Boulder

Boulder is a skinny, well-muscled, silver-gray tabby tom, with a torn, ragged ear and bright eyes.

Yellowfang's Secret

 * When Yellowpaw and Raggedpelt come to Twolegplace to search for Raggedpelt's father, they are taken to a group of kittypets deep in Twolegplace. Yellowpaw introduces herself and Raggedpelt, and states that they are from ShadowClan. A black she-cat says that she has never heard of it, but a gray tom pads forward to sniff their pelts. He comments that they do smell of forest. Jay snarls at him, revealing that he is named Boulder. Boulder retorts at Jay, saying that he wonders what it was like in the forest.


 * Boulder is part of the group of kittypets confronted by ShadowClan warriors, seen jumping over the fence to join Red and a tabby tom. Yellowfang sees him battling Rowanberry, blood trickling from a torn ear.


 * Three sunrises later, Nettlespot and Toadskip lead Boulder and Red into the camp. When Cedarstar asks why they had come, they announce that they wish to join ShadowClan. Boulder steps forward and tells them that they wish to hunt and fight. As he does, some cats don't believe him. He bursts out saying that they catch their own prey, but is cut off by Red. He adds onto what Red says about how their Clan has strength and skill, but also mercy, that if that is what it means to live by the warrior code, they want to be a part of it. Cedarstar allows them to stay, though waiting a moon for them to prove their loyalty first.


 * At twilight, Yellowfang spots Boulder and Red sharing a vole together. Boulder pads up to her, recognising her as one of the cats that came to visit Hal. She admits that she was, though Boulder and Red cheerfully agree to keep quiet about it.


 * The next morning, Cedarstar has decided to let Boulder and Red train as apprentices, despite what he had said before. Boulder interrupts the ceremony to many cats' shock, asking if he can keep his name. Cedarstar grudgingly allows him to, assigning him Mousewing as his mentor.


 * Boulder participates in a training session with Yellowfang, Rowanberry, and the other apprentices in a training session overseen by Brackenfoot. They practice against Yellowfang, and win when Boulder sweeps Yellowfang to the ground and pins her down. They try again, and Yellowfang wins when she drops on Boulder as he tries to dive on her. Boulder and Russetpaw practice against Foxpaw and Wolfpaw while Yellowfang and Rowanberry rest.


 * Boulder drops off prey at the fresh-kill pile with his mentor. At Foxpaw and Wolfpaw's warrior ceremony, he is seen near the front with gleaming eyes, as Yellowfang realises that this is their first warrior ceremony that they had seen. He joins in enthusiastically with the calling of their new warrior names, causing Amberleaf and Finchflight to comment on how well the two cats are settling into the Clan.


 * Yellowfang mentions Boulder and Russetpaw while talking to Hollyflower while out on a patrol. When Hollyflower says that kittypets hardly seems like real cats, Yellowfang says that Boulder and Russetpaw are real cats, and Hollyflower replies that she'd be surprised if they even remember living in Twolegplace. During a confrontation with Marmalade, Hollyflower mentions Boulder and Russetpaw, and when Marmalade asks if they knew where the two are, she triumphantly tells him that they were part of ShadowClan now.


 * Marmalade and a mixture of kittypets and rogues attack the ShadowClan camp, looking for Boulder and Russetpaw. Yellowfang dashes outside the camp to find them, as they are out on patrol. She finds them with Deerleap and Frogtail. When Boulder and Russetpaw see that Hal is dead, they exchange a horrified glance, before being sent back to the camp by Raggedpelt. Boulder protests that the warrior code says not to kill, but Raggedpelt interrupts and tells him that Hal was outside the warrior code.


 * Cedarstar tells Boulder to tell the Twolegplace cats why they were there, and he says that they wanted to see what forest life was like, adding that it was good. Pixie pads up to the two afterwards, saying they'd always be welcome back, but Boulder tells her that they were warriors now.


 * Boulder and Russetpaw have their warrior ceremony. Cedarstar asks Mousewing if Boulder was ready to be a warrior, and he responds that he is a true ShadowClan cat. Though he knows Boulder doesn't want to change his name, he tells him that StarClan will see him as a warrior by what he does rather than what he is called.


 * During the walk to a Gathering, Brokenpaw runs towards the ThunderClan side of the border, checking. After he is called back, Boulder comments that he will be a great warrior.


 * Boulder mourns Cedarstar's death, thanking him for the chance to become a warrior and that he and Russetfur would never forget his generosity.


 * Boulder is present at Brokenpaw's warrior ceremony, and is seen hurrying through the brambles. Once the ceremony is over, he gives Brokentail a friendly cuff on his shoulder, saying he was welcome on his patrols. He is sent staggering by Brokentail's return cuff, agreeing that they'd shred any enemies.


 * Boulder goes to Yellowfang when he gets a thorn in his paw, talking about how good a warrior Brokentail is while she gets it out of his paw. He admits that he was a bit keen on chasing a blackbird, and ended up in a thornbush. She asks him if he caught it, and he responds yes, before saying that he'd better get back on patrol and dashes off.


 * One night, he is out on a patrol. He is horrified when he sees that Raggedstar is dead, saying the patrol had fought with some WindClan cats, but they didn't know Raggedstar was hurt. He helps Scorchwind put Raggedstar on Brokentail's back to take him back to the camp.


 * During a Clan meeting, Boulder is assigned Wetpaw as an apprentice after the death of Mosspaw.


 * He goes to the medicine den after the battle that drives WindClan away, telling Scorchwind that he should have seen him fighting with the WindClan deputy. Yellowfang snaps at him to let her look at his savaged ear and to stay still.


 * When Marigoldkit and Mintkit go missing, he is seen  searching the camp, and is the first to notice Yellowfang return to the camp, and he stares at her.

Into the Wild

 * He is a friend and follower of Brokenstar, and is one of the warriors in his circle of 'elite warriors'. He is first mentioned when Firepaw, Yellowfang, Whitestorm, the ShadowClan elders, and a ThunderClan patrol come to rescue the kits stolen from ThunderClan. Firepaw defeats him in the fight. He later escapes from the camp along with the other elite warriors and Brokenstar.


 * Wetpaw is his apprentice.

Fire and Ice

 * Boulder is now a member of Brokenstar's rogues after being exiled. He helps attack the ThunderClan camp, following Brokenstar, along with the other rogues, and leaves after they are defeated and Brokenstar is taken prisoner.

Forest of Secrets

 * When Tigerclaw and Brokenstar lead an attack on ThunderClan, Boulder is a part of the attacking patrol, along with the other rogues, and fights with some of the warriors.

Rising Storm

 * He, along with the other rogues, fight against the ThunderClan patrol near the Thunderpath. Later, he joins ShadowClan when Tigerclaw becomes leader and gains his name Tigerstar.

A Dangerous Path

 * When Tigerstar becomes leader, Boulder is brought back into ShadowClan along with Russetfur and Blackfoot, who were also part of Brokenstar's group. He is welcomed among ShadowClan.

The Darkest Hour

 * In the prologue, he and Tigerstar go into BloodClan territory so Tigerstar can meet Scourge, the leader of BloodClan. Scourge and Tigerstar form an agreement, and BloodClan comes to the forest. When Scourge kills Tigerstar, Jaggedtooth joins BloodClan, and Boulder thinks it is worth betraying BloodClan so he can get his claws in Jaggedtooth's fur for betraying him. He fights alongside LionClan, the four Clans combined, led by Firestar, to fight BloodClan, then goes back to ShadowClan, now under Blackstar's leadership.

Dawn

 * Boulder is now an elder of ShadowClan. When the Clans are deciding where to go, Blackstar says that they will travel to Twolegplace, BloodClan's former home, explaining that one of their elders, Boulder, used to be a member of BloodClan and can show the way and the best hunting places. The other Clans, however, disagree. When the Clans rescue ShadowClan from the Twoleg monsters, he does not respond to Leafpaw's greeting when she comes to check on him, but sighs softly as she pulls out a splinter in his flank.

The Rise of Scourge

 * He is seen with Tigerstar when he is taking him to see Scourge.

Into the Woods

 * He is introduced by Tigerstar to Sasha, a rogue, as one of his best fighters. A day after, Sasha comes to the ShadowClan camp, and he, Tigerstar, Oakfur, and Sasha go on a border patrol. Later, he is planning with Tigerstar and some other warriors near the end of the book.

Secrets of the Clans

 * Boulder gives the tour of the ShadowClan forest camp. He talks about the boggy ground, prey and camps of ShadowClan. He takes the reader to the fresh-kill pile. He shows the reader a frog and says if you peel off the skin, it tastes as if rabbits and fish were mixed together. He also explains he was a loner before he met a ShadowClan warrior who tempted him into the life of the Clans, not mentioning his ties with BloodClan. He also rather threateningly adds that there is no reason to fear ShadowClan. Not all the time, anyway.

Cats of the Clans

 * Rock tells the kits of StarClan how Boulder was raised in BloodClan, but came to the forest when he heard of how much safer and easier the system of territories, warriors, and patrols sounded. He apparently had too much faith in the Warrior Code. He was the cat who led Tigerstar to Scourge with a desire to impress his new leader, without realizing that he knew from his time in BloodClan that Scourge would never help Tigerstar win a battle and then leave with the promise of some small hunting grounds. According to Rock, Boulder was not an evil cat. His ambition just got the better of him. He thought everything would work out as Tigerstar had planned, with BloodClan helping to take over the forest, and less cats would be hurt if the takeover was smoother.


 * He lived a wretched life in BloodClan, and once he had heard about the forest, he decided to leave BloodClan to live there. He did want to impress his new leader, but he had forgotten about how Scourge could be. He thought that it was better to spill the blood of other cats than their own, especially cats who made his early life a misery.

Trivia

 * He was depicted as a blue-gray tabby in Cats of the Clans.
 * He was mistakenly shown as a solid gray cat in The Rise of Scourge.