Mapleshade

"Can you imagine what that feels like? To be rejected twice? To be a loner when all you tried to do was love? But don't worry, I made them pay. I looked for revenge whenever I could! Why do you think I'm here?."

- Mapleshade to Crookedstar

Mapleshade is a villain in Erin Hunter's Warriors book series. She serves as the main antagonist of the super edition Crookedstar's Promise, and a major antagonist of the story arc Omen of the Stars. She is also the main protagonist of the novella Mapleshade's Vengeance, which shows how and why she became evil in the first place.

History
Mapleshade was a female wildcat born in ThunderClan. She was a bold, loyal and skillful warrior, known for her courage in facing enemies such as foxes, badgers and other cats. It was believed by some that she would be leader one day. However, she ended up falling in love with a RiverClan tom named Appledusk, which was forbidden by the Warrior Code. She kept their relationship a secret, creeping out at night to meet him in private. He told her he loved her more than anything.

After many moons of secret meetings, Mapleshade became pregnant with Appledusk's kits, giving birth to them in ThunderClan. She had two sons and a daughter, naming the latter Petalkit and the sons Patchkit and Larchkit. When Mapleshade said she would raise them alone, the Clan leader's daughter, Frecklewish, assumed that her deceased brother, Birchface, had fathered Mapleshade's kits. The irony in this is that Birchface was killed (apparently by accident) by Appledusk, the real father of Mapleshade's kits, during a battle between ThunderClan and RiverClan. Not wanting to lie to her Clanmates, but also not wanting to put her kits in danger, Mapleshade neither confirmed or denied this assumption.

However, Ravenwing, the ThunderClan medicine cat, later deduced that Appledusk was the real father of Mapleshade's kits and told the Clan. Mapleshade and her kits were then cast out as traitors. She left vowing that they would regret what they did that day forever. In desperation, Mapleshade tried to take her kits across the river to seek refuge in RiverClan. On the way, however, the river suddenly flooded and her kits were swept away. Mapleshade almost drowned trying to save them, but they were already gone. She made to the other side, but to her horror, Appledusk blamed her for what happened to their kits. He wanted nothing more to do with her and RiverClan refused to let her stay, not even for just one night. Heartbroken and enraged, Mapleshade left, swearing vengeance.

An embittered Mapleshade then became a rogue, having lost her home, her kits and the cat she'd fallen in love with. She vowed to kill the cats who were to blame for the death of her kits. First, she stalked Ravenwing, the cat who had revealed her secret, and murdered him. She then uncovered his grave and left his corpse to be eaten by a hawk. Next, having learned that Frecklewish had watched her kits get swept away and done nothing to help, Mapleshade lured the other she-cat to a snake nest and got her bitten by an adder, blinding her and eventually killing her.

Mapleshade then turned her rage toward Appledusk. Using his apprentice, Perchpaw, as bait, she lured him to RiverClan's border and challenged him to a fight. Appledusk refused, but then his new mate, Reedshine, already pregnant, arrived on the scene. Blinded by rage and jealously, Mapleshade attacked Reedshine, but Appledusk jumped in the way and was killed instead. In the same moment, Mapleshade was attacked from behind and mortally wounded by Perchpaw. Before fleeing and dying from her injuries, Mapleshade vowed to the pregnant Reedshine that she would haunt Appledusk's descendants forever for what he did to her.

Because of the murders she committed, Mapleshade's spirit was denied entry to StarClan and instead sent to the Place of No Stars, also known as the Dark Forest. There, her lust for vengeance unsatisfied, she plotted against ThunderClan and RiverClan, the clans who cast her out. She discovered that she could dwell in the dreams of others, and watched over Stormkit, Appledusk's great grandson, destined to be RiverCla'sn next leader. When Stormkit's jaw was permanently disfigured, resulting in him being rejected and renamed "Crookedkit" by his mother, and leaving him restless with unfocused ambition, Mapleshade seized the opportunity. She promised Crookedkit that she would make all his hopes come true in return for one thing: that he would hold his Clan more precious than anything else in the world. Crookedkit agreed.

With the future RiverClan leader in her thrall, Mapleshade trained him to become the warrior she had been, while steadily stealing everything he loved most. She made him watch his mother drown, his brother fall in love with a ThunderClan cat, and his mate and all but one of his daughters die of sickness. After this, Crookedkit, now known as "Crookedstar", finally realized that Mapleshade had been manipulating him and confronted her in a dream. Mapleshade, however, bested him in single combat and made an impression upon him by revealing her tragic past. When his last remaining daughter, Silverstream, fell in love with a ThunderClan tom called Greystripe, and died giving birth to his kits, Mapleshade declared Crookedstar's "punishment" complete. She was delighted to see another cat go through the same pain that she had.

When the Clans moved to new territories, Mapleshade followed and plotted with the other Dark Forest cats to destroy them once and for all. During the battle between the Clans, StarClan and the Dark Forest, she tried to kill Sandstorm, claiming she had everything Mapleshade ever wanted: a mate who loved her, having kits that she could watch grow up and one day have kits of their own, and respect from her Clanmates, all of which she believed StarClan stole from her. Mapleshade nearly killed Sandstorm, but was stopped by Spottedleaf, the spirit of the former ThunderClan medicine cat. Enraged, Mapleshade attacked and killed Spottedleaf, causing her to fade away forever. Mapleshade was then chased away by Sandstorm, her quest for revenge still unfulfilled.

Physical appearance
Mapleshade is a large, thick-furred, primarly ginger, tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with amber eyes, and a long, thick, fluffy, white tail. After spending moons in the Dark Forest, her appearance became rather distorted and emaciated, with a scarred head, muzzle and face, and ragged, patched, matted fur.

Personality
Mapleshade was once a good cat, bent on serving her Clan to her last breath. She was a brave, compassionate, loyal and skillful warrior, kind to other cats and willing to fight any enemy she encountered. As a result, she was held in high esteem by her Clanmates, who believed she would one day become deputy and then leader. Mapleshade was ambitious and enjoyed their admiration.

However, Mapleshade ended up breaking the warrior code by falling in love with Appledusk, a cat from RiverClan. She was able to keep their relationship a secret, until she gave birth to their kits. Mapleshade loved her kits with all her heart, especially Patchkit, who seemed to be the most attached to her. She planned to raise them until they were fully accepted, then reveal their half-Clan origins at the "right" time. She hoped both ThunderClan and RiverClan would accept them for who they were. When her secret was unveiled prematurely, however, she and her kits were exiled from ThunderClan as traitors. Mapleshade was both heartbroken and enraged, and vowed revenge. In her desperation to get her kits to safety, she tried to take them to RiverClan, only for them to be swept away by the swollen river. She tried her best to rescue them, showing that she cared more about them than her own life, but failed. When Appledusk and RiverClan as a whole rejected her, blaming her for the kits' deaths, Mapleshade was heartbroken and enraged all over again, and vowed revenge.

These traumatic events left a huge mark on Mapleshade. She became cold, vicious, ruthless, manipulative and obessively vengeful, her psyche distorting to the point of insanity. Having lost everything she'd cared about, Mapleshade's only goal was taking revenge on those who had ruined her life. Even in death and after exacting revenge, she couldn't let go of her pain and hatred, and targeted her enemies' descendants, even going so far as to turn her back on StarClan, whom she previously had faith in.

Trivia

 * Mapleshade is one of the extreme few major female villains in the Warriors series. She is also one of the most popular characters of the franchise, among fans and authors alike.
 * During her exile, Mapleshade had visions of her drowned kits, initially wailing for help and then urging her to commit murder. According to one of the authors, Vicky Holmes, these were actually hallucinations caused by Mapleshade's grief and feelings of betrayal, which drove her mad.