Darkstripe

Darkstripe is a sleek dark gray and black tabby tom. He has been noted as having pale blue, amber, and bright yellow eyes.

Into the Wild

 * Although Longtail was the first to speak up against a kittypet joining the clan, Darkstripe was a cat who only grudgingly agreed to his leader's decision to make Rusty a Thunderclan apprentice. Darkstripe took his first apprentice, Dustpaw, after Redtail's death left him with no mentor. As Bluestar indicated Darkstripe as mentor to Dustpaw, she told him to teach Dustpaw some of the good training that Tigerclaw had done for him. So, immediately we see a connection between Tigerclaw and Darkstripe and we see Darkstripe supporting his old mentor throughout the story. It became no surprise, then, that Tigerclaw, when he became Deputy after Lionheart's death, would appoint the two cats he trusted most to be Bluestar's bodyguards, Longtail and Darkstripe. It was these two cats that Tigerclaw would use to begin rumors demoralizing Ravenpaw because Ravenpaw knew the truth about Redtail's death.

Fire and Ice

 * In the first chapter there is a discrepancy about Darkstripe's apprentices. In this book it states that he had previously mentored Longtail, but in the previous book it stated that Dustpaw was his first apprentice and at that time, Longtail was already a warrior.
 * It appears that Darkstripe may have been unaware of Tigerclaw’s plan to lure Bluestar to the Thunderpath in an attempt to kill her. He is surprised to find the injured Cinderpaw there when he reports back to Tigerclaw after checking out Snakerocks for signs of Shadowclan.  So at this point Tigerclaw wishes to keep his ruthless ambitions secret from his previous apprentice.  Yet Darkstripe seems to have learned astuteness from his mentor as he points out Graystripe’s unwillingness to fight RiverClan, as he suspects, correctly, that there is an underlying reason for this reluctance.
 * There are other instances where Darkstripe stands fast with Tigerclaw’s distaste of anyone not of his own Clan. For example, he is one of the hecklers when Firestar brings the tiny newborn kit, Cloudkit, to the Clan.  He later then complained about the cold and hungry kit crying in the warrior’s den.  It is Darkstripe who notices that Fireheart let  Silverstream get away in a battle and this information is then passed to Tigerclaw.
 * For the most part, Darkstripe is a cat who accompanies Tigerclaw and is chosen by Tigerclaw for patrols and other errands, establishing a strong connection between them. His last part in this book is when Tigerclaw takes him and Runningwind to find the cats who were stealing and eating rabbits on Thunderclan territory.

Forest of Secrets

 * Darkstripe still treats Fireheart harshly throughout the book. Calling him "kittypet" whenever possible, thinking he should of never been accepted into the Clan. When Fireheart is made deputy he comments, "Well I'm not taking orders from a kittypet." He also doesn't trust Graystripe very well either.
 * At the end of Forest of Secrets, Tigerclaw asks Longtail and Darkstripe to join him in exile. Though Fireheart believes Darkstripe may join Tigerclaw; Darkstripe declines Tigerstar's offer. It is shown that Darkstripe is hurt that Tigerstar did not let him know about the rogue attack.

Rising Storm

 * Darkstripe has started to have second thoughts about not joining Tigerclaw.

A Dangerous Path

 * He sees that Tigerclaw is the new leader of ShadowClan: when he finds out, Fireheart notices that his eyes are shining and he looks excited, and wonders if he would rather have joined Tigerclaw as a rogue, and then become part of ShadowClan. Tigerstar asks him to bring his kits, Bramblekit and Tawnykit to Fourtrees, so that they could meet him. He is followed by Fireheart, and is ordered to take the kits back to the ThunderClan camp.


 * When Graypool goes missing, Fireheart worries that an aggressive ThunderClan cat might kill the elderly she-cat, not knowing that she had wandered into the territory by mistake and that she was in no condition to fight. He immediately thinks of Darkstripe. It is also noted that Dustpelt and Darkstripe are often seen alongside each other. This could simply be because their apprentices were littermates, or because they were both followers of Tigerstar.


 * When Bluestar is obsessed with the idea that it is not dogs, but WindClan that are stealing prey, Fireheart arranges a peace meeting. Darkstripe accompanies the patrol, and during the entire talk, looks impatient and eager to attack the WindClan patrol.


 * Right before the dog pack is supposedly coming to maul the camp, he tries to sneak Bramblekit and Tawnykit away to ShadowClan territory, though he does not admit it. He is caught by Fireheart, who asks where he is taking the kits. Darkstripe claims that he does not think Sunningrocks is safe enough, and he knows a better place. Fireheart tells Brackenfur to keep an eye on Darkstripe, as he does not trust "a single hair on his pelt".

The Darkest Hour

 * Fireheart is provoked by him because of his kittypet roots after Bluestar's death, and Darkstripe complains that he does not want a kittypet leading ThunderClan.


 * Firestar suspected that Darkstripe was conspiring with Tigerstar, so Firestar told Brackenfur to keep an eye on him. Darkstripe managed to get rid of Brackenfur, and Sorrelkit follows him to a meeting with Blackfoot, the ShadowClan deputy. Darkstripe tried to kill her by feeding her deathberries, but Graystripe saw her eat them, and attacked him. Though many cats, including Darkstripe, say that it could not possibly be true, Sorrelkit manages to survive the poisoning, and tells the Clan that Darkstripe did try to kill her, as Graystripe had stated. Firestar then exiles Darkstripe.


 * In Darkstripe's exile, it is revealed that Darkstripe knew about the dog attack, and actually helped Tigerstar. He then left his Clan to join Tigerstar. The only reason he gave that he did not follow Tigerstar immediately when he was exiled was because Tigerstar had not filled him in on details leading to Brokentail, rogues, and Tigerstar himself launching an attack on ThunderClan. When he is told to kill Stonefur by Tigerstar because he was half-Clan born, he did so without question, but lost to the half-starved prisoner, needing the help of Blackfoot.


 * Darkstripe blames Firestar for Tigerstar's death, telling Firestar that he turned Scourge against Tigerstar. In the battle between LionClan and BloodClan, Darkstripe attacks a BloodClan she-cat, knocking her away from Firestar. At first, Firestar thinks that Darkstripe had found loyalty in ThunderClan again, but he is proven wrong when Darkstripe tries to kill him, claiming that he no longer felt loyalty to the forest cats and that the only cat worth following was Tigerstar. After dueling with Firestar, Darkstripe is killed by Graystripe.

Sunset

 * Darkstripe is seen as a member of the Dark Forest. He somehow manages to come across Tigerstar, and asks Tigerstar if they can travel together, Tigerstar turns him down with a hint of regret in his voice, yet no hesitation.