| “ | I haven't thought of myself as ShadowClan for a long time. I'm Kin now, through and through. I was one of the first cats to join you, while these other mange-pelts were ShadowClan right up to the time you took over the territory. And the sooner they leave, the better. | „ |
| ~ Sleekwhisker to Darktail about her loyalty to The Kin in Shattered Sky. |
Sleekwhisker is the secondary antagonist of A Vision of Shadows arc from Erin Hunter's Warriors book series and a minor antagonist in super edition Onestar's Confession.
She was a rogue, formerly member of the Kin, and earlier an apprentice of ShadowClan and sister of Juniperclaw and Strikestone. She betrayed her family and Clan in favor of Darktail and his group, whom she joined.
History[]
Introduced as a young she-cat known as Sleekpaw, she is the daughter of Dawnpelt and Crowfrost of ShadowClan, making her the granddaughter of Rowanstar and Tawnypelt, and sister to Juniperpaw and Strikepaw. She is mentored by her uncle, Tigerheart. She is also close friends with fellow apprentices Needlepaw and Yarrowpaw.
Like the rest of the ShadowClan apprentices, Sleekpaw quickly gains a reputation for being rude and unruly, with no respect for rules, elder cats or the other Clans. She frequently insults and disobeys those around her. When Violetkit is taken in by ShadowClan, Sleekpaw quickly becomes something of a bully to her, frequently mocking her for her shyness and for not being Clanborn, the latter of which is hypocritical, as Sleekpaw once stated that she believed that being Clanborn or not did not matter. She and the other apprentices eventually challenge their leader Rowanstar, complaining that the elder cats are not showing them enough respect and that the rules of the Warrior Code are stupid and too numerous. Rowanstar eventually manages to silence the apprentices, though the rebellion still lingers in their minds.
When Darktail and his rogues come to settle by the lake, Sleekpaw and Needlepaw pay visits to them. She and the other apprentice rebel again when Rowanstar and Crowfrost deny the rogues entry into ShadowClan again. Sleekpaw agrees with her friend and then follows Needlepaw, Juniperpaw, and Violetkit to join the rogues, leaving her parents and other brother Strikepaw in ShadowClan. Upon joining the rogues, she gives herself a warrior name, Sleekwhisker. Sleekwhisker taunts Needletail for training Violetpaw and says they are rogues now, not Clan cats, and that she can learn to hunt and fight on her own like rogues do. It becomes apparent she does not like or favor Violetpaw. This shows more as Darktail favors Violetpaw more.
Once Darktail and his rogues go to ShadowClan and force out Rowanstar out of leadership, she follows suite, as does Needletail, Juniperclaw, and some other ShadowClan cats such as Spikefur and Mistcloud. She asks Dawnpelt, her mother, if she misses her and Juniperclaw and states that herself, and Strikestone are all she has left, since Crowfrost, her father, died of Yellowcough. Dawnpelt reluctantly agrees with her, saying that she cannot leave every one of her kits, and ShadowClan is the only home she ever knew and cannot leave it. Sleekwhisker, satisfied with her answer, stays in the newly formed Kin.
Sleekwhisker is noted to be one of Darktail's most loyal and malicious followers after he takes over ShadowClan and merge the remaining ShadowClan cats and his rogues and form what he has called ‘The Kin’. She supports every decision he has made and is deeply suspicious of Violetpaw. She begins to become suspicious of Needletail as well, after Rain had died in the claws of Darktail for betraying him. When Dawnpelt realizes that it was wrong to stay with The Kin, she tells Violetpaw that she is going to leave, and already has sent Juniperclaw and Strikestone to seek for ThunderClan. Dawnpelt tells Violetpaw that Sleekwhisker would never want to leave The Kin and she has not even asked her about leaving. When Dawnpelt mysteriously disappears, Sleekwhisker shows no emotions about her mother's absence and does not seem to care about it either, unlike her brothers who show extreme concern over their missing mother.
While the former ShadowClan cats soon realize that Darktail is a cruel and dishonorable cat, Sleekwhisker still remains by his side and agrees with practically every word he says. She is one of the rogues to bring the RiverClan prisoners, who are now held captive, from the battle with RiverClan in which The Kin won, along with Raven. After Darktail starves the prisoners and forces them to say the oath of loyalty to The Kin, she and Raven herd them back into the thicket. Sleekwhisker later tells Darktail that she is Kin now, through and through, and has not considered herself a ShadowClan cat in a long time, and that all the ShadowClan cats should leave. She shows signs of being romantically interested in Darktail, at one point moving so close to him that their pelts brush, but he jerks away and snaps at her, showing that he does not return her feelings.
When Violetpaw puts poppy seeds into Darktail's prey, Sleekwhisker spots her messing with the food and informs Darktail, thereby foiling Violetpaw's plan. Darktail decides to punish Violetpaw by drowning Needletail, who is her best friend. Sleekwhisker helps Darktail push Needletail's head under the surface of the lake, and hold her there until Violetpaw admits that she tried to drug them. Darktail decides to give Needletail a second chance to prove her loyalty by killing Violetpaw, although it is nothing more than a cruel joke. To the rogues' suprise, Needletail agrees, but then pretends to attack Violetpaw, tells her to run and then turns on Darktail, Sleekwhisker, Roach, and Raven. Sleekwisker attacks Needletail along with Roach and Darktail, while Raven chases after the fleeing Violetpaw. She helps drown Needletail in the end by the lake and shows no remorse in murdering her childhood friend, showing her complete devotion to Darktail.
Once The Kin has been driven out by the other Clans, she runs away with what is left of The Kin; Yarrowleaf and Spikefur follow suite. It is noted by Rowanstar that Sleekwhisker ran off with The Kin, and he declares her and the others traitors. She is missed by Juniperclaw and Strikestone, who wonder where she has gone. The spirits of the cats who drowned in the lake reveal that Sleekwhisker, along with the ShadowClan cats who had not returned, are likely still alive.
Sleekwhisker and a heavily pregnant Yarrowleaf later stay in ShadowClan's former camp. Violetshine, Tree, and Sandynose find them, and are surprised and angry to see them. They claim to have left Darktail's group and want to rejoin ShadowClan. Violetshine is skeptical of this, noting that Sleekwhisker helped drown Needletail, and that Yarrowleaf showed no remorse in attacking her former Clanmates. Sleekwhisker tells them that Spikefur had died of the sickness as they could not find the right herbs to treat him with, and no one else helped. Upon arriving, Strikestone and Juniperclaw greet her warmly, and Sleekwhisker and Yarrowleaf beg Leafstar for them to join SkyClan and appear sad once they find out that ShadowClan is no more. However, they get turned away on account of their past crimes. Even so, they are hidden in the former ShadowClan camp by Whorlpaw, Juniperclaw, Strikestone, Snowbird, and Scorchfur.
Once Tree has found a solution to let them stay, Leafstar finally agrees, but is still angry and suspicious of them as they supported Darktail, who drove SkyClan out of their home. Tawnypelt also shows hatred for them, calling them traitors; on the other hand, Rowanstar, now Rowanclaw, forgives them. Juniperclaw supports his sister, pointing out that many former ShadowClan cats followed Darktail, himself being one, and asks if Leafstar does not believe that a cat can change.
Now an apprentice once again in SkyClan, Sleekwhisker is later revealed to have betrayed her brothers, who went behind Leafstar's back to get her a place to stay, as well as Yarrowleaf, who relied on Sleekwhisker during her pregnancy and had thought the two she-cats were friends. She has secretly teamed up with two troublesome kittypets, Susan and Jacques, to help with a plan to get "revenge" on Rowanclaw. She claims that Rowanclaw made her miserable when she was growing up and that many cats she cared for died because he "failed to deal with Darktail". Sleekwhisker drugs Yarrowleaf with poppy seeds and steals her kits, Hopkit and Flaxkit, to use as hostages. She also teams up with Nettle and Raven to capture Tawnypelt, intending to murder her right in front of Rowanclaw, as she is the cat he loves most and the one thing he has left. However, Rowanclaw, Macgyver, Yarrowleaf, and Violetshine manage to rescue Tawnypelt, retrieve the stolen kits and defeat Sleekwhisker and the others. She and Nettle take down Rowanclaw by fatally wounding him, though Rowanclaw manages to kill Nettle in the process. Violetshine and the others help drive Sleekwhisker and the other rogues and kittypets away, telling them to never return because they have betrayed the Clans for the last time.
Physical appearance[]
Sleekwhisker is a sleek, golden-yellow she-cat with green eyes.
Personality[]
Sleekwhisker is an extremely arrogant, cunning, and malicious individual. In her youth, she was rude and reckless rebel, with no respect for rules, elder cats, her fellow Clans or her ancestors. She would frequently insult and disobey those around her. Like most of her fellow apprentices, she felt her actions were justified because (in their eyes at least) the elder cats were not giving them the respect they deserved. This also showed that she expected to be treated with respect even when she did absolutely nothing to earn it. She despised being told what to do and believed the warrior code was ridiculous. Sleekpaw was also a sarcastic bully, as she occasionally made fun of Violetpaw for being shy and for not being born in ShadowClan.
When Darktail came to the lake, Sleekpaw was one of the first of her Clan to defect to his group. Once there, she fit in perfectly and became one of Darktail's most loyal followers, doing practically everything he said and seemingly never disageeing with him. It was implied that she was in love with Darktail, which would explain her devotion to him. During her time with the rogues, Sleekwhisker became increasingly cruel and murderous, readily assisting in the torment of the injured prisoners, and even going so far as to help murder her former Clanmate and kithood friend Needletail, and show no remorse in it.
Both in her youth and in adulthood, Sleekwhisker had no personal sense of responsibility; she always blamed her behavior on others.
Sleekwhisker was rather hypocritical. She once stated that she believed being Clanborn was not important, but later mocked Violetkit for not being Clanborn. She also criticized Violetshine for not growing up as a "real ShadowClan cat", even though she herself did not grow up to be that.
Later, Sleekwhisker and Yarrowleaf reappeared at the SkyClan camp, claiming to regret their decision to join Darktail. Many ShadowClan cats allowed them in, thinking they have changed. However, Sleekwhisker's plea for a second was a complete lie, as she had chosen to blame Rowanclaw for her own mistakes. She betrayed Yarrowleaf and all the SkyClan cats by working with Nettle to kidnap Yarrowleaf’s kits and murder Rowanclaw. After Nettle is killed, Sleekwhisker fled with the rest of the remaining Kin, choosing to remain with the rogues instead of her former Clanmates, showing herself to be a tracherous murderer.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Dawnpelt (mother)
- Crowfrost (father)
- Strikestone (brother)
- Juniperclaw (brother)
Trivia[]
- Sleekwhisker is one of the most despised characters in the Warriors franchise, due to her bullying nature, indifference to her parents' deaths, assisted murder of Needletail, and her desire to conquer the Clans for no reason other than imagined slights from her family and Clanmates.
- There is a fan theory that Sleekwhisker was in love with Darktail, which would explain her loyalty to him. One of the series' authors, Kate Cary, believes that Sleekwhisker did at least have a crush on Darktail.
- Another fan theory suggests that Sleekwhisker helped Darktail drown her own mother, Dawnpelt, though there is so far no evidence for this theory.
- Some fans believe Sleekwhisker was impregnated by Darktail, though no evidence currently exists to support this.
External Links[]
- Sleekwhisker on the Warriors Wiki
