Blackstar Dynamics
Blackstar, the leader of ShadowClan, a character whose fan following has increased dramatically over the past while within the fandom. Personally, I think that he is one of the most fascinating characters in the Warriors series. However, I have not seen a lot written about him online except for when people are writing about his genetically impossible pelt coloration. And yes, for the record, his pelt is completely impossible, but that is not what I find most interesting about him. What I find to be the most fascinating thing about him is the fact that his character seems to completely change over the course of the two Warriors series, something fairly unusual in the series.
For most of the first series, there was no doubt about it: Blackstar, then known as Blackfoot, is evil with a capital E. He murdered the (unmentioned in the allegiances) ThunderClan elder Rosetail, tried to steal ThunderClan kits, was one of first Brokenstar's then Tigerstar's rogues, acted as first Brokenstar's and then Tigerstar's deputy, AND, probably committed a dozen other crimes. However, probably the very worst thing we ever saw Blackstar do was murder Stonefur. Poor brave Stonefur was weak and emaciated, but he was still managing to beat Darkstripe in a fight. But then Blackfoot, at Tigerstar's command, dragged Stonefur off of Darkstripe. Darkstripe immediately sprang up onto Stonefur and held his hindquarters down, so that Blackfoot could claw Stonefur's throat, and by doing that, kill him. This murder made Blackfoot look bad enough as it is. But it was his reaction to the whole thing, expressed in the following quote, that really put him in a bad light.
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In the New Prophecy, particularly in Dawn, I began to notice some subtle yet definite changes in Blackfoot, now Blackstar. He does a few things that are distinctly un-evil, and that may even demonstrate, believe it or not, a certain level of compassion. Here are the quotations containing Blackstar's main blips of goodness.
The following happened when ThunderClan and WindClan were trying to get the ShadowClan cats out of their old camp before the Twoleg monsters destroyed it:
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The following happened right after the ShadowClan apprentice Smokepaw fell off a ledge into a deep abyss:
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Maybe after Stonefur's death, Blackstar's conscience finally caught up with him, and he started to feel guilty about all the bad things he'd done, causing him to change. This theory is supported by a quotation from The Darkest Hour that is as follows:
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Perhaps Blackstar's conscience only kicked in a little later, when he went to receive his nine lives from StarClan at the Moonstone. Maybe StarClan did something to him there that made him feel really guilty about all the bad stuff that he did,so he chose to become a better cat. Think about it, I bet a cat like Stonefur would have been more then capable of messing with Blackstar's head, and I bet he would have really enjoyed doing it, too.
Well, those are my first couple of theories. Now it's time to move on to my last theory, which is really just a combination of the other two. Maybe Blackfoot was starting to feel guilty about Stonefur, and then it was his leadership ceremony with StarClan that made him chose once and for all to become a better cat. That seems pretty logical, and I truly think it might be what happened, but perhaps not, I can't be entirely sure.
There is one thing that I am certain of, though: Blackstar is definitely a much better cat then he once was.
However, I am NOT trying to claim that Blackstar is perfect, because he is far from it. He can be nasty and aggressive, and he often does many less-then-nice things. In Sunset, he tried to take over some of ThunderClan's territory, and he will doubtlessly do more unpleasant things in the Power of Three series. However, as Sirius Black says in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,"The world is not split into good people and Death Eaters." Or, for all of you people who are not shameless Potterfreaks like me, "The world isn't split into good, and evil; black and white; there are also many shades of gray." I truly believe that Blackstar, despite all of his faults, now has a shade of gray that is a lot lighter then it was in the first series.
Well, that's it for now, I can't think of anything else to write about Blackstar. Hopefully, we'll see a lot more of him when we read the Secrets of the Clans book and some of the books in the Power of Three series, but for now its good-bye, and may StarClan light all of your paths.
the dawn patrol