#a2ask

I answered a similar question before, but that was specifically about if Tigerclaw had succeeded Bluestar. This is a little different!

Tigerclaw was not a particularly spiteful creature. He would’ve been very upset and frightened that his plan failed so badly that his former Clanmates were out for his blood, but destroying the entire Clan for revenge would be beyond him. He’d already killed enough of them - the fact that it wasn’t even worth it in the end would really fuck with him and probably kill his drive for murder. 

In my eye, he’d follow his father’s footsteps and escape into the Houses, then into the town, possibly even on the very most other side away from the Clans so they couldn’t find him. He’d probably think about starting his own group to fulfill his dreams of an ultimate community, but he’d have to get over his contempt for those “under” his bloodline to make that happen. Besides that, he’d have Scourge to deal with. 

Which, actually, could be interesting. Around the time Scourge is gathering his forces, cats who want nothing to do with that little freak may seek protection elsewhere. Tigerclaw, being as huge and stoic and strong as he is, could use his natural charisma to oppose Scourge and the Blood. There could be an entire civil war with nobody in the Clans even knowing about it. Except for ShadowClan, obviously, but they’d be taking full advantage of the confusion to gather more food than ever. 

Howdy! Been a while since we had a couple asks, huh?

Anon #1: The problem with Darkstripe is that he was so desperate for validation and approval from his mentor that he would just blindly agree to whatever Tigerclaw said. There may have been an actual WindClan scent, or it could have been carried over by the breeze, or Tigerclaw made it up, or they had been nearby to check on the fox - the actual truth is that Darkstripe was an unapologetic yes-man and could easily convince himself that he smelled something just so his favorite cat was right. Sort of like how you can convince people there’s a Bugs Bunny character at Disneyland: just give the right amount of details and be absolutely certain with yourself. 

Same thing as people being loyal to their country or family, really, except that ThunderClan kind of fuels that belief of superiority harder than the other Clans. If Tigerclaw had been born in another Clan, he would still have had those toxic beliefs, but they would have been a little less pronounced. Or at the very least, he wouldn’t have used his own claws to solve the “problem”.

The issue with Clan cats - ThunderClan in particular - is that they put themselves on a pedestal and proclaim themselves to be Better Than All Other Communities And Species. This generally translates in an individual’s mind to a dismissal of other groups and their issues at best, with the very slight exception to other Clans. At worst, we get those who believe that their Clan is the only right Clan, like Tigerclaw, and the others all need to adhere to how their community works, no matter what does and doesn’t make sense for the different lifestyles and territories. 

Tigerclaw had a father who vanished into the Houses to presumably become a kittypet, and a mentor who drilled his own hardcore beliefs about his Clan into his apprentice. Add onto that the standard ThunderClan beliefs when it comes to others and you get someone who was partially warped as a very young cat and whose thoughts mutated into something extreme and dangerous to avoid bringing shame to his Clan and himself like his father did. It was really a miracle that he spoke up for Firestar when he first came to the Clan. 

Couple things!

His part in the story as a living cat is over. 

It would make absolutely no sense letting him live after what he did and what he was planning to do. 

His death affects the Clan in an important way for the third arc. 

It’s fitting to Bluestar’s character to enact a violent punishment on him, and obviously some cats would want to ensure he pays for what he did. 

Apologies for the delay on a response. I was sick as hell yesterday and I’m still feeling pretty weak. This is the first time I’ve gotten an ask like this, also. 

Anyway! I never intended for that to be anything special, but I guess I didn’t design the subtext quite right. Tigerclaw just meant that Raventhroat was kind of looked at as a bad mark on ThunderClan and Whitecloud. Rather than it just being his personality, he’s not a good fighter, he’s better with stories than a common conversation (something ThunderClan doesn’t wholly appreciate), and he was so nervous that even with Whitecloud being a good mentor, everyone just kind of averted their eyes when they saw him having to reassure Ravenpaw that everything is okay. 

It’s possible! They were very close. I don’t think I’ll ever go into it in the Redux, so I can say here that the answer’s a very definite “maybe”.