Russettwine - Honor - You are blessed by the souls themselves and now you represent them, honor your blessings and lead a divinely guided life
Crowkit - Sacrifice - Sometimes being a leader means giving up on the dreams you have for yourself for the good of your clan
Redscar - Independence - Being a leader in any sense is exhausting, you need to stand on your own paws - let the Souls be your guide but don’t spend your life looking for signs
Brokentail - Resilience - The world will test your resolve at every turn; so dig in your claws and snarl back that you aren’t budging
Nightkit - Devotion - A clan is only as powerful as their leader’s ability to hold it together; from the smallest kit to the toughest warrior, stand firm for your clan mates
Oakslash - Justice - Punish the cruel and reward the loyal; a clan can only function if there are consequences for every action
Nightsabre - Humility - Knowing when to bow your head is as important as knowing when to stand firm, don’t let your ego blind you to the truths of the world
Thistleclaw - Ruthlessness - Be as ferocious in battle as you are in spirit, show no weakness and in turn, weakness will never find you
Raggedstar - Reflection - The hallmark of a true leader is to learn from his mistakes. I only looked back once I was dead - don’t make my mistake.
Former Rank(s): Guard, Secondary, ThunderClan Exile
A massive broad shouldered tabby with deep red almost brown fur. His stripes are thick and braided like a member of TigerClan’s and his eyes are a sharp amber. Tigerclaw has a scar across his nose and his left ear is torn. Tigerclaw’s claws grow extremely fast but rather than constantly shortening them, he considers them a gift from the Souls and allows them to stay long. As such, his claws are almost perpetually sticking out from his paws.
He puts on a front of toughness and was known as a bullheaded apprentice who wouldn’t admit to being injured unless sat on. Being the only survivor of his litter, Tigerclaw has always worked hard to prove to his clan that the Souls weren’t wrong for letting him live. He was very close to his mother and when she died, he was devastated and closed himself off to the world.
Tigerclaw feels nothing but resentment towards his father, remembering him only as someone who scolded him even when everyone else was praising him and his eventual leave. Fiercely determined to prove he could surpass his father and angered at the farms for “taking” his father from him, Tigerclaw took to Thistleclaw’s more aggressive style of training like a fish to water and treats known kingdom cats viciously. Though they were close in his youth, Tigerclaw and Thistleclaw eventually had a series of bad falling outs that resulted in them not being able to sleep in the same den as one another. When Thistleclaw was eventually revealed to have died, he only sat vigil as a courtesy. Despite this, he still thinks of Thistleclaw as more of his father than Pinestar - hence the reason he kept his suffix.
Tigerclaw holds a deep sense of resentment towards Whitestar for - in his eyes - stealing away Bluestar and Thistleclaw. When Snowblossom died, Thistleclaw began focusing intently on his blood-son; almost to the exclusion of training Tigerpaw. When the apprentice tentatively broached the subject, Thistleclaw made their training sessions short but brutal. They mostly consisted of running him ragged and bruising him to the point of trembling then criticizing his skills with little praise and dragging him home. Determined to prove he could handle it, Tigerpaw bore the ain without speaking up and let anger curl in his stomach towards Whitepaw who was praised and coddled by his father.
Tigerclaw believes himself a tough cat destined for greatness and will lead ThunderClan into a golden age. Tigerclaw is willing to do whatever it would take to ensure ThunderClan’s survival and is quick to resort to violence when solving his problems. He feels a combination of disgust and aggression towards Fireheart for being from the kingdoms.
Now leader of ShadowClan, Tigerstar is bent on seeking revenge on his former clan and raising ShadowClan into a noble and courageous clan. Though frustrated by the new customs, Tigerstar is rather eager to discard everything he had left of ThunderClan in him and is steadily adapting to the new traditions - especially with the amount of authority they brought him. Killing Goldenflower was an accident - he had no intention of killing her but when she caught him, it was inevitable.
Some part of him is torn to shreds, confused and conflicted by the emotions of grief and loss he feels knowing that he was responsible for Bluestar’s death. He remembers her stern but loving demeanor from when he was an apprentice and the world feels almost wrong without her in it. When he has time to stew in his thoughts, Tigerstar snarls and beats himself for being foolish enough to choose Thistleclaw over her - he wonders if he’d chosen her over his mentor if she would’ve made him deputy sooner. Though he remains firm in his conviction that he’s doing what’s right, that he’s achieving his destiny, Tigerstar sincerely hopes that Bluestar is at peace now and that she be reunited with her family.
