“ | This is not my Clan. Not any longer. ThunderClan is led by a kittypet, and there's nothing left to fight for. I feel no loyalty to ThunderClan. In the whole forest, the only cat worth following is Tigerstar. | „ |
~ Darkstripe before being banished from ThunderClan |
“ | I’d rather be destroyed than surrender to you. | „ |
~ Darkstripe rejecting Firestar's offer to surrender and last words before his final death. |
Darkstripe is a major antagonist in Erin Hunter's Warriors book series.
He is a traitorous, grim, and unpleasant tom cat who was formerly a ThunderClan warrior and later a Dark Forest resident after his physical death. He is blindly loyal to Tigerstar and his most supportive and loyal follower throughout most of the series, until Tigerstar's demise in the climax of The Last Hope. In the Omen of the Stars arc, he is one of the Dark Forest residents helping in training living cats for The Great Battle. However, after the Dark Forest's defeat, he flees along with Thistleclaw, Snowtuft, and the remaining Dark Forest warriors. Seasons later, he returns in The Broken Code as one of the few remaining Dark Forest spirits, where he serves Ashfur.
History[]
The Prophecies Begin[]
Darkstripe was a warrior of ThunderClan and a former apprentice of Tigerclaw, one of the senior warriors. He was Tigerclaw's closest friend and biggest supporter, and as such had a highly negative opinion of Fireheart, Tigerclaw's chief rival. Darkstripe refused to trust Fireheart due to his kittypet origins and openly mocked any cat who thought otherwise. He was also selfish, secretly taking actions that benefited himself and not the Clan whenever possible.
When Tigerclaw was exiled from ThunderClan in Forest of Secrets for trying to seize power from Bluestar, Darkstripe voiced his disappointment that Tigerclaw did not tell him he was plotting with Brokentail (it is interesting to note that he did not appear to have a problem with Tigerclaw's plan itself, but rather that he was not allowed to be a part of it). Darkstripe's lonely path as a devoted follower of Tigerclaw increasingly reduced his popularity in the Clan, and in A Dangerous Path, he began secretly plotting with Tigerstar, now leader of ShadowClan, across the border. They planned to bring a pack of dogs upon the camp and save only Tigerstar's children, Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw, from the ensuing chaos--not even Tigerstar's mate, Goldenflower, or Darkstripe's mother or half-brother, Willowpelt and Graystripe.
After this failed, during The Darkest Hour, he attempted to murder his half-sister, Sorrelkit (later Sorreltail), with deathberries when she discovered his meetings with Blackfoot, Tigerstar's deputy, and he was exiled from the Clan as a result. Darkstripe immediately joined Tigerstar's side and helped kill one of Bluestar's children, Stonefur, but when Tigerstar was later murdered by Scourge, Darkstripe was left completely alone. His resulting madness culminated in the battle with BloodClan; he abandoned all loyalty to his Clan and tried to murder Firestar in "revenge" for Tigerstar's death. He was stopped and killed by his half-brother, Graystripe, during the battle.
Because of his cruel and selfish actions, Darkstripe's spirit, along with Tigerstar's, was denied entry to StarClan and instead sent to the Dark Forest (Place of No Stars), much to Darkstripe’s confusion and dismay, showing that, even in death, he saw nothing wrong about what he had done.
Omen of the Stars[]
After death, Darkstripe continued to serve as Tigerstar's lackey and helped training certain living cats for the Great Battle, although he wasn't highly regarded by other Dark Forest residents. Eventually, he took part in the Great Battle between the Place of No Stars and the living Clans during which he and Sparrowfeather ambushed Cloudtail and Dovewing. Their fight was halted however, when one of the Dark Forest warriors called Darkstripe and Sparrowfeather away to help in attacking ThunderClan's camp. After Brokenstar is killed by Yellowfang, Darkstripe flees along with Thistleclaw and the remaining Dark Forest spirits.
The Broken Code[]
Many seasons later, it's been revealed that many Dark Forest spirits that survived the Great Battle faded afterwards. Darkstripe, however, didn't and he started to serve under Ashfur, guarding the spirit prisoners in the Place of No Stars. When Rootspring and Bramblestar's spirit infiltrated the island he guarded the prisoners on, Darkstripe briefly fought the former until the SkyClan tom flung the dark tabby into the dark lake. Yet he somehow survived as revealed in the last book A Light in The Mist, where he was spotted in the crowd of spirit warriors surrounding Rootspring who was forced to fight Snowtuft. Later, he is among the spirits searching for Rootspring, who managed to escape with Bristlefrost's help. One of the possessed prisoners snaps at him, before getting controlled again. He leaves with Ashfur, before growing suspicous of someone lurking about, unaware of Rootspring following them, suggestion that is dismissed by Ashfur. Sometime later, he is nearby Rootspring's prison when suddenly the SkyClan warrior calls for him. A voice in Rootspring's head begins to talk through Rootspring's mouth, which confuses and scares Darkstripe as he didn't expect the young tom to know his past deeds. The voice is revealed to be the spirit of Firestar who, upon Rootspring's permission, takes control of the latter's body, and continues to berate the dark tabby spirit for his past crimes.
Upon recognizing the voice and behaviour to be that of Firestar, Darkstripe rebuffs the former's accusations, before attacking his old enemy. After a brief scuffle, Firestar manages to gain the upperhand and pin Darkstripe to the ground, insisting the latter to surrender. However, as arrogant as ever, the dark gray tabby rejects the Firestar-possessed Rootspring's offer, hissing out that he'd rather be destroyed permanently. Aggravated by Darkstripe's choice, Firestar then hisses back that he will share Tigerstar's fate, before biting deep into Darkstripe's throat, killing him and causing his body to fade moments afterward.
Gallery[]
Physical Appearance[]
Darkstripe is a large, sleek, thin-furred dark grey tabby tom with black stripes and yellow eyes.
Personality[]
Darkstripe is an extremely arrogant and self-centered individual who believes in the supremacy of Clan cats over outsiders, and the supremacy of Tigerstar over all. He is shown to be very rude and disrespectful, criticizing even the littlest mistakes made by others, openly mocking any cat who disagrees with him, and refusing to listen to any criticism directed at him. Although he claims to be loyal to ThunderClan, he is actually very selfish, secretly taking actions that benefit himself, instead of the Clan, whenever possible. This was shown when his companion, Longtail, caught a plump squirrel, and Darkstripe encouraged themselves to eat it since prey was scarce at the time. After eating it and returning to camp with a smaller catch, Poppydawn, who needed food to keep up her strength, died of illness. While Longtail felt guilty about this, Darkstripe did not; he saw nothing wrong about what they did, and coldly ordered Longtail not to tell anyone, threatening to lie that it was all his fault if he did. In the end, Darkstripe would ultimately betray his Clan entirely for the sake of his own ambitions.
Darkstripe is the biggest supporter of Tigerstar, whom he regarded as the greatest cat ever. However, when it was revealed that Tigerstar had tried to murder Bluestar in order to become leader, Darkstripe refused to follow him into exile, not because he was loyal to ThunderClan, but rather because he was disappointed that Tigerstar didn't tell him about his plans. Despite this, he continued to distrust Fireheart, the cat who exposed Tigerstar's treachery, and insulted him at every opportunity.
When Tigerstar became leader of ShadowClan, Darkstripe immediately rekindled his allegiance to him and began plotting with him to destroy ThunderClan. He even tried to poison Sorrelkit, a defenseless kitten and his own half-sister, to keep her quiet about his meeting with the ShadowClan deputy, Blackfoot.
Darkstripe is shown to be incredibly deluded, believing himself and Tigerstar to be the strong and worthy ones, and Firestar to be the weak one, despite there being strong evidence to the contrary. He does not consider himself or his actions to be wrong in any way, and thus was both shocked and confused when his spirit was sent to the Dark Forest instead of StarClan after his death. Like Tigerstar, he is also hypocritical, as he often criticizes those who break the warrior code, but is perfectly willing to break it himself if it suits his own personal needs.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Willowpelt (mother)
- Graystripe (half-brother)
- Rainwhisker (half-brother)
- Sootfur (half-brother)
- Sorreltail (half-sister)
External Links[]
- Darkstripe on the Warriors Wiki