Saturday, February 21, 2009

Warriors: Cats of the Clans: Tigerstar

Tigerstar, a dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes and unusually long front claws, is the primary antagonist of the Original series. Initially, he is Tigerclaw, a senior warrior among the ranks of ThunderClan when Firestar is brought into the forest. The two never quite get along, and Tigerclaw's hostility towards Fireheart is heightened when Firestar (then Fireheart) discovers Tigerclaw's plan to rule the Clan. Tigerclaw is a master of deception and manipulation, and is able to orchestrate the death of Redtail (an act he himself committed) as appearing to be the work of Oakheart from RiverClan. By doing so he plans to become deputy, but Bluestar appoints Lionheart as her deputy. When Lionheart dies later in Into the Wild, Tigerclaw becomes deputy, ensuring his eventual place as leader. When he finally becomes deputy, he secretly plots with Brokentail and his gang of rogue outlaws in order to kill Bluestar, while making the entire scene look like an attack that he was unable to defend against. Fireheart discovers his plans and as a result Tigerclaw is exiled from the Clan.

Tigerclaw, now a rogue, manipulates ShadowClan into accepting him as their leader and becomes Tigerstar. From his new position of authority he is able to conceal his true nature from the Clans, and secretly lures a pack of wild dogs into ThunderClan's territory in order to exact revenge on his former Clanmates while saving only his kits, Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw, thus killing Swiftpaw and Brindleface and disfiguring Brightheart's face. When this plan, too, is foiled by Firestar and the others, Tigerstar hatches a plan to rule the entire forest while employing the services of the ruthless BloodClan in order to intimidate the other Clans into submission. (Just as he has betrayed all his other former allies, he intends to betray BloodClan once he rules all four Clans.) However, he underestimates the power of Scourge, the leader of BloodClan, and is killed in one blow when Scourge decides to take over the forest himself.

In The New Prophecy series, Tigerstar returns to haunt and harness his sons into furthering his dark schemes. It is revealed that he was denied access into StarClan, and was banished with Darkstripe to a dark, shadowy forest known as the Dark Forest (sometimes called the Place of No Stars).[1] He visits his two sons, Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost, in their dreams and teaches them battle skills and leadership tactics. While Brambleclaw is hesitant to be influenced by his father, Hawkfrost welcomes his advice and plots to take control of the Clans much in the same way as his father did. When Hawkfrost is killed by Brambleclaw in Sunset and Brambleclaw vows to never again listen to his father's ambitions, Tigerstar's plans appear to be thwarted.

Tigerstar plays a role in the Power of Three series as a battle mentor to Lionblaze, along with his dead son Hawkfrost. The consequences of his actions do not appear to be causing any harm to the Clans; Lionblaze becomes a masterful fighter under Tigerstar's influence and excels in battle skills far beyond any other apprentice. Whether or not Lionblaze is part of yet another plan hatched by Tigerstar from the shadows remains to be seen, though it appears likely.[2] Once Lionblaze becomes aware of the prophecy and his seeming invincibility during battles, he begins to challenge Tigerstar. It appears that Tigerstar's plans are as yet unrelated to Lionblaze's power.

Tigerstar was originally mentored by Thistleclaw, a battle-hungry and aggressive cat who Rock said in Cats of the Clans "would have sliced through the forest until the paths ran red with blood"[4] (this only magnified Tigerstar's own aggressive personality), who is dead before the events of the Original series. He takes Ravenpaw as an apprentice for a short time before Firestar and Graystripe send him to live with Barley. He has taken two mates, Goldenflower and Sasha. He has five direct kits: Tawnypelt and Brambleclaw from Goldenflower, and Mothwing, Hawkfrost, and Tadpole from Sasha. Tadpole is not shown in the story and is believed to have been killed or kept by Sasha's side. His grand-kits include Dawnpaw, Flamepaw, and Tigerpaw (Tawnypelt's children). It is revealed in Firestar's Quest that Tigerstar is a direct descendant of the kits of Birdflight, a SkyClan she-cat who sheltered in ThunderClan during SkyClan's exile. This makes him part-SkyClan, along with his cousin Spottedleaf, the original ThunderClan medicine cat.

At the end of Long Shadows, where there is a one page preview to the following book, Sunrise, it is suggested that Lionblaze revolts against Tigerstar upon realizing that the dead, dark-hearted warrior is using him and creating a monster out of Lionblaze.

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