Leopardstar/Main article

Leopardstar is a sleek furred, dappled golden tabby she-cat. She has unusual, dark golden spots on her pelt, with a long, winding tail, and amber eyes.

Leopardkit is born to Mudfur and Brightsky of RiverClan along with three other kits. However, her mother and all three siblings die during the kitting. Mudfur gives her the name of the mighty spotted cats from LeopardClan to give her the strength to survive. She is spoiled by the rest of the Clan and her father. At six moons old, she becomes apprenticed to Whitefang and takes the name of Leopardpaw. After a successful apprenticeship, she earns her warrior name Leopardfur. Leopardfur is shown to be fiercely loyal to RiverClan as a warrior and eventually becomes the deputy of RiverClan under Crookedstar.

As deputy, Leopardfur defends her Clan with tooth and claw and is a strict follower of the warrior code. When she and her patrol attack Fireheart and Graystripe on RiverClan territory as they head home from bringing back WindClan, she witnesses the death of her former apprentice Whiteclaw after Graystripe accidentally causes him to fall into the gorge. She becomes intensely bitter against the two cats and even refuses to trust Graystripe after he later joins RiverClan with his kits. Despite her distrust of other Clans, she helps ThunderClan flee to RiverClan after their camp is destroyed by a forest fire.

After Crookedstar dies from greencough, Leopardfur receives her leader name and nine lives, and is then known as Leopardstar. She appoints Stonefur as her first deputy. Now that she is leader, she is able to banish Graystripe from RiverClan after he refuses to fight his friend Fireheart in a battle for Sunningrocks. After Tigerstar becomes leader of ShadowClan, he convinces Leopardstar to join their Clans together to become TigerClan so that they can rule the forest. Leopardstar agrees, because she has feelings for the dark tabby tom. Tigerstar's first decree is to rid TigerClan of half-Clan cats, which includes Leoparstar's deputy Stonefur, his sister Mistyfoot, and Graystripe's kits Featherpaw and Stormpaw. Blackfoot, Tigerstar's deputy, kills Stonefur after the RiverClan deputy fights for the honor of the half-Clan cats. Leopardstar is horrified at her deputy's death and immediately regrets her decision to join TigerClan. She is wracked with guilt over Stonefur's death for a long time, and seems relieved when the other half-Clan cats escape. Leopardstar witnesses Tigerstar's gruesome death and believes that the Clans will be slaughtered at the claws of BloodClan. However, Firestar urges her to fight for the Clans, and she asks him to lead LionClan as she no longer has the strength to lead. She appoints Mistyfoot as her next deputy before the battle with BloodClan in honor of her brother's sacrifice.

Under Leopardstar's strong leadership, there are many moons of peace following the battle with BloodClan. When Mistyfoot is captured by Twolegs, she appoints Hawkfrost as her temporary deputy. However, to the delight of Leopardstar and the Clan, Mistyfoot returns and Leopardstar appoints her as deputy once more. Hawkfrost is privately angered by this decision, but openly accepts Mistyfoot's return. When the forest is destroyed by Twolegs, Leopardstar is the last leader to agree to leave the forest with the other Clans. She insists that RiverClan can survive off of the river and its fish, but eventually she is convinced that the Twolegs will destroy the river, and she leads RiverClan on the Great Journey.

Upon arriving to their new home, Leopardstar is determined to find the best camp for RiverClan and claim as much territory as possible. She is unaware of Hawkfrost's plots with Mudclaw, but her deputy Mistyfoot witnesses the situation and receives help from ThunderClan to stop Mudclaw's rebellion. When Hawkfrost makes up a sign about Stormfur and Brook being obstacles to RiverClan's success, she is initially skeptical, but banishes the mountain cats after Stormfur attacks Hawkfrost in a fit of rage.

After leading RiverClan for several more seasons, Leopardstar loses her last life due to a sickness, later revealed to be diabetes. Her sickness was a secret to the other Clans for moons, as RiverClan was too proud to admit their leader was dying. Mistystar becomes leader in her place and tries to model her leadership to be as strong as Leopardstar's. Leopardstar joins StarClan and continues to watch over the Clans. She is known as one of RiverClan's most significant leaders because she was strong, proud, and fierce.

Interesting facts

 * She and Mothwing are very similar in coloring.
 * Leopardstar was in love with Tigerstar, which is why she agreed to join TigerClan.
 * She once wanted to have kits, but she never had any.
 * Leopardstar was born as what her Clanmates called a "drypaw", meaning she originally didn't like to get her paws wet.
 * The Ultimate Guide claims that Leopardstar had a pure hatred for half-Clan cats, despite making Mistyfoot and Hawkfrost her deputies, knowing they were not fully Clan born.

Author statements

 * Leopardstar is Kate's favorite Clan leader, and she has said that she would like to write about her. She also says that Leopardstar could use a super edition of her own, as she was an underused cat.
 * Vicky agrees with a theory that Leopardstar has kittypet ancestry.
 * Leopardstar died from diabetes.

Mistakes

 * She has been mistakenly described with emerald and blue eyes.
 * She has mistakenly been described as mottled brown and mottled tawny.
 * She has been mistakenly called Leopardfur after she received her leader name.
 * Despite making Stonefur her deputy before Mistyfoot, The Ultimate Guide states the opposite happened.

References and citations
Estrella LeopardinaLeopardensternПятнистая Звезда (Речное племя)LevhartkaÉtoile du LéopardLeoparditähtiLuipaardsterLamparcia Gwiazda