Warriors Fanfics: Specialized Writing Guide

Twolegs (Humans)

July 22, 2019

This section discusses humans in the Warriors universe, what they do, and how they might be used to enhance fanfiction. As Warriors is an animal story, they are generally regarded as plot devices rather than characters; to date, no canon story treats a human as a character.

In any book about animals, humans make an inevitable appearance. Whether they are exploring the abandoned area the story takes place in, intervening directly with one of the characters, or their domain is the setting, they are always ready to act as a plot device. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Yes, I have railed plot devices before, or at least the idea of using complex topics and tropes as poorly used plot devices. In a story centered around animals a line is usually drawn between them and humans, and that line is often very pronounced. In such stories, Warriors included, they often cannot be controlled. Rightfully so. We are the apex creatures of planet Earth, after all. But just because our animals (often) lack the ability to control us in stories centered around them, it does not mean we have to be out of sight all the time.

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HUMANS IN WARRIORS

Known as 'twolegs' to the cats of the Warriors universe, they are treated roughly the same as other books about animals, albeit with less screen time. Humans are a constant threat for cats. They run them over with their 'monsters', walk around their territory uninvited, and have literally destroyed settings in rare occasions. Saying humans are a dominant force is an understatement, but saying they are the dominant force would be incorrect. That title goes to StarClan and, to a lesser extent, the Place of No Stars. Some books about animals use their humans similarly. In Watership Down, humans are the cause of the conflict in their tearing up of the moors the rabbits live on, forcing them to move. But are they the cause of all the character development, minor conflicts, and the ending? No. Same can be said about the humans in Warriors. Did some insane homeless guy give Spottedleaf her prophecy? No. StarClan did.

This comes at little surprise. Animals cannot speak to us in the same way we speak to each other. With Warriors being about feral cats, it would not make sense for them to openly communicate with humans. If they cannot communicate effectively with our characters or interact within the boundaries of our setting, then their role in the story is usually demoted. In the canon's case, to plot devices. Children exist to get scared off by our feral cats, cars exist to kill minor characters, they can destroy parts of the setting on occasion, they ignorantly strut through clan territory, and they bring things with them that they may lose. And they... actually, that is about it. They do not do much else in canon aside from these minor inconveniences. Sure they may kill a cat here and there, but it is usually nothing serious to the main plots in the books. The worst they have ever done, in fact, was presumably bring dogs close enough to the forest to allow Tigerclaw to manipulate them (I only say presumably because the dogs certainly were not there in books prior to A Dangerous Path).

It is unfortunate that humans are often underutilized in Warriors. But the Erins certainly use them better than how they are used in movies about animals: as evil beings looking to cut down a forest for no other reason than to build luxury housing or something. The Erins do not even use them poorly. But they could be used in so many more ways than they are. Some situations may have even benefited from their presence.

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WHY SPECIFICALLY HUMANS?

There are plenty of plot devices out there for us to use in any storytelling medium. Some are not easily available to us with animal stories like Warriors. This is where humans come in.