Post by Wolfheart on Jul 31, 2014 14:56:30 GMT
[Before I start, I would like to make a note that I am not attacking anyone. I have been working on this idea for the past few days. I just want to make a statement on what I think This is my opinion I'm spreading to other websites and I hope you take consideration with it. These are my personal opinions on Warriors, they do not have to change your own. So don't claim I'm attacking anyone with this, I'm just stating my thoughts and I'm sticking with it.]
There are many elements to a Warrior in a series. To break it down, the two main elements are appearance and personality. After all, these two thing are located in almost every biography format you find when signing for a roleplay; but one thing that seems to lack in roleplayers is fitting the name with it's personality and appearance. The cat's name should reflect both it's personality traits and it's physical attributes such as its pelt, fur, and markings. The name should also be terms that a cat would know and not something that doesn't really exist in the forest or is a term that only us twolegs would really know.
In the midst of things, the Warrior name contains two parts: a prefix and a suffix. The Prefix is given to the character as a kit, the suffix is given to the cat by the leader after they go through their training as an apprentice.
Prefixes
the prefix must represent something that is based off of the cat's fur color, body build, or the natural environment in which the cat lives. If the prefix is to represent something in the cat's territory such as a tree for example, they should look almost the color of the specific tree they are naming them after. Let's use a birch tree for this situation: as birch tree has fairly light grey bark and black specks that almost look like stripes. Therefore, a cat with the name of Birch should be a light grey tabby.
In other words, the cat's prefix represents the appearance and the appearance alone. The only exception to this rule is having a kittypet or loner join the Clan. In that case, they may choose to keep their name or at least the first part of it as a prefix. Also, Kittypets may have genetically altered pelts and therefore look quite different from a normal wild cat pelt. Though Rusty got his name changed to Firepaw in the original series, your character may be adamant in changing their name and you might end up with cats like Echosong; which, quite frankly is a sweet name but a cat really can't define an echo as an appearance so the term Echo should only be used for non-clan cats switching over to Clan life.
Another thing that may want to be considered when giving a prefix to a cat is it should be something that will establish them their whole life. The meaning could be something special such as giving a character the name Oak-kit because he was given birth in an Oak tree. However, the character should also resemble an Oak tree at that. Now perhaps you have the Queen who just wants to give that cat a name because it was so special to them. Well, long story short, your character has a very loving mother and the details on that topic are hard to decipher since it's a bit of sticky topic to think about.
Suffixes
A suffix must be used to describe a character's personality (Heart, Flower, Face), their basic performance as a Warrior (Cloud, Pelt, Fur), or an outstanding trait that was observed during their days as an apprentice (Nose, Fang, Claw).
The suffix is given by the leader to give a short indication on how they think the character will act as a Warrior. Will they give the Clan their gift of excellent hunting? Always looking for food even when others think there isn't? Then the leader (and ancestors) would consider the suffix -whisker for their exception hunting. Maybe the cat is a very fast and agile character, always daring other cats to race them and quick to maneuver in battle. The suffix -foot would be perfect for them. Similarly, sneaky cats who would lead their Clan mates into the most terrifying battle are often are seen with the suffix -storm. An exceptional fighter, cat's with the suffix -claw are amazing fighters! Perhaps the character is really passionate about something; their suffix should be -heart.
Occasionally, leaders will give a suffix with no meaning due to the fact that the suffix doesn't sound lyrical. The last thing a leader will want to do is give their new warrior a name that practically meaningless! However, they will tr their best to give them a good name despite that factor.
Names that should be rethought
Some names sound really cool to us. This method is known as lyrical naming. However, keep in mind that these have to be things that make sense to cat cat. First of all, cats don't name themselves after general stuff (ie. tree, bird, sky) they're more specific than that. People like to use the word bird for their prefix, however, what bird might they be talking about? Another thing that should be avoided in the original Clan's are the prefixes Thunder, Shadow, Wind, and River. There isn't much concern in other Clans for these names but wouldn't it be weird if there was a cat named Thunderstorm of ThunderClan?
Prefixes should also make sense with the environment the cat lives. What natural predators are commonly seen? In the original series it is noted that there are Hawks, badgers, Foxes, and Rats. There are dogs but to name a cat dog is a bit redundant since there are so many different breeds of dogs. Depending on where the cat lives will effect what names should and shouldn't be used. Wolf is a name that should be given to a cat if their are wolves in the territory or there are stories passed down as wolves [for me, I use the concept of a kittypet talking about wolves to get it through for me. The original four Clan's already talk about Lions, Tigers andbears Leopards as their original ancestors. So why should they dismiss other animals such as wolves which, for the record people, use to live around European lands. Don't tell me you can't use -Wolf because they don't live there. Lions most certainly don't!]. Also, the different types of trees may affect how the cat is named. Sassafras [The best tree ever!] is a tree most people would really know about, but hey! Set up a Clan territory in Michigan, there are tons of Sassafras there! Sassafrastail: best name ever. But yeah, that's another occasion where it depends on the environment.
In the suffix realm, the most over-rated term used is -song. Now song is a really beautiful name to use. However, song does not establish a really good personality trait. Cat's don't sing: End of story. -Soul, -spirit, and -truth seem to represent spirituality which would be okay for a Medicine Cat, however it just sounds cheesy. One suffix that will bring up controversy from other namers is -fall. [To me] Fall is seen as a cat you is genuinely graceful and elegant like a water fall. The water fall concept is commonly over looked for people just see it as a clumsy cat. Fall is name that implies a new begging and and a cat ready to help their Clan and themselves.
Suggested Suffixes
Claw - excellent fighter
Cloud - the general perfect warrior. No outstanding traits. It's what the leader would want every Warrior to be.
Ear - something happened to one of the cat's ears; only for name change
Eye - only for name change; something happened to cat's eye.
Face - selfish cat; tends to care more for themselves than the Clan
Fall - a graceful cat who wishes to find new beginnings
Fang - great fighter
Flight - swift and agile cat; has an exceptional jumping ability
Flower - a Queen or Warrior who is very compassionate about kits. They tend to talk a lot and are rather dramatic.
Foot - a cat who is quick on their feet; faster runners in the Clan
Fur - no exceptional or outstanding traits; average at hunting and fighting
Heart - very passionate about something, joyful, happy, affectionate.
Jaw - only used for name change; something happened to the cat's mouth
Leaf - A Medicine Cat who shows exceptional traits in knowledge and healing
Nose - exceptional sense of smell; good at tracking
Pelt - no exceptional or outstanding traits; average at hunting and fighting
Path - a cat who shows wisdom. Guides cats to new beginnings
Step - related the the prefix; step like the animal they're named after
Storm - noble warrior; lead cats into battle, emotional, passionate.
Stream - sneaky, sly, playful, graceful
Stripe - implies a tabby; average at their warrior skills
Tail - well balanced cat
Whisker - exceptional hunter
Aging Characters
The number two complaint that comes out of peoples mouths is a character's age. Many people upon many on almost every site there is wants their cats to be at a really really young age. Hardly ever do Elders ever come into play since people want the youngest Warriors they can get. Well, may this break people's hearts.
Kits - these characters (in terms of roleplay and fanfiction) should only really come into play if there are Queens in the Clan. Almost every story with kits in roleplay are they were loners taken in. Okay guys! That story line is used way more than one may think. [Every single roleplay I make, all the kits are loners or kittypets. I can go down this road for hours]. For kits, it's best to wait for a Queen to have kits make the kit from the genetic barrings of the female and male. Some Queens like to not mention their mate and therefore, that gives more room for creativity. Try making some Warriors and Apprentices first and wait for kits till later.
>> Kit ages should be 3 to 6 moons with an adoptive mother and 0 to 6 moons with a real mother
Apprentices - everyone's favorite character to roleplay! Keep in mind when creating apprentices that they are going to have flaws. Apprentices are the characters that are constantly Mary-sued because everyone wants their apprentice to be the best and pass training quickly. Reality check! It takes apprentices an average of five to eight moons to complete training. And that's on the low end of the spectrum. No apprentice will learn everything they need in three moons. Nine mooned warriors are just no! Never again! Apprentices should be learning and therefore, they'll fail a lot. They will constantly accidentally get into trouble because they don't know the code all that well yet. Have some fun with your apprentice. Get them in trouble, let them fail, because the best way of learning is from mistakes.
>> Apprentice ages should be anywhere from 6 moons to 18 moons all depending on who well their training goes. This implies that the apprentice can spend up to a year of training which is relatively accurate.
Warriors - The most abused character age there ever was. Okay, okay, okay, where does one start off kindly with this one? 12 moons represents a year of age. Well actually, less than a year since a moon cycle is 29.5 days! So is you have a warrior at the age of 12 moons, they still have another half moon to go till they're a year old. But lets overlook the technical concept of moons. WHY DOES EVERYONE HAVE TO HAVE 10 MOON OLD WARRIOR!?!?!? It's still an apprentice age everyone. Firepaw was a least 11 moons when he got his name. [But Wolfheart, in the Warriors adventure game, a warrior is 10 moons old! Well, that was Erin Hunter reaching out us. Cats live a lot longer than dogs and yes, it is in the wild, but they can still live up to 12 years. At 100 moons, the cat is 8.6 (capped) moons of age. Elders tend to be about nine moons so deal with it. Your Warrior can be up to 120 moons for all I care. They should retire, yes, but if they have the will power to stay, let them.] A new Warrior can be anywhere from the age of 12 moons to 22 moons depending on their time as an apprentice. hey are considered new for their first three moons till they are classified as a young warrior. A Young warrior can be anywhere from 15 moons to 36 moons. This implies that a cat three years of age is still young. An Experienced Warrior should be from 37 moons to 48 moons. And from there on up will be the senior Warriors since most Warrior die off as Young Warriors.
Deputy - the Deputy shouldn't be any younger than 30 moons, and even thirty is really young since the cat isn't even three years of age. When creating a Deputy character, you have to think: Has my character been around long enough to have an apprentice? If not, no Deputy for you!
Leader - Oh, I have been waiting to nail this one. So one argument there's out there is Firestar. Well, Firestar became leader after five books. Take into account about 3/4 a year passes in each book so that would put Firestar at (3.75 years) so he'd be about 45 moons. I have not gone back to look at all the series to see what passed and what hasn't. Into the wild was only six months of stuff put that also relates back to my argument with apprentices. Therefore, leaders should not be any younger than 40 moons. [To me, I feel like leaders should be at least 55 moons]. Just think for a second why there would be a leader at 20 moons. It's not possible! They need to have mentored an apprentice, and the former leader has had to die.
Queens - [Before I start, I wish to make you all laugh. So a few months ago, I had a roleplay I ran and someone tried making a queen, full warrior name and everything at the age of 7 moons. This is why I made this section] Queens are commonly misunderstood characters too. Cats are only pregnant for two to three months so Queen don't have to be in the nursery for seasons. Now for roleplays where the Queens are mentioned as staff and stay basically forever, this doesn't really apply. With that being said a Queen can continue out on her regular duties until two to three weeks before delivery. Therefore, a cat may be pregnant, but not considered a Queen at the time. For roleplays where Queens are permanent unless they wish to leave, they are Queens but may continue on their Warrior duties (to to treacherous though. Permanent Queens stay Queens because they serve as better mothers than Warriors) unless they are close to delivery. This makes it okay or a Queen to hunt and fight because most of the time, they don't have kits and can continue.
>> Minimum age for a Queen: 20 moons. Note: because the queen needs a mate, the 20 moons should be used with caution.
Elders - The most unheard of character in the roleplaying realm are elders. There's not much to say about them other than they're old. They can retire at six years to when ever or if they have an injury that doesn't allow them to continue. They are really fun to play as so go elders!
A Guide to Creating your Warrior
There are many elements to a Warrior in a series. To break it down, the two main elements are appearance and personality. After all, these two thing are located in almost every biography format you find when signing for a roleplay; but one thing that seems to lack in roleplayers is fitting the name with it's personality and appearance. The cat's name should reflect both it's personality traits and it's physical attributes such as its pelt, fur, and markings. The name should also be terms that a cat would know and not something that doesn't really exist in the forest or is a term that only us twolegs would really know.
In the midst of things, the Warrior name contains two parts: a prefix and a suffix. The Prefix is given to the character as a kit, the suffix is given to the cat by the leader after they go through their training as an apprentice.
Prefixes
the prefix must represent something that is based off of the cat's fur color, body build, or the natural environment in which the cat lives. If the prefix is to represent something in the cat's territory such as a tree for example, they should look almost the color of the specific tree they are naming them after. Let's use a birch tree for this situation: as birch tree has fairly light grey bark and black specks that almost look like stripes. Therefore, a cat with the name of Birch should be a light grey tabby.
In other words, the cat's prefix represents the appearance and the appearance alone. The only exception to this rule is having a kittypet or loner join the Clan. In that case, they may choose to keep their name or at least the first part of it as a prefix. Also, Kittypets may have genetically altered pelts and therefore look quite different from a normal wild cat pelt. Though Rusty got his name changed to Firepaw in the original series, your character may be adamant in changing their name and you might end up with cats like Echosong; which, quite frankly is a sweet name but a cat really can't define an echo as an appearance so the term Echo should only be used for non-clan cats switching over to Clan life.
Another thing that may want to be considered when giving a prefix to a cat is it should be something that will establish them their whole life. The meaning could be something special such as giving a character the name Oak-kit because he was given birth in an Oak tree. However, the character should also resemble an Oak tree at that. Now perhaps you have the Queen who just wants to give that cat a name because it was so special to them. Well, long story short, your character has a very loving mother and the details on that topic are hard to decipher since it's a bit of sticky topic to think about.
Suffixes
A suffix must be used to describe a character's personality (Heart, Flower, Face), their basic performance as a Warrior (Cloud, Pelt, Fur), or an outstanding trait that was observed during their days as an apprentice (Nose, Fang, Claw).
The suffix is given by the leader to give a short indication on how they think the character will act as a Warrior. Will they give the Clan their gift of excellent hunting? Always looking for food even when others think there isn't? Then the leader (and ancestors) would consider the suffix -whisker for their exception hunting. Maybe the cat is a very fast and agile character, always daring other cats to race them and quick to maneuver in battle. The suffix -foot would be perfect for them. Similarly, sneaky cats who would lead their Clan mates into the most terrifying battle are often are seen with the suffix -storm. An exceptional fighter, cat's with the suffix -claw are amazing fighters! Perhaps the character is really passionate about something; their suffix should be -heart.
Occasionally, leaders will give a suffix with no meaning due to the fact that the suffix doesn't sound lyrical. The last thing a leader will want to do is give their new warrior a name that practically meaningless! However, they will tr their best to give them a good name despite that factor.
Names that should be rethought
Some names sound really cool to us. This method is known as lyrical naming. However, keep in mind that these have to be things that make sense to cat cat. First of all, cats don't name themselves after general stuff (ie. tree, bird, sky) they're more specific than that. People like to use the word bird for their prefix, however, what bird might they be talking about? Another thing that should be avoided in the original Clan's are the prefixes Thunder, Shadow, Wind, and River. There isn't much concern in other Clans for these names but wouldn't it be weird if there was a cat named Thunderstorm of ThunderClan?
Prefixes should also make sense with the environment the cat lives. What natural predators are commonly seen? In the original series it is noted that there are Hawks, badgers, Foxes, and Rats. There are dogs but to name a cat dog is a bit redundant since there are so many different breeds of dogs. Depending on where the cat lives will effect what names should and shouldn't be used. Wolf is a name that should be given to a cat if their are wolves in the territory or there are stories passed down as wolves [for me, I use the concept of a kittypet talking about wolves to get it through for me. The original four Clan's already talk about Lions, Tigers and
In the suffix realm, the most over-rated term used is -song. Now song is a really beautiful name to use. However, song does not establish a really good personality trait. Cat's don't sing: End of story. -Soul, -spirit, and -truth seem to represent spirituality which would be okay for a Medicine Cat, however it just sounds cheesy. One suffix that will bring up controversy from other namers is -fall. [To me] Fall is seen as a cat you is genuinely graceful and elegant like a water fall. The water fall concept is commonly over looked for people just see it as a clumsy cat. Fall is name that implies a new begging and and a cat ready to help their Clan and themselves.
Suggested Suffixes
Claw - excellent fighter
Cloud - the general perfect warrior. No outstanding traits. It's what the leader would want every Warrior to be.
Ear - something happened to one of the cat's ears; only for name change
Eye - only for name change; something happened to cat's eye.
Face - selfish cat; tends to care more for themselves than the Clan
Fall - a graceful cat who wishes to find new beginnings
Fang - great fighter
Flight - swift and agile cat; has an exceptional jumping ability
Flower - a Queen or Warrior who is very compassionate about kits. They tend to talk a lot and are rather dramatic.
Foot - a cat who is quick on their feet; faster runners in the Clan
Fur - no exceptional or outstanding traits; average at hunting and fighting
Heart - very passionate about something, joyful, happy, affectionate.
Jaw - only used for name change; something happened to the cat's mouth
Leaf - A Medicine Cat who shows exceptional traits in knowledge and healing
Nose - exceptional sense of smell; good at tracking
Pelt - no exceptional or outstanding traits; average at hunting and fighting
Path - a cat who shows wisdom. Guides cats to new beginnings
Step - related the the prefix; step like the animal they're named after
Storm - noble warrior; lead cats into battle, emotional, passionate.
Stream - sneaky, sly, playful, graceful
Stripe - implies a tabby; average at their warrior skills
Tail - well balanced cat
Whisker - exceptional hunter
Aging Characters
The number two complaint that comes out of peoples mouths is a character's age. Many people upon many on almost every site there is wants their cats to be at a really really young age. Hardly ever do Elders ever come into play since people want the youngest Warriors they can get. Well, may this break people's hearts.
Kits - these characters (in terms of roleplay and fanfiction) should only really come into play if there are Queens in the Clan. Almost every story with kits in roleplay are they were loners taken in. Okay guys! That story line is used way more than one may think. [Every single roleplay I make, all the kits are loners or kittypets. I can go down this road for hours]. For kits, it's best to wait for a Queen to have kits make the kit from the genetic barrings of the female and male. Some Queens like to not mention their mate and therefore, that gives more room for creativity. Try making some Warriors and Apprentices first and wait for kits till later.
>> Kit ages should be 3 to 6 moons with an adoptive mother and 0 to 6 moons with a real mother
Apprentices - everyone's favorite character to roleplay! Keep in mind when creating apprentices that they are going to have flaws. Apprentices are the characters that are constantly Mary-sued because everyone wants their apprentice to be the best and pass training quickly. Reality check! It takes apprentices an average of five to eight moons to complete training. And that's on the low end of the spectrum. No apprentice will learn everything they need in three moons. Nine mooned warriors are just no! Never again! Apprentices should be learning and therefore, they'll fail a lot. They will constantly accidentally get into trouble because they don't know the code all that well yet. Have some fun with your apprentice. Get them in trouble, let them fail, because the best way of learning is from mistakes.
>> Apprentice ages should be anywhere from 6 moons to 18 moons all depending on who well their training goes. This implies that the apprentice can spend up to a year of training which is relatively accurate.
Warriors - The most abused character age there ever was. Okay, okay, okay, where does one start off kindly with this one? 12 moons represents a year of age. Well actually, less than a year since a moon cycle is 29.5 days! So is you have a warrior at the age of 12 moons, they still have another half moon to go till they're a year old. But lets overlook the technical concept of moons. WHY DOES EVERYONE HAVE TO HAVE 10 MOON OLD WARRIOR!?!?!? It's still an apprentice age everyone. Firepaw was a least 11 moons when he got his name. [But Wolfheart, in the Warriors adventure game, a warrior is 10 moons old! Well, that was Erin Hunter reaching out us. Cats live a lot longer than dogs and yes, it is in the wild, but they can still live up to 12 years. At 100 moons, the cat is 8.6 (capped) moons of age. Elders tend to be about nine moons so deal with it. Your Warrior can be up to 120 moons for all I care. They should retire, yes, but if they have the will power to stay, let them.] A new Warrior can be anywhere from the age of 12 moons to 22 moons depending on their time as an apprentice. hey are considered new for their first three moons till they are classified as a young warrior. A Young warrior can be anywhere from 15 moons to 36 moons. This implies that a cat three years of age is still young. An Experienced Warrior should be from 37 moons to 48 moons. And from there on up will be the senior Warriors since most Warrior die off as Young Warriors.
Deputy - the Deputy shouldn't be any younger than 30 moons, and even thirty is really young since the cat isn't even three years of age. When creating a Deputy character, you have to think: Has my character been around long enough to have an apprentice? If not, no Deputy for you!
Leader - Oh, I have been waiting to nail this one. So one argument there's out there is Firestar. Well, Firestar became leader after five books. Take into account about 3/4 a year passes in each book so that would put Firestar at (3.75 years) so he'd be about 45 moons. I have not gone back to look at all the series to see what passed and what hasn't. Into the wild was only six months of stuff put that also relates back to my argument with apprentices. Therefore, leaders should not be any younger than 40 moons. [To me, I feel like leaders should be at least 55 moons]. Just think for a second why there would be a leader at 20 moons. It's not possible! They need to have mentored an apprentice, and the former leader has had to die.
Queens - [Before I start, I wish to make you all laugh. So a few months ago, I had a roleplay I ran and someone tried making a queen, full warrior name and everything at the age of 7 moons. This is why I made this section] Queens are commonly misunderstood characters too. Cats are only pregnant for two to three months so Queen don't have to be in the nursery for seasons. Now for roleplays where the Queens are mentioned as staff and stay basically forever, this doesn't really apply. With that being said a Queen can continue out on her regular duties until two to three weeks before delivery. Therefore, a cat may be pregnant, but not considered a Queen at the time. For roleplays where Queens are permanent unless they wish to leave, they are Queens but may continue on their Warrior duties (to to treacherous though. Permanent Queens stay Queens because they serve as better mothers than Warriors) unless they are close to delivery. This makes it okay or a Queen to hunt and fight because most of the time, they don't have kits and can continue.
>> Minimum age for a Queen: 20 moons. Note: because the queen needs a mate, the 20 moons should be used with caution.
Elders - The most unheard of character in the roleplaying realm are elders. There's not much to say about them other than they're old. They can retire at six years to when ever or if they have an injury that doesn't allow them to continue. They are really fun to play as so go elders!
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[/i][/div][/div][/font]Question & FAQ's
you man post your questions bellow on my naming system and I will respond to them as soon as possible
Feedback
have any ideas. I'd love to hear them! Keep in mind we all have our own opinions though, this is just mine.
