| “ | I don't remember much about my life. I vaguely remember I wasn't the nicest cat. | „ |
| ~ Snowtuft |
Snowtuft is a supporting antagonist in Omen of the Stars and a major anti-hero in The Broken Code arcs in Erin Hunter's Warriors book franchise.
He was a Dark Forest resident and former ShadowClan warrior, who helped train the living trainees in preparations for The Great Battle, although he was mostly used as a training dummy by his fellow Dark Forest residents. During The Great Battle, he participated in attack on WindClan's camp, where he assisted Thistleclaw in fighting Ivypool, upon learning of her betrayal. However, he got bested by her and fled from the battlefield in the process.
Many seasons later, he met Shadowsight in the Dark Forest and revealed to him that Ashfur took control of the place, before assisting the medicine cat and his friends in escaping from Ashfur, which costed him his life and erased his spirit forever.
Biography[]
Omen of the Stars[]
Snowtuft is first seen in the Dark Forest training when Spottedleaf and Jayfeather visit. He is in the middle of a battle training session with several other Dark Forest cats, monitored by Hawkfrost. Snowtuft is watching the training session with his eyes half closed until Hawkfrost calls Snowtuft to come foward. He creeps warily towards Hawkfrost as he calls him, and Hawkfrost asks if he is ready to learn. Snowtuft replies yes and that is why he is there. Hawkfrost calls Shredtail to come over as well. When he comes, Hawkfrost grabs Snowtuft and throughs him in the air, exposing his belly, and Shredtail is ordered to tear it open. While Spottedleaf and Jayfeather leave in horror they can hear Snowtuft howling in agony.
Hawkfrost introduces Snowtuft to Ivypaw, a ThunderClan apprentice and one of the Dark Forest's visitors, under the mentorship of Hawkfrost. The white tom is later told to work with Hollowpaw, who complains about the water in the Dark Forest. Snowtuft just shoves the RiverClan apprentice in, taking no regard for his complaints.
In the next book, he is seen hiding among the bushes instead of training, which Mapleshade punishes him for.
Snowtuft is later seen heading for a meeting held exclusively for Dark Forest senior warriors. He and Hawkfrost have a chat and Snowtuft asks if any Clan cats will be hanging around the training rock. The dark brown tabby tells him no, that Brokenstar will make sure they aren't. He later participates in the Great Battle, obviously fighting for the Dark Forest, and helps Thistleclaw try to kill Ivypool while Hawkfrost fights Hollyleaf. However, Ivypool gets the upper hand and bites Snowtuft's neck, sending him fleeing.
The Broken Code[]
After Shadowsight dreams his way into The Place of No Stars, he encounters a skinny white tom who pins him to the ground. The medicine cat is initially hostile to the white warrior, but the two warm up to one another upon realizing they're both ShadowClan. Snowtuft explains how the Dark Forest is currently shrinking due to Ashfur's arrival to it, and voices his worry that he might fade just like some parts of it already did. He continues reminiscing about how he sought power when he was alive, but realised how much it doesn't matter once a cat gets to spend eternity in a place like this. Upon being asked if he participated in the Great Battle, Snowtuft snaps at Shadowsight that he did fight on Tigerstar's side and he doesn't want to talk about it. Afterwards, the medicine cat asks the Dark Forest tom if he knows where Ashfur is, to which the spirit shows him the way onto the island where the dark warrior is keeping the fallen warriors' spirits prisoner, guarded by Darkstripe. Shadowsight then asks him to distract Ashfur, to which Snowtuft replies that he won't die for someone else's fight, before bidding him good luck and leaving him.
However, sometime later he meets Rootspring, who entered the Dark Forest to save Shadowsight, aswell as Bramblestar and Squirrelflight, whom he introduces himself to and says that he knows where the ShadowClan medicine cat is, explaining that he helped him. Upon meeting up with Bramblestar's ghost, the three toms formulate a plan on how to lure away Ashfur, save Squirrelflight and retrieve Bramblestar's body. Although initially not eager to serve as bait to lure away the dark warrior, Snowtuft admits that maybe before he fades, the current situation is a possibility for him to redeem himself for his past actions. He successfully lures Ashfur away from the island long enough for Rootspring to infiltrate it and save Squirrelflight, in the meantime retrieving Bramblestar's body and defeating Darkstripe. Noticing that he's been tricked, Ashfur returns and attacks Rootspring, before gettting knocked off by Snowtuft, who then leads the escapees towards the exit from the Dark Forest, but not before getting captured along with the SkyClan warrior. Both are then put inside a ring of Ashfur's followers and possessed spirits, with the dark warrior himself looking on and controlling Snowtuft, who clearly hesitates, before attacking Rootspring, forcing both of them to fight. Luckily the fight gets broken up by Bristlefrost and Shadowsight, who came to save Rootspring, attacking Ashfur and his followers long enough to allow both captured toms to escape and to break the dark warrior's control over some of his prisoners. Furious of that, Ashfur pins down Shadowsight and almost kills him, but is then tackled by Snowtuft, who returned to save his new friends, ordering them to escape while he holds off Ashfur for as long as he can. However, not long after escaping, the trio hears a piercing shriek of a dying cat and fearing it might be Snowtuft, which is then confirmed by an escaped Willowshine, who remarks that she saw him get his neck broken by the dark warrior, confirming his fate.
His sacrifice however, didn't go to waste, as it allowed the trio to escape and later kill Ashfur, although at the cost of Bristlefrost's life and existence. Their heroic acts made them become remembered by Rootspring and Shadowsight.
Appearance[]
Snowtuft is a small, thin, distorted, white tom cat with a long scar snaking from his belly to the tip of his ear. He looks slightly faded.
Personality[]
Although Snowtuft is a Dark Forest warrior, he doesn't seem as eager to chase blood as some of the other Dark Forest warriors. This is shown when he watches Hawkfrost's training session with half-closed eyes, implying boredom. He also tried to hide from the training at one point, which got him punished by Mapleshade. However, this doesn't stop him from being violent and seemingly sadistic, as he helps Thistleclaw attempt to murder Ivypool slowly and painfully.
However, in the years following the Dark Forest's defeat, Snowtuft became solitary, confining himself to a corner of the Dark Forest. Strangely he has been shown as slightly friendly to visitors. He appeared to regret fighting on the side of the Dark Forest cats, getting agitated when Shadowsight brought up the subject and refusing to talk about it. Interestingly, it is said that the Dark Forest itself can turn a good cat bad. However, despite spending years there, Snowtuft got a desire to redeem himself. Unlike other Dark Forest warriors such as Silverhawk, Mapleshade, and Darkstripe, Snowtuft had no desire to get involved in Ashfur's evil plans, and even helped Rootspring and Shadowsight free Bramblestar and Squirrelflight.
Despite being shown as cowardly in Omen of The Stars, and even being called such on at least one occasion, Snowtuft risks his very existence to trick Ashfur so that Bramblestar and Rootspring can rescue Squirrelflight, and even tackles the gray-flecked tom to get him away from Rootspring, despite being well aware of Ashfur's abilities, showing true bravery.
External Links[]
- Snowtuft on the Warriors Wiki
- Snowtuft on the Heroes Wiki
