Description
Leaders are the head of their Clan.[3] Their personality is the same as their Clan's and describes how their Clanmates treat others.[4] The word of the Clan leader is law, proclaimed by the warrior code, and all other cats in the Clan must obey them.[5] They have their own den, and are assisted by a deputy in their tasks.[6] They are responsible for the whole Clan, calling Clan meetings, appointing cats to new ranks, and making the toughest decisions.[7] Each Clan has one leader, and their names end with the suffix -star.[8] (Examples: Bluestar, Tallstar, Raggedstar) At some times, they can have their warrior suffix, but are still recognized as leader. However, this cat must be waiting to receive nine lives, and cannot properly lead without them.[9]
Qualifications
In order to become leader, a cat must meet these qualifications:
- Mentored at least one apprentice[10]
- Selected by the previous leader to become deputy[11] (with the exception of Nightstar)[12]
- Must have been deputy at the time of the leader's death, retirement, or banishment (unless both the deputy and the leader die, as in the case of Flowerstar[13] and Tigerstar)[14]
In order for a cat to become leader, the previous leader must also be deceased, have retired, have left, or been banished.[15]
Tasks
A leader has various tasks and privileges:
- Oversee the daily operations of the Clan and give them orders[16]
- Speak on behalf of their Clan at Gatherings[17]
- Lead the Clan in battles[18]
- Appoint new apprentices and assign them to mentors[19]
- Appoint new warriors once they've finished their training[20]
- Appoint a new deputy if the former deputy has died, resigned, or been banished[21]
- Counsel with the deputy and the senior warriors and listen to their reports[22]
- Discuss prophecies and omens with their Clan's medicine cat, and listen to their advice[23]
- Solve conflicts between members of the Clan[24]
- Dealing with politics/conflicts that happen out of the Clan, but can still threaten the Clan[25]
- Decide if a non-Clan cat can join the Clan[26]
- Exile Clan members who severely broke the warrior code or who present a danger to the Clan[27]
- A leader is also expected to occasionally carry out warrior tasks, such as going on patrols or mentoring apprentices should they assign one to themselves[28]
- Call Clan meetings if necessary for the good of the Clan[29]
If the leader cannot carry out their tasks (for instance, because of illness or injury), the Clan deputy will substitute for them.[30]
Appointment
When the former Clan leader dies or willingly retires, the current Clan deputy is appointed as the new leader. They make a journey to the Clans' sacred place (such as the Moonstone or Moonpool), escorted by the Clan's medicine cat, to share tongues with their ancestors, receive their nine lives, and get their leader name.[31]
The ancestors greet the new leader with the following words: Your old life is no more. You have now received the nine lives of a leader and StarClan grants to you the guardianship of your Clan. Defend it well, care for young and old, honor your ancestors and the traditions of the warrior code; live each life with pride and dignity.[32]
Nine lives
Upon sharing tongues with StarClan at their leadership ceremony, the new leader is granted nine lives by the ancestors. This does not necessarily mean they will live longer, but they can survive accidents or injuries that would claim the life of any other cat, at the cost of one of their nine lives.[31] Each of the lives are granted by a single ancestor, usually from the same Clan and whose life was meaningful to the cat,[45] and a gift of an attribute. This process can be surprising and painful, but it is important for the leader to fight fiercely for the Clan.[31] See for example Firestar's nine lives.
When the leader loses one of these lives, they black out and are taken to StarClan. From the outside, spectators see a very faint outline of the tom or she-cat rise from their body and pad away.[46] In StarClan, though, a warrior ancestor speaks with the leader.[45] The cat sees a pale outline of themselves that was their lost life.[47] When the cat is revived back to consciousness, the wound or illness is removed to the best of StarClan's ability.[48] If StarClan can't fix the ailment, each of the nine lives are ripped away, such as when Tigerstar was killed by Scourge in The Darkest Hour.[49]
Demotion
Leaders usually serve until the end of their lives, but there are some exceptions:
Retirement
A Clan leader may resign if they wish to do so (such as Pinestar did).[50] This is approved by StarClan, and the current deputy can be appointed as the new leader.[51] The former leader loses their leader name and the lives granted by the ancestors.[50] If the leader doesn't give up all of their remaining lives then the amount they have left will be subtracted from the next leader's nine lives.[52]
Banishment
A Clan can demote a leader if they consider them unfit for the position (such as when ShadowClan banished Brokenstar).[53] However, this is not approved by StarClan, and the ancestors won't recognize a new leader and give them their nine lives as long as the former leader is alive.[54] (As Nightstar was not recognized as succeeding Brokenstar— therefore he was not given nine lives) But in cases such as Pinestar, he was still alive with one life left. When Sunstar was granted nine lives, usually Pinestar would have given him one of the lives, but was not in StarClan, as well as not having gone to the Moonstone directly and stepped down. Therefore Sunstar was only granted eight lives.[52]
Day-to-day life
The Clan leader will take part in patrols and hunting, but usually leaves the actual organization of the patrols to the deputy.[55] Most leaders take interest in all aspects of Clan life, kits, elders, warriors, etc. They also listen to cats' personal problems and attempt to help, most likely to keep their Clan tension-free. Their main job is to keep the Clan running smoothly.[24] When something is wrong in the Clan, cats are to immediately tell the leader first. The leader also listens to recounts of patrols, making sure nothing threatens the Clan.[56]