Mothwing

Mothwing is a dappled golden tabby she-cat with amber eyes.
Mothwing is the current medicine cat of RiverClan who has served under Leopardstar's, Mistystar's, Splashtail's, and Icestar's leaderships in the lake territories. She was also previously a temporary leader alongside her apprentice, Frostpaw. She was born as Moth to Sasha and Tigerstar alongside her brothers, Hawk and Tadpole. After Tadpole died, Sasha brought her kits to RiverClan, and Moth became an apprentice as Mothpaw with the Clan deputy Mistyfoot as her mentor. She later earned her warrior name of Mothwing and grew inspired to become a medicine cat. In order to secure power, Hawkfrost faked an omen so Mudfur would accept Mothwing as his apprentice. Mothwing initially dreamed of StarClan, but when Hawkfrost revealed he faked the omen, she refused to believe in StarClan because of it. After Mudfur's death before the Great Journey, Mothwing became RiverClan's sole medicine cat. She formed a close friendship with the ThunderClan medicine cat Leafpool, and she assisted with training Mothwing's apprentice, Willowshine, about StarClan and dreams. Mothwing was manipulated by Hawkfrost to send away Stormfur and Brook from RiverClan, though was finally free from him after his death; she did grieve for her brother.
When Mistystar learned that Mothwing did not believe in StarClan, she removed her from her position and made her an elder. However, Mistystar later received an omen that convinced her to reinstate Mothwing as a medicine cat. Following the Great Battle, Mothwing revealed that she believed StarClan existed, but questioned their guidance. She was named as a codebreaker by the impostor, eventually being exiled from RiverClan for her birth and took refuge in ShadowClan, becoming a medicine cat for the rebels. Although she was allowed back into RiverClan, Mothwing chose to remain in exile and joined ShadowClan under Tigerstar. She later returned to RiverClan following the defeat of the impostor. After returning, Mothwing became the mentor to Frostpaw, and begrudgingly took up leadership of RiverClan following the sudden deaths of Mistystar, Reedwhisker, and Curlfeather. She acknowledged that RiverClan needed help from the other Clans with their current situation seemingly at odds with StarClan. After Frostpaw was believed to be dead, Podlight claimed to have dreams from StarClan, and Mothwing became his mentor. After things took a turn for the worse in RiverClan and she got severely injured, she was banished, alongside Duskfur and Icewing, and stayed in ShadowClan temporarily. After Splashtail's defeat, she returned to RiverClan under Icestar's new leadership and was overjoyed when Frostpaw survived her wounds, renaming her Frostdawn.
==History==
===The New Prophecy===
:Mothwing is a RiverClan warrior. Leopardstar announces her as Mudfur's apprentice, much to the other Clans' dismay, since Mothwing is a former rogue. Mudfur is hesitant to train her and waits for a sign from StarClan of their approval, and he later receives a sign of a moth's wing outside of his den. Mothwing is still very nervous about proving herself a worthy medicine cat and freezes when Reedpaw almost drowns, and Leafpaw has to save him. 
:Mothwing develops a close friendship with ThunderClan's medicine cat apprentice, Leafpaw, and she offers to teach Leafpaw how to fish and often disregards the warrior code for her friend. When Mudfur dies, leaving Mothwing as RiverClan's sole medicine cat, Leafpaw assures her friend that she will do great. Before the Great Journey, her mother, Sasha, arrives and asks for her kits to stay with her and reveals their father was Tigerstar. Hawkfrost and Mothwing gently decline their mother's invitation. 
:At their new home, Mothwing accidentally poisons the elders with tainted water and tells Leafpaw that she doesn't believe in StarClan. Leafpaw has trouble accepting this revelation, but still acknowledges Mothwing as a brilliant medicine cat. Willowpaw becomes Mothwing's apprentice, and Leafpool walks in Willowpaw's dreams to teach her how to interpret omens and prophecies from StarClan. Hawkfrost threatens Mothwing to make up an omen to drive out Stormfur and Brook and calls his sister useless despite faking the moth's wing omen for her. Her brother is killed by Brambleclaw, freeing Mothwing from his manipulation. 
===Power of Three===
:Jaypaw, Leafpool's apprentice, is puzzled by Mothwing's lack of faith in StarClan, though he notes she is talented at her duties. He begrudgingly thinks that Mothwing enjoys the quick nap she gets at each half-moon meeting. Mothwing continues to chat with Leafpool and eagerly shares her herbs with WindClan when a bout of greencough breaks out. Mothwing makes Willowpaw a full medicine cat with the name of Willlowshine. From that point, Mothwing sends Willowshine to the half-moon meetings in her place. 
===Omen of the Stars===
:After Leopardstar dies, Mothwing accompanies Mistyfoot to the Moonpool to receive her nine lives. Mistystar discovers Mothwing does not believe in StarClan, which causes an icy rift between the two. Despite StarClan's warning to avoid talking to the other medicine cats, Mothwing tries to get Jayfeather to speak to her and insists they should not believe everything from StarClan all the time. When Jayfeather reveals her brother, Hawkfrost, is training Clan cats in the Dark Forest, Mothwing is filled with grief and disowns her brother and his actions. She later shows Jayfeather the burning reed, signifying Firestar as the fourth cat.
===A Vision of Shadows===
:She gently teases Jayfeather about his age and grumpiness while on their way to the Moonpool and inquires Leafpool about Puddlepaw's expedited training. She tries to obtain lungwort for Puddleshine during ShadowClan's sickness, but Onestar denies her the ability to gather herbs if they will be used to assist ShadowClan. She and the rest of RiverClan stays in ThunderClan when Darktail and the Kin commandeer their territory. Mothwing and Alderheart venture to RiverClan's territory to gather some of her herb stocks, and Needletail allows them. She and Alderheart conspire with Violetpaw to free Darktail's prisoners. When RiverClan returns to their territory, Mistystar closes her borders and orders Mothwing and Willowshine to not attend the half-moon meetings. Mothwing is injured trying to save her herbs supply during a fire, and Hawkwing notes that she is a very brave she-cat.
===The Broken Code===
:When the Moonpool freezes over and the medicine cats cannot communicate with StarClan, Mothwing reveals she acknowledges StarClan and has ever since the Great Battle, much to Jayfeather's ire. However, she does not believe StarClan is all-knowing and questions the legitimacy of their knowledge. She insists they can use other methods to help their Clans. When Shadowpaw reveals that she is a codebreaker, she and Jayfeather, another named codebreaker, become angry as all they've done is help their Clan. Trying to please StarClan and pressured by Bramblestar, Mistystar exiles Mothwing for being a codebreaker. She helps the rebels plot against Bramblestar's impostor and elects to stay in ShadowClan after Mistystar exiles Icewing and Harelight, citing that Mistystar unfairly exiled her on account of her heritage.
:Now a medicine cat of ShadowClan, Mothwing comes to believe that Shadowsight needs more training due to his involvement in indirectly killing Bramblestar and allowing Ashfur to possess his body, which is supported by both Tigerstar and Puddleshine, but upsets Shadowsight, who is then forced to take care of Ashfur and frequently comes at odds with the she-cat. After Willowshine is killed by Ashfur while trying to reach the Dark Forest, Mothwing blames herself for letting her former apprentice die, but comes to agree with Shadowsight when he insists he is the cat who needs to travel the Dark Forest to find Squirrelflight, with both medicine cats finding common ground and respect for each other. After the impostor's defeat, Mothwing returns to RiverClan as the Clan's only medicine cat.
===A Starless Clan===
:Mothwing is now training Frostpaw, her new apprentice. While Mothwing can be sharp at times, Frostpaw knows that she's still grieving her former apprentice Willowshine. Mistystar suddenly collapses in camp, and despite Mothwing and Frostpaw's best efforts, she dies, and Mothwing heavily grieves for her friend and Clan leader, knowing she'll never speak to her again. After Frostpaw finds a star-shaped dock leaf in her nest, Mothwing agrees with her Clanmates that she and Frostpaw will temporary lead the Clan until Reedwhisker is found. However, after his death, Mothwing is initially skeptical of Frostpaw's interpretations that Curlfeather should be leader, but eventually accepts. After Curlfeather's death, Mothwing decides that RiverClan should break their silence and inform the other Clans of their situation.
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===Novellas===
:In Mothwing's Secret, after Hawkfrost fakes a sign from StarClan, Mothwing becomes Mudfur's medicine cat apprentice. Although she displays natural talent as a healer, Mothwing struggles to accept that StarClan is tangibly real. After her brother repeatedly abuses her position for his own personal gain, Mothwing vows to never lie for him again. During the Great Battle, she witnesses StarClan cats fight alongside the Clans, and Mudfur explains that StarClan doesn't make any mistakes. Mothwing realizes that while StarClan exists, they are not omniscient but vows to use her talent to save her Clanmates.
:In Mistystar's Omen, despite Mothwing's treatments, Leopardstar succumbs to her illness. She encourages Mistyfoot that she is worthy to take the mantle of leadership, and the two friends travel to the Moonpool for Mistyfoot's nine lives. After the ceremony, Mistystar discovers in horror that Mothwing does not believe in StarClan. Mistystar questions Willowshine about her education, but Willowshine adamantly defends her mentor. Regardless, Mistystar demotes Mothwing to an elder. She refuses to have Mothwing treat Reedwhisker's critical injury. Stonefur sends Mistystar a moth, signifying StarClan's faith in Mothwing as a medicine cat. Mothwing treats Reedwhisker, and Mistystar recognizes and respects Mothwing's beliefs.
===Tigerstar and Sasha===
:Sasha gives birth to Tigerstar's kits out in the forest with the names of Hawk, Moth, and Tadpole. She is fearful of their father discovering their existence and forbids her kits to wander too far from their den. Her kits decide to look for Sasha's owner, Ken, but Tadpole drowns during a flood. Pine takes Sasha and her kits to a barn with other "friendly" queens, but are chased out.
:Sasha realizes the safest place for her kits to grow up is in a Clan, so she takes them to RiverClan and tells them about their father. Hawk and Moth are accepted into the Clan and given apprentice names. Leopardstar tells them about the horrors Tigerstar committed to RiverClan, and Sasha makes her kits promise not to tell anyone the truth about their parentage. Recognizing she will never belong in a Clan, Sasha leaves her kits in RiverClan to grow up as warriors.
==Detailed description==
:Mothwing is a triangular-faced, thick, sleek, and long-furred, dappled, golden she-cat. She has rippling tabby stripes, huge, amber eyes, a broad head, and a fluffy tail.
==Character pixels==
===Main images===
===Alternate images===
==Official art==
==Ceremonies==
==Personality==
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==Relationships==
===Hawkfrost===
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===Leafpool===
:Mothwing first encounters Leafpool when the latter is a medicine cat apprentice, and they first meet at the Moonstone. The golden tabby she-cat returns Leafpaw's greeting with a simple acknowledgement, causing Leafpaw to second-guess Mothwing's intentions, thinking that the younger RiverClan medicine cat is trying to put her in her place as an apprentice. When prying about why Mothwing was asking like she was not a proper medicine cat, Leafpaw finds out that Mudfur never received a sign, which disturbed her. The golden tabby she-cat recalls how she thought that StarClan had rejected her, but Mudfur told her to be patient. Leafpaw expresses her sympathy, but Mothwing brings up how her brother Hawkfrost encouraged her to wait for the sign, and how he reminded her not to try to prove herself to other cats. She adds that the sign came two days ago, when Mudfur found a moth's wing outside of his den. Leafpaw is about to question if Leopardstar believed the sign, but is cut off by Mudfur, who ends their conversation abruptly.
:Mothwing and Leafpool are good friends. Mothwing is not afraid to break the warrior code for Leafpool, and they often help each other in hard times.
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===Brambleclaw===
:Mothwing and Brambleclaw are half-siblings, but did not know each other's existence until later life. While Brambleclaw wanted to know his half-siblings, Mothwing wasn't interested, though their mutual connection with Hawkfrost made her observe Brambleclaw out of curiosity. As Mothwing worried for her littermate's descent into cruelty, she projected those same fears onto Brambleclaw without knowing him. When Hawkfrost turned up dead, Mothwing first assumed the worst of Brambleclaw, but had to miserably admit her littermate was the only guilty one.
:Afterwards, Mothwing does not interact with him outside of official duties. Though Bramblestar respects her capability as a medicine cat to care for RiverClan, denying Leafpool's request to help. When Bramblestar acts out of character and starts a tyrannical agenda against codebreakers, Mothwing does not hesitate to protest it. When she discovers her half-brother is possessed, she still joins the rebels to overthrow the impostor. Despite it risking damage to his body, she does it to protect the Clans.
===Tawnypelt===
:Mothwing did not know about her half-sister until after she joined RiverClan. She considered Tawnypelt better off when it came to living in their father's shadow, as her mother was Clan-born, not a rogue. Unlike Brambleclaw, Hawkfrost did not get close to their half-sister, meaning Mothwing didn't have a reason to take extra notice. Though they do not act like sisters, they share certain values, such as them both joining the rebels to keep the Clans safe from a possessed Bramblestar.
==Family==
:Mothwing's parents are Tigerstar and Sasha, and her brothers are Hawkfrost and Tadpole. For more of Mothwing's family, click here!
==Appearances==
==Merchandise==
===Toys and Plush===
====Hawkfrost & Mothwing - Mini Collector Figures====
*Series 4
*Tigerstar's second litter with the loner Sasha were never going to have an easy time in the Clans. Though she lacked her Clanmates' faith in StarClan, Mothwing rose to the challenge of proving herself a worthy Clanmate and medicine cat. Her brother Hawkfrost chose a darker path, eventually leading to an epic showdown by the lake where blood spilled blood.
*Also included in a three-pack bundle with the rest of Series 4: Bluestar, Darkstripe, Crookedstar, and Mapleshade.
*Approximate individual price is $12.99 USD, and the three-pack bundle is $38.97 USD.
==Trivia==
===Interesting facts===
*Mothwing has ThunderClan blood through Tigerstar and kittypet blood through Sasha.
*Mothwing is the second medicine cat to take over the responsibilities of both the leader and deputy, the first being Runningnose.
*Mothwing was briefly leader of RiverClan at the same time her half-brother, Brambleclaw, was leader of ThunderClan, and her half-nephew, Tigerstar, was leader of ShadowClan. This makes them one of only a few instances where cats closely related to each other were leaders of separate Clans at the exact same time, the other time being Skystar and Thunderstar, who are father and son.
===Author statements===
*Cherith and Kate said that Mothwing will go to StarClan, although she would be very surprised.
**Kate thinks that after the battle with the Dark Forest, Mothwing would believe in StarClan, because it's difficult to deny something you've seen with your own eyes.
**Vicky also strongly believes she will go to StarClan because "she is a Clan cat through and through."Revealed on Vicky's Facebook 
**However, in Thunder and Shadow, it is said Mothwing doesn't truly believe they were their own ancestors, and thinks of them as rogues from beyond the territories.
**In Lost Stars, Mothwing states she believes StarClan exists, but questions their guidance.
*In a chat, Kate and Vicky think that if Hawkfrost hadn't sent the false sign of a moth's wing for Mudfur, StarClan wouldn't have sent him a sign to choose her as a medicine cat. However, Cherith contradicts them by saying that she thinks that they would have done it most likely because Mothwing has great talent in the medicinal field.
*Kate views Leafpool and Mothwing as "besties" instead of being closer than friends.
===Mistakes===
*She is mistakenly depicted as gray tabby-and-white on the cover of Return to the Clans.
*Mothwing has been mistakenly described with blue eyes on multiple occasions.
*In her bio for The Ultimate Guide: Updated and Expanded Edition, Mothwing is listed with brown fur.
*She is called a RiverClan medicine cat before she actually rejoins the Clan.
*She is listed as a member of RiverClan in the allegiances of Ivypool's Heart and Star, despite having left in exile at the end of Wind.
===Continuity===
*In The Clans Decide, Mothwing, Jayfeather, Barkface, and Littlecloud measures the length of the line of stones used for voting on each side of the stick. They come to the conclusion that the majority of cats voted for Firestar to lead all four Clans temporarily.
==Quotes==
==External links==
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==Notes and references==
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Category:She-cats
Category:RiverClan cats
Category:Warriors
Category:Medicine cat apprentices
Category:Medicine cats
Category:Mentors
Category:Elders
Category:The Codebreakers
Category:Refugees
Category:Banished or exiled cats
Category:Main characters
Category:Loners
Category:The rebels
Category:ShadowClan cats
Category:Temporary leaders
Category:Point of view characters
Category:Characters with merchandise