Lizzy's Guide to Realistic Warrior Cats

[Wyldercat]

'Allo, floofs! Lately I've been seeing some pretty crazy cats around Flourite, and since I'm a cat nerd (I read random articles about cats in my free time... And yes, I AM SANE... barely XD) I decided to make a little guide on how to be realistic with your cats. I'll try to make things as simple as possible, and I'll throw in some humor too. There may already be a few guides on Warriors, but here's my take on them floofeh fighters. I'll be covering appearance, naming and lastly, fighting. Hope you enjoy.  

-Appearance-
Everyone wants a good design for their cat, no? Well, sometimes it's hard to make an awesome, but realistic kitty. I'll try to cover most of the major points here, like colors, patterns, eyes and size.

1. Pelt Color: There's not really much here to discuss... most people are pretty realistic with colors. I do, however, want to point out that NO cat has neon pelts. Orange, or "ginger" cats are never neon. They can be a bright orange, but not so bright that It'll make people have seizures. As for blues, "blue cats" are almost never fully blue. Infact,t hey look more grey than blue. That's about it for colors.

2. Patterns: So, you go into your trusty character creator, and HOLY COW, THERES LIKE 59789 DIFFERENT PATTERNS! Not to worry, my friend, chances are, your cats won't need most of them. If your looking for a tabby, I'd recommend either one of the tigers, or maybe king cheetah for heavily striped cats. For spotted tabbies, I'd say king cheetah, cheetah or the leopards, and cub spots for light markings. I wouldn't recommend using jaguar, as it's spots are more... geometric. For patches and splotches, marble or splatter. Is you want point markings, such as Siamese or seal, leg stripes (either one), socks or Siamese will do. Now, the most important things I'm going to say here. First off, markings are usually a darker, or slightly lighter shade of the pelt color. NEVER will you see an orange cat with black or grey spots. And secondly, black cats can't have socks of any color except white. They can have dark grey flecks, faint stripes... NEVER socks or Siamese.

3. Eyes: Eyes are probably the easiest part. I would recommend any of the slit markings, except for glow (cause that's just creepy). Some breeds have rounder pupils, so normal, black or whole will work. For blind cats, there are blind eyes available. I wouldn't recommend using any of the orbs for blind cats... most blind cat's don't have clouded eyes (unless they have a disease that caused the blindness). Now, for colors. Most cats have green or yellow eyes. Amber is pretty common too, but not as much as green. Blue eyes mostly occur on cats with grey or white pelts, and are uncommon on cats with brown or orange pelts. IMPORTANT: It is 100% GENETICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for black cats to have blue eyes, even blind cats, unless they have white present on their pelts. Also, I would stay away from the neon colors... except for maybe light blue. That's about it here.

4. Size: |WARNING, MILD RANTING AHEAD| The most important thing I'm discussing... in fact, it's the size problem that made me make this guide anyway. Now, *pulls a rocking chair out of closet* STORY TIME! GATHER AROUND! Now, once upon a time, there was a dog named Erna. She was walking through the woods one day, when she was attacked by a warrior. The great tom had her easily pinned with one paw. Now you ask, how could a feral cat, of whom are ABOUT 10 INCHES ON AVERAGE, and weigh about 20 POUNDS, pin down a great 135lb wolfhound like Erna, the answer is simple. HE WAS AN USUALLY LARGE CAT WHO WAS GIVEN HIS MAGICAL, LION-LIKE SIZE BY STARCLAN! *kicks rocking chair into wall* Now hold up. Even ''unusually large cats'' are maybe a foot and a half at the shoulder. Yes. Even the biggest, strongest, most magical warrior in all the world. Even leaders. For warriors, I personally think that warrior cats should be maybe a few clicks under default. Even huge ones. NEVER should any warrior cat exceed default, under any circumstances.

-Names-
One of the most important things for a warrior is his or her name. A good name SHOULD be relevant to their personality or appearance. There are 2 parts to this guide, prefixes and suffixes.

1. Prefixes: The prefix is the first word in the compound warrior names. Now, with the exceptions of rogues or loners who join a clan later in life, the cat's mother gives them the first part of the name directly after birth. Now, there's no way of telling the kit's personality or eye color from birth, so you can instantly eliminate Evilkit, Strongleaf and Greeneyes (not like any of those were good names anyway). Most kits are named for a distinct pattern or pelt color. For example, a dark brown tabby might go by the name Pinekit, or Barkkit, or a tortoishell with bold patches might be named Flowerkit. Also, chances are, queens (unless they were truly heartless and unfeeling) wouldn't name their kit Clawkit or Lostkit. I would recommend not using "overused words" such as Dark, Shadow, Mist, Fire, etc. IMPORTANT: Do NOT use words that cat's would be unfamiliar with. Cat's wouldn't be familiar with aligators or cobras, so don't use them. Also, mythical terms such as Dragon, Demon, Phoenix, Magic, Spirit and Angel should NEVER be used. Also, the words Star, Spirit and Moon are sacred to cats, and they are forbidden for using them in their names.

2. Suffixes: Suffixes are given by the leader when an apprentice becomes a warrior, but most people join clans as warriors, so you'll need to know about these. The suffix, unlike the prefix, usually reflects something distinct about the cat over time. So lets say your cat is very fast and agile. Some good suffixes for him would be -wing, -flight or -breeze. Or it could be important event that that cat experienced in which they become warriors or medicine cats. Leafpool earned her name this way, by discovering the Moon Pool. And be reasonable. You wouldn't have a caring medicine cat named Blazethorn. Also, be creative with your names. Not every name ends with -claw, -fang, or -pelt. Similarly to prefixes, don't use words that cats wouldn't know about.

-Fighting-
The thing that makes a warrior is his skill. Most people, however, get a bit unrealistic with combat. The first thing I want to mention is that smart cats, even the fiercest warriors, won't look to start wars unless necessary. Even "evil" cats feel pain, and wouldn't want to risk injury in necessary battles. Now that that's out of the way, cats' fighting styles are pretty simple. Most of it consists of quick paw-lashes and small bites. Never will you see a cat do backflips or a spinning kick to the head. Simple. Now, for the ranty part.   POWERS FROM STARCLAN?! YOUR KIDDING, RIGHT?! The only reason why Starclan would give powers to cats is if there was some great danger and was absolutely necessary. Same thing with prophecies. Signs are given to MEDICINE CATS whenever Starclan want's to hint at something important. And no, SIGNS ARE NOT HUGE FIREBALLS THAT EXPLODE IN SPIRITS, SPEAKING OF A HURRICANE THAT WILL KILLE VERYONE. Signs are usually something small, for example, if Starclan believes that a certain cat, lets name him Ravenfeather, should become deputy, the sign would consist of a raven's feather landing on the highrock (or some crap).

Well, hope you all enjoyed this. Hopefully new clans will read this guide and not make god-cats. Pardon my grammar and using "And" at the beginning of sentences. I might make some more guides about other popular roleplays, such as Lion Prides or Fox Sulks.

[~Stargazer~]

Could I just point out, that blind cats don't usually have clouded eyes. Think about it; Humans don't have clouded eyes when they're blind. The cloudy eyes are only when the animal/human has a certain eye disease that causes it (I forget the name of it, sorry). So yeah, not every animal has a grey eye when they're blind x3

[Shenidan]

I agree with Starry above ;3 Anyway, This is a great tutorial and Im sure it can help for the users out here. Good job.

[Vask]

Beautiful tutorial! This is definitely one that will help all the Floofs that rp Warrior Cats.
Since so many people roleplay as Warrior Cats, this will no doubt be of great help. Keep it up!

[Wyldercat]

Aw, thanks guys! I had a lot of fun making this. I might make a demon tutorial next. And that's a good point star, I'll have to edit that in somewhere o3o.

[Derpiederp]

Wow.That was really helpful ^^ I might even start roleplaying warriors a bit more though...