44 Fun Facts About Warrior Cats

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

The team, working with HarperCollins and the packager Working Partners, includes Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Victoria Holmes and Tui Sutherland. Holmes plans each plot and the others take turns writing.

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

The team has said 'Hunter' was chosen so the books would sit on shop shelves near Brian Jacques's Redwall, the mouse-abbey saga that was the obvious comparison.

Which of Rusty's friends refuses to follow him into the forest in Into the Wild?

Smudge, the plump black-and-white cat from the garden next door, warns Rusty against the wild cats and stays behind; Rusty joins ThunderClan anyway and visits his old friend in later books.

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

Kate Cary wrote both Into the Wild and Fire and Ice, the first two books of the original arc, and went on to write many later Warriors titles.

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.

What is Rusty, the hero of Into the Wild, at the start of the book?

He leaves his Twoleg owners to join ThunderClan and is renamed Firepaw. The Clan cats' word for pets is 'kittypet', and it is not a compliment.

What is StarClan?

StarClan is made up of the spirits of the Clans' dead ancestors, who appear in dreams to send prophecies and omens and who grant each new leader nine lives.

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

Lionheart, Firepaw's first 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?

He is named Fireheart in the same ceremony that makes Graypaw Graystripe; the leader's name Firestar comes much later, with his nine lives.

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 living in the barn near Highstones, takes Ravenpaw in; the pair later star in the Ravenpaw's Path manga trilogy.

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.

How was Cinderpaw crippled, forcing her to become a medicine cat instead of a warrior?

The Thunderpath is the cats' name for a road; the 'monsters' on it are cars. Cinderpelt went on to train Leafpool.

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

Princess, Fireheart's kittypet sister, hands her firstborn kit to her brother to raise in ThunderClan; Cloudkit grows into the warrior Cloudtail, a lifelong sceptic about 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 from the Twolegplace?

The small black cat with the dog-tooth collar slices him from chin to tail. Firestar then kills Scourge in the great battle, losing a life himself.

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 secretly bore Hollyleaf, Jayfeather and Lionblaze?

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?

Jayfeather has been blind since birth, which bars him from being a warrior and steers him to the medicine den; he can also walk into other cats' dreams and memories.

In Power of Three, what does the prophecy say three kin of Firestar's kin will hold?

The prophecy runs 'There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws'; Hollyleaf, to her grief, proves to have no power at all.

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 spirits of which place, led by the first arc's great villain, prepare to attack the Clans?

The Dark Forest is where the wicked go instead of StarClan; its cats train living warriors in their dreams for the Great Battle.

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

The Twolegs' 'monsters' tear up the trees for a road. The Clans journey to a new home around a lake, guided by a badger named Midnight.

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

The Tribe live behind a waterfall in the mountains and had prophesied that a silver cat would save them from Sharptooth.

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 arc, which StarClan cat cuts off StarClan from the living Clans and possesses Bramblestar?

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.

How many books make up the eighth arc?

Every main arc has six books. Standalone Super Editions, novellas, field guides and manga fill the gaps between them.

Which 17th-century English botanist's herbal is the source for the remedies used by medicine cats?

So cobwebs really do stop bleeding and marigold really is used on wounds, more or less. Poppy seeds for pain and catmint for greencough are also from Culpeper.

Which real English woodland did the series' plotter cite as inspiring the first arc's setting?

The plotter has said Hampshire's New Forest inspired the original setting; its mix of woodland, heath and streams maps neatly onto the forest, moor and river territories.

What do Clan cats call the season that humans know as winter?

The Clans divide the year into newleaf (spring), greenleaf (summer), leaf-fall (autumn) and leaf-bare (winter), the hungry season when prey is scarce.

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

Alibaba Pictures, the film arm of the Chinese e-commerce giant, acquired the rights to a Warriors feature film in October 2016, a deal first reported by Variety.

Which other animal-fantasy series is NOT written under the Erin Hunter name?

Wings of Fire is Tui Sutherland writing under her own name. Seekers is about bears, Survivors about dogs and Bravelands about African animals.

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

Firestar united the four Clans as LionClan to fight the alley cats, answering StarClan's prophecy of lion and tiger meeting in battle; the traitor's forced alliance of two Clans had been TigerClan.

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, the first Warriors manga (2007), follows Graystripe's life as a captive kittypet after Twolegs seize him and his meeting with Millie; two sequels complete the trilogy.

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

Clawface, a ShadowClan warrior, kills Spottedleaf in the ThunderClan camp during the kit-stealing raid in Into the Wild; Firepaw finds her body and mourns her.

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

Gatherings happen every full moon at Fourtrees, under a truce StarClan enforces by covering the moon with cloud if fighting breaks out.

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 an editor noted cats wouldn't know the word?

The villain was 'Hammerclaw' in early drafts until an editor pointed out that forest cats would never have seen a hammer; Clan names must use only things the cats know.

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

Deathberries are the red berries of the yew; even a single one can kill a cat, and medicine cats warn kits away from them.