What about the cats we rank as our favorites in the whole of Warriors drew us in and makes

our hearts flurry with love or excitement?

On the surface, the answer is simple.

When asked why a certain character is a favorite of our's, we could easily say “Because

I like them” and leave it at that.

However, if we are compelled to look closer, the reasons likely come down to five factors.

The biggest reasons one might have for enjoying a character are 1.

That they're a genuinely, morally good cat, 2.

That they are well written and have a consistently good characterization, 3.

That they are complex or go through a complex emotional journey, 4.

That there is something about them that you connect with personally, or 5.

They have some quirk or are in a unique situation that interests you.

Those are all very big categories, so let's explore each of them individually, and explain

how they could impact your love for a character.

First is the morally good standard.

Some characters have touching levels of compassion, bravery, loyalty, or other examples of heroic

virtue that make us feel awe, inspiration, or even pride.

We may be amazed or proud at the feats a character was able to perform or the choices that they

made, and be inspired to rise to their level if we are ever in a similar situation.

Characters like Gray Wing, Leafstar, Briarlight or Firestar may be cherished for these sorts

of reasons.

Also in the category are the cats that people may refer to as “good beans” or something

similar.

They're sweeties who you would want to be friends with if you were to meet them, such

as Thrushpelt, Fernsong, Lilyheart, or Dovewing.

Cats in this category don't need a ton of complexity, growth, or even focus in the story

to be loved.

They're just good.

However, being morally good cats is far from a requirement for people to enjoy a certain

character.

If it was required, no one would like villains like Ashfur, Darktail, or Hawkfrost.

There are still four other factors that characters can have an abundance of.

And one of these is consistency.

This doesn't have to mean that the character is identical from one moment to the next and

never grows, but it does mean that when there is growth, it is explicitly grounded in the

narrative and the change doesn't stretch beyond the reasonable limits of their characters.

Plenty of cats like Brackenfur, Whitestorm, Turtle Tail, and Squirrelflight can work for

this category, but it might be better in this case to provide examples of cats without consistency,

as this trait is often more of a repellant when it isn't there rather than an attractor

when it is.

Mistystar, Hollyleaf, Tigerheartstar, Breezepelt, and others I'm sure you can think of have

large inconsistencies in their personalities and goals from one book to the next, and this

prevents some people from enjoying their characters.

This is also the factor most likely to be termed “badly written,” since it relies

on all the editors and authors from one book or arc to the next to keep up with what their

characters were meant to do, and to have a clear vision from the beginning for who they

were supposed to be.

The next factor to discuss is complexity, and it is one of the easiest to understand,

but a more difficult one to explain.

Complexity has to do with the number of different personality traits and goals that make up

a cat, and how easily those goals or traits could be and are pitted against each other,

forcing a cat to make difficult decisions that can define them, and in turn create a

more interesting story.

Cats like Bluestar, Clear Sky, Jayfeather, and Crowfeather have more complicated pasts,

personalities, and goals that give them moments as heroes and moments where they do wrong,

all while being part of the same character.

Many people are drawn to these sorts of characters, as they feel more real and varied than stock

hero and villain characters would, and you can push them in both directions in your stories

to make them relatable and make them struggle and grow more easily.

Complexity doesn't have to be done well to make a character well-loved, either.

As I mentioned, Hollyleaf is quite inconsistent in her writing.

Whether her goals are to uphold the code, fulfill her ambition, destroy the world or

save it and why changes in almost every book.

But the numerous goals and large swing in morality she has also make her complex and

lead *quite* a large body of people to love her character.

People who are drawn to complexity above all will probably enjoy more main and secondary

characters than anything else, since they have the space to show off more of their personalities

and struggles.

However, there are certain background characters that, if they give them attention, may also

catch their eyes.

My immediate example for this one is Thornclaw, a remarkably complex background character

thanks to how many random ideas were thrown on him for convenience.

He isn't written well or given much focus, but for people interested in a complex character,

he's your guy.

If you'd like a more detailed exploration of him, I'll leave a link to my video about

him in the icard here and in the description.

Of course there are also people who might not care at all how a cat fits into the story

or how complex or good they are.

If something about a character just catches you and gets you personally attached to them,

you may hold onto them forever regardless of other circumstances.

Personal attachment as a factor isn't something I can provide example cats for, since it depends

so wholly on the person reading, and could apply to almost any cat.

Maybe you share an experience with the cat and feel a strong kinship with them for that

reason.

Maybe they learn a lesson that is or was incredibly important for you to learn, and they ended

up representing an important time of your life.

Maybe they have a personality trait or several that you relate to, and you often feel like

they do what you would do if you were in their paws.

Maybe they are from a story that you read a lot as a child, and now the mention of their

name can fill you with nostalgia.

Or maybe on a whim you had to defend them from other fans or found you liked their name

or design and you've protected them so long that they've come to feel like your's.

There's a wide variety of experiences here, but the end result is about the same: with

no logical reason required, you like this character.

They mean a lot to you, and no argument against them will keep you from loving them.

This is one of the more dangerous factors, and I'm sure many of you can already see

why.

There's nothing at all wrong with becoming personally attached to a character, but if

you take them too personally, you may get upset with people who don't like that character

for any number of reasons, and even if you don't take it too far and hurt the person

criticizing a favorite character, you may get hurt yourself, as if they are criticizing

you.

If you do feel like this resonates with you, it's always better to step back from the

conversation, or from the platform as a whole if need be.

It's a tired sentiment now but remember that these are fictional characters, and someone

else disliking a character will never take away your right to enjoy them.

Finally, we arrive at the fifth and final factor.

Perhaps you aren't personally invested or alike to a character, but just the idea of

them still excites you and makes you want to read or write or draw about them, without

much rhyme or reason.

If so, this love falls under the factor I will generally term “interest.”

This describes characters who's potential or place in the world is just unique and interesting

to you.

It could be Mothwing and Cloudtail's lack of belief in Starclan, Daisy and Stormcloud's

places as a former outsiders turned members of the clan, or Minty and Princess's statuses

as kittypets who will never join the clans but are cute and interesting anyways.

You might like the Sisters', Tribe's, or Warriorclan's unique societies, or the

evil backstory potentials of Bone, Fury, or Snowtuft.

Alternatively, you might have seen Bristlefrost, Jagged Peak, or Longtail and immediately been

struck with what amazing arcs they could have, only to be jipped by an unfortunate turn in

their narratives.

Still though, you have the ideas for their potential in your mind: the stories they could

play out, the cats they could become, the good they could do for the world, and none

of that is leaving just because it wasn't and will never be part of canon.

The possibilities for what created the interest are nearly endless.

The key part of this factor is just that the canon material never fleshes the character

out or dives into the ideas that you see for them, and that only makes you want to engage

with the character on your own even more: writing AU's, making MAP's, talking about

them whenever you can.

You want to do them justice in the way canon never could.

It should be said that you don't need to be impacted by all of these factors to think

highly of a character, even your very favorite one.

It is the sum strength from each of the factors that usually determines your overall love,

not the sheer number of factors a character touches for you.

Some factors are more important to some people than others, as well.

There are people who won't be able to like a character at all if they aren't consistent

in canon.

Others barely care about the quality of their writing but can't enjoy characters if they

don't have some element of moral righteousness.

Still others care most about the personal attachments they can form to characters or

the interesting possibilities and complexities they display, and give little thought to their

existence in a narrative.

It is entirely up to the individuals' tastes to see what their favorite characters are,

and where that love is drawn from.

This video is not meant to say some reasons are more valid than others.

It is just here to provide you with a language with which to sift through your own impressions

of characters, so you can understand why you might enjoy them, where you might look to

find other characters you'll enjoy, and communicate with other people who have different

tastes than you.

It is also entirely possible that there are factors I have missed.

Perhaps there is something else you can think of that impacts the way you determine your

favorite characters, and if that's the case I welcome you to leave your thoughts about

it in the comments.

I always intend these videos to be dialogues, the beginning of a discussion into a particular

topic.

My word is not law, unlike the clan leaders.

I just want to bring my own thoughts to the table and invite you to think about the subject

as well.

Thank you for watching, and always remember that you are allowed to like or dislike any

character you want.

Your character preferences do not determine your own worth.