The Rise of Scourge

The Rise of Scourge is the first stand-alone Warriors graphic novel. It features Scourge as the main protagonist. Its original print was in grayscale, but it received a full-color release in March 2024.
==Blurb==
:When kittypet Tiny crosses paths with some wild forest cats defending their territory, he is left with scars - and a bitter, deep-seated grudge. As his reputation grows among the strays and loners that live in the dirty brick alleyways of Twolegplace, he changes his name to Scourge and puts everything about his old life behind him - except his deadly desire for revenge.
==Praise==
:"Grade 4–7—This adaptation provides a look at the origins of the cat Scourge, the evil leader of the BloodClan. Tiny is a fearful house kitten who is the runt of the litter. Once he strikes out on his own, though, he renames himself Scourge and vows to take revenge on the wild forest cats who once attacked him. Though drawn and laid out in a manga style, the illustrations are more detailed than typical manga drawings and effectively bring out the cats' personalities and characters."Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn Public Library, NY at amazon.com
::-School Library Journal
==Detailed plot description==
:Tiny introduces himself, his brother and sister, Socks, and Ruby, and his mother, Quince. While trying to play with his siblings, Tiny is picked on for being much smaller than them and they make it clear that they don't like him either. Quince berates her kits' attitude towards Tiny, trying to reassure the young tom. In the following days, she takes her kits into the garden to explore, and Tiny becomes curious of the world beyond the fence as he figures it must be the forest. That night, he asks his mother about the forest. Quince explains that she knows only what his father had told her, as he much preferred exploring than she did. She tells him that the forest is a dark and dangerous place full of ferocious, forest cats that fight every day to survive. Tiny asks, full of sincerity, if they would ever go to the forest, but Quince soothes his worries that they wouldn't. As her kits settle in for sleep, Quince bounds over to a photo of Jake, reminiscing about the tom and their kits' inheriting his spirit.
:While out in the garden again, Tiny hides under a bush as he watches his siblings play. As he does, he feels as though his mother loves them more than him. He attempts to play with Socks and Ruby, but they rudely reject him which leads to Quince scolding them. While she does, Tiny bitterly understands that all they care about is being big and strong. He decides to prove himself and escapes the garden through the fence. The small tom explores the immediate area of the forest from his Twoleg nest. Despite being swooped by a large crow, Tiny shows little fear and is proud of himself for doing so. He hears his mother calling him as he returns home. Upon returning, Quince asks him where he had been and as he tells his family, Tiny realizes that none of them believes a word he is saying. While he is settled into his nest, Quince talks with Socks and Ruby explaining that they will be moving to new Twolegs themselves. While both kits complain, they listen to their mother, while Tiny pays little attention to the fact and turns his focus on proving to his family that he is just as strong as they are.
:When Twolegs and their kit visit Tiny and his siblings, Tiny pays little attention to them while Socks and Ruby play and pretend for the kit. Ruby approaches a sulking Tiny and tells him that unwanted kits are thrown in the river. Despite this being a lie intended to scare him, Tiny takes her words to heart and the following day tries to get noticed by the Twoleg kit. However, she pays no mind to Tiny and walks past him in order to play with Socks and Ruby. Out of fear, Tiny leaves through the whole in the fence to escape being thrown into the river. As he walks along the edge of Twolegplace, two kittypets watch him and call out to him to not enter the forest. One makes a comment about his size, which angers Tiny and he storms off after scenting something deeper in the woods. While exploring further, he unintentionally trespasses into ThunderClan territory and is found by a patrol. One of the older cats orders a younger tabby to attack Tiny, who is frozen in fear by the sight of the cats. The tabby viciously attacks Tiny, who cries out in pain until the other cat calls the attack off. She tells Tigerpaw that the intruder has learned his lesson, which the tabby turns to Tiny and states that he will never forget it. The forest cats leave as Tiny departs from the forest. Tired, hungry, and in pain, Tiny remembers that he cannot go home and instead opts to head further into Twolegplace as he sadly says goodbye to his mother.
:In Twolegplace, Tiny is met with the harsh reality of struggling cats, knowing that his mother had mentioned this to him. Still hungry, he goes in search of food, but luckily happens upon an old she-cat who offers him some chicken. She explains to him what a kittypet is when he asks, telling him that his collar marks him as a cat owned by Twolegs. Annoyed, Tiny attempts to tear his collar off, but in his struggle, attracts an audience that laughs at him. He stalks off, encountering an elderly dog. The dog is called away by a Twoleg and leaves behind a tooth. Tiny tries to use the tooth to tear his collar, but instead it becomes lodged in the fabric. The following day, he is woken up from a nightmare of the tabby. Tiny takes to wandering Twolegplace in search of food. He encounters a group of cats eating, so he asks if they will share with him. One of the cats asks about the tooth in his collar and Tiny lies, saying he killed a dog and took it as a trophy. The rogue believes him and shares food with him. In the following hours, as he rests in a tyre, Tiny is approached by two cats that introduce themselves as Bone and Brick. Brick asks if he is the one that fights dogs, and that if he is, to follow them. Tiny follows along and is asked if he will fight a dog that is causing trouble for the Twolegplace cats. Bone ponders if the young cat is lying while Brick gives him until moonhigh to decide or leave Twolegplace for good.
:After investigating further, Tiny decides to fight the dog despite how scared he is. As he approaches the dog it snarls at him, but begins whimpering. Confused at first, Tiny notices that the dog is scared of his shadow. The dog takes off whimpering as Tiny catches some of its fur in his claws as a trophy. The cats of Twolegplace congratulate him and thank him as one of them asks his name. In that moment, Tiny realizes no one had asked him that since he'd arrived. He thinks back to what his mother had called the forest cats and renames himself Scourge. As Scourge, he finds himself well respected by the rogues as they come to him with their problems. Despite this, Scourge remains unsatisfied with himself as he begins plotting his revenge against the tabby that had attacked him. Some time later, Bone and Brick seek him out with word of a rogue causing trouble. Scourge and his companions go to investigate, and at first he catches forest scent hoping it to be the tabby. However, he soon sees that it is not the tabby but a cat with a twisted tail tormenting another cat. He calls out to them to knock if off, and the tabby challenges him to see the leader of Twolegplace. When Scourge replies that he is, the tabby and his followers laugh at him and begin tormenting him. In a moment of weakness, Scourge overcomes it by killing one of the cats, much to the shock of his own followers and the forest cats. From that, Scourge secures himself as the leader of Twolegplace and makes a direct order that no cat is allowed to take food without his permission. 
:As time passes, Scourge notices that he is gifted trophies and food by his followers who now fear him. Bone and Brick bring him visitors and the small tom is shocked to see his siblings. Socks and Ruby explain that their Twolegs abandoned them and that they don't know how to hunt for themselves. Scourge asks why he should take pity on them, but as they beg, decides to take pity on them and share his food. He lectures them on the meaning of blood, introducing his followers as BloodClan to them. However, he notices that his words are lost on them. As soon as they finish eating he gives Bone the order to escort them off of BloodClan's territory and to ensure they're not welcome back. Scourge lets his thoughts drift back to the tabby as he finally figures that he won't be content until their blood is spilt. He is given the chance moons later when the tom, while accompanied by Boulder, comes to him with an offer. Scourge accepts his offer, biding his time for the perfect moment to exact his revenge. The time comes as he leads BloodClan to the forest and he faces off against Tigerstar head on, and manages to strip the leader of his lives. He announces himself victorious, knowing he has won finally after moons of being scorned for his size.
==Trivia==
===Interesting facts===
*While this book's grayscale print was originally referred to as a 'manga', it is not, as it did not originate in Japan and was not drawn by Japanese mangaka.Revealed on wikipedia.org
===Author statements===
*Dan Jolley wrote Scourge's backstory to mirror Firestar's beginnings, only with a darker path in the end.
===Mistakes===
*A compiled list of the errors present in The Rise of Scourge can be found here.
==Publication history==
*Rise of Scourge (EN), HarperCollins (paperback, library binding), 24 June 2008
*Rise of Scourge (EN), Tokyopop (paperback), 8 July 2008Revealed on tokyopop.com
*Бич: путь к власти (RU), Tokyopop (paperback), October 2010Revealed on ru.wikipedia.org
*长鞭崛起 (CN), Future Publishing (paperback), 30 January 2012Revealed on amazon.cn
*Rise of Scourge (EN), HarperCollins (e-book), 1 December 2015Revealed on amazon.com
*Geißels Rache (DE), TOKYOPOP GmbH (paperback), 17 December 2015Revealed on tokyopop.de
*Bicz. Początek legendy (PL), Nowa Baśń (paperback), 23 April 2018, translated by Weronika KolasińskaRevealed on empik.com
*Bicz. Początek legendy (PL), Nowa Baśń (e-book), 23 April 2018, translated by Weronika KolasińskaRevealed on nexto.pl 
*스커지의 탄생 (KO), Garamchild (paperback), 20 May 2022, translated by Seo Hyun-JeongRevealed on aladin.co.kr
*스커지의 탄생 (KO), Garamchild (e-book), 30 June 2022, translated by Seo Hyun-JeongRevealed on a book list by Garamchild
*Бич. Початок легенди (UA), ACCA (paperback), 23 December 2022Revealed on acca.ua 
*The Rise of Scourge (EN), HarperAlley (paperback; reprint), 12 March 2024
*The Rise of Scourge (EN), HarperAlley (e-book; reprint), 12 March 2024Revealed on harpercollins.com
==Gallery==
===US covers===
TROS.jpg|English Language EditionReleased in North America & United Kingdom
TROS-RR.jpg|English Reprint Language EditionReleased in North America & United Kingdom
===Foreign covers===
TROS-CN.jpg|Simplified Chinese Language EditionReleased in China
TROS-CN2.jpg|Alternate Simplified Chinese Language EditionReleased in China
File:TROS-CN3.jpg|Simplified Chinese Reprint Language EditionReleased in China
TROS-DE.jpg|German Language EditionReleased in Germany and Austria
TROS-KO.jpg|Korean Language EditionReleased in South Korea
TROS-PL.jpg|Polish Language EditionReleased in Poland
TROS-PL-FC.png|Polish Language EditionTextless cover
TROS-RU.jpg|Russian Language EditionReleased in Russia
TROS-UA.png|Ukrainian Language EditionReleased in Ukraine
==External links==
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==Notes and references==
de:The Rise of Scourgeru:Бич: Путь к властиfi:The Rise of Scourgezh:长鞭崛起pl:Bicz. Początek legendyfr:The Rise of Scourgeuk:Бич. Початок легендиko:스커지의_탄생
Category:Books
Category:The Rise of Scourge
Category:Graphic novel arc