| “ | You can save your sympathy. I don't need it. I have a family now. These are my Kin. I'll decide what's enough. Maybe next time I'll show your mate how bad you are at protecting your Clan. Maybe WindClan should be run by a real leader, like me ... it won't be that easy for you to leave me behind this time. You took away the only cat I ever cared for with your selfish, cowardly choices ... And now I'm going to do the same to you. Before I'm through, every cat you've ever loved will know pain. | „ |
| ~ Darktail to Onestar upon meeting him again. |
| “ | This won't be the last you see of us. We have a mission here, and we know more about your so-called Clans than you think. | „ |
| ~ Darktail after the battle in Thunder and Shadow. |
Darktail is a major antagonist in Erin Hunter's Warriors book series.
He is the son of WindClan's leader Onestar and a kittypet she-cat Smoke, who brought chaos and terror upon the Clans, when he along with his group arrived to the lake territories. During their time there, he took over the leadership of ShadowClan, which resulted in the death of many cats. Fortunately he was defeated and later killed by his own father, before descending into the Dark Forest. There, he later assisted Ashfur in his attempt at destroying StarClan, the Dark Forest, and the living Clans; however, Darktail perished permanently when Violetshine and Needletail overpowered him and killed his spirit. He is Onestar's archenemy.
Biography[]
Background[]
Darktail was born as the result of a forbidden relationship between Onewhisker, a young WindClan warrior, and Smoke, a beautiful, pampered kittypet. Onewhisker broke up with Smoke, but she became pregnant, and wanted to join WindClan so that her kittens could be brought up as warriors (Onewhisker having never told her of the harsher side of warrior life). Onewhisker rejected Smoke's request, as he feared the consequences of admitting to having taken a mate outside of WindClan, and due to having a new mate in WindClan.
The only one of Smoke's litter to survive after her harsh kitting alone on the moor, hoping to see Onewhisker, was Darkkit, and after their owners died, Smoke took Darkkit to his father, begging for Onewhisker to at least let him join the Clan. However, Onewhisker rejected his son for the same reason he'd rejected Smoke: he claimed it was for their safety, because the Clans were being driven out of their territory; however, in truth, he simply didn't want to face the consequences for his actions. This double rejection infuriated Smoke, and while Onewhisker promised to return to them once his Clan was safe, she warned him that she would teach Darkkit to hate the Clans if Onewhisker failed to keep his promise.
Growing up, the rejection of his father (who did not return) and his mother's teachings had a dramatically negative effect on Darkkit's personality; he and his mother became kittypets once again, but he attacked their owner's child, forcing the two cats to leave. He grew into a cold and bitter cat, refusing help from other kittypets even when he was starving, and it only grew worse after Smoke was run over by a car, causing deep grief for Darktail, who blamed his father for her death. He even killed a kittypet named Dudley, though his motives for it were never revealed.
Darktail moved on to create his own group of rogues, "The Kin", to replace his lost family. They attempted to copy the Clans' way of life, but had no code of honour. He sought to hunt down the warrior Clans and destroy them for rejecting him and his mother all those years ago.
A Vision of Shadows[]
Darktail and his right-hand cat Rain joined SkyClan, the long-lost fifth Clan, where Darktail befriended Hawkwing under false pretenses. He later betrayed the Clan by killing their deputy, Sharpclaw, and bringing in the rest of his Kin to drive the Clan away. Not long afterwards, a small group of warriors led by the medicine cat apprentice Alderpaw came searching for SkyClan, but came across Darktail and his group instead. Alderpaw and his friends were deceived by Darktail into thinking he and his group were SkyClan, but eventually discovered the truth. They were taken prisoner, but quickly escaped. Darktail and his group secretly followed them to the Clans' territories.
Darktail started by kidnapping his father Onestar's grandkit, coincidentally named Smokekit, and choking her half to death before leaving her for WindClan to find, purposefully leaving her alive as a message to Onestar, who had not told his Clan the truth about Darktail. He stalked Onestar, attempting to kill him by dropping a branch on his head, and also nearly killed the WindClan apprentice Fernpaw, whom he ambushed when she was alone and left for dead.
This eventually led to a fight between Darktail's rogues and a few WindClan cats, including Onestar. Only ThunderClan's intervention saved the WindClan patrol from death, and the WindClan warrior Furzepelt died while Onestar lost a life.
Darktail and the Kin eventually managed to take over ShadowClan's territory, with many of its cats choosing to join them, as they were fed up with Rowanstar for being a "weak leader". He turned cats such as Sleekwhisker to evil, and drowned any cat who tried to leave the Kin.
When Rain challenged Darktail's leadership, Darktail defeated him in combat and then gouged out one of his eyes as punishment, stating that a one-eyed cat posed no danger to him. Rain, however, would hold a grudge against Darktail for this.
Moons later, Onestar, as well as the other Clans, launched a full-scale attack on Darktail and his Kin, including the ShadowClan cats who had joined him. During the battle, Onestar personally fought Darktail and came very close to killing him, but before he could do so, Darktail whispered in his ear that surely a cat who had rejected and killed his own son would end up in the Dark Forest. These words horrified Onestar and made him fear for his soul. He ordered his Clan to retreat, leaving the remaining Clan cats at a serious disadvantage and resulting in them losing the battle.
After the battle, Darktail was recovering in his nest when he was attacked by a vengeful Rain, who very nearly strangled Darktail to death. However, Darktail was able to play dead to get Rain to let down his guard and then attacked his treacherous second-in-command, killing him with a slash to the neck.
Darktail decided to target RiverClan next, as it had taken the worst damage in the battle. He and his Kin overtook RiverClan easily due to their superior numbers, RiverClan's wounds, and Darktail's clever yet brutal tactics. After the battle ended, Darktail refused to allow RiverClan to treat their wounded Clanmates, instead keeping them as prisoners. He also refused to let them take their dead for burial, instead leaving them to rot and even callously dismissing them as "carrion".
While keeping the injured RiverClan cats prisoner, Darktail refused to feed them or treat their injuries unless they swore an oath of loyalty to the Kin. Although the RiverClan prisoners eventually gave in and swore their loyalty, Darktail continued to starve them anyway for his own amusement.
However, keeping the RiverClan cats prisoner ultimately proved to be a mistake, as they eventually broke free and rose up against the Kin. The majority of the former ShadowClan cats sided with them, forcing the Kin to flee and regroup. Later, SkyClan returned to the lake and all five Clans took on Darktail's group. Most of Darktail's rogues fled and Onestar, ready to accept his fate, took on his son, eventually driving him into a lake, where their battle took them further and further out until he was able to drag his son down, drowning both of them. Darktail was then pulled into the Clans' afterlife by Ashfur, where StarClan immediately sent him to the Dark Forest.
The Broken Code[]
After his death, Darktail secretly conspired with Ashfur to destroy the living Clans. He revealed himself to the Lights in the Mist, as they confronted Ashfur and revealed his collaboration with the latter. During the battle, he attacked Rootspring and almost managed to kill him, but was stopped by Needletail and Violetshine who killed him for the second time, making him fade away.
Legacy[]
Even after his death, Darktail's evil actions continued to affect the Clans. Some cats, mostly RiverClan, blamed Rowanstar, and ShadowClan as a whole, for the suffering they endured under Darktail, as Rowanstar failed to deal with Darktail and nearly every ShadowClan cat eventually chose to join the cruel rogue leader. However, the ShadowClan cats were deeply ashamed of their decision to follow Darktail, as it nearly destroyed their Clan, as well as the other Clans.
Harestar, the new WindClan leader, reminded the Clans that it was Onestar's rejection of his son that brought about Darktail's vengeance, but also that whatever Onestar did to his son, Darktail still chose his own cruel, dangerous and murderous path, and that the Clans should remember that Onestar made up for his past mistakes by sacrificing himself to kill his son and put an end to his tyranny.
Gallery[]
Appearance[]
Darktail is a large, muscular, glossy white tomcat with vivid blue eyes, black spots on his face, and a long black tail.
Personality[]
Viciously ruthless and arrogantly sadistic, but also deviously cunning and subtlety manipulative, Darktail is one of the darkest and most dangerous characters in the Warriors universe. He has no mercy, compassion or respect for his enemies or for cats that are weaker than himself, and his favourite execution method is by drowning. However, he also likes to physically and psychologically torture his victims. A prime example of Darktail's sadism is shown when he captured four injured RiverClan cats and tortured them by leaving their wounds to fester, depriving them of food and humiliating them by forcing them to swear an oath of loyalty to him in return for food, and then continuing to starve them anyway.
Another notable example of Darktail's sadism is shown when he attempted to punish Violetpaw for betraying him by drowning her best friend, Needletail, right in front of her, because he knew killing Needletail would hurt Violetpaw more than anything else.
Darktail is very intelligent; he is a cunning and deceitful but also highly charismatic planner. For example, he was able to gather a fairly large number of rogue cats together and gain their absolute loyalty, with a few remaining devoted to him even after his death. He was also able to not only tempt ShadowClan's younger members away from their Clan, but eventually convinced almost the entire Clan to turn against their "weak leader" and follow him instead. He is also a fairly patient and calculating tactician, and might have very well succeeded in destroying all the Clans if his own father hadn't finally gained the courage to put him down.
Darktail is a Social Darwinist; he believes only the strong deserve to survive. As noted by Dragonfly, one of his more reluctant followers, he isn't only intolerant of sick cats, but actually despises them and outright abuses them, berating them for being sick and even attempting to prevent them from healing themselves. While Darktail does value his followers for their loyalty and usefulness, he will abandon them without a second thought if any of them get sick or in danger, even if that cat has been one of his most loyal followers.
Darktail is also a liar and a hypocrite; he is treacherous, deceptive, and despite his claims to the contrary, has no personal sense of honour or responsibility, other than to exact vengeance on his father. At one point, he states that he believes sharing is "very important", but this is a outright lie because, as mentally noted by Violetpaw, Darktail only shares when it suits his own personal needs--and in Onestar's Confession, it is revealed he refused to accept help from others even when he was starving.
Despite being a strong and capable fighter and tactician, he is not above using brutal or underhanded methods to win battles; e.g. ordering his henchmen to attack his opponent while their back is turned or sending the weaker cats onto the battlefield first as fodder. Darktail has no respect for his enemies, and demonstrates this by refusing to bury their bodies or even to let their friends bury them.
However, there is a deeper reason behind Darktail's actions. According to Onestar and Darktail himself, Darktail's cruel nature and actions are rooted in his father's rejection of him as a kit and his mother, Smoke, subsequently raising him to hate the Clans for this rejection. As stated by Onestar, the reason why Darktail hates and disrespects the warrior life is because he was denied the chance to understand it.
Powers and Abilities[]
Darktail is a formidable fighter, notably defeating Mistfeather and Reedwhisker, both of whom were fully trained warriors, and Rowanstar and Onestar, who were Clan leaders, all in single combat. However, it should be noted that all of these cats were not at the peak of their strength when Darktail fought them; Mistfeather was half-starved and weakened from living as a loner, Rowanstar was still recovering from an illness, Reedwhisker was already injured from a previous battle, and Onestar was very old and not quite as strong as he once was. However, Darktail was also able to overpower his healthy and skillful second-in-command Rain with relative ease when the latter challenged him for leadership.
In addition to his physical abilities, Darktail is highly intelligent; he is a expert tactician and a master manipulator. He was able to gain the absolute loyalty of many cats such as rogues and even trained warriors, and guide his "Kin" to defeat RiverClan. Under his leadership, The Kin became one of the greatest threats the Clans have ever faced, and might have very well succeeded in destroying them if Onestar hadn't finally found the courage to end him.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Onestar (father)
- Smoke (mother)
- Unnamed kits (siblings)
- Heathertail (half-sister)
- Galekit (half-sister)
- Smokehaze (niece)
- Brindlewing (niece)
- Appleshine (niece)
- Woodsong (niece)
- Ashfoot (Aunt)
- Crowfeather (Cousin)
- Breezepelt (First Cousin Once Removed | Half-Brother In-Law)
Quotes[]
| “ | Listen. I like you, Hawkwing. You're different from the other SkyClan cats. You're more like me. Surely you realize your best chance of survival will be with me and my rogues? We're going to take the gorge for ourselves. Join us! We're so good together, Hawkwing. We understand each other. I'll make you my deputy. | „ |
| ~ Darktail to Hawkwing after revealing his true intentions. |
| “ | I want my mother back. | „ |
| ~ Darktail to Onestar when asked what he wanted. |
| “ | I will destroy you, and all the Clans, for what you did to me. What do you think will happen to a cat who rejected, and then killed, his own son? Surely that cat would end up in the Dark Forest. Think of that when you are on your last life! | „ |
| ~ Darktail to Onestar. |
| “ | I was surprised as any cat to find myself here, but it’s all worked out. Ashfur has given me a chance for revenge. I failed in life, but in death I can finally destroy the Clans. | „ |
| ~ Darktail revealing his collaboration with Ashfur in the afterlife to the Lights in the Mist. |
External Links[]
- Darktail on the Warriors Wiki
