Ashfur (TC)

Ashfur, also called the impostor, the false Bramblestar, and the dark warrior, is a muscular pale gray tom with darker flecks and dark blue eyes. He has short, thick fur, and a torn ear.
Ashfur was a ThunderClan warrior under Firestar's and briefly Graystripe's leaderships in forest and the lake territories. He was born as Ashkit to Brindleface and Whitestorm alongside his littermates, Fernkit, Elderkit, and Tulipkit. He and his sister were the only surviving kits from their litter and were soon joined by their foster brother, Cloudkit, when Brindleface offered to nurse him. As an apprentice, Ashpaw was mentored by Dustpelt, and he grieved for his mother when she was slain by Tigerstar.
After earning his warrior name, Ashfur developed feelings for Squirrelflight, who briefly shared his feelings but discovered that her true place was with Brambleclaw. Heartbroken, Ashfur fueled his grief into anger for moons. He later mentored Birchfall and Lionblaze, the latter being Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight's son. During a fire, Ashfur cornered Squirrelflight and threatened to kill her kits. However, Squirrelflight revealed they are not her kits, and Ashfur plotted to reveal the truth at the Gathering. However, Hollyleaf murdered him before he was able to bring to light the events surrounding Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, and Lionblaze's parentage. Ashfur later joined StarClan, and when Jayfeather asked why Ashfur was there, Yellowfang claimed that Ashfur's only fault was to love too much.
As an unnamed StarClan spirit, Ashfur came to Shadowpaw, after having severed connection with StarClan, telling him of codebreakers within the Clans. He later possessed the body of the ThunderClan leader, Bramblestar, having been able to force out the leader's spirit when he lost a life during an unusual attempt to cure him from an illness that Ashfur inflicted upon him. During the interval, Ashfur possessed Bramblestar's corpse, and as "Bramblestar", he enforced a tyrannical rule of ThunderClan and punished the codebreakers, until he was deposed in a battle he instigated between the five Clans. After being imprisoned in ShadowClan, Squirrelflight was able to force him to reveal his true identity. He remained a prisoner of the Clans until his escape, where he kidnapped Squirrelflight and dragged both him and her into the Moonpool, bringing her to the Place of No Stars. Ashfur, now in control of the Dark Forest, kept Squirrelflight captive and made the spirits of the recently deceased prisoners under his control, intending to take over the afterlives and the living world. However, Squirrelflight managed to escape with Bramblestar.
Enraged, Ashfur set his sights on destroying the living Clans as well as StarClan and the Dark Forest, forcing the living and the dead to form an alliance to stop Ashfur's fury. Ashfur, leading his controlled ghosts and Dark Forest spirits still loyal to him against the Lights in the Mist and the other deceased spirits, managed to briefly gain the upper hand. However, Ashfur was then forced into the eerie waters of the Dark Forest by Bristlefrost, and Ashfur subsequently drowned alongside his killer. Although Ashfur was gone, his actions had a lasting effect on the living and the dead, leading to a reformation of the warrior code and questioning of the guidance of StarClan.
==History==
===The Prophecies Begin===
:He is one of the two surviving kits born to Brindleface and Whitestorm, and his mother fosters Cloudkit when Fireheart brings him to ThunderClan. Ashpaw becomes an apprentice alongside his sister, Fernpaw, mentored by Dustpelt. When Brindleface is killed by Tigerstar and fed to the dog pack, Ashpaw and Fernpaw convince Fireheart to let them lead the dogs away. He later participates in the battle against BloodClan and helps kill the BloodClan deputy, Bone, with several other apprentices after Bone kills Whitestorm.
===The New Prophecy===
:As a young warrior, Ashfur takes a liking to Firestar's daughter, Squirrelpaw. He is also appointed mentor to his nephew, Birchpaw. Although he and Brambleclaw were previously friends, Ashfur becomes jealous of his relationship with Squirrelflight. When Squirrelflight has a major fight with Brambleclaw, she becomes close to Ashfur and spends the majority of her time with him. Ashfur, having thought he had won Squirrelflight's love, is devastated and heartbroken when she rekindles her relationship with Brambleclaw and the two become mates. Ashfur sends Firestar to the lake where the ThunderClan leader is caught in a fox trap and confronted by Hawkfrost and Brambleclaw. However, he sends for help from Leafpool and Squirrelflight.
===Power of Three===
:Ashfur receives Lionpaw, the son of Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight, as an apprentice, with whom he begins a hostile and uneasy relationship. He is often strict with his apprentice and is quick to criticize him. Even after Lionblaze is made a warrior, the two fight with their claws unsheathed. When a fire breaks out in the ThunderClan camp, Squirrelflight and her kits try to flee. When a burning branch falls, Ashfur blocks the only escape route. He reveals to Squirrelflight that he is still furious and heartbroken that she chose Brambleclaw instead of him, and he wants to make her suffer like he did, revealing his role in leading Firestar into the fox trap.
:He is taken aback when Squirrelflight reveals that Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather are not her kits, letting them leave unharmed. However, he threatens to reveal the truth at the next Gathering. The night of the Gathering, Ashfur goes missing. His body is found in a stream, and many of his Clanmates believe he had drowned. However, Hollyleaf reveals to Jayfeather and Lionblaze that she had murdered him to keep their secret.
===Omen of the Stars===
:When Yellowfang and Jayfeather are in StarClan, Jayfeather spots Ashfur and questions why the cat who tried to murder him and his littermates would be in StarClan. Yellowfang claims that his only fault was to love too much. Later, Jayfeather tries to talk to Ashfur to learn the truth about his death, but Bluestar stops him. She insists Ashfur must belong in StarClan despite what he did for a reason. When Hollyleaf returns to ThunderClan and the subject of Ashfur's death is brought up again, Brambleclaw lies that Ashfur attacked Hollyleaf and died when he slipped in the stream.
===The Broken Code===
:Ashfur shuts off the Clans' connection to StarClan and uses the chaos ensuing within the five Clans to give Shadowpaw, a young medicine cat apprentice, a list of codebreakers and tells him how to cure Bramblestar's sudden illness, though keeps his identity secret. Shadowpaw follows through with Ashfur's instructions and Bramblestar dies, but Ashfur leaves StarClan to possess Bramblestar's body instead, leaving the former ThunderClan leader as a ghost. Now posing as Bramblestar, Ashfur begins a tyrannical rule of ThunderClan, harshly punishing codebreakers and abusing ThunderClan, all while acting as Squirrelflight's mate. The sudden change in Bramblestar's personality and demeanor causes several cats across the Clans to question his motives and how he is acting as StarClan's representative. His identity as an impostor is uncovered by the help of Rootspring, who is able to see the real Bramblestar's ghost. Ashfur then traps the dark tabby's spirit in the Dark Forest and continues his hypocritical and harsh leadership of ThunderClan, demanding the other Clan leaders do the same.
:After Squirrelflight realizes her "mate" is a fake, he exiles her, but his mental state begins to decline, becoming more harsh to ThunderClan and exiling more and more cats. The rebels aim to depose of him, but he catches wind of their plans and decides to drive out ShadowClan, the only Clan that had resisted his decrees. After a battle between all five Clans, he is exposed as an impostor publicly and fights Tigerstar, but loses and is imprisoned within ShadowClan and succeeded as leader by Squirrelflight, who later forces him to reveal his identity as Ashfur. Ashfur frequently vacates Bramblestar's body and enslaves ghosts, making them suffer, all while acutely aware of how much the Clans hate him and want him dead. The Clans become more and more in agreement to kill Ashfur to try and bring back StarClan, as well as to make Ashfur atone for his actions. Ashfur manages to escape imprisonment before the Clans can kill him and kidnapping Squirrelflight with him into the Moonpool.
:Now in control of the Place of No Stars, Ashfur promises the remaining Dark Forest cats that if they help him, he can give them another life by having them possess bodies like he did. Ashfur takes pleasure in using his new powers to torture the ghosts of the dead and Squirrelflight, keeping them imprisoned within the Dark Forest, all the while his influence his causing the territory to shrink. Through the effort of Shadowsight, who wished to atone for letting Ashfur escape, Ashfur loses his control on the ghost of Bramblestar. Bramblestar, with the assistance of Rootspring and the Dark Forest cat Snowtuft, are able to help Squirrelflight escape, but not before Ashfur catches Rootspring and Snowtuft and plans to have the two fight to the death. Ashfur's plan is again foiled by the appearance of Bristlefrost and Shadowsight, who, along with Rootspring, are able to disrupt Ashfur's control over his ghosts and are able to escape Ashfur's fury with the invervention of Snowtuft, who is then killed by Ashfur.
:Enraged, Ashfur sets his sights on destroying the living Clans, the Dark Forest, and StarClan, as well to show how hypocritical and judgemental the Clans' way of life is. Ashfur recruits several Dark Forest residents to help him in achieving his goals, as well as utilizing what ghosts he has remaining, to lead one final assault on his enemies. However, the living Clans, StarClan, and five Dark Forest cats form an uneasy alliance to stop Ashfur's evil before the total collapse of both StarClan and the Place of No Stars, and Ashfur's plans begin to fall apart as he loses more control over his ghosts. During the final battle, Ashfur condemns the living and StarClan for all they had done to him in both life and death, and manages to mortally wound Graystripe. Before he is able to kill Shadowsight, Ashfur is tackled into the dark waters of the Place of No Stars by Bristlefrost, and Ashfur, unable to escape, drowns and dies for the final time alongside Bristlefrost.
:Although Ashfur had perished, his actions had devastating consequences for the living and the dead. Ashfur's captured spirits were granted access into StarClan, although the Dark Forest cats who had sided against him were turned away. The revelation that StarClan pardoned Ashfur for his actions in his life and was given a place among them despite all he had done sowed doubt in the minds of the living over their ancestor's guidance and whether they were truly omnipotent. Ashfur's abuse of the warrior code led to the living questioning its validity, and eventually, a plan to reform it.
===Super Editions===
:In Squirrelflight's Hope, after she and Leafpool go to StarClan, Squirrelflight is reunited with the deceased cats of her life, including Ashfur. When Squirrelflight sees his presence in StarClan, she grows uneasy, questioning why he was in StarClan and not the Dark Forest. Hollyleaf however says that he has changed, and that she and him hold no grudges in the afterlife.
===Novellas===
:In Spotfur's Rebellion, after Bramblestar strangely comes back to life, he begins issuing punishments against the codebreakers and mistreating ThunderClan, which alarms Stemleaf and Spotfur, the latter of whom had looked up to and admired Bramblestar. After Bramblestar punishes Spotfur and exiles Lionblaze, the rebels form to discuss the sudden and radical changes in Bramblestar's personality, where it is revealed that the Bramblestar leading ThunderClan is an impostor. Spotfur, along with Stemleaf, Conefoot, Dappletuft, and Kitescratch formulate a plan to kill the impostor and launch an attack on his life, but it fails and ends up leaving Spotfur and Kitescratch as the only survivors. In her grief, Spotfur promises that the rebels will out the false leader and take back ThunderClan.
==Detailed description==
:While possessing Bramblestar's corpse, Ashfur inherited the leader's physical appearance. He is a huge and muscular dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes. He has sleek fur, long, curved claws, and a long scar on his shoulder.
:After exiling Squirrelflight, Ashfur stopped taking care of the body, putting on weight and refusing to groom. Since being defeated by Tigerstar and imprisoned in ShadowClan, the body received numerous injuries and scars. He has a scar on his leg, shredded ear tips, one of which is ripped, and a scar on his tail. He has a scar on his neck, a deep scar on his shoulder, gashes on his cheeks, flanks and muzzle, and a ruffled and bloody pelt, with chunks of fur that have been ripped out.
===Scars gained===
*Torn ear caused by the battle against the badgers in Twilight.
==Character pixels==
===Main images===
===Alternate images===
==Official art==
==Killed victims==
*Bone (Along with Bramblepaw, Tawnypaw, Stormpaw, and Featherpaw)
*Firestar (Fifth life; caused)
*Bramblestar (Caused; lost first life)
*Dappletuft
*Stemleaf
*Smokehaze
*Willowshine
*Snowtuft (Spirit)
*Graystripe (Caused)
==Ceremonies==
==Leader info==
==Personality and Relationships==
:Although a loyal ThunderClan warrior at first, Ashfur became obsessed with Squirrelflight after she chose to become mates with Bramblestar over himself, resulting in him becoming a bitter cat bent on ruining her life, and later on, desired to destroy the Clans and their way of life. For more of Ashfur's personality and relationships, click here!
==Family==
:Ashfur's parents are Whitestorm and Brindleface, and his littermates are Ferncloud, Elderkit and Tulipkit. His foster brother is Cloudtail, and his half-siblings are Sorreltail, Sootfur, and Rainwhisker. For more of Ashfur's family, click here!
==Appearances==
==Merchandise==
===Toys and Plush===
====Ashfur & Mudclaw - Mini Collector Figures====
*Series 3
*These two cats could tell quite a tale of the dangers of bitterness. After serving for moons as a loyal deputy of WindClan, Mudclaw felt cheated when his chance to lead was stolen from him with Tallstar's dying breath. He convinced himself that his replacement, Onewhisker, was too dangerously naïve to be the leader WindClan needed, and led a rebellion to overthrow him. After dying during the battle, Mudclaw realized how wrong he'd been to rise against his own Clanmate, and made his peace with Onewhisker and Tallstar. Ashfur, on the other hand, allowed his bitterness against Squirrelflight for refusing to return his love to consume him entirely, turning him into one of the most dangerous adversaries the Clans have ever faced. In life, he attempted to murder Squirrelflight's kits in a fire and succeeded in claiming one of Firestar's through Hawkfrost's fox trap, but the true danger he posed didn't become apparent until after his death, when Bramblestar lost his first life and Ashfur took over his body.
*Sturdy mini figure of Ashfur and Mudclaw, approximately 7cm in height.
*Also included in a three-pack bundle with the rest of Series 3: Squirrelflight, Scourge, Yellowfang, and Ivypool.
*Approximate individual price is $12.99 USD, and the three-pack bundle is $38.97 USD.
==Trivia==
:Did you know that Ashfur went to StarClan because Vicky claimed "He was just driven a bit crazy from unrequited love!"? For more trivia about Ashfur, click here!
==Quotes==
==External links==
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==Notes and references==
cs:Šedivákde:Aschenpelzes:Cenizo (CdT)fi:Saarniturkki (MK)fr:Pelage de Granitit:MantoCinerinoko:애쉬퍼(천둥족)nl:Aspelsno:Askepels (TK)pl:Jesionowe Futro (KP)pt-br:Pelo Grisru:Уголёк (Грозовое племя)sv:Disfälluk:Золошуб
Category:Toms
Category:Senior warriors
Category:Characters
Category:ThunderClan cats
Category:Warriors
Category:Mentors
Category:Deceased characters
Category:StarClan cats
Category:Ghost cats
Category:Dark Forest cats
Category:Faded cats
Category:Point of view characters
Category:Prisoners
Category:Leaders
Category:Main characters
Category:Characters with merchandise