Badger

"Even a fox kills to eat, but a badger will kill you just for getting in its way. We're not prey to them, but they won't tolerate trespassers on their territory."

— Brambleclaw to Squirrelpaw about badgers in Midnight, page 31

Badger
Friendly
Current:	Hostile, except for Midnight
Creature type
Species:	Meles meles
Book appearances
Living:	The Sun Trail, Thunder Rising, A Forest Divided, Goosefeather's Curse, Yellowfang's Secret, Onestar's Confession, Forest of Secrets, Firestar's Quest, Midnight, Twilight, Long Shadows, Beyond the Code, Bramblestar's Storm, Hawkwing's Journey, Tigerheart's Shadow

Badgers are nocturnal black-and-white creatures that are enemies to cats in the Warriors series.

Description

Notice: The following content describes badgers from the perspective of the Warriors books. Thus, only some or none of this content may be factual information. For more accurate descriptions of badgers, please refer to external sources.

"They're bad-tempered, lumbering animals. They're less likely to raid the nursery than a fox, but they have a vicious bite. How do you think old Halftail earned his name? He hasn't been able to climb a tree since a badger bit his tail off!"

―Graypaw ^{Into the Wild, page 94}

Badgers are much larger than cats, though females are usually smaller than males. They are black and white, have wedge-shaped, pointed muzzles with a white stripe down it, with broad heads and massive shoulders, thick necks, small dark and berry-bright eyes, a wet nose, small ears, short legs, wide haunches, and massive white paws with large pads. Honey badgers appear similar to weasels with their long bodies, and their fur is divided by a white stripe with gray on their backs and heads and black on their undersides. Badgers also have sharp, yellow teeth, and sharp long, blunt claws that can kill a cat with one fatal blow. Their skin is rough, almost leather-like, and they are covered in thick fur, and cats may have difficulty clawing them to draw blood in battle.

Badgers often make their dens in rock caverns such as Snakerocks, or by the sun-drown-place, or in caverns in the ground called sets or dens. Badgers have also been known to live in the tunnels underneath WindClan's territory. Badger are often solitary creatures, though they can live in small groups, such as a mother and her babies or an adult with younger badgers. A mother badger can have up to three cubs in a litter.

Badgers are also nocturnal, only coming out at night to eat. They have difficulty seeing with their small eyes during the day, but can see well at night. They do not eat cats but instead feast upon worms, beetles, and additional grubs. Badgers can also growl, roar, or bellow, especially in battle against cats.

Relation to cats

«A badger would kill out of pure savagery, trampling its prey into the ground or clamping it in its jaws and never let go until its victim was dead.»

—Squirrelflight about badgers ^{Twilight, page 31}

To cats, badgers are regarded as one of the deadliest animals in the forest, often described as killing ruthlessly without a need to eat. They are also responsible for numerous deaths. To cats, badgers are slow, clumsy and bad-tempered black-and-white animals. Despite this, they can still be quick in battle, and present a serious danger to cats and their kits, even killing them or attacking the nursery. Badgers are also a danger to the wildcats.

While badgers can be sluggish, they can trample their victims with their enormous paws, or easily get thrown off. It is nearly impossible to escape the grip of a badger's jaw. Their bites can also lead to infection. A sane warrior should never try to take on a badger by themselves, no matter how experienced they are. Warriors can gain the advantage in battle by striking at a badger's exposed underside, using speed to their advantage by striking swiftly then falling back, or jumping on a badger's back. In the series, badgers often wander into the Clans' territory in search of prey, settling nearby and creating their own territory. This often results in frequently conflicts between Clan cats and badgers, and Clans will either force the badger away in battle or wait until it moves on.

Only one badger, Midnight, has been friendly towards cats, and is capable of speaking the cat language. Midnight helped the cats on the journey to the sun-drown-place and warned the Clans of her relatives that wanted to harm ThunderClan.

Badgers have also been used in Clan terminology: kits often ask for badger rides by climbing on the backs of older cats, Graypaw once joked that his crouch resembled a lopsided badger, and badgers are often akin to negative connotations, such as grumpy and bad attitudes. Morningpaw retorts to her denmates that they as noisy as badgers.

Known deaths

This is a list of cats, ordered chronologically, who were killed by badgers.

• Petal and Fox's mother
• Willowpelt
• Sootfur
• Cinderpelt
• Dustpelt
• Billystorm

History

In the Dawn of the Clans arc

The Sun Trail

Stoneteller warns the travelling cats to be prepared to face off against new dangers in their new territory, including badgers. In the bonus scene, a badger kills Petal and Fox's mother, leaving her two kits orphaned.

Thunder Rising

"It's called a badger. I remember Shaded Moss telling me about them. He said they live in groups like us, and they're really fierce."

―Tall Shadow about the badger ^{Thunder Rising, page 238}

While searching for Owl Eyes, Gray Wing, Tall Shadow, and Jackdaw's Cry encounter a badger in the tunnels and manage to escape.

A Forest Divided

While heading back to the forest in a blizzard, Clear Sky and Thunder are ambushed by an ill badger. It attacks Clear Sky though Thunder manages to lead the badger away to save his father.

In The Prophecies Begin arc

Forest of Secrets

When Fireheart, Sandstorm, and Brackenpaw go hunting, they hear a kit wail, and Fireheart sees a bulky black-and-white animal. He picks up the scent of a badger, and, with its paw, the animal reaches into a gap between two rocks where Cloudkit cowers. Fireheart goes to help and scratches the badger's side, and the badger rounds on him with snapping jaws, although Brackenpaw leaps from the side and claws its eyes. The badger whips its head to where Sandstorm had bitten one of its back legs and it kicks her off. Fireheart comes back and claws the badger's flank, causing blood to fall onto the snow, and the badger growls but backs away, and as Sandstorm gets to her paws and advanced, the badger turns and lumbers up the ravine.

When Bluestar explains to Fireheart how she gave up her kits, Fireheart asks what she told the rest of the Clan, and the leader responds that she made it look like they had been taken from the nursery by a fox or badger.

In The New Prophecy arc

Midnight

"Badgers and cats don't mix, and that's the end of it."

―Brambleclaw about badgers ^{Midnight (book), page 38}

A patrol consisting of Thornclaw, Ashfur, Brambleclaw and Squirrelpaw find a badger living at Snakerocks, and ThunderClan wonders if it's the same badger that killed Willowpelt moons prior. Later, the six questing cats—Brambleclaw, Squirrelpaw, Feathertail, Stormfur, Tawnypelt, and Crowpaw—meet Midnight, a badger who, unlike most of her kin, is friendly towards cats, and can speak their language. Midnight is also able to talk with StarClan, like a medicine cat. Midnight tells the cats that their home, the forest, is going to be destroyed by Twolegs, and that they must convince the other Clans to travel into the unknown to find a new home.

Twilight

Main article: Battle against the badgers (TNP)

"I have no side. Cats, badgers, in peace could live. I speak against attack, but my kin not listen to me. For many days now they talk of blood and revenge."

―Midnight warning Leafpool and Crowfeather of the attack ^{Twilight, page 277}

Blackclaw and Hawkfrost of RiverClan drive a badger out of their territory. Squirrelflight, Brambleclaw, and other cats drive another badger out of ThunderClan territory. A group of badgers attack ThunderClan in revenge, killing Cinderpelt and Sootfur, and injuring many other cats. Midnight convinces Leafpool and Crowfeather, and later WindClan, to help ThunderClan in the attack.

In the A Starless Clan arc

Thunder

When Riverstar tells Frostpaw to follow the Thunderpath with three stripes, she frustratedly thinks that badgers have stripes, not Thunderpaths.

In the Super Editions

Yellowfang's Secret

Raggedpelt encounters a huge badger and Yellowfang arrives just in time to save him. When Cedarstar sends out a patrol to drive out the badger, when they find the badger gone, Yellowfang's Clanmates congratulate her on showing the badger how fierce ShadowClan warriors really are. Though Yellowfang feels relieved they don't have to harm the cubs. Later, Fernshade names her son Badgerkit after his striped-face resembling a badger's.

Firestar's Quest

While on a border patrol, Willowpelt, Firestar, Sootpaw, Ashfur, and Thornclaw encounter a badger at Snackrocks. While no one is looking, the badger confronts Sootpaw, rearing up, about to crush him, but Willowpelt knocks her son out of the way, sacrificing herself for her son in the process. Her death is described with her shriek being cut off by a sickening crunch as the badger snapped her neck.

Bramblestar's Storm

Main article: Battle against the badgers (BrS)

During the Great Storm, several badgers move into ShadowClan's newest temporary territory due to the flood, creating conflict with ShadowClan patrols attempting to hunt. Tawnypelt requests her brother Bramblestar's help since ShadowClan is suffering. Bramblestar rallies his warriors to assist ShadowClan, arriving right on time to assist Rowanstar and his warriors in the midst of battle. Both Clans emerge victorious, though Dustpelt is killed.

Hawkwing's Journey

«Darktail was wrong! The badger den isn't abandoned at all!»

—Hawkwing about the badgers ^{Hawkwing's Journey, page 69}

While searching for the Clans, Hawkwing, Blossomheart, Billystorm, Waspwhisker, and Pebblepaw encounter what they were told was an abandoned badgers' den. However, they are ambushed by four badgers: two younger ones and two much larger ones. The SkyClan warriors fight viciously to defend themselves, though Billystorm is killed.

Tigerheart's Shadow

A badger attacks Tigerheart, Scorchfur, and Juniperclaw though the ShadowClan cats barely manage to defeat it when Tigerheart learns the badger is already ill.

Onestar's Confession

«The elders didn't tell me half of it! This creature is terrifying!»

—Onepaw's thoughts about the badger ^{Onestar's Confession, page 15}

Deadfoot, Mudclaw, Wrenflight, and Onepaw patrol the RiverClan border after Crookedstar had reported spotting a badger on RiverClan's land. Wrenflight instructs her apprentice Onepaw to stay back in case they encounter a badger. Instead, they find a kittypet named Bailey and her two kits, Leo and Melody. A lumbering badger attacks them, and Bailey helps the WindClan cats to drive it away and protect her kits. Bailey's bravery against the badger encourages the WindClan cats to honor her request to speak with Tallstar, who later asks for her kits to train as warriors.

Ivypool's Heart

While searching the strange Twoleg den, Icewing spots a creature that resembles a weasel and a badger, calling it a weasel-badger. While helping Tumble Leap and Stalk Purr escape, Rootspring leads the weasel-badger out of its cage to distract the Twoleg.

In the SkyClan and the Stranger arc

Beyond the Code

A group of injured SkyClan cats run into the gorge, and Sharpclaw informs Leafstar that they met a badger, and obviously didn't want its worms and grubs, but it threatened them anyways, and turned on them. He explains that they managed to drive it farther into the woods, but all of them got hurt, and Ebonyclaw has a bad bite on her leg. Leafstar is worried that one badger has hurt them that much.

That night, Leafstar and Sharpclaw discuss their new hunting patterns, and Sharpclaw notes that changing them has put them in competition with badgers and foxes. The next day, Leafstar announces to the Clan that patrols will have eight cats in them. Sparrowpelt objects to this, but Petalnose counters that the only other option would be to become prey for foxes and badgers.

Official art

Please do not edit this gallery Badger on the cover of Twilight Badger in Onestar's Confession Badger in Secrets of the Clans Badger in Battles of the Clans Badger in The Ultimate Guide Badger in the Fever Dreams Warriors Adventure Game

Trivia

• While the old forest was based on an English location, badgers in Warriors appear to be depicted as American badgers.
• In Ivypool's Heart, Icewing spots a creature that looks like a cross between a weasel and a badger. This is later confirmed to be a honey badger on the Warriors website.

See also

• Midnight (character)

External links

• Badger
  • European badger
  • American badger