I am not sure if this is the right place but I do not know where else I ought to ask.
I was researching a language on Phoible and saw a symbol that looked like /l̪ | l/ that I do not believe I have seen before. what does the pipe in between the /l/s mean—is it just to denote that the /l/ can change between dental and alveolar?
For some reason, I have never liked any smells that people say are good. I can tell what other people would deem a bad scent, e.g. the scent of motor oil, versus an ostensible good scent such as that of many flowers. However, the smell of flowers is not appealing to me; it is simply a lesser evil than motor oil. There are no scents that I like and I always strive to perfect my environment so that I detect little to no scents.
When reading literature, I often skim over paragraphs describing scents because I dislike reading or writing about how anything smells. “Good” smells have never been appealing to me and I simply do not appreciate olfactory imagery in the same way that I do textural, visual, audible, or gustatory imagery.
I have always had a weaker nose than most people, and I consider myself fortunate for this. To conclude, I simply do not like the scent of perfume or flowers or anything else deemed a good scent; I always prefer a lack of olfactory stimuli over a stimulus deemed pleasant.
I thought of this about a month ago and decided to write an essay about it.
First, I believe that it is worth establishing a set of general principles for determining if a group of cats is worthy of being deemed a “Clan”. One or more of these guidelines may be disregarded if there is ample alternative evidence to corroborate a bloc’s status as a Clan. The first general rule is that a group must have the “-Clan” suffix in their name to be considered a Clan. The second is that they must function as some kind of aggregate entity instead of just being a very vague band of cats that sometimes associate. I think that further rules would serve only to impede this article’s analysis of Clans throughout Warriors given how flexible they can be in state and quality.
ThunderClan, ShadowClan, RiverClan, and WindClan are the obvious first four answers to this question, as they were the original four Clans in The Prophecies Begin, the arc that most of us (not including me, as I started the series with *The Sun Trail*) began reading Warriors with. SkyClan is the fifth answer to be considered as it is the lost Clan that was later reunited with the other four. These five are the only ones that by the strictest possible definitions can still be indubitably considered Clans, as they were the five petals of the blazing star and are the most established groups that call themselves Clans.
After arriving at these answers, one would likely turn to StarClan and The Place of No Stars for the sixth and seventh Clans. However, I think that these options possess complications. StarClan calls themselves a Clan and often collaborate together to mind the affairs of the living cats, but they are also all deceased. Can a collection of spirits be considered a Clan? one may ask. However, I think that StarClan should be considered a Clan as they were alluded to be considered amongst the living cats as one in The Prophecies Begin, have the -Clan suffix, and often work in a cohesive group.
The Place of No Stars is much more dubious. This is the only entry on this list that does not have the -Clan suffix in its name, and it is also worth noting that Tigerclaw told Darkstripe that, in The Place of No Stars, cats worked alone. If it is not called a Clan and does not behave like a Clan, can it truly be considered a Clan? One argument I pose in favor of it being a Clan is that The Place of No Stars serves as a sort of a perverted mirror of StarClan, and I have already deemed StarClan to be a Clan for the purposes of this article. Also, Tigerclaw’s dismissal of Darkstripe on the grounds of cats in The Place of No Stars working in solitude was largely retconned in following arcs. In the reigns of both Tigerclaw and Ashfur in The Place of No Stars, the ruinous spirits there collaborated against the forces of the living cats or of StarClan that attempted to thwart their plans with Ashfur. As a result, I will be making an exception to the general rule of thumb that a Clan must be called as such for The Place of No Stars.
One temporary Clan that was introduced in a recent book was StormClan. StormClan was a Clan formed from ThunderClan and WindClan after SkyClan’s departure by the illicit lovers Galestar and Stripestar. I will be considering defunct Clans for this list, so StormClan will also be deemed a Clan even though it was dissolved after Galestar and Stripestar’s faulty leadership led to its downfall. That makes eight Clans thus far.
Although they were not as tightly-knit or caring for one another as the modern Clans, BloodClan ought to be considered a Clan as well, in my opinion, because it called itself a Clan, was a composed group, and even had a leader (Scourge) and a deputy (Bone). This is a level of organization that I think renders it to be a “Clan” for the purposes of this article.
WarriorClan is the next Clan that I will now bring up. Graystripe helped establish this Clan out of kittypets, loners, and former BloodClan cats in *Graystripe’s Vow*, and, after his departure, the Clan presumably made use of the abandoned forest territories thenceforward. WarriorClan follows all of the other criteria established thus far, so I will be considering it a Clan. That makes ten Clans in Warriors.
This is a rather comical entry amidst the much more tenable preceding “Clans”, but, given that the suffix “-Clan” was used, I think that it is worth noting. When they were apprentices, Lionblaze and Heathertail often played in the tunnels beneath ThunderClan and WindClan together unbeknownst to their Clanmates, who would have censured them for engaging in such clandestine inter-Clan affairs. One activity they engaged in was roleplaying, specifically in a fictional Clan they christened DarkClan where Heatherpaw was Heatherstar and Lionpaw was Lionblaze. It may seem ridiculous to deem this impotent duumvirate a Clan, especially when it was contrived for the purposes of mere roleplaying, but it was called a Clan and did have two cats working together for a shared purpose, however frivolous. I think that I will deem DarkClan a Clan anyway.
Throughout the history of the Clans, there has been a recurring, elusive article of history frequently mentioned but rarely explored in further depth: LionClan, TigerClan, and LeopardClan. As can be inferred from their names and the occasional descriptions of what they were, they consisted of the felines mentioned in their names. The three Clans were detailed further in a couple of debatably canon short stories in *Secrets of the Clans*. They are some of the only other references to greater felines in Warriors outside of the wildcats in *Ivypool’s Heart* and *StormClan’s Folly*, and the mountain lions that occasionally hector the Tribe of Rushing Water. They also provide the logic for cats such as Tigerclaw, Lionheart, and Leopardstar to have their names when they have never met large felines.
Despite the aura of uncertainty surrounding the existence of LionClan, TigerClan, and LeopardClan, I will be considering them Clans for this list because they have the specialized suffix and are a cohesive unit of cats working together. However, two of the two ancient Clans—LionClan and TigerClan—have further relevance in this article.
Tigerclaw, probably due to his name, seemed especially inspired by TigerClan, and titled his unified Clan of ShadowClan and RiverClan TigerClan in its honor. Resultingly, when Firestar temporarily united ThunderClan and WindClan into a coalition to stop Tigerclaw and later Scourge, he named his new enlarged group LionClan. These new renditions of LionClan and TigerClan seemed relatively affirmed by close collaboration with the Clans within, and lasted until Scourge was dead and BloodClan was defeated. One may argue that the two LionClans and TigerClans cannot be considered different entities, but I object. They differed in all regards but name, existing in different timeframes in a different setting and even with a different species making up its ranks. Therefore, I think that New LionClan and New TigerClan should be considered different groups, and both Clans.
Well, there you have it. ThunderClan, ShadowClan, RiverClan, WindClan, SkyClan, StarClan, The Place of No Stars, StormClan, BloodClan, WarriorClan, DarkClan, LionClan, TigerClan, LeopardClan, New LionClan, and New TigerClan are all sixteen different Clans, in my opinion. All but The Place of No Stars are called Clans, they all worked relatively closely together, and all but DarkClan were groups genuinely established for the purpose of being autonomous polities. If you disagree with any of my choices or have any further suggestions, please leave a reply down below! Thank you for reading!
I love OT2 but I thought that this was rather strange, especially when Tanzy was probably the least developed member of HTAPOTCO.
I have heard that the cast of this game is much larger than that of 1 and 2. Do I need to level up the entire cast or am I able to not use some of the cast members? in 1 and 2, you need to have everyone at a high level or you will be defeated quickly by Galdera/Vide. Is the same true here?
After the initial unlocking of each cast member, do they have further stories (like the “chapters” in the main game) or are they just used to progress the hero’s story?
By what means can blue chests be unlocked?