ThunderClan

ThunderClan are a group of cats that live in the part of the forest that is deciduous woodland. They are named because of their founding leader, Thunder. Their main prey is mice, voles, squirrels, rabbits, and birds such as starlings, magpies, wood pigeons, and thrushes. Before SkyClan moved out of the forest, they didn't hunt birds, as that was SkyClan's prey. In peace, they are respectful of other Clans. In battle, they are fierce, courageous, and loyal. ThunderClan cats speak out for what is right, and are not afraid to challenge The Warrior Code.

The Forest Territories

 * The ThunderClan forest territory is located in what Twolegs call the White Hart Woods. Landmarks in this territory include:


 * Tallpines and the Treecut Place
 * The Great Sycamore
 * The Owl Tree
 * Sunningrocks
 * Snakerocks
 * The Sandy Hollow
 * Twolegplace
 * Fourtrees

The Lake Territories

 * The Lake territory for ThunderClan is called the Hare Hill Woods by Twolegs. Landmarks here include:


 * Greenleaf Twolegplace
 * An abandoned Twoleg Nest
 * Sky Oak
 * The Clearing
 * Old Thunderpath
 * The mossy Training Hollow

Into the Wild

 * A kittypet named Rusty hunts in ThunderClan territory and is attacked by one of their apprentices, Graypaw. After Rusty turns and fights Graypaw, Bluestar, the leader of ThunderClan, comes out of the undergrowth with Lionheart, a warrior of ThunderClan. Bluestar compliments Rusty and asks him to join the Clan. Rusty considers it, and the following day Rusty meets Whitestorm, a senior warrior and Lionheart at the ThunderClan border and accepts Bluestar's offer. However, when he comes to the Clan most cats are mad at Bluestar for letting a kittypet in. As a result, he gets in a fight with Longtail, who tears off Rusty's collar. This convinces the Clan it was a sign from StarClan that Rusty should stay. Rusty then receives his apprentice name, Firepaw. Firepaw goes out hunting and is attacked by a rogue. The apprentice proves to be too much, however, so the rogue gives up and tells him to kill her. When he refuses to kill her, she tells him that her name is Yellowfang, which he later finds out was the previous ShadowClan Medicine Cat. He finds her some food, as she was very hungry, and eats with her. Bluestar finds out that Firepaw had broken the warrior code by eating before the rest of the Clan was fed, and as his punishment he has to look after Yellowfang when the Clan takes her as a prisoner.


 * At the next Gathering, the leader of ShadowClan, Brokenstar, reveals that a cat has been driven out because she is dangerous and instructs that if any of the Clans see her that they should kill her. Most of ThunderClan thinks that he is talking about Yellowfang. Firepaw has taken a liking to Yellowfang, so he runs away from the Gathering early to warn her. After he pleads for her to run, she says no, and that Bluestar will do what is right. To the relief of Firepaw, she is right and Bluestar does not trust Brokenstar and lets Yellowfang live.


 * When ShadowClan attacks ThunderClan for shielding Yellowfang, Yellowfang proves her loyalty by protecting ThunderClan kits. However, some cats think that she is just faking and that ShadowClan had planned it. Soon Spottedleaf, the medicine cat, is found dead behind the nursery. The kits are also gone and so is Yellowfang. Every cat but Firepaw thinks she killed Spottedleaf and took the kits, so Firepaw sets off to find her with Graypaw and Ravenpaw. Before they go, Ravenpaw tells Firepaw that he saw Tigerclaw kill the former deputy Redtail at an earlier battle with RiverClan and that Tigerclaw keeps telling his supporters that Ravenpaw is a traitor and should be killed. Firepaw thinks that Tigerclaw is only doing this to hide the truth and to drive Ravenpaw out, so Graypaw and Firepaw help Ravenpaw run away to Barley, a loner who lives in a barn near the WindClan border. There Ravenpaw remains hidden and safe. Firepaw rushes back to the Clan to tell them that he was killed by a ShadowClan patrol.


 * While they are tracking Yellowfang Firepaw discovers it leads to the ShadowClan camp. When Firepaw and Graypaw find Yellowfang, she says that she doesn't have the kits and that she thinks a ShadowClan cat took them and she followed their scent to find them. Firepaw believes her but Graypaw does not believe her. When a ThunderClan patrol finds them they want to kill her, but Firepaw convinces not to and she goes and gets cats in ShadowClan that don't believe that Brokenstar should be leader. The ThunderClan cats and ShadowClan cats attack the ShadowClan camp. When some of the ShadowClan cats find that they are losing, they turn on Brokenstar and drive him out with his followers. It is learned that Clawface, a supporter of Brokenstar, killed Spottedleaf and took the kits. ThunderClan takes the kits back and tells the Clan what happened. Soon Bluestar asks Yellowfang to be the new medicine cat, seeing how she was the ShadowClan medicine cat. Firepaw and Graypaw are given their warrior names, which are Graystripe and Fireheart due to their heroic acts.

Fire and Ice

 * Graystripe and Fireheart adjust to being ThunderClan warriors. Fireheart wants to tell Bluestar about Tigerclaw's treachery, but never can talk to her alone and is worried she won't believe him. Their first mission as a warrior is to find WindClan and bring them back because ShadowClan and RiverClan both are starting to hunt on WindClan territory after the exiled evil leader of ShadowClan, Brokenstar, drove WindClan off their territory. When they find WindClan, the WindClan warriors almost kill them, but then when their leader, Tallstar, realizes that they want to help, he swallows his pride and lets them bring WindClan back. On the way back, some WindClan cats give Graystripe and Fireheart an escort home. They go through a skinny piece of RiverClan's land and are attacked by a patrol right by the river. At first it looks as though ThunderClan and WindClan are going to lose, but a ThunderClan patrol consisting of Tigerclaw, Willowpelt, Whitestorm, and Sandpaw come to help. During the fight, a RiverClan warrior, Whiteclaw, falls into the river and dies. The RiverClan deputy, Leopardfur, swears revenge on ThunderClan and WindClan and the battle breaks up.


 * After that, Fireheart and Graystripe get their first apprentices, Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw respectively. Fireheart's apprentice, Cinderpaw, goes to check out a message that was meant for Bluestar against Fireheart's orders and falls into a trap that Tigerclaw laid. Her back leg is permanently damaged. She learns that because of her injury, she will never become a warrior and feels like she is useless to the Clan until Yellowfang wants her to be her medicine cat apprentice. Throughout the book, Graystripe meets with a RiverClan cat Silverstream by the river against Fireheart's wishes and falls in love with her.


 * At the end of the book, one of Fireheart's friends, Onewhisker of WindClan, comes to the camp and asks for help because ShadowClan and RiverClan are attacking the WindClan camp. Bluestar sends out all her warriors apart from herself because she is on her last life. When ThunderClan gets there, there are fighting cats everywhere. Fireheart worries about Graystripe because Silverstream and her Clanmates are there fighting. In the middle of the battle, Fireheart is almost killed by Leopardfur as her revenge and Tigerclaw stands right by her not helping Fireheart at all. After that, Fireheart jumps on a RiverClan warrior, but only to realize it was Silverstream and he let her go. ShadowClan retreated, and shortly after that RiverClan did as well. After the battle, Tigerclaw and Darkstripe walk up to Fireheart and accuse him of letting Silverstream get away.

Forest of Secrets

 * Graystripe falls in love with a RiverClan she-cat, Silverstream, and begins to see her in secret. This is found out by Fireheart but he doesn't reveal this to the Clan. Later, a flood came to RiverClan, and Graystripe is worried about Silverstream. He and Fireheart go over to RiverClan to check on her and she tells him that she is going to have his kits. Then, when she gives birth, she dies of loss of blood and her kits go to RiverClan.


 * Tigerclaw leads a group of rogues and followers of Brokentail to the ThunderClan camp in an attack and tries to kill Bluestar, only to have his plans foiled by Fireheart, who later becomes deputy in his place.


 * When the leader of RiverClan hears that the kits of his daughter are still alive, he almost leads his Clan into battle for them. The battle is then avoided when Graystripe gives up the kits and goes to RiverClan to live with them, but does not tell any of the cats in the Clan before it is time to go.

Rising Storm

 * Fireheart is ThunderClan's new deputy now, but Tigerclaw still haunts Fireheart's mind. Some cats are wondering if Tigerclaw will attack. Most of the cats are still shocked about Tigerclaw's disloyalty and many warriors are badly injured. Bluestar did not seem like herself because her mind had been damaged by the terrible shock of Tigerclaw's betrayal.


 * Cloudpaw, an apprentice in ThunderClan who is also Fireheart's nephew, went to a Twoleg for food and one day was abducted by them. Later, Ravenpaw shows up and tells Fireheart that he saw a very unhappy kittypet who had the scent of ThunderClan. When Fireheart goes to investigate, he turns out to be Cloudpaw and after he is rescued he is welcomed back to the Clan. A fire sweeps through the forest, destroying ThunderClan's camp and taking the lives of two elders, Patchpelt and Halftail, and Yellowfang, ThunderClan's medicine cat.


 * When Bluestar, accompanied by Fireheart, went to speak to StarClan at Mothermouth, a patrol of WindClan warriors, led by Mudclaw, stopped them before Bluestar was able to talk with them. The ThunderClan leader later feared that StarClan sent WindClan to stop them from going to Mothermouth and speaking with StarClan, which causes her to slip into further paranoia. Even so, the WindClan patrol had no right to stop Bluestar from journeying to Highstones, and that troubles Fireheart.

A Dangerous Path

 * In this book, another one of Tigerclaw's — who is now known as Tigerstar after he became the leader of ShadowClan — schemes are revealed. He has led a pack of dogs to the forest. He had killed many rabbits and led a trail of them to the ThunderClan camp. He then killed the queen, Brindleface, so that the dogs can get a taste of cat blood before they find the camp. Before he can lead them to the camp, Bluestar gives Cloudpaw his warrior name, Cloudtail, but none of the other apprentices because she says that Cloudtail does not believe in StarClan. Angry, Swiftpaw says to the other apprentices that they should do something. They decided that Bluestar couldn't ignore them any longer if they got rid of the dog pack. In the end, he and Brightpaw go. Swiftpaw is killed and Brightpaw's face is torn. Brightpaw just keeps saying "pack, pack" and "kill, kill" while she is healing. When it appears that Brightpaw might die, Bluestar gives her the warrior name Lostface so that StarClan will honor her as a warrior. When Fireheart, Cloudtail and Lostface go to see Cloudtail's mother, she is shocked by Lostface's face and Cloudtail is furious that Bluestar gave her that horrible name.


 * When there is a surprise ambush on a ThunderClan patrol for Sunningrocks, Bluestar is about to be killed by Mistyfoot and Stonefur, who don't know that she is their mother, and Fireheart can only save her by telling them that she is their mother. Later, Bluestar says that he should have let them kill her because "it is better to die from a kill from a loyal warrior then die leading a Clan of traitors." In the fight, Leopardstar is going to kill Fireheart. Graystripe saves his life, so Leopardstar bans him from RiverClan; she ordered that if any cat finds him on their territory, kill him. Because Graystripe saved his life, Fireheart lets him back into ThunderClan.


 * When Fireheart finds Tigerstar's trap, he evacuates the camp and has a plan to have fast warriors lure the dogs over a gorge. Because of Brindleface's death, her kits Fernpaw and Ashpaw say that they want to help avenge the death. The trap works perfectly until Tigerstar stops Fireheart so the dogs can catch up. Fireheart is saved by Bluestar by attacking the dogs and falling over the gorge with them. With the help of Mistyfoot and Stonefur, Fireheart brings Bluestar out of the river and she tells him about the prophecy that fire will save the Clan and Fireheart is that fire. Then she dies, and Fireheart is now the leader of ThunderClan.

The Darkest Hour

 * When Firestar takes his name and his lives, StarClan tells him that "four will become two, Lion and Tiger will meet in battle, and blood will rule the forest". This was later proved wrong because it meant that the four Clans would turn into two, LionClan and TigerClan would meet in battle, and BloodClan would rule the forest. But instead, the four Clans became one, LionClan and BloodClan meet in battle, and BloodClan broke up after their leader was killed.


 * When Tigerstar of ShadowClan attempts to take over the forest with his TigerClan (including ShadowClan and RiverClan), ThunderClan and WindClan join together and call themselves LionClan to face TigerClan and BloodClan. However, after Scourge kills Tigerstar with one single blow, TigerClan breaks up and ShadowClan and RiverClan join LionClan in a showdown between LionClan and BloodClan. LionClan are able to defeat BloodClan, and since there is no need for an allied group of Clans anymore, LionClan breaks up and the four original Clans go back to their own territories.

Firestar's Quest

 * In the beginning of the book, Bramblepaw is made into a warrior, Brambleclaw. On a hunting patrol, Longtail loses his sight after his eyes are clawed by a rabbit. A badger kills Willowpelt while she, Firestar, and Sootpaw are on patrol. Leadership is taken over by Graystripe when Firestar goes away on his journey to find SkyClan. SkyClan is a group of cats that were once one of the noble Clans, but was forced away many moons ago because Twolegs destroyed their territory. It was so long ago, in fact, that no living cat knows they existed. Firestar and his mate, Sandstorm, leave on a perilous journey to where the cats of SkyClan made their home and find it deserted. Shortly after, they realize the entire Clan broke apart and scattered. Together and with the help of some local kittypets and a loner, they manage to find some of the original descendants of the SkyClan cats. Firestar and Sandstorm teach them how to be warriors and how to hunt. They rebuild the camp.


 * But then, Firestar feels that something is out of place. He and a few SkyClan cats go to check it out, and discover that at the rim of SkyClan's lands, in an old barn, are a large number of rats with a leader that can speak the language of cats. The cats later discover that these rats were the reason why SkyClan had scattered, and they mass together in an attempt to destroy the tiny creatures. Firestar finds and kills the leader, rendering the rest of the rats useless. With SkyClan in peace, Firestar and Sandstorm leave and return to ThunderClan after four or five moons have gone by.


 * In the epilogue, Firestar returns from a patrol and rushes straight into the nursery to see Sandstorm and his two kits, Squirrelkit and Leafkit.

Midnight

 * The ThunderClan warrior Brambleclaw has a dream where Bluestar tells him "Darkness, Air, Water, and Sky will come together... and shake the forest to its roots" and to meet three others and listen to what midnight has to say. So one night, he goes to Fourtrees and while he is waiting for three other cats to come, he hears something in the ThunderClan direction and his rival Squirrelpaw comes out. She starts boasting about how good she is and then they get into a fight. Later, four other cats come: Crowpaw from WindClan, Feathertail and Stormfur, Graystripe's kits from RiverClan, and Tawnypelt from ShadowClan. Brambleclaw is confronted by why he brought Squirrelpaw and he says he didn't and that she followed him. When they ask Feathertail and Stormfur why there are two of them, Stormfur says that Feathertail had the dream, but since they were so close, he wouldn't let her come alone. They wait until midnight, but nothing happens. They return to their respective Clans.


 * Later, Brambleclaw has a dream that he was drowning in the ocean, which he calls the sun-drown-place, and he thinks that he should go there. He convinces the rest of the cats to go and Squirrelpaw makes him let her go after she fought with her father, Firestar. Before they can go, Leafpaw, Squirrelpaw's sister, finds out that they are leaving and she promises not to tell anyone.


 * Back in the forest, everybody is scared about their disappearance and Twolegs start to invade.

Moonrise

 * The cats on the Great Journey come across the Tribe of Rushing Water, who they are in danger from Sharptooth. Sharptooth is a mountain lion, described by the Tribe cats as "a lion-like cat without its mane". When the cats get there, the Tribe is nice to them, but then when they try to leave, they keep Stormfur because they say that he is part of a prophecy that says a silver cat would come and save them from Sharptooth. The rest of the cats make a plan and bring him back with them on the night that Sharptooth attacks. Later, Stormfur has a dream and tells the cats that he needs to go and help. Squirrelpaw has an idea to stuff a rabbit with deathberries. The plan doesn't work and Sharptooth corners Crowpaw. Feathertail has fallen in love with him and gives her life to save him. In the end, the silver cat was Feathertail, who died and was left with the Tribe.


 * In the forest, the Twolegs continue to destroy the forest.

Dawn

 * The cats on the journey come back and tell all the Clans that they have to leave or they will die. Leafpaw is captured by Twolegs and finds Mistyfoot, Cloudtail, Brightheart, a kittypet named Cody, and Sasha, mother of Mothwing and Hawkfrost. Squirrelpaw finds where they are and when they help, Graystripe is taken by the Twolegs. Before they leave on the journey, Firestar was worried about leaving Graystripe. The ShadowClan camp is torn down and they shelter with ThunderClan before agreeing to go with them. They make the journey with help from the Tribe to find a new home. They reach a lake and the original cats from the journey, Squirrelflight, Crowfeather, Tawnypelt and Brambleclaw, accompanied by Mistyfoot of RiverClan, find the new camps and territories for each of their Clans.

Starlight

 * ThunderClan supports WindClan in the battle against Mudclaw's rebels. When they defeat the cats from the WindClan camp, some cats follow others to the ThunderClan camp. Two ShadowClan cats knock over Leafpaw as they run by and she was about to fall of a rock, which she clung to to her death. Crowfeather is there and she calls for him, but he is remembering when Feathertail fell over and he starts to mumble to himself, almost allowing Leafpool to fall. When Leafpool is back and safe, Crowfeather confesses his love to Leafpool and she says that she loves him too, but no other ThunderClan cat knows.


 * Squirrelpaw and Leafpaw received their warrior names: Squirrelflight and Leafpool.

Twilight

 * Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight are still fighting over Brambleclaw's brother, Hawkfrost, whom Squirrelflight believes to be evil, and Leafpool can't get the thoughts of Crowfeather out of her head. When Leafpool goes to WindClan, she and Crowfeather plan to run away. Before she leaves, Cinderpelt and Leafpool have a fight, and Leafpool leaves. At camp, the badgers are attacking. After Crowfeather and Leafpool spend a night away from their Clans, they meet up with Midnight the badger. She tells him the badgers are attacking, and they go back to the Clans. They decide they shouldn't see each other anymore. Cinderpelt dies in the badger attack while protecting Sorreltail during her kitting, leaving Leafpool as the sole medicine cat.


 * During this book, ThunderClan also had to face the hostility from Onestar, the new leader of WindClan, who wants the other Clans to recognize the fact that his Clan can take care of itself and that it doesn't need ThunderClan to help it. To this end, Onestar breaks off his longtime friendship with Firestar. However, the two leaders reach an understanding when WindClan assists ThunderClan during the badger attack.

Sunset

 * Brambleclaw is named deputy, and Graystripe is pronounced dead. Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost decide to meet by the lake, and Hawkfrost sets a trap for Firestar. Hawkfrost tells Brambleclaw to kill Firestar to become leader, but Brambleclaw instead kills Hawkfrost, saving Firestar.

The Sight

 * Graystripe returns to ThunderClan with a cat named Millie, a former kittypet who helped him on his way back. When they arrive at a Gathering, it is discovered Millie is his new mate.


 * This is also a time when Jaypaw, and Lionpaw, Brambleclaw and Squirrelflights' kits, are made warrior apprentices. Hollypaw, their daughter, starts as medicine cat apprentice but decides she wants to be a warrior, while Jaypaw decides to be a medicine cat. Jaypaw appears in Firestar's dream and hears Skywatcher speak these words; a prophecy: There will be three, kin of your kin... who hold the power of the stars in their paws. Jaypaw realizes the three that are said to hold great power is he, Lionpaw, and Hollypaw.

Dark River

 * Lionpaw starts to see a WindClan apprentice named Heatherpaw and they call themselves DarkClan. They use tunnels that from each of their territories which meet in a cave underground. One time when Heatherpaw was late she says that kits had followed her.


 * When Jaypaw and Leafpool go to WindClan to relay a message for Firestar, they find out the WindClan kits are missing. When they bring the news to ThunderClan, Lionpaw thinks they went to help thinking that they had gone in the tunnels. When Windclan threatens Thunderclan, thinking they stole the kits, Jaypaw, Hollypaw, and Lionpaw go into the tunnels to find the kits. Jaypaw leads the way to the kits with the help of a cat that died in the tunnels when it was raining and the tunnels flooded. The cat's name was Fallen Leaves and he guided Jaypaw through the maze of tunnels. Once they found the kits it started to rain and the tunnels flooded. They got out by following the river; they stopped the battle with the Clans by showing them the kits and saying that they were making a camp on the beach.

Outcast

 * The Tribe of Rushing Water comes to ThunderClan for help, and they send Squirrelflight, Brambleclaw, Hollypaw, Lionpaw, and Jaypaw to help them fight off rogue invaders.

Eclipse

 * There is a battle between all Clans on ThunderClan territory. Sol appears in this book. Later, there is an solar eclipse that covers the sun.

Long Shadows

 * Many cats get greencough and the sick cats are forced to move to the abandoned Twoleg nest. The three, Jayfeather, Hollyleaf and Lionblaze, find out that Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight are not their real parents, and Ashfur threatens to reveal the secret at the Gathering to every cat.


 * Ashfur is later found by the WindClan border; dead. He was thought to of had drowned, but it is later discovered he had been murdered by another cat, possibly in ThunderClan.

Sunrise

 * In this book, cats claim that WindClan had murdurered Ashfur. They set up a secret attack, later to be stopped by Firestar. He orgainzes a patrol of Sorreltail, Brackenfur, Brambleclaw, and Lionblaze. When they reach WindClan, they claim they have seen nothing.

In The Rise of Scourge

 * A ThunderClan patrol consisting of Bluefur, Thistleclaw and Tigerpaw attack Tiny (later Scourge).