclaw what, until someone asked how a cat would know the word?

Hammerclaw was the name in the first manuscript; days before printing, someone asked how a cat would know what a hammer is, and Holmes offered Tigerclaw as a desperate substitute.

The red berries the Clans call 'deathberries' come from which tree?

Yew berries are what the Clans call deathberries, and Cinderpaw warns that even one could kill; in the real tree the red flesh is the only harmless part, and the seed inside carries the poison.

Victoria Holmes plotted Warriors despite not reading fantasy and preferring which animals to cats?

Dogs interested Victoria Holmes more than cats, and she 'couldn't imagine coming up with enough ideas'. She won herself round by adding war, politics, revenge and doomed love.

Victoria Holmes likened the 'relocation under pressure' plot of the second Warriors arc to which classic novel?

Watership Down was her model for the Clans' forced journey to a new home. One reviewer described Warriors as that story 'but with cats instead of rabbits'.

In the Warriors books, what do Clan cats mean when they talk about a 'monster'?

A car is a 'monster' in Clan speech, since the cats cannot follow human talk and name man-made things themselves. People, for instance, are simply Twolegs.

On the official Warriors site, which prey is listed for ShadowClan, the stealthy Clan of the pine forest?

Frogs suit the marshy pine woods ShadowClan calls home. Each Clan hunts what its own land offers, so WindClan runs its prey down on open moor.

Which verb replaces 'said' so often in the first Warriors novel that a reviewer said it 'grows old fast'?

Mewed stands in for 'said' throughout Into the Wild, to the irritation of at least one critic. Many reviewers of the wider series made the same complaint.

The official game Warrior Cats: Ultimate Edition, released in 2021, is played on which online platform?

Roblox hosts Warrior Cats: Ultimate Edition, which passed 500 million visits before an official sequel game, Warrior Cats: Lake Territory, was announced.

Which Scottish lake, famous for its 'bonnie banks', helped inspire the settings of the Warriors novels?

Loch Lomond, Britain's largest lake by surface area, is named with the Scottish Highlands among the real places behind the Clans' world.

The first Warriors novel opens with a ThunderClan prophecy that what 'alone can save our Clan'?

Fire turns out to be a cat, not a blaze: the newcomer who becomes Firestar. His dying leader tells him, 'you are the fire who will save ThunderClan'.

What colour is the coat of the young tom who becomes the hero of the first Warriors novel?

Ginger and bright as flame, Rusty catches Bluestar's eye while she is out on patrol, and she takes him into ThunderClan under the name Firepaw.

In the first Warriors novel, what does Rusty lose in a scrap with a jeering warrior, earning his Clan name?

His collar comes off in the fight, at which Bluestar stops the brawl and announces that he has earned the name Firepaw.

With over a thousand named characters, what is the cast list printed in each Warriors book called?

The Allegiances gives every relevant character a line of description. Readers need it, because the series has run past 70 books.

Warriors kits begin training at 'six moons' old; what span of time do Clan cats call a moon?

A month is a 'moon' to the Clans, who likewise measure distance in animal lengths, so a tall rock might stand three tail-lengths high.

Which publisher asked for one fantasy novel about feral cats and ended up with the whole Warriors series?

HarperCollins read Victoria Holmes's storylines and an editor decided there was enough material for a full series. The single hero's journey became the story of the whole first arc.

In a Warriors Clan, which rank has the chores of cleaning the elders' bedding and picking off their ticks?

Apprentices bring the elders prey, clean out their bedding and remove their ticks, so that cats who served the Clan for many seasons need do no more work.

In the Warriors Clans, who chooses the first half of a newborn kit's name, such as 'Blue' or 'Tiger'?

Its parents pick the prefix, usually for the kit's looks or personality. Only the ending changes later, and the leader decides which suffix a new warrior receives.

What do Clan cats in the Warriors books call the spot in camp where hunters drop prey for all to share?

The fresh-kill pile comes with etiquette: warriors may not take from it until the kits and the oldest cats have eaten.

In the Warriors forest, ThunderClan's leader speaks from which boulder with a lichen-hung den carved into it?

The Highrock is ThunderClan's own, while WindClan's leader speaks from the Tallrock and ShadowClan's from the Clanrock.

In the original Warriors forest, which neutral ground hosts the Clans' Gatherings under a strict truce?

Fourtrees sits at the centre of the forest, where the leaders address the crowd from a boulder called the Great Rock under a strict truce.

Which starlit place, found by Leafpaw after the move to the lake in Warriors, lets medicine cats meet StarClan?

The Moonpool, whose water reflects the stars, replaced the sacred stone the Clans had left behind in the forest. The spirit of Spottedleaf led Leafpaw to it.

Which leader's daughter in the first Warriors arc is Graystripe's forbidden mate and dies bearing his kits?

Silverstream had saved his life, and the two kits she left behind, Feathertail and Stormfur, later join the quest that finds the Clans a new home.

Which boulders, exposed when the river shrank, do ThunderClan and RiverClan keep fighting over in Warriors?

Sunningrocks once lay under the water, so RiverClan claimed the stones as its own, while ThunderClan argued that they now sat on its bank.

In Warriors, what does Squirrelflight tumble into by the lake that becomes ThunderClan's new camp?

A stone hollow, in fact an abandoned quarry, gave ThunderClan a well-sheltered home. The same patrol picked pine woods for ShadowClan and moorland for WindClan.

In Warriors: Starlight, lightning fells a tree that opens the way to which new Gathering place?

An island became reachable when the toppled trunk formed a bridge, and the same tree crushed Mudclaw, the ousted WindClan deputy who had led a rebellion.

What do ShadowClan cats in the Warriors forest call the stinking Twoleg rubbish dump on their territory?

Carrionplace is hunted only when times are lean, because its vermin can carry disease. One such sickness once swept through ShadowClan and came close to destroying it.

Which jagged peaks in Warriors, called Devil's Fingers by Twolegs, hide the cave known as Mothermouth?

Highstones guards a man-made mine, long abandoned, whose tunnels lead to the cavern of the Clans' sacred quartz stone.

Which ThunderClan warrior, barely out of training, challenges Rusty's right to join the Clan in Warriors?

Longtail came away from the fight that followed with a scarred ear and a lasting rivalry. He later lost his sight when a rabbit clawed his eyes.

In Warriors: A Dangerous Path, what bitter name does Bluestar give the badly mauled Brightpaw?

Lostface was Bluestar's cruel choice at a moment when she believed the young cat would die. The survivor went on to become the warrior Brightheart.

In Warriors: The Darkest Hour, what does ShadowClan's leader call his alliance with Leopardstar's Clan?

TigerClan took its name from a mythical ancient Clan. Firestar and WindClan's Tallstar both refused to join it.

Which predator snatches Snowkit from ThunderClan's camp in Warriors after its sheltering undergrowth burns away?

A hawk could swoop in only because the blaze had stripped the camp of its cover. Once the vegetation regrew, the camp was secure again.

In the first Warriors Super Edition, Firestar helps a rebuilt SkyClan fight which swarming old enemies?

Rats had destroyed the original SkyClan, leaving tiny claw marks on the walls of its deserted caves. Beating them cost Firestar one of his lives.

In Warriors: Dawn, the 'dying warrior' foretold to show the Clans their new home turns out to be what?

A shooting star, taken as a sign from the late medicine cat Mudfur, drops behind the mountains to mark the way.

In Warriors: Moonrise, which cougar terrorising the mountains is killed by a falling stalactite?

Sharptooth died along with Feathertail, who leapt onto the stalactite to bring it down and so fulfilled a prophecy about a silver cat.

In Warriors: Sunset, which half-brother does Brambleclaw kill rather than let Firestar die in a snare?

Hawkfrost had urged him to finish off the snared leader and take ThunderClan for himself. Brambleclaw freed Firestar instead, then killed his attacker with the snare's own stake.

In Warriors: Twilight, which WindClan cat flees with ThunderClan's medicine cat until badgers attack her Clan?

Crowfeather had confessed his love after rescuing her from two attackers. The affair broke the code twice over, since a medicine cat may take no mate at all.

Which sister of Brambleclaw left her birth Clan for ShadowClan and joined the Warriors quest in Midnight?

Tawnypelt made the move so that she would no longer be judged for who her father was. She has had to prove her loyalty to her adopted Clan ever since.

In the Warriors arc Power of Three, what gift does the prophecy give the golden tabby Lionblaze?

He cannot be beaten in battle, which drew the spirits of dead villains to coach him in his dreams before he understood their aims.

Firestar loses his ninth life at the end of which novel in the Warriors arc Omen of the Stars?

The Last Hope ends with Firestar destroying the spirit of his oldest enemy and then dying himself, which hands ThunderClan to his deputy.

In Warriors: Dark River, which WindClan cat does Lionpaw meet in secret in tunnels beneath the moor?

Heathertail, then still Heatherpaw, was the first to find the tunnels, where the pair played at being warriors of a make-believe DarkClan.

In Warriors: Dark River, which ancient cat's spirit guides Jaypaw through the tunnels where he once drowned?

Fallen Leaves entered the tunnels as a test of adulthood, lying that no rain was coming so that he would not be made to wait.

In the first Omen of the Stars novel, cats from every Warriors Clan go upstream to drive out which animals?

Beavers had dammed the stream and caused a drought around the lake. The first attack on the dam failed and cost the warrior Rippletail his life.

Which ThunderClan warrior dies destroying the spirit that possessed Bramblestar in Warriors: The Broken Code?

Bristlefrost shared the fight with Shadowsight and Rootspring, and the three heroes' victory led the Clans to rewrite the warrior code.

Which ninth arc of the Warriors series, launched in 2025, sees humans building around the Clans' lake?

Changing Skies also follows a young cat troubled by threatening voices, while unrest grows in SkyClan over calls for Leafstar to step down.

Which former kittypet follows Graystripe to ThunderClan in Warriors but refuses to give up her old name?

Millie kept him going on the long journey to find his Clan at the lake, then told ThunderClan: 'I have always been Millie, and I see no shame in it.'

Which Clan leader of the first Warriors arc was born Stormkit but renamed after a childhood accident?

Crookedstar broke his jaw falling onto a rock in the river, and his whole name was changed to match the injury. He was an established, respected leader by the time Firepaw arrived.

What was the warrior name of Blackstar, who served two cruel ShadowClan leaders as deputy in Warriors?

Blackfoot did the dirty work of both leaders without hesitation, yet he went on to lead ShadowClan himself and took it out of the dying forest.

Which exile, driven from ThunderClan over her kits' father, lures Frecklewish to a snake's nest in Warriors?

Mapleshade tricked her victim into lunging at an adder, whose bite proved fatal. Her exile began when a warrior of a rival Clan, Appledusk, was revealed as her kits' father.

Which ThunderClan leader of the Warriors series made the future Bluestar his deputy and was succeeded by her?

Sunstar had first passed her over for a rival, Thistleclaw, because she had kits to raise. Only after she gave the kits up did he name her deputy.

Which producer of the Harry Potter films was attached to a Warriors movie that was later abandoned?

David Heyman was announced for a live-action film with computer-generated cats, meant to fold the first arc into one unified story. It never reached cinemas.

Which manga specialist co-published the original English-language Warriors manga, written by Dan Jolley?

Tokyopop shared the side-story books, which were kept shorter than regular manga because of the publishing schedule. Critics found the art closer to a graphic novel's.

In Warriors: Midnight, which rambling old loner guides the questing cats through Twolegplace?

Purdy led them by such a long, winding route that they might have crossed faster alone, yet the Clan cats came to care deeply for him.