Leopardstar Good or Bad?

written by Silverpool

Is Leopardstar really good, or bad? There are times in the stories where Leopardstar acts as though she should be the head of the forest. Take a look at Warriors: The Darkest Hour. She and Tigerstar joined forces. She even knew that he was exiled out of ThunderClan, why would she join forces with a cat so ambicous and untrustworthy? Did she even realize what she was doing? She knew that Tigerstar wanted to kill or get rid off all the half-Clan cats, and she knew that it was wrong, yet, she didn’t try to stop him. She allowed her deputy to be slain while she was watching. Does this mean that she was a coward to stand up for what is right?

"Leopardstar -- unusually spotted gold tabby she-cat"

The death of Stonefur still surfaces in Leopardstar in today's books. especially Secrets Of The Clans, where we get a look at her opinion on the matter in "Leopardstar Speaks: A Deadly Alliance". Leopardstar explains that whens she makes a choice, she sticks to it. She's a very proud cat--accepting help from ThunderClanners in the many times of need that RiverClan had suffered made her bitter towards them, and longing for power. She also believed that TigerClan's result: the joint of all four clans, was inevitable. Stonefur was a sacrifice for the cause, but it appears as if she deeply regrets his death; but at the time of it she had dug a hole too deep to escape from.

Secrets of The Clans, page 51 "I don't know what Tigerstar plans to do with our half-Clan cats, but I know something must be done. For now, I've allowed him to have a few ShadowClan warriors in our camp to protect us. They're not like the RiverClan cats. They're building a hill of prey bones down by the Riverbank. It gives me nightmares..."

All of my friends hate Leopardstar for what she has done. They don’t care if she can be nice, they just think she is a cute she-cat who is pure evil inside. Many fans have mixed opinions. Some believe it was the death of Whiteclaw (a possible brother, or friend?) which resulted in Leopardstar's hatred of ThunderClan. But many others believe it's just Leopardstar's proud nature that led her after power.

Scorchedpelt: I say she’s in-between good and bad. She is easily distracted, gave up to quickly to BloodClan, and is a bit on the dumb side. She is getting old. I'd say she'd be better if she went to warrior school in her kithood.

Scorchedpelt told me all the bad things that he thought about Leopardstar. Now lets hear the positive things.

Scorchedpelt: She is strong, she has a nice fur design, she makes sure the rules are obeyed or else.

It looks to me that Scorchedpelt named more negative things then the positive. We shouldn't forget that Leopardstar is an underdeveloped character who we don't see too often. She's faced with many tough decisions, hands out strict but fair punishments, and fights for what she wants. She's respected by all her Clan. What do the other members have to say?

Shadeclaw: Leopardstar... I'm not entirely too sure what to think of her. On the one hand, she is an ambitious, proud, and strict leader who stands firm on her beliefs and rights. On the other, she doesn't have the courage to stand up for her own deputy and clan (Stonefur's murder). But beyond siding with Tigerstar, we have no evidence that she is truly bad, in the evil way. I would say that she is "good", because she has shown many signs of what could be classified as "bad".

Blizz: Leopardstar is an interesting character. It's the fact that she doesn't have a "Good" or "Bad" personality that makes me like her so much. There is so much gray, and unexplored territory with Leopardstar that she could be one of the deepest characters in the series. She's a good change from Firestar, who has no depth of character because of his wholly, "good" personality. She's also a strong female character who is tough and doesn't have a queenlike kindness.

Indeed, categorizing a character into one thing or another is a narrow view. A character is never ever truly "good", or truly "bad" -- they’re usually somewhere in between; this is especially true for Leopardstar, and is what makes a good character. Perfectly "good" or "bad" characters quickly get dull.

Leopardstar is a character whose dappled spotted pelt reflects the number of opinions on her. Sometimes, Leopardstar is too proud of a leader for her own good, and sometimes she can be a coward, but she can also demand respect and sticks to her judgment. She certainly can not be called evil -- she only does what she believes is good for her Clan, like all good leaders.



www.warriorswish.net
the dawn patrol