Scourge/History

***Spoiler warning:** Plot and/or ending details follow.*
Template:History

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#### *The Darkest Hour*

**Firestar**: "*We don't have to fight, we will let you go back to Twolegplace in peace.*"

**Scourge**: "*Go back? Do you really think we're such cowards? No, this is our home now.*"

**Firestar**: "*The forest is ours, we rule here by the will of StarClan.*"

**Scourge**: "*StarClan! Tales for kits. Forest fool, StarClan won't help you now.*"

—Scourge and Firestar, prior to their fight The Darkest Hour
 File:Tigerstar's proposition.TRoS.PNG
Scourge is the leader of BloodClan, a group of rogues living in the Twolegplace. His deputy, Bone, brings former BloodClan cat, Boulder, and ShadowClan's leader, Tigerstar to meet with him. Scourge questions the appearance of Boulder, wondering if the other tom had come to flaunt his new life in the forest. Boulder tells him that he hasn't and pushed aside by Tigerstar who tells the rogue leader that he has a proposition for him.
BloodClan is led to the forest and arrive at Fourtrees to aid in Tigerstar's plan to take over the Clans and forest. However, when Tigerstar then attempts to command BloodClan to fight, Scourge introduces himself as BloodClan's leader and tells the tabby that he and he alone commands BloodClan. Firestar, the leader of ThunderClan, then takes the opportunity to reveal Tigerstar's long history of bloodlust and betrayal. Seemingly intrigued by this, Scourge once again refuses to fight for Tigerstar, saying that he will think about what Firestar has said. Enraged, Tigerstar attacks Scourge, calling him a traitor, but Scourge dodges the attack and slashes Tigerstar's shoulder, knocking him onto his side. With a single blow, Scourge kills Tigerstar, injuring him so severely that StarClan is unable to heal his wounds. Taking a step back, Scourge watches as the tom bleeds out and is then left facing Firestar.
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The ranks of BloodClan close behind their leader as Scourge signals for them to stop. Scourge decides that he and his cats would remain in the forest where prey is plentiful and no longer need to rely on Twolegs and their rubbish for food. He decrees that he would rule both the forest and Twolegplace and gives the Clans three days to reflect on their decision - to leave or to meet BloodClan in battle. Scourge adds that he would await their decision on the fourth day.
When the loners Barley and Ravenpaw come to aid ThunderClan in the battle, Barley tells Firestar of his time in BloodClan. The barn cat tells him that most cats listen to Scourge out of fear and has rules that leave sick or injured cats to fend for themselves. Firestar questions why any cat would follow him and Barley responds that some cats enjoy the killing as well and others are too scared to do anything otherwise. Barley reveals that unlike a true Clan, BloodClan and their leader don't believe in StarClan. The revelation gives the ThunderClan a glimmer of faith.
The fourth day comes and Scourge and his cats meet with the combined force of LionClan at Fourtrees. Firestar tries to convince the other leader that they don't need to fight, however, Scourge finds the notion amusing and states the forest is their home now. The LionClan leader tells him that it doesn't belong to BloodClan as per the will of StarClan to which Scourge readily insults and calls for his Clan to attack. Scourge sidesteps Firestar and disappears into the mass of fighting cats. He later fights at the base of the Great Rock with Onewhisker. He hears Firestar yowl and calls out the tom's name as the begin to fight each other. Scourge manages to take the ginger tom's first life with a quick blow with his reinforced claws. Satisfied that the leader is dead, he leaves to engage in a tussle with Cloudtail, but is shocked when he hears Firestar challenging him again.
Uncertainty flashes through the tom as he once again fights the LionClan leader. The two toms fight it out, Scourge managing to outmaneuver Firestar and attempts to use the same devastating blow he used on Tigerstar on him. However, Firestar gains the upper hand and ultimately kills him with a bite to the throat. With his death, BloodClan's ranks break and retreat from the battle.
### In *The New Prophecy* arc

#### *Midnight*

Firestar, Cinderpelt, and Leafpaw, all discuss an omen the senior medicine cat had recieved and mention Brambleclaw's loyalty that he had shown from fighting against BloodClan and their leader.
#### *Moonrise*

Firestar addresses ThunderClan, telling them all to remain alert due to the recent Twoleg activity near ShadowClan's border. He reminds them that they have survived a lot in the past moons, including a fire and flood, the dog pack, and Scourge's threat with BloodClan.
#### *Dawn*

After ShadowClan's camp is destroyed by Twolegs, Blackstar declares they are going to move to Twolegplace, much to Firestar's protest. The ShadowClan leader reminds the other tom that one of his elders was a former BloodClan warrior and would show them the way around for prey and shelter. He adds that since Scourge is dead, they would be the strongest cats around.
#### *Sunset*

In the Dark Forest, Tigerstar mentions Scourge while telling Darkstripe that Firestar had thought he won when BloodClan's leader took his nine lives. Later, Tawnypelt mentions the former BloodClan leader when she argues with Brambleclaw, stating that she was glad that Scourge killed their father.
Brambleclaw recalls his father's death, remembering how Scourge looked down at Tigerstar's body with a look of triumph. The tabby wonders if that is what Tigerstar and Hawkfrost want him to become. Hawkfrost also tells him when they have Firestar caught in a fox-trap that they could have revenge on Firestar for their father's death. The RiverClan warrior states that Firestar could have done something to stop Scourge, but, instead watched Tigerstar die continuously.
### In the *Power of Three* arc

#### *Sunrise*

When discussing Ashfur's murder and who might have killed him, Scourge is mentioned by Lionblaze. Brackenfur states that not many cats kill for fun, in response to Mousefur, a ThunderClan elder, naming Sol as the warrior's killer. Lionblaze recalls that Scourge was BloodClan's leader who had tried to take over the old forest and that he sounded like a cat that enjoyed killing.
### In the *Omen of the Stars* arc

#### *Night Whispers*

Littlecloud and Flametail argue about a vision the latter had recieved as Flametail states that ShadowClan should isolate themselves from the other Clans to survive. The older tabby recalls that the Clans uniting together in the past, for the Great Journey and the battle against Scourge and his rogue Clan, had ensured their survival.
### In the *Super Editions*

#### *Bluestar's Prophecy*

**Bluefur**: "*If I* ever *see you do something like that again[…]I'll report you to Sunstar!*"

**Thistleclaw**: "*We were only defending ThunderClan territory from invaders.*"

**Bluefur**: "*That so-called invader was a* kit*!*"

**Thistleclaw**: "*That's his problem.*"

—Bluefur and Thistleclaw about Tigerpaw's attack of Tiny Bluestar's Prophecy
 File:Meeting the forest cats.TRoS.PNG
Scourge, as a kit then named Tiny, is happened upon by a patrol consisting of Bluefur, Thistleclaw, and his apprentice, Tigerpaw in ThunderClan territory. The Clan cats are unaware of his identity, leading Tigerpaw to attack the trespasser, goaded on by his mentor. Bluefur steps in before any serious harm can be done and Tiny manages to escape as Tigerpaw leers after him as he does. After the incident, Bluefur is appalled that Thistleclaw would promote an attack on a small kit, and reflects this sentiment to her Clanmate.
#### *Firestar's Quest*

As Firestar thinks about the relative peace in the forest since the battle against BloodClan, he thinks about Scourge's immoral actions and the wariness they have caused within the Clans' daily lives. Later, Spiderkit and his brother, Shrewkit are playing with a bundle of moss, pretending it is Scourge. Rainpaw rebukes them, saying that he had only just collected the moss.
Not long after, Firestar sees Spottedleaf in a dream, and she tells him that StarClan cannot control all that happens in the forest, and could not have driven out Scourge and BloodClan. When journeying with his mate Sandstorm, Firestar meets with a black she-cat and a brown tom, and wonders if these cats are just like BloodClan while being led to meet the rest of their group.
While Firestar discusses with Sandstorm how SkyClan will defeat the rats, she reminds him that he had defeated Scourge, adding that he will defeat the rats. When Firestar tries to convince her that they need to divide forest boundaries for SkyClan, Sandstorm says that there isn't a way, and that he had seen that when Scourge tried to move into the forest along with BloodClan. Firestar continues to think about the ramifications of Scourge's actions, including his killing of Tigerstar, which took away all of lives at once.
#### *Graystripe's Vow*

Gremlin mentions that many cats had stepped up to follow Scourge's leadership in the moons since his death. She states that Fury is the latest of those who had done so and is more bloodthirsty than he ever was. Fury later recalls to Graystripe promises that had been made to BloodClan before their founder's death at the claws of Firestar.
### In the *Novellas*

#### *Spottedleaf's Heart*

Scourge, as a kit then named Tiny, wanders on ThunderClan territory and faces a patrol consisting of Thistleclaw, Tigerpaw and Bluefur. Spottedpaw watches as Tigerpaw attacks the young kit for trespassing under his mentor's orders. Tigerpaw is ferocious with his attacks and is only goaded on by Thistleclaw before Bluefur calls for the apprentice to stop. She reminds the apprentice of the warrior code. Tiny stands up in horror, facing Tigerpaw. Tigerpaw tells him that he'll never forget him and then Tiny limps away, vanishing underneath a fence.
### In the *Stand-Alone Manga*

#### *The Rise of Scourge*

"*I've learned how to be strong…How to live for blood. Because that's the key. The only answer.*"
―Scourge on his victory The Rise of Scourge

 File:Meeting Tiny.TRoS.PNG
Tiny lives with his mother, Quince, and littermates, Socks and Ruby in Twolegplace. Due to his size, the tom is often bullied and excluded by his two siblings. One day, he and his siblings are let outside with the Twoleg kits. Tiny finds a hole in the fence and investigates what lies beyond. He finds bugs and a tree stump, where he is swooped by a bird all before he returns back home. Upon returning home and telling his mother and siblings about his adventure, Ruby and Socks mock him and tell him that he's lying. Tiny is disheartened and becomes isolated and wary of his own family.
 File:Unwanted kits.TRoS.PNG
Later on, Twolegs visit their den and Tiny watches them play with Socks and Ruby, disinterested by it all. Ruby takes notice of his behavior and tells him that Twolegs throw unwanted kittens in the river. She scares the young tom, and he tries to act cute when the Twolegs visit a second time. However, they ignore him and play with his littermates instead. Afraid, Tiny runs away to escape his fate. As he does, walking the border between the forest and Twolegplace, he encounters a pair of kittypets. The pair tell him not to go into the forest and that the forest cats would eat him up as he was too small. Their words strike a nerve in Tiny as he counters their taunt and heads into the forest.
 File:Teach him a lesson Tigerpaw.TRoS.PNG
Tiny walks deeper into the forest and while there is happened upon by a ThunderClan patrol. The patrol, consisting of Thistleclaw, Bluefur, and Tigerpaw, question him and his intrusion on ThunderClan territory. Bluefur attempts to defend Tiny, but Thistleclaw argues that he needs to be taught a lesson. At his mentor's command, Tigerpaw attacks Tiny and almost kills the younger tom before he is stopped by Bluefur. Tiny runs off after Tigerpaw states that he'll never forget him. Tired and sore, Tiny contemplates going home, but, remembers that if he does he'd be thrown in the river. Instead, he heads into Twolegplace.
In the Twolegplace, he comes across an old she-cat who takes pity on him and offers him food. She calls him a kittypet, prompting Tiny to ask why he keeps getting called one. She explains that his collar marks him as one and tells him what it means. The young tom tries to remove it, but when he can't, he gets laughed at by the local rogues. Leaving, Tiny happens upon Samwise, an old dog. He finds one of his teeth and tries to use it to remove his collar. However, the tooth becomes stuck in his collar. The young tom finds a group of rogues with food and asks them for some. One of the cats asks about the tooth in his collar; Tiny lies and tells them that he killed a dog and took the tooth as a trophy. Impressed, the cats share some of their food with him.
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His story soon spreads around Twolegplace and Tiny is found by Bone and Brick. The pair ask him to take care of a huge dog that is preventing cats from getting food. Initially, Tiny is hesitant to fight the dog, however, he decides to upon realising that he has to fight for his home, even if it means it'll kill him. He approaches the dog and it begins growling at him. It turns out the dog is afraid of Tiny's shadow as he approaches the animal. The dog runs off scared and as it does Tiny claws the dog's tail to take a trophy of its defeat. The cats of Twolegplace praise him for his bravery and hail him a hero. One of the cats asks his name, and in response, Tiny renames himself Scourge, taking inspiration from his mother's description of the Clans.
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Scourge becomes the apparent leader of the Twolegplace cats as they begin coming to him to solve their troubles. Bone and Brick once again approach him to deal with a group of rogues causing trouble. Scourge follows the two cats and scents the forest as they approach. He thinks briefly that it might've been the tabby that attacked him, however, it proves to be a different cat. The rogue cats goad him on and call him a kittypet after Scourge tells them to leave, resulting in him killing one of the rogues in cold blood. The cats of Twolegplace gather behind the tom and they all successfully drive out the rogues. Following that event, things change in Twolegplace and Scourge is gifted items and trophies by his followers. He gains full control of the Twolegplace cats, knowing everything he can, but, he remains discontent.
 File:I have won.TRoS.PNG
One night, Scourge's estranged littermates are escorted to him. Ruby and Socks tell him that their housefolk moved away and abandoned them, and that they don't know how to get their own food. Scourge hesitates for a moment, wondering why he should help them. Socks and Ruby ask if blood means anything to him and which Scourge gives a lengthy response, saying the only blood that matters is the blood of his enemies. He feels his words are lost on them, however, and lets them eat. He then sends them away and states that they are not welcome on BloodClan territory.
Many moons later, Scourge meets with Tigerstar after Bone brings the dark tabby tom and Boulder to see him. Scourge recognises Tigerstar as the tabby cat that attacked him as a young kit, but, agrees to his plans to secure a portion of forest territory. Scourge and BloodClan then travel to the forest to meet the other Clans and it is there that he has his revenge on Tigerstar after a disagreement. Scourge kills the tabby tom in a single strike, finally achieving some semblance of peace with his past.
#### *A Shadow in RiverClan*

"*We even helped defeat the cruel, wicked rogue known as Scourge — the cat who finally killed Tigerstar.*"
―Feathertail about Scourge A Shadow in RiverClan

 File:Tigerstar's killer.ASIR.png
As Feathertail recalls the events in the moons leading up to her warrior ceremony, she explains what led her temporarily join ThunderClan and fight with them. She participates in the batttle against BloodClan and their leader, Scourge. Feathertail states that she and the other apprentices helped defeat the cat that was responsible for killing Tigerstar.
### In the *Tigerstar and Sasha* arc

#### *Into the Woods*

Sasha overhears Tigerstar talking with his trusted warriors about his plan with Scourge and BloodClan. He states that ShadowClan is to prepare for war and that the next step for them is to take over RiverClan from Leopardstar.
#### *Escape from the Forest*

In Twolegplace, Sasha encounters a pair of BloodClan cats that threaten to take her to Scourge. She remembers with a flash the name of the cat, as Tigerstar had been plotting with them.
#### *Return to the Clans*

Russetfur brings Sasha some prey and tells her that Tigerstar had been killed by Scourge in the battle with BloodClan.
### In the *Ravenpaw's Path* arc

#### *Shattered Peace*

When Ravenpaw thinks about what has happened in his life, he recalls the battle with BloodClan, and how Tigerstar's nine lives had been ripped apart by BloodClan's leader, Scourge.
#### *A Clan in Need*

**Barley**: "*Leave her alone! Fight me, if you must! She's done no harm!*"

**Scourge**: "*It's true. You are the one who tried to leave BloodClan. You are the one who must be punished…And what better punishment could there be…than for you to watch your own sister die right in front of you.*"

—Scourge and Barley about Violet A Clan in Need
Scourge appears in Barley's dream, telling Snake and Ice to kill their sister, Violet, because she and her brother, Barley, had broken the rule keeping family from living together. Although Barley begs to be punished in Violet's place, Scourge insists watching her suffer would punish him much more severely than a beating would. He then proceeds to command Snake and Ice to murder her.
### In the *Field Guides*

#### *Cats of the Clans*

Rock tells Blossomkit, Adderkit, and Mosskit all about Scourge, Bone, and BloodClan. He explains how BloodClan was just a group of stray cats in Twolegplace who had no code or honor to bind them. Scourge had no sense of right or wrong, which let him kill or hurt other cats without a second thought. However, his greatest weakness was his lack of belief in StarClan, which left him with only one life to lose.
#### *Battles of the Clans*

Scourge is mentioned by Tigerstar when he talks of the battle with BloodClan. He recalls when Scourge ripped his belly open, causing him to lose all his nine lives at once. He also calls him a traitor, since he had promised to help Tigerstar take over the forest, but never acted on his promise. Tigerstar also mentions that if a cat had been standing beside him, they would have felt victorious, having just seen your leader kill the strongest cat in the forest.
#### *The Ultimate Guide*

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On her own page, Sandstorm is said to have been important to Firestar while he prepared to fight BloodClan. He wanted to fight Scourge and save the forest, and Sandstorm was the one to reassure him that he was right in fighting the Twolegplace cats.
On ShadowClan's introduction page, Blackstar admits that letting Scourge and the rest of his Clan into the forest was a bad idea. On Tigerstar's section, it is mentioned that he formed an alliance with Scourge, although he didn't realize Scourge was the kit he'd nearly killed as an apprentice. Scourge turned against the ShadowClan leader and gave him a wound that took all of his nine lives away.
He is next referred to on Boulder's page. Boulder was the one to suggest allying with Scourge and his cats. He visited them, but trusted them too much, and Scourge killed Tigerstar and declared war on the Clans. Boulder fought against BloodClan after that. On Animals outside the Clans introduction page, it is mentioned that the Clans even had to acknowledge Scourge's BloodClan. He appears on Barley and Ravenpaw's section next. Barley had been born among BloodClan and wished to remain with his sister, Violet. Due to their violation of the rules, Scourge forced him watch his sister nearly get killed. He and Ravenpaw later fought alongside the Clans against BloodClan.
Scourge shares a page with his deputy, Bone. Born in Twolegplace to Quince and Jake, his siblings, Ruby and Socks, scorned him when he was a kit. Scourge ventured into the forest in a desperate attempt to prove himself, and got into a fight with Tigerpaw upon meeting a ThunderClan patrol. He didn't go back home, and instead lived in Twolegplace. Using a dog's tooth, Scourge attempted to tear off his collar, but the tooth became lodged in his collar. Other cats believed it meant he'd killed a dog, and he let them think what they wanted. He used the cats he found to punish those weaker, and formed BloodClan. Boulder came with Tigerstar to request an alliance, and Scourge knew who Tigerstar was, accepting the offer. Scourge killed Tigerstar after proclaiming his wish to take over the forest. Scourge didn't believe in StarClan, which proved to be his weakness. He met his match in Firestar, and with only one life to lose, was slain forever. Bone was never viewed by Scourge as his equal, but was valued for his strength and courage. He was first thought to lead BloodClan, as he walked ahead of his leader into the forest. He was killed by a group of Clan apprentices after murdering Whitestorm, and was unfailingly loyal to Scourge.
*End of spoiler warning*
fi:Ruoska/Historia