Top five leaders of ShadowClan
BY THE EDITOR
ShadowClan has always had something of a grim reputation among the other Clans. Queens frighten their kits with tales of the wicked ShadowClan leaders of old, and elders whisper of the cold north wind chilling the hearts of their warriors and making them cruel. But along with tyrants like Tigerstar and Brokenstar, ShadowClan has seen some truly great leaders in its time, and in this article we’re going to count down five of the best!
Number 5 – Nightstar
If we were judging Nightstar for his unofficial leadership of the elders’ camp, he may have won a much higher place on this list. He pulled himself and the elders through one of the hardest times in Clan history with honor and determination. However, for this list we are just judging leaders on actions taken during their official leadership, and on that count Nightstar falls a bit short. Uniting with RiverClan to drive WindClan out of their homes was one of the few major decisions Nightstar made during his leadership, and it was bound to leave a bad taste in everybody’s mouth.
However, Nightstar’s short leadership was important in allowing ShadowClan to regain strength and some of its honor after the horrors of Brokenstar’s reign. Nightstar’s decision to keep his lack of nine lives secret was a courageous one, and allowed his Clan to recover in peace rather than falling to panic due to StarClan’s rejection of their new leader. If he’d lived longer, perhaps he could have shown even greater honor as a leader and made up for his attack on WindClan. As things stand, he still earns a spot on our list, and will be remembered for his honor for suffering StarClan’s rejection in silence.
Number 4 – Tigerstar
No, we obviously don’t mean the murderous tyrant who nearly brought the entire forest to ruin before falling to Scourge’s claws. This is the current leader of ShadowClan, formerly known as Tigerheart. While obviously not as bad as his savage kin, this Tigerstar’s leadership has certainly had its ups and downs. His pride can often veer into arrogance, and he has a hard time listening to anyone’s opinion besides his own. His disastrous decision to invade RiverClan after Mistystar’s death, his selfishness in staking a claim on SkyClan’s territory after being the one to gift it to them in the first place, and his clashes with the Sisters all count as marks against him and his leadership.
But while his mistakes are many, so are his achievements. He brought ShadowClan back from the brink of being lost after their merge with SkyClan and being part of the Kin. He brought Berryheart and her family home (though he may have regretted that one after Berryheart started plotting against him!) as well as strong new warriors from the twoleg city. He was the first leader to take a stand against the impostor, and sheltered Icewing and Harelight after Mistystar cast them out. He also took in Frostpaw after Splashtail exiled her, and supported her in exposing Splashtail as a false leader. While sometimes arrogant, he is loyal to the Clans from his ears to his tail, and will always do what he thinks is right, even if other cats don’t agree.
Number 3 – Cedarstar
While not a leader with as many legendary accomplishments to his name as defeating tyrants or leading journeys, there is something to be said about keeping Clan life steady and peaceful for as many moons as possible, and no known ShadowClan leader fits that description better than Cedarstar. He was ShadowClan’s leader when Yellowfang was born, and led the Clan through the most peaceful moons the Clan would see until Tigerstar’s fall many seasons later.
Of course, he isn’t perfect – his warriors stole prey from WindClan and attacked their patrols at times, and Brackenwing and Shrewclaw both fell to ShadowClan claws during his reign. But compared to the bloody swathes the leaders who followed him would cut through the forest, or the larger mistakes made by others on this list, his leadership was mostly a time of peace for his Clan. He showed great kindness to Yellowfang during some of the harder times in her life, and overall displayed much wisdom, reliability, and desire for peace as a leader.
Number 2 – Blackstar
There are certainly arguments that could be made about whether Blackstar is the best cat on this list – after all, his jet-black paws are stained with more innocent blood than any other cat featured here, and he followed not just one, but two murderous tyrants as their loyal lackey. But this isn’t a list of the greatest cats of ShadowClan, it’s a list of the greatest leaders, and as a leader, Blackstar faced one of the hardest tasks any leader ever could – to drag his Clan out of seasons of bloodshed and villainy, and make a true Clan out of them again. And for all of his faults, he did just that.
He did falter once in his leadership, when an eclipse blotted out the moon and a smooth-talking rogue convinced him to turn his back on his ancestors and their code. There may have been the odd battle to extend his Clan’s borders on his watch as well. But his many seasons of steady leadership, leading his Clan on the Great Journey and through the Great Battle, restoring their honor while rebuilding their strength and making them a Clan worthy to stand beside the other three once more, make him well worthy of his spot on this list.
Number 1 – Shadowstar
When readers were first introduced to ShadowClan’s founder in Secrets of the Clans, they were told of a sly, conniving she-cat, the first to demand leadership of the forest and the first to fall in a battle she herself had started, an untrusting and untrustworthy troublemaker like the Clan she founded. But as the story of Dawn of the Clans unfolded, the real Shadowstar turned out to be quite different from the unflattering reputation she’d been painted with. She had the independent nature and quiet cunning of a true ShadowClan cat, but also a deep thoughtfulness and wisdom, and a true nobility that every cat in the early Clans respected.
She was the first leader of the early Clans, the one who kept them together after Shaded Moss’s death, and the one who met Clear Sky’s increasingly hostility with a firm determination to protect her cats without devolving into a simple greed for territory. She saw her young Clan through the division of the early settler groups and threats like One Eye, Slash, and the great sickness. Even through the loss of her brother and nephew, and one of her own deaths at the paws of a cat she’d once trusted, Shadowstar always pushed on for the good of her Clan and every cat in the forest. Rather than falling in a battle she started out of greed, she sacrificed her final life to save her Clan from a grave threat, earning her place in the stars as well as the top place on this list.
