Warrior Cat Rants

Ashfur: Hate - Remade

(Spoilers for Power of Three and The New Prophecy)

I liked Ashfur before he got rejected and became so shallow. He was loyal and brave, and made a great warrior. I've lost all my respect in him now because of how low he was, and how far he was willing to go to get what he wanted. I hate him as both a character and villain.

Ashfur tried killing four cats out of cold blood a long time after Squirrelflight rejected him. He had it coming, though, since Squirrelflight was with Brambleclaw since Midnight and Ashfur only really talked to her a lot in Starlight. It was obvious that Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight loved each other, and most of the Clan knew that. Ashfur just couldn't accept it and wanted Squirrelflight for himself. I personally think he only wanted her so Brambleclaw would be hurt. Ashfur did try to steal her from him, but failed in the end because Squirrelflight followed her own heart.

Ashfur tried killing Firestar simply because he wanted to; he didn't make a mistake at all, and had no regrets or remorse. He wanted him to die and knew what he was doing so he was able to control his actions without an excuse. He tried killing Lionblaze twice, once in training and another at the fire, along with Jayfeather and Hollyleaf. He even threatened to harm Squirrelflight and tried to ruin her life just so he could be satisfied. That wasn't "out of love"; it was out of selfishness. Ashfur never even loved Squirrelflight; he was obsessed and maybe even lusted for her. But not love.

Long Shadows shows that he did want Firestar to die and had most likely even planned it out:

"Who do you think sent Firestar the message to go down to the lake, where the fox trap was? I wanted him to die, to take your father away so you'd know the real meaning of pain." - Long Shadows, page 274

Sunset even hints that a ThunderClan warrior, notably Ashfur, was part of the plot to kill Firestar with Hawkfrost:

"Fool! Do you think I did this alone? Do you think that you're safe within your own Clan? Think again!" Was Hawkfrost accusing a ThunderClan warrior of leading Firestar into this trap?" - Sunset, page 299

He even used his apprentice, Birchfall, to lure Firestar into the trap:

"Birchpaw told me... Blackstar waiting on our territory... Had to come alone..." - Sunset, page 290

Ashfur also tried accusing Leafpool's sign as fake only because she was Squirrelflight's sister, and also the medicine cat:

"Doesn't any cat think it's odd that Squirrelflight is Brambleclaw's mate, and our medicine cat is Squirrelflight's sister? It's very convenient that she had a sign about Brambleclaw just now, isn't it?" - Sunset, page 258

If Ashfur truly loved Squirrelflight, he'd have accepted it and move on. There were plenty of single she-cats in the Clan at the time and Squirrelflight wasn't the only she-cat in the world. Ashfur didn't even notice Squirrelflight until after she returned from the journey to Midnight. The she-cats in the Clan up to his death were:

Whitewing (before she ended up being with Birchfall)
Daisy (before or after Spiderleg left her)
Hazeltail
Hollyleaf
Cinderheart
Honeyfern
Poppyfrost
Leafpool (unlikely, but she was still free)

Ashfur may have not killed anyone, but he almost did. Attempted murder is still murder, and anyone found of attempting to murder anyone would be severely punished. If ThunderClan knew this, Firestar would have exiled him. Ashfur only did this because he couldn't get what he wanted. Nothing can really justify Ashfur's actions at all, not even the "he only loved too much" reason. He was only in StarClan because of favouritism or so that ThunderClan wouldn't look so bad. Ashfur did more than Hawkfrost, which must mean something if Hawkfrost was sent into the Dark Forest. Ashfur's actions have made him earned a place in the Dark Forest but StarClan wouldn't let ThunderClan look like the Clan with horrible cats.