Is the Dark Forest Inhumane? Warrior Cats Analysis

[@TheAshfurApologist]

The Erin's definitely need to rethink how the dark forest works, however we still have little information on the characters who inhabit it. Snowtuft became quite the "hero" in The Broken Code for many fans, but this is still a cat who fought alongside tigerstar trying to destroy the clans, and who knows what he did to end up there in the first place.

[@Shadowfate93]

Considering Frecklewish got sent to the Dark Forest for not drowning herself and Leafpool and Squirrelflight almost got sent there for FOLLOWING STARCLAN'S ORDERS, I have no problem believing Snowtuft doesn't actually belong there

[@abigailkondoudis5772]

A bit of a rant, but I have my own version of cat purgatory for my OC clans, called the Twilight Valley. It’s always twilight (as opposed to StarClan always being day, and the Dark Forest always being night) and there’s not much prey, but there is ample amounts of clean water. Most cats in the Twilight Valley were directly sent there, but every one in a blue moon, a dark forest cat who truly repents and feels guilt over their crimes will be able to see faint sunlight on the horizon, and find their way to the Twilight Valley. If the cats who the Twilight cats hurt in life forgive them, then they can be let into StarClan, but that almost exclusively happens to cats directly sent there. Cats that have been in the Dark Forest being let in is almost unheard of, mainly since it’s so rare for Dark Forest cats to make it to the Twilight Valley at all, and it’s only happened twice in clan history, (the Juniperclaw’s and Snowtuft’s of the world would be sent to the Twilight Valley, the Dark Forest is the worst of the worst), but the chance redemption it there.

[@Drawing-Roses]

I like this.👍🏻 Do you plan on writing a story with it?

[@jakupharrison8051]

I like that idea especially since it’s the cats choice that lets them access the twilight valley rather than judgement from someone else

[@Wren_BurnsHam]

May I snatch this idea?

[@moonflight3806]

Oooh! I really like that concept!

[@abigailkondoudis5772]

@@Wren_BurnsHam go right ahead

[@_kaleido]

I read an AU fanfiction a while back where OG!Tigerstar stumbled upon a kit accidentally sent to the Dark Forest due to being half-Clan. He finds out that there’s a system to redeem oneself and go to StarClan by traveling to the brightest part of the forest, the North Star, completing tests of morality along the way. It was a cool read, I wish the actual series had interesting worldbuilding lol

[@loftwyng131]

Wait this sounds so familiar omg. Do you know what its called?? I feel like I started reading this a while ago but lost my tab

[@_kaleido]

@@loftwyng131 it’s called “Journey to Redemption” by Prin Pardus!

[@Kensuke22]

Can you tell me what's the fanfiction called?

[@_kaleido]

@@loftwyng131 @kensuke22 Journey to Redemption by prinpardus!

[@flowersgamingg]

Give au name 🙏🙏

[@deweyr_fisher]

I think the Erins’ brand of inconsistent writing has made the Dark forest extremely confusing, because it went from ‘you walk alone in isolation forever’ in TNP to a device for previous main antags to show up again and poison the minds of young people to whatever the heck was going on in the Broken Code. Also, the way the authors place cats in the Dark Forest has become entirely arbitrary [cough cough lilywhisker/brightflower] In my version of Warriors every cat [not just those whose morality is greatly contested] gets appointed counsel and a jury trial populated with uninvolved parties because expecting someone who has just died to be in the mindset to defend themselves is stupid. [there are also trials and hearings in the living world but that’s off topic]

[@HoneyBrain.]

I definitely think there should be a redemption and exile system for the dead cats personally.

[@MothMan-x2s]

Tgp stlye

[@ZirconiaGacha]

Honestly, stuff like this is why I like to read/create stories where StarClan is corrupt. The Dark Forest is absolutely unfair to its more morally-ambiguous residents (cats who were manipulated into doing what they did, weren't as bad as others, or just kinda ended up there), so StarClan seeing this and deciding to make examples out of cats who don't trust them/disobeyed them by holding trials and collectively deciding they deserved this seems like something that could happen. A lot of my Dark Forest OCs pretty much are "I got screwed over by this bs system and here are some others that happened to", and they work to figure out what happened (usually they redeemed themselves before their death one way or another). So Warriors has things it needs to fix to make this actually fair to everyone.

[@Ivy-Tellers]

I love the interpretation of the dark forest where a cat only goes there if they think they deserve to be there or if they already know or expect to go there, this opens up so many plot possibilities and ideas so like, like cats that are objectively evil and know that what they're doing is against Starclan's wishes, they already expect Starclan to turn them away and if starclan turns them away and they don't think they're going to the dark forest, they can simply roam the world like the other ghosts

[@zodiachimera7557]

I mean, as someone who considers the concept of a Hell inhumane in general, I can't help but agree with you.

[@michellelopez2170]

I, for some reason, like how confusing Starclan/Dark Forest is. I enjoy when concepts that are usually 'perfect paradises' are actually quite corrupt. That's why I (mostly) like how the gods are portrayed in Percy Jackson and the Olympians. As a writer, I also have an afterlife that's often confusing the living because they truly aren't much wiser. I would enjoy it much more through if the writers actually *acknowledged* how awful Starclan can be. Bluestar and Mothwing are the only characters that seem to realize this. I really like the Burn The Stars MAP, no matter how old it gets.

[@prcervi]

my favorite rewrite of the dark forest thus far cam from sunnyfall, it's just where cats who don't want to or don't think they should go to star clan end up

[@lzrshark617]

Adding onto this with Louixie's version of the Dark Forest vs Starclan, where cats pretty much go where they believe they belong. Crowsong's clan, who was horribly abusive to her, still all went to Starclan because they believed they were in the right. Ashkit, one of the victims of Crowsong's rampage, went to the Dark Forest with her because he believed both that he was the only one that Crowsong killed and that she had done it bc he never stood up for her against the others, so he believed he deserved it.

[@AwesomeRainbow-b9d]

Acually, Juniperclaw only poisoned one piece of freshkill, not the entire pile. Im pretty sure he thought he was doing the right thing by saving his clan a war. And after he realized he was wrong, he regretted it, but he was still sent to the dark forest. Also, cats like Frecklewish and Brightflower don't deserve to go there either, if it is supposed to be a place where completly evil cats go.

[@tell-me-a-story-]

Who’s in control of the world in warrior cats? Like who controls star clan, the dark forest, and the time before there were star clan, the dark forest, and even the tribe of Russian water? Is there a cat god hanging around somewhere?

[@Treefur_Editz]

Why do I think it's rock?

[@legendarybluepegasus2687]

If the Dark forest is forever then Star clan must be a lie

[@Anamizuki]

Agreed on this. To be honest,though, warriors has trouble even punishing murder consistently. See warrior code forbidding killing and the sheer amount of murder still committed.

[@SkyN-u7w]

I love warriors and wings of fire!

[@Kazakh-Z]

I personally like it how it is bc it makes things more interesting

[@rainstriderstreamflower5645]

Lilystem wasn't condemned to the Dark Forest and Brightflower's place in The Place of no Stars has been rendered non-canon.

[@quaelgeist3337]

I was just reading bonefall's dark forest posts what a coincidence

[@quaelgeist3337]

Yoo lilywhisker and brightflower mention!

[@Misha_Katsuki]

Reading the broken code: The Light In the mist, the dark forest is very broken.

[@Catsarelifefrr]

Freckle wish needs a redemption

[@sophietremblay3795]

Honestly I don’t understand for what reason snowtuft had to go in the dark forest we don’t know anything about him and he had his redemption and he dies completely erased and can’t go to star clan that’s unfair seriously Erin

[@Third7Plays]

My little girl Shadedheart was framed for murder, not welcome to StarClan due to being “too evil for StarClan” and not welcomed into the Dark Forest due to being “too good for the Dark Forest”. So she’s basically in limbo chilling and helping her unofficial StarClan/darkforest apprentice Crystalpaw. About Crystalpaw, her sister Beepaw is a mean bully who hurts others for the fun of it and, along with Nightpaw, the clans think Crystalpaw is just like her sister. Violetpaw is the exception, as she is part of the prophecy of the arc “Running With The Wind” which I’m currently writing. Violetpaw doesn’t have it easy either but this isn’t about her.

[@MberEnder]

I see a lot of people equating StarClan to God, but this isn't a very accurate analogy. StarClan are not all powerful, they aren't all knowing, and they aren't even strictly benevolent. They are just the dead spirits of cats who used to be the friends of the living cats, and so they usually do what they can to help the living cats. But they aren't above grudges, and they can't always see the consequences of their actions, so they make mistakes and cause problems. They can only see slightly more than the living cats can, and frequently can't even do as much to influence things as a living cat can. Which is why they have to get a living cat to do their bidding. The members of StarClan don't always agree, so their can be infighting and people going behind the backs of everyone else to do something that might not be beneficial. Some of the older spirits have been around for a long time and therefore have collected much more knowledge and wisdom than a living cat ever could have. But these older spirits, for whatever reason, rarely interact with the living Clans, or even the younger spirits, leaving guidance up to the spirits who hardly know any more that the cats they are guiding. I think OOTS destroyed the mysticism and wonder of StarClan in a way that could only be fixed through more effort than Harper Collins or any of the Erins would care to put into Warriors.

[@5rcane]

StarClan is definitely more like heaven than a God/gods now, and they are incredibly weak when it comes to power scaling: three living cats with meh abilities were told they could literally destroy them.

[@MberEnder]

@@5rcane i doubt it would have taken all three to destroy StarClan. Jayfeather probably could have done it by himself. Ashfur nearly did it, and he's explicitly weaker than The Three.

[@0xenfreeArt]

NGL I still think my biggest beef with starclan and the dark forest is that the erins are too afraid to taint their perfect christian cat heaven and hell to be actually morally flawed or broken at times, the only point they made it feel questionable was with ashfur and eventually snowtuft. (using fan beloved snowtuft as a plot device sadly) But lilywhisker and brightflower are missed opportunities we could've had back when Ivypool was training in the dark forest, what if Ivypool met sweet Lilywhisker who was like an aunt to her there who told her she was denied from starclan for resenting them, or Brightflower tell Ivypool that she rejected starclan for what happened to her kits. And before [BOOK THAT WILL NOT BE NAMED] existed, [CONTROVERSIAL CHARACTER] was said to of been in starclan and chased out by [POPULAR PROTAGONIST] because they didn't like said character. Honestly I like to imagine that cats who resent and question or doubt starclan get sent to the dark forest and cats can choose to go to the dark forest or get chased out of starclan anytime, just like I like to imagine cats can be let into starclan and redeemed, the reason it never happens is because they're too proud and elitist. And I like to imagine Snowtuft and Antpelt died in the dark forest and got trapped there or something and that there's no real crime aside from that. Also in missed opportunities imagine if Bluestar or Hollyleaf went to the dark forest, or if Mothwing or Cloudtail eventually end up there for being heretics, imagine how interesting a conflict that could be in a questioning starclan's morality plotline! But we'll never have it because starclan's supposed to be firestar levels of good guy and too pure.

[@therextwins1086]

Which of the main cats had a family connection with a cat in dark forest? In which cat was it?

[@nuniyoa]

SPOILERS for thunder frostpaw and curlfeather

[@therextwins1086]

Thank you for the info.😊

[@childeofepickness]

I need a Chonny’s Inferno animation with the Dark Forest cats

[@DUSTYTHEDUSTBOI]

Made it

[@tell-me-a-story-]

Wait, how in earth is attempted murder less evil than murder? You did the same thing, it’s just that nobody died!

[@4shfac3s_r3beli0us_natur3]

0:08 Ashfur didn’t go to the dark forest-

[@Soda-paws]

I was watching one of your video where I saw this and now no one can say first lol

[@AraileLioness173]

I'm pretty sure that a cat goes to the Dark forest depending on how much the authors like them.

[@foreverawarriorcat4451]

Snowtuft deserved better

[@Buytun]

Pink designer 22

[@meadowfeather176]

Tbh Frecklewish in a way… deserved what she got. She aided her clan leader, and medicine cat into exiling kits… which is a severe code-break. All because she and the other cats of the clan ‘assumed’ birch face was the father of mapleshade’s kits. She’s involved into their deaths. The whole Mapleshade incident wouldn’t have happened, if they decided to accept the kits, exile Mapleshade, and maybe, just maybe, if she proves herself right, she could return. But nooo Thunderclan was run by idiots who were biased to the point they couldn’t see past their noses. Those kits died because of biased opinions… they could have lived long, beautiful lives, but they were exiled, RIGHT before a storm. (Or after? I can’t remember)

[@Danyka-k3r]

You really think that somebody who once thought her friend's kids were the kids of her DEAD brother and was never told otherwise by said friend, just learned that was not the case and they were actually the kids of her brother's (presumed) killer would act rationally?, don't get me wrong, how freckle (alongside the rest of thunderclan) handled the situation wasn't right at all, but freckle is still justified for seeing the situation as it really (to an extent) was. Also what the hell was freckle supposed to do regarding the river?! Drown herself?, cuz that's all that would've happened if she were to jump in, ALSO also, from what I've heard, freckle didn't know that the kits died and had assumed that they were safe.

[@meadowfeather176]

@@Danyka-k3r buddy, it was 4 months ago, chill out

[@Danyka-k3r]

@meadowfeather176 oh ok

[@Helenakat1]

Bro sooooo the Dark forest is dumb

[@furnaceheadgames9001]

That's what I think about hell. Edit this's worse then hell

[@colorfulmarbles156]

Thanks for the spoilers! Only comment spoilers! Would You Rather Ivypool x Hawkfrost be canon or Scrouge X Ashur being canon

[@Techyena]

Neither wtf they’re both gross Ashfur was only AshPAW when scourge died and Hawk literally manipulated Ivypool when she was IvyPAW and he was an already dead adult

[@ShortyJordyB]

Scourge ashfur, hawk died before she was born 😅

[@colorfulmarbles156]

Ok cool! @@ShortyJordyB I think Ivypool x Hawkfrost because they had a dynamic

[@colorfulmarbles156]

AshKIT @@Techyena

[@prcervi]

ivy and hawk actually had something going for a bit there, scourge and ash never met and scourge would probably decide to kill ash because ash is more insufferable then tiger 1 and scourge couldn't stand tiger the first i vote give ivy a girlfriend really, girl has serious bi energy