Darkstripe’s most pathetic moments
BY THE EDITOR
Many villains in Warriors are intimidating, whether through cunning, cruelty, or raw physical strength. Darkstripe is none of these. He has little in the way of cunning or charms to recommend him, his strength fails him in embarrassing defeats too often to be boasted of, and he has no strong convictions beyond wanting to serve Tigersrtar. He is enjoyable as a character precisely because of how pathetic he is, and today, we’re counting down his most pathetic moments in the first series.
5 – The final failure
The first moment on our list is ironically Darkstripe’s last moment as a living cat. Throughout the series, every cruel and cowardly act of Darkstripe’s was in the service of Tigerstar. He did everything for the leader he adored so much, nevermind who he had to hurt or what vow he had to break along the way. When Tigerstar died, all that Darkstripe had left was the hope to avenge him by killing the cat he blamed most for his death, Firestar. But, typical of Darkstripe, he failed even at this. His victory was snatched away when his own younger half-brother yanked him away from Firestar and slashed his throat open. Darkstripe died as he lived – failing at the few things he cared about.
4 – Petty pride
As stated, Darkstripe’s one true loyalty was to Tigerstar. He was willing to go to any length to serve the tom that he viewed as the strongest cat in the forest. But his very first test of that loyalty was fumbled in a moment of petty pride. When Tigerclaw was exiled for trying to kill Bluestar, the dark tabby asked his closest followers to come with him, Darkstripe first among them. But Darkstripe turned his back on Tigerclaw out of apparent outrage over his scheming with Brokenstar, who he denounced as a traitor, a distinction he seemed to care little about when he helped support Tigerstar’s later tyrrany. This apparent brief inkling of morality cost Darkstripe much of his regard in Tigerstar’s eyes, and would be followed by a string of failures to aid Tigerstar as a spy within ThunderClan’s ranks – one has to wonder how often Darkstripe regretting that hasty choice to put his pride over his loyalty to his old mentor.
3 – Danger with the dogs
Speaking of failing to carry out Tigersrtar’s instructions as his spy within ThunderClan, this is the one that probably would have angered Tigerstar the most, especially if Fireheart’s plan to divert the dogs hadn’t worked as well as it did. When Tigerstar set the dogs on the path to destroy ThunderClan, he tasked Darkstripe with sneaking his kits, Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw, away somewhere safe while the rest of the Clan was torn apart. It was a simple task, but Darkstripe failed yet again when Fireheart caught him trying to sneak away with the young apprentices and brought them all back to the rest of the Clan. Whatever fate ThunderClan would meet when the dog pack arrived, Tigerstar’s kits would meet it with them, and if Fireheart had failed to keep the pack from finding the Clan and destroying them, one can only imagine Tigerstar’s rage at this failure of Darkstripe’s.
2 – Can’t even kill a kit
While probably not a failure Tigerstar would have taken as quite as personally enraging as the last, this is certainly an even more pathetic failure. When his younger hafl-sister Sorrelkit snuck out of camp and spotted Darkstripe speaking with Tigerstar’s deputy on ThunderClan territory, Darkstripe knew he’d have to act fast to silence the kit and keep her from teling the Clan what she’d seen. He opted to feed her deathberries, but was spotted by Graystripe, and failed to defeat his brother while Firestar scooped the berries from Sorrelkit’s throat. The kit would later recover and tell the Clan exactly what she’d seen and what Darkstripe had fed her. Darkstripe was finally exiled from his own Clan forever, and all because he failed a task as simple as killing a defenseless kit.
1 – Half-dead halfClan
Of all of his pathetic moments, by far his most pathetic is his battle with Stonefur. After Darkstripe’s exile, Tigerstar had generously overlooked all of his previous failures and allowed him to join the ranks of TigerClan. When Tigerstar gave the order to kill Stonefur, Darkstripe finally had a chance to prove himself as useful to the leader he worshipped so much. And yet, with faced with such a seemingly easy task, killing a half-starved, exhausted prisoner, he failed spectacularly. Stonefur met each of Darkstripe’s attacks with strength and cunning, and turned the battle back on Darkstripe, seemingly about to win the fight despite his weakened state when Tigerstar sent Blackfoot in to finish the job. All Darkstripe had to do was kill one starving, weakened prisoner, and he’d failed so badly that another cat had to step in and finish it for him.
