BloodClan

BloodClan is a dangerous group of cats made up of feral cats from the Twolegplace. They are highly trained fighters, whose harsh lifestyle contributes to their strength and fortitude.

Description
BloodClan is not an official Clan, but more of a loosely organized group of alley cats who live together in Twolegplace for mutual protection from Twolegs. They mostly feed on Twoleg trash. Live prey is scarce, except for the occasional rat. Their leader is Blackheart (formerly named Rusty), They don't have an "official" deputy, but the cat closest to Blackheart is a muscular black and white tom with green eyes named Bone. He does most of Blackhearts dirty work, and keeps the other cats of BloodClan in line by force. They do not have a medicine cat, and the elders, queens, and kits are never cared for; if a cat can't hunt for itself, then that cat will die. This might indicate that BloodClan follows a social Darwinism.

Cats are required to live on their own, and living in family groups is forbidden, given Blackhearts concern that some cats will join together against him. Mothers train their kits, teaching them how to hunt, fight, and generally everything basic, and at the age of twelve moons, kits leave their mothers, so they are forced to rely on Blackheart and Bone.

Barley, a former member of BloodClan, informs the ThunderClan leader, Firestar, that BloodClan's biggest weakness is their disbelief in StarClan. That means that the leader does not receive nine lives, and is proven when Blackheart is (almost) killed

Territory
BloodClan lives in Twolegplace, where the ground is hard, there are many noises, and the stench of Twolegs and their monsters fills the air. To Clan cats, such as Tigerstar, who are completely used to the forest, walking through the dirty alleys in Twolegplace is like being deaf, blind, and lame; and forced to follow his guide, Boulder, like a kit trailing helplessly after its mother. In the town where BloodClan lives, there are many, many, cats, and live prey is scarce. Near the Twolegplace where BloodClan lives, there is a Thunderpath, and a park.

Cat Characteristics
BloodClan cats do not have a belief in StarClan or the warrior code. Because of this, the leader does not have the nine lives granted to Clan leaders. Many cats of BloodClan impale their collars with teeth of cats and even dogs, wearing them like trophies and making them appear more intimidating. Some BloodClan cats who are high in rank in Scourge's guard have their claws reinforced with dogs' teeth.

Other Facts
Only a few known connections exist in the Clans (or around them) to BloodClan, the ShadowClan warrior Boulder, Barley, the loner, and Violet, the kittypet. There have been only one set of BloodClan allegiances, included in the allegiances of The Darkest Hour. Another known fact is that Scourge is Firestar's half brother.

The Darkest Hour

 * Tigerstar forms an alliance with BloodClan at the beginning of The Darkest Hour, in the hopes of using the combined might of TigerClan and BloodClan to convince any resistant Clans (namely LionClan, comprised of ThunderClan and WindClan) to join TigerClan. In exchange, Tigerstar agrees to give BloodClan a share of the forest to live in, after all the Clans join TigerClan (Although Tigerstar had no intention of following through on that part of the bargain). However, the plan backfires when Tigerstar finds that he cannot control BloodClan, and is killed by BloodClan's leader, Scourge, in one terrible blow that destroys all nine of Tigerstar's lives at once.


 * Scourge, who by then had decided to take the territory for himself, gives the Clans three days to leave. Firestar manages to convince the four Clans to form LionClan to take on BloodClan. During the three days, several cats, particularly Jaggedtooth and Darkstripe, turn traitor to their Clans and join BloodClan. At the end of the three days, LionClan and BloodClan meet in battle. The death toll is heavy, the most prominent being Whitestorm of ThunderClan. Scourge takes one of Firestar's nine lives before Firestar is able to kill him, ending the battle. Without a leader, BloodClan scatters.

Shattered Peace

 * Willie, Minty, Snapper, Tess, and Pounce arrive at Ravenpaw and Barley's barn, seeking shelter from the snow. Ravenpaw welcomes them kindly, and feeds them. Soon, the kits are born, and they are named Snowflake, Icicle, Cloudy and Sniff. Ravenpaw and Barley seem to be very fond of them. They continue to be their "servants" and Barley doesn't seem to enjoy it, but Ravenpaw is used to it, since he used to belong to a Clan.


 * One day, Barley catches Snapper teaching the kits death blows, but Barley says nothing to them and tells Ravenpaw when they're on the top of the barn. Ravenpaw only says it is nonsense and they need to protect those precious kits. Then, Barley overhears Willie and Snapper talking about having their own territory but doesn't say a word about it.


 * Later on in the book, it is revealed that Willie and the other cats used to be part of BloodClan, but they left since so many cats competed to rule Twolegplace in Scourge's place. They wanted to remake BloodClan, right in Ravenpaw and Barley's territory. Then the former BloodClan cats fight the loners, and defeat them. Willie and the others want to kill them, but Minty breaks up the fight, most likely because Barley and Ravenpaw had played with and helped her kits. Willie agrees, and lets them escape. Ravenpaw and Barley are forced to leave the barn, and they journey to Highstones.

A Clan in Need

 * Barley has a dream about bringing prey to his sister, Violet, then he dreams about his brothers, leaders of BloodClan, Snake and Ice, being commanded by Scourge to attack Violet. Ravenpaw asks Barley about his dream, and Barley tells him about it. Then Ravenpaw tells him that ThunderClan will help them.


 * They go to ThunderClan, find Firestar, and tell him everything, and Firestar tells them he will help, but first they must rest. As they are resting, somebody calls for Cinderpelt. Ravenpaw goes to Firestar to find out what's wrong, and he learns that BloodClan cats have been attacking ThunderClan's patrols. Firestar must help ThunderClan before he can send anyone to save the farm.


 * The next morning, Ravenpaw and Barley go on a hunting patrol with Graystripe and Cloudtail. As they return, they are attacked by BloodClan cats. There is a short fight, during which one of the BloodClan cats, Snipe, seems to recognize Barley. When another ThunderClan patrol arrives, the BloodClan cats flee. The prey was ruined in the fight. When they return to camp, Barley hints to Ravenpaw that he might have known Snipe before. Shortly afterwards, Firestar and Graystripe ask Barley for help in finding BloodClan's home in the Twolegplace, as he might remember. Barley takes offense and runs off into the forest. Ravenpaw goes to him and tells him that he must tell Firestar anything he knows, because ThunderClan is starving.


 * Barley and Ravenpaw ask for help from Mitzi, who's son was taken by BloodClan. Mitzi brings them to BloodClan's camp, and they see many cats on guard outside. They leave BloodClan's camp and thank Mitzi for showing them. A patrol of cats from ThunderClan are seen leaving the camp, ready to attack BloodClan. They scare the cats guarding BloodClan's camp away, and come inside to see Snake and Ice giving a speech. Violet appears from the shadows and reminds Snake and Ice that their real names are Hoot and Jumper, and that she is their sister.


 * Barley is angered by the way the BloodClan cats talk to his sister, so he attacks, and the patrol follows his lead. The ThunderClan patrol is victorious. Snake and Ice try to make a deal with ThunderClan, but Barley tells them it's too late. Snake and Ice blame the prey stealing on the other BloodClan cats. The rest of BloodClan are angry and drive Snake and Ice away.

The Heart of a Warrior

 * Firestar, leader of ThunderClan, with a battle patrol, commence the battle plan. However, this proves to be unsuccessful, as BloodClan was alerted of the attack by the squawking of the chickens, who Snapper was still tormenting. Firestar decides not to retreat, and they continue the attack. During the battle, it is revealed that there are a lot more cats then first thought, and Firestar's patrol is outnumbered. Soon enough, the battle is heard by the farmer and he comes in and causes all of the cats to scatter.


 * ThunderClan then re-groups in the smaller barn that they are staying in. Barley is distraught at the fact that his brothers are everywhere he goes. Ravenpaw then states that both of his brothers are being called by their loner names, meaning that they "must not think of themselves as BloodClan anymore."'


 * Firestar decides to attack in the morning, so that they won't have the chickens or the darkness to make it hard to fight. Firestar's new battle plan is carried out the next morning, driving out the BloodClan cats. This proves to work, and they are winning, until Snapper and Pounce bring backup, thus vastly outnumbering the attacking patrol.


 * The dogs, that were startled by the noise the cats made, try to break free from their chains and chase out the invading cats, since Ravenpaw and Barley had saved them during a fire in the first book. Jumper and Hoot ask Barley for a place to stay, and he allows them to live with himself and Ravenpaw at the barn. Jumper and Hoot end up taking advantage of Ravenpaw's generous nature, and start making him their slave and trying to make him leave the barn so that they can be left with Barley. They tell Barley that Ravenpaw should leave because he isn't related to them. This causes Barley to get furious with his brothers, and the two are told to leave the barn.

Secrets of the Clans

 * A young cat, Barley, defies the decree of Scourge that no cats can live together, in order to care for his sister, Violet. When Barley and Violet are discovered by Bone, Scourge decides that as a punishment, Barley will watch his own sister die at the paws of their own brothers, Snake and Ice. When Snake and Ice leave, Barley is now alone with Violet, and he finds that his sister had survived the attack and takes her to the house of the kittypet Fuzz and his Twolegs, who had cared for Barley at an earlier time. Knowing that his presence put his sister in danger, Barley flees BloodClan to the forest, where he settles down at the barn bordering WindClan territory. It also makes a error in saying that Tigerstar was killed by "Blood", the leader of BloodClan, when it was really Scourge.

Cats of the Clans

 * Rock doesn't want to scare the kits into having nightmares when explaining BloodClan. He says that BloodClan was only ever a band of stray cats roaming in Twolegplace. Scourge united them in terror. His greatest strength was the lack of a conscience. However, it was his greatest weakness too. He also didn't believe in StarClan, and as a result, he only had one life to lose and Firestar took it away from him.


 * Bone dies in battle as well. He was killed by a group of apprentices after he killed Whitestorm. Rock remarks that the three kits would have fought along with them, had they known the wise and gentle warrior that Whitestorm was.