Badgerfang

Badgerfang is a minor character in the Warriors series, first appearing in a short story in Code of the Clans and again showing up in Yellowfang's Secret, Blackfoot's Reckoning and another short story in The Ultimate Guide. He is one of many victims of Brokenstar's reign, being apprenticed three moons too early and dying in a battle against WindClan. Though his role is small, he has a large impact on Brokenstar's story by highlighting how heinous the tyrant's crimes are.
==Appearance==
Badgerfang is a small tom kitten with with green eyes, fuzzy black-and-white fur and a face striped like a badger's- hence his name.
==Biography==
Yellowfang helps Fernshade during her kitting, in which she gives birth to a single black-and-white kitten. The medicine cat points out how the newborn's face has the stripes of a badger, and for this Fernshade decides to call him Badgerkit. Like all other apprentices made under Brokenstar's reign, Badgerpaw starts his warrior training at three moons old rather than six, with Flintfang being his mentor. Brokenstar announces Badgerpaw's apprenticeship at the next Gathering, and when the other Clan's medicine cats point out that he's still too young, Yellowfang tells them that Brokenstar knows what he's doing. As ShadowClan returns home from the Gathering, Badgerpaw excitedly walks beside his leader, who tells him that his first battle is coming soon.
After Brokenstar claims to have found traces of WindClan cats on ShadowClan territory and announces an attack on them for the next morning, Badgerpaw eagerly tells his mentor the news and says that he's going to use the moves that Flintfang had been teaching him. Flintfang reminds him to remember his training, adding that there's no shame in losing a battle. Yellowfang picks up on the mentor's heavy voice, wondering if he really wants to bring his underage apprentice into battle. Fernsong tells her son how proud she is of him, and before the battle patrol leaves Yellowfang wants to get Badgerpaw out of it and point out that he's far too young to be fighting, but ends up keeping it to herself.
As ShadowClan attempts to drive WindClan out of their territory, Badgerpaw attacks an unnamed WindClan warrior, who retaliates in a panic and fatally wounds him, causing him to collapse as blood leaks out of his ear. Seeing this, Flintfang rushes over and chases the WindClan cat off, dragging his heavily bleeding apprentice to the edge of the battlefield. Badgerpaw is noted to smell of crowfood and his breaths are shallow, but just when his mentor is about to go attack the WindClan warrior in revenge, he wakes up. With his dying breaths, he asks Flintfang if he did a good job and says that he hopes his mom and Brokenstar will be proud of him. The older tom assures him that Fernshade will be very proud, stating that ShadowClan will always remember his bravery.
Badgerpaw then asks if StarClan will make him a warrior, wondering what his name will be. Flintfang says that they'll probably let him choose his own warrior name, and he replies that he wants to be called Badgerfang because Flintfang was such a good mentor. With a soft sigh, Badgerfang dies, and Flintfang, flooded by grief and anger at Brokenstar, vows to never train another underage apprentice again.
After the battle Flintfang returns to camp solemnly carrying Badgerfang's body. As Wolfstep and Fernshade mourn their son, Yellowfang whispers to the dead apprentice that he'll go to StarClan, promising he'll shine brightly. Flintfang tells her that his new name is Badgerfang. She says that it's a good name, adding that Brokenstar making kits into apprentices too early must be stopped. Flintfang concurs, then goes to tell Badgerfang's parents what happened and assure them he died a true warrior. Once Brokenstar is informed of the black-and-white kit's death, he's disappointed that he didn't live to be a warrior, apathetic towards indirectly getting him killed. Yellowfang snaps at him that he would have become a warrior if he hadn't been sent into battle at three moons old, demanding him to stop training kits before they're ready. Brokenstar dismisses her by stating that she isn't a leader, and shortly after another underage apprentice named Littlepaw comes up to her and asks if Badgerfang is really dead. Sadly Yellowfang tells him that he is, and to her shock Littlepaw is excited, stating that it mean he's a true warrior now, and hopes that he's watching from StarClan.
Quite a while later, after Brokenstar and his successor Nightstar die, Tigerclaw is chosen as ShadowClan's new leader and goes to the Moonstone to receive his new name and nine lives from StarClan. There, he's visited by the spirit of Badgerfang, who explains how he died young and was given a warrior name when Tigerclaw points out that he's too tiny to be a warrior. Tigerclaw accepts this and then asks what life he's here to give him, and Badgerfang tells him to be patient before giving him a life of perspective. After Tigerstar's death, Blackfoot is chosen as the next leader and, like with Tigerstar, Badgerfang gives him a life of perspective.
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
*Badgerfang is one of the few cats in the series to not have any littermates. Despite this, he mistakenly states that he had trained alongside his non-existent littermates in The Ultimate Guide.
*Him having green eyes was revealed on author Victoria Holmes' Facebook.
*Also revealed on Victoria's Facebook was the fact that Ivytail and Whitewater are his sisters from a later litter, though this has since been retconned.
==External Links==
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