The Prophecies Begin

"In the midst of this turmoil appears an ordinary house cat named Rusty...who may turn out to be the bravest warrior of them all." This article contains major spoilers for the recently released book, The Prophecies Begin, volume 1. Please proceed at your own discretion.

The Prophecies Begin
Release date
16 July 2024
Authors
Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Natalie Riess, Sara Goetter
Books
Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3
Chronology
Navigate to Warriors books for all arcs.

The Prophecies Begin is a Warriors graphic novel arc that adapts the original novel series under the same name.

Concept development

"VIOLENCE. FRIENDSHIP. KITTIES."

―Natalie and Sara Riess-Goetter ^{Interview with the writers and illustrators of The Prophecies Begin graphic novel!}

The graphic novel adaptation was first revealed on September 28th, 2023 when the Warrior Cats website revealed the title and cover of the first volume. The writers and illustrators are the married duo Natalie and Sara Riess-Goetter, who have previously worked on original graphic novels such as Dungeon Critters and Cryptid Kids: The Bawk-Ness Monster. The announcement also coincided with the previous illustrator, James Barry, announcing his retirement from working on the series after 15 years. Natalie and Sara have been working on the project since 2021, with Natalie working on the script and pencils, and Sara inking the pages. Sara used a Zig Clean Color Real Brush, the Pilot Shunpitsu, and the Kuretake Bimoji Fine pen to ink the illustrations, and Natalie used Adobe Photoshop to pencil and color the illustrations.

On January 31st, 2024, the Warrior Cats website teased that they were currently reviewing the pages for the second volume. An interview with Sara Natalie was later published on May 6th, and they revealed that the entire first arc was condensed into three volumes. When asked about the process of rearranging and condensing material into a shorter comic format, the authors explained that:

The cat personas of the authors, Sara and Natalie Riess-Goetter

"There was a lot of balancing! Rearranging six books into three while keeping the story cohesive and satisfying for each volume was a little bit of a challenge, but it was the first step of the writing process. We did a careful readthrough and made a big outline of all three books, planning out where each event would go and about how many pages it would take. There was a back and forth with Ms. Hunter to make sure we got in the things that were important to her, too. Basically, it came down to 1) is this important to the plot and moving the characters forward? 2) does it set a mood or tell us more about the characters? 3) will it look really cool to readers and be exciting to draw? and 4) does it fit Erin’s vision?"

Volume 1 would adapt Into the Wild and the first half of Fire and Ice. The cover of the second volume was revealed on May 16th and will cover Forest of Secrets and Rising Storm. As part of the promotion for the first volume's release, Warriors teamed up with the US bookstore chain Barnes & Noble to host celebration events in participating stores across the United States July 19th through 21st. Some participants were given a preview of the first sixteen pages of the second volume. The first volume was officially released on July 16th.

Summary

Coming Soon

Books

Volume 1

Bluestar and Spottedleaf receive a message from StarClan that fire alone can save their Clan. With ThunderClan in dire need of more warriors, a housecat named Rusty joins ThunderClan as an apprentice, though he is constantly judged for his kittypet heritage. He trains alongside Graypaw and Ravenpaw, under the shared mentorship of Lionheart and Tigerclaw, and Bluestar herself later takes over his training. Meanwhile, ShadowClan demands more territory for their growing Clan, even going as far as to drive WindClan away, exile their medicine cat Yellowfang, and attempt to steal kits from ThunderClan. As punishment for breaking the warrior code, Firepaw is tasked with caring for Yellowfang as ThunderClan's prisoner, though she is eventually accepted as a member of the Clan after defending the kits from ShadowClan's raid.

When ShadowClan steals Frostfur's kits and kills Spottedleaf, ThunderClan blames Yellowfang from the crimes. While searching for Yellowfang, Firepaw and Graypaw take Ravenpaw to Barley's farm for his safety, as he claims that Tigerclaw killed the previous deputy, Redtail, at Sunningrocks. After rescuing the kits from ShadowClan and driving out Brokenstar, Firepaw and Graypaw are named warriors: Fireheart and Graystripe. Bluestar sends them to bring WindClan home, and the two are assigned apprentices of their own: Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw. Graystripe falls in love with a RiverClan warrior named Silverstream, which compromises him when ThunderClan aids WindClan in battle against RiverClan and ShadowClan. Fireheart reaffirms that no matter what Graystripe decides, he will always be his friend.

Volume 2

Coming Soon

Volume 3

Coming Soon

Characters

Main characters

• Fireheart

Major characters

• Tigerclaw
• Bluestar
• Spottedleaf
• Graystripe
• Lionheart
• Ravenpaw
• Yellowfang
• Crookedstar
• Nightstar
• Tallstar
• Silverstream

Supporting characters

• Princess
• Whitestorm
• Longtail
• Redtail
• Darkstripe
• Brokenstar
• Barley
• Blackfoot
• Sandpaw
• Dustpaw
• Cinderpaw
• Brackenpaw

Gallery

Concept artwork for volume 1 and Fireheart's design

Behind the scenes of making volume 1

Publication history

• Volume 1 (EN), HarperCollins (hardcover), 16 July 2024
• Volume 1 (EN), HarperCollins (paperback), 16 July 2024
• Volume 1 (EN), HarperCollins (e-book), 16 July 2024
• Volume 2 (EN), HarperCollins (hardcover), 15 April 2025
• Volume 2 (EN), HarperCollins (paperback), 15 April 2025
• Volume 2 (EN), HarperCollins (e-book), 15 April 2025

See also

• The Prophecies Begin (novel arc)

External links

• Exclusive first look: The Prophecies Begin graphic novel and cover on the Warriors official website (backup link)
• Meet the cast - The Prophecies Begin Graphic Novel on the Warriors official website (backup link)
• Interview with the writers and illustrators of The Prophecies Begin graphic novel! on the Warriors official website (backup link)
• Exclusive cover reveal: The Prophecies Begin graphic novel #2 on the Warriors official website (backup link)
• New The Prophecies Begin activity sheet on the Warriors official website (backup link)
• New release: The Prophecies Begin graphic novel on the Warriors official website (backup link)