The Place of No Stars (also known as the Dark Forest) are the main antagonists of the Warriors book series. While StarClan is where mostly good Clan cats go when they die, cats who commit grave offences to the Clans and warrior code are sent to the Dark Forest for their crimes. The Dark Forest cannot exist without StarClan, and vise versa. The forest itself is described as an infinite gloomy plain where there is no prey and the smell of rot permeates the air. Residents of the Dark Forest are able to enter the dreams of living cats, often using this ability to recruit them into being trainees.
History[]
Mapleshade's Vengeance[]
Upon her death, Mapleshade is sent to the Dark Forest for murdering Ravenwing, Frecklewish and Appledusk. This does nothing to dissuade her desire for vengeance upon Appledusk and his new mate Reedshine, vowing to haunt her ex-mate's bloodline for years to come. She also uses her new paranormal powers to guide Tigerclaw and help him rise to power.
Crookedstar's Promise[]
Appledusk's and Reedshine's great grandson Crookedjaw is haunted by Mapleshade, who trains him in his dreams and makes him believe she's a cat of StarClan. One day she brings him to the Place of No Stars, where he discovers her true nature and vows to never accept more of her "guidance" again. He also finds that the ThunderClan warrior Thistleclaw is being trained there by Shredtail and Silverhawk, who are helping him in his quest to become his Clan's next deputy, and then leader. Thistleclaw fails in this endeavor though, and after being killed by a RiverClan patrol his spirit joins the Place of No Stars.
The New Prophecy[]
Brokenstar, Clawface, Tigerstar and Darkstripe are all now Dark Forest residents after their deaths in the previous arc. Darkstripe tries to follow Tigerstar like he did in life, begging the brown tabby tom not to leave him alone, but Tigerstar tells him that cats who reside in the Place of No Stars are to spend their afterlives in solitude. Later, Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost are summoned to the Dark Forest by their father, who lies that he's changed his ways and offers to help them become the leaders of their respective Clans.
Soon Brambleclaw becomes the deputy of ThunderClan, and briefly Hawkfrost also becomes RiverClan's deputy. Tigerstar and Hawkfrost plan to have the two half-brothers become leaders of their Clans, and afterwards take over the other two Clans by force; Bramblestar leading both ThunderClan and WindClan while Hawkstar leads RiverClan and ShadowClan. They plan to do this by trapping the other two Clans on the lake's island during the Gathering, and killing their members until they surrender. Brambleclaw is wary of this plan however, and his trust in his father and brother begins wavering. Tigerstar also tries getting his daughter Tawnypelt to train with him as well, but she adamantly refuses, stating that she doesn't want to be a tyrant like him. He doesn't bother with his other daughter Mothwing, believing her to be a waste of potential for becoming a medicine cat.
Later, with the help of Ashfur, Hawkfrost leads ThunderClan's leader Firestar into a fox trap near the lake. He then shows this to Brambleclaw, telling him to kill Firestar while he has the chance so he may succeed him as leader. Brambleclaw of coarse refuses, and he gets into a fight with Hawkfrost that leads to the latter's death. Afterwards, Hawkfrost joins his father in the Dark Forest.
The Power of Three[]
Knowing that one day soon the Dark Forest will war with the living world, an unknown force foretells of four cats with special powers that will aid greatly in their war. Firestar is one of them, and Leafpool's sons Jaypaw and Lionpaw are soon discovered to be the other two. Tigerstar and Hawkfrost try getting Brambleclaw's adoptive son Jaypaw to train with them, but soon move on to Lionpaw. The two train the apprentice every night in his dreams, teaching him special battle techniques and planning to use his prophecy-given powers of super strength and invincibility to become an unstoppable weapon. Lionpaw grows frustrated though when Tigerstar is increasingly controlling of him and dismissed his role in the prophecy. Later, when Lionpaw - now a warrior named Lionblaze - finds out that Brambleclaw is not his birth father, he cuts ties with both Tigerstar and Hawkfrost.
Omen of the Stars[]
The fourth and final prophesized cat, Dovekit, is born. Meanwhile, the Dark Forest starts recruiting trainees en masse to prepare for the Great Battle. Of the trainees, Hawkfrost recruits Dovepaw's envious sister Ivypaw with the promise of teaching her things that will make her Clanmates appreciate her more that her littermate, while Brokenstar recruits Breezepelt by telling him that he can help him get revenge on his ThunderClan half-siblings and dismissive father Crowfeather, and Mapleshade recruits Blossomfall for similar reasons of jealousy for the attention her sister Briarlight gets.
The training sessions the Dark Forest puts its trainees through is brutal, with many waking up to find fresh wounds, and one such trainees by the name of Antpelt dying from these injuries. Soon Ivypaw/Ivypool finds out the truth about the Dark Forest, and along with Tigerheart, agrees to be a spy for the Clans. As the Great Battle approaches, Ivypool is forced to kill the spirit of Antpelt, who has since joined the Dark Forest, as to not blow her cover. When the Dark Forest spirits finally reveal their true motives, a trainee named Beetlewhisker tries to leave, but Brokenstar kills him.
As the Great Battle begins, all the trainees defect to aid the Clan cats save for Breezepelt and Redwillow, who fight alongside the Dark Forest. Redwillow is killed for his treason, and many Clan cats are also killed, as well as the StarClan cat Spottedleaf. Several of the Place of No Star's residents are slain, causing their spirits to fade away: Brokenstar is killed by Yellowfang, Hawkfrost is killed by Brambleclaw, Shredtail is killed by Lionblaze, Tigerstar is killed by Firestar, and an unnamed spirit is killed by Longtail. Ultimately the Clans and StarClan are successful, and the remaining Dark Forest cats flee back to the realm of the dead.
The Broken Code[]
After dying in the previous arc, Darktail and Juniperclaw join the Dark Forest. A vengeful StarClan cat named Ashfur seeks revenge on his ex-mate Squirrelflight, and digs a hole between the barrier to come and go as he pleases. He recruits the cats of the Dark Forest into working with him by claiming that when he succeeds in taking over the Clans, he'll have them return to the living world via possesion like he had done with Bramblestar. Meanwhile, his pent-up anger starts having an effect on both afterlives, with StarClan being cut off from both the living world and the Dark Forest by walls of brambles, while the Dark Forest itself starts flooding with dark water that consumes almost any cat who falls into it, spirit and all.
After leaving Bramblestar's body, Ashfur kidnaps Squirrelflight and holds her hostage in the Dark Forest along with the spirit of the real Bramblestar, keeping them on an island surrounded by dark water and guarded by Darkstripe. He also brainwashes the ghosts of all the cats who had recently died and were unable to go to StarClan thanks to the severed connection, forcing them to do his bidding. Soon Bristlefrost, Rootspring and Shadowsight come to the Dark Forest to stop Ashfur and save all the brainwashed and hostage cats. After finding out that Ashfur's promise to let them return to the living world if they help him is a lie, and he is the reason that their home is being destroyed, several Dark Forest residents turn against him and aid in his defeat: Redwillow, Maggottail, Sparrowfeather, Snowtuft, Silverhawk and Juniperclaw, with the last three also wishing to redeem themselves.
Ashfur kills Snowtuft when he fight him to allow Rootspring to escape, and Shadowsight goes to the living world and returns with Graystripe, Violetshine, Crowfeather a Mistystar to help. The cats soon find out that hope can loosen the barrier between StarClan and the Dark Forest, with Firestar, Onestar, Needletail, Larksong, Redtail,Feathertail and Silverstream coming through to assist as well. During the battle, Needletail and Violetshine team up to kill Darktail, while Bristlefrost sacrifices herself to drown Ashfur in the dark water, causing both to fade away forever. The dark water then recedes, and though he can't join StarClan, Juniperclaw takes up the position of guarding the tunnel between the two afterlives after redeeming himself. All the living cats who entered the Place of No Stars to aid in the final battle are given the titles of "Lights in the Mist", including the now faded Bristlefrost.
Victims[]
- Antpelt (succumbed to wounds inflicted by Thistleclaw)
- Beetlewhisker (killed by Brokenstar)
- Hollyleaf (killed by Hawkfrost)
- Ferncloud (killed by Brokenstar)
- Spottedleaf (killed by Mapleshade)
- Blackstar (eighth life)
- Dapplenose (killed by Hawkfrost)
- Mousefur (unnamed killer)
- Hollowflight (unknown killer)
- Robinwing (unknown killer)
- Troutstream (unknown killer)
- Ashfoot (unknown killer)
- Boulerfur (unknown killer)
- Owlwhisker (unknown killer)
- Swallowtail (unknown killer)
- Sunstrike (unknown killer)
- Thistleheart (unknown killer)
- Tornear (unknown killer)
- Webfoot (unknown killer)
- Applefur (unknown killer)
- Cedarheart (unknown killer)
- Olivenose (unknown killer)
- Shrewfoot (unknown killer)
- Starlingwing (unknown killer)
- Tallpoppy (unknown killer)
- Toadfoot (unknown killer)
- Weaselkit (unknown killer)
- Firestar (succumbed to wounds inflicted by Tigerstar)
- Foxleap (succumbed to wounds; unknown killer)
- Sorreltail (succumbed to wounds; unknown killer)
- Willowshine (killed by Ashfur)
- Graystripe (succumbed to wounds inflicted by Ashfur)
Trivia[]
- Author Kate Cary has stated that One Eye likely created the Dark Forest, though this has yet to be confirmed.
- The authors have stated that Ripplestar, Deerfoot, Tangleburr, Slash, Bee and Snake may reside in the Place of No Stars.
- Hawkheart, Brightflower, Lilywhisker, Marshcloud and Blizzardwing were all at some point stated to reside there, but this has since been retconned.
- Darktail is the only non-Clan cat to reside there.
- While unnamed in the book itself, two residents shown in Spottedleaf's Heart were given names on author Victoria Holmes' Facebook: the black-and-white tom with a scarred face was named Batear, while the light brown she-cat that Thistleclaw kills was named Fenneldust.
- The Dark Forest was mistakenly called "DarkClan" on page 274 of The Last Hope. Coincidentally, this is the name of the fake Clan Lionpaw and Heatherpaw used to roleplay in.
- SkyClan is the only one of the five Clans to not have any known residents in the Dark Forest.
- Frecklewish's and Stumpytail's placement was revealed on the official website's family tree. Frecklewish's inclusion sparked outrage in the fandom, and an article published soon after explaining that she was put there for failing to save Mapleshade's kits from drowning only worsened this outrage.
External links[]
The Place of No Stars on the Warriors Wiki
