Crookedstar

Crookedstar is a huge, light brown tabby tom with pale green eyes and a twisted jaw.

Bluestar's Prophecy

 * Crookedpaw makes his first appearance as a young apprentice at a Gathering. He starts to talk with Bluepaw, a ThunderClan apprentice, and tells her that he started his apprenticeship late because he had been sickly when he was a kit. He jokes with her that his warrior name will have to be Crookedjaw, because of his crooked jaw, unless something were to happen to his tail. After being told by others to be quiet one time after another, Crookedpaw points out his brother Oakheart to Bluepaw when the RiverClan leader, Hailstar, announces him as a new warrior. Crookedpaw goes on to say that when his brother becomes leader, Oakheart will make him deputy.


 * A few days later, when RiverClan is trying to take over Sunningrocks, Crookedpaw and Bluepaw meet in battle. He doesn't hesitate one moment before attacking her, while Bluepaw does hesitate, even if they were friendly towards each other at the Gathering. He is close to beating her, when Snowpaw, Bluepaw's sister, comes over to help her. Together they fight off Crookedpaw until he is forced to retreat.


 * At the next Gathering, Crookedpaw is once again friendly towards Bluepaw, acting as if the fight never happened. Bluepaw tells him that she is even better at fighting now that she became a warrior. Excited, he tells her that he is a warrior now, and Bluefur guesses that his name is now Crookedjaw. He purrs with amusement and asks how ever could she have guessed. She points out that nothing happened to his tail, referring to his old joke.


 * Many moons later, Crookedjaw is made RiverClan deputy, and is forced to give up his friendship with Bluefur. He is head of the patrol that finds ThunderClan waiting to be taken to the RiverClan camp so that they may speak to Hailstar. Still seeming suspicious of them, his patrol escorts them to RiverClan's camp.


 * A while later, Crookedjaw becomes RiverClan's leader after Hailstar loses his ninth life to a rat bite. He makes Timberfur his deputy, although he had made good on his promise and asked Oakheart to be his deputy first. However, Oakheart declines, saying that he has not yet earned the position of deputy. At some point, after Timberfur dies or retires, Crookedstar must have asked Oakheart to be his deputy once again, because Oakheart is his deputy in Into the Wild.

Into the Wild

 * Crookedstar is first seen at the Gathering, when Graypaw points him out to Firepaw. In this Gathering, he is seen allowing Brokenstar to have hunting rights in the river; he is most likely afraid that if he refuses, Brokenstar will drive him and his Clan out like they did with WindClan. RiverClan is furious and humiliated, because Crookedstar did not consult with them before making this decision.

Fire and Ice

 * At a Gathering, Crookedstar angers ShadowClan by saying that he will no longer allow them to hunt in his territory, and only when Bluestar intervenes is peace restored. But then, Bluestar provokes Crookedstar and Nightstar by saying that WindClan must return. Crookedstar does not want this, since Twoleg activity along the river means his cats cannot fish and his Clan had begun hunting in WindClan's territory to survive. Bluestar eventually convinces the other leaders that WindClan must return since there have always been four Clans in the forest.


 * Crookedstar's daughter, Silverstream, begins meeting secretly with Graystripe of ThunderClan, and he knows nothing of it, except that a single ThunderClan warrior has repeatedly been scented on his territory.


 * When WindClan returns, he forms an alliance with ShadowClan and attempts to drive WindClan out again, since he wants their territory to hunt on. When ThunderClan arrives to aid WindClan, Crookedstar battles with Tigerclaw, finally retreating when the dark warrior gives him a near fatal bite to the spine.

Forest of Secrets

 * Crookedstar still does not want WindClan in the forest, but now accepts their presence. When leaf-bare gives way to newleaf, the river floods from melting ice, forcing Crookedstar and his Clan to evacuate their camp. After Graystripe and Fireheart save two of Mistyfoot's kits from drowning, Crookedstar is forced to thank them grudgingly, and also reluctantly accepts their help to bring RiverClan prey until the flood has gone down.


 * When Silverstream dies, he is fraught with grief for his daughter, until he hears her kits survived. He sends his deputy, Leopardfur to retrieve them from ThunderClan, and Graystripe, their father, ends up going with them to RiverClan.

Rising Storm

 * When ThunderClan is driven out of their own territory because of a fire in their camp, Crookedstar lets them stay and recover in RiverClan's camp until the fire has gone out, possibly returning the debt he owes Fireheart and Graystripe for giving RiverClan prey during the flood. He allows Graystripe to accompany Fireheart back to ThunderClan camp to look for Yellowfang and Halftail, knowing that if they had died, Fireheart would need the comfort of an old friend. He is also shown to be growing weaker and looking older than before.

A Dangerous Path

 * Crookedstar is growing much frailer. His deputy, Leopardfur, begins taking charge of more things in RiverClan. He is seen at a Gathering, and he welcomes Tigerstar as the new leader of ShadowClan, not knowing Tigerstar's true intentions.


 * He is later visited by Tigerstar at the RiverClan camp. At the next Gathering, Leopardfur announces that Crookedstar has lost his last life due to greencough, and that she is the new leader of RiverClan, Leopardstar.

Midnight

 * He appears briefly, when StarClan is choosing cats to journey to the sun-drown-place. He gives permission to Oakheart to choose the representative of RiverClan, and Oakheart chooses Feathertail.

Starlight

 * Crookedstar appears very briefly, when StarClan has reached the new territory and are at the Moonpool. When Nightstar mentions a warrior hungry for power that is not deserved, Crookedstar leaps to the defense of that warrior, who is later revealed to be Hawkfrost. Crookedstar angrily asks Nightstar if he would have all the RiverClan warriors timid as mice.

Twilight

 * He appears very briefly in this book, among the cats of StarClan telling Cinderpelt her death is approaching.

Cats of the Clans

 * It is revealed that when he was a kit, RiverClan had control over Sunningrocks and would go on the rocks to antagonize ThunderClan cats. When he and his littermates were playing on the rocks too roughly, it resulted in him falling and breaking his jaw, which gave him his name, Crookedjaw. He had to work harder than any other RiverClan cat to earn respect, because in RiverClan, weakness was not welcome.


 * It is also mentioned that he knew of Bluestar and Oakheart's hidden affair, but allowed it, because it would give Bluestar a weakness when launching an attack on RiverClan in the future.


 * He is said to have been the wisest RiverClan leader ever to have lived in the forest. He wanted a united Clan, not one that argued with each other.

Secrets of the Clans

 * He is seen in the story Flood!, told by Silverstream. When Silverstream tells him that the river has risen, he gruffly replies that it may lower soon. Later, when he and his Clan cross the river to safety because of the flood, he thinks that he and his Clan are no more powerful against the river than any other Clan, and realizes that everything that makes them RiverClan has been taken away from them. When he listens to Graystripe and Fireheart explaining how they had found the kits, he knows that this finding-of-the-kits episode must be a sign from StarClan, saying that he should not refuse help from other Clans, especially when RiverClan really needs it.

Trivia

 * As an apprentice, he was sometimes described as a stocky gray tabby.


 * In Rising Storm and Forest of Secrets, he was described with amber eyes.

Members
Mate:
 * Willowbreeze: Deceased, Suspected StarClan member

Daughter:
 * Silverstream: Deceased, Verified StarClan member

Father:
 * Shellheart: Deceased, Suspected StarClan member

Mother:
 * Lilystem: Deceased, Suspected StarClan member

Brother:
 * Oakheart: Deceased, Verified StarClan member

Grandson:
 * Stormfur:

Granddaughter:
 * Feathertail: Deceased, Verified StarClan and Tribe of Endless Hunting member

Nieces:
 * Mistystar:
 * Mosskit: Deceased, Verified StarClan member

Nephews:
 * Stonefur: Deceased, Verified StarClan member

Great-Nephews and Great-Nieces:
 * Reedwhisker:
 * Three Unidentified Kits: Status Unknown