The most brutal deaths in Warriors
BY THE EDITOR
Death is a fact of life in Warriors. Most cats hope for a chance to die for a cause, protecting their Clanmates or defeating a great threat, or else for a peaceful death at the end of a long life. But life isn’t always so kind – sometimes, death is a particularly brutal affair, as the Warriors series frequently explores. In this article, we’ll be looking at the five most brutal deaths in the Warriors series!
5 – Moon Shadow
It’s no wonder it took Tall Shadow so long to get past her brother’s death. Moon Shadow had already left her camp to join Clear Sky’s Forest group, but then a forest fire left him badly burned and unable to return to the forest with his new campmates. Feeling the weight of worry for her littermate and unable to shoulder it alongside her responsibilities as leader, Tall Shadow stepped down temporarily to care for her brother. Though she and the healers did all they could, Moon Shadow finally passed on after days of agony suffering from his burns. Being burned by fire in the first place is agony enough, but suffering for days with those wounds as your family and loved ones look on, unable to find a way to help, is a special type of torment that ears Moon Shadow his place on this list.
4 – Sootfur
Sootfur isn’t the only cat to have died at a badger’s paws, or even the only cat to suffer that fate within the same battle, but there is a particular brutality to his death that earns him a place on this list. During the battle, Squirrelflight found Sootfur wailing and dragging himself along the ground, both hind legs broken. She tried to lead him to safety out of camp, but without the use of his back legs and in so much pain, he couldn’t climb his way up the wall. He could only fall painfully back to the ground just in time for another badger to appear and tear out his throat. His agonized crawling and last, useless try at an escape, only to fall into the badger’s jaws, certainly earns him his spot on this list – especially when one considers that his mother Willowpelt had died to save him from another badger only a few seasons before.
3 – Honeyfern
The shocking cruelty of Honeyfern’s death was made all the worse by the scene that immediately proceeded it, where it was revealed that her moons-long crush on Berrynose had finally been reciprocated and the pair were in love, looking forward to a long life together. All of that was snatched away in an instant when a snake slithered out from the rocks and readied itself to strike Millie’s daughter Briarkit. Honeyfern pushed the kit to safety and took the blow instead. Her Clanmates were at her side in an instant, but to everyone’s horror, there was no cure Leafpool could offer, and nothing any of them could do except watch Honeyfern writhe in agony until the venom finally claimed her life. Her screeches about her blood being on fire, and the inability of even a skilled medicine cat like Leafpool to do anything but watch, makes Honeyfern’s death particularly haunting.
2 – Dog attack tie
Being torn apart by dogs is such a particularly gruesome death that we could not pick between the various cats who have suffered this fate. There is hardly an enemy in Warriors not only so much larger and stronger, but also able to deal so much damage by working in groups and leave a cat dying in such agony. From Swiftpaw fighting the pack alone with all the courage of LionClan, to Curlfeather’s dying screams echoing in Frostpaw’s ears as she left her mother to be torn apart, to the howls of agony from the SkyClan warriors as they watched Toad meet his fate, so many cats have faced particularly cruel deaths at the jaws of particularly vicious dogs, and every one of them deserves their spot on our list.
1 – Tigerstar
Seeing this tom’s infamous end on our list can hardly be a surprise – it’s one of the most talked-about deaths in the series due to its shocking and violent nature. When Scourge of BloodClan refused Tigerstar’s order to attack the forest Clans, Tigerstar lunged at the smaller tom, only to meet a much fiercer opponent than he’d expected. A single, vicious slice of the BloodClan leader’s reinforced claws tore Tigerstar open from his throat to his tail. In the agonizing moments that followed, the nine lives Tigerstar had fought so hard to attain suddenly became his greatest curse. Instead of being allowed to slip away after a single searingly painful death, Tigerstar had to awaken again and again, each time being brough back to a fresh round of agony before another death took hold, until all nine lives were spent. The stunningly violent and drawn-out nature of Tigerstar’s death certainly earns it the number one spot on our list.
