Great Clans

The **Great Clans** were Clans consisting of species of big cats, living freely in the wild. They are regarded as the ancestors of all cats, both Clanborn and kittypet. The legends attribute the different great cat species with having given the cats the different traits they now possess.

## Description

The Great Clans are the three Clans the modern Clans have descended from. LionClan had flowing manes, like the rays of the sun. LeopardClan were swift, and had black spots on their pelts like racing pawprints. TigerClan

```
were flame-colored night hunters, with black stripes like shadows

```

flickering across their fur and the darkness of night in their souls.
There are stories about these Clans, but it is unsure whether these
tales are true or not.

## Canon Great Clans

* TigerClan - powerful cats with orange pelts and black stripes who hunted at night. They were considered to be most like ShadowClan.

 TigerClan was comprised entirely of tigers, they were said to be
flame-colored night hunters, large as horses with jet-black stripes and
the darkness of night in their souls.

* LeopardClan - agile cats with golden pelts and black spots, who were swift and sure. They were considered to be most like both WindClan and RiverClan.

 It was consisted of leopards who were the swiftest of the great cats.
They are huge and golden, spotted with black pawprints. All cats possess
 their speed and hunting talent from LeopardClan.

* LionClan - massive cats with golden pelts and manes, who were strong and brave. They were considered to be most like ThunderClan.

 Comprised of lions, LionClan is the subject of many Clan myths and
legends. They are known to be very strong, and have great flowing manes
like the rays of the sun.

## History

### In the *Super Editions*

#### *Crookedstar's Promise*

When Brightsky dies giving birth to her and Mudfur's kits, one survives. Mudfur names her Leopardkit after LeopardClan, hoping it would give her all the strength she would need to survive without her mother.
### In the *The Prophecies Begin* arc

#### *Into the Wild*

Graypaw is talking to Firepaw and a few other apprentices
about the three great Clans of ancient times. Graypaw accidentally

calls LeopardClan "SpottyClan", forgetting the real name. Knowing they
had spots on them lead him to believe the Clan had something to do with
spots. Lionheart, a senior warrior

of ThunderClan, then corrects him, knowing he means LeopardClan. He

tells Graypaw and Firepaw about their speed and hunting skills,
possessing these skills, and about their description. He also tells of
the other Great Clans.

### In the *New Prophecy* arc

#### *Dawn*

When Graystripe is captured by the Twolegs, Squirrelpaw says she saw the Twolegs carry him away. Thornclaw
 is surprised, protesting that Graystripe was fighting like a TigerClan
cat, referring to the Great Clans, and that they couldn't have gotten
him. However, there were too many Twolegs for him to fight.

### In the *Power of Three* arc

#### *Outcast*

When the Clan cats go to assist the Tribe of Rushing Water, Lionpaw
looks over the hills to the Lake. With the wind flattening his fur

along his sides and the tiny shapes in the distance, he feels like a
warrior of LionClan.

### In the *Field Guides*

#### *Secrets of the Clans*

This book has a section on the mythological legends of the
Clans. The sections include: "How LeopardClan Won the River", "How
Snakes Came to the Forest", and "How TigerClan got Their Stripes".

In "How LeopardClan Won the River", LionClan announces during a
Gathering that a wild boar is loose in the forest. TigerClan says that
they know of this boar, and that they call him Rage. It met a TigerClan hunting party, but escaped. Fleetfoot of LeopardClan announces that she can kill it. Shadestar and Goldenstar ask her to show that her deeds can match her words. Swiftstar

says that in return LeopardClan will claim the river as their hunting

grounds for one moon, which the others leaders agree with. Fleetfoot
fights and kills Rage, but encounters his mate Fury, who the other leaders

had known about, but not told her. She fights Fury for two days, drives

 her onto the stepping-stones, where she loses her footing and drowns. Goldenstar and Shadestar are ashamed of their treachery and give LeopardClan sole hunting rights to the river forever.

In "How Snakes Came to the Forest", there once lived a LionClan warrior called Sunpelt, who went to Snakerocks to fight Mouthclaw,
 the giant snake who had killed many warriors. Sunpelt is too quick for
Mouthclaw, and she cannot fight him. She tells him to spare her, in
return for a wish. Sunpelt wishes for her to turn into a snake the size
of a cat's tail. Mouthclaw shrinks into a thousand snakes, each the
length of a cat's tail. Sunpelt, horrified, runs back to camp, and tells
 Goldenstar everything. Goldenstar is angry at first, but then forgives
his warrior.

In '"How TigerClan got Their Stripes", TigerClan have no
stripes, just plain gold coats, and they are jealous of the other Clans'
 special features. This jealousy makes them bitter and so they hunt at
night and keep to the shadows in the daytime. Thorntooth, a TigerClan warrior is so bitter that he steals fresh kill, and later Goldenstar's daughter Petalkit.
 Shadestar, his leader, calls a daytime Gathering, and returns Petalkit
to LionClan. TigerClan are banished to the shadows for one moon. When
they arrive at the next Gathering, their pelts have been sliced through
with jet black stripes. From that day on, all TigerClan cats are born
with stripes.

## See also

* LionClan (mythological)
* Lion
* TigerClan (mythological)
* Tiger
* LeopardClan
* Leopard