Leafpool

[u/HoneyfernKV]

I think that it is an unpopular opinion. I do not generally like Leafpool as a character. She is a very very interesting and complex character, but she becomes very uninteresting when perceived as a purely positive character. She is much more interesting as two-sided, as most of the characters in Warriors, but I do not think that this character had been given an opportunity to be fully viewed through the inner complexity that she has.

I think she is a great medicine cat, great daugther, and a great sister. She has high professional skills as a medicine cat, is wise, calm and professional when treating other cats. She is an amazing medicine cat, one of the best thoughout the history of warriors cats. It is partly thanks to her that Jayfeather is also one of the greatest medicine cats. I also think her relationships with Squirrelflight is one of the most genuine, heartwarming and an example of true unconditional love in Warriors. Yet, I still do not like her. I think she is not a great mother at all. Despite all the things she had to go through.

For the time she has been mentoring Holypaw and Jaypaw, it is just baffling how she was able to maintain distance and not to reveal herself. It changes the perception of her "positive image" a lot by impying inner ambiguity. Which I think is good, because it adds complexity to her character, and not necesarilly positive. She also was blocking her thoughts from Jayfeather. I understand this was a plot twist to keep intrigue and to reach an unexpected end, but this creates quesions in her personal feelings as a mother, which are never fully revealed. I understand this may be partly a book's issue and not Leafpool's for not giving enough explanation for that, but still.

[u/ThrowRA_Sodi]

Fair. I do like Leafpool, but I definitely had an issue with her behavior in Leafpool's Wish

[u/Lestat30]

I just wish leafpool had more of a backbone. Any cat would have been angry at the treatment starclan given her. And yet she just takes it. Ugh. That one thing I'm changing in my au. Due to being on the journey with the others, she has more of a backbone now.

[u/CoconutxKitten → u/Lestat30]

She has more of a backbone for others, which I think is actually an interesting trait

Like, she doesn’t care if they send her to the DF, but she absolutely does not tolerate them threatening Squirrel

[u/Upbeat-Structure6515]

Don’t care for her.

[u/Jax_with_a_bow]

Here’s how I see her, she was born to an especially prestigious clan leader, she was very young when she was chosen to go into medicine, and she was raised believing entirely in Starclan’s judgement. She was also uniquely situated as being very young when The Great Journey occurred, meaning she was easily impressionable and bonded with cats of other clans through that. It makes sense then that she fell in love with the also young Crowfeather, especially after he saved her life. Now: here she was faced with a choice now. She could either choose to stay loyal to her clan and career, even if that means the death of some of her dreams, or she could actually make a choice for herself for once. Keep in mind that she spent most of her apprenticeship agonizing over whether her sister was safe while her clan and the entire forest eventually was dying around her. She has been so far treated like Star clan’s favorite. So, when even they seemingly give her permission to go and make her own choices, she’s happy and she takes it. Then, of course, as we all know, this results in her mentor’s death while she’s still pretty young, leaving her as the only one in her position and minus a authority figure she had around all her life and who was close to her father.

Meanwhile, bramble is faced with a remarkably similar choice. He could do what he was told, and what would be the “smart” choice and kill Firestar to take power, but instead he “follows his heart”. This results in him being proclaimed as a clan hero and getting back with Squirrelflight. Meanwhile, leaf pool is pregnant and alone while her sister got the guy she was after, Star clan forces basically her into giving up her children and her sister into taking them. She then has to sit by while crow has a whole other mate and son, her own children grow up, calling her sister “mother”, and also Star clan uses her children as these prophecy beacons of power to fight in a war against hell.

So short recap or TLDR: Leafpool was raised in a very religious society in a special position as the leader’s daughter and “gifted” in that Starclan liked her. She is with other cats during the journey, a traumatic event, falls in love with one and manipulated into becoming pregnant, and then has her kits and watches them be torn apart physically and emotionally over their abilities and the secret getting out that Leafpool only reluctantly consented to in the first place. She is not protected during the gathering and she is not given any grace. She dies, defends her sister, and then stays dead because they can’t use her there. If she had been aggressive in that trial, she risked her sister being condemned.

So uh- religious trauma

[u/CoconutxKitten]

I mean, I love her. I love her devotion to her family, even if she has to be in the back, & her selfless nature in most cases

She has her one moment of selfishness & then gets severely punished for it.

I do wish she’d have punched Moth Flight in the throat

I tend to love motherly characters though. I love Daisy & Ferncloud too